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In the funeral industry, the confidentiality and security of customer information are paramount. As you embark on establishing your funeral service business, it's crucial to prioritize data security. Today, Arkansas Funeral Directors Association outlines...
In the funeral industry, the confidentiality and security of customer information are paramount. As you embark on establishing your funeral service business, it's crucial to prioritize data security. Today, Arkansas...
WilbertEDU will be presenting on February 8: "A Century of Caring: Navigating Family Dynamics, Grief & Marketing in the Death Care Industry", hosted by author and speaker Kevin O'Conner. You can register at www.wilbert.com/wilbertedu. This webinar explores...
Artificial intelligence can be a valuable tool in your toolbox for business needs. However, businesses using or contemplating the use of AI should be mindful of its risks and limitations. This technology is still in its early stages of use and development. Before...
By Faith Bennett “Should I run Google Ads this year?” As you begin creating your 2024 marketing plan, you may find yourself asking this question. While Google Ads can help some businesses, they’re not always the right investment for everyone. But first, let’s back up...
The market for preneed trust services is changing, currently being affected by two trends: more families seeking unique end-of-life celebrations but also families that are more budget conscious after two years of surging inflation. It’s those two things – sustaining...
Keeping clients’ information safe and private is a major responsibility for funeral home service providers. Funeral homes handle sensitive client data – such as financial information and the circumstances surrounding their demise – as a matter of course. If this...
By Live Oak Bank Small business owners often ask us about the loan application process. What is required to apply for financing and successfully complete the process? How long will it take to receive funds? Whether you need financing today or are hoping to gain...
I talk to a fair number of funeral home, cemetery and B2B decision makers responsible for their firm’s marketing activities and I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard these same folks say: “We tried doing _(fill in the blank)______, and it doesn’t work.” Well, In...
Because artificial intelligence has a broad range of practical applications – from automation and data analysis to customer service and gaming – the topic often triggers different responses in different people. AI continues to advance and evolve, driving innovation in...
If you have ever considered taking out a small loan, you are aware of the potential challenges and complexities that can befall you. To help guide you through this, read this breakdown of common loans and the preparation process for this. Live Oak Bank is an...
Written by Live Oak BankSmall businesses with positive leadership roles are more likely to have effective management, rewarding cultures and productive teams. Although some individuals have natural talent and excellent leadership skills, all business owners and...
Three steps — Let this be a guide in helping prevent a dangerous or deadly fire at your business. Take a look at the following to see how these action items could be applied today. 1. Educate your employees on the consequences of a potential fire at your business.The...
By Gabriel Ngo “Culture is defined and created from the top down, but it comes to life from the bottom up” – Mike Smith, former NFL head coach (Atlanta Falcons), 2008 Coach of the Year You are probably already thinking that this quotation is all well and good, but who...
Making a connection with consumers is key to sustainability for funeral directors. NFDA-StatisticsDownload
When it comes to weather and climate disasters, the clock is ticking. As the likelihood of a major climate event impacting your business surges higher each year, disaster recovery planning is critical. Should a climate or weather disaster strike, your employees and...
You’re ready to sell your business and use the proceeds to help finance your retirement or your next venture. There are a number of ways to determine the market value of your business. Tally the value of assets. Base it on revenue. Use earnings multiples. Do a...
Technology disrupts every industry, and we’ve all been witnesses to it — old GPS systems, replaced by Apple Maps and Google Maps. Production and fulfillment workers, replaced by robotic systems. Old cameras, replaced by iPhones. Blockbuster, replaced by streaming...
We plan everything in our lives, and growing a business should be no different. Planning for smart growth can increase your chances of success. Humans have a natural tendency to focus on our strengths and what we enjoy, then avoid the rest. The business planning...
When a family leaves your care, you want to know that you’ve served them well. You likely wonder: How would the family rate their experience with our staff? The building and equipment? The attention to detail? How did they hear about our funeral home? Would they...
You’ve worked hard to help make your business successful, but something as small as a frayed electrical cord could turn into a large fire and wind up costing your company millions of dollars. When was the last time you took a fire safety survey and asked yourself...
As a business owner, you know that your employees are an important asset of your business. Each business has individuals with specialized skills, knowledge, and valuable customer relationships that are critical to its success. If your business relies heavily on key...
It's common as funeral service professionals to experience burnout. The nature of the job, including a demanding work schedule and being emotionally available to families, can create a cycle of constant stress and fatigue that expands beyond the workplace into every...
Spring Course Begins April 3 What impression do you make? Do you provide consistently high-quality experiences that families and loved ones remember forever? Making the best impression is key. Making Best Impressions will provide many valuable skills and tips that...
Todd Carlson, EVP and Chief Sales Officer at Funeral Directors Life, explains. Connecting with people who want to preplan online is difficult if you don't have a way to reach them. You need an option for them to start the preplanning process right from your website...
Funeral livestreaming isn’t going away anytime soon. In fact, 42% of people feel comfortable attending a funeral online - a 121% increase in 10 years. That’s why you need to offer a livestreaming option now. Tyler Ward, Digital Sales Manager with Encore Livestreaming,...
