What do you do when you’re between major personal history projects and your bank account is dwindling?  If you’re like me, this can be a stressful time. One solution is to look for smaller projects that can be done relatively easily and quickly to tide you over.  Here are a few things I’ve done… Read more

A successful personal history business is like a three-legged stool. Take away one leg and you fall on your butt.

So what are the three legs? Simply put, they’re passion, perseverance, and planning or the 3P’s as I like to call them.

1. Passion

Merriam-Webster defines passion as a strong liking or desire for or devotion to some activity, object, or concept.

You’ve got to have a strong desire to tell people’s stories. It’s what makes you want to get up in the morning and get to work. It’s what gives you that extra boost to push you through the hard times. And believe me, there will be hard times.

Without passion you’ll find your work  becomes a chore. Your lack of enthusiasm will inevitably lead to fewer and fewer clients finding their way to your door.

Passion is the juice that keeps you going.

2. Perseverance

Perseverance is that ability to keep going in spite of setback and difficulties. It gives your passion its backbone.

Research from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics suggests that “most failures of American startups will occur in the first two years of their existence.”

If you’re expecting to turn a profit within a year, you’ll be sorely disappointed. It’ll take at least two years or more to get your personal history business up and running.

Without perseverance it’s all too easy to give up when the going gets tough.

3. Planning

Planning is an unnatural process; it is much more fun to do something. The nicest thing about not planning is that failure comes as a complete surprise, rather than being preceded by a period of worry and depression. (Sir John Harvey-Jones)

There’s wisdom in Sir John’s  tongue-in-cheek put down.  It’s true that  doing something is much more fun than planning. That’s why I suspect many small business owners don’t have a business plan.

But if you don’t have a business plan, it doesn’t matter how much passion and perseverance you have, you’re rudderless and you’ll almost certainly run aground.

I’m not suggesting you have to take a year to write a 40 page monster plan. What you need is something that’s relatively simple. According to WiseBread your plan should address such questions as:

• What’s my product or service?
• Who are my clients?
• How will I reach my clients?
• What are my goals over the next 3, 6, and 12 month period?
• What are my fixed, variable, and capital expenses?
• How much do I have to charge to make a profit?

For more help on planning check out these resources:

• Making Business Plans Easy
• The One Page Business Plan for the Creative Entrepreneur
• How to Write a Business Plan 

Conclusion

I see newcomers who go into the personal history business, full of passion for helping people tell their stories. This is  good but it’s not enough. It’s just one leg on our three-legged stool. Without the other legs of perseverance and planning some of these same people sadly give up their dream.

What leg on your personal history stool is wobbly? Please share your thoughts by writing a line or two in the comment box below.

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Don’t worry. If you’re expecting this to be another New Year’s admonishment about unhealthy eating, excessive drinking, or lack of exercise, it isn’t. It’s about what not to do if you want to get the best life story interview with your client.

Recently there’s been some discussion among my colleagues at the Association of Personal Historians about the way to record life story interviews.  Some personal historians use a digital voice recorder. Others prefer taking notes by hand or typing the interview directly into their laptop.

The latter make it clear they can type as fast as people talk, edit on the fly, maintain eye contact, and save the time and costs of transcribing the interview. For those who take notes by hand, they explain that this helps them keep the story to the essentials.They may record the interview for reference to ensure the accuracy of quotes. All point out that this method of interviewing is what they’re comfortable with and their clients are happy with their work.

But achieving the best interview possible has nothing to do with the time and cost of transcriptions, what process a personal historian is most comfortable with, or editing on the fly. These are all factors that speak to the preferences of the personal historian not the quality of the interview.

5 good reasons to ditch the laptop and handwritten notes.

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1. An integral and invaluable part of any personal history is recording and preserving the spoken word. Hearing  a loved one’s voice is a precious remembrance for bereaved families and future generations. Personal histories involve more than assembling edited transcripts into a story.

2. Laptops and note taking are distracting. I know this from having been interviewed a number of times by journalists. Imagine for a moment that you’re  talking to a columnist. You’re pouring your heart out but she’s writing nothing down. Then you move on to something that seems insignificant and the writer starts scribbling furiously. You wonder why these comments  elicited such a response. It’s unnerving. It’ll be unnerving for your clients too.

