Published on: 21 February 2019
Last Updated on: 08 August 2019
Cremation is usually a go-to option for most people because it is very affordable and convenient for most people as it does not involve a lot of costs as compared to normal burials. Some people usually include this in their last remarks as they may not want to burden their loved ones with a large unreal bill after they die. In most states, the costs for cremation usually vary between $600 and $3000 which is lower compared to holding funeral services and burials. There are a number of tips one can consider when getting cheap cremation services. They include;
1. You Need To Compare Providers:
Prices between a variety of providers can vary greatly. You need to start by contacting the various funeral homes surrounding your area since most funeral homes provide cremation services. It is essential to inquire about the services they offer in terms of how much they charge and which is the least expensive cremation option. A service such as direct cremation includes packages such as picking up the body from the morgue, assisting in completion of the paperwork, the actual cremation itself and also providing the ashes to the family. You should also ask on the possibility of having a memorial service that is if your family wants to have a memorial service. You can also get referrals from friends and relatives or through local funeral guides. There are also some volunteer groups that have a range of information when it comes to locating cremation services.
2. You Can Also Consider Getting Low-Cost Urns:
The urn is an item that is likely to increase your funeral and burial expenses. These urns usually cost around $300 however you are not required to get an urn. Most funeral homes after cremation usually place the ashes in a plastic bag and then insert them in a plastic box. The box can also serve as an alternative to an urn especially when you are planning to have the ashes scattered. However, if you want to have something where you can display the ashes then you should go for a cheap urn. There are places where you can get urns for as low as $25, or you can use an old cookie jar or a container for purposes of cutting costs.
3. Consider Seeking For Financial Help:
In some instances, you may find that you may not be able to afford the financial costs that come with cremation, you can opt to seek help. There are some places where towns provide financial aid through social services if your family is not able to meet the cremation costs.
4. Free Cremation Option:
This is another option to consider when looking for cheap cremation services. You can donate the body to a medical school which will use it to carry out research and then cremates the remains for free. After cremation, they can scatter the ashes in a cemetery or return them to your family. The drawback for this option is that it takes a long time since the students have to have completed their research in order to give you the ashes.
These are the various tips you need to consider when looking for cremation services
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Are you heading to a trade show?
Anyone who's ever tried putting together a public product launch knows a trade show checklist is essential to standing out. After all, your competition includes anywhere from 50-250 companies as hungry as yours.
Each one will bring passion and planning to their table. You have to assume that anyway. With that assumption in mind, here's what your to-do list should look like.
1. Get the Budget on Paper
Any preparing for a trade show checklist should start with the finances. How much money do you have allocated for things like marketing, travel, personnel, and materials?
Will you be there for the launch of a new product? Or will your attendance be more informational in nature?
Either way, there's going to be overheard. Will that overhead, justify the projected cost-benefit you hope to achieve from the trade show itself?
This isn't something you should ballpark. Details reduce expenses and create profits. They also provide a benchmark for future trade show marketing efforts.
Some other benefits of budgeting include the following:
Ensuring you don't overspend
Helping achieve profitability if you plan on selling anything
Providing relevant numbers for tax purposes
Giving you a clear idea of which spending efforts are producing the best results
And that's just a start. You also may be able to create partnerships from these exhibitions that inform data such as the cost of customer acquisition or indirect revenue generation.
2. Make the SMART Objectives
Any trade show exhibitor checklist will need to be written in the form of objectives. Objectives are specific things you hope to accomplish in the planning, execution, and breakdown of your trade show exhibition.
But for objectives to be effective, they need to be SMART, not smart. (Okay, maybe it's both.) By SMART, we mean:
Specific: Your list shouldn't say, "Pack up all trade show materials." It should say, "Pack booth into box truck rental." In other words, each item or group of items should have tailored directives.
Measurable: You should be able to look at your objective and determine whether (and how) it was accomplished. This ensures you remember to pack the important stuff. It also helps avoid partial shipments.
