Please note that video players vary -- we have made every effort to pick a format compatible with the majority of media players. You might need to upgrade your player to watch the training video.
Also, for bandwidth and download time sake, the videos are not full screen. Adjusting the media player to full screen may cause distortion in the image. If this happens, adjust the size of your playback screen to a smaller size.
With this in mind, this vodcast considers a strategy to benefit your firm while fulfilling the needs and wishes of the families you service.
Please note that video players vary -- we have made every effort to pick a format compatible with the majority of media players. You might need to upgrade your player to watch the training video.
Also, for bandwidth and download time sake, the videos are not full screen. Adjusting the media player to full screen may cause distortion in the image. If this happens, adjust the size of your playback screen to a smaller size.
Write a provocative headline. Use keywords that will help others pick up what you’ve written – on the Internet. Keywords can be Texas, funeral directors, TFDA, and anything your release is about.
Hook the reader with your first sentence. You’ve only got a couple of seconds to get their attention. Make that first sentence relate to as many as possible. Make them think. Then, let the rest of the release provide the detail.
Proofread: Write your release, print it, and proofread. Rewrite and then proofread again. The more time you take to do it right, the more you invest in your company's first impression.
Identify Yourself: If your news release does not identify the source of the information and news within the first few paragraphs, you lose the promotional value your release can provide you. Readers want to know who is talking.
Don't Be Afraid to Toot Your Own Horn: If your company has reached a milestone, celebrated an anniversary, hired a new funeral director, experienced significant growth or received an award, tell the world what you did right. Or, write a tip sheet that offers readers "tips" or help in your field of expertise.
Write Professionally: No hype, slang, too many exclamation points. Additionally, on occasion, media outlets may pick up your release and run it in their publications with little or no modification. The more professional your release sounds, the greater the chances are that this will happen.
Stick to the Facts: Tell the truth. Avoid fluff, embellishments, hype and exaggerations. If you feel that your press release seems sensational, there's a good chance your readers will think so too. With so much information available to the consumer, readers are naturally skeptical. If your story sounds too good to be true, you are probably hurting your own credibility. Even if it is true, you may want to tone it down a bit.
Use Active Voice: Verbs in the active voice bring your press release to life. Rather than writing "entered into a partnership," use "partnered" instead. Do not be afraid to use strong verbs. For example, "The committee exhibited severe hostility over the incident" reads better if changed to "The committee was enraged over the incident." Writing in this manner helps give life and energy to your release, which may set it apart from the rest of the pack.
Economize Your Words: Wordiness is distracting, so be concise. Use only enough words as needed to announce your news and tell your story. In addition, we've found that the news search engines sometimes reject news releases with overly long headlines, excessive lists and high overall word counts. Avoid using unnecessary adjectives, flowery language or redundant expressions such as "added bonus" or "first time ever." Make each word count. If you can tell your story with fewer words, you'll have better results with your readers and the search engines.
Answer the Tough Questions: Not everything is news. Your excitement about something and its availability does not necessarily mean you have a newsworthy story. Think about your audience. Will someone else find your story interesting? .Answer the question, "Why should anyone care?" Make sure your announcement contains news values like timeliness, uniqueness or highlights something truly unusual.
Attach logos, head shots, product shots, photographs, audio files, video files, PDF documents or any other supplemental materials that build up your release. Use anchor text and hyperlinks to point readers back to your site while promoting important keywords at the same time.
Formatting Your Press Release
The correct formatting creates a professional, search engine friendly news release. How you present your news is just as important as your content.
It should look like this:
PRESS RELEASE
For additional information, contact: For Immediate Release:
Name, Email Address Date
HEADLINE
AUSTIN, TX – June 1, 2009---
Text: No more than 13-15 words per sentence. No more than three sentences per paragraph. Use good transitions between paragraphs.
Spacing: Leave one line break between each paragraph. It's not necessary to include dashes, asterisks or other symbols to separate sections in your release.
Grammar: Be sure your news release follows the accepted rules of grammar and style. Grammatical and punctuation errors affect your credibility.
Length: It is nearly impossible to announce your news in a few sentences. If you do not have more than a few sentences, you may not have a newsworthy item. Try for somewhere between 300 and 800 words in paragraph form.
