Clients

Client Relationships  It is often said that people tend to hire service professionals that they know, like, and trust. Clients entrust us with their life stories, their precious photographs, and personal data on their entire family tree. Developing and maintaining a respectful, professional relationship – that is warm and friendly but not too close – is a key skill that should be considered of utmost importance.      Difficult Discussions  You may find yourself in difficult situations where you will have to deliver some sort of bad news to a client. If you find these situations difficult, stop and think about what it would feel like if you were in the client’s shoes. You will go a long way toward helping the client accept the situation if you approach them with possible solutions to the problem.  Another situation might arise when you feel you must refuse a client’s request, perhaps because you believe it is unethical. Here are some suggestions for having a conversation with the client about this difficult subject:  Try to keep from expressing judgment of the client.  Time the conversation for as soon as you learn of the situation as possible.   Steer the conversation away from blame or accusation.   You may find, however, that a satisfactory resolution cannot be reached, and you may have to withdraw from the project.  Client Feedback  Another prime opportunity to communicate with clients is when all the work is done (i.e., after you have completed the book, presented them with a family tree, or pulled the records they requested). Soliciting feedback and evaluation is something that many entrepreneurs neglect to do. When you have received evaluations or feedback, be sure to review them in detail. Make note…

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Your Genealogy Business 

 2 Tips for your Genealogy Business  Tip #1: Your Professional Image  The public image that you and your business project are important and should not be overlooked. Realize that prospective clients will be checking you out in whatever way they can. Take some time to set up a routine check of your online presence and reputation by doing a search for your name and your business name. If you uncover some issues that need repair there are a few steps that you can take to improve your online reputation.   Take the time to say you are sorry.  Speak to the negative commenter (on your blog or social media account, etc.) on the phone if you can; if that is not possible, try another form of contact.  Clear up any misconceptions by posting the facts online.   Create positive profiles for yourself and your company on social media websites.   Tip #2: Your Connections   Networking is a vital skill, especially for a business owner. This is another skill that is often taken for granted. We tend to network sporadically and without a plan. One way to analyze for yourself how effective your networking activities and/or organizations are is to make a simple list of the events you attended during a set period of time, the number of new people you met, business cards exchanged, and any results from that event. Don’t forget the other side of the networking coin. In order to receive, you need to be willing to give. You are also part of your network and you have value to offer the people with whom you connect.   The “Business Skills: Business Administration”…

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Headstones and Cemeteries

Headstones and Cemetery Indexes  Your ancestor’s headstone can indicate both their date of birth and death. However, this information is only as accurate as the person providing the information to the stone carver. Always locate other sources to confirm the dates carved into the stone.   If you have a death certificate and it states the name of a cemetery, Google the cemetery name. Then add the word “Index” to your search. Sometimes you will find that someone has transcribed a cemetery and uploaded it to a website. You should also search websites such as FindAGrave and the FamilySearch Catalog. Indexes are always a great start to your research but remember the goal is to locate the actual record, not just the index. We can help you learn about locating these vital records and indexes with our United States: Vital Records  course. 

Basic Timelines

Building a Basic Timeline  More often than not, you will want to create a basic timeline for your problem ancestor. Start with information about all of the events in their life, including their birth and death dates, any marriages, birth and death of any children, the death of a spouse, and death of parents. You might also want to incorporate relevant information about the locations you are working with, for example, boundary changes. You may choose not to indicate the source to begin with or you may use footnotes to cite the source. Creating footnotes in a spreadsheet program cannot be done with ease so you may want to include a short source reference instead.   One of the other uses of a timeline is to help illustrate instances where two people may have been combined. You can usually see this by just looking at the dates and locations and notice that something does not quite add up.  In addition to helping solve tough genealogy problems, this type of basic timeline is a great tool to keep handy when doing research. There are multiple ways to approach timelines and with our Skills-Building: Breaking Down Brick Walls course you will learn more.        

Analyze Data

Your Data   Based on your research log and evaluation log, you will want to take some time to analyze your findings.  Some of the important things to keep in mind while analyzing your data are:  Is the record for the right person/family?  Is the record original or derivative?  Are there other records that need to be checked?  Look for clues that can lead to other record types.  For example, if you find a civil marriage record that indicates a couple was married by a minister, try to determine the church the minister served so you can look for the marriage and other records of family events.   You may need to do additional analysis to make your determinations, our “Skill-Building: Breaking Down Brick Walls” course will help with this.