JEAN: Would you start by giving us a short overview of
Genlighten for people who aren’t familiar with the website?
CYNDY: Sure! Genlighten.com is a marketplace for genealogy
research services. In other words, people who are thinking about hiring a
genealogist can go to Genlighten and search a network of providers to see who
might be suited to the projects they have in mind.
JEAN: So, it’s a directory of genealogists for hire?
CYNDY: Yes, but it's more than that. We offer some features that
make Genlighten unique.
JEAN: Such as ...
CYNDY: Well, for one thing, at the end of every project, we
invite clients to leave feedback and rate providers on things like
communication, professionalism, and value. So, in addition to the usual profile
information--location, research specialties, and educational background, for
example--potential clients can see what others have said about a provider’s
services. When I read something like “Herculean effort to capture an image of a
hardly legible slide” that makes me pretty confident that the provider will do
a good job for me, too.
JEAN: But what about new providers who haven’t had a project
on Genlighten yet?
CYNDY: We give providers a chance to post examples of their work.
We also encourage them to let us contact a client and/or colleague to ask for a
reference we can post. Both of those things can speak to a provider’s
competence before they’ve had a chance to earn positive feedback on the site.
JEAN: How does one become a provider? What are the
requirements and what does a provider do?
CYNDY: We reach out to genealogists at conferences but we also
welcome professional researchers who find us on their own. We’re looking for
people who are friendly and positive, who have good research and reporting
skills, who are committed to responding promptly to messages, and who follow
through on requests in a timely manner.
We don't have a formal vetting process but setting up a profile
serves as an informal application to become part of our network. If it’s
carefully worded and if the content suggests research skills that would be of
value to potential clients, that’s a good sign. I send a welcome note to open
up the lines of communication and if the person follows through on any
suggestions I might make for finishing up the profile, then I make the account
active.
The first project is the real test. If it goes smoothly, then we
feel comfortable having the provider continue on the site. If it doesn’t, we
help the client and provider bring the project to an agreeable close and
proceed from there. Occasionally we find someone isn’t a good fit for the site,
but that’s rare.
If a provider is willing to learn, we’re very happy to offer
guidance. In fact, we see it as one of our missions to help transitional
genealogists get started in offering client research. Sometimes, a glitch is
simply an important learning experience. I’m thinking of a time when one of my
clients was unhappy to learn that a marriage license I provided didn’t have
parent names. I had made no promise the information would be there--I didn’t
know why she wanted the license--so I wasn’t in the wrong, but the experience
taught me how important it is to understand a client’s goals.
As for what providers do--they do whatever they would do taking
clients off site. The only difference is every Genlighten project has a
tracking page and we require all project-related proposals, quotes, messages,
shared documents and images, reports, and payments to be posted to that one
easy-to-find place. The page is private to the client and provider, but, as
site administrators, Dean and I can also access it.
People are used to emailing back and forth so sometimes it takes
a while for clients and providers to understand the value of using the tracking
page--but once they do, it makes things efficient. For example, conversations
thread so they’re easy to follow--no going back through archived email looking
for who said what when. Payments are processed through the site so providers
don’t have to worry about taking credit cards or depositing checks. And because
reports and related document images are uploaded to the page, it serves as a
backup in case local copies get misplaced or accidentally deleted from a
computer.
JEAN: So, I know your provider network doesn’t cover every
geographic location. Tell me some of your strongest regions and specialties.
CYNDY: Off the top of my head, we have experienced providers for
research in Illinois, Massachusetts, North Carolina, Kentucky, California,
Florida, Italy, Canada--I can’t name every place, but I’d like to! We also have
experts in Jewish research and someone who does a great job retrieving pension
files at the National Archives in Washington, D.C. It only takes a minute to
check to see if Genlighten has a provider for a specific locality, speciality,
or repository, so it’s worth bookmarking the site as a starting point when
looking to hire.
JEAN: Well, as we know, the Family History Library is no
longer lending films. My guess is that you have a few folks who are providers
in Salt Lake who can go check films for people? How about some tips for working
with them?
CYNDY: Yes. We have a number of go-to people for research in Salt
Lake City--both for document retrieval and for more extensive projects that use
the resources found there. The easiest way to see who’s available is to type
“family” into the search box and select “Family History Library” from the
drop-down. It brings up a page that shows which of our providers do research at
that repository. (The same strategy will work for other repositories such as
the National Archives.)
