Business
I recently read an article from the Watertown (South Dakota) Public Opinion newspaper and it reminded me of how we marketed our funeral home in the days prior to internet and digital marketing. We always looked for anywhere where we would have a chance to visit with people — especially on a one-on-one basis —…
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Next Monday residents of the United States will celebrate President’s Day. Just so you know, when I was young, and until changed by the Uniform Monday Holiday Act of 1971, this day was known as Washington’s Birthday holiday since 1879 and celebrated on President George Washington’s birthday, February 22. When I was young, many states…
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Since I started this blog in 2017 and continuously look for interesting topics for the readers, I’ve come to anticipate the annual research paper from Sun Life entitled the Sun Life Cost of Dying Report. While it comes out of Great Britain it is a great resource for me and what I have come to…
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In the last couple of issues of NFDA’s Memorial Business Journal, author and editor Edward Defort, has introduced us to funeral director, owner, and entrepreneur David Hernandez. Hernandez has funeral service operations in New Jersey, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania. And, he’s a man after my own heart because he understands that a successful funeral “business”…
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There is no doubt that the Covid-19 pandemic has greatly influenced and impacted the death care industry over the past two years. In general, there has been more deaths and less public services of such deaths. One might argue, especially in larger markets, that the increased number of deaths has more than made up in…
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If you follow the trends in death care you will notice that not only increased cremation continues to happen, but so does interest in alkaline hydrolysis, recomposition, and other “green burial” practices. According to this article, in New Hampshire 18-year old Anya Nicoll and state legislator Jerry Knirk are working towards changing a 1971 state…
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I’ve been out of active funeral directing for the past eight years. And, I won’t apologize for it, but I’m a traditionalist when it comes to funeral service. That means I still believe in the value of the public acknowledgement of death, the tradition of a service or celebration of life, and the idea of…
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How would your funeral home come out in terms of profitability if you advertised a pricing method billed as “Pay what you want”? Now, Caledonia Cremation is not your normal “Mom and Pop” funeral/cremation shop, but their January promotion is unique. Here’s what they say on their promotional website which you can access here: “Everyone…
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I recently finished Bill O’Reilly’s book “Killing the Mob”. It is one of about a dozen books in a series by O’Reilly all with the “Killing” titles. I’ve learned that “Killing” is just the title series and the books are really about the history of people, movements, and time periods. Of the books I’ve read…
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It’s been called a “hipster” funeral home. That’s at least what one person labeled Brooklyn, New York’s new contemporary funeral home, Sparrow. Erica Hill, a co-owner of Sparrow says this of comments like that, “Yes, we look different than what you expect a funeral home to be, but that’s okay.” According to this article in…
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