Over the weekend I updated my Blogging Will.
Perhaps it’s because life is changing for our family with baby #3 due in July, or perhaps it’s the trip to Tanzania I’m on this week, but one way or another I decided it was a good time to update the document I’ve created for V (my wife) so that she knows what to do with my blogs if I ever were to die or become incapacitated.
That might sound a little morbid, but it is something I do ponder from time to time. What would happen to my blogs if I were not here?
I first developed a Blogging Will back in 2006 (I wrote about it here), around the time we realized that my blogging was our family’s primary source of income, and something we’d need to protect in the worse-case scenario.
Also, as a solo entrepreneur, I realized that much of what was needed to run this business was locked up in my head—a dangerous thing if something happened to that head!
What does my Blogging Will contain?
People
The most important things in my blogging will are names and contact emails of people I trust and work with. The list mentions around 15 people that I have different working relationships and friendships with, and who V could contact to get help around different aspects of my business. There are those I contract to help with different aspects of my blogs, server guys, community managers, business partners, authors, and more.
For each person, I’ve included a brief description of who they are, where they live, and what they do (or how they could help).
The reality is that V isn’t a blogger and I doubt she’d be able to take over much of the activity that I do each day. But with the right people around her, the business could be sustained at least a point to where parts of it could be sold.
Business overview
V has a basic understanding of my business, but it struck me recently that there’s a lot about it that she’s not really aware of. I no longer just have a few blogs—there are forums/communities, ebooks and courses, other partnerships, a book, job boards, and more.
So I’ve created a short document with an up-to-date description of each aspect and how it fits in.
Advice
In the Will are a few paragraphs of advice about what I’d do if I was in the situation of having to run the business without much prior knowledge of it. I explain what I’d try to sell, who I’d try to convince to run things, what products I’d release, and so on.
While none of it is legally binding, I want to leave my family in the best position to be able to sustain themselves in the long term if something were to happen to me.
Passwords, login details, access codes
Many parts of my business are reliant upon third parties, and anyone wanting to keep things running would need to access those services. For example, they’d need my PayPal account login details, affiliate program and ad network access details, and more.
Without these, it would be almost impossible to keep things running profitably.
What happens to your blogs if you die?
Do you have a Blogging Will. or any other kind of plan in place for your blog in the case of your passing?
