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Invisible Competition From The Internet Threatens All Funeral Homes

Invisible Force Steals Profits From Funeral Homes

Funeral homes deal with the dead, but there’s a even darker, more invisible force sneaking up on funeral homes. It erodes the profitability of the funeral homes with stark efficiency. Even though funeral homes serve a localized group of people doesn’t stop this force, because it’s everywhere. It’s the Internet. It’s used to find cremation services, funeral planning and find funeral products. Competition from the Internet can easily destroy funeral homes. More specifically, it’s your competition that uses search engine optimization in their funeral home websites and internet based wholesalers. The Internet is the address of your competition and they are right in the living rooms of your future families. Yes you can compete, but funeral home owners can stop their competition with the power of SEO.

Cremation Discounters — You May Have Never Heard of Them But Their Parked Out Front

The Invisible Force

The wholesale and retail Internet based companies are popping up all over the web. They use effective Search Engine Optimization (SEO) on their sites to make their websites the first one funeral product or service seekers see. This ruins the average funeral home’s ability to obtain customers via the web. The Internet steals local customers by ranking higher in web search results then actual regional and local funeral homes. It is even more devastating to funeral home profitability. These optimized sites reel in your funeral homes potential customers and snatch them out of your grasp with professionally written SEO website copy that target your area.

Cremation Society — S.C.I Does a Good Job Competing Online

Effects On Your Business

The Internet is an gigantic, invisible force that snatches and steals your business’s future. You may already be feeling the effects of the invisible competition from the Internet. Perhaps, fewer individuals are buying your urns, coffins, and printed commemorative pieces. You might not have a potential customer for days or even weeks. That’s the Internet sending your potential business to competing funeral homes with SEO websites that aren’t even in your area.

Decrease in Volume is a Decrease in Sales

Perhaps, the first time funeral home owners see when the Internet starts messing up their business is the decrease in product sales. Individuals seeking your services have already bought the urn or casket. They turn down printed commemorative bookmarks or something similar. They’re bringing their own and doing funerals themselves, with the help of online discounters. The Internet may even play apart in them finding another funeral home that associates with he online discounters to take their business elsewhere. Yes they are willing to drive long distances to reach into your neighborhood.

Decrease In Customers

The younger generation is increasingly using the Internet to find and vet funeral homes. They are also using it for funeral planning and finding cremation services. These leads to fewer customers overall for funeral home, getting the beat down by Internet based wholesale and competitors with stronger website SEO. These customers are all going to funeral homes and wholesalers that use SEO or websites with stronger SEO.

Lay Offs and Mounting Bills

The loss of sales and customers leads to laying off your staff and mounting bills. The results are horrible. Funeral home owners face the stress of a failing business and often it isn’t pretty and has nothing to do with how good a job the funeral home does. It may affect your family. The mounting bills become a burden; your business has operating costs, such as building rent, staff, electric and other monthly expenses.

Closing Your Doors

The funeral home cost more to maintain, then it’s bringing in financially. Because of the invisible competing from the Internet, the business fails. Even, funeral homes in operation for 30 years have and can succumb to the force of the Internet on businesses. That’s the end of a business, which may have been in a family for generations.

The Solution

There’s only one answer to the business killing forces of discount stores and funeral homes with SEO websites. That’s to become one of them. Piling on the SEO on your funeral home’s website will help. Hiring a professional Funeral Home SEO strategist is even better. They’ve got insider knowledge of how to use the Internet to your business’s advantage and you won’t have to spend precious time in researching SEO techniques.

Vermont Cremation Services — Can't Beat Em Join Em

Moreover, your competition certainly has a SEO strategist and your funeral home needs the same advantages as your competition. Otherwise, your funeral home can’t compete with the power of the Internet. The effects in the section above will certainly happen to your funeral home. It might be slow. It might be fast, but it means 10, 15 or even a 100 years of you and your family serving your community is down the drain.

It’s such a simple solution, but it’s the future of your business. You can hire a professional SEO strategist and listen to them. They’ll do the work of getting a business site, filling it with your products, services and business details and optimizing it for search engines. All you have to do is, watch as your funeral home regains its profitability as more funerals take place and more products are sold. SEO is your invisible super power. Or you can just let your invisible competition force you to hang a “Gone Out of Business” sign on the front door of your funeral home.

Consumer demands and social innovations are changing the funeral home business. Funeral Home SEO has the technology and know-how to assist you in developing your funeral home business to meet those evolving demands. Contact us today to discover how your funeral home business can benefit from our services and expertise. #877-365-9474 or info@cremationsolutuions.com and I will connect you with the experts!

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Funeral Directors VS Zombies

It seems like zombies are all the rage right now. From hit television shows to blockbuster movies, everyone is fascinated with the undead. While most people enjoy their fix of the undead and then turn off the television or leave the theater, for a small group of people, when it comes to death there is no escape.

The funeral service industry isn’t a glamorous career, but it’s a necessary one and can be most rewarding helping people through a difficult part of life. So how do those that deal with death on a daily basis handle the popularity of zombies? For a funeral director, a zombie infestation is a nightmare for several reasons. It’s the absolute worst possible situation in your industry and watching Zombies in action can conflict with job performance. Just like an airline pilot wouldn’t want to watch a films about a plane crashes, a cruise ship captain wouldn’t want to watch Titanic and a foodie wouldn’t want to watch Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, it’s just not good for your overall health!

Youg Zombie — My Daughter Jena is a Real Heart Breaker!

