Tip 79. Back up right now on paper.

Have you ever been burglarized and lost everything? No computer, phone, fax, or TV? Talk about feeling disconnected…

If you have, how do you get yourself back up and going?

A secret decoder ring? Maybe back in the 50’s but not today. Just a simple sheet of paper with the following numbers on it will do it.

Phone numbers (or e-mail or web address) needed:

• Police. Don’t touch anything so they can check for fingerprints.
• Insurance company. Call them right after you call the Police.
• Computer store. So you can purchase a new computer.
• Computer tech. To help you set up your new computer, etc.
• Carpenter. In case your front door is smashed in and you want to secure your house. It’s nice to have a front door at night when you are in bed. It gives you kind of a warm, secure feeling.
• Back up cloud storage company. The best money you will ever spend for your business. If you don’t have a cloud service, stop what you are doing right now and get one. Hard drives can be stolen along with everything else you own. Carbonite or iDrive are two good ones.

Other ideas

• Have a record. Take a movie of everything in your house. You’d be amazed at the number of things which were stolen that you will forget about until you need them.

• Passwords. Do not keep them on your computer. Keep them on a sheet of paper hidden in a galaxy (or room) far away.
• Computer. Set up a Password or a fingerprint scan to be able to use your computer. Otherwise the information on your computer is an open book.
• Serial numbers. Keep them on a sheet of paper hidden away for the police and insurance company.

• A chip. Attach a chip to everything you can. Please refrain from using a chocolate chip.

Losing information on your computer is like concrete cracking. It isn’t whether the concrete is going to crack, it’s when and where it will crack. That’s why they put joints in every 8-10 feet. To control the inevitable cracks.

Likewise, it isn’t a matter of IF you’ll lose your data, it’s WHEN you’ll lose it.

Save it on a piece of paper? Really?

“Yup” as Hank Hill would say.