Action-oriented: Each piece of your inventory or each goal you hope to achieve should be attached to an action verb. Think "employ," "carry," "ensure," etc.
Realistic: Can it actually be done? Or are you trying to do too much, too quickly?
Time-sensitive: Being time-sensitive keeps you on track. It makes sure everything gets the level of attention it deserves.
Make sure your trade show preparation aligns with these components. Doing so will ensure all your objectives are SMART ones.
3. Learn Your Audience
Another essential step in how to prepare for a trade show is getting to know the people who will be there. Take the annual San Diego Comic-Con, for example.
Superhero, horror, and fantasy films and TV series earn billions of dollars each year. But that's from general audience support.
The audience at Comic-Con is a lot different. A lot more, shall we say, fanatical?
Playing to their sensibilities have made Comic-Con one of the largest and most successful trade shows in the world. Exhibitors give the people what they want.
These "fanatics" create a culture of fandom that helps put whatever property they're supporting on the radar of general consumers. Only when exhibitors fail to make that connection to the fanatics do their films/TV shows fall flat. So make sure your audience is priority number one.
4. Make Early Reservations
Content should be your primary focus. You need your attention on it early and often. So get room and space reservations out of the way early.
Determine how many are going, how many rooms you'll need, and when you plan on arriving. It usually doesn't cost anything to make a room reservation, especially when you get ahead of it.
5. Dot I's and Cross T's
What are the legal terms of your attendance? Is there anything you may be overlooking?
Don't just assume you can show up and be good to go. Read the fine print. It's not a bad idea to hand it off to your attorney either, especially when the contracts are written in legalese.
6. Figure out Your Materials
Will you have any tents with your logo on them? Printed marquees or business cards?
Flyers, handouts, reports, books - what will help you leave your mark so the audience doesn't forget you after visiting 40 other booths?
Now's the time to figure it out. Don't be afraid to try something no one has thought of before.
7. Test Your Wares
Launching a product at the trade show? You don't want the show itself to be the first test run you give to it.
If it's possible for the product to break or malfunction, make sure it happens long before accepting your first customer. Do extensive testing on your advanced prototypes in the weeks or months leading up to the event.
8. Work out Installation
Any trade show exhibit will have a "storefront" of some kind. It could be a simple gateleg table or a more elaborate booth. Whatever you choose, make sure you've got the manpower and the timing down to get it installed so your people can get comfortable with the environment before accepting guests.
9. Select Your Reps
Ideally, your representatives will be an even mixture of competent and personable. Now that package can be hard to come by in just one employee. Do a deep assessment of your talent and make sure they complement one another.
You wouldn't want a couple of Big Bang Theory-type programmers manning a software demonstration if they weren't very good with people. The goal is to make the product accessible to general customers. Always keep the intention in mind.
10. Make Sure You Document It
What good is a successful trade show if you can't blast out pictures on social media? Whether paid or organic, the exposure you can get from a few well-tagged, well-captioned photos gives you a lot more bang for your buck - and meaningful relationships - than a dozen Super Bowl ads.
11. Identify Your Neighbors (And Competitors)
Part of getting comfortable with the surroundings in which you'll be operating is reaching out to the people around you. You're both in a strange new setting. Even if you're competitors, it's not going to hurt to introduce yourself and share pleasantries while waiting for the crowds to build.
Beyond passing the time, however, identifying your neighbors and competition gives you a chance to learn from them and they from you. Watching each other work in the same environment will tell you whether it's a positive or negative interaction, and it can give you ample ideas for next time.
12. Actively Promote Yourself on Social Media
Promoting the event is important before, during, and afterward. It's important before for a rather obvious reason - you want people to show up.
During the event? Just as essential. That's because you can pick up impulse traffic with your social media posts or provide updates to followers who couldn't feasibly be at your location.
Finally, afterward is a nice time to reflect, post pictures, tag new and existing contacts, and make a new checklist of the things you'll do the same (and differently) next year.