Let’s face it – zombies are bad enough on the general population. It’s a messy affair with the dead ambling around, blood gushing everywhere and just lots of general gore. But zombies are even worse on the funeral directors and embalmers. Why? Let’s take a look. All Zombies start out as dead people. Funeral Directors work hard to make the dead look peaceful and then BAM!. Freaking Zombies mess up all our hard work. Not knowing when they will change just keeps us on edge all the time. Some complain that Zombies are driving the cremation rate even higher!. Progressive funeral director in Pennsylvania, Caleb Wilde now ties the deceased shoes together, making them even slower when the change comes while providing a more entertaining Zombie experience.

Outside of a cemetery, a funeral home or mortuary has the highest concentration of deceased bodies. So should zombies start rising from the dead, you’re at an immediate disadvantage because you’re outnumbered.

How’s this for nightmare fuel for a mortician: imagine your working with the dead and then one starts that irritating moaning from inside a casket you just positioned perfectly! Then you hear it from the one next to it. Then, the one beside it. When the locks start breaking and bodies start crawling out, that job at Home Depot is looking good.

Or imagine a family is having a service for a loved one when the dearly departed sputters to life, shuffles out of their casket and starts terrorizing the family? I’d imagine that family member screaming and running out of your funeral home in terror isn’t exactly the image you’re looking to project. Can you say lawsuit!. It’s just not good for business.

Cremation Information — The Fat One's Are The Worst

But aside from just the “nightmare” scenarios, there are actually practical reasons a zombie apocalypse would be a death knell for the funeral industry. “But you’d still need funerals once the zombies are killed!” you say. That’s just not the same – for several reasons!

First off, the whole “viewing” part of a funeral couldn’t happen. Often times, people at a funeral will say, “He looks so peaceful” or “She looks so natural”? But the fact that you have to kill zombies with a head shot or decapitation pretty much renders that useless. It can look “just like her” with a pair of holes in her head!

Embalming does not kill Zombies and that’s a problem!. Since zombies keep moving around, normal embalming becomes a pain in the ass. Embalmers for the first time are having to implore restraining straps. One skilled embalmer told me she has been adding a step of cutting the trac and removing the voice box. This has completely stop purge from the mouth and nose as well as stopped all that annoying moaning!. This triggered me to consider teeth removal to inhibit all that messy biting! Without preservation, a zombie’s body (which as mentioned in the last paragraph, probably isn’t in good shape) would deteriorate far too quickly to have any sort of service. Of course, that assumes you’d provide services to a zombie in the first place! No restoration and no preservation? Another strike for funeral homes.

And since you’ve got several layers of “death” in the zombie universe (the initial person’s death, the death of a zombie, etc.), how do you handle a situation where someone passes away, but the becomes a zombie? They don’t exactly need their casket, and your services were useless, so can the family ask for a refund?

Cremation is the Solution — Always Looking For Handouts!

As anyone who works in a funeral home knows, we don’t like it when bodies start to twitch or make a sounds. With the resurgence of zombies in popular culture recently, I’m sure it’s given more than one person a brief heart attack. Josh Slocum of the Funeral Consumers Alliance has been warning the public that funeral directors should avoid the whole zombie phenomenon because Zombies don’t need funerals and have no known negative effects on the public.

So if you someone in the industry does choose to partake in a little undead entertainment, how do they deal with it? For starters, know that since zombies are (hopefully) relegated to the small screen, your industry is going to be around for a long, long time. Also, be happy that people are fascinated with death. That’s good for business. And as I mentioned above, if you institute a “no refunds” policy, you’ll get to double dip. You’ll have a service for the initial passing, and then another one when they take a shotgun blast as they’re trying to gnaw on a cousin’s leg. I recommend Cremation services and a nice urn as a zombie solution!

But what’s the best thing someone in the funeral industry can take away from the zombie resurgence? I’m sure The Walking Dead can offer you some pretty good survival tips, should…. well, you know.

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Death is No Stranger But it Can Be Strange!

Some of the Strangest Deaths Throughout History

Ra-Ra-Rasputin

If you were a child back in the 90s, you probably know who Rasputin was from the Anastasia movie. Even though there is no way to know for sure what happened, it is believed that the Romanov family plotted to off Rasputin using cyanide. After consuming the wine laced with poison, he was still alive. He was shot and left for dead, but when the family returned to check on him, he was still kicking. They shot him again, bludgeoned him using a rubber club, bound him, wrapped him in a sheet and threw him into the river. When the body was pulled from the river, he had managed to free one of his arms.

Moon River

Li Bai, a well-known Chinese poet, is legendary in the Chinese culture. Story has it that he drowned after he fell out of his boat while on the Yangtze River. Sources say he was trying to embrace the moon’s reflection.

Dinner OD

Sweden’s king, Adolf Frederick, literally ate himself to death. His last meal consisted of caviar, lobster, kippers, sauerkraut, champagne and 14 helpings of semla, his favorite dessert.

Acquittal is a Must

Back in 1871 in Ohio, a man was shot and killed during a bar fight. Clement Vallandigham, the attorney for the defendant, argued that the victim is the one who killed himself by trying to get his pistol out of his pocket when he was kneeling down. To prove the case, he demonstrated the act in front of the jury. He grabbed a gun that he didn’t think was loaded. In the process of acting out the scene, he ended up killing himself. Since he proved the point, the defendant, Thomas McGehan, ended up being acquitted.

Death by a Turn of Irony

Toronto lawyer, Garry Hoy, consistently threw himself against the glass of the Toronto-Dominion Centre to demonstrate its durability. Even though he was fine all of the other times, this time the glass gave out and he fell 24 stories. In reality, the glass popped out of the frame, so Hoy was right in its durability.

