Huh? Why would I say such a thing?

Simple really. If you don’t back up your databases of customers, subscribers, etc., then when your database becomes corrupt, or your webhost screws you and dumps your databases or whatever, then you’ll have to start all over from scratch.

And while your doing that, I will continue to market my products and services. See, you’ll be busy REbuilding, and I’ll be busy prospering. Because I took the time to back up my databases with an automated, hands-free system.

In all the years I have been operating a business on line, it still amazes me how few people take the time to properly back themselves up. People have way too much faith in technology and/or the competence of others.

Either one can let you down. In fact, odds are one or the other will. There’s no way to predict when, how, where, etc. so why take a chance? Especially these days when there are so many ways to stay backed up?

In this article I am specifically talking about databases. Not your local hard drives or not your web pages. Why?

Let’s take these one at a time…

Your hard drive on your local computer…even though not everyone backs up on a regular basis, there seems to be an endless supply of backup solutions - both free and paid - to cover this. There are also many articles and “how-to’s” on the various ways to back up your hard drive. Doing a simple Google search will reveal thousands of discussions, products and more on this topic.

Backing up your web pages…Let me ask you a question. When you build a website, do you build it entirely on line? Or do you typically use an off-line web page builder (such as Dreamweaver, Nvu, Frontpage) then upload them to your web server?

Most people build them off line. I know I do. So to me, backing up all of my web pages is already taken care of when I back up my hard drives. No sense in doing this two ways.

Databases. Now here’s the one most people either overlook or avoid. Overlook because some don’t even realize they are even USING a database (as odd as that may sound). Think about it…these days, you have CPanel hosting complete with Fantastico installer. When you set up a Wordpress blog, some may not even realize that a database is being set up in the background.

Many people also assume their webhosts automatically back up their databases. This is a BIG mistake.  Good hosting services will do automatic backups. But with the popularity of cheap and free hosting, people are more attracted to the 2 GB of storage  and don’t even bother to ask about backups.

Avoid - the biggest reason people don’t back up their database is because unless you know how, it’s technically challenging for the average person.  Some may know how to properly back up using phpMyAdmin, but most do not. It’s intimidating for the average person.

Even those who know how to back up a database fall short in this one last area: consistency. They log in, back up, log out and that’s it. A few months may go by before they remember to back up again.

While this may be better than nothing, if you have an active business where your database of customers grows daily, than anything less than once per day is not enough.

Hope is not all lost though. There are answers out there for you. I can think of two right off the bat.

CPSiteSaver (http://www.webhostingunleashed.com/cpsitesaver/ ): This one is a Windows desktop application. It’s very reasonably priced and simple to use. It will back up your entire website and your databases. There are two “drawbacks” to this one.

1- Since it’s a desktop application, it’s not technically fully automated. You must have your computer running and the application open for backups to take place. This is not so bad if you are on your computer a lot. Just make sure the application starts up with Windows, and schedule your backups for when you know you are on line.

2- It only works with CPanel/MySQL systems. Also not the end of the world as it seems the majority of the hosting solutions out there use CPanel/

Database Backup Generator (http://www.databasebackupgenerator.com ): This one is installed on your website (server side). Also very reasonably priced. The drawback to this one:

1- If you are not familiar with installing scripts, you’ll need to hire someone.
2- Only works on CPanel/MySQL systems (see above)
3- Only backs up databases. To me, not the end of the world if you build your sites off line and you do regular backups to your system.

What I like about DBG is once you set it, it truly is hands-free, set and forget. It will continue to do automatic backups (via Cron) until you tell it to stop. It also allows you to send your backups via FTP to another server, and/or it will email you download links for your backups.

No matter what your preference is, just make it a point to back up the most important part of your business…your database.  Websites are easily replacable. Your database of customers is not.

Remember - there are people out there that will gladly scoop up your customers.

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Internet Marketing is a fun niche. Seriously, I mean that.  I have met a ton of wonderful people, and have been to many awesome places.  Case in point, my recent trip to New Orleans for the start of Mardi Gras courtesy of Jeff Dedrick.

I won the trip because I finished in the top five of his affiliate contest. I had a great time. Name other niches that offer these kinds of perks…

When I decided to try to make money in the Internet Marketing niche, there were a few things I inherently understood as part of the “game”. That is simply this:

If I sign up to someone’s mailing list, I expect to get mail.  Simple, right?

Of course, not all lists are created equal. I try to pick newsletters that offer value in between pitches. But I still expect to be pitched.

So it still makes me scratch my head when I receive emails from list members that complain about getting emails, and about being pitched to.

This isn’t rocket science. On MOST of my subscribe forms, I clearly state that you are signing up to my list and will be receiving emails, which may contain offers from myself or for products I am promoting.

Last week I wrote an email about John Reese’s one hour long IMA video - one which he touted before releasing that it would be the most important email/video you would ever receive…

I wrote about why I did not like it. I also was clear that there was no link. It was simply a statement of my opinion.  MOST of the feedback I got was positive, and in agreement with my stance.

Yet I received an email from someone who basically said, “Hey, I signed up for your 12-part ecourse! I don’t want these other emails, so stop sending them to me!”

I found this amusing because on THIS signup form I DO clearly state that you will receive other mailings from me.

Normally I ignore emails like this one, but I felt compelled to do two things:  Unsubscibe the person and then email him back stating that I unsubscribed them due to their obvious displeasure of being on my list.

I don’t now, nor have I ever claimed to be perfect. Yes, I send out pure pitch emails. But yes, I also send out pure content emails.  That’s how, in my view, this niche works. In my opinion, if this is something “you” don’t understand and accept, then my advice to you is to run as fast as you can from this niche. Find one that does not email so many offers.

You MUST have a certain level of tolerance to play in the Internet Marketing niche. If you like the info, but don’t like being bombarded with so many pitch mails, here’s a very simple solution for you - and one in which I do myself.

Go to Yahoo, or Hotmail or Gmail and open yourself a free account. When you sign up for a list because you want the free gift, sign up with this email address.  Now, what I do is about once a month I log in and scan the emails.

The lists which are 100% pitch, or the person sends me 2 or 3 pitch mails per day, I zap them.  The ones which are awesome content, I forward to one of my other email addresses so I can read it.

And in ALL cases, I try to learn something from the emails - which subject lines got me to open, how the emails are structured, etc.

Do you have desire to simply bitch, moan and complain about these emails? If so then I ask you: “Why are you on my - or any - list then?”.  You like the free stuff, right? There is ALWAYS a trade-off. Free stuff is mainly free from spending cash. You pay by allowing the marketer to email you.  That’s how it works.

Disclaimer: I am not referring to scammers, spammers, or those that lie, or trade email addresses. There are plenty of those. I am referring to legitimate marketers who work hard to build their lists.

Remember - if you don’t like the quality of the mailings you are receiving, simply unsubscribe.

This isn’t rocket science.