Start & Run a Personal History Business. Jennifer Campbell

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      1. The Entrepreneurial Attitude: Are You a Pair of Hands or a Visionary?

      The first thing you need to decide is whether you want to find some jobs that pay the bills or whether you’re starting a business. What’s the difference? It’s mainly one of attitude.

      On one end of the work spectrum is the “pair of hands.” These people are willing to follow directions and execute the vision of someone else. They don’t want the responsibility or the risk of running their own business; they can forget about work at the end of the shift. Is this you? Are you satisfied to get paid for a job knowing that the person paying you is probably making money off your efforts? There’s nothing wrong with that, but that’s not the mindset of an entrepreneur.

      Entrepreneurs want to be in control of their financial future. They want to reap the rewards of their own work and are willing to commit to making their dreams come true. They have a vision of what the business could be in a year or two or five, and they accept that they’ll have to do a lot of grunt work and learn all aspects of running a business. They tend to be leaders. They have enough confidence in their abilities and their products to patiently but assertively build a clientele, and carve out a lucrative niche for themselves in the marketplace.

      One more word about attitude: There’s a big difference between wanting something and making it happen. Ideas are a dime a dozen. They are meaningless without action. Turn your ideas and your dreams into reality by setting real, attainable goals for yourself and your business. What do you want out of life? What do you want out of your work? Go out and get it.

      2. Start Here; Get There

      In this chapter we’ll start building the foundation for your personal history business. My suggestions are designed to advance your core knowledge about the broad field of personal history and memoirs. When you finish reading this book and follow up with some of the suggested resources, you should be comfortable talking to potential clients. You can apply what you learn to your own particular area of interest and build a meaningful, rewarding business.

      2.1 Total immersion: Absorb as much as you can about the field

      Search your library and the Internet for “personal historian,” “memoir writer,” “business histories,” “corporate histories,” “oral history,” “memoirs,” “family history,” whatever your interest. You’ll find enough information to keep you reading for weeks. Bookmark especially useful sites.

      2.1a Associations

      There are dozens, if not hundreds, of associations and groups from which you can learn. Here are a few to get you started:

       Association of Personal Historians (APH)

      The mission statement, from the website www.personalhistorian.org, is “The APH is a not-for-profit international trade association. The purpose of the Association is to advance the profession of helping individuals, organizations, and communities preserve their histories, memories, and life stories. APH focuses on providing educational, training, and networking opportunities to help professional personal historians, from beginners to advanced, build their personal history businesses.” The APH has an active listserv where members can post questions, discuss issues, share resources and problem solve, a quarterly newsletter, educational materials, and an annual conference. (You can attend the conference without being a member, but as a member you get a discount.) Annual dues are around $200 and there are about 700 members worldwide, with most in the US. APH members work in a wide variety of media and formats. Search the member directory and check out websites of personal historians to see what they’re offering and how they’re pricing their products and services.

       Explore Oral History Associations

      There are several excellent oral history associations that you may want to join, depending on your interests. The WWW — the World Wide Web, or the wonderful window on the world — is a fountain of knowledge and inspiration. Look at the resources section at the back of this book for a list of oral history associations, or just search on Google.

      The websites for these associations, some connected with academic institutions, will give you a good idea of best practices, latest research findings, interesting projects, annual conferences, and much more, including education and training. Do a search for oral history courses and workshops. Baylor University Institute of Oral History, for instance, not only has wonderful how-to resources and a collection of oral histories on its website, but it runs workshops on how to conduct an oral history. Countless other sites have fascinating recordings, such as firsthand accounts by former slaves, immigrants, Holocaust survivors, people who founded СКАЧАТЬ