Saw VIII

Back in August of 2003, Brian Douglas Wells, was killed from a bomb that was secured around his neck when he was caught trying to rob a bank. Once he was apprehended by the police, the bomb exploded. He claimed he was forced to do it, but he was in on the whole scheme. He never thought the bomb was real. The purpose behind the whole thing was so that a prostitute would have the money she needed to pay a hitman to kill her father. The stolen money wasn’t even close to enough, and the inheritance was almost all depleted anyway.

Fatal Hilarity

Greek philosopher, Chryssuppus, actually died from laughter back in 206 BC. In a drunken stupor, he saw a donkey chewing on some figs and thought it was hilarious. Once the laughing begin he was unable to stop. Humor actually got the best of him, in this case. Due to the uncontrollable laughter, he ended up dying.

Curse of the Mummy’s Tomb

There is a mystery around the opening of a Mummy’s Tomb. After opening a tomb, bad luck has found many of those involved, including a fair amount of deaths. Carnarvon ended up passing away just a few months after the tomb was opened. It was believed that the death was the result of blood poisoning that occurred when he was bitten by a mosquito. The bite was infected with erysipelas from when he nicked himself with a razor when shaving.

Dance Until You Drop

Back in 1518, The Dancing Plague took place in eastern France. In a place called Strasbourg, Alsace, a woman by the name of Frau Troffea began dancing without rest. It is considered the most notable type of mass hysteria where people (over 400) would dance until they passed away. No medical explanation exists for this as of yet. They simply danced until they were exhausted, had heart attacks, and strokes.

One for the Guinness Book

Most of us know that drinking too much alcohol could cause death by Alcohol poisoning, but what about drowning in it? Back in 1814, an enormous vat of beer at a brewery in London ended up rupturing, which caused a large domino effect for all of the surrounding vats. More than 323,000 gallons of beer ended up flooding the brewery and all of the surrounding areas. In total, seven people were killed and two homes were destroyed by the beer.

Sweet Catastrophe

During 1919, the Boston Molasses Flood caused the deaths of 21 people and injured 150 more. A large storage tank containing molasses at the northern end of Boston ended up bursting and flooding the streets of town at 35 mph.

Talk About a Blackout

Back in 1998 in the Congo, a football match ended up being interrupted due to a lightning bolt that ended up striking the pitch and killed the entire 11 members on the team. Even though the other team wasn’t scathed, they did get accused of witchcraft.

Your Body is Toxic

Gloria Ramirez was admitted to the hospital in 1994 from effects related to cervical cancer, but others ended up needing medical attention as well. It was found that her skin was toxic. Hospital staff noticed a garlic-like, fruity odor from her mouth and an oily sheen on her skin. When the nurse drew her blood, she noticed an ammonia smell from the tube. The nurse who took the blood, the doctor and a respiratory therapist all passed from the blood. Ramirez passed from kidney failure. It is still speculation as to what really happened with her blood that killed all the others, but they believe it all relates to DMSO2.

Trouble in Paradise

In Thailand, two Canadian sisters were found deceased in their hotel room. Reports indicated that the sisters were killed from DEET poisoning after they consumed a cocktail containing a neurotoxic mosquito repellent. Autopsies by Canadian officials showed that they did have DEET in their system and they did die from poisoning, but the amounts were not large enough to have killed them, so you get left to wonder what the cause really was.

Mountain Mystery

Back in February of 1959, 10 hikers decided to embark on a mission to climb Kholat Syakhl in Russia. One ended up turning back a day in from illness and the remaining nine weren’t seen alive again. The campsite was in shambles and the tent was torn open from inside. Two bodies were found a mile from camp beneath a tree in only their underwear. Three more were scattered along the way in attempts to get away. The question on everyone’s mind, was what happened to them.

Funeral Planning was delayed two months passed before the last four were found in a ravine not far from where one of the other bodies was found. These members were wrapped in clothing from other group members, which ended up being radioactive. All died of trauma, but no outward evidence was found. One was missing her tongue. It was ruled as compelling natural forces that caused the deaths. To this day, no one really knows how they died.

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How Your Funeral Home Can Benefit From Local SEO

What Good is a Website if it Can't Be Found

If you’re involved in running a funeral home, you’ve probably already created a website. This is a step in the right direction, but there are other things that need to be done. If no one knows about your website because it does not rank in local search results then your website won’t be drawing in any business.

One of the best ways to ensure that your site gets found, in addition to publicizing the URL in print promotional materials, is to ensure that your site shows up in local searches. You’ll need to focus on local SEO (Search Engine Optimization) strategies, like other entities that are doing business in a specific regional area. There are several steps involved in the process.

Register Your Site With Major Search Engines

Ensuring that your website is registered with major search engines like Google, Bing, and Yahoo is essential to your website SEO strategy. With Google, this is as simple as adding your URL to their database and verifying your listing by phone or postcard. You’ll also need a Google account to do this. Bing’s process is similar; you’ll have the option to add or claim your listing with the search engine, and then you’ll be required to verify your listing by phone or mail. You’ll also need a Windows Live ID to complete the process as well. The process is nearly the same through Yahoo, but you have the option to obtain a basic or enhanced listing with this search engine.

Make Sure Your Business Goes Social

You won’t want to ignore other methods of listing your funeral home business either. You may want to establish listings with Yellow Pages, YP.com, and City Search. You may want to add listings to social media sites such as Facebook and LinkedIn. These profiles can assist you in ensuring that your business has a better chance at obtaining higher rankings in search engines, because in many cases, these profiles will show up first in search engine results.

Get On The Map!

