{"id":572,"date":"2011-10-20T17:32:00","date_gmt":"2011-10-20T22:32:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/genealogy.julietarr.com\/blog\/hello-my-name-is-part-2\/"},"modified":"2013-07-06T18:11:39","modified_gmt":"2013-07-06T23:11:39","slug":"hello-my-name-is-part-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/genealogy.julietarr.com\/blog\/hello-my-name-is-part-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Hello, My Name Is\u2026 Part 2"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\" Earlier I posted Hello, My Name Is\u2026\u00a0 Part 1<\/a>.\u00a0 In that post I talked about a blog post written by Lynn Palermo and a Facebook comment from Kerry Scott.\u00a0 In a nutshell, both had to do with letting the world know who you are on your genealogy blog.\u00a0 Lynn\u2019s was general in nature while Kerry\u2019s was targeted toward professional genealogists.\u00a0 My previous post focused on genealogy bloggers in general; this post will look at professionals.<\/p>\n

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There are plenty of professional genealogists out there, but sometimes it\u2019s hard to find one.\u00a0 And to be fair, for those people who are just starting their family history journey they probably don\u2019t know there is such a thing as a professional genealogist, much less where to find one.\u00a0 Regardless, the first place many people go to learn more about a subject is the internet (and if they don\u2019t use a computer, they ask their kids or grandkids to look into it on the internet for them).\u00a0 With that being the case, professional genealogists should have some sort of web presence if they want to generate business.<\/p>\n

These days, a web presence can mean different things.\u00a0 It used to be simply a website.\u00a0 Now a web presence could also include a blog, a Facebook account and\/or page, a Twitter account, a LinkedIn account, or a variety of other social media and networking tools.\u00a0 While these tools have their place, this post is only concerned with the website and blog aspect.<\/p>\n

You would not believe how many professional genealogists do not provide their name on their website\/blog.\u00a0 I had made this observation before reading Kerry\u2019s Facebook comment, but never gave it much thought other than \u201cwell, I don\u2019t know who you are, so I\u2019m moving on.\u201d\u00a0 Did you hear that?\u00a0 I\u2019m moving on.\u00a0 That\u2019s right, your potential client just walked out of your store, so to speak, never to return, all because you wouldn\u2019t identify yourself.<\/p>\n

I realize that people want to be cautious when putting information on the web.\u00a0 I can understand how as professionals who work from home, we don\u2019t want to have our home phone number and address plastered everywhere.\u00a0 There are of course alternatives to that such as PO boxes and a separate phone number, but both require an additional expense.\u00a0 But at a minimum, you should provide your name (first and last), a short bio, the services you provide, and an email address so prospective clients can reach you.\u00a0 Whether you have a blog, website, or both, you need to be accessible to potential clients.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s an example.\u00a0 The other day, I visited the website of a professional genealogist, whose business card I picked up at the FGS conference.\u00a0 It was a nice website, the design was pleasant, there was a list of services and upcoming lectures, and a contact form.\u00a0 Now, there was an \u201cabout me\u201d page, however, nowhere on the site do you see her name.\u00a0 The only reason I knew who it was is because I had her business card.\u00a0 Do you see the disconnect here?\u00a0 If I had come to her page without knowing her previously, I would have walked away pretty quickly.\u00a0 And let\u2019s face it, those potential clients are likely to find you on the web before they\u2019d ever see your business card.<\/p>\n

As the comments on Kerry\u2019s Facebook comment ensued, there was also mention about the blog and website being one-in-the-same.\u00a0 Personally, I don\u2019t care how you do it, so long as wherever I am, I know who you are, what you can do for me, and how I can contact you.<\/p>\n

Following are some good examples of a professional genealogy website.\u00a0 They all include information about the person(s) in business, the services\/products offered, and a way to contact them.<\/p>\n