Hi All! I am George Pierce, and this post is about how to handle your online business when things go wrong. I have recently encountered a snag, actually two snags, with Youtube. One of the negatives about YT is that, as a YT creator, you are posting on their platform, so building a YT channel is still somewhat like working for someone else. More about that shortly.
I have had numerous sites crash and I have had a couple of sites get hacked. What I am building up to is that sometimes things happen regarding your online biz that are beyond your control.
I hope that I am wrong, but I believe that too many of us respond to such events POORLY. Our reaction may be one such as "Woe is me!" or "Panic!" or "Blame others!", instead of stepping back and remembering that "Business Is Business!"
The fact is that every experience is one that we can learn from. Believe it or not, when your online biz (website, YT channel, etc.) comes crashing down, take off your "Woe Is Me" hat, and put on your "Business Owner" hat. This is a learning experience, so learn all you can!
I was lucky! My first crash was due to a hacker, my web host came to my rescue...and I learned about the importance of "Back Up"!
In the case of a website, nowadays, backing up your site regularly is an easy option and one that I urge you to consider. Over 20+ years, I have only had a couple of hacker experiences, but I have had about a dozen or so WordPress site crashes. WP offers plenty of backup plugins. Many are free. Search for backup in your plugins and install the one that suits you best.
If your site is hacked, if you are lucky, your old files should be available (mine were). You may need your host to help you. Nowadays, most web hosts provide one-click free backup. Most of us may think, that will never happen to us, or we may not even be aware that our site can crash or get hacked...I was guilty of both.
A crash is a startling way to learn the value of 'back up', so back up your sites. Prevention is by far, our best solution.
When it comes to YT, I am still learning.
Above is a snapshot of one of my YT channels. The snapshot represents two Community Guidelines strikes, If you look closely, the link is to VidIQ, a YT partner.
In defense of YT, they are simply trying to protect their viewers and themselves. If these were legit violations they could be links to harmful sites, infectious sites, or sites with content that violate the Community Guidelines. These are all good reasons for Community Guideline strikes, and there is an appeal process, so if the strike is a mistake, you can appeal, and once approved, the strike is removed.
Appeals were submitted, one was approved, one is still pending, and none were removed, What this means is that if this channel should get another strike, it can be terminated. When your channel is terminated, you can appeal...BUT...at that point, you do not have access to your channel. You do not have access to the information that you might need to back up your appeal.
So, this is what I learned so far. If your channel runs into any kind of issues with YT, take a snapshot of the issue in YT as well as a snapshot of any emails that you have received from YT. YT will send you emails, but these emails seem to evaporate if your channel gets shut down. I am learning this the hard way.
YT has shut down one channel due to 'numerous strikes', it has none. That is all I have so far, I will let you know what happens.
YT shut down another channel due to four strikes, it had one. That strike was a real strike, it was a test and the test did not work. That one strike may (or may not) have created these shutdowns. By the way, to the best of my knowledge, on YT, it is three strikes and you are out, so four strikes might be enough of a YT error to get YT's attention.
What I did not do is to purposely take a snapshot to show YT. I do however have some training snapshots of both channels, I am hoping that I may have taken a snapshot that may back up an appeal.
If we put ourselves in YT's shoes, probably 99+% of appeals are by channels that are not only guilty of violations, those are only the ones that they were caught doing, YT is not going to be unfair, but proof of innocence seems to me to be the best defense. I learned too late, however, that the proof that I need is not available, once a channel is shut down, you no longer have access.
The bottom line, take snapshots of any kind of issue. Even if there are no issues, on other channels, take occasional snapshots showing that your channel is in good standing. YT knows all our channels and all our devices, so protect your channels.
I have many YT channels, some going back over 13 years, so I am concerned that one real strike (as mentioned, it was a real strike), could end up terminating all of them. I will keep you updated and pass on whatever I learn.
Thank you for reading,
Much success,
George Pierce
PS. For making money online training I invite you to visit my Internet Marketer Training channel, it is free.
Comments
You still bring positivity George, even after having something like this happen. Business is business, I've read you hit more misses than wins, but the wins are worth the journey. Thank you for sharing the expierence with us as well as the tip about backing up everything. I found the hard way about that too. The humor still brings a laugh, and that is one is kinda true in some places.
I guess that we have a choice to be negative, but it is not only a bad choice, it is bad for our business, bad for our mindset, bad for our health, and it even shortens our life, so we really want and need to stay positive. The hard way is not my favorite option, but, for me, and I believe for everyone else, it is the best teacher...we just need to remember to learn, thank you, Robin.
A quick update. The channel with no strikes has been restored, but the one with a strike has not yet been restored. My lesson learned is, do not experiment if it might jeopardize your channel.
Excellent to hear the news. You live and learn every day.
This is valuable information to know about YouTube community guidelines. As you stated, it's a good experience because you learned from it. Thank you being for sharing your post here. I hope that you continue having success with your other channels.