Tag: geneabloggers Page 33 of 72

Tuesday’s Tip: For the Genealogy Professional Or Those Thinking About It

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On 28 July 2015

In Resources, Review

By Mackenzie Kosut (Flickr: Brooklyn Home Office, Minimized, At Night) [CC BY-SA 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

By Mackenzie Kosut (Flickr: Brooklyn Home Office, Minimized, At Night) [CC BY-SA 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

I only wish my home office had such a view or was as nicely clean and laid out as this one! 🙂

Yesterday I posted on my facebook page that Thomas MacEntee of GeneaBloggers is starting a new series this week on the genealogy profession.

I think this is fabulous! As this is a recent profession for me (I officially started my business in September), I have counted on blogs and people like Thomas MacEntee to help get me started. And he really has! Not only did his website GeneaBloggers introduce me to an amazing group of genealogy bloggers that I now take a part in, but I’ve also used his GenBiz Solutions website as well!

The GenBiz Solutions Guides are really great. I’ve bought the Marketing Plan guide, which helped me to create a plan that I am still tweaking as I go. I also received his Creating an Email Marketing Campaign (full disclosure: I did not pay for this but my opinions are my own) which was probably more helpful than I could have imagined! It was my go-to guide when I was creating my giveaway for the Genealogy Lady’s book Dear Mother, Love Daddy. It was chock full of great information, just like the marketing plan guide! They are very reasonably priced and for any person wishing to go the professional route, I do highly recommend his guides. I am NOT a business person! I was an English and history major at school – which means I’m good at researching, reading, and writing reports 🙂 Running a business is new to me so I have greatly enjoyed guides like the ones that Thomas MacEntee has!

First in Series

This new series How to Make Money in the Genealogy Business is another great way that Thomas MacEntee is helping out the budding professionals in this ever-growing industry. Yesterday’s post was “Genealogy – For Fun or Profit?” There were so many great items in that post but I’ll share some of my favorites:

  • …”Genealogy Professional, Not a Professional Genealogist.” – MacEntee makes this distinction with a very good point. Whenever I say I am a professional genealogist, people do assume I only do client research when there is so much more going on! Writing and lecturing (the creation of) are two of my biggest items that I spend a lot of time on, and I think the wording of genealogy professional encompasses a lot more than a professional genealogist.
  • Affiliate Marketing – something I’ve never done before and I am definitely interested in learning more!
  • Keeping a journal – something I do not do at this point but will now. He recommends putting ideas down in a journal and then reviewing it once a week to see what is possible.
  • Exploit your niche – this is something I am struggling to really find. I’ve heard people recommend not starting your business until you have a niche, but I did not do that as I’m still exploring where I’d like to focus and I know many others who have done the same.
  • Discount on one of his GenBiz guides – go to the link for the post and read through it all – a lot of good stuff in there! – there’s a promo code at the bottom for a discount on one of the GenBiz Solutions guides!

Second in Series

Today’s post is “Careers in Genealogy” – There is quite a lot you can do with genealogy as your focus I’ve realized. It’s not just client research, as already mentioned. Your mix of genealogy careers will depend on where you live too. Places like Washington D.C. and Salt Lake City may have client research as their one or main income stream. For me in small-town Indiana, it’s a mix of lecture, writing, and client research. That mix will become heavier on the lecture and writing sections as I’ve discovered during my first year of business as well, but this list also shows what other branches you can consider besides those three basic ones. I imagine my current choices will change based on the environment (business and geographic) and as I discover what I enjoy and do not enjoy.

Again, this post has lots of great information but a few of my favorites are:

  • Author – I love the idea of ebooks and guides and I’m interested in looking at doing something like this in the near future
  • Speaker – webinars are definitely a time/money saver! I love how easily accessible they are to so many people and how much more affordable they are when you want a more well-known speaker but can’t afford for them to physically come to a group.
  • Mentor – I can’t recommend this enough! Genealogy professionals may not be in your immediate area but so many are available online; that’s where I found many of my own mentors in going through this process.
  • What sort of genealogist are you? This is a great question to consider and spend some time thinking about! This was a question we asked ourselves throughout my history undergrad as well but “what kind of historian are you” instead. I always considered myself a social historian – I enjoy people and their stories throughout history; not the big things like wars and politics, but more on how those big things influenced people’s lives throughout the years. It’s no wonder I love genealogy!

I highly recommend checking out the series! It’s great for professionals, those thinking of becoming professionals, and even those who are simply curious. Let me know what you think by leaving a comment here or on Facebook!

 

 

Friday Finds July 18th – 24th

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On 24 July 2015

In Friday Finds

By Yinan Chen (www.goodfreephotos.com (gallery, image)) [see page for license], via Wikimedia Commons

By Yinan Chen (www.goodfreephotos.com (gallery, image)) [see page for license], via Wikimedia Commons

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Tuesday’s Tip: Twile

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On 22 July 2015

In Resources, Review

Yes this is a day late again. I have been a day off all week long! 🙂

Not too long ago, I recieved an email about a new family tree website called Twile.

