Selling: Back to the Basics

Written By: Gary S Goldman
Business & Management Consultants to the Construction Trades
     
New and experienced contractors always ask three questions: “How can I be successful in the industry?” “How do I find prospects and “How do I market?”?” My answer is always the same: get “back to the basics” of selling. It really doesn’t matter what it says on our business cards. We may act as a consultant, but, in fact, we are all salespeople. So, what are the “basics?”

Let us start with the ethic of reciprocity – the Golden Rule: Treat others the way you want to be treated. Many times, salespeople forget that 90 percent of selling is listening. It is very easy to tell people what you want them to hear and try to earn their business, but – keeping the Golden Rule in mind – is that how you want to be treated? Do you really want someone telling you what you have to do or buy without asking you what you want to do and why? 

Being a great salesperson is as easy as treating others the way you want to be treated. If you are like most contractors, you spend a good portion of our day on the phone or emailing potential customers whom we may never meet. As we all know, it is very difficult to build trust over the phone or computer. Technology continues to change our daily communication, and we are easily connected to people worldwide. Depending on your niche, your market could encompass one or many states. So as sales people, we are to build rapport with our prospects, whether they are in Boston or Portland Maine.  

Keep in mind during all conversations that the goal should be to treat them with the same respect that you expect from your business contacts. You are your best asset. Sell yourself by using your personality and expertise to earn business. People want to do business with people they like. If they like you, prospects will find it more and more difficult to tell you “no”. When you earn the trust and respect of your potential customers, you will earn their business.

How many times have you heard people say they would rather have a root canal than deal with a salesperson? People as a whole don’t like to be sold, but they really like to buy. Ask yourself what you liked about the people you purchased items or services from. Your prospect has the same right you do in choosing who they wish to do business with. Are you the only person providing this service or product? Most likely you are not the only game in town. So how can you earn the right to be the ONE? Perhaps by allowing people to do what they do best. People love to talk about themselves, their family, pets, hobbies, vacations, etc. Be the one that takes the time to learn about your prospect on a personal level. You just might find out that you have similar interests and can use that information as an opportunity to create a comfort level for you and your prospect. They already know what they want to do; the question is who is going to help them reach that goal? It does not have to be a chore. When done right, it can be a pleasant experience for both parties. When your customers look at the sales experience positively, they are likely to refer you to business associates, friends, and family members. This is a great way to market and grow your business.

Obviously, it is not practical to think that you are able to build a rapport with every prospect that you meet or talk to on the phone. You must determine if they are a true prospect or not, then identify how they operate. Are they a logical or emotional decision-maker? Do they use their heads or their hearts? Are they talkative or do they keep their feelings inside? Are they working to avoid the problem or are they working toward a solution? It is important to remember that it is much more comfortable to work with people that have a similar personality. We have to step out of our comfort zone to connect people that we consider “difficult.” To master the selling yourself method, you have to learn how to customize your message in your own words for all personality types. Don’t stub your toe by not being yourself. The potential customer wants to work with you, but you need to know them, and they need to know you.

Has technology changed how customers behave or operate? Absolutely! People have forgotten how to interact with other humans. Think about it – do you order items from a catalogue? Do you buy things on the Internet? Do you Google for information? Do you interact with a credit card machine or a cashier? What happened to working with people? Whether in the past, present, or future, successful salespeople deliver personal, professional service through human interaction.

As you start to prepare your marketing plan, remember the importance of getting “back to the basics” and start from within yourself. You are the least expensive and most important asset that you have. It doesn’t matter what you sell; your prospects need to like you, and you need to understand and connect with them. 

We work hard to build relationship with our clients. Be confident and feel good about what you are doing to help others. Sell yourself by sticking to the basics. 

Guest Blog: 10 Reasons Why Contractors Fail!