E-mail Address: Rather than including your e-mail address in the body of your release, include it with the rest of your contact information at the top of the page. You also may want to add your physical address.
Once it’s written, send your release to:
All local newspapers, radio stations, TV stations and your FaceBook and LinkedIn sites.
American Funeral Director
Funeral Service Insider
Kates/Boylston Publications
3349 Route 138 Bldg. D, Suite D
Wall, NJ 07719
Telephone: 800-500-4585
Edward J. Defort, Publisher and Editorial Director
edefort@katesboylston.com
Mortuary Management
Funeral Monitor
Abbott & Hast Publications
2361 Horseshoe Drive
West Bloomfield, MI 48322
800-453-1199
info@abbottandhast.com
YB News
Nomis Publications
Peggy Rouzzo
P. O. Box 5159
Youngstown, Ohio 44514
1-800-321-7479
pressrelease@yelobk.com
NFDA – The Director
Chris Raymond, Editor
13625 Bishops Drive
Bloomfield, Wisconsin 53005
262-814-1548
nfda@nfda.org
While Texas losses were relatively moderate during the second half of 2008, rising unemployment and a weakening housing market proved Texas was not immune to the financial crisi¡s.
President and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas Richard Fisher connected the dots for his audiences as he spoke and wrote about the financial classes in 2008.
Some Causes of the Financial Crisis:
Speculation on Housing: Like previous bubbles, the roots of the current crisis originated in the power of price escalation. Many U.S. coastal areas were beginning to see 20 to 30 percent year-over-year increases in home prices -- some going as high as 30-40 percent. Subprime mortgage borrowing or lending to high-risk borrowers occurred with lenders who were eager to lend to a "sure thing."
To a great extent, the bubble in housing was a classic case of the bigger-fool theory and efficient-market theory run amok.
Market Inefficiency: Our own vivid experience in Texas in the 1980s teaches us that in booms and bubbles, prices overshoot and during busts, they over-correct.
The markets in commodities, like those of stocks and bonds, are manic-depressive mechanisms and overshoot on the upside as well as the downside. One could deduce from recent price reversals in oil and food prices that they overshot on the upside and there price run-up was a one-off development. If you subscribe to this argument, you envision a process not unlike that of a python digesting dinner. It visibly moves through the system, creating some moments of discomfort in this case, a temporary inflationary bulge, but is processed in reasonable time and done with.
Rapid Innovation: Too Far Too Fast: We saw a wave of innovative mortgage products during the housing boom. Indeed, there would have been no other way for many borrowers to have found financing without these new mortgage products.
These innovations in financing took two forms. First, credit-scoring models enabled lenders to better sort and price mortgages made to nonprime borrowers. The second set of innovations allowed these loans to be funded and sold to a new class of investors.
While traditional mortgages had long been securitized and sold through government-sponsored enterprises (Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac), the securitization market ushered in a new team of players from the private sector. This new team would hold nonprime mortgages that did not meet Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac standards and that banks would generally not hold in portfolio.
New and complex securities sliced and diced risk into different tranches. It was though the collateralized debt obligations and collateralized debt obligations and collateralized loan obligations could be hedged with credit default swaps to make them appear to be almost risk free.
Using computers to assess probabilities at warp speed, this growing menu of risk instruments began to expand even more dramatically. Financial intermediaries (like Goldman Sachs and many others) began offering exotic products to satisfy almost any (greedy) risk-taker's needs anywhere in the world at any time.
These appetites for risk became excessive during the boom years leading up to 2008. Innovations, securitization and the originate-to-distribute model of banking were not new, but they took on some new and uncharged dimensions.
Over-reliance on Models: Excesses in subprime lending in the U.S. were fed by an excessive faith in technically-sophisticated approaches to risk management. Another feeder was a misguided belief that mathematical models could accurately price securitized assets, including securities based on mortgages. These valuation methods were so technical and mathematically sophisticated, their utter complexity lulled many into a false sense of security.
New and sophisticated statistical models, made possible -- in part by advances in computer technology, assured us that all the new risk was being properly and accurately measured. Ratings agencies further comforted us by giving many of the new securities their seal of approval and often their highest triple-A seal.
