Prevent Blogging Disaster, Back It Up

Build A Better Blog Day 18

Today's tip is probably one of the most important I'll write about. You may spend hundreds of hours creating the perfect blog site, only to wake up one morning to find it all gone. I've seen it happen, and its happened to me. The feeling is gut wrenching. But it is avoidable with a little work ahead of time.

Here is how I create a disaster recovery system.

1. I have every post sent to me via email so I have all the content. If for some reason I lose my database at least I have all the blog posts and can re enter them.
2. I have an automated database backup scheduled with my hosting provider. Once the database is backed up its emailed to me and stored on a different FTP server. This took a little work but can be accomplished.
3. At least once a week I back up all the blog files. This includes themes, plug-ins and images. I make a lot of code tweaks so I want to make sure I have everything backed up.
4. Once a week I zip up all the blog files and database archives and store it on my Amazon S3 space. This is a pay service but its so cheap. The advantage here is my files are off site and be recovered from just about anywhere. There are several free services like Mozy and Xdrive you can use too.

A few weeks ago a site I was maintaining was some how reverted to files created months earlier. I'm not sure if the web hosting company restored a backup on top of all my files, but the result was months worth of work was lost. And the ironic thing was I didn't have a back up. I know, I was slapping myself in the face. No one else had too. I thought every thing was lost, then I remembered a web site called archive.org which lets you search a domain for snapshots of the site in the past. This saved me. Archive.org had one day of files with all my modifications and content so I was able to get a good majority of what I needed.

If you use a hosted service like Blogger or Wordpress.com or LiveJournal, these services probably have your files backed up, but I wouldn't count on it. You can still create a backup plan for these sites as well. Make sure all of your posts are coming to you via email or RSS and make sure you are backing up static page content after you create it. Then package it all up and save it on a different server, not your local computer.

How or what is your process for backing up?

Problogger day eighteen post: Create a Sneeze Page and Propel Readers Deep Within Your Blog

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Photowalking Salt Lake City v2

Yesterdays Photowalk on the west side of Salt Lake City was exciting and fun. This was my first Photowalk and I wasn't really sure what to expect. I felt a little intimidated with my starter Nikon D40, but after I'd had a chance to meet everyone and we got moving I forgot about the gear and just started taking pictures.

I hadn't been to this area of Salt Lake City in quiet a while. This is an area completely under construction, mixed with transients, a train station, a bus station and of all things Art Galleries. The architecture was great. Ann picked a really good location.

I took a lot of photos, 151 to be exact. Most of them were dupes trying to get better angles or lighting. Some had nothing to do with the theme of the Photowalk. And mostly I was just taking pictures of things that caught my eye. I'm still learning and so its important to try all kinds of things to see how they turn out.

Some of the pictures I took were too dark, or blurry, but some came out much better than I had hoped. You can see all of my photos here and the groups photos here. I can't wait for the next one.

The group photo above was shot by Harley Pebley. He gave me permission to use it. I'm the guy in the red shirt.

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The Writers 10% Rule

A few weeks ago I met a really great Writer named Ken Rand. Ken has been a writer for a very long time. He's written everything from newspaper articles to short stories to novels. One of the really cools things about Ken's writing is he covers a broad range of genres. If you want to learn from a writer who has done it all, Ken is your man.

While I was at Mountain Con III I bought a book from Ken called The 10% Solution. One of the panels Ken was on he talked about how you can self edit your writing using several passes to cut out all the fluff, or as he called it, the 10% reduction. Every time you read through your manuscript find areas that can be compressed using smaller or fewer words or removing entire paragraphs. When you're done you will have a more concise story and something more pleasing for Editors to read.

You can apply this same solution to writing blog posts. I try to reduce what I write by 10%. Some times its just not possible to reduce what you've written but I would at least try.

Side note here. Ken didn't ask me or pay me to say anything about this book. I have truly gotten a lot out of it and just wanted to share it with all of you.

