Are you interested in genealogy research as a flexible part-time job? Would you like to earn extra income by retrieving and digitizing historical documents on demand from local repositories? This fast-paced presentation shows you how.

1. Genealogy Lookups 101 How to get started as a Genlighten Lookup Provider

2. We’re Genlighten.com

3. We help genealogy enthusiasts

4. Find the offline records they want

5. Through a network of lookup providers

6. We hope you’ll consider

7. Becoming one of our providers

8. And offering lookups through our site

9. But first, you’ve probably got questions

10. Like…

11. What kind of lookups could I offer?

12. How much should I charge?

13. What kind of money can I make?

14. And what qualifications do I need?

15. Let’s start with the last question first

16. You needn’t be an expert genealogist

17. To be an effective lookup provider

18. You basically just need three things

19. Access to nearby genealogical archives

20. Familiarity with common record types

21. And basic library research skills

22. Beyond that, it helps if you are

23. Detail-oriented and persistent

24. Confident using a digital scanner

25. Customer service-oriented

26. And friendly!

27. It also helps if you have

28. Experience researching your own roots

29. Still interested? Sound like you?

30. Cool! Let’s tackle your other questions

31. 1) What lookups could I offer?

32. It depends on what you have access to

33. Start by doing your homework

34. Find out what repositories are near you

35. Look for county courthouses

36. Historical societies

37. Libraries

38. LDS Family History Centers™

39. And government archives

40. Research their collections online

41. Visit them in person

42. Find out how much copies cost

43. And how long it takes to get there

44. If a nearby repository offers access to

45. Birth, marriage or death certificates

46. Create lookups for those records first

47. Other possibilities for lookups include

48. Newspaper obituaries

49. Cemetery photos

50. Wills and probate records

51. Land records

52. Church records

53. And city directories

54. Focus on records unique to your area

55. And avoid ones that are already online

56. Unless you can do them for less offline

57. On to your next question

58. 2) How much should I charge?

59. Start by figuring out your expenses

60. Consider transportation costs

61. Copying and other archive fees

62. And Genlighten’s commission 15%

63. Look at what other providers charge

64. Maybe look at competitive services, too

65. Charge enough so it’s worth it to you

66. To make frequent trips to the repository

67. Rapid lookup response time

68. Leads to satisfied customers

69. Which leads to more satisfied customers

70. Finally, don’t sell yourself short

71. Price for the unique value you offer

72. If you’re still not sure…

73. Just go with $10 for now

74. You can always change your price later

75. OK, next up…

76. 3) What kind of money can I make?

77. Let’s look at two different providers Gina Kurt

78. Gina lives near the NJ State Archives

79. She does birth, marriage & death lookups

80. She visits the Archives once a week

81. It takes her 30 minutes each way

82. She charges $12 per record

83. And gets 8 lookup requests per week

84. At the archives, it takes her 1.5 hours

85. To find the records her clients asked for

86. And make high-quality copies

87. Back home, she scans the paper copies

88. And tweaks the resulting digital images

89. Then uploads them to Genlighten

90. Considering her expenses and her time

91. Gina makes about $25 per hour

92. Or about $300 per month

93. Next, consider Kurt

94. He volunteers twice a month

95. At his local historical society

96. On Genlighten, Kurt offers to search

97. The society’s record collections

98. For a single individual

99. Given their name and a year range

100. He charges $25 for a successful search

101. But only $15 if he finds nothing

102. He gets just two requests per week

103. So he does them after he’s done

104. With his volunteer shift

105. Kurt does ~$80 of lookups each time

106. That works out to about $120 per month

107. For roughly six hours work

108. So… your mileage may vary

109. But you can probably earn $20-$25/hour

110. OK, you’ve told me what I can make

111. So how does Genlighten make money?

112. Our providers pay us a commission 15%

113. And our clients pay a handling fee 10%

114. But that’s it… no subscription/listing fees Subscriptions Listing Fees

115. OK, I’m interested. How do I get started?

116. Go to www.genlighten.com

117. Register for the site

118. Fill out your profile

119. Including a nice picture

120. Ponder what lookups to offer

121. Then create your first lookup offering

122. Start with a brief but specific headline

123. Add a detailed description

124. Describe the records you’ll look up

125. The repository you’ll visit

126. The process you’ll go through

127. And your typical turnaround time

128. Set “found” and “not found” prices

129. Give the client specific instructions

130. Describing the data you need from them

131. Preview and edit as needed

132. Click “Finalize” and you’re done!

133. So that’s “Genealogy Lookups 101”

134. If you have any more questions

135. Just e-mail us… or give us a call! E-mail: dean@genlighten.com Phone: (888) 845-9990

136. Thanks from the Genlighten team! Justin Ball,Co-founder/CTO Dean Richardson, Co-founder/CEO Cynthia Richardson,Co-founder/Chief Lookup Officer

137. Happy Lookup-ing!