Ancestry.com provides members with access to online genealogical information. Today, with more than 7 billion names and 26,000 searchable databases, Ancestry.com is the premiere online source for family history information, including the web's largest collection of historical records.

Through innovatively publicizing many of Ancestry’s new collections, databases and relating them to current events, famous people and historical landmarks, Coltrin branded Ancestry as the leading company in the field, creating a significant impact on internet traffic and subsequently on subscriptions. One notable instance of Coltrin leveraging Ancestry’s expertise to bring in a significant number of new members was a project regarding Al Sharpton.

Coltrin and Associates developed the idea to trace the lineage of Al Sharpton in honor of Black History Month. During the course of research it was discovered that Al Sharpton had an indirect familial relationship to Strom Thurmond. The relationship between a very adamant African American civil rights activist and a Caucasian US Senator who was famous for advocating racial segregation was very interesting news. Coltrin mass publicized this finding and brought Al Sharpton on board to discuss the issue.

Among other things, Coltrin:
• Capitalized on momentum, catapulting Ancestry.com to the front pages
• Published joint story with Al Sharpton through the Daily News announcing shocking reveal
• Held a briefing jointly with the Daily News that generated non-stop nationwide coverage, including three front page stories
• Organized and accompanied media tour to fuel further media saturation and set stage for Megan Smolenyak and Sharpton to evangelize both sides of the story
• Set up a live radio rally with Rev. Sharpton and Rev. Jesse Jackson to promote black family history research

As a result of this initiative, the story and ancestry.com received 1,272 stories in print and online outlets, including many front page articles. The story received huge broadcast coverage, including 1,256 individual mentions. Audiences numbered 412,895,046 for print and online together and 256,529,509 for the broadcast showings.
As result of this coverage, traffic to the site spiked dramatically, crashing ancestry.com’s website numerous times during the campaign.