As bloggers, we don’t really think about risk management and threat response during our daily workflow. Remember all those scheduled fire drills and emergency escape plans your school and workplace put you through? Well, it isn’t a bad idea to apply these same tactics to your professional blogging practice. Does this mean that you’ll be planning an escape out of your home office window anytime soon? Not necessarily! But you need to think about what will happen to your data, technology and audience connections when the power goes out, or if a natural disaster affects your area.

Data Backups

Imagine that you’re just plugging a 2,000-word exclusive feature into your blogging software and getting ready to publish it. Suddenly, the power goes out, and your desktop computer switches off. You immediately begin to sweat, because you’re not sure if you’ve saved the most recent copy. Perhaps your content management system saved it online before the power outage, but you’re not sure. Sudden disruptions can lead to enormous work disasters, especially if you are unable to retrieve lost data.

The ideal backup system combines external hard drives with cloud storage. Invest in an external hard drive with more capacity than your computer. Mac and Windows operating systems have built-in utilities for automated backups. Back up work-related files daily.

Cloud backups, such as Dropbox or Google Drive, can keep you precious files safe with an online storage system. Cloud backups have some very appealing benefits – since they are stored remotely, they cannot be damaged by natural disasters affecting your area. In the event of a flood or fire, your data will be intact.

An Emergency Kit

Most traditional workplaces have on-site emergency kits for medical needs, accident response, and natural disasters. If you work at home as a blogger, you should put together a similar kit. The same threats that you’re exposed to in a traditional office can hit you at home. Stock it with bandages, antiseptics, water and food rations, pain relievers, and other survival tools.

An Expansive Social Network

Social media have enormous potential during emergencies and disasters, helping you to connect with local and national news sources and individuals. Phone lines can become unreliable during natural disasters, especially if hundreds of people are jumping onto a network to make calls. Platforms such as Facebook and Twitter can play an invaluable role in helping you communicate during an emergency. People often turn to bloggers on the ground as sources for journalistic news. Posting text and photo updates during a emergency situation can provide useful information for others in your area – just make sure that you don’t get hurt documenting this events!

Maintain professional connections online via networks like Linked In. If you are unable to access your blog for a long period of time due to an extensive power outage or evacuation, you might be able to reassign duties to a colleague online.

Alternative Power Sources

Power outages can be particularly frustrating, because they can prevent you from getting any work done on your blog posts. Longer interruption can be professionally crippling, especially if you are working on extremely tight deadlines. This is why you should invest in backup power suppliesfor your external hard drives, computers, and other vital appliances. Generators can buy you enough time to save your documents properly, back them up, and continue to write until the power returns.

Since most professional bloggers work from home offices, it can be easy to feel a heightened sense of comfort. However, safety protocols are important in this setting, just as they would be in any other office. You can prepare for the worst and minimize damage by putting together an emergency kit, preparing data backups, and investing in backup power sources for your technology.