3. Multitasking doesn’t work. There is now sufficient research to show that the mind can’t process more than one thing at a time.  People can’t type or take notes and be fully engaged with a client at the same time. Trust me. It can’t be done.

4. Editing decisions are best made after not during an interview. It’s not possible to tell what portions of a narrative need to be dropped until you have a feel for the whole story. An item that seems of little importance at the time of the interview may turn out to be a crucial element in the story.

5. Listening to your interviews improves your skills. There’s tremendous value in recording an interview and being able to play it back. I do it all the time. For one thing, it enables you to see what follow-up questions to ask. But equally important, it gives you an opportunity to assess your strengths and weaknesses as an interviewer.

Conclusion

Not all approaches are equal when it comes to recording personal histories.  Choose a good digital recorder and microphone over a laptop or handwritten notes. Your clients will thank you.

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Photo by DonkeyHotey

Related articles

• Encore! The #1 Secret to a Successful Life Story Interview. (dancurtis.ca)

In today’s marketplace you’ve got to do more than offer excellent service and product. That’s a given. To separate your small business from all the others offering a similar service you’ve got to be unique and memorable. How do you do that?

Begin by checking out your competition. Look at their websites, blogs, and any printed marketing material. Ask yourself, “What can I do that they’re not doing?”

Taking  my own advice, I  started doing a little research on a few personal history websites. Here’s what I learned.

Generally personal historians do a good job of extolling the virtues of recording life stories.  But there are omissions. This means there’s a real opportunity for you to fill the gaps and  set your personal history business apart.  Here are 8 ways to be unique:

1. Provide a money back guarantee. This provides real comfort for potential clients. It also says that you’re confident about the quality of your work. I’ve had a 100% satisfaction guaranteed label on my home page for three years now and it’s never been a problem.

2. Contribute to your community. Demonstrate your values by listing your volunteer activities. Consider donating a percentage of your profits to a charity that has an obvious connection to life stories such as the Alzheimer’s Association and Reading is Fundamental.

3. Have a toll free number.  Prominently display your toll free number on your home page and other marketing materials. The easier it is for potential clients to talk to you, the better the chance of securing that client.

4. Offer free resources. Put together a series of lists and mini-publications  like 15 Great Memoirs Written by Women , The 50 Best Life Story Questions, and Come to Your Senses and Unlock Childhood Memories.  [Please feel free to use these or other articles  from my blog. All I ask is that you duly credit them.]

5. List prices. There’s no getting away from it, price matters. It’s usually the first thing people want to know. Anything that hints at avoidance can lead to suspicion. I know that personal history fees vary widely depending on the scope of a project. But minimally you can indicate a range. For example: Prices range from $300 for a one-hour video interview to $10,000 for a documentary film biography.

6. Go green.  Consumers increasingly expect businesses to limit their environmental impact. Being green can set you apart. How do you reduce your carbon footprint? In your office do you use recycled paper, compact fluorescent bulbs or LED lights? Do you drive a fuel efficient car? Is your printing done by an environmentally responsible company?

Consider buying carbon offsets. In Canada one of the top ranked companies is Less. In the United States check out TerraPass . Make sure that your clients know your commitment to the environment is more than talk.

7. Be an expert.Write articles that offer tips and advice. These can be on your own blog or for sites such as EZineArticles.com and About.com.   In time you’ll be seen as an expert! 

8. Code of Ethics. If you’re a member of the Association of Personal Historians, (If you’re not, you should be ) you know that you’re expected to adhere to the APH Code of Ethics. It’s simple to add this as a page to your website. Like the money back guarantee it creates a degree of comfort for your clients.

Conclusion

If I were a potential client in search a personal historian, who would  I hire?

Over and above the obvious need to hire a personal historian with a high degree of expertise, the nod would go to the person who was not only outstanding but went that extra mile and met the above attributes.

How are you going to make your business stand out this year? Drop me a line. Love to hear from you.

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Image by iStockphoto

copyright © 2010 gapingvoid gallery - reprinted with permission

Not long ago I discovered this wonderful cartoon and its accompanying text by Hugh MacLeod. I found it inspiring and thought to myself, … Read more.

