Our Cot Covers Now Feature Recycled Batting!

Starting with covers sold at the 2009 NFDA Convention in Boston, all of our product will be made with a recycled quilt batting.  Until now, we’ve been using a batting made from polyester that had not been recyled.  To be fair, that was the only batting we had available.

But now, we can get our hands on Wellspring batting, which is spun out of the plastic that makes up 2-liter soda bottles.

Basically, they get a shipment of these from a recycler:

They melt it down, spin the plastic on a batting machine and produce this:

And it’s a recycled product!  Which means that instead of those soda bottles going into a landfill, they’re going into the cot covers we make.

The batting costs about 25% more than the old version, but we think it’s worth it to bring you a better product that respects our resources and reduces waste that would otherwise go to the dump.  But you won’t see your prices go up, since the batting is a small portion of the overall materials costs for our covers.

You know what’s even better?  This batting is actually softer than the old stuff and washes better too!

 

Are You Still Conducting Processions?

After reading the headline 1 Killed in Funeral Procession Crash, I wondered how many funeral directors are still gladly leading funeral processions and what it will take for us to encourage our clients to eschew this time-honored (and, nowadays, dangerous) practice.

In my days as a funeral home administrator, I seldom led funeral processions, since I was often charged with cleaning up after a funeral had left the chapel.  But before I headed back inside to scrub green oasis stains from beige carpeting, I usually had the harrowing task of stopping three lanes of 55-mpg+ traffic for the procession.

The cussing, honking and rude gestures got so bad that I finally printed this Florida statute on a piece of poster board:

316.1974  Funeral procession right-of-way and liability.  3(a):  Regardless of any traffic control device or right-of-way provisions prescribed by state or local ordinance, pedestrians and operators of all vehicles, except as stated in paragraph (c), shall yield the right-of-way to any vehicle which is part of a funeral procession being led by a funeral escort vehicle or a funeral lead vehicle.

Holding up the sign for oncoming traffic at least gave them something to read as they waited.  Still, there were numerous times that I was either verbally accosted or narrowly missed by a vehicle that didn’t care about the law.  One driver, a visitor from Georgia, actually hit my arm with his black BMW X3 as he drove around me and skirted the procession.

Other times I’d get the procession safely on the road, only to get a phone call from someone complaining that they had to wait in traffic for our procession.  One man complained that he had the right-of-way (a green light) and we should have told our procession members to stop at red lights.  Even after I read him the law and told him that our procession, in fact, had the right of way, he tried to complain that we shouldn’t do processions because he, and others like him, didn’t know the law.

We could argue that ignorance is no excuse, but truth is, ignorance gets people hurt.  On better days, ignorance only ends up in a fender bender or hurt feelings.  On the worst days, a little ignorance can end in death, like the news story I cited earlier.

What responsibility do we, as funeral professionals, have to the people in our care during a procession?  Lawyers can tell me all day long that any injury or death that occurs in a procession is not the liability of the funeral professional, but I wonder how I’d feel if someone died in one I was leading.  Would I find comfort in the law?  Would the negative effects of such bad publicity be mitigated because the law says I’m not responsible?

If I were still running a funeral home, I think I’d counsel families against processions.  I’d encourage use of printed directions.  Maybe we’d station staff cars at landmarks along the way, with a note on the map:  “If you get lost, meet up with a funeral home staffmember at the following locations.” 

What would you do?

 

Hey, Vendors. Stop Telling Me How Hungry You Are.

Photo by Flickr user Brandon Larkin

After my November 2008 post, 2008 NFDA Convention: The Tired, The Hungry and The Bored, in which I told vendors not to eat food on the convention floor, I got a few emailed responses that disagreed with me.  Here’s the most common rebuttal and my re-rebuttal (if that’s even a word):

“I paid for it, so I should get to eat it.”
You’re right, your money did help pay for the food that some convention put out “free” for attendees.  And no convention organizer is going to tell you not to eat it.  But I’m telling you to keep out of that food. 

Why?  Because you have a limited amount of time to interact with your visitors.  Why spend even 30 seconds of that time stuffing food into your mouth when you can do that before the show?  At the IFDF Convention in June 2008, we had exactly 5.5 hours to sell cot covers.  I had a goal of 15 covers sold for the show, so I needed to sell almost three an hour.  Not a lot of time to eat all the wonderful food offered (they had cookies, fruit and hand-carved roast beef, among other things). 

“I didn’t get a chance to eat before the show.”
Here’s my heartless answer:  get organized and plan your time better.  Ouch, huh?  Truth is, you should have been ready hours in advance so you could have a bite to eat before the show.  You took time getting showered and dressed, didn’t you?  Why didn’t you budget time to eat?

Photo by Flickr user emtboy9

“The show hours are during my dinnertime.”
You mean they’re serving food to attendees when they might be hungry?  Seems kinda obvious, doesn’t it?  But guess what, if you’re going to get the most out of the convention, you can’t take a chance that you’ll have poppy seeds stuck in your teeth or mustard in the corner of your mouth when talking with a prospective client.

Why take the chance of having a mouthful of food when you need to talk to a customer, especially if you can always eat a snack before and plan a meal to celebrate your success (fingers crossed) after the show closes?

“But the food just looks so good!”
If the food is attractive and smells even better, you should be happy; the spread is meant to please your visitors and make them more eager to enjoy the rest of their stay on the expo floor.

But practice some self control!  If you expect to keep your booth and your clothes as attractive as the food, you need to minimize the chance that you might spill something on your carpet, your product or yourself.  That’s why I try to keep our in-booth food/beverage items restricted to water. 

“I only eat the food if the convention is slow.”
Unless the traffic has ground to a complete halt, you have even more reason to be the one person not stuffing his face.  Those visitors who are wandering the floor are still convention attendees and all the regular rules apply.  You need to get their attention (with your booth design, your product or your winning smile) and convince them to come look at your product.  You need to invite them into your home.

If you’re already in the middle of a meal (I once saw a salesman for a big industry company carry a full plate of food, stacked three inches high, to his booth) they won’t feel welcome and while they won’t say it, they won’t want to interrupt your dinner.

Photo by Flickr user Cynnerz

“I eat when I’m nervous.”
When the nerves hit you (convention expos can be stressful) try tidying your booth or folding pamplets.  And if your “meal” of choice is fingernails, stop biting those, too.  You need to be appropriately groomed to impress your guests and bleeding fingernails are bad form.

“Everyone else eats at expos.”
Yeah, and everyone else ends the show complaining about the attendance, their low sales figures and their inability to attract visitors to their booth. 

Not to blow my own horn to loudly (picture Dizzy Gillespie’s distended cheeks), but we don’t have those problems.  But then again, we’re not everyone else and we don’t eat in our booth.  Maybe we’re on to something.

