To be fair, I was pretty skeptical about Eternal Space when I first met them.  They called me to give them my view of the funeral industry and, like any of my consulting clients, they paid me a small fee per hour to share my insight. 

As a side note, I never knew how much consultants can really make until I told people how little I was charging my clients and got the “you should be billing at least $100 an hour” speech from several colleagues.

My first few sessions with Eternal Space were productive for them, but I was still unsure if they could ever be anything more than a dream bandied about during cross-country phone calls.

Later, when they made a big splash at the 2008 NFDA show, I was impressed with their work to that point, but the fact that they hadn’t created a working site yet made me nervous.

I continued to be concerned about their ability to build a business without a working product – especially considering how much money they’ve burned through with advertising and their NFDA booth – but those fears vanished when I saw a working prototype.

Truth is, their site looks like the “movie-version” of an online memorial.  Seriously, the versatility and user experience are akin to an episode of CSI.

I’m hooked and I think they’ve got a great product.  And, frankly, the only one that offers a funeral director tangible value to market to their clients.  I think funeral directors can make some good money promoting Eternal Space.

Anyone who reads my ramblings here will know that providing a good service AND making money make up the real “bottom line” for me.

Don’t think for a minute, however, that I’m not there to give dissent.  I’ve never been reserved with my opinion and I will continue to push Eternal Space to make sure they continue to provide real value to funeral professionals.  Because, if they don’t, our industry really doesn’t need them.