An Online Business Built On Sand Is At Risk Of Total Failure

by tpw
8 replies
Third-party service providers are a god-send for most of us who do business online:

* Autoresponder services
* Web hosting services
* Blog providers
* Payment systems
* Link building systems
* Article directories
* Link directories
* Advertising services (PPC etc)
* Affiliate companies
* Split-revenue advertisers (Adsense etc)
* Video hosting
* Bookmarking websites
* Email providers
* Search Engines
* etc.

In many cases, we rely upon these other websites and companies with the whole of our businesses...

In many cases, we do so at great risk to the long-term viability of our businesses...


There is a thread running through the forum right now of some poor person whose gmail account was shut down.

Yahoo announced earlier this week the coming demise of Delicious and Alta Vista, after last years' folding of Yahoo 360.

I used to host my personal blog on blogger, along with my 10yo's personal stories (he fancies himself one day being a writer)... I lost all of my blogs in 2009, because somehow they targeted my blogs for deletion for being "too commercial", even though I had proven five times that I was a human and not a spam bot.

I lost 6 weeks of business in May-June of 2009, because my web host changed my server and DNS servers, but my domain registrar was on the outs with ICANN, so I was effectively put out of business until ICANN moved my domain registration to a new registrar.

E. Brian Rose and others are currently having issues with Paypal.

I keep hearing reports that Aweber is having various issues.

Facebook was misfiring or offline for half an hour yesterday.

I heard a story about another Warrior whose website had some downtime, because his web host could not pay the bandwidth bill.

Google often closes Adsense accounts, and does not release earnings due to the account holders.

Google more frequently closes Adwords accounts, with little or no explanation.

Are you starting to see my point?

So many of us put our businesses at risk every single day, because we employ and rely upon third-party service providers to do certain tasks for us.

In the Bible, it said something to the effect of:
A house built on sand cannot stand.
So long as we are relying upon third-parties to provide certain services to us, we are like that house built on sand...

I don't think we can escape the need for third-party providers, but we can always plan and prepare for the worst-case scenarios.

For example:

* Back up your website frequently to your hard drive.
* Back up your hard drives frequently.
* Back up your mailing list at Aweber and similar services.
* Get back up DNS servers.
* Diversify your advertising sources, so that if Google turns on you in Adwords or your Search Engine rankings, then you will not lose all of your traffic overnight.
* Get backup merchant accounts to protect you if and when Paypal decides you are too much of a risk for them to bear.

Do a bookkeeping of your business to figure out where you may be vulnerable, then takes steps to provide yourself with backup systems to protect your business in the event of the worst-case scenario.

While there is no way we can completely insulate our businesses against having to use third-party providers, we can plan for the worst and be prepared if it does go wrong at some day in the unforeseeable future.

Expect the best, but always plan for the worst...
#backups #beware #providers #service #thirdparty
  • Profile picture of the author Dan C. Rinnert
    Yesterday, it was sharks. Today, it's sand.

    I'm guessing your mind is on the beach.
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    • Profile picture of the author tpw
      Originally Posted by Dan C. Rinnert View Post

      Yesterday, it was sharks. Today, it's sand.

      I'm guessing your mind is on the beach.

      LOL

      Yeah... It is damn cold in Oklahoma, and winter hasn't even really arrived yet...
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      Bill Platt, Oklahoma USA, PlattPublishing.com
      Publish Coloring Books for Profit (WSOTD 7-30-2015)
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  • Profile picture of the author King Shiloh
    Banned
    Very sad yet very true.

    If the foundation be destroyed, what will the righteous do?

    I wont say that I'm afraid but even if I am, I think some folks that are reading this thread right now will not blame me.

    We all need shock-absorbers now!
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  • Profile picture of the author Gary King
    Nice points for us to keep in mind.

    Here's a pretty big business build on sand:

    Palm Islands - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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    • Profile picture of the author tpw
      Originally Posted by Gary King View Post

      Nice points for us to keep in mind.

      Here's a pretty big business build on sand:

      Palm Islands - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

      Indeed, but they mixed big huge boulders under the sand.
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      Bill Platt, Oklahoma USA, PlattPublishing.com
      Publish Coloring Books for Profit (WSOTD 7-30-2015)
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      • Profile picture of the author King Shiloh
        Banned
        Originally Posted by tpw View Post

        Indeed, but they mixed big huge boulders under the sand.
        Foundation is the structure that is under, unseen, unattractive yet it's importance is far more than the building itself because no matter how beautiful the house is, it is liable to collapse if the foundation is shaky.

        Yes, under...
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  • Profile picture of the author AidenChong
    Bill, there's one thing should be placed on top of the list! WARRIOR FORUM!

    A while ago, I went to the thread where someone started to questioned about the cost of running Warrior Special Offers was being raised to $40.

    And I learned a lot in that thread. Some higher stature members even stated that DON'T RELY on WF as your main source of income, etc.

    Well, that's so true! So yeap, Bill, your post get me thinking again, and again... Nice pointers!

    Thanks

    Aiden

    P.S. The greatest thing I've learned from a serial entrepreneur that I've forgotten his name, was this: "Business is all about managing risk, lowering the risk to the minimal state" - which I think, resonate quite well with what you've just posted.
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  • Profile picture of the author ryanbiddulph
    Diversify, diversify, diversify those advertising methods.

    As for the other stuff, take precautions.

    Here's the #1 piece of advice: The one constant in life is change. Never grab at something that can be taken away in a moment. Learn to accept change as an inevitable part of being alive and roll with the punches because they WILL come, and usually at a point when you least expect them.

    Thanks for sharing.

    RB
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    Ryan Biddulph helps you to be a successful blogger with his courses, manuals and blog at Blogging From Paradise
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