In Conclusion…
Unless you’re working an eight-hour show, there’s no reason why you can’t wait until after the show to eat a meal.  And if you are doing that super-long show, the best arrangement is to get away from the booth to eat.  If you don’t have someone to take over for you (I always bring a helper, but I can finally afford it), work out an arrangement with a neighboring vendor and trade off coverage so each of you can eat something light away from the show floor.

 

Best Posts of 2008

Each January, I like to look back over our writing for the last year and see what really stands out.  In truth, a lot of what I write is fine for the day it’s published, but a few exceptional posts stand out after some time has passed.

Here’s a list of what I consider our best posts of 2008, starting with last year’s round-up:

JANUARY
Best Posts of 2007
Funeral Industry Website Roundup
Ignore the Rules: The Cliff Young Story
Don’t Sell Kitty Wigs
Funeral Homes as Retailers
Teach Them: Cremation is a Disposition Option, not a Service Option

FEBRUARY
If You’re Struggling to Make It Work, Maybe it’s Not a Good Idea!
How Heath Ledger’s Funeral Affects Our Industry
Michelle Carter Shares “Is the Future Really So Grim?”

MARCH
Dale Clock Responds to “Is the Future Really So Grim?”
The Hagglers are Coming

APRIL
Do Funeral Homes REALLY Need the Internet?
Advertising Before You’re Good Enough
What Message Are You Sending?
Learning from Others’ Mistakes

MAY
Electing a “Dead Guy”
Discount Selling and Full-Service Don’t Mix
American Airlines Needs a Discount Brand

JUNE
Reconnecting: My Argument for Attending Conventions
Serious Money is Coming to Online Obits. And Why it Won’t Work.
Tools Every Funeral Director Should Own
2008 KFDA Convention: Day 3 and Wrap-Up
2008 KFDA Convention: Solving a Problem

JULY
Being THE Best VS. Being YOUR Best
Is The Funeral Consumer’s Alliance More “Predatory” Than the Funeral Industry Itself?
What Tim Thinks Every Funeral Home Website Needs
Why Write a Blog for Your Business?
Mourning: Internet-Style

AUGUST
Are Your Employees a Team?

SEPTEMBER
Pet Funeral Home… In New York
Twitter and a Funeral

OCTOBER
2008 NFDA Convention: Day 1
What the 2008 NFDA Convention Means for Final Embrace
2008 NFDA Convention: What NFDA Did Right

NOVEMBER
2008 NFDA Convention: What NFDA Should Fix
2008 NFDA Convention: The Tired, The Hungry and The Bored

DECEMBER
Can Part-Time Employees Replace Advertising?
Random Flowers of Kindness
Hosting a Holiday Remembrance Service: 2008 Edition
2008 Business Rewind and Review

 

2008 Business Rewind and Review

I started to write this as a “2008 Wrap-up” but it wasn’t working.  I focused on the ways the blog and business had worked together, but it started reading like a chronology and laundry list, rather than a real discussion of how the blog has helped me and my business grow.

So I’m starting over here, with a bullet-point list of how the blog has helped shape my business and how I think about my business.

The blog lets me “launch” new products on the cheap.  I get to introduce new products, get feedback and then rework my offering before I spend lotsa money advertising or changing the website.

The blog helped shape our convention booth design.  Starting in May 2008, I posted several items about new thoughts on booth design.  I showed photos of our booth from previous conventions and offered a few new ideas.  The remarks I got from our readers helped me reshape my design.  In June, we tested out the design (with cheap parts) at the IFDF Convention in Daytona Beach.  Based upon the success of the layout, we upgraded to better shelving that was easier to pack and better-looking.

The blog gives me a place to talk business strategy and get feedback.  In the post Be Agressive. B. E. Aggressive!, I used the blog to discuss, in free form mode, our business’ use of money.  And while I didn’t throw our purse wide open, the post and subsequent discussion helped me realize that we need to buy new equipment when we need it, rather than using the old stuff until it falls apart.  It’s also helped me plan my purchases at the end of the year (right now) so I get the full tax advantage.

The blog helps me think about the industry in abstract ways.  In the April post, Do Funeral Homes REALLY Need the Internet?, I rambled about how I think funeral homes will use the Internet in the future.  Besides starting some important discussion with several readers, the post also kickstarted some thinking about my own website and how I interact with our cot cover customers in cyberspace.

I use the blog to make important business decisions.  Our June trip to the KFDA convention was done by car, precisely because I wrote a post for the blog that looked at the expenses for flying or driving and weighed the benefits of each.  The research I did for the post helped me ultimately decide to rent a car.

The blog lets me think big and sometimes fail.  In one big sweeping post, I told everyone that I’d be using my knowledge of Orlando to write a special brochure and website for 2008 NFDA Convention attendees.  In that post, I laid out an ambitious plan to make our company integral to the experience of attending the convention.  And then we didn’t do it.  Any of it.  While I didn’t follow through with this one (because of time, cost, etc.), the blog lets me dream big and get immediate reaction to huge ideas.

The blog is a great place to dissect an experience.  The needs of a blog post (or magazine article) are pretty specific.  In my experience, the framework provided helps focus my thoughts and provides a matrix for explaining an event, deconstructing the ingredients and understanding the outcome.  In 2008 KFDA Convention: Day 3 and Wrap-Up, I looked back on our June 2008 experience and figured out what went right and what needed adjusting.

 The blog archives my thoughts on industry issues as they evolve.  In the article Serious Money is Coming to Online Obits. And Why it Won’t Work., I predicted that the funeral home-funded version of Tributes.com would have to transition to an ad-supported service in 18 months or less.  Just six months later, they’re running banner ads on almost every page.  With the blog, I can search more than two years of my thoughts on issues like cremation or pet funeral services and see how my own opinions and observations have evolved over time.

The blog secures new business.  I added four consulting clients this year, all because they saw the value of my knowledge and, more importantly, recognized that I am a “thinker” in the industry.  Does that mean I’m the best?  Far from it.  But it means that I have spend considerable time thinking about these issues and researching the information.  Even better, my clients tell me how much they enjoy my work (pat on the back, please) and that my services are a good value for the money spent.

The blog jump-started my book.  No, the book isn’t ready yet; I’ve decided to work on it some more and make it truly spectacular.  But the blog gave me the start I needed and helped me build the framework for the book.  Plus, the feedback from readers led me to see what path the book should take.  It’ll be done sometime in 2009, I promise.

The blog got me a speaking gig!  My first big speaking engagement was partly because of all the writing on this blog.  I presented “Tried and True Marketing and Merchandising Techniques” at the 2008 OGR Conference in Key West in November.  From that gig, I booked two presentations at the IFDF Convention to be held in St. Augustine in 2009!

