International Institute of Genealogical Studies

LEADERS IN ONLINE GENEALOGY EDUCATION

International Institute of Genealogical Studies - LEADERS IN ONLINE GENEALOGY EDUCATION

Tag Archives: Skill Building

Marketing

Marketing Management  

Constantly be on the lookout for great marketing strategies, even if the businesses are not within the realm of genealogy.  Some of the major elements of marketing are: 

  • Promotion/Displays 
  • Public Relations 
  • Pricing 
  • Newsletters/Surveys 
  • Advertising  
  • Networking  
  • Social Media 

Hopefully, your business plan includes a marketing plan.  But that is just a start.  As time goes on, it is important to re-evaluate your marketing strategies as part of your overall strategic planning process.  Depending on what sort of major business strategy you are planning, you may have to revise your marketing efforts.  You may decide as part of your strategic plan for the next five years to focus on a different target market than you had before.  You may decide to narrow down your target market on owners of family business.

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Whenever you initiate a marketing strategy, set up a document that describes the ad, event, promotion-whatever it is- along with what it cost you.  Then add to your document any results that you experience from this effort. 

In the course, “Business Skills: Business Administration” you will discover ways of managing the process of turning a prospect into a client while evaluating the success of your marketing management.  

Vital Statistics in Newspapers

Vital Statistics in Newspapers

Vital records are the listings of births, marriage, and deaths recorded for a given town, county or state. The vital records that we seek are a relatively new record, in many instances not coming into existence until the 1900s.

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When searching for births marriages, or deaths, the first place that we look is the officially recorded records at the town, county, or state level. One of the problems with these records is that as you go from the more local governments to the state, you will quickly discover that the certificates were not recorded for many years.

Newspapers can fill in gaps, either when the records were not kept or when there was limited information written in the earlier registers. Entries of birth, marriages, and deaths may offer additional information about the family. Unlike the vital records that often include only basic information an in a standard format, newspaper entries are sometimes full of information. Working in newspapers also means looking in a number of different places for the various announcements of birth, baptism, marriage, death, and burial.

With the United States: Newspaper Records course you will learn more about what you can discover in your research.

Financial Matters and Your Genealogy Business

Your Genealogy Business

Tracking money is not just mindless busywork. It has a purpose. Keeping track of money as it flows in and out of your business is a process that is key to providing you with the necessary information on how your business is doing which leads to better decision making. Managing your financial resources will involve the following aspects of money management:

  • accounting/bookkeeping/budgeting
  • profit/loss
  • cash flow
  • tax reporting
  • break-even analysis
  • credit and collections

For a small sole proprietorship, weekly bookkeeping and periodic budgeting can be a simple process, and many small business owners do very well using just a spreadsheet to keep their financial records.

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Accounting reports are useful for reporting and planning purposes. The basic financial reports useful to an owner of a small genealogy business include:

  • Balance Sheets– This is a very basic look at your business ownership at a particular point in time, usually at the end of each month.
  • Profit/Loss Statement– This covers a specific period of time, such as one month, one quarter, or one year.
  • Budget– This serves as a guide for your activities.

If you have ever had a month – in business or even in your personal life – when you did not know where you would get the money to pay the bills, you have an understanding of what cash flow is. In a service business such as genealogy research, cash does not always flow smoothly. Genealogy research projects can take extended periods of time, sometimes six months or more.

Project Management 

A significant portion of your income may come from projects that you complete for your clients. In order to be adequately paid for your work, it is necessary to keep whatever records are necessary to enable you to invoice your clients. Depending on how you charge your clients, you may need to keep track of your time and/or expenses, or simply charge per project as you deliver them. When you complete the work, something should trigger you to issue an invoice.

Financial administration involves many aspects of managing money as it comes in and goes out of your business. Through the Business Skills: Business Administration course you will gain a better understanding of the financial matters in your business.

Your Ancestor’s Locations

Your Ancestor’s Locations 

It is extremely important to learn about the location(s) our ancestors lived. We need to be aware of when certain jurisdictions were formed, what records were kept and when, which jurisdictions were responsible for keeping specific records, and what records are currently accessible.

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Keep in mind that jurisdictional boundaries may have changed over time, so it is important to keep track of what jurisdictions a location was a part of during the time the family resided there. Therefore, the use of historical and modern-day maps is essential. For example, the area now known as the City of Auburn in New York was a part of Onondaga County until 1799 when Cayuga County was formed.

Another problem we run into is location name changes. Consider the city of Auburn, New York as an example. It was originally known as Hardenberg’s Corners situated in the town of Aurelius. In 1805, it became the Cayuga County seat and was renamed. We also need to learn about the history of the location. In the United States, local histories can provide a wealth of information. We can often learn about what types of groups settled in a location, where they came from, and if they later dispersed, giving us wonderful clues for further research. There are a variety of recourses available to help us learn about different locations.

Finally, we need to understand the laws that were in place for the time period and location we are studying. This includes such things as the minimum age for marriage and if parental consent was allowed for those underage. Of course, keep in mind that the law is always changing; what may have been the legal age for marriage at one time, maybe different fifty years later.

What do you need to know about your ancestor’s location? To find out, check out the course Skill-Building: Breaking Down Brick Walls which offers tips and techniques you need for researching your ancestors.

Mapping Your Ancestors

 Mapping Your Ancestors 

Geography is an important element in your family history research. Did your ancestor contend with mountains, valleys, or waterways? The best way to answer these questions and potentially uncover new research avenues is to take a look at maps, particularly those contemporary to the time periods with which you are researching.

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  • Physical maps are most helpful in determining a person’s location relative to their surroundings, including boundaries, roadways, railways, waterways, and sometimes places of interest, such as churches and schools.
  • Political maps can help determine neighboring jurisdictions and that may contain records about your ancestors.
  • Plat maps, in most cases, are sketches that depict property boundaries of a particular area. Many of these maps also include a variety of physical features, such as roadways, railways, waterways, schools, churches, cemeteries and landscape elements. Plat maps may also indicate the landowner for each parcel.
  • Topographic maps are helpful for learning the details of a location’s landscape. These maps are helpful for determining if land features such as waterways, mountains, or valleys may have influenced your ancestor’s decision to attend a church or register a birth in a different place than you would have expected.

As with many resources, there are various ways to find and access maps. With our Skill Building: Breaking Brick Walls Course you will learn more ways to use these maps.