Last week I heard the news from a member of the SEO Revolution that Martin Preece had passed away. Death sucks. If you don’t know who Martin was, he was a great SEO and focused on marketing and designing sites for small businesses. He always exceeded expectations and it was my honor to have known him.
When I got the news I was just finishing my daily run which ends by the lake. As I sat there I snapped this picture.
While it is tough to lose someone you know well, what is tougher is the job of those who are left behind, especially since Martin owned a web business. I received a call today from the person in charge of his estate who was contacting all the companies Martin was doing business with trying to get accounts shut down and clients notified. She was overwhelmed to say the least.
This isn’t the easiest question to ask yourself, but how prepared are you for your own death? And I’m not talking about having enough life insurance or setting up a trust or a will. I mean, if you died tomorrow, what would happen to your business? Could someone run it for you or would it be shut down? How easy would it be for someone to know where all your servers were, passwords, accounts, contacts, etc.?
I’ll be honest, it would be a literal nightmare if I passed away tomorrow for someone or a group of people to figure out how I have things set up, as I have servers everywhere. My wife does have a list of people to call in the event of my death to keep things running for a period, but even though these people are very smart, for them to figure out how I do things, would be next to impossible.
So, today, I am going to take the time to document my processes and put them in a safe deposit box. While that may seem over the top, I don’t want my death to cause more stress and pain than it needs to. I do wish the best to Martin’s family, especially his ailing mother who he was taking care of. We lost a good one in our community and he will be missed.
Connie Manning says
It was stunning, wasn’t it to hear about Martin? What a fantastic person he was to know.
In another web group that I belong to, an associate died suddenly, at her desk, a young woman who just had a baby 10 weeks before. It made us keenly aware that it was not only really difficult for the family to cope with, but to try and manage or discover what to do for her business clients must have been a nightmare.
That prompted me to do detailed documentation on every project/client, so that if anything were to happen, customer and project information would be easily accessible.
Another thing to consider is WHO to contact about handling customer accounts. Would your family know? Or do you leave clients to find new designers/developers/SEO on their own? (especially if you don’t have a staff who can do this)
Santhosh says
really it sucks when in my case i think to duplicate me with anyone of my nearest i will tell them what i do and how to do etc but nothing is 100% duplicate to me becoz all thinking are not equal but i try to keep things go around with or without presence of me
Jerry West says
Connie,
Great to hear from you. It was stunning to hear about Martin. I had heard he was sick, but didn’t know how bad it was. I agree that it is vital to have a backup so clients aren’t left high and dry.
Randy Cantrell says
I’ve often thought of all the server/website information in my life that nobody knows other than me. I once started a document listing a variety of user names, passwords, and other vital information. I quickly realized there was such an extensive list – I wasn’t sure I could even compile it. I kicked myself for failing to create a spreadsheet or some database where I added every new item (and kept it updated). We’d all do well to think of the chaos we might leave behind if death came suddenly. Morbid, but far from selfish.
Scott Hendison says
I never actually met Martin, but I knew well who he was. In fact, when I heard about his passing, I had some of the seme thoughts you did Jerry, and did another lengthy update to a wiki that I started nearly three years ago that describes “How I do things” in terms my wife and kids could understand.
It’s actually all in a self hosted wiki (open source download – tikiwiki.com), and my two key employees do help keep things / processes current, and over the past year we’ve found it helpful to use certain sections for training newly hired interns.
All usernames, passwords too, are kept as a master list. not in a safety deposit box, though that makes sense too. Thanks for the reminder, and may Martin rest in peace.
Rick says
I never knew Martin, but death is a natural time to reflect on one’s own life and how fragile it can be. To consider how someone would take over your web business is something that needs to be considered by all web business people. It is not easy to consider how to handle that.
To Martin’s family, my condolences. The death of a loved one is not easy to cope with. May you be blessed to remember all of the good things about Martin and to hold onto those memories.
MikeyMoeHawk says
Having been a very close friend to Martin Preece and spending a great deal of time with him, let me assure you that he went much quicker than anyone had planned. From diagnosis until death, it was only 6 weeks. At his diagnosis, he was informed that he had about 9 months to go which made him try harder to get his business on the move to care for his ailing dear Mum after his demise, but alas, the illness quickly manifested itself in him and after his short but brave struggle with cancer, he passed from us on October 19th, 2009.
Yes, he planned on making a will. Yes, he planned on taking care of all of his programmers and clients. His illness took him by storm, so much so, that I even typed messages for him one afternoon because he could only dictate due to the intense pain he was suffering. His unfinished business is taking it’s toll on a lot of people but Martin sincerely thought he had more time to sort it all out.
I lost a best friend on October 19th, 2009. My other best friend flew in from Miami on the following Sunday to lay dear Martin to rest. You folks only knew him as a smart SEO operator, but I knew him personally. Many of you would be surprised that he was the ROADIE’S ROADIE to many a famous rock star including Alice Cooper, Grand Funk, Joe Walsh, Bob Seger, and many, many more (and this is WHEN they were at the top of their careers). Those of you who knew him personally know what a gentle soul he was. I am a better man because he was my friend and I’ll miss him for a very long time.
Kath Dawson says
I was searching for Martin’s site as I wanted to link to his great list of web directories when I came across this post. I am so shocked to here this news. Martin skyped me from hospital in October last year but I was leaving for holiday and couldn’t chat. How I wish I could go back to that date. I had no idea he was so ill and assumed it was routine although he had wanted to call me. Oh boy am I gutted I didn’t stop being so busy and take his call.
I met Martin on WRC about 6 years ago and we did some training courses together, he became a mentor for me as he always seemed to have the answers for any puzzle I was struggling to unpick. Over the years we have spent many hours on the phone, across the pond, solving problems mostly mine but occasionally his. There was very little I could offer him and so much he offered me. He was a fantastic teacher and taught me so well that our calls became fewer and contact sadly rare. His mother is British and lived with him so when he wouldn’t understand something I said on the phone he’d shout to him mom who would explain, he was obviously so very fond of her.
I am sorry I didn’t make the time to chat and I will treasure all the times we did have – Martin was a lovely man, so generous with him time and knowledge and I am so pleased to have known him. I am so sad to have only learned of this tragic news nearly a year later. Makes you realise that life is short and its time to slow down. I’ll miss you Martin, RIP.