Disaster Planning for Freelancers | Creative Freelancer Blog

While I wasn?t directly in the path of Superstorm Sandy, it still disrupted my business because many of my best clients live and work on the east coast. Several projects were delayed for the best of reasons as clients fled the storm, had emergency shutdowns, or simply lost power and Internet access.

Tragic events like these don?t hit often, but they can seriously impact freelancers when they do. Whether or not you believe that man-made climate change is responsible (a discussion that?s beyond the scope of this article), the number of severe weather events in North America has more than quintupled in the last 30 years. Many insurance companies are taking that statistic seriously, and you should too. And while there?s no completely weather-proof way to prepare, a few simple precautions can help any freelance business react and recover faster when calamity strikes.

Build a savings cushion
Disruption of your cash flow may not be the first thing on your mind in a disaster, but freelancers don?t get paid for downtime like many of their corporate counterparts. Your business should ideally have an emergency fund large enough to cover at least three months of operating expenses. If you don't have one, start today. Find a way to put at least $100 a month into a special account just for emergencies, set it up so that the funds are transferred automatically, then don?t touch it unless you have a legitimate crisis.

Backup, backup, backup
Catastrophic events aren?t the only good reason to have backups of all your critical data, but they?re more than enough to justify the investment. You should have both on-site and off-site backups in place. If you?re a Mac user, Apple?s backup application is an excellent solution for your local copy. It?s free, so you have no excuse not to use it, and it works automatically in the background without the need for you to think about it.

The simplest offsite backup is a disk drive that you take with you when you leave the office, assuming that you don?t work from home. If you prefer an automatic solution, there are a number of online services to choose from, so do a bit of research to find the one that best fits your budget, the number of computers you use, and the amount of data you need to back up. The basic Carbonite plan is sufficient for my files, which are mostly text, but most designers I know need something more robust to handle larger files. Other popular services include Backblaze, CrashPlan, Mozy, and JungleDisk. Dropbox also offers some backup options. Plan well in advance if you sign up for one of these services?it can literally take weeks for your first backup to run.

If you?re willing to trust files to the cloud, file-storage services like Dropbox and Evernote are handy ways to ensure key files are available anywhere, even if you lose your computer or other gizmos.

Got Power?
If technology is the lifeline of your business, give serious consideration to backup power and connectivity. At the very least, have a secondary power supply for at least one computer or tablet that can run critical software. It?s also a good idea to have several places in mind where you can go to get wi-fi access. If your home or office loses power, check to see if your local coffeehouse, library, or community center is still up and running.

Mobile phone service may or may not be available (Sandy knocked out cellular service in some areas), but you?ll want to have a way to keep your phone up and running. When Hurricane Ike blew 78 mph winds as far north as Cincinnati in 2008, I used a solar backpack generator to keep my mobile phone running until our power was restored. I?ve since added a crank-powered weather radio that can also charge my phone in a pinch, though it takes a while. If you?ve got a smartphone that can charge via USB, you can also power up from a battery-powered laptop.

If you still have a land line, keep an old-fashioned phone around--one that doesn?t require power from the wall to work. Phone lines don?t rely on the electric company, so they sometimes continue working even if your power is out. I?m fortunate to live in a neighborhood where the telephone wires are underground, and my vintage 1980s phone has served me well in several blackouts.

Backup generators are expensive, but if you live in an area that gets a lot of heavy weather, it might be worth the investment.

Let?s talk about redundancy again
Having more than one way to connect to the Internet can be a real business-saver. I have a wired connection in my home office, but my smartphone can access a different company?s network. You might also consider setting up a backup email address or two with a different company than your primary ISP. Free services like Gmail are an easy way to get a second address.

Set up an early warning system
When my wife Toni realized how focused I get while working, she made me get a weather radio for my office. A good one will let you customize which alerts you get, and from where. You can get similar alerts on your smartphone using the free Weather Channel app. Look for severe weather push notifications in the settings panel--click the circle with the letter ?i? to access it.

Be flexible
Disasters disrupt your clients, too. If they?re in recovery mode, be prepared to shift deadlines or make other accommodations. Don?t be surprised if delays are followed by the need for rush turnarounds. If you are able to offer help and support, do so. Being a low maintenance/high performance partner in the wake of a crisis can dramatically boost your value in the eyes of many clients.

Something else to be ready for is what economists call ?perverse stimulus.? While no sane person wishes tragedy on anyone, an ironic reality is that disasters often spur economic activity when recovery efforts get underway. If an event generates sudden demand for one of your clients or contacts, it could result in an unexpected assignment, often with a quick turnaround time. Don?t seek them out ghoulishly, but be prepared if an opportunity comes knocking. Donating your services may also be a possibility if you?re directly involved in disaster relief.

Have a personal disaster plan, too
I?ve focused on business-specific planning here, but having all your non-business precautions in place will help you weather the storm with a lot more peace of mind. Check out www.ready.gov for tips on what to do before, during, and after disaster strikes.

When all else fails, forget the deadline and stay safe
Deadlines are king in our business, but all bets are off when disaster is barreling toward your home office. Take cover, seek shelter, flee the zombie invasion, or do whatever else you must to keep yourself and your loved ones safe. Your clients will understand. If they don?t, get new clients.

P.S. Here's another helpful article by David Pogue, the tech correspondent for the New York Times, "How to Keep Electronics Going With No Power."

Tom N. Tumbusch writes copy that creates action for creative agencies and green businesses. He?s a regular contributor to the CFC blog and publishes a free writing tips newsletter each month. His tiny solar-powered corner of the Internet can be found at www.wordstreamcopy.com.

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Tom N. Tumbusch specializes in marketing for green businesses and creative agencies. He writes e-mail promotions, autoresponder sequences, web copy, direct marketing packages, advertising, brochures, newsletters, and just about anything else you can think of that involves the written word. He also works as a ghost writer for everything from short articles to book-length projects. He's done writing and editing work for companies of every size, including Crescent Hill Books, Interbrand, Landor Associates, Lucasfilm Limited, Procter & Gamble, and others. You can learn more about Tom on his website: www.wordstreamcopy.com, where you can subscribe to his free monthly newsletter of writing tips and strategies. You can also follow him on Twitter @wordstreamcopy.

Source: http://www.creativefreelancerblog.com/featured/disaster-planning-for-freelancers/

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