Get Listed With Local Sites

Don’t ignore regional portals when you’re listing our business. Many of these sites are run by various media institutions. Many local newspapers and news stations offer local businesses an opportunity to have a listing on these sites. Obtaining a listing on these sites can definitely increase your search engine rankings significantly.

Consistency is the Key

While you’re creating these listings for your funeral home you’re going to want to make sure that you maintain consistency in your listings. Your business should be listed under the same name each time. You don’t want to list your business as Your Business, LLC in one area and then have it listed as Your Business in another. Additionally, you’ll want to ensure that the same address and contacts are listed under each registration. This is critical in getting recognition from major search engines as a local business entity. Even slight variations can cause your efforts to fizzle and affect your rankings.

Perform Competitive Research on the Competition

When you are researching keywords for your website, you’ll need to look at other local businesses that rank highly with that keyword. Pay attention to the place that these businesses occupy in ranking. Search for these businesses by the names and addresses in the search bar of whichever site you’re previewing and find out what sites these businesses are listed at. This will let you know where your business needs to be listed at in order to get the highest possible rankings. One simple test is to just Google some terms relevant to your services and location to see how your website is ranking and see where you need to be. Type in Funeral Homes or Funeral Providers and the town and state you are located in. Also type Cremation Services or Cremation Providers and learn about where you rank for these key terms as well. For example type cremation services in Arlington Vermont and see where your website comes up. Ideally you want to be in the first top three of search results. If you not on page one your not going to attract much new business.

Review All Your Business Reviews

Assuming that you’ve got your site listed at various places, you’ll want to check out those listings regularly. Check out any reviews about your business. Find out if any of your clients have had frustrating experiences with your business. You’ll also want to find out if your clients have been pleased with your service. You can use this as a springboard for ensuring that your funeral and cremation services are the best in the area. You’ll also get more positive reviews with this type of effort. Additionally, it wouldn’t hurt to check out competing reviews for other businesses. Find out what these entities are doing right, and what customers believe could be better. This kind of insight will help you deliver better service, and positive reviews will obviously increase your rankings.

Audit Your Site’s Usability

This is extremely important. Before you waste time promoting your site, you need to make sure your site is easy to navigate. You’ll also want to ensure that the site looks appropriate in a variety of browsers. It won’t do your business any good to get a high ranking, if leads visit your site and leave because the site is poorly designed. Your visitors should see how to contact your easily. If you maintain guestbooks for clients, these applications should function properly. Don’t forget that mobile usage is increasing, you may want to invest in having a mobile website created so mobile users can navigate your site easily.

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What Funeral Arrangers Can Learn From Speed Dating!

speed1 — Forget it Bob, Direct cremation!

Comparing the day to day responsibilities of a funeral director with the process of speed dating is like matching apples and oranges. Speed dating is a pleasure activity to meet new people and consider potential mates while serving as a funeral director involves addressing families about the deaths of their loved ones, planning services and arranging burial or cremation plans. However, in peeling the layers away to reveal the framework of the basic human interactions utilized in each form of communication, the similarities begin to emerge. Even solely in the realm of learning to read individuals, adapt to a situation and draw conclusions in a short period of time, there is much a funeral director can learn from the process of speed dating.

Cremation Services — Yes I "would" like to know all about the options!

For most people arranging for a funeral is a strange or foreign concept. Speed dating is a strange concept in itself but one some people find necessary to meet prospective dates. In speed dating, an individual registers for a group event and is given generally ten minutes or less to interact with everyone of the opposite gender at the event. At the conclusion of the event, participants reveal which of their potential partners they are interested in to the moderator or organizer and, should both parties feel the same, individual contact information is provided. Although controversial in execution due to the limitations of a small time frame, speed dating can be an effective way of meeting a pool of eligible potential dates in a prearranged event in several hours, providing extensive networking and relationship possibilities.

Funeral directors have a radically different host of responsibilities. The job of a funeral director also requires brief meetings with the families of a deceased or the representative of a deceased’s estate to organize funeral services, calling hours, burial or cremation services and provide obituary services if needed. While speed dating is an elective process, individuals who enlist the services of a funeral director generally only do so out of necessity. The subject of death and the accompanying emotions can be overwhelming, adding a layer of complexity to the interactions funeral directors have with clients.
Although on the surface there seems to be little in the way of similarities, the skills speed daters need to develop to succeed actually quite similar to the skill set that makes for an effective funeral director. In speed dating, a participant only has several minutes to decide whether or not a possible partner is worth pursuing. Studies show that many decide in the first ten seconds if the person has a chance at a date. Hopefully they will give the funeral directors more the ten seconds, but the point is we need to make a positive impression very quickly. In this time, evaluating your partner, responding accordingly, interpreting emotions and reactions and understanding whether a future interaction could have potential are crucial to success. Without being able to read the other person’s body language, facial cues, vocal inflection and other subtle indicators of mood or reaction, a worthwhile opportunity could be easily overlooked. As important as learning how to comprehend another individual’s subtleties can be in speed dating, learning how to convey your own emotions can be just as important. In order to attract someone’s attention, expressing your interest and feelings of connectivity can be essential. Mastering speed dating can take a high level of social grace, intuition and comprehension of human emotion.

