<HTML><HEAD></HEAD> <BODY dir=ltr> <DIV dir=ltr> <DIV style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'; COLOR: #000000; FONT-SIZE: 12pt"> <DIV>I’d be happy to answer your questions from my experience:</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>1. If you are not being paid for a lecture, then all of the expenses, as well as the time that is spent actually conducting the necessary research and creating the lecture, come out of your pocket. This is why many speakers do not provide unpaid lectures (unless for a local society where costs are minimal).</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>2. If you write an article for a scholarly journal that does not pay writers, then you do not get reimbursed. On the other hand, many case studies that are published develop out of client research projects for which the researcher was paid, and published articles often lead to more paying jobs. So while you are not paid directly by the journals, you can sometimes chalk it up as “advertising.”</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>3. There are always opportunities for more genealogists. There are also many ways to set yourself apart from the crowd, either through creating your own niche or providing a service that others do not, etc. There are also a lot of “professional” genealogists who do not produce quality work, so doing so will in and of itself help to set you apart from others.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Hope this helps. You may also like to join the Transitional Genealogists Forum mailing list, hosted by Rootsweb. These sorts of questions are right at home on this mailing list as well.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><BR>Michael Hait<BR>michael.hait@hotmail.com<BR>http://www.haitfamilyresearch.com</DIV> <DIV style="FONT-STYLE: normal; DISPLAY: inline; FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri'; COLOR: #000000; FONT-SIZE: small; FONT-WEIGHT: normal; TEXT-DECORATION: none"> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt tahoma"> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV style="BACKGROUND: #f5f5f5"> <DIV style="font-color: black"><B>From:</B> <A title=dlyontamer@verizon.net href="mailto:dlyontamer@verizon.net">Debbi Lyon</A> </DIV> <DIV><B>Sent:</B> Friday, June 10, 2011 11:04 PM</DIV> <DIV><B>To:</B> <A title=apgpubliclist@apgen.org href="mailto:apgpubliclist@apgen.org">apgpubliclist@apgen.org</A> </DIV> <DIV><B>Subject:</B> [APG Public List] Genalogy business plan</DIV></DIV></DIV> <DIV> </DIV></DIV> <DIV style="FONT-STYLE: normal; DISPLAY: inline; FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri'; COLOR: #000000; FONT-SIZE: small; FONT-WEIGHT: normal; TEXT-DECORATION: none"> <DIV style="FONT-FAMILY: verdana; COLOR: #000000; FONT-SIZE: 12px"> <DIV>Hello,</DIV> <DIV>I need help writing a business plan for my genealogy business. I would appreciate some insight either publicly or via e-mail. </DIV> <DIV>1) How are professional genealogists able to recoup travel and hotel fees when the are not paid for a speaking gig at the convention?</DIV> <DIV>2) How do the pros get reimbursed for the time involved in writing an article that is published in a scholarly genealogy publication?</DIV> <DIV>3) Is there room for one more genealogist to make a decent living (and pay for medical benefits) or is the field already too crowded?</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>I have worked as a freelance writer/photographer in the music industry and I wonder if genealogy vendors comp trips, tickets, supplies and subscriptions like the record labels do. </DIV> <DIV>Thank you,</DIV> <DIV>Debbi</DIV> <DIV> </DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></BODY></HTML>