Here in Tampa Bay, where the threat of hurricanes is never far from our minds, the pictures of people in New Orleans struggling against Katrina made each of us stop and think, “What if it happened to me?”

Some of us thought about what it would be like to lose our homes. Some of us thought about what it would be like to lose our shop or office.

What each of us should really ask is “What would it be like if I lost all the information in my computer?”

Research shows that 93% of companies go out of business within 5 years or less if they are involved in a major disaster where vital records are destroyed.

Indeed, the Small Business Administration has already calculated that the first businesses to fail after Katrina were those that lost all of their records.

Your most valuable asset is the information in your computer. That information is the lifeblood of your business. What are you doing to protect it?

We’ve all heard that backing up computer data is vitally important. But even so, the vast majority of users skip this all-important step. Others only do it sporadically.

If you’re backing up your computer’s data to a disc or an external hard drive on a regular schedule, you’re miles ahead of most people. But don’t bend over too far patting yourself on the back.

Have you stopped to think what will happen to your data if there’s a theft or fire in the room where you store that backup?

Last year, friends of mine discovered their office had been burgled. Their computer was gone. So were all the precious backup discs that had been stored on a shelf above the computer.

Weeks later, I read about a student just days away from turning in the thesis that would have completed his doctorate when fire destroyed his home office. He had his work backed up, of course. Sadly, that backup was stored in a closet in the home office. His laptop, his backup and three years of irreplaceable research and work went up in flames.

In both cases, the computer users thought they were doing the right thing—backing up. But they forgot one of the golden rules of backups—always have one backup stored off your property.

I’m a fanatic about backing up my data. I have all my computer data stored not once, but twice, on two external drives here in my office. Then I add a triple layer of protection by storing a third complete backup off my property.

I do this effortlessly by using Mozy, a company that offers unlimited backup storage online.

To use Mozy, all you do is download a self-installing piece of software. This connects to the internet at any time you designate (I have mine set to connect anytime my computer is idle for 20 minutes) and backs up your entire hard drive. This means I never have to remember to do a backup. Mozy remembers for me, backing up as often and at any time I designate.

Mozy is a simple, easy and effective solution to the question of how to protect your most important asset—your computer data. I’ve used it for two years and I wouldn’t be without it.

Mozy offers several levels of service, all of them very affordable. Many self-employed professionals and even small businesses will find the MozyHome Unlimited plan fills all their needs for around $50 a year. Larger businesses will want to consider the MozyPro package.

Whichever off-site backup plan you choose, you’ll have one less thing to worry about come hurricane season, when the winds are blowing over Tampa Bay.

That’s why Bonnie Boots  of  Web Profit Professionals, uses and recommends Mozy!