OK so I don’t get it yet.  Someone please help me understand.  In an industry that is admittedly, incredibly slow to adopt technology and change, how is it that funeral directors have facebook and twitter accounts?  How is it that funeral homes have facebook pages for their funeral home and there are groups relating to the funeral director profession?

So you know where I am coming from, I’m a web geek.  I do all the blogging, the social networking and have been actively running internet businesses since 2003, so I get the whole technology thing.  I’ve watched industries move to the internet as their medium of choice when transacting business, utilize the power of technology to improve their efficiencies and drop more to their bottom line.  Some of these companies were made up of cutting edge people that loved to be on the forefront of the technology evolution, but others were a part of age old industries and professions that pushed off technology as long as they could until they were somehow forced to embrace it, and now can’t imagine a better life without it.  I’m thinking about recruiters.  For the longest time recruiters networked through their peers and acquaintances to help fill open job requisitions.  Eventually they started putting ads in the classified section, so much that some classified sections grews to 200+ pages in even the smallest of cities.

Then the technology wave hit and all of the sudden not only was everyone online, and there were  also tools that made recruiters better at what they do and more efficient.  You could post jobs online, you could network more efficiently amongst your colleagues through sites like linkedin and eventually facebook, but you could also interact with people on industry blogs and sites.  An industry that prior to the late 90’s was very much stuck in its traditional methods is now so advanced in technology from their recrutment, to their applicant tracking systems, to their compensation system, that they actually have a tradeshow specifically for technology in the recruitment industry.  Every year they get together at the Electronic Recruiters Expo to learn about the new companies, and what new things the old companies are doing with technology to make their lives easier.

All indications point to the funeral industry going down a similar path, but every now and then you run into a funeral direction like the one I met at ICCFA that still uses typewriters for everything they do.  We all know the tide is going to turn and the firms that have embraced technology before that will be ahead of the curve, but when do you think the tide will change?

Casey Gustus
Sr. Director of Marketing – Tributes.com
casey_at_tributes.com

Have you ever tried to enter or search for obituary information, past or present, on the internet? While you would think the task would be simple and logical as people want information around funerals due to the timely and sensitive nature of an obituary, the results are not what one might expect them to be. In particular, the majority of results drive users to a number of websites, most of which are not websites of funeral homes.

The challenge is that there has not been a central database that allows users to search for obituaries or records in one place. There isn’t a brand on the Internet to search for obituaries. There isn’t place to do a simple search that yields satisfactory obituary results while at the same time drives traffic to the funeral homes websites, if they even have one. There isn’t a good place to memorialize and honor a loved one with all of the multi-media tools the Internet currently offers.

The obituary landscape is changing largely in part to a new company Tributes.com and its decision to partner with funeral homes as consumers look to the web for everything and now can do such for obituaries. Tributes.com is the online resource for current local and national obituary news, lasting tributes celebrating the lives of loved ones, and an online community to provide support during times of loss and grieving.

Founded by Jeff Taylor, the founder of world–renowned Monster Worldwide, the Tributes team is focused on making sure that through one centralized web destination that national obituary and service information is easily accessible and that there is a place for people of all ages to come together through online community to remember and to share the rich stories of the important people in their lives that have passed away.

http://www.tributes.com/search/obituaries

John Heald is a licensed Funeral Director in the state of Massachusetts and the VP of Sales and Business Development for Tributes.com

john_at_tributes.com

When looking for obituaries, the only tool at our disposal has historically been the newspaper.  Even worse, when trying to find historic obituaries, all we could do is go to the library and try and track down some microfiche of the paper for the day that the obituary ran.  So on any given day you could be looking through thousands of newspapers, trying to track down the single day that the obituary ran so that you could see the death record or obituary of the person that you are looking for.  Sounds like a nightmare to me!  By the way did I forget to mention that 50% of families do not place a death record or an obituary in the newspaper because of the extremely high cost of doing so? The odds of finding that historic obituary or death record just got cut in half; as if it wasn’t already difficult enough!

