Working for one of the top Marketers online (David Ledoux) I've been lucky to learn many tips and tricks that can be used in cases of emergency. Like today when I still have the remnants of the flu. One of the first things I learned from David was planning. He plans for just about every or any situation possible. A number of years ago I got a weird request from David.."Chris, I want you to make a list of everything you do in a normal day" please include ...

- urls used
- passwords and user names
- possible situations and how you deal with them
- how to access the customers information, support email and shipping process for products sold.
- in short..everything you do on a normal day.

So at the start of the next morning I opened a new MS Word file and every time I did something I made note of it. By the end of the day I had a full list (very comprehensive) of everything that's done to all 3 websites to function fully, including keeping all customers happy.

The next day I ICQed David to let him know that the file was done. I then proceeded to ask him what was this for, especially since it did slow down my day having to log everything I do. He explained... now you have a clear action plan anyone can follow in the event you have to train someone to do your job or in the event of an emergency you can call in a temp or have someone from a different department come to cover for you.

Since then I've used that list 4 times... when we went on a family vacation to Disney In Orlando, when we went to the Bahamas, when my wife and I went to Varadero on vacation and most recently - yesterday. As mentioned in my previous blog entry I was taken down by the flu..so all I had to do was cal one of programmers and he was able to fill in for me with the help of that work list I created years ago.

Create an action list today, it will come in handy. But be sure to keep this under "lock and key" since if it's like the one I use, it contains vital passwords and access information for secure databases.

Regards

Chris