November 2021

Page A10 NOVEMBER 2021 FUNERAL HOME & CEMETERY NEWS Se c t i on A 3” HEARSE NAMEPLATES 1-8 spaces $80.50 per nameplate 9-13 spaces $92.50 per nameplate 14-15 spaces $109.00 per nameplate 16-18 spaces $119.00 per nameplate Many Letter Styles and Sizes Available DEDUCT $10.00 each for Satin Aluminum Finish What to Post on Facebook During the Holidays By Jason Troyer, PhD Facebook Made Easy 8. Nostalgia Everyone likes to think about the happy memories of previous holidays. Help spark nostalgic memories by posting references to classic holidays movies, songs, and gifts. You can also post questions about their favorite toy they received as a child or a favorite memory. Free Holiday Posts If you are thinking, “That’s great, but I don’t have the time to create these,” then I would be happy to pro- vide you with 10 free holiday-themed Facebook posts. Simply email me at DrJasonTroyer@gmail.com for your free Facebook content. 3. Celebrations If you have a staff dinner or holiday party, take a few pictures and share them. This helps share your staff with your followers. I believe this shows the community that you and your colleagues are normal people and busts the negative stereotypes about funeral and cemetery professionals. 4. Gratitude This is a great time to express your gratitude to local groups and individuals. For example, you may want to recognize staff members, honor guard members, local vet- erans groups, clergy and officiants, hospices, first respond- ers, and others. If the people or groups you are recognizing have Facebook pages, be sure to “tag” them in your post so that more people will see it. 5. Service Personnel The holidays are an important time to recognize mem- bers of the Armed Services. It is especially important to recognize that many of these service members will not be able to be home for the holidays. Create a simple post that shares your appreciation for their sacrifices. 6. Food Food and the holidays go hand-in-hand. Ask your community about their favorite Thanksgiving dishes or their must-have dessert. Take a picture of any treats that get dropped off for you and your staff and express your thanks for the treats. 7. Remembrance Video One of the most popular types of posts is a remem- brance video of all the individuals you have served throughout the year. This may not be possible for all firms, but it can be very powerful in smaller and medi- um-sized communities. Simply include a picture (like the obituary picture) of each individual, add music, and create an introductory slide and ending slide. The winter holidays, including Thanksgiving, Hanuk- kah, Christmas, and Kwanza, provide an excellent time to connect with your local families. Remember, the pri- mary benefit of Facebook is that it helps you build new relationships and reinforces existing relationships. But what should you be posting at the end of the year to build more relationships in your community? I have 8 different types of content that you can share during the holidays. Even better, read to the end to learn how you can get 10 free holiday Facebook posts. 1. Music The holiday season is filled with memorable songs. Do you have a staff member who is a talented singer or musician? I will bet that you have someone on your staff or someone you frequently bring in to play for services. Simply have this person play or sing a popular holiday-related song while you record it. It is helpful to have someone provide a brief introduction to the song. You could introduce the song with a brief state- ment like, “This is my favorite song of the season. I hope you enjoy it” or “I have memories of my mother singing this song and it always reminds me of Christ- mas at our house.” You can even take suggestions from your followers for more songs to share. 2. Decorations Many funeral and cemetery businesses will decorate their facility for the winter holidays. Simply take pic- tures of your indoor or outdoor decorations and share them with your followers. Antique decorations can be especially eye-catching and many people love to see old ornaments on a Christmas tree. If you want to post something that is sure to get a lot of views, simply set up a phone and take a time-lapse video of you or your staff getting out and setting up the decorations. You can shrink an hour or two of work in to a 30- or 60-second time lapse video. Almost all modern cell phones pro- vide “time lapse” as one of the video recording settings. Dr. Troyer’s free library of Facebook tutorial videos can be found at www.JasonTroyer.com. Dr. Jason Troyer is a grief expert, author, former psychology profes- sor, and therapist. He helps funeral homes and cemeteries connect with their communities through Facebook content and grief support materials. He frequently provides community presentations, profes- sional workshops, and trainings across the country. In addition to providing his Facebook content service and pre- sentations, he also works at Smith Funeral & Cremation Service & Grandview Cemetery in Maryville, TN. Dr. Troyer can be reached at DrJasonTroyer@gmail.com. You can view all of his video tutorials and learn more at www.JasonTroyer.com. F U N E R A L H O M E & C E M E T E R Y N E W S w w w . N o m i s P u b l i c a t i o n s . c o m Monthly Columns online at Bilbrey Funeral Home Rollings Funeral Service Announces Recent Acquisition of Tennessee Funeral Home TYRONE,GA— Rollings Funeral Service is proud to announce the recent ac- quisition of Bilbrey Funer- al Home in Crossville, TN. The funeral home, which has been serving its com- munity for over 90 years, was formerly owned by Frank Bilbrey Bohannon. Greg Rollings, president and CEO of Rollings Fu- neral Service, comment- ed “Bilbrey Funeral Home has built a decades long reputation of trust and compassion when it comes to serving the families of Crossville. Like Roll- ings Funeral Service, Bil- brey Funeral Home has al- ways been family run and I knew their values aligned perfectly with ours.” Roll- ings also mentioned that this marks his first acquisi- tion in Tennessee. Speaking with Frank Bil- brey Bohannon, he men- tioned that with over 30 years in funeral service, he wanted to start looking at the next chapter in his life and the funeral home. When asked why he decid- ed to sell the firm to Roll- ings Funeral Service, Bo- hannon said “Greg and Debbie Rollings are not like the big companies and they don’t have a one size fits all approach.” With the funeral home being in the Bilbrey family since its founding, family is some- thing that was important to Bohannon in looking for the next owner. “They [Greg and Debbie Rollings] treated us like family and they’ll continue to let us serve our community like family,” Bohannon noted. Annually, Bilbrey Funer- al Home serves around 350 families. With nearly 70 locations, Rollings Funeral Service is one of the largest private funeral home owners in the eastern United States. With each of their firms operat- ed on the local level, their managers work directly with Rollings Funeral Ser- vice to establish budgets, pricing, and best practices. They also pride themselves on being a great alternative to selling to a publicly trad- ed company and they con- tinue to search for firms that will be a great fit to their growing family of fu- neral homes.

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