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The Future of the Profession - Is It Really Very Different From the Past?

The funeral profession has been around, in a variety of fashions, since time immemorial. What’s the best route to ensure this essential service remains a thriving business into the future? Do nothi...
By Elli Morris
In Articles
Tuesday, February 28, 2023

Embracing Hospice: Benefits of Optimizing Palliative Care

I have no idea what compels someone to become a funeral director, but I simply haven’t dreamt of being anything else. I choose every day to comfort the brokenhearted, to see others at their weakest...
By Hannah M. Burns
In Articles
Tuesday, February 28, 2023

Education in 2023

“Education” is our feature for this special issue of Southern Funeral Directors Magazine. The funeral profession already has a shortage of licensed funeral directors and embalmers and the much disc...
By John Yopp
In Articles
Tuesday, February 28, 2023

The Basics of Personnel Records

Most funeral home owners know that they should have a personnel file for each of their employees, but fewer know exactly what should be in those files and fewer still understand that they should be...
By Curtis D. Rostad, CFSP
In Articles
Thursday, January 26, 2023

When Did Burial Vaults First Start Being Used? The History of Burial Vaults

On the surface, the question “When did burial vaults first start being used?” seems pretty cut-and-dried. Based on the definition that a burial vault is a container that encloses a casket to help p...
By Jill Darby
In Articles
Thursday, January 26, 2023

Six Reasons that Loans Get Declined

Declining loans is the worst part of my job. I sometimes come across funeral directors who take new jobs, move their families, or even sign agreements to purchase a funeral business assuming that t...
By Jody Myers
In Articles
Thursday, January 26, 2023

RECAPPING THE PROFESSIONAL CAR SOCIETY’S 2022 INTERNATIONAL MEET

Given its origins and long-standing significance as a Native American and Colonial era crossroads still frequented today by motorists plying the Massachusetts Turnpike, Interstate 84 and historic U...
By story, “deep” captions by GREGG D. MERKSAMER
In Articles
Tuesday, November 22, 2022
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Previous Posts

Evolving Community Outreach

Real Connections Come from Real Effort In the funeral home space, community outreach has become a familiar part of the playbook: Sponsor a blood drive, show up at a recycling event, hang a banner ...

Guiding Families Through Monument Selection

A Funeral Director’s Approach to Lasting Legacy THE LASTING ROLE OF MONUMENTS IN MEMORIALIZATION Cemetery monuments serve a profound purpose beyond marking a final resting place. They offer famili...

UNDERSTANDING GREEN BURIAL

As consumer preferences shift toward sustainability, the funeral industry faces an evolving demand: green burial. No longer an afterthought, green burial is gaining traction among families who seek...

DON’T FEAR AI— TRAIN IT.

Artificial intelligence can sound like science fiction: robots replacing humans, machines making decisions we don’t understand. But the truth is, AI isn’t here to replace the human touch that defin...

4 areas of business your software should cover

When shopping for a new car, you have choices to weigh before you find the right one  to purchase. Here are a few: • New or used? • Car, truck, or SUV? • Color? Finish? Miles per gallon? G...

Growing Preneed Sales in a Market Shifting Toward Cremation

GROWING PRENEED SALES IN A MARKET SHIFTING TOWARD CREMATION by Jack Hirsch Although today’s consumers have more choices than ever when it comes to end-of-life planning, cremation is increasin...

Increasing Cremation Revenue with Non-Traditional Solutions

INCREASING CREMATION REVENUE WITH NON-TRADITIONAL SOLUTIONS by Darren Crouch As cremation continues to overtake burial as America’s leading choice for final disposition, funeral homes are exp...