March 27, 2008
Tim and Robin Discuss “Funeral Home Blogging”
Posted by finalembrace under Client Relations, Funeral Marketing, Our Philosophy, Podcasts
The guy to the right, Robin Heppell of the Funeral Futurist, and I recently spent 40 minutes discussing the future of the funeral industry and the Internet, and how the industry can use blogging to market services right now.
You can hear our interview on The Funeral Futurist website in a post titled, Blogging for Funeral Homes with Tim Totten.
After that interview, I also spent 15 minutes chatting with a gentleman from American Funeral Director Magazine (the one published by Kates-Boylston).
He wanted to discuss how funeral homes can use blogs to better connect with a community and a general funeral audience.
Here’s a super-simplified version of my thoughts on funeral blogging:
1. Blogs are, at the very least, a place to practice your pitch and interaction with clients for free.
2. A blog can be a free online obituary listing for your firm.
3. Blogging reveals your true voice, which lets people see the “real you.”
4. Blogging focuses your thoughts.
5. Blogging can create a few evangelists or “true fans” who will help spread the word about you to the community.
6. Blogging connects you to the tech-savvy members of your community.
For more, listen to the Funeral Futurist interview or check out an upcoming issue of American Funeral Director.
March 27, 2008 at 12:26 pm
Wow, what a strikingly handsome fellow that Robin Heppell is! I’ll have to try to meet him someday and see if he’s single!
March 28, 2008 at 1:30 pm
WOW! This Robin Heppell gentleman sure is a hunk of a man. He can give me business advice anytime.
What a great, great picture. Please feature this Robin Heppell more. I’ll be checking in regularly.
March 28, 2008 at 6:57 pm
Nice post Tim. I really enjoy your blog and think more folks in this business should do it. And I feel almost embarassed to say it, but that Mr. Heppell is a strikingly handsome man. Thank you for sharing his picture!
March 29, 2008 at 4:10 pm
Since I’m in this type of business I’m sure I could write a long post…but I’ll just leave it at this:
A FH needs a professional website, not a blog. By the way–lets make it clear that not all blogs are free.
Spencer
March 29, 2008 at 7:32 pm
Aw Come On Spencer,
You can’t make a statement like
“A FH needs a professional website, not a blog.”
and then not say why. If you have some info on this then please tell us. We, if I can speak for Tim’s readers, really want to learn everything we can. We are honestly interested in your opinion. We all like reading well though out concepts, so please expand on your thoughts.
Personnaly I think Tim’s got some good points here. I agree that if a FD can write halfway decent then a blog can help him find his true voice or help her fine tune her message.
I think a funeral home should have both a great web site and a blog. My friend Brian Hanner has a great one at
http://www.geibfuneral.com
Any way you can get your message out to the public is worth a try.
Dale
March 30, 2008 at 9:49 pm
Dale,
Well Tim has been nice enought to ask me if I would like to write down my thoughts and I appreciate the opportunity, and I shall!
I guess with reading my email from Tim I should have been alittle clearer. A blog may be great for a Funeral Director, but I feel that a Funeral Home is best suited with a professional website that shows dignity, and professionalism.
I don’t want to sound rude, or such because I’m a blog reader myself…Tims blog is one I check everyday.
Thanks for the comment.
Spencer
March 31, 2008 at 3:49 pm
Now, all kidding aside, I must concur with the ladies - That is one good looking man!
And as an aside, every funeral home these days should have a blog. What’s unprofessional about a blog? You are losing out if you don’t have one.
March 31, 2008 at 4:24 pm
[...] I guess I picked the right picture of Robin from his website based on the comments the post, titled Tim and Robin Discuss “Funeral Home Blogging”, has [...]
March 31, 2008 at 8:03 pm
Okay, I like Robin Heppell’s looks, too, and have meet him in person. But is there a mass conspiracy, perhaps his family members or friends, driving this push to say he’s so good looking?
Mom
Robin Richter
http://www.mycmsite.com/robinrichter
April 1, 2008 at 12:28 pm
[...] Wide Web? I’ve sparked a bit of a controversy amongst a few readers with my post, Tim and Robin Discuss “Funeral Home Blogging”. While some of my readers were busy discussing Robin Heppell’s beauty, Spencer took me to [...]
April 1, 2008 at 4:15 pm
Dale,
I checked out your friend’s website! The way it is intergrated into the site is pretty cool, and the first funeral home I’ve seen do so.
Spencer
April 2, 2008 at 1:14 pm
Excellent blog and post. Funeral Home Blogging is a natural transition for today’s market. What people need to remember is that the funeral industry is a “business” and as long as the compassion, the care and the professionalism is kept intact. Blogging is a great marketing avenue and does in many cases show the true character of the person and business. So thumbs up!
April 2, 2008 at 3:39 pm
[...] under Be Our Guest, Email Response, Technology Spencer commented on the post, Tim and Robin Discuss “Funeral Home Blogging”, and was gracious enough to answer my last question: Do funeral homes REALLY need the [...]