Arkansas Nurses Honor Guard is a nonprofit organization that recognizes and pays tribute to the men and women who have dedicated their lives to the nursing profession. They pay tribute to these individuals upon their death at their funeral or memorial service with a...
As this column has been memorializing the key points of knowledge I have acquired and want to pass on to you, here’s another to remember: Nothing prevents problems better than writing things down. I have found that many life-changing matters can occur when business...
Nothing is worse for a columnist, especially one in the darkening days of his career, than to repeat himself or herself endlessly. If you do that, you become the print version of that elderly uncle who tells you for the seventh time in two days the same story from his...
I have seen many changes in the funeral service profession during my career. Some of these changes created challenges to the business plan with which funeral directors were indoctrinated, such as cremation and funerals without merchandise. Some involved operating...
In the unlikely event that you don’t make it to work tomorrow, do your co-owners and key employees know what to do to keep things running smoothly in your absence? If you are the type of business owner who is very hands-on and who does it all, consider the following...
The single largest cost of running a funeral home comprises salaries, benefits and employment taxes. Together, they make up employee compensation. In the 1980s, when some casket companies spent $250,000 on their NFDA booth build-out and another million dollars on an...
I got my start in the financial services world by selling life insurance across the kitchen table to young families. Once, as I met with a 20-something couple, the husband told me it was ironic we were meeting because they had just found out the day before that his...
It's officially budget seasonWhat do you really need in your budget for 2023? We put together a list of funeral home essentials to get you started.1. Plan ahead for conventionsThere are 2 things to think about when planning for your trips: which conventions to attend...
As I attempt to transfer the knowledge I’ve learned over five decades in funeral service, I find I must ask questions as often as I answer them. Read Full Article
In last month’s column, I outlined the questions you must address for preneed to serve as a positive part of your business and planning. As noted at the end of that article, I intend to answer those many questions in this month’s article, so please, read on. Read Full...
The first large-scale speech I gave at an NFDA convention was in Orlando in the 1980s. In the room next to me was an industry “expert” whose presentation denounced the use of funeral directors as salespeople and asserted that preneed was an inferior way of promoting...
Planning for the future is a critical task that all companies have to engage with, regardless of how new or old your company is.This series from Dan Isard at The Foresight Companies looks at practical steps and knowledge to help keep the ship stable long into the...
By Welton Hong Twitter recently mined its data, analyzing billions of tweets for the past two years, to discover what's on top when it comes to trends. In its Twitter Trends Report 2022, the social media platform revealed three important considerations for marketers:...
Read the next installment in our tactical series looking at how your funeral home can set up a comprehensive digital marketing plan.Content shared with permission from Funeral Directors Life. 05-VideoDownload
Read the next installment in our tactical series looking at how your funeral home can set up a comprehensive digital marketing plan.Content shared with permission from Funeral Directors Life. 04-Facebook-AdsDownload
Read the next installment in our tactical series looking at how your funeral home can set up a comprehensive digital marketing plan.Content shared with permission from Funeral Directors Life. 03-Google-AdsDownload
Read the next installment in our tactical series looking at how your funeral home can set up a comprehensive digital marketing plan.Content shared with permission from Funeral Directors Life. 02-WebsiteDownload
Marketing in this day and age can be a mystery. Old tried and true solutions like the newspaper, the yellow pages, and the radio are losing prominence. In their place we have Facebook, Google Ads, and YouTube. If you are like most funeral directors, you are worried...
This article was originally published in ICCFA’s Memento Mori magazine and is reprinted here with permission. Welton Hong is the founder of Ring Ring Marketing and the author of Making Your Phone Ring with Internet Marketing for Funeral Homes. Learning the Ins and...
We are often asked about how long specific records should be kept. Discarding records that should be kept poses a wide range of potential tax and legal problems. Keeping reports too long wastes precious space and resources. But how long should the company’s files be...
By Tim Collison, CFSPCopyright: The Dodge CompanyReprinted with permission from the Dodge Magazine One of the basic truths of human existence is that we are all creatures of habit. We develop patterns in almost everything we do, and the longer we continue these...
By Dan Isard The Foresight CompaniesEarlier this year, I turned 68 years old. I mention this because I feel I bear a responsibility to this profession, one that has allowed me to build a company and serve more than 3,000 of its members during my career. While I have...
The Arkansas Department for Health has recently issued new training and guidance both for Funeral Directors and for Medical Certifiers, which walks through the entire process step-by-step. The resources are available as videos showing the actual steps on a computer,...
As families go through the mourning process, it provides a great opportunity for wider community to give wraparound support to the grieving family, for whom much is in turmoil. Here is a guide that can be shared with friends and family of practical ways to lend...
Starting from July 1, 2023 there will be new mileage rates as announced by the IRS.The Internal Revenue Service earlier this month announced an increase in the optional standard mileage rate for the final six months of 2022. Taxpayers may use the optional standard...
Derrick McEachern is a Registered Counselling Therapist and a Canadian Certified Counsellor who has been practicing in Nova Scotia since 2006. He is the founder of Five Star Wellbeing Counselling and Mental Health and is the author of the Wellbeing Assessment. Derrick...