In the same ways that speed dating can require a more highly adapted approach to human interactions, working as a funeral director takes a similar set of abilities. The time a funeral director has with a client to ascertain needs, wants and emotions is not much longer than a speed dating encounter. In order to provide a high level of service in an industry that works with death and its impact on friends and loved ones, a funeral director must be able to read body language and act on social cues to make a difficult conversation as easy as possible. When it comes to handling a deceased’s affairs, many family members or representatives may not be able to fully understand the many options available to them. This is why it’s so important that the funeral director make an almost instant connection. Much in the same way a speed dater must read and react to a potential partner in order to establish a connection, a funeral director must read and react to a client to make sure all bases are covered in a satisfactory manner. If no connection is made the family is not likely to want to hear or care about the options and suggestions made by the funeral director.

In both fields, being able to properly convey your own emotions to another human being is essential. In speed dating, this serves to create a bond or connection while a funeral director must properly use empathy and kindness to demonstrate trustworthiness to a customer so that he or she knows the deceased will be in good hands. The trust between a funeral director and client is central to making sure the right services are offered and proper options made available. Funeral planning funeral, cremation services and obituaries can be very personal and emotional situations to handle and being able to create a quick connection is very important to establishing a working relationship. This same concept applies in bonding with a possible partner. Like in speed dating, a funeral director only has one chance and one small time window to make sure everything is right.

Serving as a funeral director can be a very emotional and stressful job due to its proximity to death. Funeral directors are called upon in painful times and only have a brief period with a customer to build trust, convey empathy and assure an individual his or her deceased loved one will be treated with dignity, care and respect. These skills are very similar to the quick connection one must build to succeed in speed dating. Reading body language, interpreting social cues and using emotion to build a rapport with an individual are skills frequently used in both areas. By treating each encounter with a client as a speed dating opportunity, funeral directors may be able to improve the levels on which they connect with their customers in order to instill trust and create a bond demonstrative of a high level of service.

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Funeral Directors Taking Care of Everyone But Themselves

Every job has its unique challenges, and being a funeral director is no exception. When you meet a funeral director, you are hopefully met with a compassionate human being who exhibits all the appropriate decorum for the preparation of a sad event that surrounds a funeral service. There is much to be taken care of whether or not you were prepared for the passing of a loved one. All around, a funeral director is a caregiver. This professional not only takes care of the details for viewing, memorial service music, funeral bulletins, eulogies and much more but is a shoulder to lean on for the bereaved. While outwardly a funeral director may appear calm and in charge, there’s a lot going on behind the scenes that causes stress.

Unfortunately, many funeral directors don’t operate with any personal boundaries. They often receive phone calls 24/7 for assistance, including the wee hours of the morning. For example, it is not uncommon for a hospice nurse to call a funeral director in the middle of the night requesting a pickup of the body for someone who has expired. Shortly after, another phone call comes in that another family is waiting for them at the funeral home for assistance. This lack of personal boundaries can often leave you vulnerable and can lead to depression. Family activities like attending a son’s soccer game or leisure activities must cancelled to take care of business. Its easy to be torn between the needs of your family and the needs of those you serve. Directors are also prone to evolving into workaholics. Many funeral homes are small businesses and lack the staff for shift work. It goes hand in hand with a lack of personal boundaries. Business may thrive and customers may be happy, but funeral directors wind up not spending time with their own families. Substance abuse and depression is often the end result.

When you think about it, funeral directors are faced with the reality of death 24/7. This immersion in death isolates them by profession. While you may not think you’re loved ones passing affects a funeral director, the constant passing of human beings does affect emotions. It is not uncommon for funeral directors to feel internally agitated and moody. The bottom line is that death makes funeral directors different. They can easily be pulled into the whole narrative of death and lose themselves.

By profession, funeral directors develop a high emotional pain tolerance to death. It’s almost a syndrome that cannot be avoided. Funeral directors that do a good job will often immerse themselves into the families situation and even make it harder on their own emotions. The constant exposure to death and unfortunate circumstances numbs the feelings. Depersonalization and lack of empathy can occur and scare off friends and family. It’s almost as though death chips away at one’s own humanity. They lose the ability to empathize with anything less than death. If you go through a tough breakup with a significant other, funeral directors often minimize the experience with comments like “Well, at least you’re still alive.” It’s easy to see how this transformation can adversely affect one’s personal relationships.

Funeral Directors Need To Be Their Own Caregivers

Like most other caregivers, funeral directors often focus on caring for others and neglect self-care. Along with operating a 24/7 business with economic responsibilities, the demands of providing comfort for the bereaved can take its toll. Burn-out is common and known as “funeral director fatigue” or “compassion fatigue syndrome.” Before the final crash, there are many warning signs, including:

-Isolation from others
-Depression and physical complaints
-Irritability and impatience
-Detachment and cynicism
-Loss of energy and exhaustion

There are a number of steps that funeral directors can take to avoid burn-out. Embracing modern technology can help streamline the workload. Instead of being tied down to the funeral home location to secure new business and provide families with 24/7 service, funeral directors can use pages and smart phones to conduct business more efficiently. Your funeral homes website is often now the first contact with a customer. A good website will educate and guide people to the solutions they need. Some sites even allow funeral or cremation services to be arranged online. A good answering Service for Directors like (ASD) can be an absolute godsend and help you relax more. Calls are screened to address urgent issues, and users can even log onto the web to see the activity of calls. With these modern services, business can be conducted from any location. Funeral directors can also hire removal services to transport decedents and lessen the workload with software companies that have developed programs to speed up the process of obituary placement, death certificate filing and much more. Moving away from the traditional funeral home business model of 24/7 availability still allows funeral directors to provide families with a personal touch. It’s just a different way of doing business.

Taking time to enjoy life with family and engaging in hobbies is an effective way to help reduce the stress. It also takes one away from the thoughts of death and to the thoughts of living life. Outdoor activities like fishing, skiing and just enjoying a leisurely day at the park or beach are ideal. After all, life is for the living. It’s also important to schedule vacation time to spend with family or friends. Having a circle of people around is a support group in itself.