Written By: Gary S Goldman
Business & Management Consultants to the Construction Trades

We spend a lot of time maintaining the trucks, loaders, mowers, trimmers, and blowers that we purchase. However, many contractors do not see the need to perform “preventive maintenance” on their business operations. In these times of uncertainty, I am seeing more and business, struggling to keep their “bottom line” in the black. In most situations it has nothing to do with quality of the product or service that the company offers to its clients. Most contractors that I work with are excellent craftsman.

The problems that many business owners are faced with are not derived from the lack work and backlog. The majority of the contractors that I work with have more work than they can handle.

Watching a business die is never easy, if for no other reason that it can happen in so many different ways. And, no matter what the cause, it’s never funny. Here, in the hope that a bit of foreknowledge may make a dent in the death rate, are 10 of the most popular reasons contracting businesses fail:

1. UNDERCAPITALIZATION. Money’s not only the root of all evil; it may well be the leading cause of business failures among contractors. Far to many contractors underestimate how much money they are going to need, not merely to get the business up and running, but also to sustain it as it struggles to gain a commercial foothold. Once you start out undercapitalized, that can start a downward spiral from which you can never catch up. 
2. BAD CASH FLOW. This is the macabre cousin to inadequate capital. Even businesses that move past the embryonic stage often collapse when incoming cash doesn’t at least offset expenses and other costs. Watch your cash “burn rate” by not falling into the trap of confusing cash receipts, or a positive cash flow, with excess cash. Once you spend it you cannot get it back. Understand the importance of monthly budgets and cash flow projections. They are great tools that will help you manage your business. When it comes down to it, cash is what really counts. 
3. INADEQUATE PLANNING. Not surprisingly, this is the reason problems like capitalization and bad cash flow happen in the first place. It’s critical that you map out as comprehensive a business plan as possible, covering financial issues, marketing, operations, growth and an array of other elements. Granted, it can be time consuming, as a well-prepared plan can take weeks or months to complete. That’s the time to find out an idea may not work. If you don’t plan and still go ahead, you may end up with heartache and thousands of dollars down the drain. 
4. A COMPETITIVE EDGE. Genuinely unique ideas are as rare as honest CEOs these days, but it’s still critical that your business gain a toehold in some sort of singular niche that you can exploit. Be it a slightly different service or customer support that goes beyond your competitors; earmark that one element that sets your business apart. Too many contractors are simply “me too” operations. Make sure something is unique or different.
5. MUSHY MARKETING. Your mother knows your special, but what about your prospective and current customers? It essential to develop a marketing strategy not merely to identify who might buy from you, but why. Make certain your marketing strategy sets you apart so a customer can clearly see why they would rather work with your company than a competitor.
6. INADEQUATE FLEXIBILITY. From stacks of cash to battalions of seasoned employees, every small-business owner knows the advantages a larger competitor brings to the game. Well, one thing they can’t necessarily do is turn on a dime, something smaller companies can exploit. Never forget to remain flexible. If a service isn’t quite right or a marketing campaign isn’t really flying, don’t be afraid to tinker. Making those sort of in-course adjustments is much more unwieldy for the big guys.
7. IGNORING THE NEXT STEP. Make sure you and your people emphasize complete customer support, from doing things you don’t have to offering thoughtful, useful advice that goes beyond the ordinary. Make sure that all members of your staff focus on quality, service, responsiveness, and value. All members of your staff need to be focused on operating in a proactive manner. This mindset often gets lost in the hustle and bustle of your day-to-day activities. However, it is essential for the growth and continued success of your business.
8. FORGETTING THERE”S NO “S” ON YOUR CHEST. Entrepreneurs are a smart, resourceful bunch, but running a small business carries its share of hidden kryptonite. Don’t try to be all things to your business. If you cringe at the thought of maintaining complete books, don’t hesitate to hook up with a good bookkeeper. When a legal issue crops up, don’t rely on your home-baked juris doctorate to evaluate the legal ramifications. Establish a long-term relationship with an attorney; preferably one with small-business acumen.
9. GREAT BOSS, MEDIOCRE STAFF. Inexperienced and unmotivated employees can often bring down a solid business with a knowledgeable, enthusiastic owner. Make certain your employees are well trained, fairly compensated, and somehow share in the fire that burns in your belly. 
10. UNCONTROLLED GROWTH. Ironic as it seems, but a small business that simply succeeds to quickly often pushes itself into an early grave. If your production fails to keep pace with demand or necessary expansion coincides with insufficient cash, the growth you dream about as an entrepreneur can actually threaten your business’ very existence. Again, cover foreseeable growth in your original plan and track it adequately to make certain that it never gets dangerously out of hand. 

