Genealogy is one of the great untapped self employment ideas, often overlooked by those who search for freelance jobs in much more obvious fields. The truth is, anyone who’s good at finding information (and likes doing so) could learn how to make money with this career.
Genealogy and Self Employment
Lots of people want to know more about where they come from. It’s common for families to trace their history little beyond third and fourth generations, but just as common that they’ll feel curiosity about what lies beyond. Genealogists who can create family trees, find photographs and produce records are highly prized by many of the casually interested. As a self employment idea, this career can actually be very, very lucrative indeed.
There are many Web sites online, such as Ancestry.com, which specialize in offering searchable databases, professional help and other resources for people who want to trace their own family trees. However, on these Web sites it’s still necessary for individuals to do most of the work themselves. They’ll have to pore through databases and enter information; couldn’t a professional genealogist save them a lot of time and work? This is where self employment comes in.
Work at Home as a Genealogist
Thanks to the Internet, lots of research can be conducted online. The Library of Congress, the U.S. Census and many other sites provide online public records which can be searched at will. This allows many genealogists to complete a lot of work from home, narrowing down the amount of documents they’ll have to seek out in physical locations.
Lots of self-promotion can be conducted online also, helping work at home genealogists to find jobs and make money with their craft. Explore self employment ideas which will help bring in those paying gigs.
Self Employment Ideas and Genealogy
Anyone can become a work at home researcher and find paying gigs with genealogy. There’s a market out there for this service; with a few good self employment ideas, professionals can learn how to take advantage.
- Place free classified ads promoting services. There are lots of online sites offering free classified ad space. Use it to promote services, including contact information and perhaps some rate information. It’s a good idea to include a link to a professional Web site which more thoroughly explains genealogy services, as well.
- Create a Web site. The professional Web site is a must-have self employment idea, whether the profession is genealogy or freelance writing. Create pages to promote services, provide rate information and whet the appetite for more. It’s a good idea to use leading questions in order to get the audience excited. Thrill them with genealogy to get them to pay for it, but only make promises which can be easily kept.
- List genealogy services locally. It’s always a good idea to create a phone book listing and list services in local business directories. When people hire a genealogist, chances are they’ll search among local professionals first.
- Give away a little free information. It’s a tried-and-true selling tactic and a great self employment idea. Do a little research on friends and associates and share just a little of it with them- reminding them, of course, that the full paid service will give them lots more information. This can even be offered a special to online customers- a “trial period” that will entice them to see more.
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