The newspapers in an effort to hang on as long as they can in the ever changing digital world have built extremely high barriers in the form of hundreds of dollars to getting our loved ones obituary into the records of history.  The tributes.com solution allows these families, the 50% that had to unfortunately say ‘no thanks I can’t afford that’, the ability to go around the newspapers and place an obituary directly on the internet for pennies on the dollar.  By doing so we have also created the ultimate research tool  for those who are looking to to research historic deaths and obituaries.  More information can be found on the site www.tributes.com but for a direct link to browse the 84 million death records and obituaries that we have compiled thus far click here:

http://www.tributes.com/browse/browse_obituaries

Part 2 of 3

Why have obituaries stayed nestled in the pages of the newspaper? There are few regular obit readers under 50, and the other classified categories which have successfully made their migration online are all targeted at the young. By contrast, after the age of 50 the obituaries become more relevant while continuously gaining in popularity (#1 or #2 section read by Baby Boomers as reported in focus groups sponsored by Eons.com). Prediction: with 47 million internet users 50+ growing to 56 million in 2008 and an expectation set by the migration of all other classified categories of a national online offering, obits, the last standing classified section, is poised for rapid migration.

Another important trend to factor into the market opportunity of online obituary classifieds is the fact that death is growing. Along with the 17 million more lives created with the baby boomers will come more deaths significantly affecting the growth and transformation of the $21.6 billion death industry. As our population swells, annual deaths will climb from 2.4 M in 2005 to 2.6 M in 2010 and 4.1 M by 2040 dramatically impacting the volume of annual obituary placements.

Today, families are limited to representing their loved ones’ lives by costly, per-line pricing for a single day of local “news” exposure. Newspapers are now charging per agate line or column inch. As newspapers have continuously raised their rates even placing the obit itself has become prohibitively expensive. The exorbitant cost of an obit generally discourages long form placements which can range from $300 – $1,000. In an increasingly mobile society, this naturally viral event, which occurs more than two million times a year and touches tens of millions of people, warrants a longer-form medium that provides instant access from anywhere in the world — free from publishing deadlines and geographically constrained distribution. Gone are the days of 2 and 3 day death notices.

Gone are the days when an obituary would tell a person’s full life story of family, education, career, hobbies and other information that is truly meaningful to the family and the obituary reader. Due to the editorial space limitations, deadlines and all of the other limitations of a print notice, Obituaries have gone the way of the other print classified sections in that the decision to inform people that a loved has passed away comes down to cost.

Historically, the newspaper industry has had the fortune of having the funeral profession act as its sales force, copyrighters and debt collectors. The Internet provides not only a new medium but more importantly, one that changes the obituary landscape and business paradigm. This reality is causing funeral homes to change or enhance their service offerings but this time, funeral homes can benefit by the power of a new obituary medium and distribution scenario.

As with employment and other classifieds, the web is not constrained to a limited number of text (agate) lines and thus enables relatively unlimited opportunity for user-generated content. In the case of obituaries, the Internet creates a platform which facilitates the creation of rich multi-media stories of loved one’s lives in association with recent deaths as well as historical obituary records. To that end, online tributes are becoming increasingly popular, particularly among Boomers who are a “storytelling” generation and with younger MySpace and Facebook users for whom documenting personalized information and expression on the web is a primary activity. Social Networking sites have and will continue to change the way people grieve, creating a strong need for the convergence of the news and informational aspect of obituaries and the community aspects of interactive tributes, memorials, guest books, and groups.

John Heald

www.tributes.com

john_at_tributes.com

Over the next three days John Heald, VP of Business Development for Tributes.com will bring you a series on changes to the newspaper industry.

Part 1 of 3

It should be no surprise to learn that the Internet is transforming the newspaper industry. Being connected to the World Wide Web has become such an integral part of people’s everyday lives that the news printed in the newspaper the day after an event is already considered ‘old news.’  Consumers want information at their fingertips and expect to be able to have the information they are seeking provided to them in a simple and intuitive manner.

