Voice of a Well-Scarred Marketer
Don't Let This Happen to YOU!
by Dave Cottrell Internet Marketing Professional
Dave Cottrell 
Internet Marketing...
Hi everyone,
Have you spent a lot of time and/or money building a truly great website for your business?
Do you think it's safe?
Do you trust your host to take care of you?
You'd better think again!
I own a business called BusyBeeSafelist. I've run it for several years and reached more than 2500 active members with the safelist and 3500 members for the community forums.
Then, it happened. My wonderful host for all the time I've owned the list and several different servers suddenly sold out and failed to inform me.
Now, I must give him the benefit of the doubt; perhaps for some weird reason my spam filters decided to munch his email to me... but that's not the issue.
The new owner gave me very little notice - I had computer challenges and didn't check my email for a couple of days, but when I did, I sent my payment to him, even though I'd already paid my previous host, but before he noticed I'd paid, he deleted my site and my ENTIRE database.
Guess what else he deleted? Tar.gz... doom... doom... doom...
For those of you who do not know what tar.gz is, it is the regular and up-to-date backup file for the database that is kept on the server. If anything ever goes wrong, you load up tar.gz and get almost everything back... except when that file gets deleted, too.
So, if you own a website, make sure you download all the WHOLE site, and especially the backup files if you're running a database of any kind. You can store the files on a CD if you need the space on your computer, but you MUST have those files.
In my case, I DID have the whole site downloaded, but the latest tar.gz file was from 2005 - which is a total disaster for a member database, as people come and go on a regular basis in any member driven organization. I had such good service for so long that I became complacent and left the updates on my server, where I knew I could access them anytime even if it meant having to contact my host via email or phone. That complacency was a disaster for my business.
Always make sure you have ALL the LATEST files for your website stored on your own computer or CD. It could save your business!
Now, there is a happy ending to my disaster. Every challenge also has its benefits.
I now have a brand new host who specializes in safelist hosting, and brand new, state-of-the-art script and a fantastic new affiliate plan for my business.
Pop by BusyBeeSafelist for a look and get a free lifetime Pro or Premium membership (1100 available).
In the meantime, protect YOUR business and save your important files NOW.
God bless,
Dave
Sep 1st 2007 03:39
Internet Marketing...Hi everyone,
Have you spent a lot of time and/or money building a truly great website for your business?
Do you think it's safe?
Do you trust your host to take care of you?
You'd better think again!
I own a business called BusyBeeSafelist. I've run it for several years and reached more than 2500 active members with the safelist and 3500 members for the community forums.
Then, it happened. My wonderful host for all the time I've owned the list and several different servers suddenly sold out and failed to inform me.
Now, I must give him the benefit of the doubt; perhaps for some weird reason my spam filters decided to munch his email to me... but that's not the issue.
The new owner gave me very little notice - I had computer challenges and didn't check my email for a couple of days, but when I did, I sent my payment to him, even though I'd already paid my previous host, but before he noticed I'd paid, he deleted my site and my ENTIRE database.
Guess what else he deleted? Tar.gz... doom... doom... doom...
For those of you who do not know what tar.gz is, it is the regular and up-to-date backup file for the database that is kept on the server. If anything ever goes wrong, you load up tar.gz and get almost everything back... except when that file gets deleted, too.
So, if you own a website, make sure you download all the WHOLE site, and especially the backup files if you're running a database of any kind. You can store the files on a CD if you need the space on your computer, but you MUST have those files.
In my case, I DID have the whole site downloaded, but the latest tar.gz file was from 2005 - which is a total disaster for a member database, as people come and go on a regular basis in any member driven organization. I had such good service for so long that I became complacent and left the updates on my server, where I knew I could access them anytime even if it meant having to contact my host via email or phone. That complacency was a disaster for my business.
Always make sure you have ALL the LATEST files for your website stored on your own computer or CD. It could save your business!
