From my post on Eastman’s Online Genealogy Newsletter regarding his blog post:

My comment as seen on EOGN.com:

Terry Kohler Says:
November 22nd, 2006 at 12:42 am

Just this last Sunday at church we were briefly discussing the cost associated to ‘doing family research’ and why newer people may fizzle out.

This is the sole reason why I felt compelled to start Talk Genealogy Today [now Rewarding Genealogy]. I, a long time AMATEUR Genealogist, had to pay for genealogy stuff that was public information. But like in Amateur Radio, in the Genealogy industry, we NEED more young people getting involved. Why? I will tell you my personal reason. Everyone was telling me, back in my mid 30’s not long ago, to wait until I have raised my 5 children then I will have more time for this. No way! ALL MY GREAT AUNTS AND UNCLES, AND EVERYONE ELSE WITH THE STORIES OF MY FAMILY HISTORY ARE DYING. I can’t wait. Neither can you.

So, the entrepreneur that I am, I want to help genealogists, amateur or professional, have more access to ANYTHING that costs money. But here is my problem. I didn’t want to create a product or service that was already being offered by a genealogy business. So I created a niche service.

How can I pay for genealogists ’stuff’? Whether it is paying for you to have access to fee-based databases, paying for genealogy services or products offered by any North American based genealogy company, or even re-imbursing a portion or all of your travel expenses to do family research. This is what I want to do, but I can’t afford to do it out of my family incomes from my work I do for corporate America. Because ’word-of-mouth/mouse’ pays, I can afford to do this.

I just don’t know how to best get the word out without making everything sound like a sales pitch, because I want to help others before reaping any benefits. Maybe Dick can help guide me. My goal is to be a solution to this very topic Mr. Eastman did a great value in covering to help us have a better understanding as to why the costs in genealogy.