The Genealogist

General Weekly Overview

Just a short update this week I am afraid as I am not feeling 100% at the moment! I developed earache towards the end of last week which seemed to pass and given that we were going away for the weekend didn’t think too much more of it. Big Mistake!

It has steadiily got worse over the weekend and this morning I found myself at an “Out of Hours” Doctor being prescribed some strong antibiotics for an inner ear infection. It’s very sore and my balance seems a little off at the moment and I am afraid that like many men (so I am told!) I am not a good patient.

If I am a little slow with coming back to anyone for the next few days please bear with me. I am hoping that it will not delay any of our plans for the next few weeks but am making some adjustments just in case.

I have a few other things planned for the next few weeks including a report on how you really can make a nice steady income from Adsense - notwithstanding some of the doubters that have been springing up of late. You will automatically get a free copy of the report if you are one of my subscribers.

GENEALOGY ARTICLE - Why the Apple Doesn’t Fall Far

If you’ve ever used the expression “the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree,” you know that it’s a way of saying that a child’s tendencies have a lot to do with their parents. However, this simple phrase also may conjure thoughts of family trees. How far, exactly, has the apple fallen? A family tree is nothing more than a easy to read chart showing births and marriages in a family, but making one can help clear up your research, especially when you have family members with similar names. Create a family tree to make your genealogy quest go more smoothly.

It is probably easiest to start from the bottom and work your way back into history when you are drawing out a family tree or building one online. Begin with yourself and your children and grandchildren if you have them. Lines to show marriage connect couples, and the children resulting from this marriage are usually shown by drawing a line down from the center of the marriage line. Remember to leave enough space for everyone-draw your lines longer than you think they need to be if you are doing it by hand.

Continue to work your way back through the generations. A family tree can be as detailed or simple as you need it to be, so you can include not only names, but marriage dates, birth and death dates, places of burial, and other information if you wish. Some people even include pictures on their family tree when available. This can make a nice display, especially at a family reunion or anniversary.

If you seriously need to sort through your information, however, it might be more beneficial to invest in a computer program or web service that will make a family tree based on the information you input. This will be more neatly organized than one drawn by hand. Many companies manufacture computer software to help you with this task, but this can be pricey, so read product reviews before making a purchase to ensure you get the tools you need.

When your family tree is filled with the information you have gathered, you will be able to easily see the gaps in your research that need to be filled. You may also see new connections between family members that you did not realize before. A family tree is a great tool when you begin in depth research to help you stay focused and organized.

FINALLY - ON A LIGHTER NOTE

Let me finish this short update with a note about Father Christmas! No it’s not me - honest! However, those of you who were with me last year may remember Santa’s Advice Blog. It was originally started for the parents at the various schools that my partner is responsible for but soon developed a much wider readership. Well santa has become all grown up this year and has now got his own fully fledged website! You can take a look by clicking on The Father Christmas Blog - do enjoy!

Weekly Ponderings

Hope that your week has been good and that you are enjoying the weekend?

It’s been another busy week for us and several of our sites have been featured in National Magazines in the UK!

Our Get The 1911 Census Online Petition has been fetaured in Your Family Tree and we have seen lots more signatures added, if you haven’t signed it already then do op along and join our Campaign!

In addition GenMates - The Genealogy MySpace has been featured in a half page spread in Family History Monthly and we have already seen a flood of new members. GenMates is absolutely our members site and unlike other Genealogy Sites our members create the content!

We are also looking to develop our resources for Genealogists and others with a new site which will have Audio Articles on it! So in addition to reading the articles you will also be able to listen to the articles at your leisure. Initial feedback from those we have asked to try the concept has been very positive and we may well look at offering the audio articles for sale at a reasonable price so that people can listen to them on the move! So get your iPods ready! The first articles will cover Genealogy and Scrapbooking. In the meantime you can also check out our existing Genealogy Articles site.

Squidoo

You may have read my comments elsewhere about Squidoo which I think is a fascinating site. It fits in so neatly with my passion for providing information to people which empowers them to make real changes in their lives. If you haven’t already taken a look at my Squidoo Lenses here are a few:

Genealogy and Family History
Hobbies For You
The Blogging Guide
Make Money From Blogging
Family, Home and Garden
How to be a Success in Niche Marketing

I also have a collaborative project going on at the moment with a number of experts in their fields which I will be talking about shortly! If you haven’t started your own lens yet then you can do so here: Squidoo and have the potential to earn an extra $5!

Finally for today! I don’t know about you but I like to be able to read reviews of things that I am considering buying and that’s one of the reasons I have gotten involved with Clickbank Reviews - you can tak a look and let me know what you think!

Have a great week!

GenMates Weekly News

Last week I tried publishing the GenMates News Update here on the Blog and we received a very positive response to it. So going forward we will publish here and send an email to GenMates members letting them know that the latest update is online!

A number of members have written to me and told me that they love the idea of Blogging but haven’t a clue what to do! So for them I have put together a new Squidoo Lens which explains how to Blog! You can take a look at it by clicking on The Blogging Guide. It is also complimented by our more advanced Blog for those who would like to make some money from their blogging. You can check that out by clicking on Blogging for Money.

GenMates itself has now risen to nearly 600 members and in the coming week we are due to be featured in Family History Monthly which we hope will see a further influx of members. Our 1911 Census Online Petition is also featured this month in Your Family Tree! Both Magazines are available from 28th September 2006 in the UK

The free offer of my Introduction to Scrapbooking ebook together with Shaking The Family Tree is still available for those who haven’t managed to get a copy yet. You can grab a copy by going to An Introduction to Scrapbooking.

You will remember that I mentioned all the problems we were having with 1and1.co.uk The Worst Web Hosts I haave ever encountered! Well some good came out of it as we now have a couple of additional domains registered which we think you will find of interest. Those are The Amateur Genealogist and The Beginner’s Guide to Genealogy

Just returning to the subject of Squidoo - if you have been looking for a way to put together your own website at no cost then Squidoo is definitely a possibility for you! You can join up by going here: Join Squidoo and if you want to take a look at my first Squidoo Lens then click on Genealogy and Family History.

I also look forward to seeing you at GenMates soon!