If you feel that your company is suffering from any of these “symptoms” do not panic. In fact, it is not uncommon for a business to have these types of problems as it progresses toward its long-term goals and objectives. What is important is the ability to have a system in place to identify the various problems and take the necessary corrective action.

I have developed a simple process that allows you to take a proactive approach to help you manage your organization. I recommend that you perform a B.E.A.R., Business Evaluation And Review, on an annual basis. Conducting a B.E.A.R. is nothing more than a “preventive maintenance program” on the operations of your business.

You will be conducting a comprehensive evaluation, review, and analysis of 6 key components of your business operations & procedures. The internal audit that you will be conducting will focus on the following:

1. Management and Administration
2. Marketing & Sales
3. Contract Administration
4. Field Production
5. Finance & Accounting

Each of the above components will be sub categorized and analyzed to determine if there are standard operating systems, procedures, and processes in place. If they exist they should be reviewed to make sure that they are meeting the needs of your organization. Where it is identified that they are lacking or non-existent, you will need to determine how they will be implemented.

The B.E.A.R should be conducted on an annual basis prior to the preparation of your annual budget and any goals that you may be setting for the upcoming year. That will give you the opportunity to take the appropriate corrective action and move forward.

The first objective of the B.E.A.R is to provide you with the information that you need to manage your business efficiently, profitably, and with confidence. Secondly, this evaluation will help create a degree of standardization within your company. Company wide standards are an integral component in maintaining quality control within your organization.

This will result in more efficiently, professionally completed jobs which directly equals greater profit not only financially for your company, but also for the client from a satisfaction standpoint. You will also benefit because employees at all levels, administrative through production, will enjoy coming to work where well defined practices, policies, and procedures clearly outline what is expected of them.

Your business needs to be monitored on a regular basis. Conducting a B.E.A.R on an annual basis is only one faucet of the monitoring process. You need to get in the habit of performing monthly operating reviews to be sure that what you projected and planned is really happening.

By grabbing control of your business and keeping it running at peak performance, you will increase your odds for long-term success and profitability. And most important, you will have a good time doing it! Remember, the “secret of getting ahead is getting started”.

Guest Blog: Shop Safe This Holiday Season

By Judy Leary, President of IdentityForce 

The holidays should be a joyous time of celebration and not a time of worry. But identity theft is a problem that affects us all. It was just one year ago that sophisticated cyber thieves accessed Target’s computer system and stole 40 million credit and debit card numbers and personal information on 70 million customers. It was a huge wake-up call for retailers and consumers alike. Consumers vowed to be more careful with their personal data, and retailers redoubled their efforts to make every customer transaction failsafe Unfortunately, despite companies spending more than $4 billion so far this year to combat the problem, cyber attacks have not only continued but have escalated. According to information compiled by the Identity Theft Resource Center, major data breaches are up about 25 percent over this time last year. Home Depot, J. P. Morgan, Kmart, ebay, Neiman Marcus, Walgreens, and the U.S. Postal Service all experienced security breaches in 2014, exposing data on tens of millions of customers. No wonder 60 Minutes recently dubbed 2014 “the year of the data breach.”