I checked it out  but didn’t do too much with it at first. But I followed them on Facebook and saw that they were allowing people to upload GEDcom’s – awesome! That is so much easier than re-making your whole family tree!

Uploading my GEDcom did come with some issues, which isn’t surprising. GEDcoms can be quite complicated as they come from many different programs but Twile’s owners are diligently working on the issues and I was able to upload the GEDcom last week!

So, now that I have that on there I get the chance to explore! Here are some things you can expect from Twile. First, at the top, you’ll find the main tool bar for viewing. You have two options: Timeline or Family Tree

Timeline

Twile6

You can choose different views for this one. You can choose FAMILY:

Twile 1

 

You can’t see it well but the timeline goes from your earliest ancestor recorded (mine happens to be 1796) to current time. You can scroll through the time line by clicking and “pulling” it along (much like you do on Ancestry and FamilySearch to move documents around). Or you can use the timeline line at the bottom of the screen:

Twile 2

You can also view a specific ancestor’s life. Just click the button that says Family and you’ll get this list where you can then choose someone to specifically look at:

Twile7

There you’ll see recent searches and then an alphabetical list. It’s alphabetical by first name, which takes a moment to get used to. Here’s a look at one of my ancestors:

Twile3

You can also see that specific person’s profile:

Twile4

Family Tree

Twile8

The Family Tree view can focus in on a specific person (as the profile at the top shows, you can click the Their Tree button to get a look at that ancestor’s specific connections. But you can move around this screen to see whatever connections you’d like:

Twile5

 

Pros

  • It’s just starting out – to me this is great because it means the owners/creators are actively paying attention to the needs and wants of it’s consumers. I have had wonderful responses to questions and problems I’ve come across with the site! It’s being monitored and your responses will be answered PLUS you can help make it better.
  • It’s FREE! – Always a nice touch.
  • Upload your GEDcoms – This is preferred to having to recreate a family tree!
  • Photo capabilities – Great for adding a more personal touch.
  • Views  – I really like the timeline view. Seeing the whole family throughout time like that gives it in a unique perspective. The family tree view is nice as well. I like that in the family tree view, the number under their initials (or picture) tells you how many facts, or stories, you have for them. It’s a nice quick view.
  • Ease of use – very self-explanatory and easy to use. I have not had a problem maneuvering around the website.
  • Share – As always, part of building a family tree is to SHARE IT! For family members, you just need to click their profile and you’ll see a box that says “Invite [Name] to share your family history with him/her” and a place for an email address. Enter that in and you’ll be able to share photos, stories, and the timeline with them. You can also invite friends, but they can then only see what you add to your specific timeline.
  • Feedback – In the menu there’s a section for feedback. I love it when websites actively seek out their costumer’s opinions and then DO something about it. Twile definitely delivers in that aspect!
  • Private – This is not a public tree. You get to choose who gets to view and edit information. This could be a CON for some people, but I know it’s something people have been looking for lately.

Cons

  • It’s just starting out – This is both a pro and a con. It’s great but you will also need to expect hiccups and some issues. However, it’s the customer service that makes or breaks this and I do feel this is more a PRO than anything because of Twile’s customer service. But it’s something to be aware of nonetheless.
  • Missing timeline items – I had this issue with census information after I uploaded my GEDcom. It was fixed for a specific ancestor that I had emailed about but I notice that it wasn’t fixed for all of my family. Military information is also missing. They are aware of the issue though. My GEDcom had items that were new to them and therefore didn’t upload correctly. This is one of those issues that will be fixed with time as it is still a new website working out the kinks as they go along.
  • Citations – Although my GEDcom has citations attached to people, Twile does not currently support that feature. I am not sure if that is something they hope to do or not but I do hope they will consider adding that feature. After all, genealogists work very hard to get those documents and we all know a fact (for lack of a better word) is only as good as it’s source!

Overall, this is a great website and I hope it continues to grow! I’ve been asked before about a place where people can put their family tree for free and have their family/friends view it and this has been at the top of my recommendations lately. FamilySearch is great, but it’s public, same with WikiTree. People have lately wanted a tree they could privately share and I think Twile is filling that gap nicely.

I also like their About page’s first line: “We know that family history is more than just names on a family tree.” So true!

Check out the website and their Facebook page for more information!

 

Have any of you used Twile? What did you think? Add your comment on Facebook or below!

 

 

Friday Finds July 11th-17th

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On 17 July 2015

In Friday Finds

Κλέαρχος Π. Καπούτσης [Attribution], via Wikimedia Commons - Thunderstorm in Akrotiri

Κλέαρχος Π. Καπούτσης [Attribution], via Wikimedia Commons – Thunderstorm in Akrotiri

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