As for tips, anything a client can do to make it easy for the
research provider is great. For example, when I needed deeds from Ohio films, I
created a spreadsheet with the names, page numbers, and film numbers needed to
find the records and I uploaded a PDF for the provider. It saved him hassle and
because he could work efficiently, it saved me money. For people who need more
than one record scanned, hiring a researcher by the hour is likely the best way
to go.
JEAN: So, last year about this time, you were launching a new
version of Genlighten. How’s it going? Tell us a little bit about it.
CYNDY: That’s right! Dean spent a couple of years--nights,
weekends, and holidays--building a new version of Genlighten from scratch and
we’re really pleased with how it turned out. We like the way it looks--one of
the favorite parts of my job is helping providers choose compelling banner photos--and
we’re pretty happy with the functionality, although we always have a list of
things we’d like to improve.
From the client perspective, the changes were small, mostly new
features designed to make the site easier to use. For example, multiple images,
say from a pension file, can now be batch download or exported to Dropbox, and
single images can even be uploaded directly to FamilySearch.
From the provider side, the changes were pretty significant.
We've set up the site to allow for
monthly subscription plans so that we can offer extras services to
providers who want to take advantage of them. For example, we now have the
ability to create Google ad campaigns tied to landing pages for individual
providers. This might be a good option for a professional who has a marketing
budget but lacks the time or skill needed to handle an advertising campaign
independently.
JEAN: What does it cost to use the site? What fees are
involved?
CYNDY: There is no charge for a provider to set up a basic
account and, in fact, I will go the extra mile to help someone do that for no
charge. And there is no charge for clients to create an account or browse the
provider lists.
We take a commission on projects that go through the site. For
new providers on the basic plan, that fee is 20%. For legacy providers who were
with us on the old version of the site, it’s 10%. And, various subscription
plans--best suited to researchers who receive requests for high-value
projects--let providers lower those percentages.
JEAN: And each provider sets his/her own rates? Do you give
guidelines for that?
CYNDY: Yes, providers set the project fees but all payments are
collected and distributed through the site. If someone asks for advice, I
always suggest considering the expenses and setting a price that seems fair to
both provider and client.
JEAN: When I went to the site, I noticed a little blue box
popped up at the bottom inviting
questions. At the risk of giving you more work, I resisted the
temptation to click and ask a question. But tell me, if I DID click and ask a
question, is the response in a live a chat, an email, or a list of FAQs?
CYNDY: If I'm online, that blue box lets me chat with site users
in real time. I really like that--being able to offer help immediately. If I’m
offline, it makes it easy for people to send me a message which I respond to
just as quickly as I can. We’re a small, family-run business, so we don’t keep
regular office hours but that’s actually a good thing. If I’m in front of my
computer, we’re “open” and I’ll often respond to site users late night or
weekends. Sometimes website support involves me hollering upstairs to Dean to
ask him to make a quick database check and as strange as that might seem, it’s
very efficient!
JEAN: Does Genlighten have a Facebook page or a Twitter
account?
CYNDY: We rarely tweet, but you can find us at
https://www.facebook.com/genlighten/ There are times when the feed is quiet,
but when we have something important to share, we post it there.
JEAN: You have also spearheaded the Chicago Genealogy Facebook
page, right? Can you shed some light on what types of folks might be interested
in joining it?
CYNDY: Sure. It’s https://www.facebook.com/chicagogenealogy/ and
anyone who has a research question related to Chicago, or expertise to share,
is welcome to join.
JEAN: So, to wrap things up, you and I have a mutual love of
music – and mostly the stuff that’s been around awhile and was enjoyed by folks
who played home-made style instruments or the ones that were available. Often
you bring a banjo or fiddle to your booth at conferences . . . Do you find people
gravitating towards your area as a result and, if so, what is their reaction?
CYNDY: So, yes. I often play the banjo or fiddle at the booth
during down times and I’m not sure if that brings people to us or drives them
away! I do see people smile as they walk by, though, which makes me think it
breaks up their day in a happy sort of way and I like that.
My instruments have sparked some wonderful conversations. If I
remember correctly, one woman told me about a family fiddle that was kept
wrapped in wedding dress after the death of its owner. I love hearing stories
of how music was a part of other people’s ancestors’ lives.
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