While safer days are ahead of us as banks and retailers gear up to roll out the more secure pin and chip credit cards in 2015, shoppers can do their part this holiday season to keep their identity as safe as possible.

10 Tips for Safer Shopping—Online and in Stores

1. Strengthen and Protect Passwords
“123456” is not a legitimate password, yet 60 Minutes reports it’s one of the most common ones used. A strong password consists of a combination of at least 8 letters, numbers, and symbols. Store passwords in an online password safe, never in a desk drawer or wallet.

2. Vary Emails
Do not use the same password for multiple email accounts, and always keep your banking emails separate from other email accounts.

3. Use a Credit Card Rather than a Debit Card
Credit cards are generally more secure than a debit card, which links directly to your
bank account. If you absolutely must use your debit card, be sure to have the cashier run it as a credit card so you won’t have to input your pin number.

4. Review Bank and Credit Card Statements
Review your statements each month and question any suspicious expenses, no matter how small. Cyber thieves sometimes “test” a card with low-cost purchases first.

5.Check the Safety of Each Retailer’s Website
To ensure the website is safe for transactions, make sure “https” is part of the address in the URL, and look for the padlock icon, typically found in the bottom right-hand corner of your browser. Use a credit card rather than a debit card, and under no circumstances give out your social security number.

6. Be Aware of Your Surroundings
With so much emphasis on cyber security, we forget sometimes about the still very real threat of pickpockets. Pocketbooks and backpacks should be kept closed and when possible carried in front of your body. Men should keep wallets in a front pants or jacket pocket. Limit the amount of cash and number of credit cards in your wallet, and never carry your social security card.

7. Treat Your Social Security Number Like Gold
You’d be amazed at the damage an identity thief can do with just your name and social security number. Memorize the number so you don’t have to carry the card with you, and share it only with employers and banks.

8. Guard Your “Snail Mail”
If paying bank and credit card bills by mail, put the envelopes directly into a secured U.S. post box, rather than in your door slot where anyone can grab it and access your account numbers.

9. Sign Up for Alerts
Ask your bank to alert you via email or text for any transaction over a certain threshold amount, such as $250.00.

10. Use Two-Factor Authentication
More and more banks and websites are offering this service, which requires an additional security step above and beyond your username and password. Typically a passcode is generated anew and sent to your phone each time you want to log on.

Follow these tips to ensure your identity is protected throughout the holidays, and all year long. From all of us on the IdentityForce team, we wish you and yours a joyous, magical, and secure holiday season.

Guest Blog: How a Small Local Business Went from Good to Great Using Local SEO

Written by: Christian Haberman; Founder, Auctus Marketing

One of my clients who started his own personal fitness business a little over a year ago has done an excellent job at promoting his business online as well as engaging and growing his online audience. For this post, I thought it would be interesting for other small business owners and marketers to learn a little bit about how he did it. 

For a little background, before this venture he was managing a very popular restaurant here in Boston and doing very well at it. For those of you in the hospitality business, you will most likely understand why my friend simply got worn out from this exhausting work. The hours are very long and little time for a break. So due to the tiring schedule as well as lack of fulfillment, my friend decided to follow a passion of his, health & fitness. He really quite honestly felt it was his calling and it was inspiring to observe this relevation come about. 

So my friend, Jake, approached me during this pivotal time in his career and we would discuss his ideas whilst running together or in my office. One day after he had worked for about 10 or 15 days straight at the restaurant, he said “That’s it; I’m done”. At this moment, we started talking about his new venture in a bit more detail and started to lay out a strategic plan for his fitness business. The first thing we discussed was his brand and what it represented. We came up with the brand name TriJake due to his passion for endurance sports and since it incorporates his name. 

