One of the beauties of freelancing for a living is that so long as you have internet you can work. You can run everything from your laptop and work from anywhere in the world at any time you please. There’s just one issue: when the internet goes down you want to rip your hair out.
Technology will be technology, and as I recently wrote for my Inc column, it’s not something we should fear. Instead, we need to learn how to deal with it. In this case of the internet going down, it looks like having some freelancing backups in place.
Have a mobile hotspot handy.
Of all the internet backups available, one of my favorites is a mobile hotspot. I used to use Karma WiFi which is a shared mobile hotspot that would give me affordable data. I also got a ton of free data because people kept signing up for it via the referral link on my blog. If you’re looking for a low-cost hotspot and you live in one of their service areas, Karma may be the way to go.
Eventually, I changed my mobile phone contract and it ended up coming with the capability to be used as a mobile hotspot through T-mobile. At that point, I thought it was pointless to pay for two hot spots. Check to see if your phone can be used as a hotspot so you can use what you’re already paying for.
If you’re traveling, you can actually rent mobile hot spots for a time being. This is especially helpful when you’re traveling to more remote areas. Just make sure to make the arrangements ahead of time for freelancing backups while you’re traveling.
Coworking spaces
One of the reasons I’ve come to adore my coworking space is because I can use it as a backup when the internet goes down. Rather than using my mobile hotspot which can be slow, I can just hop on over to my coworking space that’s five minutes from my house and has super fast internet. As an added bonus, I tend to get more done there anyway. That’s why my coworking space is one of my favorite internet backups, at least when I’m home.
Internet Cafes
When I was recently in Mexico, a friend and I found every internet cafe in the small Mexican town we were staying in. Granted, the person we were staying with had great internet, but we also wanted to explore the town and sometimes you may need to handle some work even when you’re traveling.
So after exploring a museum and walking around for a few hours, we parked it at an internet cafe to handle our emails and check in with family while we were traveling. Truth be told, when you’re traveling you need to find as many internet cafes as possible to serve as your internet backups in case there’s a business emergency.
Final Thoughts
I’ve learned to have internet backups the hard way one too many times. There is nothing worse than being on a deadline and having your internet go down. Use some of these tips for your own internet backups in your business.