The most striking and truly new part of the recent financial cycle was the mistake of replacing sound judgment with the mathematization of risk. An immense array of statistical gadgets wielded by a new generation of quantitative minds managed to squelch the wisdom of long-time bankers and seasoned financiers. The lesson -- statistical models are not infallible.
Market Inconnectedness: At the heart of this specific downturn is the interconnected nature of financial market participants. Unfortunately, while everyone knows this interconnectedness is important, it is difficult to tell exactly how and to what extent things are woven together, sort of like the "butterfly effect." A butterfly's wings disturb the air around it, setting off a chain of events that ends with a major storm in some remote part of the world. A small catalyst results in large, and sometimes catastrophic, consequences.
The crisis spreading through the global financial system can be thought of as a butterfly effect. Take credit default swaps, for example. These instruments and the institutions they connect are complex. In principal, these swaps provide a fairly simple service. Properly used, they are a form of insurance against the risk of default of an underlying asset, and while that might sound appealing, the value of the insurance is only as good as the person providing the guaranteed.
When that individual's viability is called into question -- when heightened uncertainty enters the mix -- the whole network will suffer the consequences.
Monetary Policy: The hunger for new risk products was stimulated by a lengthy period of abnormally low interest rates and the normal human instinct to look for ever-higher yields when the returns on the usual financial instruments like U.S. Treasuries, bank CDs or municipal bonds become ho-hum.
In spite of all the advances in economic theory and risk management techniques, when the economy and financial markets get too headstrong and frisky, they become hard to rein in.
Economists like to say that one of the purposes of a central bank like the Federal Reserve is to tame the animal spirits of the economy, employing monetary policy to keep the nation on the path to sustainable, non-inflationary growth. William McChesney, one of the greatest of the Federal Reserve Chairman, used to say that the job of the Fed is to take away the punch bowl just as the party gets going.
Today's economic crisis is the consequence of the failure to take away the punch bowl and allow the exuberant animal spirits of out economy to get out of hand.
Insufficient Constraints: There are plenty of armchair quarterbacks who now say they saw it -- the current financial crisis -- coming. Indeed, we must acknowledge that many in the financial community, including the Federal Reserve, failed to either detect or act upon the telltale signs of financial system excess.
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But, have no doubts…the death of a loved one can be a painful experience to a child – maybe even more difficult than for a wise and knowledgeable adult.
Sam was 12 when his grandfather died. He didn’t want to go to the viewing…and his parents didn’t insist. He did attend the funeral and saw his grandfather, lying in the open casket at the end of the service.
Several weeks went by and each time Sam’s mother asked if he wanted to talk about his grandfather, he declined. However, about a month after the funeral, Sam’s mother found that her son had taken many of the photographs of his grandfather from the family albums and had placed them in his drawer.
Nothing was ever said…and years later, Sam – now an adult – revealed just how painful the death of his grandfather had been.
The National Funeral Directors Association provides these guidelines when an adult seeks to help a grieving child:
It’s also important to make sure children are eating well, staying hydrated and getting plenty of sleep. They also may need to exercise and to be around children of their own age.
It may not surprise you that your school-age child may regress in school performance. Be certain to tell his/her teachers about the loss of a loved one, so they may respond appropriately if they see the child having difficulty at school.
Allow your child to see you grieve. If you need to cry, explain to the child why you are crying. Don’t run out of the room and close the door. This will only be confusing for the child.
Some time after the death, ask the child to help you compile a memory book about the loved one who recently died. Make certain there are photographs of the child and the cherished grandmother, aunt, uncle or best friend. Also, as you work, use this time to talk about the deceased with your child.
Funeral directors around Texas and across the country have seen, first hand, how families haven't always been able to afford the merchandise or services they would have liked to have provided for a lost loved one. Some families who may have wanted to afford a cemetery plot had to, instead, settle for cremation and a simple service.
But, there are other difficulties that come with economic slumps, as well. In your business, you may have found the need to trim expenses. In your firm, you may "even now" be looking for ways to do more with less.
If you're an owner or manager, you have mixed emotions about cutting staff. If you're an employee that has kept his/her job, you may be experiencing survivor's guilt.