Now, there is a happy ending to my disaster. Every challenge also has its benefits.
I now have a brand new host who specializes in safelist hosting, and brand new, state-of-the-art script and a fantastic new affiliate plan for my business.
Pop by BusyBeeSafelist for a look and get a free lifetime Pro or Premium membership (1100 available).
In the meantime, protect YOUR business and save your important files NOW.
God bless,
Dave
Sep 1st 2007 03:39
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Comments
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Sarah Pritchard
CEO, Angel Cuddle PublishingDave, It's me again. I popped by and tried to join but it keeps telling me that the Turing number doesn't match when I've typed it in correctly! Help Sorry to be a nuisance! Sarah Sep 1st 2007 04:10 |
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Dave Cottrell
Internet Marketing ProfessionalHi Sarah, I will try to answer both of your questions, here. First of all, to download your website, you need to have FTP access or access to your file manager. Then you can either download by FTP to your computer (the same as uploading, except that you choose the files from your site and sent them to your computer) or, if you go to your online file manager, you can download them directly from there. If you have any difficulties, it's best to contact your website host for instructions. Regarding the turing number; I will check the site and see if everything is ok. You will most certainly get your Premium membership, no matter what. The site is on a brand new server, and the hosting company is still tweaking everything, so there are a few bumps from time to time. If you are unable to get set up, contact me via Apsense messages and I'll get you set up. God bless, Dave Sep 1st 2007 04:17 |
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Sarah Pritchard
CEO, Angel Cuddle PublishingThanks Dave, Have sorted turing no and am set up. Have sent u a pm Sarah Sep 1st 2007 04:28 |
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Bj aka Bill Brown
 Hosting and Backup Service providerHi Dave, You have my fullest sympathies what you describe is a total disaster for any webmaster. Although My partner and I have our own dedicated server I sill have full back ups from all my clients on my PC as a safety precaution, both for them and us.. You never know what could go wrong. I Work on the assumption my clients dont do backups as they should, and I also assume all h*** would erupt if something happend to a site and there was no backups, despite it being the clients responsibility to make them. . Sep 1st 2007 10:41 |
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Dave Cottrell
Internet Marketing ProfessionalHi Bj, While I could rant and rave about the bonehead who bought the hosting service for my site, I have to take full responsibility for not having a recent backup on my own PC. I appreciate the fact that you treat your clients a lot better than my host did! Sadly, my previous host, who treated me like gold for years, did not take the precaution that you take, and had no backups on his own PC, so when I emailed him for help, all he could do is apologize. On the bright side, I have the site back up on a new server, with a new and robust script, and have gone to a credits based system, which is FAR better for my members, anyway. The regular safelist system is practically useless these days, as virtually all of them are being blasted by submitters. Yes, I have to start all over, but in the long run, I've had a good kick in the pants that I deserved, and will have a far stronger and better service for my members for years to come. God bless, Dave Sep 6th 2007 03:15 |
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Lisa Lomas
Hi Dave, I know the feeling when you loose a great database, when I left a company thinking the leads for my newsletter and leads were mine they informed me they were mine as long as I used there services. This mean 4000 Newsletter subscribers and hundreds of leads I had already got some interest with. Its a darn hard lesson I know more now, but a loss is a loss and I know it is hard to get back there in any time fast. If I can help you with anything please let me know, I know this feeling and its not nice at all. Chalk it up to living and learning and moving Onwards forwards once more buddy. Sep 8th 2007 20:50 |
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Christopher
 Hi Dave, that is so true, my website files are all saved I do have back ups so I am in pretty good shape. Everything is backed up on a server. Oct 26th 2007 23:09 |
Hello Dave,
For people like me who get a bit challenged with such things, how do we download and save the whole site and backup files.
Sorry if it is a silly request, but I'm sure that I'm not the only one who gets a bit challenged.
Thank you,
Sarah
Sep 1st 2007 03:58