Simplifying work with this easy reminder system

This Saturday, after a leisurely cup of coffee and some nice time reading outside, I decided to turn on my computer and visit my website.

But my website wasn’t there.

Poof.

Gone.

Turns out I’d missed the renewal on my domain.

Strangely, I never received a single notice that it was about to expire and I was completely surprised. (Because I received notices for all of my other domains, and they were purchased at the same company … )

Fortunately it expired that day, so I quickly renewed and within 15 minutes it was live again.

Phew!

After this heart-stopping experience, though, I decided to set up a system in my calendar that would ensure this never happens again.

Google Calendar

Over the years I’ve adopted Google calendar as my sole calendaring system. It comes free with a gmail account and it’s a fantastic way to track and organize all sorts of events.

I use if for

• client appointments
• my contacts (emails, phones and addresses)
• reminders for things like birthdays
• my appointments (doctors, hair, lunch dates)
• and most important, vacation-time!

If you don’t have Gmail or Google calendar, but use another online email program, what I’m about to share may be available on your system, too.

Yahoo!, for instance, has a new calendar option that seems similar to Gmail’s.

Anyway, the downside of an online calendar is that you only have access to it if your computer is connected to the internet. Barring any major disasters or temporary cable disruptions, though, this is highly unlikely, at least for me, but it’s something to consider.

I also have access to my Gmail Calendar on my iPad, but again, I have to be connected to the internet.

Setting up your system

Here’s what I suggest you do if you have a website and want to ensure it never goes down:

Step One

First determine when your domain is going to expire.

If you don’t remember, log into the site where you purchased your domain name (the domain is this part: www.yourdomain.com). Your account should tell you when you purchased the domain and when it will expire.

Step Two

If you don’t remember where you purchased your domain or where it’s hosted, you may be able to find out by visiting www.whois.net.

For instance, if I go to this site and search “amybrucker.com” it tells me I purchased the site through LowPriceDomains.com.  It also tells me my site is hosted through HostGator.com.

Step Three

Once you have the information you need, open your calendaring system.  If, for instance, your domain expires August 15, 2012, create a reminder on August 10, 2012. This gives you five days warning.

Step Four

To add the actual reminder to your calendar, click the day that is 5 days before the due date.

In Google Calendar simply clicking the date of the calendar activates the set up process. It automatically adds the date and gives you a place to put a “What” description.

In the “what” category, add “renew domain.” Then click “edit details.”

Step Five

The next step is the best part. In Google Calendars I can select “repeat” which lets me tell the system to remind me daily, weekly, monthly or annually. I choose “annual repeat” so every August 10, no matter the year, I get a reminder that my domain is due.

Step Six

Then, I tell Google Calendars to email a reminder to me on August 10 (or whenever I set the schedule). Since I check my email on a daily basis, I will see the email reminder and immediately renew my domain.

I don’t even have to look in my calendar.

The other option is to set up a “pop-up” reminder so if you’re sitting at your desk typing an article, your computer will make a sound and you’ll get a pop-up notice that says, “Renew Domain.” (You can even do both, pop-up and email, just in case!)

Step Seven

If you renew your domain for extended periods, like five years at a time, simply add an annual reminder, but include the actual renewal date. Alternatively, you can advance your calendar 5 years (but it’s easier to do it the other way!).

Of course, you can use this system for birthdays, annual events, client appointments, anything.

And, you can color code entries. I set my client appointments in a color that matches my website. Vacations are another color, doctor or hair appointments yet another color.

In Google calendars you can even create multiple calendars, like a client appointment calendar, and view only those entries. Alternatively, you can view all calendars at once.

As I typed this I noticed Google calendar has a new feature you will love. It has to do with clients being able to create appointments directly on your calendar.

But I’ll write about that another time.

Do you have any calendaring shortcuts you can share? If so, click here so we can benefit from your wisdom.