Setting time boundaries for business and personal life is essential to maintain a balanced life. Funeral directors need to allot of certain amount of time for funeral planning and a certain amount of time for pleasure. Eating a balanced diet with the proper rest will also help one face the challenges of being in the biz.

For the most part, funeral directors today operate with one of two business models. The family service model is likely the most emotional draining of all. Little boundaries are set, and funeral directors are deeply integrated with the family. While it benefits customers with a personal and intimate approach, it often overburdens the funeral director emotionally. With a corporate owned funeral homes model, the relationship between the funeral director and clients is more detached. It’s more of a corporate perspective with a salesman style. With corporate firms, and the process is more like an assembly line with employees focusing on certain areas. While it doesn’t afford as much opportunity to develop personal relationships with clients, it does afford structured hours and good boundaries. Focus is on managing the bottom line.

Being a funeral director is a real challenge. Funeral directors must act as their own caregivers and fight to maintain the balance of having a life and taking care of business. Their own lives and families are worth it, and the clients they serve are worth it. If attaining a good balance is difficult, it’s smart to seek help or consider changing careers.

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Funeral Ceremonies and The Healing Power of Music

In all societies, music is collective and communal. It is a medium that brings and binds people together. Although we often think of music as entertainment, we often overlook its power to evoke emotions. Beethoven was well-known for being able to evoke the emotions of joy, sadness, loss and return in his famed sonatas. Obviously, music has an emotional hook, and there’s a lot more going on besides sound waves and the synapses firing in the human brain. Music and mood are connected in a manner that science has not been able to explain. To date, studies have only determined that the auric field surrounding people progresses into a calm state when listening to music. It certainly suggests that music has the power to heal the body, mind and spirit. That being said, music therapy has been used to treat Alzheimer’s, brain injury, Parkinson’s disease and cancer. Anecdotal evidence suggests that music can reduce anxiety, pain and heart rate. It can also tap long lost memories and increase social interaction.

When it comes to funeral ceremonies, music plays a vital role. It is an important part of celebrating the life of a lost loved one. Music is embedded in our souls and can stir up long forgotten memories that can only be brought to the surface with music. Playing cherished songs enjoyed together, such as “My Girl” or “I Will Always Love You”, can rewind the clock for a memory of happy times shared together. Such trigger songs are healing music that instantly connects us to memories of times, places and people connected with a loved one. Healing music helps bereaved ones go through the grieving process. It touches the soul in a manner that is comforting and almost unexplainable. The sounds of music give everyone a medium that all can share and relate to at funeral ceremonies. The power of music enhances the experience of funeral ceremonies in a positive and appropriate way.

Funeral planning and funeral music go hand in hand. Simply put, all funeral ceremonies should use healing music to both pay tribute to a lost loved one and to create an atmosphere where healing can begin for survivors. Funeral planning entails using funeral music at many times during a funeral ceremony. With so many planning cremation services, we have more time to plan and select appropriate funeral music. Funeral music can be played before, during and after the ceremony. It’s really up to those planning the ceremony to decide when music should be played. Just keep in mind that the funeral music you choose will create a mood for both yourself and attendees.

Choosing Healing Music for Funeral Ceremonies

There is no one-size-fits-all when choosing funeral music. For those who prefer to stick with tradition and a solemn funeral experience, popular hymns like “Amazing Grace”, “Ave Maria” and “All Things Bright and Beautiful,” are both powerful and rousing. These types of songs allow people who are at a loss for words to express heartfelt feelings. They unveil a dimension of feeling and meaning that words cannot do. Even though these hymns are Christian, they evoke feelings regardless of race or culture.

Selecting Funeral Music — Let The Music Take You There

If you’re not particularly religious, choosing classical and popular songs may be a better fit. This type of funeral music is ideal for playing during times of intercession and moments of silence. Here’s a list of some classical songs that are both soothing and reflective:

-“My Heart Will Go On”- Celine Dion
-“Hero”- Mariah Carey
-“Tears In Heaven”- Eric Clapton
-“Always On My Mind”- Elvis Presley
-“The Rose”- Bette Midler
-“Candle In The Wind”- Elton John
-“Imagine”- John Lennon
-“What A Wonderful World”- Louis Armstrong
-“Yesterday”- The Beatles
-“Stairway To Heaven”- Led Zeppelin

Playing a loved one’s favorite songs at a funeral ceremony is also an option that helps capture the essence of a loved one while leaving a legacy. For example, if your loved one was a huge fan of the Beatles or Beach Boys, playing tunes like “Surfer Girl” and “I Want To Hold Your Hand” will make you feel like your loved one is right there with you enjoying the music. Keep in mind that it is completely appropriate today to play upbeat music at a funeral service. As a matter of fact, many people today are embracing a funeral service with a whole new paradigm. In celebrating the life of a loved one, playing vibrant music at a funeral service is a good match for a true celebration of life.

All in all, the funeral music that you choose as a tribute to your loved one is truly a personal choice. It’s entirely up to you to choose the music that you see most fit to celebrate the life of a loved one. Learn more about funeral music here.

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Today is Tomb Sweeping Day in China And Burning Iphones and I Pads is “The Latest Tradition”!

In China, the traditional belief is that a person’s soul can only rest in peace if their body is buried underground in a coffin. Those that were cremated or opted for another method would have restless souls. However, as time moves on, more and more Chinese are finding this belief to be antiquated. The younger generation in particular believes that a soul may rest in peace regardless of what happens to their body, and that it’s more important to respect the wishes of the deceased than it is to follow tradition. This has lead to an increase in the amount of people who choose to have cremation services, followed by their friends and family scattering ashes.

