Our good friend (and past contributor) Kim Stacey has just told me she’s focusing on more writing outside the funeral industry.

A forensic anthropologist by training, Kim has shared her impressive industry knowledge with Final Embrace, Funeral Business Advisor, Mortuary Management and other industry publications.  Her articles cover topics ranging from ancient burial techniques to modern day advertising.

Kim’s efforts on this blog have focused on how to market funeral homes to the general public.  Her many pearls of wisdom can be found by doing a search for Kim Stacey, or by clicking on this link.

I hate to lose Kim’s great work on this site, but I understand that copywriting clients from other industries are taking up more of her time.  However, I’m sure that Kim will still accept clients from the funeral industry who are looking for clear, concise writing that features the emotional language that distinguishes her work from less-qualified writers.

We’ve added a few readers since the NFDA Convention in Las Vegas, so I’ve prepared this “tour” to familiarize them with the surroundings.  (Regular readers, please excuse the refresher course)

Final Embrace is a blog, which means all new articles (also called “posts”) will appear at the top of the page, with older articles moving down.  Picture a long scroll, where the newest writing is at the top and the older writing is rolled onto the scroll as time progresses.

Posts are also grouped by category.  On the right side of the blog, there is a list of “categories.” 

With titles like Advertising, Big Ideas, Cremation Issues, Meet Your Maker and more, these categories will help you find other articles about topics that interest you. 

And don’t forget, each article has at least one of the categories listed just below the title, so you can click from an individual post to find related articles.

Worried about getting bored with my writing?  The BE OUR GUEST columns are written by a group of other, more interesting writers.

From Kim Stacey (funeral home copywriting) to Deidre Blair (event planning) and from Don Shell (life story writing) to Robin Richter (human resource issues), we’ve got articles on every facet of the funeral industry.

Here’s just a few of our categories and recommended articles contained in each:

ADVERTISING
Kim Stacey on Advertising Language
“Doing Your Best” vs. “Being the Best”

BIG IDEAS
How to Fix the Modern Funeral
Michael Manley on a Possible FBA Buying Collective
Creating a “Must-Have” Funeral Experience

COOL PRODUCTS
My Take on Plush Teddy Bears Keepsake Urns
One Size Fits All. Really?

CREMATION ISSUES
Eulogies are for the Living
Surprised, She Asked “You can have a viewing with a cremation?”
Candace Craw-Goldman Shares “The Tin Can”
No One Wears Shoes Here

EMPLOYEE RELATIONS
How Do You Act When No One Is Watching?
How to NOT Mess Up a Job Interview

FUNERAL MARKETING
Don Shell: “It’s not about the casket™. No, really.”
DAILY NAG: Make Eye Contact

LEGAL ISSUES
Nigerian Scam Letter Turns to Funeral Homes
Why We Don’t Sell American Flag Cot Covers
Someone is Educating Your Community. Is it You?

MEET YOUR MAKER (Interview Series)
2007 NFDA Convention: Remembrace Reproductions
EXHIBITOR SPOTLIGHT: Pictures in Motion
Interview with Urn Maker, Spirit Remains
EXHIBITOR SPOTLIGHT: Info On Hold

PODCASTS
PODCAST: The NFDA Interview
Our Podcast Vault is Growing!
PODCAST: Meeting the Needs of the 21st Century Consumer

RECOMMENDED READING
Now Everyone Can Visit Fallingwater
Candace Craw-Goldman on “Baba’s Story”
Deidre Blair on Reception Layout
Funeral for a Lakota Warrior

WHO ARE WE?
Quilted Mortuary Cot Covers
Where’s Toto When You Need Him?
A Death in the Family: Part 2
Our Cot Cover on NBC
Revamped Treasured Memory Bear Site
Next Stop: Las Vegas!!!

We appreciate your time on our site.  Don’t forget:  there are over 600 articles and podcasts available. 

ENJOY!

We leave tomorrow for the NFDA Convention in Vegas!

 I’m leaving my office assistant, my two sewing workers and my business partner in Central Florida to keep making product and prepare for the coming onslaught of orders!

I put out feelers to my blog contributors to see who’d like to accompany me to Vegas. 

The requirement?  He/she had to pay for own lodging and meals.  I promised to provide at least one meal and a plane ticket.

Master storyteller and awesome writer, Don Shell of Lifestory Network funeral homes, couldn’t attend. 