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Use Social Networks To Build A Blog Brand

Build A Better Blog Day 17

Today's tip is about Social Networks. These networks are becoming more important to building a strong blog brand. Believe it or not most of the work required to build a better blog happens somewhere other than your site. I'm sure you've heard of sites like MySpace and Facebook, but you should also become familiar with sites like del.icio.us, Digg and Technorati. Each of these sites is unique and should be used in same aspect with your blog.

MySpace

One of the planets largest network is undoubtedly MySpace.com. I've been using this social site for some time and I know many others who do too. MySpace has taken it on the chin in the past for allowing bad behavior on the part of its members, but I have been able to connect with a lot of really cool people. If you take the time to connect with others who have the same interest as you on MySpace you should be able to build relationships that can benefit your blog traffic.

Facebook

Facebook is what I would consider the grown up version of MySpace. It has a lot of the same features; friends, applications and widgets, profiles and picture sharing. But where MySpace is all about skinning your site and adding music play lists, Facebook is about connecting on a social level. Facebook uses groups and networks to build a large group of users who have the same interest. These groups then share information on each others site. The target audience is different from MySpace and you can tell. One thing I noticed right away was the interface. Facebook is very clean and professional.

Where MySpace is open, meaning each user can have a vanity style URL and you can see the entire site, Facebook is closed; you must be a member of Facebook in order to see anyone's profiles. This is a drawback in my opinion, but I have built much stronger connections on Facebook than I ever have on MySpace. Become a facebook member. Start building good relationships. Comment on your friends and groups profiles. In return they will visit your blog.

del.icio.us

As you are surfing the net you come across sites you want to save for later. One of the best services for this is del.icio.us. Interesting play on a domain. Almost all blogging applications have a del.icio.us widget which allows you to share your links with readers. I highly recommend you do this.

Digg

Digg is a site where users post a link and then ask others to critique the link and give it a thumbs up or thumbs down. You may even hear the term "the Digg affect". This is when a blog post was submitted to Digg and a large amount of people thought the post was worth reading, so they clicked though to the site. This could generate thousands if not tens of thousands of visitors in a small amount of time.

The Digg affect is great because it drives people to your blog and hopefully you've been implementing some of the tips I've previously given and these new visitors stick around.

Technorati

Technorati is is an interesting site. It basically keeps track of who is linking to your blog. If you use a ping service as I suggested earlier, readers on Technorati will see your post and click through. Technorati also keeps track of sites that link directly to one of your posts. The service also provides a voting type system.

Finally I want to talk about two small but absolutely necessary social applications you should be using. One is Twitter and the other is Jaiku. Of these two Twitter seems to have a larger following and this is because the information passed from user to user is done over a web application, GTalk IM or SMS. I want you to stop reading right now and go sign up for Twitter. If you do nothing else with this tip today, do this. the other service is called Jaiku, like Gikoo. Recently purchased by Google, I think this service will give Twitter a run for its money. Both of these services allow you to build social networks where you share small bits of information, or what's being termed micro-blogging, with a select group of people. It's highly effective and can be done on the go. I a good majority of my traffic from Twitter. Try it. You will be surprised.

In the end, for Social Networks to be effective you have to participate. If no one knows your there it's basically a waste of time. Take some time to check these different services out and incorporate them into your blog brand.

ProBlogger's day seventeen post: Run a StumbleUpon Campaign for Your Blog

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No GTD Tool Required

I read a blog by Patti this morning that has more more sense of the whole GTD (Getting Things Done) syndrome than many I have read. Patti seems to have gone down the same path I did after reading David Allen's famous book Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity. Being the geek I am, there had to be some type of technology to make it work. After spending more time than should have been spent, I came to the same conclusion Patti did: you don't need a software tool to implement GTD.

This is my GTD tool. A Molekine notebook. Could be any notebook. In the past it was 25 cent notepads from Wal-Mart. Those wore out too fast so I upgraded. The only real change I've made to my system in a long time. I know from past experience when I write something in my Moleskine its in a trusted spot and I keep the book with me where ever I go. Dumping what's in my head into the Moleskine has made my life very manageable. Geeks often try and over complicate things. This is supposed to be a simple solution. So keep it simple.

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