Funeral Futurist Explains the Many Ways of Reaching your Community via the Internet at ICCFA 2007

Las Vegas, Nevada - ICCFA 2007 Convention at Mandalay Bay

Over 150 delegates attended the Funeral Futurist's presentation on Marketing to your Community through the Internet. In his opening remarks, Heppell stated that Internet usage is rising faster than the cremation rate. The cremation rate in North America is approximately 35% - now double that to 70% and that is the number of Internet users in North America.

He stressed that Internet marketing is more the just website promotion and covered such topics as:

• Considerations in setting up a Web site
• The elements of an effective Web site
• Email collection methods
  
• Electronic newsletters and mailers
• Viral marketing
  

Heppell revealed the results of his pre-convention eNewsletter campaign, which include many of the audience members, as well as informing them about the pros and cons of html vs. text newsletters.

His gem of the presentation was to do with Viral Marketing - using others to spread information. Heppell explained that after every arrangement he makes, and after uploading the obituary to the funeral home website, he sends the following email to all of the family members who provided their email addresses.

Kathleen and James...
I have uploaded the obituary notice to our website at www.YourFuneralChapel.com. You can go to it directly by clicking here. Feel free to forward these links to friends and family as we have found that it is an easy way to let a lot of people know about services times - especially on such short notice. Let me know if you need help with anything else.
...Rob (744-3595)

He then informed them, "This email would get sent to extended family and friends - probably the same people who would send flowers - so hopefully your website has the ability to receive orders!"

Heppell closed the presentation with a sneak peak into how Web 2.0 will affect Funeral Service. Web 2.0 includes blogs, podcasts, YouTube, MySpace, Flickr, Wikipedia, LinkedIn, and even the use of Google's tools such as its Calendar. (click image for video clip)

At the end of the presentation, Steve Moeller of Floral Haven Funeral Home Chapel, Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, was selected as the winner of the 30GB iPod drawing of those who responded to the pre-convention survey.

Following the presentation, Robin thanked the delegates and extended a special thanks to Linda Budzinski, Karen Gray, and all of the staff and board members of the International Cemetery, Cremation and Funeral Association for an excellent convention!

Note: If you missed the presentation, want a copy of the presentation or handouts, or if you are interested in tutorials on how to apply the strategies discussed in the presentation - click here:
ICCFA Presentation, Handouts, Tutorials & DVD.

Photoshop for Funeral Directors: Memorial Folders – The Subtle Logo

Normal Logo

You need to leave your mark on every folder, but you do not want it to have more prominence than the deceased. This tutorial will go through the steps of how to leave your mark – your brand – subtly. The three options that we will review today are:

The Foggy Logo

The Precise Logo

The Invisible Embossed Logo

The choice of which logo type you want to use will depend on other elements of the memorial folder, so it is advisable to try all of these effects, even customize them to your liking and then stick with 2 to 3 of them for consistency.

Want to Be More Progressive?

Use your URL (your domain name – www.YourFuneralChapel.com) instead of your logo. Using your URL has a three-fold benefit:

• Letting attendees know that you have a web presence
• Letting them know how to find your website
• Still promoting your brand identity

Nowadays, even people who do not use the Internet understand what “.com” means so why not take advantage of letting 50 – 500 people know how to find out where they can find everything they could want to know about your funeral home.

The Initial Steps

The first steps are the same whether using your graphic logo or typing out your domain name.

1. Open the “Memorial Folder 2 Up Template.psd”
2. Place your brand identity near the bottom of the Outside Back quadrant
• Logo: Open your logo file, copy it and paste it in your Memorial Folder Template, then size it and place in the desired location
• URL Text: Select the Horizontal Type tool (Shift + T), drag a text box and type your domain name using a font similar to your logo and select Black as the text colour
3. Name this Layer Brand Identity : Layer > Layer Style > Blending Options (Right-click over desired layer in the Layer Pallet and click on Blending Options)
4. For all three of these styles you need to change the main Blending Options. This is accomplished by clicking on the top box in the left column titled Blending Options: Default (immediately above the Drop Shadow box)
• Change the Advanced Blending, Fill Opacity to 0% (from 100%)

The Foggy Logo

1. Select the Brand Identity layer in the Layer Pallet
2. Go to Blending Options

• Note: This style will use Drop Shadow, Inner Glow, & Color Overlay

Drop Shadow: change the default settings to:

· Opacity: 35%

· Distance: 20 px

· Spread: 15%

· Size: 55 px

Inner Glow: change the default settings to (see graphic):

· Opacity: 100%

· Color Palette: White

· Choke: 25%

· Size: 50 px

Color Overlay: change the default settings to:

· Blend Mode: Normal

· Color Pallet: Black

· Opacity: 100%

The Precise Logo

1. Go to Blending Options

• Note: The Inner Glow, & Color Overlay settings are the same as the Foggy Logo, only the Drop Shadow settings change

Drop Shadow: change the default settings to:

· Opacity: 35%

· Distance: 10 px

· Spread: 5%

· Size: 10 px

The Invisible Logo

This style of logo works best when you have a colour image that covers the entire panel.