The blog attracts people who help my business grow.  Many of the industry folks who have helped me spread word about my cot covers and expand into new markets (we just sold to an Australian distributor!) came from this blog.  In fact, every time I turned around at the 2008 NFDA Convention, I was greeted by someone else who reads the blog!

The blog helped me plan our most successful event ever.  The 2008 NFDA Convention was so successful for us because I planned a good location, upped our booth size and laid out an effective plan.  Without the written planning I did on the blog, I might not have seen the opportunities or acted upon them.  A recent study found that those who consider themselves “lucky” are simply more observant of new opportunities and willing to act on them.  My luck continues to improve because the demands of blogging help me focus my attention and expand my thinking.

The blog directs people to my retail website.  In fact, www.cotcovers.com is the most clicked link from this site.  In the last year, 379 people visited the retail site and looked at our covers. 

In all, the blog takes a lot my time, but it also focuses my thinking and helps me make important business decisions.  And while I don’t think every business needs a blog, I know that mine benefits greatly.

 

Hosting a Holiday Remembrance Service: 2008 Edition

Photo courtesy of Flickr user Chris Jones

Lots of funeral homes offer holiday remembrance services and most of them know one important point:  it’s already too late to plan your service this year!

But the great thing about being so close to the holidays this year is that you can start planning the 2009 service now and then put the preparations aside until next October.

Here’s the things you should do now, before Christmas 2008:

CHOOSE A DATE.  Set it now.  One successful service I attend every year is held on the first Friday of December, regardless of what other events might be happening in town.  Why does this help?  Because those who attend the first years always know when it will be held again and those you tell during the year can remember “1st Friday in December” better than “December 5th.”

BOOK A MUSICAL ACT.  A friend of mine just had costumed carolers at his event.  They sang songs before, during and after the service.  Dressed in Victorian costumes, they charged less that $300 for the quartet.  But book now, while they’re doing gigs this year, because their schedule will fill up quickly and you want your special date.

BOOK A MINISTER.  Same as that musical act, your minister’s schedule is often planned months in advance.  Don’t get stuck because your minister is doing a wedding on your special day; book him/her now!

DESIGN YOUR INVITATION.  Got some extra time this year?  Draw up your invitation now.  You’ll be sending this to families who have experienced a death the previous year, so keep that in mind for your wording.

START AN ADDRESS SPREADSHEET.  If you don’t have other software, create a spreadsheet where you can enter a family’s name and address for your invitee list.  When you serve families throughout the year, take a second to enter their name and address here, along with the date of death of the deceased.  That way, when it’s time to print your invitations and envelopes, you’ll have a list already compiled.  Just make sure you start adding to the list on December 25th of this year.

BUY DECORATIONS AFTER CHRISTMAS 2008.  Get yourself a nice tree and some good decorations.  If you plan to give away ornaments to each family (one year, I gave away origami doves that our staff had folded), buy those now while they’re on sale 75% off.

Later, we’ll discuss what you’ll need to do throughout 2009 and next October, to prepare for your holiday remembrance service.

 

Can Part-Time Employees Replace Advertising?

As part of my end-of-year accounting – yes, I started early – I’ve begun reviewing how much my part-time workers have cost so far.

Surprisingly, I haven’t paid a single part-time worker more than $3000 this year, with the whole lot of sewers and assistants costing less than $10,000 for 11 months work.

The fact that I’ve only paid Kim, my part-time office assistant, a tad over $2000 for 11 months of constant work suprised me because it seems like she’s always around.  Truth is, she only works a few hours a week and I pay her a small hourly wage.

It also struck me that so many funeral homes spend thousands of dollars on un-measured advertising (church bulletins, printed school programs, yellow-page directories, etc.) without a second thought but are often reticent to add even a single part-time employee.

And yet, so many funeral directors run around doing minor, unimportant tasks because there’s not enough help.

So my solution is:  hire a part-time employee!  Drop some of the un-measured advertising, have a part-time employee work a few hours a week (maybe Thursday afternoons) and get yourself out into the community to advertise in person!

Have trouble making it to the Kiwanis luncheon each week?  Missed the last three Episcopal church functions because of paperwork?  Spending too much time on mundane tasks that someone other than the brains of your operation could accomplish?

There’s already plenty of evidence that part-time employees aren’t that expensive and they can help you free up important time to socialize (read: advertise for your firm) and build important relationships in your community.  But I’d also suggest that employees can help advertise on their own.

I’ve already discussed turning your part-time employees into ambassadors in the posts, Ten Ways to be Seen as a Community Contributor #9: Hire Spouses of Movers and Shakers, Ambassadors Aren’t Just for the U.N. and DAILY NAG: Hire Some More Part-Time Help.

To reiterate:  part-time employees who are treated well can become mini-billboards for your company.  By hiring well-connected, well-known “ambassadors” for your company, you dispatch advocates into the field who will tell their friends, neighbors and other acquaintances about your firm.

As I was considering the topic of this post, my mind kept going back to the time I spent working for Hospice of the Comforter.  Because of the non-profit business model, HOTC has very few extraneous employees, so they work super-hard getting volunteers to come work for them.  These folks work for no monetary compensation.  What they do get is love, recognition and appreciation.  And it works!

Now, I don’t mention HOTC because I think you should look for volunteers, but one of the jobs that volunteers do there is quite appealing:  they bake Otis Spunkmeyer cookies!

Several times a week, a volunteer will go to the kitchen at HOTC and bake five or ten dozen cookies.  The wonderful smell fills the second floor of the administration building!  Once they cool enough, the volunteer will put ten or more into a small display bag (white with a clear window) and attach a HOTC sticker that explains the mission of hospice and the work done by the employees and volunteers of Hospice of the Comforter.

These cookies are taken by the development staff to area organizations and doctors offices to encourage groups to discuss hospice and doctors to consider hospice when treating patients with end-of-life concerns.

Translated to the funeral industry, wouldn’t a “cookie ministry” like this one go a long way toward building a strong opinion of your funeral home in the community?

Imagine “Ethel” coming in on Tuesday afternoons and baking cookies for three or four hours.  Maybe a second part-timer (or even Ethel herself!) goes out on Wednesday and delivers cookies to area nursing home residents and staff or the secretaries at local churches.

The really ambitious might plan to distribute fresh-baked cookies the day they’re made.

This kind of advertising does two things.  First, it reminds people that your firm can do more than just handle death.  You provide for the living by creating a welcoming, home-style environment.  And what says “welcome” more than the smell of fresh cookies baking?