Although it's difficult to deliver " and receive -- bad news, the process of conducting the "necessary evils" of cutting hours, laying off personnel or, even in good times, firing an employee can be handled in a way that allows all parties to walk away with dignity and respect. But, preparation for these difficult tasks is essential to achieve these positive outcomes.
Researchers from Harvard and Brandeis point out that making these critical changes require one individual to deal physical, emotional or material harm to another human being, just to survive or move forward to a perceived greater good.
In a study the researchers interviewed more than 100 professionals in four occupations and found patterns that were present in all four areas:
However, whatever the outcome of the firing or layoff, most of those interviewed said they experienced intense emotions prior to, during and after these difficult conversations.
The researchers ultimately found four different approaches people most often used when performing these difficult tasks:
So, here are a few tips to help the "victim" of a layoff or firing leave the conversation with their dignity and respect intact:
The researchers point out that the difficulty with the task of delivering the news of a layoff or firing is having to do two things at once " being compassionate and be direct.
Those being laid off want to sense that the person giving them the news is empathic and caring. However, the message must also be delivered in a clear and direct way. In an effort to be compassionate, and out of a desire not to appear hard-hearted, it is all too easy to try to sugarcoat the message or to ease into it.
So doers must actually behave in ways that can feel contradictory, at once delivering a clear, concise, and direct message while providing the time, support, caring touch, and assistance necessary to help the victim digest the message and begin the process of moving forward and as you move ahead, allow yourself to take care of you!
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In compiling the report, UM surveyed 17,000 Internet users worldwide in March 2008. The report found that social media, in particular blogs, are "becoming a more important part of global media consumption for internet users than some traditional media channels." The report also found that social media is a global phenomenon (29 countries were surveyed), although there are cultural differences in how people use it.
The report states that "video clips, blogs, podcasts, social networks and RSS are all essential components of the online media diet."
Here are other key findings:
Social networks (Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn) have been "a key driver for the growth of social media":
So, what does it all mean to funeral service firms -- in Texas as well as across the country? These facts make it necessary for you to think about how your firm is positioned in the social media:
Do you have a blog?
Are there photos and videos?
Are you, individually or as a firm, on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter or others?
If not, it's time to consider making a few changes.
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Don't look now, but you're the only "non-family" member of the staff.
John Johnson has worked as a funeral director for the Hutchinson Funeral Home for close to five years. The staff includes father-and-son funeral directors, Dad's wife -- the office manager, two daughters -- one handles public relations and the other handles accounts payable.
There are also five employees who are not related to the owner and they say, "We're all one big family."
Johnson said working with the family-owned and operated firm is much more personal than working with a single boss or a corporately-owned firm. "A family business understands family values better. If my children have school activities, or if my elderly mother or father becomes ill, they understand if I feel the need to take time off."
Johnson said he's willing to go the extra mile or work additional hours when the family business needs him. It's my way of showing my appreciation when they allow me the flexibility I need to take care of my parents or other family issues.
Jody Long works for Fischer Funeral Home and has been there since 1882. She is one of four non-family members on staff.
Phil Phillips owns the firm. His wife runs the office and Phil's daughter is a receptionist. Phil's son is completing mortuary school and helps with services on the weekend as well as evening visitations.
Jody has worked at a funeral home owned by three partners, none of whom are related. "Decisions in a family business are easier to make," she said, "and the owners are open to employee suggestions. Phil tells me things that are going on and often asks my opinion. I do the same with him."
But Jody also believes it's important to find the right family-owned firm to create a fit that will last a long time.
Chris Eckrich and co-author Stephen L. McClure, authors of "Working for a Family Business: A Non-Family Employee's Guide to Success," identify two kinds of family businesses: "family first" and "business first."
In a family-first business, owners want many family members involved, including multiple generations. Family-first companies also tend to look at the long term and usually offer greater job stability. If, however, you want to work your way to the top, you need to look elsewhere. This company will always be run by the family.
