Business Conversations: The Essential Organizer

When reaching their later years and preparing a legacy for their loved ones, people often draft or re-draft their wills, get their investments in order and make sure to have a power of attorney.

But more often than not, important information is kept in different places, under different sets of locks and passwords, and is connected to a variety of other people, such as lawyers, family members, doctors and financial advisors.

That's where The Essential Organizer comes in. The legacy tool, created by Hingham resident Bill Lytle, comes in book and digital format, and allows people to provide guidance and reassurance to their loved ones, no matter their age.

Hingham Patch will feature questions with business owners every Monday. See Bill Lytle's interview on The Essential Organizer below.

What did you do before?

Lytle grew up in a mill town outside of Pittsburg. He attended Yale University, participating in ROTC, and served two years in the U.S. Navy. He then returned to Yale and earned a graduate degree with a combination management/engineering focus.

From there Lytle worked for three years in New Jersey for Exxon, in a human resources capacity. He eventually switched to Polaroid, in Massachusetts, and spent 16 years there, using the social sciences and technology as a platform for organizing training and the company's management structure.

In the late 1970s, when Polaroid downsized, Lytle went out on his own as an independent consultant, working with companies throughout the U.S. and Canada. He stopped that work about five years ago, but never officially retired.

Why did you move to Hingham?

Lytle moved to Linden Ponds in Hingham seven weeks ago after exploring retirement communities in the Boston area. He liked the staff, who he said are friendly and accommodating, and because he does not have family, Lytle figured in his older years "I've got to do it for myself."

Before Hingham, Lytle lived in Lexington and Lincoln. 

How did you come up with the idea for The Essential Organizer? 

The idea came originally from Lytle's neighbor in Lincoln, who worked as a volunteer at a hospice center, and from stories from her colleagues about people who passed away and left their spouses confused about finances and other important details.

As Lytle describes on his website, "Those observations, coupled with having the responsibility of resolving her own family’s complicated estate, led her to conclude that a solution would be to develop a comprehensive and user-friendly guidebook."

When did you launch the book?

The first edition came out in 2009-2010, a second edition, featuring a digital book, came out in 2011.

How did you decide what to include?

Lytle said he did a lot of research, using other books and online, and focused especially on books on caring for the elderly. Topics in the book include medical care, funeral arrangements, home and property, memberships, insurance documents and financial assets and liabilities.

How did you develop and use feedback?

For the first version of the book, Lytle put together a group of about eight people at the condominium complex where he lived. They read the book, he gave them assignments and he used that feedback to help draft the organizer.

After the initial run, Lytle put gathered another group and also spoke with people who had stories about their loved ones not organizing their legacy information, "some extraordinarily sad," he said. 

From feedback, Lytle decided to include a CD in the second version, which makes input easier, and he also added an "express form" at the front for the most essential information for people who can't go through the entire book.

Who do you work with?

Lytle works with a woman who does his marketing and her husband, who does fulfillment. 

How did you end up in the Wall Street Journal?

As part of his marketing campaign, Lytle had been sending out copies of his book and information brochures to financial advisors and other retirement professionals. Through that he connected with Glenn Ruffenach of the  
Wall Street Journal. At the time he was editing a retirement section, and interviewed Lytle about his organizer.

Ruffenach was "incredibly an warm person to talk to," Lytle said, and after the review was published, sales spiked, and Lytle actually run out of books for a few weeks while his publisher in Minnesota worked to keep up with demand.

What have been the biggest challenges?

Working in the self-publishing field has been difficult, Lytle said. It requires money up front and a lot of self-motivation and marketing to get ahead. He said he has not made a profit so far, but looks forward to getting the word out more. At Linden Ponds, for example, Lytle has spoken with directors who told him residents there could benefit greatly from the organizer.

Visit http://www.essential-organizer.com for more information.

If you would like to be featured in our weekly Business Conversations article, email joseph.markman@patch.com.