I was looking at an earlier article I wrote, Six Questions to Ask Before Hiring a Personal Historian, and realized that I’d missed three important questions.
- What is your specialty? Be leery of anyone who answers, “Oh, I like to work on everything – books, video, audio – you name it!” It’s true that there are personal historians who are multi-talented and produce more than one type of product. But even if that is the case, I’d ask what the personal historian enjoys working on the most. Chances are that she will have a preference and if her preference doesn’t match yours, then I’d want to see some concrete examples of her work. Bottom line – if you want a book produced, it makes sense to hire someone who has a track record making books. Similarly, if you want a DVD, hire a personal historian whose specialty is video.
- How long have you been a personal historian? There isn’t a magical number of years of experience that turns someone into a seasoned personal historian. But I’d prefer to hire someone who had been working professionally for at least a couple of years. The longer a personal historian has been working, the more experience he will have and the more samples of his work he will also have for your perusal. On the other hand if a personal historian is just starting out, you might be able to work out a discount depending on what he’s charging.
- What attracted you to this work? There isn’t any right answer to this question. What you want to be wary of is a reply that sounds too pat, contrived, or rehearsed. Listen for an answer that suggests that this work resonates deeply with this person. For instance, she may have a compelling story to tell about the path that led her to become a personal historian.
Photo by Massimiliano Giani
When I was a young lad, an old friend of the family would sometimes take me fishing. He was a good fisherman and he would always say, “Dan, if you want to catch fish, you’ve got to go where the fish are.” This got me thinking that you could apply this piece of folk wisdom to marketing. If you want to get personal history clients, you’ve got to go where the personal history clients are.
make a good impression, I can feel the pre-presentation jitters creeping in. Over the years I’ve learned some practical steps to calm myself. Try these the next time you’ve got to make a “big” presentation.
people know about my services. I know all the marketing stuff I’m supposed to be doing – networking, writing articles, asking for references, making presentations, yadda, yadda, yadda. But it all seems overwhelming. Where to start? Who to call? What to write? In no time my “Inner Critic” starts berating me. “Who would want your personal history services? Who said you could market yourself? Others have far more experience than you do.” Before you know it, I’m back behind my computer feeling defeated, discouraged, and blue.
This article was inspired by a personal history colleague of mine in Victoria. She wondered if I knew anyone who could fix an audio cassette that no longer seemed to work in her recorder. I confessed that I didn’t have any recommendations. So I got to thinking, “How difficult is it to repair an audio cassette?” I did some research. Then I took apart a cassette and amazingly put it back together again! It requires patience and a steady hand but it’s not an impossible job. 
