But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into.
Matthew 24:43
Heather wrote: "I was wondering if anyone would be willing to share how they went about starting up their 'personal history' business (specifically those who write personal histories)."
I got my first tiny client by handing out my card at a garage sale.
Seriously. I got my first big one because an old jr. high school classmate found me on Facebook, and a few months later his dad wanted someone who could help him with his book, and he thought of me.
As for finding clients, I'd say mine those "friends and family" first off.
They'll be kind and you'll get great samples of your work.
I haven't been in business long, but in my opinion it is so much about word of mouth & trust. Ads don't work.
Hand out your card freely, talk about what you do to everyone you meet/know.
Find out if there are senior-oriented business networking groups in your town - if you meet others who work with your potential clients, you can let other people's marketing work for you, too. Make sure they know who you are so if their clients ask about such services, they know who to call. Do your best to refer people to them, and make sure they tell 'em who sent 'em.
Offer to give talks on preserving story at places that have your target market (i.e. older adults who can afford it, in general).
Offer to write articles for small local papers, or group newsletters, etc.
If the price is okay, have a booth at smaller conventions or conferences, if the market is right (someone was asking about that earlier). I target genealogists, heritage preservation groups, and retirement facilities right now. I'm having a table this weekend a genealogists' conference. It's $50, but it's right here in Portland -- I'll see if it pays off. In any case, I get to sit in on the conference, which is about tracing German relatives (my dad's side is German), so I'll learn something from my money anyway!
Go to other larger events/exhibitions as an attendee, and walk around with your bag of samples and biz cards and introduce yourself to everyone -- much cheaper than a $300 booth. :)
If you want to gain control of your life, change the way you work.
• Action is the key to accomplishment.
• People who do better do things differently. They do the right things right.
• Eating the frog means identifying your most important task and tackling it with
single-minded focus until it is completed.
• Launch directly into your most important tasks.
• Your ability to focus on your most important task will determine your success.
• People fail because they aren’t absolutely clear about their goals.
• The best rule for success is to think on paper. Write down your goals.
• Every night, make a list of what you want to accomplish the next day. Have a
master list, a monthly list, a weekly list and a daily list.
• Identify the one skill that, if you developed it, would have the biggest impact on your career.
Look closely at your early photographs and see if you can spot a posing device such as a wooden stand behind the subjects' feet. This device sometimes extended as far up as the head and had clamps around a person's waist or head to keep him still for the long exposure time. Would you feel like smiling?
Success is not dependent on your ability to do this business well, but your willingness to do it regularly.
Remember the first time you gave a newborn baby a bath? You were probably VERY nervous and very scared. But each time you did it, you got better at it, didn’t you? Well, the more you do your business, the better you’ll get at it and the more success you will experience!
This week USA TODAY reported on the "Upward Trajectory of Alzheimer's" and the 2009 Alzheimer's Disease Facts and Figures statistics that indicates an estimated 5.1 million Americans over 65 now have Alzheimer's. The article went on to say:
The report indicates that about 2.7 million people over age 85 have the disease, but by the time the first wave of Baby Boomers reaches 85 in 2031, an estimated 3.5 million people that age and up will have Alzheimer's.
It is now the sixth leading cause of death for people in the USA, surpassing diabetes. In people over age 65, it is the fifth leading cause of death.
And while deaths from heart disease, stroke and breast and prostate cancers dropped from 2000 to 2006, deaths from Alzheimer's disease increased by 47.1%.
We know dealing with Alzheimer's is already a part of life for millions of Boomers who are caregivers. The upward trajectory is not surprising, though. A quick search of news stories in which the word "Alzheimer's" appears have skyrocketed over the last 20 years:
1988: 1,990 stories
1998: 12,200
2008: 34,300
While Alzheimer's is part of life today, the real question, we think, is whether or not Alzheimer's is ultimately going to be a part of the Boomer future. The sheer numbers of Boomers means we're facing a rapid increase in incidences of Alzheimer's.
If you're really worried, apparently you can have a DNA test to see what your odds are for getting the disease. Tonight ABC Nightline's Terry Moran plans to reveal his test results.
But optimistic Boomers also believe Alzheimer's will be solved by the time the bulk of them reach very old age. From the USA TODAY story:
"I'm an optimist," says William Klein, professor of neurobiology and physiology at Northwestern University's Cognitive Neurology and Alzheimer's Disease Center in Chicago. "Though the projections are dire for Baby Boomers, I think there's going to be a handle on it, and we will develop therapies that didn't exist."
Given that Professor Klein is considerably better informed on this than we are, we'll embrace his optimism. The "dire predictions" could also create opportunities for businesses and entrepreneurs who are trying to solve Alzheimer's one way or another. Boomers will enthusiastically support any initiative with that goal -- economically, politically, socially and emotionally.
Boomer Line: You won't lose if Alzheimer's is part of your business strategy.