The downside to the family-first firm is this: If not all family members take care of the strategic needs of the business because they're too busy being comfortable with each other, the business can erode. So, if you're an "outsider" who is interviewing with a family-owned firm, you might even be told they're hiring you to "turn things around." But once you try to make changes that affect the company culture, your attempts might be viewed as hostile acts...against the family!
How can you tell whether it's a family-first firm or a business-first firm?
If several family members are involved in the interview process, it's probably a family-first business. If the interview is held in a professional setting -- with only one or two chief interviewers, it could easily be a business-first firm.
The family-owned company that appears to be a business-first firm might not have the feel of a family owned business. In fact, it might feel more like a corporate-run business with a high focus on accountability for results. This is the type of family-owned company in which there may be better opportunities for an outsider to advance.
How you handle family dynamics can also help determine your success.
Here's a big tip in that direction: Listen to, but don't try to solve, their family problems, for example -- and if it's a red hot conflict, don't side with one party or another. Stay neutral -- and disappear, if necessary, to stay out of the line of fire.
Another tip?
Before you interview with a family-owned funeral home, discuss the firm with people who have had direct experience with the firm and its owners. Ask about their experience. If you have used the services of the firm, yourself, try to remember how the staff related to each other.
And, if you like what you've seen and heard, so far -- before you make a decision, ask if you can work for a couple of half-days before joining the firm. This will give you a chance to see how everyone interacts -- and what kind of working culture the firm offers.
Remember, you spend more time at work than you do at home -- so, if you feel tension between members of the owner-family or between non-family employees and family members, try looking elsewhere for employment.
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One of the managers suggested adding funeral planning services to the company's benefits package, and Yandell Rogers said he immediately liked the idea.
"It was a very easy decision," he said. The new perk, which costs less than $5 per employee per year for the 150 employees at the private investment company, includes access to an online price comparison guide and a negotiator who works out the nitty-gritty details from basic cremation to a full-scale funeral.
The economy may be tight, but some companies are still thinking about employee satisfaction and retention.
And offering funeral planning help when an employee loses a spouse, parent, in-law or child is the logical next step after years of providing child care referral services and elder care assistance.
After all, Rogers reasoned, funerals are expensive, and most people don't have experience planning them.
Rogers signed up with Everest Funeral Package, a company that doesn't sell funeral products or services but helps its client select the kind of end-of-life services they want without paying for unwanted extras. Everest also negotiates prices with funeral homes and cemeteries for plots and markers and can order caskets from lower-priced suppliers that funeral homes must accept.
"There's no three-hour sales pitch, no spooky visit to the casket room," said Mark Duffey, CEO of Everest.
The difference in price can be 250 percent, said Duffey, whose company surveys the cost of each funeral home. Cremation prices can vary greatly even when funeral homes use the same crematorium.
Putting benefit to work
Deanne Braley hadn't been working for Rogers' company very long when her 69-year-old father passed away rather suddenly last fall, leaving both her and her mother, normally a steel magnolia, overwhelmed.
A co-worker reminded Braley of the company's new funeral planning benefit and insisted that she call.
Initially Braley, an executive assistant, hesitated because she wasn't quite sure what she was getting into. But the representative walked her through the process, provided a price list of several funeral homes and offered several options such as buying a casket online, something that Braley didn't know she could do.
In the end, the family opted for cremation and a service for her dad, Raymond Porter Sr., at the Veterans Administration a month later.
Braley figures the service saved the family at least $5,000. But perhaps more importantly, it let the family make informed choices at a time they felt rushed. The coroner hadn't even pronounced her father dead before the hospital wanted to know where to send the body, Braley recalled.
"I hope other employers will think of this," she said. "It's just wonderful."
Another approach
Houston-based Service Corporation International, which owns and operates more than 1,600 funeral homes, crematories and cemeteries in North America, has its own version called dignity planning. The online tool provides package prices for traditional casket services and cremation but just for the facilities it owns.
SCI has also partnered with carriers that sell what's known as final expense insurance -- the small policies that cover burial costs.
Oftentimes people have made the necessary financial arrangements, but they haven't decided on the kind of funeral they want, spokeswoman Jennifer Brandino said.
While Everest has 75 client companies that already offer funeral planning services to their employees, the service still hasn't hit the radar of most national employee benefit consulting firms.
