Success In Action: Tina Martin Personal Histories

When I first read in the newspaper that an organization called SCORE was offering to give anyone with a business idea, ten minutes of their time I was intrigued. Sitting down with a SCORE volunteer was my first chance to talk about my idea with someone who had solid business expertise.

Raising a young family while working as a professional writer, researcher, editor, and interviewer, I was ready to retool my professional life. My work had taken me to interviews with all kinds of people, young and old, in all kinds of circumstances and in many different parts of the world. Each story moved me, and each person interested me deeply. I was convinced that each person's story was unique and fascinating and should be recorded.

I was committed to helping families preserve the priceless legacy of their stories on audio, video or as written biographies, for their children and the generations to come. Realizing that there was a need for the services that I could provide, I came up with the idea of creating Tina Martin Personal Histories.

What I didn't realize was that I was about to embark on a relationship with an organization that would change my life. My early meetings with SCORE advisors gave me the encouragement I needed to develop Tina Martin Personal Histories.

Over the course of a series of meetings we identified specific topics and challenges that I had to work on. He also involved additional members of Rockland SCORE to assist me with accounting and invoicing questions. We dealt with issues involving:

• Defining my services and products
• Understanding my costs and establishing my fees
• Profiling my target clients
• Developing marketing strategies and promoting my services
• Writing proposals for service as I found new clients
• Regular business review meetings to check progress

Tina Martin Personal Histories (www.tmpersonalhistories.com) has more than doubled its profits in 2007 and I now work with a staff of filmmakers, designers and writers to provide audio, video and written biographies to clients across the country. Rockland SCORE continues to serve as a mentor and work with me to support my business, offering top expertise and guidance on an on-going basis.

About Rockland County SCORE

Individual private and confidential one hour counseling sessions are held during the day on Tuesday at our Spring Valley Office and on Friday at the Rockland County Economic Development Corporation Office in Pearl River. Evening counseling is available on Tuesday at Volunteer Counseling Services in New City. Appointments may be made right now on-line by clicking “Request a free counseling appointment” and scheduling an appointment at one of these locations. If necessary, you may schedule a counseling appointment by calling the SCORE Office (845) 426-1206 at any time. Leave a message including your name and phone numbers and a Counselor will call you back to arrange an appointment.