Email Marketing | Funeral Futurist | Robin Heppell (via Mowser)

On Friday, one of the funeral home website provider’s servers went down and clients were stuck without their website being live, but more importantly their email had stopped – and going into the weekend without email was not a great way to end your Friday.Â Anyway, we were able to get both clients set up using Google Applications where you can use your domain name email accounts like “info@yourfuneralchapel.com” and operate them through the power of GMail.

Here is a short video on why I like and recommend Gmail over any other email solution.

[ http://www.tributevideos.tv/videos/57 ]

(as usual, make sure that you are comfortable with the Terms of Service – I use both of these services)

If you need help to set up all of the Google Applications for your domains, please send me an email at robin@funeralfuturist.com – you’ll be surprised how reasonable it is to get set up and get running in just a few hours.

Questions about GMail, Google Apps, or email? Please leave them below.

…Hepp

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Funeral Blogging 101 Recap seo exposure loyalty Hepp’s Notes for the Funeral Blogging 101 Teleseminar

Here is the replay of the Teleseminar! Please follow along with the notes below.

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Dowload MP3: Funeral Blogging 101 Teleseminar

Terminology:

List of Blogging Terms at Wikipedia

My list for the Funeral Industry:

Blog: is a website that is easy to update Blogging: is to write an article or column (and then one has the ability to add that content to your website without having to pay your web developer every time you want to do so) Post: is an article or column Podcasting: is your own Radio Show / Station Video Blogging / Vlog: is your own TV Show / Channel

Types of blogging platforms:

Blogger: Brian’s blog platform

Geib’s “Ask the Director” Online Blog Heppell’s Old “From The Hepp” blog

TypePad: BT’s choice

BT’s “Funeral Words” blog

Live Journal WordPress.com – Tim’s choice

Final Embrace

WordPress.org – Rob’s choice

Funeral Futurist Funeral Gurus Preneed Referrals Funeral Manager Secrets Funeral Home Commercials Your Funeral Chapel

Topics (what to write about):

Brian’s suggestions… Tim’s suggestions… My suggestions: Have a plan – pick 4 subject areas / topics: FAQs / Community Events / Staff Profile / Preserving Memories / Funeral Trends We are in a people business, stay away from corporate-speak gobbledygook / write in the first person

Frequency / Consistency:

Brian’s comments… Tim’s comments… I’m a binge blogger for both my main sites – but I also like to use the time delay – as I do with Funeral Gurus

Post Extras – Sprucing up your posts:

Tim, you are the expert at this, where do you get all of your pictures from Brian, how do you beautify your posts? I rely more on audio and video for my posts Research show that website viewers will look at photos first, and particularly people’s faces

Handling Comments:

Brian’s policy about comments… Tim’s policy… I read them and if I feel they will benefit my audience and further the conversation, I approve them. If though they are spammy – meaning that they are trying to high-jack my traffic – or if they are distasteful, I delete them – but I might use their feedback in a future article. Remember it is your website – the local newspaper does not publish all Letter’s to the Editor

Marketing & Exposure:

Brian’s comments… Tim’s comments… Remember – funeral homes are lucky in that you get so much more traffic than other brick and mortar businesses because of online obits – give those visitors something else to read other than why they should pre-arrange – “Start the Conversation” Comment on other blogs with your URL – this is called a track back – that’s how I first found Tim

Return On Effort / Investment:

Brian’s feedback… Tim’s feedback… My thoughts: investing time in your website, is not like “Down the Drain” advertising – you pay for it then it is gone, with your website, if you write a post a week, and since most funeral home websites are 15-20 pages excluding obits, after the first year you would have almost tripled the size of your site – the great thing is those posts / articles will be there next year, and the year after that Also Google loves fresh content – being on Google’s good side is a good investment

Closing:

I would love to hear your feedback, so please leave a comment at the bottom of this page – tell me what you thought of the teleseminar and please share any of your experiences about blogging!

Share Your Comments Please:

If you have any questions please email me at robin@funeralfuturist.com or post them on the Funeral Futurist Forum under Internet Technologies section and under the topic, Funeral Blogging Questions & Comments

Integrate Your Website and Blog with WordPress:

If you want more information about your entire website built on the WordPress platform (such as www.YourFuneralChapel.com) please email me at robin@funeralfuturist.com or call (800) 810-3595 OR (250) 744-3595.

Get Started Today!

I am offering 2 very inexpensive hosting packages to get you started – no more excuses!

$1 – 90 day trial, to get you blogging by next week – after the 90 days, it is only $19 / month – but what you will also get is a 10 week course on funeral blogging – sign up here But, if you are serious, you can pay only $97 for a year’s hosting and including the 10 week course as well – sign up here Note: you will need a domain name for your blog, and if you don’t have one, visit www.FuneralFuturistDomains.com ($9.99 / year)

Advance Blog Promotion Tips:

The first 5 things that I do after launching a (WordPress Blog / Website):

Install Sitemap Generator plugin – and submit it to Google Webmaster Tools Install Google Analytics plugin – to track traffic and trends Install All-In-One-SEO plugin – makes site even more Search Engine Friendly
Create a Feedburner Feed for RSS – so others can subscribe to your blog:

They can visit your website / blog to read your article They can receive that same message via email They can read your message in their “FeedReader” like “Google Reader“

Claim your blog at Technorati:

My Technorati page: http://technorati.com/people/technorati/FuneralFuturist

For the section on Internet Marketing, go to: Hepp’s Internet Marketing Tips for Funeral Service

Remember, please leave a comment below and let me know how you liked the teleseminar – thanks!

…Hepp

Funeral Futurist | Robin Heppell

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