1. Go to Blending Options

Bevel and Emboss (not the sub categories of Contour or Texture): change the default settings to:

· Style: Outer Bevel

· Depth: 500%

· Size: 5 px

· Soften: 15 px

2. Optional: If due to the background image your logo cannot be seen, try adding a very fine outline (Stroke)

Stroke: change the default settings to:

· Size: 1 px

· Position: Outside

· Opacity: 50%

· Fill Type: Color

· Color: Black (or other desired color)

As with the Polaroid Effect tutorial, you should experiment with the various calibrations in the Blending Options to achieve your desired results. Once you have the styles that you like, you can save them by opening the Blending Options and click the New Style… button. Give this new style a name and check off both Include Layer Effects and Include Layer Blending Options. It should then appear at the bottom of your Styles pallet (Menu Bar > Window > Styles).

Remember, Memorial Folders are keepsakes for all who attend your services and although you cannot have it look like an advertisement for your funeral home, this subtle approach will let them know where the it came from.

You can download the working Photoshop (.psd) file named: “Your_Funeral_Chapel_logo.psd” by going to www.funeralfuturist.com > Resources > Tutorials

Note: If you have not used Photoshop for creating memorial folder before, please see the first tutorial, Memorial Folders – The Basics. It can be downloaded at:

www.funeralfuturist.com > Resources > Tutorials

Photoshop for Funeral Directors: Memorial Folders - The Polaroid Effect

More than any other effect, I get asked, “How do you make a photo look like a Polaroid?” In this tutorial we will walk through the steps to accomplish this. If you have not used Photoshop for creating memorial folder before, please see the first tutorial, Memorial Folders – The Basics. It can be downloaded at: www.funeralfuturist.com > Resources > Tutorials

The Polaroid Effect

In an effort to get away from the dreaded feathered, oval vignettes that appear on so many memorial folders, this is one effect that will be very hard for the do-it-yourself families to emulate.

Note:

· Photoshop terms are Bold and titles are Bold Italics

· Menu Bar items and their paths are separated by “>” and keystrokes are in (brackets) – just use either the Menu Bar items or the keystrokes even though both are shown

1. Open the desired photo of the deceased in Photoshop.
2. You will need to resize the photo so the end result is a 2.5 X 2.5 inch square at 150 pixels / inch. Tip: When using the Rectangle Marque Tool – a.k.a. Selection Tool (Shift + M), drag the selection and hold the Shift key so that it will make a perfect square as the Shift key keeps the selection in proportion. Name this layer: Polaroid Photo: Layer > Layer Properties > Name (Right-click over the layer, click on Layer Properties > Name)
3. Go to Blending Options for this layer, click on Stroke, change the settings to:

• Size: 1 px
• Opacity: 50%
• Color: Black

4. Expand your Canvas Size: Image > Canvas Size > Width: 4 inches; Height: 5 inches – make sure that the Relative box is unchecked
5. Create a New Layer: Layer > New > Layer (Shift + Ctrl + N), place it under the Polaroid Photo layer and name the new layer Polaroid Background
6. In this new layer, using the Rectangle Marque Tool (Shift + V), drag the selection so that it is 3 x 3.5 inches. Tip: Start dragging at the top-left and watch the dotted lines in the Ruler until they get to the desired size or you can watch the size measurement grow in the in the bottom-right of the Info Pallet.
7. Fill the selection with the colour white using the Paint Bucket Tool (Shift + G)
8. With the Move Tool (Shift + V) position the Polaroid Background layer so that it is centred behind the Polaroid Photo layer at the top, left, and right, leaving the extra ¾ inch white portion hanging under the photo
9. With the Horizontal Type Tool (Shift + T) make a rectangle over the white area under the photo and type the deceased’s name and years of birth and death – use a font that resembles handwriting such as “Brush Script”
10. We will now merge these 3 layers together so that they become one layer. Make sure that you have hidden any other layers, especially the Background layer if there is one. Also double-check the spelling since you will not be able to change it after this step. Layer > Merge Visible (Shift + Ctrl + E)
11. Now copy this image and paste it into your Memorial Folder Template and then position it in the Outside Front quadrant
12. Rotate this Layer approximately 2° clockwise to give it a “placed-on-the-table” look. Select the Move Tool (Shift + V), place your mouse near the top-right corner of the Polaroid image and when the cursor changes to a curved, double arrow, click and hold the mouse and move it to the desired rotation. If you cannot see the double arrow cursor, go to: View > Extras (Ctrl + H). Press Enter to accept the Transformation.
13. Go to Blending Options for this layer and change the settings for Drop Shadow, Bevel and Emboss, and Gradient Overlay

Drop Shadow

Bevel & Emboss

Gradient Overlay

Feel free to tinker with the settings if you wish. The Polaroid Effect is just an example of continually raising the bar for your personalization offerings. Please check future issues for more Photoshop tutorials. The next tutorial is Memorial Folders - The Subtle Logo.