Kim Stacey, our resident copywriter and regular contributor to Funeral Business Advisor, Mortuary Management and others, couldn’t attend because of family obligations. 

Event planning expert, Deidre Blair, is in Paris!  Guess Vegas can’t compete! 

Our good friend (not yet a contributor, but soon, I hope!), Shirley Rowe of Rowe Photography Studio is so swamped with business that she can’t get even a day away!

I was finally able to convince Robin Richter, our H.R. expert, to give up a few days and trek across the country with me.

So we’re leaving tomorrow on what will most likely be the biggest week of our small company’s life.

We’ll update the blog while we’re there.  So look to this space for info about the convention, our daily sales totals and more!

Wish us luck!

Advertising Words that Work 

There’s a saying among political candidates: “It’s not what you say, it’s what people hear.” For us, in this field, we need to revise that:  “It’s not what you say; it’s what people feel when you say it.”   This is especially true when you are using your website to relate to your prospects. 

All too often I see funeral home web sites that are full of images, overly sentimental, and rather empty when it comes to revealing exactly what you offer your client families - and why they should come to you, rather than the guy down the road.  Your website and other advertising require: 

Credible words: It’s important that your web content is believable and sincere. Or you may drive visitors away instead of attracting them.

Simple words: Use quality words, information-rich words, yet easy-to-understand words.

Powerful words: Use keyword-rich and targeted words, designed to bring the right people to your site. This is especially important while writing descriptions and ads to promote your site, writing headlines and subheads, writing words in bold or coloured text for easily scannable content.

Documented words: Use client testimonials to back up claims of product/service superiority, to assure people that you deliver on your promises.

Thought-provoking words: How often have you read further because the headline triggered a whole thought-process? All the more reason to grab their attention with a question in the headline, a paradox or apparent contradiction in facts or a bold statement that refutes popular beliefs.

Persuasive words: The words you use can persuade her to stay take a tour, look at the services you provide, see what other clients have to say, and make that all important phone call.

The necessity for an emotional connection in your advertising - whether on the Web or otherwise, ties into my previous column, Stop Selling Your Funeral Home and Start Selling You!

Kim Stacey, of marketingfuneralservices.com, has dedicated her career to supporting and empowering funeral service professionals by writing responsive advertising and informational copy. She can be reached most easily at kimstacey@sbcglobal.net, or 831-338-0220. Living in the small coastal town of Boulder Creek, California, she’s in the Pacific Time zone.

 Charity Begins at Home 

For those of you who subscribe to American Cemetery, the July issue contains an article I wrote on a local firm, Santa Cruz Memorial.  

The heart driven marketing strategy of the firm is a grand model for others to follow. Using local media as much as they can for free advertising through articles and photo opportunities, the President of the firm seeks out those in the community who need assistance, and joyfully gives it to them. These acts of kindness are then the focus of media attention.  

Take a look at the article - or, if you don’t subscribe, write me at kimstacey@sbcglobal.net, and I’ll send you a copy.

The model used by Santa Cruz Memorial to keep their firm “top of mind” with people in the community is one we can all live with.

Kim Stacey, of marketingfuneralservices.com, has dedicated her career to supporting and empowering funeral service professionals by writing responsive advertising and informational copy. She can be reached most easily at kimstacey@sbcglobal.net, or 831-338-0220. Living in the small coastal town of Boulder Creek, California, she’s in the Pacific Time zone.

Creating a Madison Avenue Ad on a Main Street Budget 

What makes a “Madison Avenue” Ad?  Have you thought about it?  Is it the money spent?  Or is it the care taken when creating the ad?

 Often, it’s simplicity, of image and word.  One feature and one benefit.  Focused like a laser; the ad cuts through the fluff and gets to the heart of things.  

It moves from task-oriented (seen as work by the viewer) to being responsibility-driven (engages their ego, sense of right and wrong, and pride).  It gives them time to think. 

Make your next promotion all of those things.  Take one thing about your firm that is your strength.  Focus in on it, using simple images and few words.  Add your contact information, and voila!  You’ve gone Madison Avenue on a Main Street budget!

Kim Stacey, of marketingfuneralservices.com, has dedicated her career to supporting and empowering funeral service professionals by writing responsive advertising and informational copy. She can be reached most easily at kimstacey@sbcglobal.net, or 831-338-0220. Living in the small coastal town of Boulder Creek, California, she’s in the Pacific Time zone.