After we developed his brand a bit and discussed his mission of trying to helping others to enjoy and experience the joy of being active, we talked about some of the fundamental components that he would need to do to first set up his business. For example, he needed his trainer’s license, to register his company with the state, set up a website, find a studio and develop an initial business plan so his new venture has some structure, and of course call a lawyer.
My friend Jake works incredibly fast so he took care of all of the off-line set up in what seemed a heartbeat and in the meantime we started crafting his website. In regards to his site, it was clear that displaying his passion for endurance sports & helping others was very important as well as of course making his program very inviting to all (eg. someone new to running or an expert marathoner). Finally, and most important he wanted to make sure that his online visitors could easily contact him so he could generate leads and clients. 

One of Jake’s real strengths is that he is very outgoing, approachable and a natural at sales & PR; so he was signing up clients before he even had his studio. Once he found the ideal location for his studio and put money down, he immediately immersed himself into the town’s community. For example, he joined their local chamber of commerce, introduced himself to all of his business neighbors, and started hanging small posters in various coffee shops & restaurants which introduced his service. In regards to his online growth strategy which I formulated with him, we focused on 
1. Local Targeted SEO Program 
2. A Small AdWords Campaign 
3. Content Marketing via his blog, other blogs & social media 
4. Local PR 

In regards to his local SEO program, I did a lot of local competitive research to learn how his local competitors positioned themselves online and to understand their keyword strategy. From this and looking at some keyword research + search trend data, we developed his top keyword phrases which would serve as the base of his online content strategy. Utilizing these phrases I set up the PPC campaign to give his site an immediate traffic boost since his brand was new.

The next thing of course was his content strategy which I helped him a lot by showing him some successful examples of some other blogs and then breaking down how these blogs achieve this success into simple actionable components. By breaking down his overall online marketing strategy into simple daily/weekly action items or tasks, Jake was able to see that if he followed this simple program and did the work, he would get results. (below is an overview of his 2014 Traffic Growth). 

From the above Google Analytics data, it is clear that his overall online traffic experienced a 2x growth jump through the months of January to March. How did this happen? Well if you were to take a look at his website www.trijake.com you would clearly see that his site is very well optimized for local search, he clearly posts a fair amount on his blog and that he is very active in his social media channels. He even received an award due to the quality of his posts. But there was something he did along the way that really took his online game from good to great. He incorporated video.Why was this so beneficial to his online performance & results? 

Well first off, for a personal trainer utilizing video is a great way to offer instructions & workout tips for your clients which they can access at their leisure. It’s also of course great content that can be easily shared to further promote your brand and its wonderful for SEO, especially when all of his videos are posted on the town’s .org site. Funny enough, he even does a local weather forecast for the town that his studio is in now and he received PR for it to boot! Check – Move over Al Roker: Have you seen Wellesley’s awesome new weatherman? 

So to sum it all up, today my friend’s site pretty much owns all of the local search results for the top search engines in his local area for his main keyword phrases. His site is about a year and a half old, so he has managed to do this relatively quick. (He actually broke onto Google’s 1st page in about 4 months.) Some of the things that really helped his traffic & rank were optimizing his site with a very local focus, having a mobile site using responsive design, his frequent posts on his blog & social media channels and his use of video. So if you are running a local business or in charge of online marketing for one, please try incorporating some of these online tactics and I would bet you will start to see a positive return in your overall online performance & results. Of course, if you have any questions about any of these tactics, please give us a holler. 

Happy Marketing! 

-Christian

Why Simple Website Designs Just Work

Written by: Christian Habermann Founder; Auctus Marketing

"The way we’re running the company, the product design, the advertising, it all comes down to this: Let’s make it simple. Really simple.” - Steve Jobs 


Ever wonder why we all seem to just love simple homepage designs or simple designs in general? I was pondering this the other day as I was looking at some of the furniture in my apartment. When my father was retiring a few years ago, he offered me a desk that he had in his office for many years. It was actually an architect’s drafting table and I loved it ever since I first laid eyes on it. The design of this table is true simplicity. It is very basic and plain. Essentially, it’s like a coffee table or a desk, but with very long legs. I was thinking, what really has drawn me to this table or other things in my life that are designed with no thrills, but with just simplicity and grace.