Duffey is hoping to change that by piggybacking on life insurance policies sold through the workplace. He made a deal with Hartford Financial Services Group recently that will include funeral planning services for its new and renewing policies.
Life insurance has largely become a commodity, and to differentiate their products from those of their rivals, some life insurers are adding extras. Funeral planning services coupled with will preparation and estate planning are proving to be popular, said John Steber, who manages product development for group benefits for Hartford in Simsbury, Conn.
Hartford recently conducted a pilot project in two of its offices, selling policies with those extra benefits. The response was so overwhelming -- it wrote more than 50 new and renewing big group policies -- that it sped up the general rollout.
Funeral planning was the biggest draw, Steber said.
"It's the kind of benefit that people can really use," unlike perks that are more like bullet items on a checklist that aren't always so useful.
Rogers said he's never had an employee express appreciation for health insurance, life insurance, disability coverage or even free parking.
They think of those as part of their compensation package, he said. So it really stood out when one of his employees went out of the way to thank him for the funeral planning service.
Even Braley's mother, JoEllen Porter, wrote a thank-you note.
By L.M. SIXEL Copyright 2009 Houston Chronicle – July 4, 2009
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Yes, the markets are contracting, credit is frozen and many businesses are fighting for their very lives. However, just surviving until things get better should not be the option you choose.
Of course, there are painful truths any time the status quo is interrupted -- and yes, there will be cost-cutting and repositioning or restructuring at every turn. But, as we move through the current crisis -- whether we realize it or not -- how we do business in the future is being reshaped and redefined.
For the past 10 years or more, we've seen consumer spending increase. However, now we don't know where the money for all this spending came from -- and we also don't know where it went.
What we do know is the average U.S. consumer carries a balance of around $10,000 on his/her credit cards and many individuals, companies and corporations -- have borrowed from Peter to pay Paul, as the saying goes. Until recently family savings averaged about zero and commercial lenders, such as banks handling mortgages, sold these loans to others who divided them up or bundled them and sold them again.
So what's next?
Very simply, we need to come up with innovative ways to create jobs. Companies in every sector must identify and employ innovative ideas to fuel growth and these same companies will be the leaders in funeral service for the future.
So, what does this mean to you, the individual funeral director or the owner of a funeral service firm?
It means this is no time to run for cover. This isn't the time to hunker down in your comfort zone -- to simply pass the crisis by marching in place.
No, this is the time to explore and expand. It's the time to look at the options that most appeal to your market area -- and then push out to explore other options from there. This also is the time to train your staff, to empower them to do what hasn't been done -- or, as the trekkies say, "To go where no one has gone before."
From a global perspective (as opposed to the perspective you may see daily from behind your desk), there is opportunity to be found in every sector of American business and the local economy. So, your first step is to look to your marketplace.
Look at the demographics? Are there mainly older Americans in your community? Then, explore what they may need at this point: Social Security information, planning for end-of-life issues, understanding about terms such as power of attorney, wills, Do Not Resussitate orders and more.
Once you've determined the needs of the community you serve, make yourself and your firm an informational resource. Partner with other professionals in your area (attorneys, insurance, physicians, etc.) and provide the needed information.
Also, because the current economic downturn has disrupted families, look for areas where people in your community may need help. This may include compiling a Rolodex of specialists who can help specialists in leasing and foreclosure, home health providers, community social services, faith-based services, Meals On Wheels and senior feeding centers.
Become a trusted member of your community's "safety net."
Government funding also represents opportunities. Many funeral service professionals across the country are working with their counties to reposition indigent burial services -- so that funeral service providers can receive more reasonable compensation.
Here's another insight into innovation in turbulent economic times. Recently, Amazon.com, AT&T, IBM, Microsoft, Cisco, and Google stepped up their efforts to meet the changing needs of certain sectors of their marketplace, even as they respond to revenue declines in traditional business sectors. Some, of course, are short-term opportunities, but being able to respond to the needs of others in your community's marketplace can build the foundation for longer-term relationships and, ultimately, shared economic growth.
Finally, you need the determination -- not just to survive the current economic chaos but to grow as an individual funeral director and as a profession.