Stop Selling Your Funeral Home and Start Selling You! 

You are your business.  Not your facility, not your furniture or the décor. 

Your business is you: your customer service skills, your ethics, and your ability to connect with those who come to you for assistance.  

So, let’s put everything else on the ‘back burner’ for a bit, and talk about you.  Let’s go back to the beginning, and ask:

“Why did you go into this field in the first place?” 

Many of you will answer that it was compassion, caring, and a desire to serve people in their time of deepest need.  Through the years you’ve honed your skills, and found an ethical business practice that helps you sleep well at night.  

So, stress those things.  Make yourself real, authentic, and you’ve made a powerful connection with your reader.

Kim Stacey, of marketingfuneralservices.com, has dedicated her career to supporting and empowering funeral service professionals by writing responsive advertising and informational copy. She can be reached most easily at kimstacey@sbcglobal.net, or 831-338-0220. Living in the small coastal town of Boulder Creek, California, she’s in the Pacific Time zone.

I’ve lured so many great writers to the blog (Kim Stacey, Don Shell, etc.) that I’ve added separate links for each of their growing collections.

If you look at the categories to the right (choosing a category helps you find other articles that have been assigned or “tagged” with a theme) you’ll see links for the following writers:

Kim Stacey, funeral home copywriter and owner of Marketing Funeral Services
Don Shell, Lifestory Network writer
Robin Richter, HR Expert and “Queen of the Scrappers“
Bryan Chandler, owner of Chandler Funeral Home and Cremation Service
Candace Craw-Goldman, photographer and owner of In Repose
Deidre Blair, event planner and owner of Final Reflections

 Of course, we’re still looking for a “few good writers” who want to share their insights.

So drop us a line or comment hear if you’ve got something to contribute, a product to share with our readers or an interesting story to relate.

Clear Writing = Clear Results 

Ours has become a visual culture.  Most people have hundreds of television channels streaming into their homes, but very few books, and often just a few magazines.  The written word has been left behind, in favor of exciting images and special effects.  The Internet has changed the way we use language too; muddying the written communication channel.  

If you write your own advertising or informational copy, always (and I mean always) have others read through it.  A second or third set of eyes can make all the difference.  

And, always remember that most people aren’t equipped to read complex information.

While more Americans are graduating from college, and more than ever are applying for admission, far fewer are leaving higher education with the skills needed to comprehend routine data, according to the federal study conducted by the National Center for Education Statistics.  

This means the old acronym, K.I.S.S. still applies: Keep It Simple…Sweetie!

And, that means, reviewing, editing, and rewriting – until a 10 year-old can understand everything on the page.

Kim Stacey, of marketingfuneralservices.com, has dedicated her career to supporting and empowering funeral service professionals by writing responsive advertising and informational copy. She can be reached most easily at kimstacey@sbcglobal.net, or 831-338-0220. Living in the small coastal town of Boulder Creek, California, she’s in the Pacific Time zone.

A Survey – and a Gift!  

Well, it’s time I asked you all a favor. I’m looking to more fully understand ways you can use the services of a writer; I find that many funeral home and cemetery owners are not fully using the power of the written word, or recognize the usefulness of branding your company literature.  

I’m not talking about the standard brochures with your name and contact information printed on the back (or front); I’m talking about reaching into your value system, your perspective and your emotional center to create a series of informational and sales materials that are completely unique.  

My Web site records show that many people stop by, but fewer people take the time to contact me to discuss how I can help in building their business. I’m thinking that the site doesn’t provide all the information visitors need to take that next (crucial) step. Could you take a few minutes to visit the site, at http://www.marketingfuneralservices.com and then complete this feedback survey?  

You can find the survey at:  

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=o8tdAZr8EjEkhLjTOxa9fw_3d_3d 

Thank you so much! For those of you who leave your contact email, I’ll be sending you a small token of my appreciation; but if you want to complete the survey anonymously, that would be fine!

Kim Stacey, of marketingfuneralservices.com, has dedicated her career to supporting and empowering funeral service professionals by writing responsive advertising and informational copy. She can be reached most easily at kimstacey@sbcglobal.net, or 831-338-0220. Living in the small coastal town of Boulder Creek, California, she’s in the Pacific Time zone.