How do you handle your website being down?

If your website was down for several days, what would you do?  I mean, besides scream, panic, and have anxiety attacks…

If you haven’t heard of Pat Flynn of Smart Passive Income, you are missing out on a great resource.  The problem is, his website has been down for the past couple of days (around the end of Feb 2013).  I’m sure there is more than just a little anxiety going on with him right now but there is only so much you can do and I’ll bet he is doing it all.  What I want to direct your attention to is how he handles visitors to a site that is down.

Most sites put up redirects, maybe even a message that says “This Site Is Under Maintenance”.  Not Pat; he shot a video.

Thinking outside the box is a cliche but in this case, I think what he did was a great idea.  If your website goes down, it sucks.  If it is down for days, it really sucks.  The worst thing is not that your site is down but that visitors have no idea why it is down, what is going on, or where you are.  Imagine how much better it has been on him since he did something as simple as put up a redirect and a YouTube video?

What can we learn from Pat?  Well, for starters, ask yourself what can you do in your business that, although unexpected, will impress your customers and visitors?  Most often, it is the little things that matter, like communication (even if it is through a video).