Can Technological Innovation Help Reclaim Your Potential? Yes!

My thesis argument is a simple one. Innovations in funeral service have created a wealth of potential for business and personal success. So much so that funeral professionals simply cannot afford to be disconnected from the awareness of their positive personal and professional potential. That awareness is central to the pursuit of bigger and better things; if you don’t have it, you can slip quietly into apathy and a victim mentality. If you find the assertion credible, read on; if not, turn the page. (It’s okay; I’ll never know.)

There’s a lot happening in funeral service today. You have the really big (and big ticket) technological innovations like water resomation, the advent of online marketing tools, ancillary sales opportunities, and web-based memorialization (interactive funeral home websites with built-in e-commerce features), and the continued growth of the pet loss services profession. Let’s not forget the elephant in the room: cremation. The rise in cremation arrangements was long seen as tolling the death knell for our profession yet, when you see it through the eyes of someone confident in their potential for success, cremation becomes a not-to-be-missed opportunity.

Voting Now Open! Reward Innovation and Innovative Technology

If I allow myself enough time to ponder the concept of innovation, I’m almost overwhelmed by its significance in both human history and our day-to-day life here in the 21^st century. I ask you; where would we be right now without innovators? Then, there’s my fascination with a word’s meaning and origins; exactly what is innovation, and when did the word become part of everyday language? More on those questions later; right now I want to share some really big news.

Is Your Funeral Firm Six Feet Under?

I’ve always loved the HBO series, Six Feet Under, so I jumped at the chance to see it again when Amazon Prime recently made all five seasons available to subscribers. The long Fourth of July weekend gave me ample time to dive in with both feet.

Without doubt, the second time around watching Alan Ball’s landmark series has not only been fun, it’s been insightful. It has led me to more deeply understand and appreciate the real value of funeral service software for those of us who work day-to-day on the front lines of funeral service. Sometimes, true learning happens when we least expect it.

Understanding SEO Copywriting: When To Hire & a Do-It-Yourself Guide

Your funeral home website sits at the hub of your online marketing efforts; you simply can’t afford not to truly understand the importance of SEO copywriting. It’s what makes your families land on your website instead of your competitor’s.

It was way back in 2008 when Mortuary Management published an article I wrote titled, “Are You the Best Writer for Your Business?” Now, six years later, I’m returning to that same question but the years in between have not changed my perspective one whit. I still believe that most business owners shouldn’t write their own website content or sales copy. Most of the time, they can’t see the features and benefits of their business offerings as clearly as a seasoned copywriter can (one who asks all the right questions) and nine times out of ten, they don’t enjoy the writing process enough to excel at copy or content writing.

Online Grief Support: How to Truly Help Those in Mourning

FrontRunner has given me the wonderful opportunity to write on the topics of grief and bereavement in the process of developing two, year-long email series and a library of related articles.

I am resolute in my belief that I don’t want to write fluff. Instead, it is my intention to provide readers with practical information they can really use. Yet, I know the inspiring and thoughtful insights of others are important so I’ve included words written by both modern and classical authors and philosophers. Their thoughts are an ideal springboard for topical discussion.

To Post or Not to Post Prices Online: That is the Question

In the state of California, any funeral establishment maintaining a website must post the General Price List (GPL), pursuant to the Funeral Rule. There must also be a statement that the GPL is available upon request via a link from the home page unless the words “price information” or a similar phrase that includes the word “price” links to the GPL.

As a California funeral director, I’m well aware of Senate Bill 658, which took effect in January 2013. This requirement may give me a skewed perspective on the necessity of online pricing. Couple that with the fact that I’m a website content writer who needs to keep up-to-date with consumer trends and you’ve got a woman who honestly believes that putting your funeral home prices on your website is a smart thing to do.

Embracing Technology Any Where, Any Time and at Any Age

Each of us has our own very personal reasons for becoming a funeral service professional. For me, it was my love of ritual. My anthropological training allowed me to spend decades studying the multitude of cultural rituals surrounding death. This love turned my strictly academic career into funeral service where I could work with families to create meaningful funeral and memorial services. Add to that my recent certification as a grief counselor and I think it’s easy to see where my heart lies.

It’s also easy to see that my heart does not lie with the seemingly mundane tasks of case management! Chances are you feel much the same as I do. We came to this profession as a way of expressing our desire to care for others not because we wanted to get buried in the minutia of case management (pun intended). Yet, how many times during the week do you find yourself stuck in your office, feeling overwhelmed by your management and operational responsibilities?

Fortunately, today’s technology can free you from the shackles of your office chair and allow you the mobility needed to serve today’s families.

How Funeral Firms Can Provide the Ultimate Online Experience (Part 2)

In the previous post, I set out to explore the ways funeral firms can provide an ultimate online experience for their communities using the wisdom of Scott Deming, a keynote speaker at this year’s ICCFA Convention. He asserts that a business’s brand is not derived from marketing and advertising efforts, but from customers.

In a brief exploration of what defines an ultimate online experience, I determined (with the help of a few Facebook friends and my own online experience) that it involves: responsiveness to inquiries; the ability to personalize the platform to provide the most relevant information for my needs and expectations; general ease-of-use; and finally, price and service-related value.

How Funeral Homes Can Provide the Ultimate Online Experience (Part 1)

What a fantastic line-up this year for the ICCFA All Star Annual Convention & Exposition! Congratulations to Program Co-Chairs Gary Freetag and Scott Sells for the keynote presentations and breakout session topics in what promises to be a stellar event (no pun intended). (For registration information, visit the ICCFA website. Or download a PDF version of the Program to learn more.)

I am especially intrigued by Scott Deming’s Keynote presentation: Creating the Ultimate Customer Experience, which will be held Wednesday, April 9^th. The premise is this: while businesses often consider their branding to be simply a logo and tagline, in reality, their brand is defined by their customers. “Deming will explain,” notes the synopsis, “how to break the boundaries of typical customer service or brand-building processes and dispel the popular, yet incorrect, thinking that advertising and marketing lead to powerful, emotional brands.”

FrontRunner’s One-Write Logic Helps You ‘Get Organized’!

Did you know January is Get Organized month? I sure didn’t. In fact, I was so delighted that the hectic days of November and December were behind me, I didn’t even consider anything other than sitting back and relaxing in January. But, I learned about Get Organized, a campaign sponsored by the National Association of Professional Organizers, early enough in the month to actually get involved. After all, almost everyone I know–including me–could benefit from getting more organized.