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7 Comforting Text Messages to Send to Someone Who is Grieving

May 25, 2023 by Nicole Eilers
Featured, Aftercare

It’s something that has likely happened to most of us. Someone you know recently lost a loved one and you want to let them know you’re thinking about them in the days, weeks or months to follow. When you are unable to comfort your friend or family member in person, a thoughtful text message can make just as much of an impact, letting them know you care and are there to support them. However, knowing what to text to someone who is grieving can be tricky.

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5 Ways to Show Appreciation for Funeral Home Client Families

May 18, 2023 by Niki Smith
Featured, Funeral Home Business

As a funeral professional, you have the privilege and responsibility of helping families navigate what is most likely the most difficult time in their lives. While you are primarily focused on providing them with quality funeral services, it is important to remember to show appreciation to your client families in every stage of the process and throughout your interactions with them.

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Is There a Right Age to Make Funeral Plans?

May 11, 2023 by Aemelia Tripp
Featured, Funeral Planning

Short answer to the title question: it varies! Longer answer: there are many factors that lead people to prearrange and there is certainly an average age people begin to do so, based on data we’ve collected. However, even the average data doesn’t tell the whole story. Let’s dive into the most common factors that lead people to prearrange, average ages to prearrange, and the benefits of prearranging at a younger age, and we’ll see if we can find an answer to this question together.

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Earned Media: Best Practices for Your Funeral Home

May 4, 2023 by Danielle Burmeister
Funeral Home Marketing, Featured

Gaining exposure, stretching marketing dollars and establishing credibility can be an ongoing challenge for funeral professionals. Unlike many industries, marketing a funeral business requires a level of sensitivity that can be difficult to achieve solely through “traditional” advertising methods.

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What Classic American Literature Teaches Us About Grief

April 27, 2023 by Aemelia Tripp
Featured

Copious learnings about death and grief exist in novels, memoirs, plays, films, poems and oral histories across time and places all over the world. Although many authors throughout history have written poignantly about death, such as Isabel Allende, Leo Tolstoy, Shakespeare, Virginia Woolf and more contemporary authors like Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and Joan Didion (just to name a few), today we will focus on 19th and 20th century American authors and what they can teach us about death and grief.

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When Doing Less Results in Happier Families: Using the “Ikea Effect” in Funeral Service

April 20, 2023 by Dr. Jason Troyer
Featured, Finding Resilience

Wouldn’t it be great if there was a way to do less and have families be happier with a funeral service? Sound too good to be true? Discover how using the "Ikea Effect" can benefit both you and the families you serve.

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5 Environmentally-Friendly Alternatives in Lieu of Funeral Flowers

April 13, 2023 by Niki Smith
Featured, Funeral Etiquette

Seeing the phrase “in lieu of flowers” in an obituary is a common occurrence. In short, it’s another way to say, “in place of flowers.” That’s why companies like Treasured Memories have created solutions for safe online memorials and community funding.

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4 Tips for Planning Meaningful Funeral Services for "Nones"

April 6, 2023 by Nicole Eilers
Featured, Funeral Planning

Traditionally, funeral services have been tied to specific religious or cultural traditions. But as new generations come of age, there’s a growing trend that has shifted toward honoring loved ones through services that reflect personal beliefs and individual values rather than being centered around organized religion.

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Final Disposition Options for Families Who Choose Cremation

March 23, 2023 by Aemelia Tripp
Funeral Industry Trends, Featured

Cremation has exploded in popularity in recent years. According to a CANA (the Cremation Association of North America) publication The Cremationist, the national cremation rate for 2021 was 57.5%. Among Homesteaders’ policyholders who prearranged, the cremation rate for 2022 was 57.0%. Here are thoughts from families who chose cremation services. While it’s not the most environmentally friendly method for disposition, cremation does have several eco-benefits. Families who choose cremation often forgo traditional caskets, which saves on resources like wood, metal and concrete – as well as the energy used to produce them. Cremation often takes up less space in a cemetery or none at all if the urn is kept at home or the ashes are spread on private property.

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Death Care Collective Empowers Female Leaders in the Funeral Industry

March 17, 2023 by Nicole Eilers
Funeral Industry Trends, Featured

A significant demographic shift in the funeral industry has occurred in recent years. As more female workers enter the funeral profession, the need for a space to provide community and support for success quickly arose, and the Death Care Collective initiative was established. A group of driven female leaders in the industry were determined to provide opportunities to empower one another and promote the employment and advancement of women in the funeral industry. Thus the formation of the member-based group, which is currently in the process of becoming a registered nonprofit organization.

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