FHF

There were so many things that to consider when deciding whether to have a vendor booth at RootsTech or any other conference for that matter. Are smaller conferences better because crowds are more accessible? Are super conferences better for the optics that suggest your business is serious about their plans? Need Better Input Information upon which to base decisions about genealogy conferences is lacking. For an engineer (Andy) and a worry-wart (me), we can dream big, but we are debt-free minded individuals. We don't want to go into debt to build a business. We will invest money, but we wouldn't drain our children's college fund to get ahead.  I'd like to see some numerical expectations outlined for all service types at the various international and regional conferences. That way, we can better make stock decisions and see, compared to others, was our experience on par or substandard? Or better yet, did we have an exceptional response?  With sales information (anonymous...

In four previous posts, I walked you through the preparations we made before attending RootsTech 2018 as a first time vendor. In this post, I'll cover the outcome of the plans. In 3 and 1/2 long days at the Expo Hall, we experienced a rollercoaster of emotions. We misjudged all of our plans to generate foot traffic to Newbie Land. We did not overestimate the connection between our classes and the books they were willing to buy. We did not realize the additional purposes of having a physical presence in the vendor hall. GBA.BUZZ  - A Fun Failure? The GBA.BUZZ app did not generate the excitement that I had hoped. Most ambassadors didn't participate and promote it, unlike the Collasal Giveaway the year before. Several folks had heard about it on Lisa Louise Cooke's podcast and were excited to play. Others had watched the YouTube video explaining the game. But when all was said and done, the participation response was abysmal. We misjudged the willingness of the attendees at R...

My longtime fan, before FHF was a thing - Yvonne!!! Hands down, the coolest part of Roots Tech was meeting our fans. Having a booth at the Expo Hall gave our fans the opportunity to know where to find us. Unfortunately, on occasion, I was off socializing with other vendors or influencers when a fan stopped by. It's difficult to wear the many hats requisite of a first timer at such a massive conference. I felt terrible about not being available, but thankfully the booth was always staffed with at least one Fanatic. Many fans told us they watched all of our videos. Some said they just discovered us and have been binge watching (we have at least 140 right now, thank goodness the videos are 5-7 minutes long). Several fans were glad we brought Caleb along and said he was adorable. DNA-focused viewers commented on how Andy makes DNA understandable (a la the Gordon Ramsey nickname mentioned earlier but with Captain America saying, "Language"). Jenna Mills, despite not recognizin...

With a booth selected , foot traffic generation plans in place, and the decision to take the young fanatic made, Andy and I needed to focus on make decisions about the books we planned to sell. The Decision to Write Books After attending regional conferences, workshops, and genealogy societies, Andy and I learned that our books sell better when they directly aligned with the classes we teach. At RootsTech 2018, two classes we would teach: (Downsizing With Family History in Mind and Animating Your Ancestor's Journey With Animaps), did not support any of the six books we sell. For my beginner track workshop, it's solidly supported by the book Reimagine Family History: Order from Amazon.com I had taught the downsizing class as a workshop at a local library. I had the script and the slides from that class, so writing a book to support this RootsTech class should be easy. It wasn't. The presentation format did not lend itself to a well-planned book. The manuscript soon became di...

As stated in the previous post, we had a booth at RootsTech in what we nicknamed "Newbie Land," and needed to attract attention so we could have a successful show. What were those plans? Did you notice any of them prior to RootsTech? GBA.BUZZ In the summer of 2017, I learned that I could join the Genealogy Business Alliance (GBA).  It is primarily a Facebook group focused on ways to improve the vendor experiences for businesses at conventions. Apparently, vendors had a terrible experience at recent national conferences, and a few of them banded together to initiate changes. I instantly connected with a few women who have become mentors, at least in my mind, for our business. At RootsTech 2017, GBA pooled their resources and created a  giveaway that was designed to increase foot traffic to smaller vendors throughout the expo hall. Larger companies supported the initiative because when the industry does well as a whole, their business grows in tandem. GBA wanted to have a simi...

It's been a month since we flew out to Salt Lake City in the capacity of speakers and exhibitors. Devon was an Ambassador and had completed a month-long series of posts so that you could plan your class schedule long before you put boots on the ground.  The mega-conference had many highs and lows for us, so we wanted to have distance before we shared our experiences. Since I can be pretty verbose in my memory keeping, I have broken the tome into multiple posts. Enjoy. Deciding to Exhibit In 2017,  I crossed "Teaching at Rootstech" off my bucket list. While at RootsTech, I spoke with a genealogy rock start that changed the course of our company. And, we left the conference and noticed a bounce in the traffic of our  Family History Fanatics YouTube channel .  By May of last year, FHF on Youtube was exploding and continues with exponential growth today. By summer, Andy and I began to discuss ways to take the YouTube-style videos and bring them to online genealogy educat...

Following the success of Andy's DNA After the Test eWorkshop, we're pleased to release five on-demand lectures from Family History Fanatics. Follow the links (that are the webinar titles) to the Vimeo store. 1.   Blogging Your Family History Blogs are a great way to share your family legends and discoveries with your extended family. You might even make some new cousin connections in the process! We’ll discuss the steps to set up a blog, what to write about, and pitfalls to avoid.  Regular Price: $9.99 2.   Heritage Scrapbooking Simplified Scrapbooks can be a visually appealing way to share your family legacy with children and those who ‘aren’t interested’ in family history. We’ll discuss what goes into a heritage scrapbook and two sources that can help you complete your project. This workshop is based on the book Family History Scrapbooking Simplified . The workshop is influenced heavily by digital scrapbooking, but paper scrapbooking will also be mentioned. Re...