Every thirty days Funeral Director Daily runs this little section where we recap the Top Read articles of the past 30 days.  From my point of view as the author of all of the articles I get a sense of what has been of interest to funeral professionals during that time period. . . . . Many times it has to do with the acquisition landscape, or what is happening with public companies, or what are the new products in funeral service. . .

 

Well, this month it appears to me that funeral professionals are interested in profitability and what they need to do to continue to be profitable in an ever-changing marketplace. . . a marketplace where the cost of business has risen simply because of America’s inflation problem — and maybe a marketplace where revenues per case are declining.

 

Our Top 3 articles deal with ways a funeral home can save money or with what we see as “changes” happening within the industry and how they need to stay on top of those changes.  In any regard here are those articles:

 

1. “See No Fees” looks to funeral industry for growth
2. Titan Casket is bringing preneed merchandise “Direct to the Consumer”
3. Dylan said it first, “The times they are a-changin”
4. Friday was a “Great Day” for funeral service 
5. Our Take:  Park Lawn/Carriage Services 2023 dance ending with no agreement probably worked out best for all.

 

About Funeral Director Daily:  Funeral Director Daily also hit a couple of milestones of our own in the last 30 days.  First of all we’ve went over the 3,500 number for requested subscriptions when you consider direct e-mail, Facebook, and X (Twitter) followers.  That’s a long way from when I started blogging in a small sense to offer whatever I had learned in almost 35 years of funeral home operations to young professionals.

 

I’ve told readers before, FDD started with 4 subscribers and has grown organically via word of mouth. . . .virtually one reader at a time.  I’m absolutely humbled that I’ve reached a point with this little blog that we are becoming known as the top business information source in Death Care.  And we’ve reached this point by not including click bait, macabre, or satire   —  we just serve up straight forward news, experiences, and opinions that we think can be valuable to those operating and employed in funeral homes, crematories, and cemeteries.  Thank you for reading.

 

I’m also humbled that from my little home office in the small community of Alexandria, Minnesota, that I regularly receive emails and eventually phone calls from all over the English speaking world — Great Britain, Australia, and New Zealand — in addition to the many from the USA and Canada asking for my opinions on certain issues that affect funeral service.  It’s not uncommon to receive a call from Barron’s or the Wall Street Journal or a private equity company on my opinion of a certain business, product, or issue.  Talk about humbling.

 

That’s incredible to me because I haven’t gotten very far.  I still live within one mile of the house I lived in when I attended Kindergarten.   And,  my children went to the same schools that I did. . . .and my dad did.  I’ve learned that I love to write and give whatever ideas and opinions I can to the greater death care community, including our valued suppliers — it’s a community that is about as caring and unselfish as any professional community in our nation — researching articles has allowed me to see that and confirmed it to me over and over again.

 

Finally, this would not be done without the incredible support of the Death Care industry sponsors that underwrite the hosting, security, and delivery costs of Funeral Director Daily so that all readers can recieve it free of charge.  The sponsors are incredibly faithful in supporting Funeral Director Daily and I’ve reached my limit on the number I will allow as soon as a couple businesses who have reservations join in with their sponsorships.

 

You see, like most issues in life — it has to be a two-way street.  If they support my efforts I need to give them maximum exposure and not dilute their potential effectiveness by continuing to add sponsors.  You will find current sponsor logos on every page and you will also see some articles written about the products and services that they deal in.  If you need something that one of them can provide, please give them a shout out — they have the expertise and they will help you.

 

Finally, I’m grateful that the good Lord has allowed me to stay involved in an aspect of funeral service even after I left the direct involvement of working at a funeral home.  As a child growing up I watched my dad serve people and was amazed at how respected he was in our community because “the families always came first”.  As a matter of fact the book that led to the movie “Brian’s Song”  about Chicago Bear superstar Gayle Sayers and hard-nosed, but not near as talented Brian Piccolo is titled “I am Third“. . . . . It’s been said that Sayers picked that title for the book because it was his philosophy on life. . . . a philosophy that I think great funeral directors show in their community —. . . . . . . “God is first, others are second, and I am third“.

 

Thanks again for reading Funeral Director Daily!!!

 

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“A servant’s attitude guided by Christ leads to a significant life”