Take for example my Apple laptop, which is a MacBook Pro I adore like so many million others around the globe. Its design shares many of the similar attributes and aesthetics as the architect’s table if you think about it. Their designs are simple, symmetrical and balanced. Many of my most favorite sites on the web share these similar characteristics as well. Why do we seem to like things that are designed with balance and order? It seems like we are drawn to things that have these traits right? For example, in website design its no surprise that some of the top revered sites in their respective vertical (e.g. Google, MailChimp) present a very simple design and message. Now I have to profess that I am not a psychologist, sociologist or PHD in design, but it is intriguing how many of us around the globe from different nationalities and cultures gravitate toward these simple and balanced designs. In fact, why we love simple designs and proportions that have symmetry might in fact just be a part of us it turns out. 

For more than 2,000 years, philosophers, mathematicians and artists have marveled at the unique properties of the “golden rectangle”: subtract a square from a golden rectangle, and what remains is another golden rectangle, and so on and so on — an infinite spiral. These so-called magical proportions (about 5 by 8) are common in the shapes of books, television sets and credit cards, and they provide the underlying structure for some of the most beloved designs in history: the facades of the Parthenon and Notre Dame, the face of the “Mona Lisa,” the Stradivarius violin and the original iPod. 

note: Golden Rectangle image experiments going back to the 19th century repeatedly show that people invariably prefer images in these proportions, but no one has known why.

Then, in 2009, a Duke University professor demonstrated that our eyes can scan an image fastest when its shape is a golden rectangle. For instance, it’s the ideal layout of a paragraph of text, the one most conducive to reading and retention. This simple shape speeds up our ability to perceive the world, and without realizing it, we employ it wherever we can. Website design is no stranger to this as well. Just think of all the golden rectangles that make a website truly stunning. I would argue that more simple a site’s layout and overall design is, the more we are able to capture these so called magical proportions that appeal to us so much. 

So the next time you are designing a homepage for a client or your company, try this exercise out. Try to keep the design, the message and the overall functionality as simple as possible. Take a step back and simply look at the page and see if you really need all that copy or links. Are you just trying to fit in too many messages and the end result is clutter? This is very common and rarely works. I encourage you to look at great sites like MailChimp, Google, AirBnB and of course Apple that are simple. Their raw simplicity makes their functionality seem so intuitive. This is a great goal to have and is well worth it. Remember, less is more. 

Now, let’s take a look at a common homepage layout for many B2B companies. As one can see there are many golden rectangles in the overall layout of this design, but when you step back it’s clear that these shapes are not in harmony. They are really creating visual dissonance. With that being said, B2B websites are often achieving a somewhat different goal than B2C sites, but at the end of the day, all of these sites want their visitors to simply understand their concept and move them as effortlessly as possible to a sale. 

When Steve Jobs was growing up in California he was heavily influenced by the simple home designs that were ubiquitous in his region. Inspired by Frank Lloyd Wright’s vision of simple modern homes for the American “everyman,” developers such as Joseph Eichler and his imitators built houses that featured floor-to-ceiling glass walls, open floor plans, exposed post-and-beam construction, concrete slab floors and lots of sliding glass doors. Jobs said a while back when being interviewed while walking around his old hometown “Eichler did a great thing his houses were smart and cheap and good. They brought clean design and simple taste to lower-income people.” His appreciation for Eichler-style homes, Jobs said, instilled his passion for making sharply designed products for the mass market. “I love it when you can bring really great design and simple capability to something that doesn’t cost much,” he said as he pointed out the clean elegance of the Eichlers. “It was the original vision for Apple. That’s what we tried to do with the first Mac. That’s what we did with the iPod.” So perhaps my love for this architect’s drafting table is somewhat similar to Job’s affinity for the Eichler homes. Without a doubt, it is apparent that like so many around the globe we both love and appreciate simplicity in design. So let this be a simple reminder that you can do more with less. Try it out in your next design and see what happens.