Lou Gerstner, former CEO of IBM, offers an example of moving beyond mere survival as the economy was undergoing change. When he took the helm at IBM, he had to take $7 billion out of the company's cost structure in less than two years -- and he did this by finding the key areas of pain for his customers. Then, recognizing the opportunities, he set about, combining the many little pieces of his company into "One IBM" where processes were simplified and employees committed themselves to serving customers through One IBM. Now, IBM is not only surviving, it's thriving -- because of Gerstner's innovative insights, his strategy to look at his marketplace and then to identify opportunities. You can benefit from this same three-step plan and the commitment to innovate:
1. Come to every event – and that includes civic club meetings, conventions and other professional meetings -- with three great questions ready to go. Be sure they begin with, "What's the one thing?" "What's your favorite?" and "What was the best part about?"
2. No matter where you go – the mall, church, out to dinner, the gym - have at least five business cards with you.
3. Be able to give an unforgettable personal introduction in 10 seconds, 30 seconds and 60 seconds.
4. When someone on the phone says, "May I ask who's calling?" get excited. Say something unique that makes that person say, "Um, okay...please hold." Be unexpected. Be cool. Be memorable.
5. Get Google alerts on yourself, your company, your area of expertise and your competition. If you don't know what a Google alert is, just Google it.
6. Networking isn't selling, marketing or cold calling. It's the development and maintenance of mutually valuable relationships. Don't mix these things up.
7. The most important four letters in the word "networking" are w-o-r-k, because that's exactly what it takes.
8. If you give your business card to somebody and they don't reply, "Hey, cool card!" get a new card.
9. When attending events, come early. Check out the nametags. See if you know anybody, or find people you'd like to meet.
10. Sit in the back so you can scan the room for specific people you'd like to connect with.
11. Email articles of interest, links or other cool stuff of value, (not spam), to people you've met.
12. Publish a newsletter from your firm. Include interview from people in your network and feature them as experts. They will take ownership of their inclusion and spread that publication to everyone they know.
13. Spend one hour a week reading and commenting on other people's blogs. If you don't know what a blog is, you're in trouble.
14. When you read an article you like, email the author. Tell her what you liked about it and introduce yourself. She'll usually write back.
15. Have an awesome email signature that gives people a reason to click over to your website. Just be careful not to have too much information included.
16. Get involved with social networking sites like LinkdIn, MySpace and Squidoo.
17. Remember that networking doesn't have to be in person. The Internet is a great place to connect with people just like you! It's called Internetworking. (Yep, I made that word up.)
18. Make your own words up. It's really fun.
19. Have business lunches at least once a week.
20. Attend local events once a month.
21. Figure out where your target market hangs out (online and offline). Then hang out there.
22. Create your own regular "business hangout," like a copy or coffee shop where you can regularly be found working, networking, reading or connecting with other professionals.
23. Talk to everybody. Don't sell them; don't probe them, just make friends. Make friends with everybody. Because people buy people first.
24. Take volunteer positions with organizations that are relevant to your industry. Be a visible leader to whom others can come to for help.
25. Every time you meet someone, write the letters H-I-C-H on their business card: how I can help. Then think of five ways to do so.
26. Go to Borders and spend one day a month reading books on networking, interpersonal communication and marketing. I highly recommend The Power of Approachability and How to be That Guy. (I hear the author is super cool.)
27. Publish articles or a blog or both based around your expertise. Use titles such as "Top Ten Ways," "Essential Elements" and "Success Secrets," that grab the reader's attention. Publish them on http://www.blogger.com and http://www.ezinearticles.com.
28. Be funny, but don't tell jokes.
29. Discover the CPI (Common Point of Interest) with everyone you meet.
30. Carry blank business cards with you in case someone forgot theirs. They'll thank you.
31. Never leave the house without a pen and paper. Sounds dumb, right? It isn't. It's genius. Nobody keeps napkins with scribblings on them.
32. Every week, introduce two people you know who need to know each other.
33. Wear your nametag above your breastbone and make sure it's visible from 10 feet away.
Nobody cares what side of your chest it's on. Just make it big. And if you don't like wearing nametags, then you probably don't like people knowing who you are, either.