The obituary section of the newspaper will not be immune to these behavioral shifts.  General Internet use has trained us to expect that we should be able to search and read obituary and funeral service information online.  Beyond that, the Internet has given rise to entirely new ways to grieve and memorialize lost loved ones.  In addition to formalized online grieving groups, you need only to visit the Facebook page of someone who has passed to witness how naturally grief is expressed and shared in the virtual world.  However, the obituary section has been slow to transition online despite the space limitations and costs associated with the tradition one-day print notice.

The migration of traditional print classifieds to the web has clearly established the Internet as a platform for success.  Online offerings in Help Wanted, Real Estate, Auto, and Personals all register as billion dollar businesses. Brands like Craigslist, EBay, Monster, and Match.com clearly offer a more effective ways to match buyers, sellers and searchers with the information they seek.

Obituaries are the laggard category of classifieds migrating online.  Death is naturally viral – a “must know” of information that needs to be communicated in a timely fashion across today’s world of geographically dispersed families and friends.  The Internet provides the perfect scalable platform for the delivery of a national obituary platform, yet no one entity is currently capturing the full potential of this market opportunity.

John Heald

john_at_tributes.com

www.tributes.com

Old Roomate, Hey Buddy, Look I know we haven’t talked in ages but I just wanted to reach out to you. I have some news I want to share with you. It’s about our friend Sally.

You: Hey there! Great to hear from you! Whats the news?  Is Sally running for office? That girl always had it in her, I knew I would be reading about her in the papers one day!

Old Roomate: um not exactly and uh I couldn’t find a write up about her in the papers since I do not know where she is living um I mean where she was living.  Buddy . . . . Sally died over two years ago.

You: Oh my gosh! How awful! What happened? Where was Sally living?

Roomate: I am not sure where she was living, Todd called Sally’s company headquarters because he was determined to get her to come and speak about her success at the reunion.  We tried searching the internet and searching online newspapers, funeral home sites and trying to reach out to anyone that may have known her but you know how it is . . its been a while, Sally was moving around a lot with that fancy consulting job of hers and her family is scattered across the US.

You: This is tragic. I want to write a note to Sally’s family or at least post a memory online or something, I know Sally’s mom will appreciate it.

Old Roomate: Buddy, that’s the thing. We can’t find a death notice for Sally. We don’t know where she was living. Her old company did not have any information. Newspaper death notices only last for a couple of days and the online papers don’t hold the death notice info for too long and plus even if they did, finding her online would be nearly impossible. She had a common name and we don’t know where she died!

This is a sad story and unfortunately its one that I can relate to all too well. Wouldn’t it be nice to leave a memory about Sally or somehow pay your respects? Doesn’t every life deserve a story?

Jessica Zelfand  -  Regional Sales Director
jessica_at_tributes.com
www.tributes.com

The Value of the Eternal Tribute

In today’s trying economic times it has become more difficult than ever for the funeral industry to reinforce the value of the funeral service. We have seen how a more transient society with changing core beliefs have driven families towards selecting services and merchandise that may not always be as profitable as the traditional services of the past. Funeral homes have become more competitive and the firms that perform the best are the ones that stay ahead of the curve when it comes to providing what a family truly wants from a funeral service. While price is sometimes a factor it has been proven in many industries that consumers are willing to pay more if they perceive that the value is there. The funeral industry, being largely service based, has an even more difficult time in helping families see the value in what is typically a very substantial purchase.

Funeral directors have heard the terms “personalization” and “value-added service” until they are blue in the face. The industry has seen the introduction of customized casket corners, cap panels, personalized urns, and video tributes. These have all had extremely positive receptions with families and have now become almost expected when choosing a funeral home. The challenge posed to funeral directors is how exactly do you keep the family engaged with your firm when you can really only hope to serve a family an average of once every decade. The internet provides the perfect cost effective tool to do so. If you are one of those firms that are “ahead of the curve” then you most likely have a website. You want potential clients to visit your site as much as possible, but that can be difficult when families may only think of you when they have experienced a loss. That is where Tributes.com can help.