One final tip here is to consider building a paid marketing campaign before the event. That said, you can go a long way with organic if you bring your relationship marketing skills to the social network.
13. Bring Your A-Game to the Event
In many cases, trade shows are the biggest events of the year for a business. They're a great way to get whatever you do in front of the people or companies who can help take them to the next level.
As such, you don't want your B-Team working the room. As mentioned before, bring your most knowledgeable and outgoing people to the event.
But don't stop there. Ensure they've prepared a list of personal objectives for the event. Make sure they get the proper rest and show up to the event in proper attire and ahead of schedule.
14. Ensure Demobilization
Finally, demobilization is an important part of the trade show experience. That's because conference halls often limit the amount of time you have to clear out your displays and materials before they start charging past the contracted time.
Either hire a moving company ahead of time or ensure you bring along the appropriate amount of muscle to disband and transport trade show materials away from the location. And it helps to have an effective portable trade show display going into the event.
Make Your Trade Show Checklist a Priority
Your trade show checklist will be one of the most important documents you have when gearing up for a major event. The other stuff is important too - exhibits, materials, accommodations, but something inevitably will fall by the wayside if you wing it.
And while you're here, check out our top tips to help you build a brand for your small business.
Did you ever come across what is called the ‘mob mentality’? Well, most of us have heard about this, but you’ve probably never heard the actual term that is used to describe this: Deindividuation. Whenever several people are put inside a group, they might tend to lose their identity and behave in ways that are not normal to them. Most often, it is innocent behavior to which people participate but this is not always true. Deindividuation is a rather serious and grave issue for several reasons.
What are self-awareness and individual identity?
Before you get to know what deindividuation is, we first need to understand what it is not. In the easiest form, you are what your identity is and this is what makes you who you are. Your thoughts, beliefs, self-awareness, and behaviors all are results of your identity. As long as self-awareness is concerned, it deals with knowing who you are in accordance with the standards that you’ve set for yourself. You get to know your desires, morals, and character. These are things that make you who you are.
Deindividuation – What is it?
Deindividuation occurs when a person is made a part of the crowd and when he starts losing his individual identity. They gradually tend to lose their own self and forget how they are as an individual. The more the person gets involved within a group, the less awareness he has about his own self. He forgets his characters, morals, and beliefs. These things begin to get replaced through the identity of the group.
The best examples of groups that people think for such type of behavior might include cult, gang and even large mobs. The military is also a great example. You need to remember that all deindividuation is not a bad thing. In the case of military training, people tend to push themselves harder to meet the goals if they weren’t a part of a group. They have incorporated the identity of the group which has made an impact on what they believe they’re capable of.
The potential dangers
What are the negative things that happen to people when they go through deindividuation? Here are a few things:
People lose their self-restraint. They tend to get caught in the mentality of the crowd and act in a similar way the crowd is acting.
He/she imbibes a sense of anonymity. When a person acts in a way that is similar to the crowd, they feel they can’t be found.
There is shared responsibility. When people act in a group, they feel that the responsibility is shared.
So, if you’re someone who is going through deindividuation, you should try your best to get back your lost identity so that you can act according to your own self. Check out for more details on the dangers of deindividuation.
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Retirement homes in modern-day societies have proven more fantasy than reality, and it is because we are now an industrial-driven society. Retirement homes are designed to accommodate the people in society in their old age. It is usually intended for the people who wish to maintain their lifestyles as they experience life with great on-site support and complete care.
Retirement homes differ from nursing homes, and they are also referred to as the assisted living facilities. Nursing homes are designed to offer help or assistance to individuals who need prolonged medical care, and they help them focus on healing by enabling their independence.
Types of Retirement Homes-
There are several types of retirement homes that people select depending on their specific needs for older adults.
1. The subsidized senior housing:
According to the recently researched research, senior people of age have a hard time finding a living place. The same also applies to the retirement facilities, so the subsidized senior housing was founded.