34. It's not who you know – it's who knows you.
35. People will like you the minute they figure out how they are like you.
36. Fear not to entertain strangers for by so doing some may have entertained angels unaware. (Hebrews, 13:2)
37. If you don't have http://www.yourname.com, get it. It's ten bucks.
38. Find local professionals with whom you share common interests, customers, ideas and products. Introduce yourself to them, get together, share ideas and find ways to help each other.
39. Form a mastermind group. No more than four people. Meet regularly to set goals, keep each other accountable and brainstorm.
40. Also, set your own networking goals each month for:
41. Go onto Google and type in "articles on networking." Read on!
42. Speaking of Google, Google yourself regularly. Find out what people are saying about you. If you don't show up, you're in trouble.
43. If you think you don't need to network, you are right. You don't need to network: you must network!
44. Stop calling it networking. Ignore the title of this article. Networking – as a word – is tired and old and cliché and it makes people think you're throwing around a bunch of cards trying to sell, sell, sell. No.
All you're doing is making friends. Not schmoozing, mingling or any of those stupid catch phrases. You're making friends. That's it. Friends. Make them every day.
45. If you think you are poor at networking, don't worry. You're not alone. But also remember that anyone can develop their networking skills.
That's right, skills. Because it's not something you're born with or just plain "good at." Anyone can do it effectively. You simply need:
46. When strangers ask, "How are you?" don't say fine. You're not fine. Nobody's fine. Give a real answer that's memorable and magnetic. I suggest, "Business is kicking ass!" or "Everything is beautiful!"
47. When someone asks where you're from, don't just say "Austin." Use the H.O.T technique: "Oh, I'm from Austin, home of the best college football team in the country." Get creative. Get unique. Watch what happens.
48. Put your person before your profession. Your personality before your position. Your individual before your industry.
49. Don't be different – be unique. Don't be friendly – be approachable. And don't be memorable – be unforgettable.
50. Think about the last five "luckiest" business contacts you encountered. Figure out what you did right, realize that there is no such thing as luck, then repeat as often as possible.
By Scott Ginsburg, AKA “The Nametag Guy”
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Since you, as a funeral director, serve all races, creeds, colors, religions and lifestyles, there’s no place for these crippling biases…and one of the main reasons is because when a firm shows any evidence of racism, sexism and other "isms," everyone loses.
But don’t rule out the human factor. We all have our personal racial and other stereotypes. They are burned in our brains permanently, like the information on a CD. These stereotypes form at a very early age and are often reinforced by our parents, teachers, friends, classmates, the news media, the entertainment industry and from personal experiences.
It’s human nature and unavoidable to make unfair generalizations about others based on their race.
For example, the other day a grandchild commented as she watched the TV show, “So You Think You Can Dance”: “Grandma, how come the black boys are better dancers than the white boys?” The grandmother carefully pointed out that not ALL black boys can dance and not ALL white boys are bad dancers…but in simple, innocent moments like these, stereotypes are created.
Of course, you’ll never really be able to erase the "stereotypes" you’ve formed through the years. Think of that CD again—it’s already recorded there.
But you can train yourself to be more mindful of how those stereotypical beliefs affect your daily actions, reactions and decision making.
Here’s the good news: You can learn how to manage your biases. You can become more aware of your gut reactions to people who are different from you, and you can question those reactions, knowing they likely are based on long-standing stereotypes and biased images.
A major focus of diversity training in your firm is helping co-workers and colleagues understand and manage their biases—because we know we can’t completely erase them.
Three Ways Stereotypes Can Affect Your Business
Making assumptions about people based on their race, religion or lifestyle choices can have a significant effect on workplace culture and productivity. Here are some reasons:
Ways to Spot Bias at Your Firm
Bias isn’t simply defining people by the way they look. It’s also about limiting the incredible wealth of perspectives, backgrounds, ideas, skills, talents, problem-solving styles and creativity that are in your talent pool. Thinking of diversity this way opens up new ways to talk about changing the workplace culture. Here are some common signs that could signal the existence of isms in your firm:
Becoming aware of your firm’s underlying biases is a good first step. The next step is to extend this awareness and engage your employees in the strengths of diversity through diversity conversations.
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