This is my third annual listing of the best personal history blogs of the year.

I’ve been tougher in my selection this year. Blogs that were either “missing in action” or were visually unappealing or had weak content didn’t make the cut.

My criteria for selection is based on the qualities I wrote about in What Everybody Ought to Know About a Successful Blog. Briefly these are:

• Frequent posts.
• Consistency.
• Personal.
• Short and scannable articles.
• Uncluttered.
• Use of graphics, photographs, and video.
  
• Catchy headlines.
• Generous and useful content.

This year there are two newcomers to the list: Beth LaMie’s One Story at a Time and  Sarah White’s True Stories Well Told.

Special mention also goes to three blogs that show what good personal history blogging can be. If you’re not on this year’s list, check these out for inspiration.  The owners know their audience, write great content, post  frequently and consistently, and create a visually appealing format.  Kudos to The Heart and Craft of Life Writing, Women’s Memoirs, and True Stories Well Told.

Without further ado, here are the top eight personal history blogs for 2011, ranked in alphabetical order.  Congratulations to everyone.  Drum role, please!

• The Heart and Craft of Life Writing. Owner Sharon Lippincott describes herself as  “…passionate about all forms of life writing, especially memoir and journaling.”

• Legacy Multimedia blog. Owner Stefani Twyford says that on her blog “you will read about my passion for personal history, filmmaking techniques, genealogy, and related topics. I will veer off onto other topics from time to time but always come back to the things that make my work and my life a joy.”

• Memoir Mentor. Owner Dawn Thurston says, “My blog is an attempt to participate in the larger community of people interested in life story writing of all kinds and perhaps help a few people persevere in writing their stories.”

• The Memoir Writer’s Blog. Owner Denis Ledoux describes his blog as “helping people write family and personal stories…”

• One Story at a Time.  Owner Beth LaMie says, “I hope you find my stories of interest, especially if you want to write some of your own family stories.”

• True Stories Well Told.  Owner Sarah White says, “Here’s where I share the thoughts I might bring up for class discussion. Here’s where I post the writings of my fearless, peerless, workshop participants. Here’s where I share stories from my own life, as well as my pet peeves, pointers, and personal observations. I hope to create the atmosphere you find in my classrooms.”

• Video Biography Central. Owner Jane Lehmann-Shafron describes her blog as a place for “Advice, essays, samples and inspiration for people interested in preserving their personal and family history through video biography, memorial video, life story and genealogy video.”

• Women’s Memoirs. Owners Matilda Butler and Kendra Bonnet have put together a wealth of information that includes writing prompts, book reviews, and more. Women’s Memoirs is not strictly speaking a personal history site but there’s a lot of useful material  here for anyone involved in personal histories.

If you enjoyed this post, get free updates by email.

Photo by Jackie

1. The 50 Best Life Story Questions.
2. 25 No Cost or Low Cost Marketing Ideas for Your Personal History Business.
3. How Much Should You Pay a Personal Historian?
4. 15 Great Memoirs Written by Women.
5. 5 Top Sites for Free Online Videography Training.
6. The Top 3 Prosumer HD Camcorders Under $2,500.
7. How to Boost Your Interviewing Skills.
8. Three Crucial Steps to Starting Your Personal History Business.
9. 5 Print-On-Demand Sites You’ll Want to Consider.
10. 12 Top Rated Family Tree Makers.

If you enjoyed this post, get free updates by email.

]]> http://dancurtis.ca/2011/12/21/my-top-10-posts-of-2011/feed/ 1 dancurtis top10 http://dancurtis.ca/2011/12/08/encore-are-you-showing-your-clients-how-much-you-appreciate-them/ http://dancurtis.ca/2011/12/08/encore-are-you-showing-your-clients-how-much-you-appreciate-them/#comments Thu, 08 Dec 2011 14:54:16 +0000 Dan Curtis http://dancurtis.ca/?p=7890 ]]>

You may have seen the  inspiring video “Johnny the Bagger”.  It’s the true story of how one young man with Down Syndrome changed the experience of grocery shoppers in a simple but profound way…Read more.