Family History Library in Salt Lake City, the Allen County Public Library in Fort Wayne (Indiana), the Newberry Library in Chicago, Stamford University in Birmingham (Alabama), and the National Archives in Washington DC have frequent workshops and ongoing classes. The University of Toronto offers several online Certificates in Genealogical Studies with specialization in various countries.
4. Ten Essential Things You’ll Learn from This Book
If you’ve been reading from page 1, you’ll have an idea of what personal historians do and whether this is something you might seriously consider. Here are ten essential things you’ll learn from this book to help you start and run your personal history business:
• The personal historian’s toolkit: what you need to succeed
• Who your clients are
• Where to find clients
• How to price your product for profit
• Finding your niche
• Communicating the value of your services
• How to market yourself
• Tips for the introvert: you can do sales and public speaking
• The best resources for ongoing education
• The art of listening: a primer on interviewing (the heart of personal history)
5. Summary
The field of memoirs, family history, and preserving history is becoming more sophisticated. Digital photography, technology, and the Internet have made it easier to create and unearth the raw material — genealogical information and family trees, scans of old photographs, etc. — but often, the material sits unorganized and in danger of being forgotten and scattered. One solution is to hire a professional to help properly preserve these family stories and photographs and present them in a way that is attractive and accessible for future generations.
Technology is speeding up communication but making us hungry for meaningful connections. We need to hear the stories of our ancestors, parents, and ourselves, and we’re realizing the need to preserve them permanently.
When it comes to the “close to the heart” issues of family values and heritage, people are willing to pay a premium for a high-quality product that reflects their individuality and character. The typical customer is in the mid- to upper-income bracket.
Busy baby boomers are likely to hire a professional who has the skills, experience, and time to interview themselves or older family members to capture their stories.
The core values of this business — love, living life to the fullest, memories, family, heritage, and history — hold immense appeal for boomers and their parents. These values will never go out of style and will weather recessions and economic downturns.
Though the values are timeless, the timing couldn’t be better for a business that’s about family values, personal fulfillment, a holistic approach to aging, connecting generations, and preserving history.
2
The Business of Personal History
1. What You Need to Know about Being a Personal Historian
Whether you’re an entrepreneur with big plans, or a second career part-timer following a life-long interest, a personal history business can be both lucrative and deeply satisfying personally and professionally. In this chapter we’ll look at who typically becomes a personal historian and what being in the business entails.
1.1 Suitable backgrounds and interests
Personal historians come from all walks of life. They are writers, editors, teachers, graphic designers, photographers, genealogists, historians, memoir coaches, journalists, broadcasters, psychologists, lawyers, nurses, doctors, social workers, life coaches, anthropologists, sociologists, hospice volunteers, therapists, gerontologists, religious leaders — or anyone with an interest in preserving life stories, family histories, corporate histories, community histories, and organizational histories. Here are a few examples of how various professionals could transfer their skills to a personal history business:
• Creative-writing and memoir-writing teachers at colleges, universities and online: You’re already teaching the basics and making the contacts. Why not learn how to turn these into a financially rewarding business?
• Writers, editors, journalists, and broadcasters: Bring interviewing, writing, and editing skills to draw people out to share their life stories.
• Counselors, psychologists, psychiatrists, health care workers, and gerontologists: Use listening skills and understanding of the human psyche to help people review and make sense of their lives.
• Genealogists: Add the stories behind the family tree.
• Scrapbookers and photobook publishers: A personal history business takes you a step further into the realm of the stories behind the photos.
• Other professionals who work with retirees or in any aspect of eldercare: Recent surveys and research show that reviewing one’s life is highly beneficial mentally and emotionally, especially for the elderly. Related activities and programs are growing in number all across North America, at assisted living centers and seniors’ residences, on tours, and at retreats, etc. The number of people involved in eldercare will grow exponentially as baby boomers get older.
1.2 Age
This is a career for someone of any age. However, it is especially appealing to those 45 and older who can relate more closely to their clients’ experiences, and whose circles of contacts probably includes the target market of 50-plus. It’s an ideal second career.
1.3 Solo or partners
Running a personal history business could work very well for two or more people sharing resources and the workload. The Internet, email communication, and file-sharing make it possible for each partner to have their own office, where regular face-to-face collaboration and strategizing will produce the backbone of the business. One person could provide skills and experience in, say, marketing and outreach, while the other concentrates on the editorial work.
1.4 A family affair
Many husband-and-wife teams draw on their diverse strengths to run personal history businesses. And many personal historians employ sons and daughters for a variety of tasks, from transcribing to proofreading to scanning. The kids get the training and money, and the parent gets work done at a reasonable rate. This can be a wonderful intergenerational family business.
1.5 Five really great things about a personal history business
Here are five wonderful things about personal history businesses:
• The personal history business has very low overhead.
• Your office can be anywhere in the world. This is a highly mobile profession. It’s entirely possible to spend a few months in the sun belt helping snowbirds with their memoir projects.
• The work is soul-satisfying, important, and has a lot of variety. I love the thought of the narrator’s great-grandchild taking a book from his or her bookshelf and reading about an ancestor’s life and times. Helping preserve something so enduring, and historically important that it becomes a family treasure … you can’t ask for a better way to make a living.
• There are few barriers. Starting and running a personal history business doesn’t require