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Feb. ‘02
Volume 3.6
Casket
Retailing 
The Newsletter of the National Casket Retailers
Association, Inc. http://www.casketstores.com
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Chairman: Kevin
Gray Direct Casket -
Membership News
$1.5 trillion by 2002. Businesses that are not listed or present on the Web are going to fall behind in today's competitive world. Off line advertising to lead them to your site is an effective way to keep & update customers. To date, most businesses of all types, have not implemented an effective web strategy due to the time and expense required If you want a business online... (not just a hobby)...then your own domain and webspace are essentials.. Conversely, serving up web sites that provide a service or product that a consumer is actively searching for is highly effective. While all of this makes great sense, the smaller businesses that relied on the search engines to provide free traffic to their sites are now in peril. I fear that soon, all web sites listed within a search engine will have to pay to be there, much like the printed Yellow Pages Be aggressive in asking yourself "Do I *need* this graphic?" and, if yes, "How can I minimize the file size?" How about ten such graphics per page, or a total of 20 seconds load time? If it isn't under 20 -30 seconds for page loaded , visitors are clicking away. Time your pages load time, WITH retrieving all images. *Don't link "out" unless you *want* your visitors to leave! All this does is gives your visitors many, many chances to leave. Maybe this isn't important if you don't want to sell them anything, or don't want them to see all your other useful pages. But if you want them to stay, then be very careful who you link to. If you provide a link, the best way to avoid the above is to include this tag after the url, between <> TARGET="_blank" (opens new page) Making people more informed about what you do, about choices they have, about abuse in the funeral arrangement process, makes sense. A web site is a virtual "wall of support". Clear direction is provided, phone numbers, address, and all essential questions answered before they're asked. It could be, and should be part of the development process in getting the word out about people's choices, all they then need to do is just CLICK! Losing a loved one is a universal experience for which most of us are not well-prepared. It's a personal and private event that permanently affects our own lives and those around us, as well. Planning for the Inevitable is called Contingency day. Every man and every woman must plan for the inevitable. Someday one of them will end up alone. What if that day were tomorrow? Every couple should have a contingency day once a year to talk about these things. wife.org/our_money/plan4inevitable.htm Let's hear from you in our next newsletter. AND if you would like your NEXT newsletter in color,go to casketstores.com/ceilidh/ceilidh.html and post on the bulletin board in the next month Try out our Classified pages too. BTW: Is this your LAST newsletter? for RENEWALS you MUST send in your check: NCRA to Treasurer: George Silva Competitive Caskets Inc. Botany Square -- 221 Dayton Ave. Clifton ,N.J. 07011 The directory will be cleaned of expired names BY SUN. Feb. 10th. UPON payment you will be mailed a new Certificate (suitable for framing) of your NCRA membership. The National Casket Retailer's Assoc. is a non profit organization and can not keep those unpaid on our mailing list. The Newsletter is also available online at our News page. A special THANK YOU to Betty Brown, A Team Master's Casket store, for the compilation & research. The newsletter is informative and it's content should be a member's source of news. Please, if you have any news, please forward to a-team@stratos.net for our next Newsletter. Also needed, help with the newsletter, please respond. It is an unpaid task -- do you have some spare time, for "the good of all"? No spare time -- well, not many of us do. But it needs your attention, please help. A woman had her husband's ashes made into an egg timer when he died so he could still "help" in the kitchen. The initials NCRA also stand for other organizations, such as North Central Regional Assoc. National Court Reporters Association National Cancer Registrars Association North Carolina Restaurant Association National Championship Racing Association The National Capital Runners' Association North Central Regional Association However our NCRA was in the top s/e results! |
Sites recommended to NCRA members -- on &
off the internet for great tools.
 "How to Plan a Funeral for Your Twelve-Year-Old" http://www.orenews.com/Advertise/pdfa-rdi/pdf/Funeral_8.25x13.pdf Partnership for a Drug-Free America® materials Request Permission (as it was AND is needed) to reprint and use the above ad. Please check the URL for additional information or for permission by sending an email from the site http://www.drugfreeamerica.org. Quote from from Heinlein and certain of the Founding Fathers: "A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, 'program a computer', (fits here) cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects." - Robert A. Heinlein Quote of The Day from Harvey Mackay " Anytime something has been done the same way over a long period of time, it's a good bet you can find a way to do it better. Author, speaker -- Tell the truth or pay the consequences From Harvey's site Link "A miracle is the achievement by an individual or group of persons of what is believed to be an 'impossible' goal through- thought motivation and ACTION !!" W. Clement Stone The NCRA is 5 yrs. old -- oldest org. of it's kind. Some laughed, lied about retailers, thought we would be buried & didn't give us a chance, but we still need your involvement. Please Email to see what openings need you. Each one member is reflective of us all. Want to try adding extra mission statement funds by recycling used Ink Jet Cartridges? Let me know. http://searchhound.com/howl/index.php?article=352 There are several images on the NCRA site that you (as only members have this privilege) can download to your own url. The image on your site will assure your visitors you are serious about what you do. That you keep up with what is happening. That your store is among the best of the retailers, because you make a difference by joining and supporting the NCRA mission statement. It is good marketing, it is an asset to display your membership status on company business cards and letterheads. Search engines will spider your site, showing your company higher in the listing, if those words are used in the search. 
Did Ya Know Or Do Ya Care?- More American kids age 3-5 recognize Ronald McDonald than Santa Claus.We all know that facing death can’t be avoided. In a single year, over 2.3 million people die in the United States.1 We see deaths taking place all around us. Some of them are staged. In fact, by the time the average child leaves elementary school, he will have witnessed 8,000 murders and 100,000 other acts of violence on TV.2 On the other hand, some of the scenes are real. The horror on the faces of Columbine High School students caught on camera as they fled their school in April 1999, will be etched in our minds for years to come. Those situations may be rare, but they do happen, and they happen to real teens. Another way teens see death in their world is through suicide. In the 26 years from 1970 to 1996, the number of people taking their own lives in the United States increased by more than 30 percent.3 It’s likely that you know of someone who has either attempted or committed suicide. See the rest of the article, learn about Good Grief and the "Tasks of Grief" http://www.family.org/teenguys/breakmag/tracts/A0017790.html www.brent.gov.uk/faqs.nsf/69bead3e83f83171802568e300703468/ 9de1752e17e262d080256ab8005ab12c!OpenDocument Metal caskets are not environmentally friendly...Wooden American style caskets are permitted. Above link, full article. National Reminiscence Week was Jan. 19th - 25th" Did you know that? geocities.com/gsfirefly/Celebrate.html will show you all of the holidays! Check out the post on the BBoard - BEST merchant services for NCRA members |