Yes, sometimes it can. If you have not started doing backups or if you do not do them regularly I suggest that you take a moment and think about what it would cost you if you lost all of your data. Or even if you lost a big part of it.

Scary yes. And maybe you want to find a way to run backups that is not such a pain that you stop doing it after a few weeks. Maybe you want to do your backups online. Lots of services trying to do that for you and I often get asked about how to do it and what is the best way or best online service.

But this is not about who “is the best” or how to do it This is about thinking about the hidden consequences.

It seems like social media is a gift from heaven and that the execution can make you feel like you are in hell.

Yes more and more small businesses are turning to social media to meet their marketing needs. But recent surveys show that most small businesses feel overwhelmed by the challenge.

For some the challenge for many entrepreneurs is how to best use social media. For other it is how to find the time to use social media. Many in the second group are looking for options other then just finding the time. Small business owners are looking for outsource options and looking in large numbers.

It comes as no surprise when you read that advertising revenues are down in traditional media outlets. Newspapers and magazines are crumbling. TV and Radio are stagnant.

Movies and of course the music industry are so beat up that few people even notice when another industry player goes under.

Yes the digital media revolution has brutalized conventional media outlets. But that is not the whole picture. There have always been some smart businesses that work through the changes in the system to do exceptionally well, in spite of economic or technological changes. In fact the smart players do not fight the change - they embrace it or even lead the change.

Online research can show you that Offline Marketing works and not just for offline business but for building your online business too.

Seems counter intuitive but Internet traffic proves it.

If you look at all the traffic going to a site and the unique visits are high, the traffic coming from referring sites are low, the searches coming from Google and not keyword driven but are the name of the business or website you can be pretty sure they are doing effective offline marketing.

Recently I was doing some research for a client and found just such a situation. I showed it to the client and discussed it with them. They were thinking of reducing their offline marketing efforts and focusing more time, effort and money on the online piece.