I’m sure we have all been to a cemetery and walked past the monuments and seen the outpouring of remembrances in the form of flowers and cards and mementos. We have seen the makeshift memorials that have sprung up in tragic circumstances and the thousands of condolences left by people who didn’t even know the individual who has passed. These are moving tributes and a reminder as to why you chose the profession you are in. It is extremely comforting for the family to see these memorials and for mourners to participate in “building” them, however, due to geographical and time constraints not everyone can participate or share as much as they would like. They also tend to be temporary to a certain degree. Now imagine being able to offer every one of your families an opportunity to build a permanent memorial that can constantly be added to and reflected upon at anytime and from anywhere. Think of the value of providing families with a place where they can truly tell and share the life story of a loved one that has passed; a place where they and others can share photos, home videos, memories, and condolences; a place where grandchildren and great grandchildren can look to years later to learn about a relative they may have never met. The benefits to the family are priceless. The benefits to the funeral provider lie in the fact that individuals will be directed to your website every time they visit this memorial. Tributes.com gives you the ability to offer this cherished service to your client families with our Eternal Tribute.

The internet has drastically affected the way people and businesses communicate. It has become an important tool in our daily lives. Are you using this powerful form of communication to its full potential to help your business and provide more value to the families you serve? Are you one of those firms that are always ahead of the curve, or do you wait and see what your competitor will do?

Jared Skarda • Regional Sales Director
www.Tributes.com
jared_at_tributes.com

I want you to take a look at: TwitterAnalyzer / Twitter Analytic stats for Tributescom 

Robin Heppell of www.FuneralFuturist.com talks with Buddy Phaneuf of www.Phaneuf.net and www.CSNH.com about newspaper obituaries and online obits. This interview is part of the Tributes.com Interview Series. So what is the Tributes.com interview series?  Well, Robin Heppell operates a bunch of different sites all related to providing technology information to the funeral home industry.  He’s the funeral industry’s foremost expert in bringing funeral homes out of the technology dark ages and is helping them build their brand on the web. Listen to the interview here.

He has also interviewed David Kessler the Tributes.com Grief Expert/Advisor.  David Kessler is becoming one of the most well-known experts and lecturers on grief and loss today, reaching hundreds of thousands of people through his books. “On Grief and Grieving: Finding the Meaning of Grief through the Five Stages of Loss is co-authored with the legendary Elisabeth Kübler-Ross. David also co-authored with Kübler-Ross, “Life Lessons: Two Experts on Death and Dying Teach us about the Mysteries of Life and Living.” His Grief.com site has a lot of great information for people dealing with grief in their life. He also maintains a Q&A group on Tributes.com where he offers advice and support to the Tributes.com user base. To listen to David and Robin’s conversation visit FuneralGurus.com

We all have really good ideas of how a website is supposed to work.  When dealing with a team of higly educated and opinionated individuals on how a site should work and function how do you figure out what to do first?  When no one agrees on a plan, not that everyone needs to agree, how should you decide what to do?  Most entrepreneurs will tell you to pick a plan, any plan, test it, and analyze the results.  I like this approach.  When no one agrees, or tries to meet in the middle, the opinions don’t matter; numbers become the best basis for a decision.  Testing is something that should always be happening.  Continual optimization of your funnels and paths is vital to a company’s success in both the short and long term.  If you can get people to understand that then half the battle is already one.

Some companies tell me that testing is just not that simple.  That there are other priorities and other projects that need to get off the ground and so spending a lot of time on testing different variations of a site, conversion path, or sales funnel is simply not possible.  There’s little you can say to someone who doesn’t want to try new things.  If they think that they know best and that the current process is the best it could possibly be then you’ve got a tough battle on your hands.  Go back to the numbers.  You can’t argue with incremental improvements that drop to the bottom line.  There are hundreds of case studies that show even the smallest of improvements all the way to triple digit growth.  If you know what you are doing and measure the changes, you really can’t make it convert worse. Just be data driven. When you have numbers to show people, even if they are not initially good numbers, then it becomes tangible.  Then you can track your successes and demonstrate ROI.  Then they’ll let you test whatever you want.