Google is not the only form of advertising revenue. You can pitch products or sign up as an affiliate with Amazon or eBay but you have to get a lot of traffic to your site to make any money. You do not get paid for viewers clicking on their ads; people actually have to buy something for you to get commission. You might get one commission off of a thousand clicks on their ad. In short, you might as well forget it. Genealogy is not that popular in the big picture and it is losing momentum as a hobby. Fewer people search for genealogy sites each month - check the Google trends if you do not believe me.
The biggest problem with a genealogy web site is that genealogy hobbyists hate advertising! People think that all genealogy should be free for everyone and that making money off genealogy is evil! Rootsweb is in turmoil right now because Ancestry is adding their banners to all sites hosted on Rootsweb. Forget that Ancestry has given them free server space for years; Ancestry is now evil for wanting a little something in return. People focus too much on keeping genealogy “free.” If no one got paid for their work, there would be no genealogy books, microfilm or records. Even the county clerk gets paid to record the deeds and wills.
I am getting a little off track here but look at the big picture. Even if you get $100 per hour or $5.00 per click, you have to pay taxes and insurance. By the time you pay Uncle Sam and Blue Cross, what will you have left to eat? What about gas? How are you going to pay for $5.00 per gallon gasoline when you are driving to and from all of those courthouses and libraries? Don't forget about the kids needing braces, your adjustable rate mortgage, your car note and that momma needs a new pair of shoes.
Anyway you slice it, unless you are the CEO of the Generations Network or you invented DNA testing for genealogy purposes, you are probably out of luck. If anyone knows how to make money in genealogy, please let me know. I have been trying for years and just cannot figure it out. I love this hobby and would like to do it fulltime. I doubt I will quit my day job anytime soon, unless you can give me the answer. I am waiting for your response…
The biggest problem with a genealogy web site is that genealogy hobbyists hate advertising! People think that all genealogy should be free for everyone and that making money off genealogy is evil! Rootsweb is in turmoil right now because Ancestry is adding their banners to all sites hosted on Rootsweb. Forget that Ancestry has given them free server space for years; Ancestry is now evil for wanting a little something in return. People focus too much on keeping genealogy “free.” If no one got paid for their work, there would be no genealogy books, microfilm or records. Even the county clerk gets paid to record the deeds and wills.
I am getting a little off track here but look at the big picture. Even if you get $100 per hour or $5.00 per click, you have to pay taxes and insurance. By the time you pay Uncle Sam and Blue Cross, what will you have left to eat? What about gas? How are you going to pay for $5.00 per gallon gasoline when you are driving to and from all of those courthouses and libraries? Don't forget about the kids needing braces, your adjustable rate mortgage, your car note and that momma needs a new pair of shoes.
Anyway you slice it, unless you are the CEO of the Generations Network or you invented DNA testing for genealogy purposes, you are probably out of luck. If anyone knows how to make money in genealogy, please let me know. I have been trying for years and just cannot figure it out. I love this hobby and would like to do it fulltime. I doubt I will quit my day job anytime soon, unless you can give me the answer. I am waiting for your response…
2 comments:
Many institutions limit access to their online information. Making this information available will be an asset to all.
There are several sites that do pay. http://www.genealogyfreelancers.com/. But right now I am working on writing my own book, seems to be the way. I have been a genealogist for years, now going for certification to be a professional genealogist. I volunteer at Findagrave.com, RAOGK.org, Whispers from the Dust, a preservation group from ICAPGen.org. My interest is not so much dates and names, but the people behind it. With the new show Who do you Think you are? People are more interested than you think. Just because Google doesnt have it, doesnt mean it isnt real. People are just going a different direction on the net.
http://tracingourroots.wordpress.com/
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