Guest Blog: Can A Creditor Take My Social Security Benefits?

If you receive Social Security Benefits, in almost all instances creditors are not allowed to take these funds to pay a past-due debt. Under federal law, Social Security benefits may only be garnished in order to collect debts owed to the federal government (like taxes or student loans) or past due alimony/child support. No other creditors can force you to pay them directly from your benefits.


The protected status of Social Security benefits also extends to your bank account, but you must be able to prove that they money in your account came from Social Security. This is referred to as “tracing.” If you can “trace” your money back to your Social Security benefits, then those funds are also exempt from collection.

The intent of these federal rights is to protect elderly individuals from overzealous creditors. Actively defending collection lawsuits in state court is often the best way to assert these rights. 

However, debt collectors are aware of these rights, and their business models often seem to rely on default judgments. Because they cannot collect from your Social Security benefits directly, they often convince people establish monthly payment plans with them. These payment plans often allow creditors to receive more than they would otherwise be allowed to collect under law.

Even if you are fully judgment-proof, a bankruptcy filing may be also desired in order to ensure a stop to all collection calls, letters, lawsuits, etc.

In bankruptcy, the protected status of your Social Security benefits remains intact. Income from Social Security is not counted for purposes of determining Chapter 7 eligibility. Similarly, in a Chapter 13 context, Social Security benefits need not be counted in the calculation of your monthly plan payment. And courts have made clear that the exercise of these federal rights does not create any good faith issues.

If you receive Social Security and have debt collectors contacting you for payment, please contact us today for a free consultation. You may be able to fully protect your income. 

Culik Law is a Massachusetts Attorney / Law Firm. The post is not intended as legal advice.

Culik Law is a BBB Accredited Business located in Woburn, MA. They have been Accredited since 2010.

Guest Blog: Disaster Recovery for Businesses

For small to medium sized businesses a solid disaster recovery plan unfortunately doesn't get much attention and for good reason, it can be expensive However, it’s just as important for a small business to have a plan as it is a large business. 

Disaster recovery is basically a plan to bring your business back up in the event that everything is lost. This plan would detail every action the business would need to take including a location to temporarily move to. The backup and replication methods available to protect the data in your environment range from Tape Backup to High Availability services. 

To break it down here are the different scenarios available to you: 

• Tape backup: Tape is a dying breed, I still have clients who do tape backups but most have transitioned to some other form of media. Tape is slow and in the event that everything was lost you’d normally lose a days worth of work depending on timing, and that time includes getting the tape that is stored off site. The standard backup model here is backing up your data to a tape such as an LTO or other type of tape. 
• Disk Based Backups: Disk based backups are quickly becoming the media of choice. An example of a device would be a SAN (Storage Area Network). You’d backup your data to an array of disks which then could be replicated off site to another SAN. This is the ideal situation. Advantages are increased capacity, quick restores and replication capabilities.
• High Availability: High availability is the replication of your live environment in real time. An example of this type of scenario would consist of 2 servers, one production server that’s in use and one recovery server located typically at a another location. Data is replicated in real time to the recovery server and in the event of a disaster business could resume at the chosen location. This is the ultimate in disaster recovery. Products such as Double Take software can be used to accomplish this. 

The method you chose to use depends on your budget but consider the sales that would be lost due to unfortunate down time as the result of a disaster. Disaster Recovery is a topic your business should implement and continually review.

Daniel Doucette is the owner of IT Link Maine, LLC, a BBB Accredited Business since 2014. 

BBB is inviting YOU to write for our blog!

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This is an excellent opportunity to bring more exposure to your business and make great connections. You will be able to showcase your writing skill and industry knowledge.

Submit your blog here, boston.bbb.org/blogsubmission/. We look forward to reading blog posts!