Genealogy Lookups 101

Genealogy Lookups 101
How to get started
as a Genlighten Lookup Provider

We’re Genlighten.com

We help genealogy enthusiasts

Find the offline records they want

Through a network of lookup providers

We hope you’ll consider

Becoming one of our providers

And offering lookups through our site

But first, you’ve probably got questions

Like…

What kind of lookups could I offer?

How much should I charge?

What kind of money can I make?

And what qualifications do I need?

Let’s start with the last question first

You needn’t be an expert genealogist

To be an effective lookup provider

You basically just need three things

Access to nearby genealogical archives

Familiarity with common record types

And basic library research skills

Beyond that, it helps if you are

Detail-oriented and persistent

Confident using a digital scanner

Customer service-oriented

And friendly!

It also helps if you have

Experience researching your own roots

Still interested? Sound like you?

Cool! Let’s tackle your other questions

1) What lookups could I offer?

It depends on what you have access to

Start by doing your homework

Find out what repositories are near you

Look for county courthouses

Historical societies

Libraries

LDS Family History Centers™

And government archives

Research their collections online

Visit them in person

Find out how much copies cost

And how long it takes to get there

If a nearby repository offers access to

Birth, marriage or death certificates

Create lookups for those records first

Other possibilities for lookups include

Newspaper obituaries

Cemetery photos

Wills and probate records

Land records

Church records

And city directories

Focus on records unique to your area

And avoid ones that are already online

Unless you can do them for less offline

On to your next question

2) How much should I charge?

Start by figuring out your expenses

Consider transportation costs

Copying and other archive fees

And Genlighten’s commission
15%

Look at what other providers charge

Maybe look at competitive services, too

Charge enough so it’s worth it to you

To make frequent trips to the repository

Rapid lookup response time

Leads to satisfied customers

Which leads to more satisfied customers

Finally, don’t sell yourself short

Price for the unique value you offer

If you’re still not sure…

Just go with $10 for now

You can always change your price later

OK, next up…

3) What kind of money can I make?

Let’s look at two different providers
Gina
Kurt

Gina lives near the NJ State Archives

She does birth, marriage & death lookups

She visits the Archives once a week

It takes her 30 minutes each way

She charges $12 per record

And gets 8 lookup requests per week

At the archives, it takes her 1.5 hours

To find the records her clients asked for

And make high-quality copies

Back home, she scans the paper copies

And tweaks the resulting digital images

Then uploads them to Genlighten

Considering her expenses and her time

Gina makes about $25 per hour

Or about $300 per month

Next, consider Kurt

He volunteers twice a month

At his local historical society

On Genlighten, Kurt offers to search

The society’s record collections

For a single individual

Given their name and a year range

He charges $25 for a successful search

But only $15 if he finds nothing

He gets just two requests per week

So he does them after he’s done

With his volunteer shift

Kurt does ~$80 of lookups each time

That works out to about $120 per month

For roughly six hours work

So… your mileage may vary

But you can probably earn $20-$25/hour

OK, you’ve told me what I can make

So how does Genlighten make money?

Our providers pay us a commission
15%

And our clients pay a handling fee
10%

But that’s it… no subscription/listing fees
Subscriptions
Listing Fees

OK, I’m interested. How do I get started?

Go to www.genlighten.com

Register for the site

Fill out your profile

Including a nice picture

Ponder what lookups to offer

Then create your first lookup offering

Start with a brief but specific headline

Add a detailed description

Describe the records you’ll look up

The repository you’ll visit

The process you’ll go through

And your typical turnaround time

Set “found” and “not found” prices

Give the client specific instructions

Describing the data you need from them

Preview and edit as needed

Click “Finalize” and you’re done!

So that’s “Genealogy Lookups 101”

If you have any more questions

Just e-mail us… or give us a call!
E-mail: dean@genlighten.com
Phone: (888) 845-9990

Thanks from the Genlighten team!
Justin Ball,Co-founder/CTO
Dean Richardson, Co-founder/CEO
Cynthia Richardson,Co-founder/Chief Lookup Officer

Happy Lookup-ing!

Genealogy Lookups 101

by Genlighten.com

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