Man Selling Plasticized Corpses Online?

Plasticized corpse huckster Gunther von Hagens is jumping on the grisly express again. The German millionaire bizman scientist is preparing to offer plasticized body parts and entire bodies for sale online, sparking public outrage. Von Hagens developed a way to preserve corpses by replacing body fluids and fat with plastic resin, and has launched a [...]

Continue reading »

Have Your Ashes Pressed Into a Vinyl Record?

Music lovers can now be immortalized when they die by having their ashes baked into vinyl records to leave behind for loved ones. A UK company called And Vinyly is offering people the chance to press their ashes in a vinyl recording of their own voice, their favorite tunes or their last will and testament. [...]

Continue reading »

Businesses: Keep Nasty Complaints off the Web by Offering Great Customer Service

By Marc LeVine, Director of Social Media, RiaEnjolie, Inc. You and your family began your funeral home business with the best intentions in mind. There isn’t a funeral home director with an ounce of integrity, who launches his or her new business deliberately intending to disappoint their customers. Nor, can any sane business person – [...]

Continue reading »

10 Bizarre Last Statements of Death Row Inmates

Before being put to death, criminals are given the opportunity to say a few parting words. Some use this opportunity to apologize for their wrongdoings; some try to let their families know they love them; and others use it as a chance to proclaim their innocence. Then, you have the death row inmates who use [...]

Continue reading »

Online Obituary Sites, Speadsheet Keeps You in The Know

There have been a number of new obituary sites popping up all over the internet and for end-users as well as funeral homes it is almost impossible to keep up with all the options. Most obituary sites are on this helpful spreadsheet published by www.onlineobituaryreviews.com. Service Corporation International has its’ own memorial website, Making Everlasting [...]

Continue reading »

Big 3 Casket Companies Being Sued, Creating a Monopoly?

This week a federal judge in Houston, Texas will determine whether the three biggest casket companies (Batesville, Aurora, and Matthews) are shirking FTC rules and creating a monopoly in the deathcare market according to recent audio from marketplace.publicradio.org. Bill Radke: Until the 1980s, a funeral home was the only place you could buy a casket. [...]

Continue reading »

Fear of the Online: Online Bank Accounts, ATMs and Social Media

I have noted, on the part of many Funeral Directors, some hesitance in fully embracing Social Media as the valuable business tool it is proving to be.  As the baby boomer generation prepares for their final stage of life they bring to the death planning process the same sense of gusto and excitement with which [...]

Continue reading »

Social Media In Funeral Service, Is it Just a Fad?

 I had the great opportunity to give a presentation in June to the Independent Funeral Directors of Florida. The convention was very well attended and the response to my presentation was great. I talked to them about social media in funeral service and how the numbers show that social media is not a fad, [...]

Continue reading »

The Future of Social Media May Rest With the Deceased and the Funeral Home Industry

I remember going to the New York World’s Fair in 1965 as a child and being absolutely amazed at all the future innovations showcased in its many wondrous exhibits. In just one day at the Fair, my family and I were escorted through the Space Age, the Information Age of computers and communication, the Consumer [...]

Continue reading »

Auction House Drops Elvis Embalming Tools, SCI Questions Authenticity

A West Loop auction house has canceled the sale of tools purportedly used to embalm Elvis Presley, after a Memphis funeral home disputed a retired embalmer’s ownership of the items. Leslie Hindman Auctioneers had two lots of Elvis’ funereal memorabilia slated for auction Aug. 12, including a toe tag once attached to the King’s corpse, [...]

Continue reading »