Thomas MacEntee 15 August Not really, it is just a survival tactic and a way to keep focused. I have enough self-doubts and demons on a daily basis and I work hard to keep them at bay. And I get the last laugh: Yes you can replicate some of the projects and I hope they work for you, I really do. I just know that my skill set and my experience have me uniquely positioned.

I continue to thrive in my business mainly through my own OCD issues related to project management. As many readers know, in a previous work life I managed large information technology projects including employee office moves. I have developed keen skills when it comes to breaking down a goal into processes and steps that can be tracked on a spreadsheet.

Each day, my project sheet is the first file I open on my computer. Project management for me is simply reviewing and analyzing tasks, their due dates, their status and prioritizing what needs to be done in a given day.

It provides structure and focus. The truth is, my days are filled with mundane tasks instead of the oft-imagined sparkling life of lounging around watching Oprah and feasting on sea salted caramels all day. One of my goals for has been to reduce the amount of time I spend on volunteer work.

This has been a difficult decision, but a necessary one for me. I sit on the FGS Board as a Director and as Marketing and Public Relations chair, I handle publicity for various FGS projects. In addition, I made a commitment to assisting with the Preserve the Pensions fundraiser to preserve and digitize the War of pension rolls at the National Archives.

I serve on the ISGS board, I am the ISGS webmaster and I assist with production of the monthly ISGS webinars. In addition I am the Publicity Chair and handle all publicity and marketing for various ISGS projects. I consider it marketing really — it is a way to promote myself and also serve as an evangelist for blogging and genealogy. The total numbers of hours I devoted to genealogy related income producing activities, business administrative activities and volunteer activities is 1, hours.

Would I want that figure to be higher? No magic or smoke and mirrors involved here. Some considerations to keep in mind so you understand how I make this work:. So what does all this mean? Well you can draw your own conclusions from the data, but for me this means:. Again, no pressure, no numbers asked. But I would love to know the breakdown of a typical day or week in terms of the type of work tasks performed, whether you have similar administrative burdens and also the expenses involved.

I have material connections with various genealogy vendors and organizations. I think the hardest pill for me to swallow this year, has been to accept that my main career path is not and will probably never be genealogy.

Which is probably why I have no desire to ever take clients for research work. Accepting my priorities which will inevitably change as my career takes off and I start having a family , is what gave me the space to be excited about my multi-faceted career.

And I feel excited and blessed to be able to do it. None of my income-producing activities are genealogy-related this year, so I have nothing to share. Have you explored outsourcing some of the grunt work on GeneaBloggers on a site like MTurk? It seems like the tagging, etc. Totally agree with this suggestion! You could also find a virtual assistant, like you can find on oDesk. Since he had done this before, he was able to do it more quickly, and at a lower rate than mine too, that was still very high for his part of the world Pakistan.

We were both very happy with the transaction. As an accountant, I really like this post. I like my own research too much. Working for yourself must be nice, though.

As the owner of a small but growing genealogy business, it is really helpful to see what kind of revenue things like affiliate schemes can bring.

My focus is on client work, which means my audience is less likely to buy than yours, and probably more likely to be annoyed. My own breakdown of my income is: I am working on creating quality content for my Dutch Genealogy website, as that is my main marketing channel. I also want to create a revised version about the internet genealogy book. Recently, my job was globalized sent to Costa Rica.

Like you Thomas this person is always putting together a living from bits and pieces all over the place. It comes together for him but again he works at it constantly. As for me, genealogy is a hobby. Thank you for the details of your business life. If I had any lingering doubts, your article helped me resolve them.

I love the idea of the project worksheet. I am going to set that up for work and home. I have multiple work projects day job and sometimes have trouble keeping track of and on track.

I like the idea with starting the day with review of the project worksheet and outlining the day.

This will also work with some of my genealogy projects. I also appreciate your candor! And I concur with Kerry, taking some of the Geneabloggers grunt work off your plate would open you up for other options.

Have you thought about using some Geneabloggers members to assist with some of the work?

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It may be a marketing tool for you, but it is a community platform for us. After all, it is marketing for us, too. Obviously you would need to have some sort of application process and carefully screen people, but even finding a couple of volunteers would be helpful. Copyright MH Newsdesk lite by MH Themes.

Home About Thomas MacEntee — Hack Genealogy Founder How I Hack Genealogy Policies Subscribe via email Blog Store Resources Videos. How Do You Make Money in Genealogy? Project Management Update I continue to thrive in my business mainly through my own OCD issues related to project management.

The Numbers Income producing activities: Articles writing for magazines and online or editing guides For the period January 1 — June 30, Federation of Genealogical Societies FGS I sit on the FGS Board as a Director and as Marketing and Public Relations chair, I handle publicity for various FGS projects.

Illinois State Genealogical Society ISGS I serve on the ISGS board, I am the ISGS webmaster and I assist with production of the monthly ISGS webinars. GeneaBloggers — hours, Income Breakdown and Expenses Here is what I was able to bring in during the first half of So What Does He Do?

Here is an idea of how I make the money listed above: There Is No Magic Here No magic or smoke and mirrors involved here.

Some considerations to keep in mind so you understand how I make this work: I make it a point to pay for those services. I share living expenses with my partner he also works at home and amazingly there has not been a hatchet murder in this house.

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Honestly, I could not do what I do if I lived on my own. What does this mean? But my entrepreneurial spirit and vision kicked in and I made this pitch: The risk is easy: I could put 6 hours into a guide that sells only 10 copies resulting in a meager royalty.

But some guides sell hundreds of copies so I make out pretty well on that effort. The incentive lies in my willingness to produce quality work with solid educational content for the genealogy market and in my ability to market the guides to my network. Will Thomas be spending his winters in a warm get-away living on those checks?

No, but it sounds good. The truth is that passive income still has peaks and valleys, but the model is working more and more for me and has been key to a successful start in Prior to that he worked for a private, family-owned business. After living in some of the most expensive cities in the world, I can get creative when it comes to living expenses such as not having a car. I live comfortably, but there are no extravagances. And I do have to make lots of choices and opt not to do things or go places because of the cost.

And I am fine with that. Conclusion So what does all this mean? Well you can draw your own conclusions from the data, but for me this means: I need to decrease my Administrative hours and work smarter. This could mean reducing work on non-income producing platforms such as GeneaBloggers. I need to convince myself of this, especially since I just started a new endeavor called Hack Genealogy! I enjoy speaking but the travel is killing me.

I have some virtual education projects ready to be launched this Fall and I will be curtailing my in-person schedule starting in I want to increase my passive income stream and this means writing more ebooks like Guide to Wolfram Alpha for Genealogy and Family History Research.

So How Do You Make Money In The Genealogy Industry? Your candor is absolutely refreshing….. Elyse Doerflinger 15 August at Kerry Scott 15 August at Yvette Hoitink 16 August at 3: Jennifer Sepulvado 15 August at 7: Thank you for this honest post! Pamela Treme 16 August at 8: Terry Ligon 16 August at 9: GeneArchivist Cyndi De Bock 16 August at 1: WOW Thomas, Thank you so much for your blog it answered a lot of questions.

I envy you doing exactly what you love to do and finding a way to make it work for you. GeneaDiva Margaret 17 August at 8: Keep up the good work! Heather Roelker 20 August at Get HackGenealogy Posts via Email! Enter your email address: Archives Archives Select Month June May April March November September May April March February January December November October September August July June May April March February January December November October September August July June May April March February January December November October September August July