Like In The USA Traditions Are Changing

Tomb Sweeping Day

Every April 4^th, the Chinese participate in the Qingming Festival, also known as Tomb Sweeping Day. During this festival, the relatives of the deceased gather around their grave and celebrate the life of the departed by leaving offerings of liquor, food, and burning fake money. The Chinese government made Tomb Sweeping Day an official holiday in 2008.

Tradition encourages them to remember their ancestors by laying out food at their grave sites, and burning paper replicas of daily necessities, such as clothes, money, cars, and houses. This year a few new items have been added to that list of necessities: the iPad and the iPhone.

IpaCremation Service — Dead Ancestors Catch Up With The Death Ap!

The tradition – which dates back thousands of years – dictates that the paper goods can be used by their ancestors in the afterlife, and the offerings have evolved to fit in with modern life. As such, paper replicas of iPhones and iPads – which are hugely popular in China – have become all the rage.

British broadsheet The Telegraph reports that paper replicas of Apple’s hugely popular iOS devices are selling “like hot cakes” in China, as millions of people prepare to honor their ancestors by burning paper goods that they believe can be used in the afterlife

Culture Shift

Cremations are becoming more popular in China as the culture changes. While traditionalists still hold to their desire for a more traditional coffin and burial, others see cremation as a way to help out future generations. Cemetery overcrowding is a growing concern, especially among the more developed areas near the coast. By holding cremation services and scattering ashes, the surviving relatives save money. Another benefit of cremation is that it’s much more environmentally friendly, as ashes are nothing more than minerals purified by the heat of fire. Regular caskets are left in the ground to erode over time and can potentially pose a health hazard if not cared for properly. Cremation has none of these risks.

The Chinese government encourages cremation in the form of subsidies offered to those who opt for cremation services. As cremation is an eco-friendly option, the government wants people – traditionalists and otherwise – to seriously consider it as a viable alternative to burial. While traditional burial has the potential to hurt others in the future, cremation leaves no impact.

The Decision

People are chooseing cremation over traditional burial for many reasons. The most common reason is that it’s the request the deceased left in their will – and no one wants to risk being haunted by an angry loved one. New trends like biodegradable urns make cremation more and more to the environmentally friendly, those concerned about the future of the planet like the low impact cremation has on the environment as compared to traditional burial. A third reason is the expense. By the time all is said and done in China, a traditional burial can cost a small fortune, leaving the surviving relatives with a hefty bill that they may struggle to pay off. Cremation costs much less, and in some places – like China – governments may even subsidize the cost of the both the urn and the cremation services.

New Traditions

Scattering Ceremony

A scattering ceremony has a lot in common with a traditional burial, but a lot of differences as well. As with a traditional funeral, loved ones will gather at a central location and share their memories of the deceased. A priest may or may not be in attendance, depending on the beliefs of the family and the deceased.

A location is chosen early in the process. This place may be requested in the will of the deceased, or it may hold some significance in their life. For example, someone who spent their entire life on a farm may choose to have their ashes scattered over their wheat field. A golfer may opt to have their ashes spread at their favorite golf course. Note that in certain circumstances (like the golf course), a permit will be required to hold the scattering ceremony.

After the ceremony is conducted, the ashes are released. A few final words may be spoken, then those gathered watch as the ashes fly into the breeze. Unfortunately, for those not prepared, the process can be quite messy. That’s where a scattering urn comes in.

Scattering Urns

Traditionally, those wanting to spread the ashes of a deceased loved one were forced to carry the ashes in a plastic box or a bag not too different from a garbage bag with a twist tie. Naturally, this removed some of the beauty from what should be a beautiful process. A scattering urn isn’t designed just to hold ashes, but to help spread them as well. Scattering urns can be symbolic – an avid bird watcher could find themselves with an urn for scattering ashes that converts into a bird house. Some urns are biodegradable and can be set out to sea or buried in one of the deceased’s favorite spots.

Scattering Services

There was nothing the deceased liked more than waking up before the sun did then heading out for a long day of sailing on the ocean. In their will, they’ve requested that their ashes be spread over the rolling waves of the Pacific. Unfortunately, their loved ones don’t have access to a boat. That’s where a scattering service comes into play. A scattering service will help the loved ones fulfill the wishes of the dearly departed. If the family of the deceased doesn’t have the means to complete the scattering request, they can hire a scattering service.They can do anything from helping with the whole ceremony to hiring a small plane to spread the ashes over a forest while loved ones watch from the ground.

Tomb sweeping day remains popular in China as a way of respecting and honoring the dead. It is much like Memorial Day in the U.S.A. Cremation services followed by a scattering of ashes continues to grow both in China and the United States as it becomes an increasingly popular method of memorializing the deceased. Join The Author Jeff Staab On Google Plus

Thai Man Marries Dead Girlfriend

On January 4, 2012, an extraordinary Buddhist wedding ceremony transpired in Surin, Thailand. On that day 28-year-old Chadil Deffy, a television director also known as Deff Yingyuen, took his girlfriend of ten years, 29-year-old Sarinya Kamsook, also known as Anne, as his wife.

The bridegroom, clad in a black tuxedo complete with top hat and tails, was debonair and charming. The bride was a vision in a white satin strapless bridal gown featuring a miniskirt and ornamented with lace and pearls. Fishnet stockings embellished her legs, and in her hands, she held a red and white bridal bouquet.

