So many opportunities await when you discover your history!

by Bonnie Hurd Smith

What are the questions I am asked most frequently about doing a business history?

As you might expect, the four big ones are:

· What is involved?

· What will it cost me?

· Why should I do it?

· What's my return on investment? 

Let's take them one at a time.

What is involved? The answer is:  It depends. Sorry!

It depends on what you already know. It depends on the resources available to you. It depends on how much you want to know, how in-depth you want to go, and how much time you have to spend. For example, you might be leading up to an anniversary and you have a deadline.

As for cost, again, it depends. It depends on whether or not you have the time to do the work yourself, or hire a historian or researcher who can charge anywhere from $25 an hour to $125, depending on who they are. It depends on what you find when you start doing the research, because you will find some surprises and your research might expand. There might be travel involved, or photographs to be ordered...I think you can see what I mean!

The whole process can take an investment on your part of a couple to several thousand dollars, but now let's talk briefly about WHY - what is the return on investment.

I will go into more detail on this in upcoming articles, but, again, it really depends on you - whether or not you implement what you've found in your research.

What you will find, and tell, is YOUR UNIQUE story - what makes you stand out from the crowd. Then, you will tell your story in your PR and your marketing, and I promise you people will respond if you do it strategically. People do love this stuff. 

The return on your investment comes from media attention, new customers, increased customer loyalty, and an appealing, high class reputation.

But HOW is often the sticking point. HOW can you do your history to take advantage of the PR and marketing opportunities that are there, and I am here to help you. 

Lots more information to come, but for now, I hope I've gotten some wheels turning in your mind because I really want this to work for you!

What can history do for YOU?

by Bonnie Hurd Smith

Hi, I'm Bonnie Hurd Smith and I've helped dozens of businesses and organizations, and reached hundreds of individuals through my talks, with the message that "history" is not some dead, irrelevant "thing" you go visit in a museum.

Instead, for businesses and organizations, history can be a powerful marketing, PR and community outreach tool if you go about it strategically.

Getting involved in history - your own history, your community's history, or things like women's history, which is my passion, will attract attention, customers, and a high class, trustworthy reputation for your business.

And I know those three things are always on your mind.

As an individual, if you're like me, you want to make a difference in the world, and getting involved in history can do that.

It's legacy-building work. It's deeply satisfying because there are countless stories to uncover, and tell, and learn from, and be inspired by -- and it's important work - for our communities, for young people, and for our country, frankly.

And here's my really radical statement.

Folks, we have GOT to take history away from the cranky old ladies at historical societies, and we have GOT to take it out of the hands of bad history teachers. 

Instead, history needs to be in your hands, and in mine, in ways that benefit everyone - including you and your business!

Yes, this is a bold statement to make, but I really want you along for the ride!

But I know these are new ideas, and so I invite you to visit historysmiths.com where you will find articles, reports, and my blog where I go into a lot more detail.

I also hope you will sign up for my ezine, Connections, because I share helpful information about these ideas every week!

So I HOPE - just in this one minute, that I've gotten you to think differently about history.

Please just blow up any preconceived notions you might have, and join me on this journey. You do not need a Ph.D. to be part of history. Just the desire.

This is Bonnie Hurd Smith of HistorySmiths.com signing off.

Thanks for stopping by!  

Do you have a question about how history can benefit your business, organization, or you personally? I would love to hear it, and I would love to answer it!

I might even feature your business or organization here, because others could benefit from the information!

If you're a nonprofit, you are also a business. Ask away! And if you're a historical nonprofit, do you have questions about how what we do can provide you with new revenue streams?

Please be in touch with your question!