When I was young and visiting my grandparents at the family funeral home, Egan Funeral Home in Bolton, Ontario, I spent a lot of time with him walking around town, going to the post office, and directing other homeless people. I was always amazed at how many people knew him and that he knew them. His success, like other funeral directors of previous generations, could be attributed to being a useful member of the community, either professionally or in other pursuits. They knew it, they liked it, and when they needed his services, they could trust him.

Since life is different today and there are far fewer people in “social centers” than 50 years ago, it doesn’t mean you have to go to the same places Grandpa hung out – he was where the people were. . You must apply the same philosophy: Go where the people in your community are!

Now, I’m not saying drop every group you’re currently involved in, but you should take a quick inventory of your time spent vs. the exposure and reach you get.

If you think I’m just promoting this Facebook stuff because I’m a bit of a techie, you’re wrong. I’m trying to tell you that it’s probably one of the biggest networks in your city and you need to be there!

Do you know how many people in your market are on Facebook? Would it surprise you if I could tell you exactly how many per individual, gender, age? It’s easy to find out, and it can also advertise so directly it’d blow your mind!

But before I get into my Funeral – Facebook Formula, you need to make sure you have the basic foundation of Facebook profiles and pages. So let’s start with the article 7 Mistakes Funeral Directors Make with Facebook. I want to summarize what are the best practices for funeral directors when using Facebook.

The purpose of these “Best Practices” is to cut out all the noise and get you the right products and shorten the learning process for you while teaching you how to nurture your online relationships to build your community, increase your credibility and visibility. because people want to do business with people they know, like and trust – Facebook can help you do just that!

I don’t want Facebook to be a new waste of time, though I must warn you: if you’re new to Facebook, it’s easy to get sucked in, connect with old friends, review photos, play games, answer quizzes, and so on. Anyway, after the initial hustle and bustle passes, you’re back in business – relationship building business!

Before we get into Nuts & Bolts, we need to know the difference between profiles and pages.

Facebook Profile Professionals

* You can have a one to one interaction
* You create a more personal sense of connection.
* You gain “perceived” credibility with more Friends
* Your friends can send you messages (pro from their perspective)
* Can be tagged in photos and videos and appear automatically (sometimes good)

Facebook Profile Cons

* It is necessary to have a mutual agreement for friendship
* People must be a Facebook member and logged in to view
* You can’t message all friends at once or you might get banned
* You are limited to 5,000 friends
* You could be flooded with messages in your inbox
* Can be tagged in photos and videos and appear automatically (sometimes wrong)

Advantages of the Facebook fan page

* You can have an unlimited number of fans
* You have the ability to send messages to a whole group.
* Your page can be accessed by the public (no Facebook login required + Google can index it (see name below)
* Your page appears in the homepage stream, which is a great way to remind your friends of updates and new content * People opted to hear updates about your business, as opposed to your profile

Facebook Fan Page Cons

* Sometimes it’s hard to get people to become Fans
* The term “Fan” is a bit strange, especially when applied to a funeral home
* Doesn’t feel like a personal connection
* You do not have the same personal relationship as you only post as “Company” not as yourself

Okay, now that we know some of the differences, let’s build both a profile and a page, leveraging the pros to our advantage.

Profile Setup – Phase 1 (1 hour):

1. Select an appropriate photo: the one that best connects you with your audience
2. Upload Contacts from Email/Outlook Accounts: (I’m skipping the “Invite others to Facebook”)
3. Fill in the profile information – Make it as complete as possible but stay within your comfort level.
4. Full education and work profile information – This makes it easy for your old contacts to find you
5. List all your websites in the contact information
6. Create a memorable web address
7. Upload Contacts from Email/Outlook Accounts

Profile Setup – Phase 2 (1 to 2 hours + ongoing):

1. Search friends list of friends
2. Search groups and fan pages for potential contacts – You don’t even have to join the group, just see who the members are. But join if you think it would be valuable
3. Find your competitor’s friends: Click the View Friends link and add any friends you think would be appropriate as a friend.

Notes: When entering a website address (URL), be sure to use “http://” before the [http://www..]. as that will make the link clickable.

Fan Page Configuration – Phase 1

1. Choose Category > Venue > Event Planning Service OR Professional Service
2. Choosing the right name: Put important keywords alongside your business name, such as ‘Your City’ Funeral Homes (unless it’s a competitor’s name) | Your funeral chapel (see McCall’s example)
3. Upload your logo or an appropriate photo – make sure it is recognizable and, if possible, has personality.
4. Fill in the editing information
5. Upload photos and tag yourself or staff members, if applicable.
6. Upload videos: Instructional and FAQ videos will be preferred over commercials; again, you’re trying to build a relationship, not sell anything (don’t exclude commercials, just limit them)
7. Add links to useful information on your website
8. Suggest to Friends – Be selective about who you invite at first until you actually have your page “supercharged”.

Remember, Facebook Pages and how funeral homes can use Facebook is a work in progress, these are some general best practices (for now).

If you’re interested in learning how to USE Facebook for your funeral business, I know you’ll get a lot out of my Funeral Home – Facebook Formula seminar. This seminar is the first of my monthly training courses called: Funeral Futurist U – Internet Marketing for Funeral Professionals. For more information and registration details, visit: http://www.FuneralFuturistU.com.