funeral newsletter
Newsletter – October 2008
Welcome to the Future of Funeral Service Newsletter!
The October 2008 newsletter is here. Since we are in the Thanksgiving Season (between the Canadian and American Thanksgiving Holidays), I want to show my appreciation and thanks to you! I have a ton of free tutorials and videos for you for this edition.
If you feel that someone else could benefit for this information, please feel free to forward it to them. If you are not a subscriber, get your own copy: Sign Up Today!
Don’t forget to check out the free teleseminar that I am hosting with Mike Kubasak this Thursday (October 23). Mike is going to share the 10 Biggest Mistakes Funeral Directors make when dealing with Price Shoppers.
>>>Register Today <<<
Mistakes Made with Price Shoppers – I hope you don’t make them – Free Teleseminar
Winning or losing price shoppers can found a profound effect on your firm – the more you win, the more profitable you will be AND at the same time, you are weakening the competition!
Mike Kubasak and I held a teleseminar in August about Price Shoppers: “Handling Price Shoppers is Easier When You Differentiate Yourself” – over 400 funeral professionals registered! Read More
5 Reasons to have Careers on your Funeral Home Website
Recently, I created a “Help Wanted Ad” for some a support position to help me with the growth of my business and posted it to my website. Instead of the old way of posting ads with newspapers and then sifting through a stack of job-seeking-tire-kickers, I wanted to elevate the relationship level to one of someone who was familiar with my work (via my website) or at least to get a referral – friend of a friend.
So why I am telling you this story? Well it seems to be a topic of interest lately – getting good caliber staff – and we seem to turn to our traveling sales reps and ask them if they know of anyone looking. As funeral directors, we forget that we have a large volume of “eyeballs” checking out obituaries on our websites and leaving condolences. Why not have a “Careers” or “Job Opportunities” section on your website? Read More
Wanted: Entrepreneurial Support
Although I have posted this under the “Careers” category, it probably should be called “Opportunities” or “Internet Apprenticeship” but at least with “Careers” you will know that I am looking for some help.
You see, there are a lot of things happening behind the scenes as Web 2.0 and the funeral industry collide – actually “mesh” together – all of it beneficial to the funeral profession! But to make sure that I play my part in the most efficient manner, I need some help. Read More
Part 1 – Intro: Relationship Marketing for Funeral Homes
This is the follow-up presentation to my live presentation at the Selected Independent Convention in Washington, DC. I have decided to break up this presentation into 5 parts as the recording of the web seminar was almost 2 hours long. I would strongly suggest that you watch them in order. Please provide your feedback and also – PLEASE – if you do apply any of these strategies, please let me know – I love it when people take action! Read More
Video Tributes & YouTube Web Seminar
As a follow up to two of my presentations at the New York State Funeral Directors Convention, I am hosting a web seminar today. This online seminar will be a step by step demonstration that will show you how to create a Video using a commercial software program. This process will be applicable to creating Video Tributes for your families or also to create an infomercial for your firm.
Then once the video is created, we will go through the steps to upload the video to YouTube. I will also field any questions that you have during the presentation… Read More
Viral Marketing for Funeral Homes
I know that I have preaching this for some time, but besides the mere act of putting obituaries on your website, doing this will drive very targeted traffic – and they are the exact people who will want to by flowers, memorial jewelry and other remembrance items. Watch the video and you will see what I mean. Read More
Thanks again for subscribing to my newsletter – I hope that you find the information helpful. I would love to hear your feedback, so if you have any suggestions or comments (or even testimonials), please just fill in the comment box below and let me know – Thank you!
…Hep
Part 3 – Written Word: Relationship Marketing for Funeral Homes
In this section we key on the written word, whether it is by email, blog post, RSS, auto responder or email newsletter. Email is still the # 1 use of the Internet – watch this 20:40 minute video to see how you can apply these relationship building strategies.
Resources:
- Aweber – auto responder and email newsletter program
- Google Reader – saves time, aggregates RSS subscriptions into one place
Please give me your feedback below…
Newsletter – April 2008
Welcome to the Future of Funeral Service Newsletter!
The April newsletter is here. It has been an interesting couple of months and I have a lot to share with you. If you feel that someone else could benefit for this information, please feel free to forward it to them.
If you are not a subscriber, click here for your own copy: Sign Up Today!
Please see below as I am hosting a free demonstration for PreneedReferrals.com on Weds., April 9 and see how you can start to get preneed leads from referrals and also from after care families – again, it’s time sensitive so register today!
Also, I would love to get your feedback – leave a comment on the website or just reply to the email. Thanks again, Robin Heppell.
Featured Article: Case Study – Online Video for Funeral & Cemetery Promotion
In preparation for my presentation at the ICCFA Annual Convention in San Diego, I am conducting a live Case Study on how to use online videos to promote your services and your website. I have selected three terms to rank for – two are geo-targeted, one for a funeral home and one for a cemetery – both in my home town.
Read more >>
Ask the Futurist: Green Funerals and Green Burials – Are you Ready?
I have been studying the topic of GREENING FUNERAL SERVICE closely and to start I want to point out that there are varying shades of green. It is not “All Green” or “No Green” – funeral homes and cemeteries can slowly incorporate GREEN into their operations. From the outset, there seems to be three areas of focus.
Read more >>
Hepp’s ‘Net Picks: Marketing Experts see the need for Funeral Homes to use New Media
Marketing Over Coffee: I listen to this podcast religiously. Christopher Penn and John Wall will keep you up to date in marketing with “New Media” and the featured post is where they talk briefly about New Media and funeral service. You will also get tips on Search Engine Optimization, Email Marketing, Blogging, and Podcasting – I mean “Online Radio” Read more >>
Do You Agree with Hepp? Are Memorial Societies Obsolete?
With a more educated consumer and with a wide variety of funeral service providers, the business model of a Memorial Society is obsolete!
Read more >>
Future Sneak Peak: Free Demo of PreneedReferrals.com: Weds., April 9
Preneed Referrals is a funeral-specific website that I have created as a resource for funeral directors and cemeterians to put the power of “Send Out Cards” into your preneed marketing and family follow-up – after care – programs.
Read more >>
Funeral Futurist Radio: Blogging for Funeral Homes with Tim Totten
On this show, Cot Covers creator, Tim Totten of Final Embrace shares his experiences with creating and maintaining his blog and discusses how funeral directors could benefit from creating their own blog.
Read more >>
Funeral Futurist Tutorial: Using Excel: Track Funeral Totals and Averages
This tutorial will demonstrate how to use Microsoft’s Excel spreadsheets to track your calls by service type and have a running total and up to date averages in your various service offerings.
Read more >>