Second, it extends your care past the day of a funeral.  It tells people in your community that you care about them while dispatching a non-vested person (the cookie deliverer) into the field to talk up your firm.  Imagine the looks on peoples’ faces when they get free chocolate chip cookies from a funeral home employee!?!

While you can get an oven and the cookie dough from Otis Spunkmeyer or other companies, why not search out a local person who loves to bake and has a few good recipes.  Ask around; someone’s bound to know a little old lady or retired man who bakes the most awesome cookies around.  You provide the ingredients and a place to prepare the cookies and he/she provides the skills.

I don’t expect many to take up this idea, but just hiring a part-time employee to accomplish any mundane tasks will at least free you up to do some of the important community relations work needed.  And if you treat the employee well, you might even see some off-hours advertising done by an employee who tells their friends and neighbors how great your company is.

 

How Final Embrace Sets Goals and Exceeds Them…Usually

You’ve all heard that “you have to set goals” for your life.  But who knew it would be so effective in business, too?

When I contemplated how to save our business after our only distributor failed to pay on time – read all about it in the post, Crippling Challenge + Determination = Business Reward/Failure (Part 1) – I set specific goals so I’d be able to gauge our success in a concrete, un-emotional way.

And while we’ve hit a lot of our goals, there have also been times where we came up short and I’ve been forced to reevaluate both our results and the original goal.

Here’s a list of our recent sales goals and the results:

Each of these goals felt unrealistic before the specific show, but, as you can see, only one fell short.

But my inquisitive mind doesn’t rest on the successes because it’s so much more fun (wink, wink!) to obsess about that one failure.

What did we do wrong at the 2008 Kentucky convention?

First, we didn’t get to select a location.  Not that it would have made a huge difference (the organizers did a good job of getting their visitors to travel every aisle), but being able to choose a location would have given us just a teensy bit more control.

We did, however, make a tactical error by not signing up to be a part of the Ketucky Salesman’s Club.  This group gives away $1000 during the show, but only to attendees who get their “Club Card” signed by vendors who are members.  The cost to participate this year was just $60, so I should have taken part.  Those exhibitors who did spend the money got a steady stream of visitors looking for a signature.

In the end, I think our biggest mistake was believing that we could sell so many covers our first year exhibiting at the show.  The over-exuberance was partly due to our success at the 2007 NFDA Convention and partly due to strong sales throughout the first half of 2008.

It’s a delicate balancing act to accurately predict a reachable goal for a convention.  And while I don’t want to pressure my sales staff, I also want to give them (and myself) the motivation necessary to push for that last sale or to connect with just one more visitor.

 

2008 NFDA Convention: The Tired, The Hungry and The Bored

Since this post is about the various states of convention exhibitors, I probably should add “the newbie”, “the worried” and “the over-it” to the title.

Still unsure what I’m talking about?  Let’s go over how each of these six conditions can negatively impact the interaction between vendor and attendee and how to overcome them.

THE TIRED.  Yes, it’s physically tiring to rush to the convention floor, set up a complicated booth, shower, get dressed and get back to the show before it opens, which may explain why so many exhibitors look tired even on the first day.

That’s why I always get to a convention site at least a day before the show starts.  Is this expensive?  Between time away from home, hotel rates and meals on the road, it certainly is.  But how many sales might I lose by looking tired or letting fatigue keep me from giving the precious few exhibiting hours my best attention?

And I don’t suggest doing a lot of partying or sightseeing in the hours away from the expo floor.  Standing for five or six hours is hard on your body.  Don’t complicate it or overdo it by going out to a tourist nightclub to drink the night away, just hours before the next full day of exhibiting.  Save the partying for after the show, when you’re celebrating success.

THE HUNGRY.  A few conventions have started to offer food on the floor, but I would caution against partaking in the food while the doors are open to guests.  Invariably, the minute you step away to get a piece of roast beef, some interested attendee will be ready to place an order at your booth.  Even worse, you may offend paying attendees by being in line ahead of them.

My solution?  Eat ahead of time.  Before the last few shows we’ve done, I get our booth finished a few hours before the show starts and hit a local restaurant (usually at an off hour, so less traffic) before heading to the hotel to get changed.  That way, I don’t spill anything on my good clothes and the meal has time to digest before we start talking to potential clients.

THE BORED.  Yes, shows can sometimes be slow.  But you need to find booth-related things to do to pass the time.  No, you cannot read a book, unless it’s an exciting book about your industry.  I suggest you fluff merchandise or, if you make a product, bring some to work on during the show.  One of the blogs I read is by Luann Udell, who does a lot of art shows and talks about making her art in the booth during slow sessions.

THE NEWBIE.  These folks have been pushed into a booth without any experience and no idea what to expect.  To combat this, I always pair a new person with a pro.  I’ve trained the last four of my product experts that way and it works. 

In Vegas, Robin accompanied me and learned, by watching, how to interact with our customers and bring people over to our booth.  At the 2007 IFDF, Lynn found out how I like to show off our product and which features he should highlight.  During the 2008 Kentucky show, Linda watched as I lured people into our booth and found out how to “ask for the sale.”

Most recently, at the 2008 NFDA show in Orlando, Kim learned how all the great features of our covers and marketing messages we craft (she helps me out in the workshop and the office) come together to entice funeral professionals to buy a cot cover from us.

Now I feel comfortable sending any of them out to sell covers on their own, because I know that they won’t be newbies, but seasoned veterans with the skills and knowledge necessary to anticipate what a convention will bring their way.

THE WORRIED.  There’s a transformation that happens on the second or third day of a show, when those who haven’t met their goals or are unsure of how the show will pan out begin to wonder if it’s all over for their product/service.  Unfortunately, their panic and concern usually telegraphs to the attendees and they seldom recover and turn the show around.

There’s not much you can do about becoming one of “the worried,” except understand what is happening at the show (no one wants your information, no one will enter your booth, attendance is down) and attempt to figure out what contribution you are making to the problem.  Are you aggressively inviting visitors into your booth?  Is it the product?  Are you explaining the beneficial features accurately?  Do you have body odor?  Is your nervous smile creepy to people?

Or you can do what a lot of exhibitors do when they get a case of “the worrieds.”  You can complain about the bad turnout and commiserate with the guy in the next booth.

THE OVER-IT.  These folks have clearly had enough and they’re just waiting for the signal to break down their booth and hit the road.

This can be exhibitors who have had a terrible show and even those who have sold more than their goal.  In fact, I felt this the last day of the 2008 NDA show and had to convince myself that we could still make more sales in the afternoon, even though I was ready to pack it in and rejoice over our great success.

