TGP 39 Blaine Bettinger, The Genetic Genealogist

The Genealogy Professional podcast with Host Marian Pierre-Louis – Interviews with Experienced Genealogists

TGP 39 – Blaine Bettinger, The Genetic Genealogist May 6, 2016Speaker, WriterBlaine Bettinger, genetic genealogyPam Wolosz Edit Featured Guest Blaine Bettinger

In this episode we hear from a leading expert in genetic genealogy. Blaine Bettinger, Ph.D., J.D., is an intellectual property attorney by day and a genetic genealogist by night. In 2007 he started The Genetic Genealogist,

one of the earliest blogs on the topic. Dr. Bettinger has been interviewed and quoted on personal genomics topics in Newsweek, New Scientist, Wired, and others. He authored I Have the Results of My Genetic Genealogy Test, Now What? in 2008, which is distributed by Family Tree DNA to all of their new customers.

Blaine frequently authors articles and gives presentations to educate others about the use of DNA to explore their ancestry. He is an instructor for genetic genealogy courses at the Institute of Genealogy and Historical Research (IGHR), Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy (SLIG), Genealogical Research Institute of Pittsburgh (GRIP), Virtual Institute of Genealogical Research, and Family Tree University. Blaine was also recently elected to the New York Genealogical and Biographical Society’s Board of Trustees, and graduated from ProGen Study Group 21 in 2015.

Contact Links

Facebook – Blaine T. Bettinger

Twitter – Blaine T. Bettinger

Website – The Genetic Genealogist

One Action Genealogists Can Take Right Now

“If you haven’t taken a DNA test, consider taking one. If you have taken it, consider finding an educational resource to help you understand it because if you’re going to be working with clients, you are absolutely going to encounter clients who either want to do DNA testing or need DNA testing as a piece of evidence.”

Recommended Book

The Invisible History of the Human Race: How DNA and History Shape Our Identities and Our Futures by Christine Kenneally

International Society of Genetic Genealogy (ISOGG) Wiki

Productivity Tool

Starting to dive into Evernote

Advice

“Beware the naysayers.”

Action Item

For your action item for this episode I want us to focus on setting Client Expectations. Setting client expectations is one of the most important steps you can take to ensuring clients success.

ACTION:

Take a look at your website, your client reports and your clients communication (both email and consider phone conversations). Have you detailed how your project process works? Does the client know what to expect, what results you are likely or not likely to find, what they will receive as an end product and when you will communicate with them and how? If you see any gaps – make some changes. Provide existing and potential clients with the information they need up front.

If you’re a public speaker, revisit the titles and descriptions of your talk. Do they provide enough information to set the expectation of the audience to know whether it is an appropriate level for them? Does the content of your talk match the description? If not, it’s time to revise.

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