‘Making money with genealogy’ – recent blog posts

On 15 April 2011, Joan Miller wrote a post entitled, “Genea-Bodies: The New Somebodies,” in her Luxegen Genealogy and Family History blog. A comment by fellow professional genealogist and blogger Marian Pierre-Louise (who writes the Roots and Rambles blog) inspired one response in this blog (see “Genea-Bodies: A response to the comments” posted on 18 April 2011). The beginnings of the discussion were discussed more fully in that post.

More importantly, it got the world of geneabloggers talking! Here is a list of blog posts circling around the theme of making money through genealogy, that followed the initial discussion:

15 April 2011

• “Genea-Bodies: The New Somebodies,” Luxegen Genealogy and Family History

18 April 2011

• “Genea-Bodies: A response to the comments,” Tricks of the Tree (now Planting the Seeds: Genealogy as a profession)
• “Genea-Opportunities (Let’s Make Lots of Money),” Geneabloggers
• “Genealogy Blogging – For Fun or Profit?,” Geneabloggers
• “Genealogy Blogging – for Fun or Profit?,” Genea-Musings
• “In Which We (Finally) Discuss Taboo Stuff,” Clue Wagon
• “Genealogy Blogging – For Fun or Profit?,” Minnesota Family Historian
• “Genealogy Bloggers – Amateurs or Professionals?,” Beyond Genealogy
• “Genealogy Blogging: For Fun of Profit?,” The We Tree Genealogy Blog
• “Genealogy Blogging – For Fun or Profit?: My Take,” Amanda’s Athenaeum

19 April 2011

• “Diving in Thumbs First: My Take on the Paid Genealogy Debate,” Bayside Blog
• “Careers in Genealogy – “Off the Chart” Thinking,” Geneabloggers
• “Us vs. Them,” Geneabloggers
• “Careers in Genealogy – My Choices Work For Me,” Genea-Musings
• “Careers in Genealogy: Charting Your Own Course,” The We Tree Genealogy Blog
• “My Career in Genealogy or Today I Made $1.28 !!,” The Armchair Genealogist
• “Careers in Genealogy-”Off the Chart” Thinking: My Take,” Amanda’s Athenaeum
• “Genea-opportunities – we each choose what is right for us,” Dr. Bill Tells Ancestor Stories 

20 April 2011

• “Genealogy – What Do You Mean It Isn’t Free?,” Geneabloggers
• “Bloggers and speakers and researchers, oh my!,” DearMYRTLE’s Genealogy Blog
• “TANSTAAFGS,” Genea-Musings 
• “Careers in Genealogy,” Minnesota Family Historian
• “What Do You Mean It Isn’t Free?,” Minnesota Family Historian
• “Free Genealogy Isn’t Free,” The We Tree Genealogy Blog
• “Joining the “Us vs Them” Discussion,” Family History Research
• “Genealogy-What Do You Mean It Isn’t Free?: My Take,” Amanda’s Athenaeum
• “The Pro Versus Hobbyist Genealogist Debate,” Ian Hadden’s Family History
•  “Genealogy and Profit: A Hobbyist’s Perspective,” You Are Where You Came From
• “Charging For Genealogy Services Is Not Bad,” The Family History Researcher 

21 April 2011

• “How Do You Make Money In Genealogy?,” Geneabloggers
• “What Do You Mean It Isn’t Free?,” UpFront with NGS [added on 5/10/11]
• “Money, Money, Money and Genealogy,” Genealogy’s Star
• “NERGC Highlights – Going Pro,” The Family Curator
• “How Do You Make Money in Genealogy?,” The We Tree Genealogy Blog
• “How Do I Make Money in Genealogy?,” Amanda’s Athenaeum
• “Let’s Keep All Genealogy Free…,” Genealogy Frame of Mind
• “Freebies of Choice,” The Ancestral Archaeologist

22 April 2011

• “Money Changes Everything – Or Does It?,” Geneabloggers
• “Money Changes Everything – Or Does It?,” Minnesota Family Historian
• “Money Changes Everything – Or Does It?,” The We Tree Genealogy Blog
• “From the Archives: Can I Turn My Love of Genealogy into a Career?,” The Armchair Genealogist
• “More on money and genealogy? How can that happen?,” Genealogy’s Star
• “Genealogy, Computers & Money,” JLog
• “NERGC Highlights – On the Topic of ‘Making a Buck’,” The Family Curator 

23 April 2011

• “Making Money from Genealogy,” Genealogy Leftovers

24 April 2011

• “…and adding my $.02 to Making Money by way of the Gene Pool,” Wading in the Gene Pool

And luckily, the conversation has not ended, as the following posts have appeared in the meantime:

• “A Unique Business Idea Evolves from A Love of Genealogy!,” The Armchair Genealogist (27 April 2011)
• “Yep Its That Free Genealogy Thing AGAIN!,” Genealogy Frame of Mind
• “How to Become a Paid Researcher,” Genealogy Leftovers (30 April 2011)
• “Vendors,” The Chart Chick (5 May 2011)
• “The Genealogy Conference Model, The Speakers’ ‘Big Bucks,’ And Maybe a Turducken?,” Mnemosyne’s Magic Mirror (10 May 2011) [added on 15 May 2011 -MH]
• “Genealogy Conferences – Some Thoughts On ‘The Money Thing’, PR, and How ‘Free’ Is Often An Illusion (Part Three),” Mnemosyne’s Magic Mirror (13 May 2011) [added on 15 May 2011 -MH]

Quite a few bloggers commented in this discussion. Some were professionals, some were amateurs/hobbyists. Some of the posts comment directly on issues relevant to professional and transitional genealogists.

I would recommend that anyone interested in these issues read this series of posts. And if you know of any other posts that were missed in this survey, please let me know of them in the comments below!

Michael