Unfortunately, the over-its often miss great opportunities that appear on the last day.  In their rush to get their booth packed before everyone else and be out of the convention hall just as the final buzzer sounds, many ignore the thoughtful, interested clients who walk the expo floor on the last day.  As I’ve shared before, our booth neighbors at the 2007 NFDA show packed up a full 3 hours before the show ended, missing at least 5 interested visitors who wanted to know more about the diamonds they make from cremated remains (not LifeGem).

In conclusion, companies spend a lot of time and money to attend trade shows.  It’s sad to see all the hard work wasted because the human element (the part with all the cool ability to interact and impress clients and make the sale) is pre-occupied or too nervous to be “on” that day.

 

Creating Expectations is the Key

At a recent Order of the Golden Rule conference in Key West, I reminded the 55+ attendees that merchandise pricing is as much about creating expectations as it is about the actual prices listed.

By grouping prices (in a Good, Better, Best arrangement or other type) you can create specific expectations for clients.

Imagine, for a moment, that I’ve told you that a specific model of flat screen TV costs $3000.  Without some reference point, you might be shocked.

But now imagine that you see an entire display of televisions ranging from $1500 to $6000.  What happens when you see this array of product?  Do you give up and complain that all of them are overpriced?  Or do you settle down and figure out which one you want to buy / can afford?

Consumers (even funeral consumers) want benchmarks and will tailor their choices to meet those expectations.  For more about how families react when your quoted price doesn’t match your final price, see the post, Reducing Sticker Shock.

Ask any person on the street how much they’d pay for printed funeral service items and you might get answers ranging from $25 to $100.

But present the same person with a range of register book packages, priced from $100 to $300 and the answer gets closer to $200.

And consumer expectations can also shift over time.

Consider the standard or base features people expected on a car from 1988:

Manual windows and locks
Manual transmission
AM/FM radio

That car sold for $5000 or less.  Today, people expect far more as standard, including:

AM/FM radio with CD player
Power locks and windows
Automatic transmission

Even more interesting, that entry-level car now costs between $12,000 and $15,000.  Using the inflation calculator, I figure that a $5000 car in 1988 would cost $8650 today. 

How did the concept and price expectation of a “basic” or “entry-level” car change in just 20 years?  I’d venture that much of it was powered by consumers and helped along by car companies.

This is a fascinating topic and it’s even better in person.  Don’t forget, I’ll be presenting “Good, Better, Best Marketing” at the IFDF Convention in June 2009, along with a discussion titled “Stop Fearing Cremation.”

 

2008 NFDA Convention: How Final Embrace Averaged 36 Sales a Day

Traveling the convention near the end of each day, I heard the same thing from numerous exhibitors:

Today was slow.  No one wanted to stop at our booth.

Made me want to say “boo-hoo, crybaby.” 

Now, before you think me a complete jerk, know that I didn’t actually say it and I don’t mean the phrase as an insult.

Of course, if everyone had experienced the same kind of day, where no one was stopping at booths or buying anything, I’d have been lamenting right along with them.  But our booth averaged 36 sales a day.

Meanwhile, folks I talked to on Day 3 had still not made a single sale.  Others hadn’t even made any promising contacts with industry buyers.

But being the kind-hearted giver that I am – and the needy book writer who has to get some pages ready anyway 🙂 – I’m going to reveal our strategies for bringing visitors to our booth and generating sales.  Here are the steps:

1.  We chose a beneficial location.  Because we didn’t have to travel far (only 40 miles from our workshop to the Orange Co. Convention Center), I was able to spend a little more on booth rental this year and get a better spot on the floor.  But I still spent hours looking at the proposed layout and trying to decide where to place our exhibit. 

2.  We booked early.  We couldn’t have gotten that great location if I hadn’t made the decision early and secured it right away.  Early planning also helped me save for other expenses (we put a little away each month) and keep a look out for deals on our hotel and other purchases.

3.  We considered the competition.  This doesn’t just apply to others who sell similar products, although they’re important.  We actually considered how other booths would look and how those competing with us for a visitor’s attention might try to attract it.  That’s why we went with a wood floor in a contrasting color to the blue carpet the show organizers selected for the group flooring.

4.  I booked enough staff.  Even before we expanded our booth size (see #5) I made sure we had enough people scheduled to work the booth to talk to all the visitors who passed by. 

5.  We saw an opportunity to expand our booth and took it.  When it became available, we upped our booth space from 10×10′ to 10×20′ and made ourselves more visible. 

6.  We talked to everyone who walked by.  This can’t be stressed enough:  we made an effort to engage everyone who walked by our booth.  And we didn’t just say hello and let them walk away.  When they responded to our greeting we engaged them, either by asking “have you seen our beautiful quilted cot covers?” or “can I show your our covers?” or “do you use our quilted cot covers?”  And it worked!

7.  We qualified attendees.  The first qualification was getting them in the booth.  If they chose not to look at the product, they obviously weren’t a potential sale.  But even those who enter the booth might not be “our customer.”  We asked questions like “do you make removals?” or “what kind of cover do you use now?”  Answers to these questions helped us decide whether to give the full-on sales pitch or quickly finish up with the visitor to move on to the next prospect.

8.  We asked for the sale.  After walking people through our product’s features, we asked our visitors if they were ready to buy one.  If they resisted, we reminded them of our 10% convention discount.  If they were still reluctant, we gave them a brochure and reminded them that they’d have to order during the convention to get that big discount.

9.  After the sale, we thanked them.  Funeral directors are also businesspeople, so they understand how important it is to make sales and they enjoy getting a good product and helping out other people.  By thanking them, we reminded them how much we appreciated their business and how integral and important they are to us.

10.  We set a goal and kept track of our progress.  At our busiest times, all five of our booth workers were talking to people and selling covers.  When anyone made a sale, we added it to the total and spread the word to the others, so that everyone knew how far we were from our goal.  Even better, I promised our staff that we’d celebrate with a nice dinner if we reached that goal and that helped motivate my sellers even more.

Every time I hear someone complain that they’re not getting visitors to their booth or they’re not making any sales, I remember the odd little truth about trade shows:  As much as you work to qualify expo visitors, they’re also qualifying you and they’ll walk right by booths where the exhitor fails to invite them to take a closer look.

Before the next NFDA convention (in Boston next year), I’ll be holding a “booth camp” for exhibitors.  I don’t know, yet, how we’ll work it, so stay tuned for more details.

 

2008 NFDA Convention: What NFDA Did Right

I’ve tried writing this post three times and I can’t seem to make it a cohesive, single story.  So here’s a bunch of “bullet point”-type paragraphs highlighting the best aspects of this convention.

NFDA chose the right location.  With myriad theme parks and other tourist attractions, Orlando is a great place for funeral directors with families.  Many of the folks we sold cot covers to shared that their family was at a theme park while they attended seminars and training classes.

