Genealogy Perks
If you tend to do your RVing in one area, or stay at one park regularly, RV genealogy tours may not be your ideal means of tracing your family history. But there are other perks that genealogy hobbyists gain from staying in one place.
Social: Genealogy is a great way to socialize with other park guests, especially when you’re staying several months at one park. When it comes to RV park activities, it’s easy to organize a genealogy group, and more productive if you have people searching and finding good resources that you all share.
Just bring your laptops, and a few links to start with, then download some free genealogy forms and software and you’re good to go.
Another advantage to forming genealogy groups is exchanging lookups. Subscription services can be expensive. so, if each of your group members subscribes to just one service, different from the others, you can do lookups for one another and each gain the advantage of several subscriptions.
Income: If you are looking for an easy income during your RV travels, genealogy software, subscriptions, and related products may be just the ticket. Just set up an affiliate web site. After signing up to become an affiliate of whichever products you would like to promote, you then set up a simple website with the affiliate link the company gives you.
Promote your site so people know how to access your links to products. When they click your coded link and make a purchase, you will receive a commission.
If you're the one who starts genealogy social clubs at parks where you stay, you have an nice opportunity to pass out your affiliate links to those who might buy these products.
Since the commissions are paid from the set price and not in addition, it make no difference to the buyer whether you make a commission or not. Commissions vary from about 10% to 50% or 60% depending upon the company’s policy.
The Affiliate Program of Ancestry.com pays up to 60% commission on referrals who subscribe as a result of linking from your site.
As you investigate different genealogy products, check for affiliate opportunities. Some sites offer other incentives, so look for those, too. Ancestry and other major sites usually offer a free trial period with no obligation to continue after payment is due.
And remember that as you make acquaintances through forums, message boards, memberships, and family connections, you might offer to look up documents or take photos of property or grave markers for a fee as you travel around doing your own research. Just more ways to help pay for your travel expenses or supplement your income.
On that note, here's a tip from professional genealogists. Require payment in advance. Sometimes you have to pay for a document, parking, gas, or other fees. Make sure you don't get stuck for someone else's expenses.
Genealogy Software
You could manage your family tree the old fashioned way–on paper using the forms from the link above. But that takes up precious RV space. There are dozens of genealogy software packages that work, and many of them are free. Those that aren’t are usually inexpensive, from $20 for a bare-bones family tree (maybe not the best choice of words, considering the topic) to $100 for full featured family tree packages for either Mac or PC.
This review article gives a description of some of the following family tree programs.
Free Genealogy Software for PC/Windows:
Free Genealogy Software for Mac:
Some also offer a premium version with more features or online tree management (nice if you use a Mac.) Macs running Windows under Bootcamp can run these programs natively.
Comercial PC Genealogy Software:
Commercial Mac Genealogy Software: (Check for discounted prices)
If you tend to do your RVing in one area, or stay at one park regularly, RV genealogy tours may not be your ideal means of tracing your family history. But there are other perks that genealogy hobbyists gain from staying in one place.
Social: Genealogy is a great way to socialize with other park guests, especially when you’re staying several months at one park. When it comes to RV park activities, it’s easy to organize a genealogy group, and more productive if you have people searching and finding good resources that you all share.
Just bring your laptops, and a few links to start with, then download some free genealogy forms and software and you’re good to go.
Another advantage to forming genealogy groups is exchanging lookups. Subscription services can be expensive. so, if each of your group members subscribes to just one service, different from the others, you can do lookups for one another and each gain the advantage of several subscriptions.
Income: If you are looking for an easy income during your RV travels, genealogy software, subscriptions, and related products may be just the ticket. Just set up an affiliate web site. After signing up to become an affiliate of whichever products you would like to promote, you then set up a simple website with the affiliate link the company gives you.
Promote your site so people know how to access your links to products. When they click your coded link and make a purchase, you will receive a commission.
If you're the one who starts genealogy social clubs at parks where you stay, you have an nice opportunity to pass out your affiliate links to those who might buy these products.
Since the commissions are paid from the set price and not in addition, it make no difference to the buyer whether you make a commission or not. Commissions vary from about 10% to 50% or 60% depending upon the company’s policy.
The Affiliate Program of Ancestry.com pays up to 60% commission on referrals who subscribe as a result of linking from your site.
As you investigate different genealogy products, check for affiliate opportunities. Some sites offer other incentives, so look for those, too. Ancestry and other major sites usually offer a free trial period with no obligation to continue after payment is due.
And remember that as you make acquaintances through forums, message boards, memberships, and family connections, you might offer to look up documents or take photos of property or grave markers for a fee as you travel around doing your own research. Just more ways to help pay for your travel expenses or supplement your income.
On that note, here's a tip from professional genealogists. Require payment in advance. Sometimes you have to pay for a document, parking, gas, or other fees. Make sure you don't get stuck for someone else's expenses.
Genealogy Software
You could manage your family tree the old fashioned way–on paper using the forms from the link above. But that takes up precious RV space. There are dozens of genealogy software packages that work, and many of them are free. Those that aren’t are usually inexpensive, from $20 for a bare-bones family tree (maybe not the best choice of words, considering the topic) to $100 for full featured family tree packages for either Mac or PC.
This review article gives a description of some of the following family tree programs.
Free Genealogy Software for PC/Windows:
Free Genealogy Software for Mac:
- GenealogyJ (Java)
Some also offer a premium version with more features or online tree management (nice if you use a Mac.) Macs running Windows under Bootcamp can run these programs natively.
Comercial PC Genealogy Software:
Commercial Mac Genealogy Software: (Check for discounted prices)