The subject of clients and expectations of time and end-result

I thought I would touch upon a more business related topic for today. For most of the group who consider themselves "transitional" genealogists, the topic of clients can be a loaded gun. There are so many unknowns associated with taking on work, whether pro bono or paid, and while books such as Professional Genealogy by Elizabeth Shown Mills help to understand the ethics of your professional-client relationship, amongst other things, the only real way to learn the ins and outs is by doing.

Right from the beginning though, one of the most important things to do is make sure the expectations are clear to both parties. That relates to how long the job will take as well as what will be accomplished. But how does the transitional genealogist know how to estimate an appropriate time expectation? Well, one of the best ways that I've discovered is by listening to the pros on the yahoo APG email forum. One of the threads today is a discussion of client expectations and the subject of estimating time, as well as cost. By listening to what the professionals have to say you can get a sense of what works and what doesn't. When a client approaches you to do a large-scale project, while it may sound like an exciting opportunity with a large paycheck attached, you have to look realistically at what such a project would involve. A popular way to approach projects is to have a 4 or 5 hour introductory/exploratory block. This first block of time would be meant as a way for you to assess the road ahead as well as to give your client an opportunity to take a look at your work. If they feel confident that you can find what they're looking for, or to produce a quality product, they will continue to hire you and tell their contacts as well. It's a win-win situation for you both. Once you've taken that time to get acclimated to the major players, their locations, their history, etc. and after you present your findings to your client in the report, you can then start to work with your client on priorities, ie. what it is that they would like to focus on first and work from there. The client can decide on tracing one person at a time in 5 hr blocks, or have you go for a family group in 10 hr blocks, etc. As a professional, you must keep in mind that while the client is paying you for your time, they also rely upon your expertise and efficiency to get what they are looking for in a timely manner. On the other hand, it's up to you to make sure that the client knows that asking for a 300 year long family history isn't something that can be done in a matter of a few hours so making sure that realistic expectations of time and end-result are vital to the success of the business relationship.

There are a number of questions that experienced genealogists may have in regards to clients once they make the decision to go out there and start a business. As soon as you are approached by a potential client though, you must make sure that all expectations are clear. Contracts, clearly stating how much time is going to be paid for and even how that time is going to be spent, are the best way to handle this. There are great examples of how to make the expectations clear and something that both parties agree to in Professional Genealogy as well as the BCG Genealogical Standards Manual. Anyone hoping to build a genealogy business should have and study copies of both books. There is a great chapter by Patricia Law Hatcher included in Professional Genealogy all about time management which is definitely worth a read.

Attention Ohio researchers...Add this one to your list

I was working on my Bromagen line tonight and came across another great local archives center to add to the list. This one may be the best that I've ever come across, maybe. The Greene County Ohio Records Center and Archives only charges a nominal fee for photocopies, their turnaround time is quoted to be about 7-10 days, they accept email inquiries and requests, and their list of holdings is really impressive. I'm going to order either a deed or a will today (they do ask that you only make one request at a time) and see how it goes but I have a few things I'd like to order from them so I'll definitely follow up and let you all know how well it goes. Here's the link if anyone is interested:

http://www.co.greene.oh.us/Archives/default.asp

Another great Tennessee site

A few days ago I mentioned the very positive experience I had with the Knox Co Archives. This morning I came across the site for the Tennessee State Library and Archives and there is a page with some great general info for state-wide research, including a few explanations of exceptions in some of the larger cities, including Knoxville. No matter where in the state your work takes you though, you should always check to see if the individual county has it's own Archives, Historical Society, etc. and check their holdings. Generally, you can find the same info that's available from the State and much much more. Here's the link, hopefully it will be a good general guide for anyone with some roots in TN:

http://www.tennessee.gov/tsla/history/howdoifind.htm#02

Making some connections...and an important caution!

I had a pretty good weekend as far as making some cousin connections. I was contacted through ancestry.com by a new Bromagen cousin which is great news. That family line is really an interesting one, I have a feeling I'll be posting some specifics on that family group (with ties to VA, OH, and IN) in the near future. Then this morning I woke up to an email from someone related through my McKeever line. That one was pretty surprising because I haven't made any connections with that line up to this point. This person also found my posts through ancestry.com. I can't say enough good things about the boards on ancestry for this reason. I've found people who help when you're stuck and now found about 4 or 5 cousin connections as well. It really is a great resource, if you're careful that is. One of the dangers of ancestry.com is that there is a ton of unvalidated, undocumented information floating around there. It's great to connect with someone and exchange info but you have to remember to either get their source and assess its reliability or treat it as undocumented and seek out the proof yourself. Using a family or county history published in the 19th century is not necessarily proof positive that the info is correct. Do not assume that just because something is published that it is correct info unless there is a reliable source/sources cited. You all probably already know all this anyway, but it's something that is important to remember when using the forums at the popular sites like ancestry.

Made any comments?

Hey, just a heads up that I try to keep on top of comments. The site is a little weird about it though and I don't get any kind of notification when someone makes a comment on the site so I have to be diligent about checking all the areas. If I find a comment I generally post it as just another comment in the same area though so if you posted recently and were waiting for a reply, just go back to the post where you left your comment and a reply should be there. Thanks to everyone for their kind words and for your feedback! I really appreciate it!

Any Tennessee researchers out there?

I've just started poking around at a branch of my in-laws' family and the search quickly took me to Tennessee, a state I have never been in let alone done any research on. Fortunately the family was from Knox Co and that seems to be a good county to work with. Right off the bat I found a site for the Knox Co Archives at http://knoxrooms.sirsi.net/rooms/portal/page/21590_Knox_County_Archives
which has a good running list of popularly requested holdings as well as an online Marriage Index. The staff was very helpful and even helped me understand what it was I was looking for and what information would be provided after I sent an email inquiry. Beyond having a helpful staff though, the charge for photocopies and shipping of marriage records is very reasonable ($3.80 uncertified/$6.80 certified for marriage records) and the turnaround time was quite timely. Although I still have a ton to learn about genealogy in Tennessee, my first experience with records from the Knox Co Archives was definitely a good one.

We're growing!

I just wanted to thank everyone for checking out the site. In just over a week, we've broken the double digits in followers and I've gotten some great feedback and support as well. I'd love to hear what you all think. I'm going to try and cover as much as I can but if there's something that you would like to know more about, let me know and I'll look into and post whatever may be helpful. But I wanted to say thanks for reading and thanks for the support!