For vendors, the location was great because Florida is a “right-to-work” state, meaning many exhibitors could set up their booth without getting attitude from union laborers about who can plug an electric cord into an outlet.

They invited expo-only guests.  By inviting area funeral directors (with a free pass offered through exhibitors) to attend the expo, the NFDA got bodies on the floor, so to speak.  They received several hundred of these registrations, many of which, I would presume, were from people who wouldn’t normally pay to attend a national convention. 

NFDA still collected full-convention fees from those who saw the value in attending everything AND they were able to get new people to the floor to check out all the great new products and services.  Getting these folks onto the floor helped fill out their final attendance figures, but it also helped vendors with their biggest hurdle:  getting people to walk by the booth.

They combined the general sessions with the expo floor.  A few people were confused by this arrangement (“Wait – I go into the Expo to see the opening session?”) but it got people onto the floor and made the expo floor a place visit more than just one day of the show.

The opening night reception provided variety for expo-only visitors.  Because the next three expo-only sessions were during the day (9:00 am – 3:00 pm) the opening night “preview” was a good change of pace for area visitors who needed to get back their funeral homes Monday morning and provided something to do for out-of-town directors who arrived Saturday or Sunday and wanted to hang out and chat. 

While my company didn’t sell a lot of cot covers that night, we made some good connections with folks who returned later in the show to place orders and make our exhibit truly successful.

Allowing Boston 2009 booth reservations builds confidence.  Vendors who had a good show, like me, are more likely to work from the immediate success and lock in their spot right away.  This also gives NFDA a chance to capture repeat business (something that may have been a problem from last year) from the people (exhibitors) who help pay a portion of the convention bill.

Also, rewarding early adopters by giving them primo booth placement means better relationships with some “power exhibitors,” the folks who will help drive the show in the future.  Yes, companies like Batesville will still provide a lot of the show’s draw, but when someone wants to see new products or that small company that doesn’t travel to all the state shows, they look for booths like mine.

NFDA Staffers looked like they were having fun… most of the time.  I don’t know if it was part of Wynn Burke’s work or just the mood that Orlando helps create, but NFDA staffers looked like they were enjoying themselves.  From bright-colored “paradise” shirts (a management decision, to be sure, but it made them easily identifiable) to the easy smiles when asked a question, every staffer I met was cheerful, even when there were lots of things going on and many issues to address.

All in all, my experience at the 2008 Convention was great.  There are a few things I would change and some specific snafus that the NFDA needs to correct before next year’s show, but those few problems don’t change what I saw as a strong show with a good base plan to build on.

 

2008 NFDA Convention: Day 4

After a wonderful night’s sleep in my own bed, I hopped in the pick-up truck (to haul back all our stuff after the show ended) and sped off to the Orange County Convention Center for the last day of a successful expo.

Although I expected a slower day, I had Kim, Lynn and Linda join me so we’d have plenty of help to “sew up” some last-minute orders and break down the booth at the end of the day.

Day 4 featured a nice Q&A session with the folks featured in the PBS documentary “The Undertaking.”  Seated under the lights on the main stage, Patrick Lynch and staff members discussed the filming and how the documentary has affected their firm and their community.  Between interviews, portions of the film played on the “jumbotron” overhead.

I didn’t get much chance to watch the presentation because we were very busy talking to customers and taking orders.  Surprised by the number of people who made their first visit to our booth on the last day, I was encouraged to hear the kind words and endorsements of people who were returning after a previous visit to pick out the cover they wanted (and it doesn’t hurt that they new visitors got to hear that kind of praise).

But the truth is that when someone says “I’ll come back later and pick one out,” I figure we’ve got about a 25% chance that they’ll actually return.  Why?  Because no one really wants to hurt your feelings, so many will say something encouraging to get out of the conversation, even though they don’t intend to return.

We skipped lunch on Day 4 because I promised my staff that if we hit our goal (100 covers) during the show, we’d have a nice big celebration at a local restaurant.  And since we sold 103 by Day 3, we were all salivating in anticipation of an awesome dinner.

When I returned to the booth in the late afternoon (I snuck off to talk to a few other exhibitors and walk the floor one last time) I was shocked to hear our sales total:  42 for Day 4!

Honestly, I was expecting less, since we had already had such great numbers on Day 2 and Day 3.  And from a production point of view, I was already concerned about how we’d be able to make 103 of our covers in a short time, so adding 42 more to the pile was an added burden. 

Luckily, Kim reminded me that it’s a pretty awesome burden to have, getting so many orders and hearing a lot of great feedback and comments about our product, so I decided to stop complaining about our blessings.

The show ended at 3:00 pm, with some vendors rushing to leave and others lethargically packing up their boxes and slumping toward the door.  Others seemed like madmen, determined to be the first booth completely broken down and out the back door.

We took the reserved approach and boxed up all our stuff and piled it in the middle of the booth.  We got one car out of the Rosen Hotel garage (where we finagled $6 parking instead of $10 AND a shorter walk) and drove to Cafe TuTu Tango, a local eatery who’s menu features nothing but appetizers.

We stuffed ourselves full of awesome food (the chicken eggrolls are my favorite!) and laughed about the show.  I looked at Lynn and Linda, who make the basic version of our product and deliver it to my workshop to add pockets and binding, and wondered how they’d ever get all these orders done in the next few weeks. 

You see, for us, this business has been a labor of love that we work during the hours we’re not working our “bread on the table” jobs.  This was the first time that this company seems poised to take a much bigger step, supported by an awesome product.

At 5:00 pm, we retrieved the pick-up and drove to the loading dock at the convention center.  Within fifteen minutes, we had loaded both vehicles and dismantled the floor (with Stephen’s help – he met us there to get his floor back) and were gone.

On the way home, I got calls from two funeral homes, looking to order a cover that they had seen during the show.  I reminded them that their discount was only good during show hours, then offered them a smaller discount to say “thank you” for believing in the product and trying it out.

In the end, we sold 145 covers at the show and 7 covers afterward.  Not bad, when you consider that my WILD goal was 100 and I was fully prepared to be happy with just 70!

 

2008 NFDA Convention: Stuff for Vendors

One of the most exciting parts of the 2008 NFDA Convention, besides selling a bunch of product cot covers, was meeting other vendors and discussing ways we can help each other with moral support and shared knowledge.

So I’m planning to add some Convention reports for vendors.  These articles will focus on my experience as a visitor to the expo (saw a lot of vendors who need a shot of confidence when dealing with attendees) and as a fellow exhibitor.