The programs help older adults who have low incomes with the opportunity to stay or live in government-sanctioned designed homes, including apartments and townhomes.
2. Congregate care:
It is a well-designed apartment where an individual lives in an apartment with an independent setting and commonly includes the following areas; dining area, activity areas, and a central lobby.
The way the retirement homes are set allows people to uphold their independence continually. These homes are usually privately paid, and they still qualify for the housing assistance programs.
3. Retirement communities:
They are typically master-planned areas where people can live privately in condos, stand-alone structures, apartments, and condos.
They promote independence as they deliver an active social scene. They have rage restrictions starting from fifty-five years, and beyond as they are privately funded, they have income restrictions, and subsidizations are rare, but people can apply for them.
4. Continuing Care Retirement Communities:
They actively meet the modern-day and the future requirements as they allow the individuals who are in good shape in terms of health plan for the potential medical problems that may arise in the future and the feature assisted living and congregate care programs in a particular campus.
No matter the residents' condition, they have been enabled to stay within the environment that they are familiar with without discrimination. The living areas rarely accept government programs' subsidization as they are funded privately.
The monthly cost of retirement home care:
When it comes to selecting a retirement for the elderly in our homes and the society at large, if pretty straightforward, finding the home's expenses is not as easy as it sounds. Supporting the retirement facilities is challenging to the owners, and the residents are required to pay some fees to help supplement the vast costs. Each home has different rates and operating rules.
Hence, all the seniors or the family members have to consider choosing a home that will not strain them financially.
Preparation benefits:
Identifying the various types of retirement homes and subsequent demand for fees is not the last step in the whole process. Individuals need to plan for the many needs carefully, considering all aspects of the homes. Planning at times is a long life plan investment that provides for;
Setting money aside for the retirements and needed long-term care
Planning for long-term goals
Understanding the insurance coverage capability
Prepare for the long –term care
Understanding the housing options for the elderly is essential; hence, it is important to continually seek information regarding retirement homes and the associated costs for efficient planning and understanding government involvement.
What to consider when selecting a retirement home-
1. Consideration of the future health requirements:
A majority of the retirement homes like Sienna Living offer various amenities and services that aim to make life in these areas livable and enjoyable. They have different recreational activities and fitness classes. There is a higher probability that the selected retirement home does not have their medical care provision, unlike in the care community continuum.
There is a higher chance that you will have to relocate or have home-based health services if you need to have daily care. Consider moving into a retirement community to avoid all the hustles and choose the facility that provides assisted living and qualified medical care.
2. Get detailed information:
Get all the required information about the chosen retirement home and if they suit your specific needs. Find out all the cost information and whether they are subject to increase and the conditions that lead to their increase.
Dig deeper and know if there have been any fee increase in the last five years and then compare all the chosen homes' fee requirements.
3. Go through the reviews and the background of the home:
Know the home management, their named accomplishments and their standards of offered services, specific operations, and if they meet their set goals. Checking their online reviews is also as important as thoroughly conducting the home's background check. You will get different opinions of their services' satisfaction rates in the people.
4. Meeting the residents:
If you want to get a clear picture of the specific retirement home's quality, you will need to get firsthand information directly from the residents. Visiting the community will help you assess the whole area personally and see how life continues as you may have to spend your next chapter of life there.
5. Check the recreational activities available:
It is crucial to check the various recreational activities available in the retirement home, including the cultural, educational, and social activities. Know if there is a means of transport or they use public means and if there is a planner who organizes for the recreational activities. Check if they have a working gym, pool, golf course, or the other desired recreational facilities.
Other factors to consider include:
Getting the family into an agreement
Creating a wish list
Creating the must-have list
In conclusion, retirement homes are designed to accommodate the senior people in our society, and they need to be designed in a matter that accommodates their needs. Proper planning for the whole retirement home idea should way before one retires to have enough finances for the associated living costs.
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