I recently attended a Social Media class and am amazed how versitile the various sites can be. A new one for me is Yelp.com if you are not familiar with it you might like to check it out. It seems a good way to put out the word especially when you have had great service at an eating establishment or any other place where you were satisfied with the treatment you received/a great product you purchased. They felt Linkedin was the more professional of the three social media sites, although they felt Twitter and Facebook are beneficial..
We were encouraged to share meaningful books. I have read just finished reading Crush It –a great book on using Social Media especially Twitter and Facebook to further your on-line business. The other is The Four Hour Work Week, this, too, is about on-line marketing. I ordered both from Amazon and saved a bit of money ordering used books.
Both were in great condition.
Another book I have found very useful in my Personal Historian business, Life’s Reflections, is Cyndi’s List.
It was most beneficial when I started Life’s Reflections several years ago.
I have interviewed over 500 people, who shared their personal stories and family memories .   56 are from one family –the Juan de Jesus Vigil family who settled in southern Colorado at the base of the Spanish Peaks aka Las Huajatollas.
The early family came from Spain in the l600’s and settled in Mexico, later moved to the New Mexico Territory and then into the Colorado Territory about 1860–several years before Colorado became a state. The Spanish Peaks. are located not far from Trinidad and Aguilar Colorado. The Vigil family settlement was called Trujillo Creeek. Several of the homestead houses are still standing as well as the school house, church and the family cemetary.
You can find their website on my website www.LifesReflections.com where you can find more about how to capture you or your loved one’s memories, family history and  family stories.  I can do it for you in a three hour interview in person or over the phone.  If you wish to do the story gathering yourself I have a Life’s Reflections Questions ebook you can order from my website.  The questions are comprehensive and are the same questions I use in the interviews I do.

Association of Personal Historians

There is one not for profit group that is a great resource as ‘the’ professional network of personal historians.  From their site:

“The Association of Personal Historians, Inc. 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. ”

Check out some of the personal historians across our great nation and some even in Canada as well as other countries. 

For your own personal historian, don’t be afraid to contact Jan Lindgren today and begin recording those precious family memories.

Thanks, Jan@LifesReflections.com