So here’s a list of the stories I’m planning to write from a vendor point of view, although I don’t know the exact publish dates just yet:

2008 NFDA Convention:  Best and Worst Booth Locations
2008 NFDA Convention:  Not-Yet-Ready-For-Primetime Products
2008 NFDA Convention:  The Tired, The Hungry and The Bored
2008 NFDA Convention:  10 Ways to Get Visitors into Your Booth
2008 NFDA Convention:  How Final Embrace Averaged 36 Sales a Day
2008 NFDA Convention:  10 Unique Booth Configurations and Features

 

2008 NFDA Convention: Day 3

Day 2 ended with a flurry of sales and we were already halfway to our goal of 100 covers sold at the event.

Day 3 started innocently enough at 9:00 am, with most attendees streaming in about an hour later.  NFDA chose to hold sessions in the expo hall this year, an improvement and an incentive to get funeral directors onto the expo floor more than once during the 4-day event.

Even with four people in the booth and two previous days of sales, we were still hopping most of the day.  Here’s a picture (with descriptions) to show you how busy we were most of the day:

This wasn’t a staged shot.  This was typical of our days at the convention.

Robin Richter joined us again for the day, but this time she spent a few hours with Deidre Blair in her Final Reflection booth in the new exhibitor section.  We’ll feature Deidre’s products in a future post.

With so many booth workers, I was able to steal away for a few minutes and visit some of the other vendors.  I did an interview with the folks at Sportsman Urns and checked out my competition at The Last Quilt Company (etiquette prevented me from snapping pictures of her booth or filming her product).

When I returned, Linda asked me what our goal was for the show.  Here’s what I said:

“I set a lofty goal of 100, which I didn’t think we’d hit after Sunday night, when we sold just 8.  But after yesterday, I think we can get there by tomorrow afternoon.”

Offhandedly, she said, “Well, I just sold number 99, so you might just make it today.”

I was floored!

We did end up meeting our goal a day early, as we closed out Day 3 with 53 covers sold, to bring our 3-day haul to 103 cot covers sold.

As I’m fond of telling our potential customers, we make all of our covers in Florida in our own workshops.  We don’t have to worry about quality issues, because we control every aspect of their production.

Of course, that also means we have to make every single one of these things.  And while there were a few on the shelf back in the workshop, our on hand inventory is seldom more than 50, meaning we’d have at least another 50 to make when we got back to our facility.

But wait!  We still had one day left.  Would Day 4 be as shocking as the last two, or had we sold a cover to everyone who wanted one already?

We left the expo hall shortly after 3 pm and went our separate ways.  Lynn and Linda headed home to check on their dog.  After a big hug and some congratulations, Robin Richter hightailed it for her house in Dover (near Tampa), while I drove back to my hometown (just 40 miles from the convention center).

As I settled back into my own bed, I decided that Day 4 could bring us at least 30 more sales, even if I had no idea how we’d make them and ship them out in a reasonable time.  I knew we’d figure out how to do it, if we just tried.

I wonder how well I would have slept if I’d known that Day 4 would be the second biggest sales day in the history of our company?

 

Twitter and a Funeral

To understand this story, you should first know that Twitter is an online service that lets users post small comments (140 characters max) for their “subscribers” to read.

A Final Embrace Twitter (which I don’t have) might update you on events at the NFDA Convention this October, or the progress of my book.

Conceived as a way for friends to keep track of each other’s events and plans, the service has also been used by various news to give minute-by-minute accounts of breaking news stories and other newsworthy events.

Twitter feeds are subscribable, which means you can choose a bunch of Twitter users to follow and receive their Tweets (individual Twitter posts) on your cellphone, computer or other device.

Okay, you now have the background you’ll need to understand THE STORY:

A toddler, killed by a vehicle driven by an illegal immigrant, was laid to rest in Aurora, Colorado and the events, both the collision and the funeral, were covered by the Rocky Mountain Times.

Some critics, however, have objected to the RMN’s use of Twitter to give up-to-the-minute reports of the funeral and the procession.

Here’s a sample of the Tweets they posted:

RMN_Berny: procession begins
Wednesday, Sep. 10, 11:01 a.m.

RMN_Berny: people gathering at graveside
Wednesday, Sep. 10, 11:14 a.m.

RMN_Berny: coffin lowered into ground
Wednesday, Sep. 10, 11:18 a.m.

RMN_Berny: rabbi zucker praying
Wednesday, Sep. 10, 11:18 a.m.

RMN_Berny: rabbi recites the main hebrew prayer of death
Wednesday, Sep. 10, 11:20 a.m.

RMN_Berny: earth being placed on coffin.
Wednesday, Sep. 10, 11:22 a.m.

RMN_Berny: rabbi chanting final prayer in hebrew
Wednesday, Sep. 10, 11:27 a.m.

RMN_Berny: rabbi calls end to ceremony
Wednesday, Sep. 10, 11:28 a.m.

Some have called this objectionable, presumably because the reporter’s tweets, restricted in length by the platform being used, are short and unemotional.

In fact, many of the reports about the use of Twitter in this instance show contempt for the Rocky Mountain News and call for people to be fired over this.

Fired for reporting the facts of a story?  Really?

I’ve got two problems with this entire story and neither of them have been addressed by the stories I can find on the Internet.

1.  Reporters are not commentators.  Those who argue that this reporting was invasive or that the reporter should have provided commentary (opinion) rather than straight facts is missing the point of reporting.  Too often, our news sources think we’re too busy, stupid or both to figure out what a story means, so they decide to provide it for us.  But by becoming commentators, reporters lose their objectivity and begin to craft the story to fit their preconceived notions of how we should see the news.

2.  Aren’t these the same people who watched a white Bronco drive down the freeway?  I watched that slow-speed chase when O.J. Simpson tried to flee the country after the murder of his ex-wife and Ron Goldman.  Doesn’t it seem a bit hypocritical to give 45 minutes of play-by-play on a boring joyride (“Did he just swerve?  I think Al Cowlings, the driver of the White Bronco, just attempted to change lanes!”) and then critize a reporter for sharing accurate, minute-by-minute facts about a funeral?

Now, I can understand outrage over the perceived insensitivity of the Rocky Mountain News and, frankly, I’m impressed that people are still careful about how they discuss death and how we grieve as a community.  It makes me think that maybe the funeral is not really “dying” and that, no matter how our own industry changes, people will still feel the need to gather, share memories and commemorate the dead.

Unfortunately, the journalistic hypocrites have not voiced objections to stories like Little victim of ice cream store tragedy tucked in one last time and others that not only describe the funeral in florid details, but contain video of the event as well.

 

Pet Funeral Home… In New York

A new facility, Pet Heaven Funeral Home, just opened in Orchard Park, New York and it reassures me that traditional human funerals aren’t going away, even though cremation keeps rising.

