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.
Marketing experts stress the importance of knowing your target audience. Over the years I realize that my clients tend to have somewhat the same profile. And this profile rings true for many other personal historians. For the most part my clients are:
- female
- professional
- 50 t0 60 years old
- at least one parent living
- wanting to record and preserve a parent’s life story
- too busy or lacking the skill to produce a personal history
Like fishing, knowing who your clients are helps determine how and where you might reach them. If you want to find some personal history clients who meet the profile above, I’d suggest the following:
- Join a professional networking group like BNI (Business Network International), Chamber of Commerce, or eWomenNetwork.
- Write an article or get interviewed for the Lifestyle section of your local newspaper.
- Participate in community groups like fitness and yoga classes, choirs, and adult education classes.
- Join or offer presentations to women’s professional associations and groups.
- Become involved with your Alumni association.
- Join and participate in Facebook and Twitter groups that have an interest in family stories.
This is by no means an exhaustive list. What are some of the ways you reach out to the kind of clients I’ve mentioned? Please share your tips in the comment box below. I always welcome your comments.
Photo by Lindsey Scalera
Share this post.
Most of my clients for personal histories have been men. One woman hired me to help her husband write his memoirs. Nobody has been poor, but they also haven’t necessarily been rich, and having enough extra money to purchase my services is definitely a factor. Those who hire me to do organizational histories may be men or women, and the person doing the hunt for the writer is not necessarily the person whose idea it is to do a history. The person who gets inspired to do a personal history or an organizational history may then have no idea where to find someone to help them. The people you want to educate about your availability are the people they may ask for advice. They may be young or old. The age of the storyteller/legacy leaver and the age and gender and status of the person looking for the personal historian may be two different things.
@Pat McNees. Thanks for your comments. What you say makes a lot of sense. As well, I think for people starting out in the personal history business it’s really important to focus their marketing efforts and not use a scatter gun approach.
Pingback: Have I Got Something For You! Nine Fabulous Marketing Articles! « Dan Curtis ~ Professional Personal Historian