The bride remained silent and did not object to the marriage. As the groom proclaimed his undying love for his bride, he slipped a diamond ring on her finger as a symbolic representation of his eternal love. This touching and endearing demonstration of everlasting love broadcasted on nationwide television in Thailand.

The unconventional issue concerning this romantic and charming marriage ceremony was not the bride’s unusual attire. Instead, it was the undeniable fact that the wedding ceremony had taken place posthumously and that the new bride was actually deceased at the time that the consolidated marriage/funeral service occurred. The groom purportedly betrothed her out of tremendous despair and remorse.

In a typical love scenario, the happy couple became acquainted with each other and fell in love a decade earlier at Eastern Asia University in Thailand. The couple had previously planned to get married, but had postponed the wedding repeatedly because of their hectic schedules. Yingyuen had been pre-occupied with completing his degree and Kamsook was focusing on her career.

Regrettably, destiny intervened. On January 3, 2012, the couple found themselves in an automobile accident that resulted in catastrophic injuries to Anne. She was then rushed to an overcrowded emergency room of a nearby hospital. Rather than sending her to an alternative hospital that would be able to treat her injuries immediately, the workers reportedly waited six hours to attend to her, during which time she succumbed to her injuries and perished.

The matter at hand is whether the groom was a truly a grieving sweetheart, or rather an opportunist searching for a claim to fame. The bridegroom who had the ceremony videotaped also uploaded it to the social networking website Facebook, where he entitled the video, Corpse Bride. Subsequently, he published the video to YouTube where it ultimately proceeded to go viral.

Despite the fact that it’s apparent that he regretted that he had not married the woman he dearly loved while she was still living, his ulterior motives for videotaping the ceremony remain ambiguous. Tremendous grief can make people do abnormal things, but to use a publicity stunt to benefit from the demise of a loved one is excessive.

Regardless of the indisputable fact that he kept his commitment to his bride, he would potentially have been better thought of if this had been a private display rather than a televised event. Irrespective of his motives, from this fiasco you will discover lessons that we all can gain knowledge from. Our lives are way too short, and we should never delay until tomorrow what we could do today. Tomorrow could be too late, as this young man has learned all too well.

Kamsook’s burial occurred immediately following the ceremony and students carefully placed death wreaths throughout the grounds of the university that the couple attended in honor of the deceased bride. On the upside, a couple of things relating to this union are certain. The bride and groom will never argue, and if things don’t work out, the groom won’t be required to hand over half of his possessions.

This particular wedding is a perfect illustration of why funeral planning is so crucial. The bride undoubtedly would not have desired to have her deceased body exhibited for the entire world. However, if your loved ones don’t know what you want, despair and grieving can lead to unconventional funeral arrangements.

Many people these days are opting for cremation over burial. Cremation services offer family members additional time to organize the funeral service or memorial service. With additional time to prepare you can notify more family members, which frequently generates a significantly better turnout for the funeral.

Cremation urns for ashes are an excellent way to keep your loved one with you as you safeguard their earthly remains. In exactly the same way, cremation jewelry for ashes, which is either filled with the ashes or made from the ashes of your loved one, is an excellent solution for keeping your loved one in close proximity to your heart.
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Talking The Grief Talk

When a person is sad or grieving the loss of a loved one, it can be very hard to know the right words to say to them. It is so very easy to say the wrong thing if you don’t stop first and think about what you are planning to say before you speak. It is very important for the sad and grieving person that they hear words of encouragement about their loss from people.

Many times, even complete strangers will come up to someone who is dealing with a tragic loss and only want graphic details about the accident, etc. Their words do not help the sad person or encourage them in any way. Complete strangers will come up to a person in mourning and say terrible things to them not even realizing they are doing so.

For example, if you lost a child in a car accident and she died instantly the last thing you want to hear is “that must have been horrible for you.” Of course it was horrible for you. You may also hear things like, “Well, at least she died instantly and felt no pain.” Even though this is a blessing these are still not words that will help people but only hurt them or even make them angry.

People should think very carefully about the words that they say to their family members, friends, neighbors and co-workers. Once you speak your words to someone that needs to be comforted you cannot take them back, and the pain that you cause them will never be forgotten. This does not mean that you should be fearful in saying something to a mourner. Simply be very careful in the words that you choose to say to them.

People in mourning needs encouragement and support from their friends and family. They need to know that you are person they can trust to be with that will only help them and not hurt them. Always think before you speak to anyone that is in mourning. Below are some factors you may want to consider before speaking to someone that is mourning.

Make sure what you say to the person in morning is going to comfort, help or encourage the person. Do not say something just to help yourself feel better about the situation. You are there to help the mourner.
Put yourself in their shoes for a minute before you speak to them. Make sure what you say to them would comfort you and make you feel better.
Do not simply explain away the person’s grief, but make sure what you say to them will help them deal with it in a healthy way. Don’t simply try to rescue the person in mourning. The grief process is a long one, and they need to know that they can trust you to help them through this horrible time in their life.
Make sure what you plan to say to the person in mourning makes the person aware that you understand them and truly care for them. What you say to them should bring you much closer to them. Don’t say something that will only cause them pain and come between your friendship.

A person in mourning does not care that you have the best words to say, or the most eloquent words to say to them. They only want to have a friend that will be there to encourage them and help them. You should also be willing to listen if they feel like talking about their loss with you. Mourners only want to know that there is someone there for them in their time of need, and someone that will speak the right words to them or simply sit and listen to them. If you have been through a loss in your life, think about what words helped you the most, and what words that people spoke to you hurt you. This can help you know the right words to say to a sad person.

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