I know what you’re thinking:  “How can a PET funeral home tell you anything about human funeral homes?”

For starters, Americans often treat their pets the same as or better than they treat the human members of the family. 

Secondly, there is no industry prejudice against pet cremation like there is in the human memorialization market so there is little pressure on consumers to make a forced choice for burial and traditional services.

And still, people choose to bury their pets and more folks are beginning to choose services for their animals.

Yes, there are still low-cost pet cremation providers and they will continue to thrive, just like low-cost human cremation providers.

But the pet funeral industry, which used to be 95% communal cremation arranged through your veterinarian, is growing up and the lack of artificial industry pressure means the result is a more natural reflection of what Americans really want for their loved ones.

So how does this help traditional, human funeral homes?

It tells us that, at some point, the prejudice against cremation needs to fall away, as we embrace cremation and burial as simply disposition options, while we learn that the real work of funeral homes is to provide context for grief and a venue to share and process emotions.

If all you provide your human clients is a disposition, there’s no reason for them to choose you over a less-expensive option.

 

Eulogies to Remember

Quite independently, two ebooks on eulogy-writing have crossed my desk.

Now, I should point out that the actual books haven’t been here (I’d have to pay to read whatever simply ideas they’ve put into ebook form) but the notices or press releases for both these books have, in various form, been on my computer screen in just the last week.

Their websites look remarkably similar, with the sales tactics also mirroring one another.

The British version, by Funeral Presider and Public Speaker (his words), Kevin Burch, costs $37.

The American version, by Sheila Martin, is marked at $25.

I wonder how many people, when faced with a death, turn to the Internet to prepare a eulogy, simply because the funeral home handling their loved one’s services didn’t think to offer a eulogy guide for free.

And, even more importantly, how many people would believe that funeral homes are more integral to funeral planning (beyond embalming a body) if the funeral director offered real help with the stuff that is often the hardest?

I think a good funeral home should give a practical guide to every family it services.  A guide that deals with minutiae (how to dry flowers, write a thank you card) and big stuff (writing a eulogy, notifying a loved one’s friends of a death) is a necessary tool for grieving families.

Unfortunately, today’s families don’t always get these tools from their chosen firm.  And when they have to turn to other sources for information and tips, they have to turn their back to you.

In the past, I asked the questions, What will you do when hospitals or labs dispose of bodies and no one needs an embalmer anymore? and Could You Survive Without Disposition?.  I believe that unless we, as an industry, convince our clients that we’re about more than just body preparation, they’ll continue looking elsewhere for the answers and the services.

 

Mourning: Internet-Style

 If you’ve paid any attention to ABC News or Internet videos, you’ve no doubt met Randy Pausch, the Carnegie-Mellon professor who delivered his “Last Lecture” on September 18, 2007 to an auditorium full of his friends, students and colleagues and, inadvertently, to the rest of the world, via the WorldWide Web.

Here’s a link to the video of his lecture:  Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams.

Randy begins the video by explaining that he has pancreatic cancer and has 3-6 months of good health left.  He goes on to share the stories of his life and work.  The lecture was turned into a bestselling book in April 2008.

Randy died last Friday, July 25, 2008.  He was 47.

How wide was his reach?  For starters, Google added a memorial to their main search page for Randy:

Wired has a fascinating story about the reaction to his death.  The writer ruminates on what the collective mourning means for the future of the Internet and, interestingly enough, death itself.  Here’s a sample:

The strength of the internet communities’ reaction to the medium’s most famous death-defying cancer patient shows how this series of tubes has come of age, not just as a market or a means of distribution, but as a series of linked communities, significant enough to require affirmations in the face of death.

Comments, then, are flowers and wreaths, candles, pictures and prayers, and the Pausch’s doorstep is located precisely at any address at which the web’s spiders can find their name.

It reminds me of why I write this blog and how important the Internet has become to me and many people like me.

The Internet (not just the computer) has changed my life.  I sell my product online, I talk to most of my friends via email, I use Skype to call my consulting clients and record the sessions.

Even more, I haven’t cracked a phone book or encyclopedia in over a year.  My first point of reference for any subject, product search or phone number is Google.

I’m 33 years old.  In the coming years, my generation will be making the important decisions for our parents, including how to memorialize them at their death and which funeral home to use, if any.

Becoming familiar with the Internet and the communities it continues to create is no longer a luxury. 

This afternoon, I’ll be participating in a teleseminar titled Funeral Blogging 101.  It’s a free hour-long session with blogging funeral director Brian Hanner, me and Funeral Futurist Robin Heppell.  Click the link and join us!

 

Why Write a Blog for Your Business?

This Wednesday, July 30th at 4:00 pm Eastern, I’ll be taking part in a teleseminar titled Funeral Blogging 101.

Hosted by Funeral Gurus creator, Robin Heppell, the discussion will include my friends Brian Hanner and BT Hathaway, and will focus on using a blog to promote your funeral home and inform your community.

While preparing a few remarks for the seminar, I found some interesting facts which cemented, for me at least, the reason why I write this blog as part of the marketing efforts for my company.

Because this blog was created to help publicize our quilted mortuary cot covers, I decided to find out how often visitors to this site have clicked over to our retail website (www.cotcovers.com) to check out our product.  Here are the results, compiled on June 28, 2008:

Last 7 Days:  10 clicks
Last 30 Days:  23 clicks
Last 90 Days:  62 clicks
Last 365 Days:  291 clicks
Since Day 1 – October 2006:  359 clicks

Writing a blog was just one part of my marketing strategy for our cot covers, as detailed in the post The Future of Final Embrace, but it’s been very helpful to me personally and professionally.

The hundreds of posts here have helped me hone my skills and I’ve developed wonderful new friendships with my readers.

Professionally, the blog helps me create contacts with important players in the industry and magazine readers, along with those who stumble upon the blog, turn into customers for our quilted cot covers.

Also worth noting:  our sponsors also see impressive click-through numbers.  The Funeral Site sponsored us last year and have had 83 click-throughs to their site.  And since their sponsor logo remains on all those posts that they supported, they continue to get clicks from our readers.

The blog is also an effective incubator for my ideas about the industry and how to market funeral industry products.  The blog continues to lead to unexpected sidelines, like funeral vendor consulting and the book I’m finishing.

Of course, if I just wanted to trade blogging for clicks or dollars spent on my products, I’d choose another medium.

My blogging doesn’t pay for itself with clicks or orders.  But so far, it’s helped me organize my thoughts, write a book, secure speaking gigs, publish articles in trade magazines and meet important and precious new friends.

And I can do it all in as few as 10 minutes a day (but usually a lot longer!).