Grave Care – March 2017

spring cemetery — The exact moment of springtime – 2014

Springtime Grave Care – In Like A Lion

Across the country, springtime is coming to us in rapid fashion. Look at the news. There is harsh weather everywhere. Here in the southeast, there have been super-cell thunderstorms and a few tornado warnings.

High winds bring down tree limb and cause general disarray to cemetery grounds. These problems are an amazing source of opportunities for Grave Care Business owners.

Storms Damage Local Cemeteries

We’ve been out in the local cemeteries this month picking up branches, chainsawing problematic trees, and generally tidying things up. I have to admit, it’s hard work but it’s fun work. And, it’s VERY rewarding work.

Do you love cemeteries?
Do you love helping people?
Do you love making great money?
Do you love fulfilling and rewarding work?

If any of these are true, have you considered starting a Grave Care Business?

Start A Grave Care Business

You don’t have to be handy with a chainsaw. There are lots of other services you can offer your clients.

General plot maintenance.
Grave side floral decoration placement.
Tombstone cleaning.

These are just 3 of the services you can offer. We cover many other services in our professionally produced Grave Care Business Course.

Check out our main page to learn more about the Grave Care course. There is a tremendous amount of information and business tools to help you learn how to do this business. If you have any questions about the course (before or after your purchase), let me know.

Best of luck this spring….right now is a perfect time to get started.

Keith

Fire Ants in a Cemetery

actions Grave Care Business operators can perform to prevent irreparable damage caused by fire ants in a cemetery.

Fire ants cause damage in southern cemeteries.

Are you a fan of old 1970’s “made-for-TV” horror movies? I remember, as a young kid, watching reruns of horror movies on late-night television. Let’s see…there was Killdozer, Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark, and ANTS!!!. ANTS was always one of my favorites. The main actors in the movie dug a moat and filled it with water to protect a structure from an invading army of ants but, the entomologist in the movie told them ants can build bridges across water. So, they filled the moat with gasoline and set it afire. Yes, that movie has stuck with me all these years. I love studying ants and many other insects because of this movie even though they sometimes give me the heebie-jeebies

It turns out ants really can build floating bridges. They are very industrious.

Though not as conniving as they were in that movie, ants can be very destructive. Since moving beyond the borders of the United States, fire ant populations have moved steadily northward. Anyone in the southern regions with a basic knowledge of ants will recognize the shape and size of their familiar mounds. Cemeteries are not immune to these destructive pests. Fire ant mounds are often 2 feet in diameter. In building their nests, fire ants often dig downward several feet. In the tunneling construction of their nests, they often burrow several feet below the surface. As you can surely imagine, this tunneling action destabilized the ground. When they tunnel under heavy gravestones, the stones become unsettled and can topple under their own weight.

This phenomenon of destruction is becoming increasingly common as fire ant populations spread.

So, what can be done?

Well, there are several actions Grave Care Business operators can perform to prevent irreparable damage caused by fire ants in a cemetery. Luckily, as is the case with many services provided by Grave Care Business owners, your clients will gladly pay you to perform these services.

Before you begin to offer these services, however, there are several caveats you must be aware of before attempting to deal with fire ants in your local cemeteries.

We write about the problem of fire ants in cemeteries and how to incorporate their solution in our Grave Care Business Course offered through this website. We also discuss pricing strategies so you will know how much money to charge your customers. Additionally, we offer marketing and advertising advice to help you build a strong client base so your business makes good money year-round.

Additionally (and this is very important), we discuss the potential problems you might face when attempting to eradicate fire ants from a grave plot. It’s important to deal with ants correctly so your efforts don’t turn into a horror movie. 🙂

Have you ever thought of starting your own Grave Care Business?

If you are interested in learning how to start your own Grave Care Business, please read through our entire website to learn more about our course. You can order directly through our ordering page and we will ship it out to you promptly.

If you have any questions about the course, please let us know via our “Contact Page.”

Thank you for reading.
Keith
www.GraveCareBusiness.com

The Importance of Early Success in your Grave Care Business

In Business; Early Success Drives Future Success

When I studied Business Psychology in school, I learned the concepts of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs and Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development.

Both of these schools of thought about human psychological development discuss the importance of early development. Maslow’s Hierarchy states that there must be strong development of basic needs (food, air, water, and a feeling of safety) before a human can develop a healthy stepping stone to higher level thinking.

Piaget’s Model states that a person’s childhood plays a very important role in the child’s development into a psychologically healthy adult.

I’ve always believed in the importance of early successes in our development as healthy adults. Whether its sports, dating (and other social situations, or business, early successes build momentum. Early successes keep us motivated when the inevitable setbacks occur.

If our early experiences are defeats, our desire to stop attempting our chosen activity might suppress our desire to succeed.

There is another psychological concept of behavior called Learned Helplessness. Paraphrasing from a Wikipedia Article on Learned Helplessness: People who repeatedly fail may conclude they are incapable of improving their performance.

Think about it: if you fail over and over, you will want to give up and stop trying.

This is especially true for new business owners.

One of the reasons we developed the Grave Care Business course was to help people who are just starting (or thinking about starting) their own Grave Care Business. We believe that helping you over the initial hurdles of starting your business will give you a better chance of long term success.

There is a lot to think about when starting your Grave Care Business. Developing the services you offer, building a strong client base, and structuring your pricing (how much money you will charge for your services) are all subjects you must think about as you start your business. If you try to offer services that people are not interested in, they will not hire you. If you build a weak client base, they will not be long-term customers. If you charge too much (or too little) money, your bottom line will suffer.

The Grave Care Business Course tackles these subjects and many more.

Early success is important. If you are thinking about starting your own Grave Care Business, please read through our website to see all that is included in the course.

We love cemeteries and we love helping other people who want to start their own Grave Care Business.

If you have any questions, please let us know. You can order directly through this website and your order will be shipped promptly.

www.GraveCareBusiness.com

Cemeteries From Seattle Washington to Key West Florida

Cemeteries in (almost) all 50 States.

Earlier this month I took a trip to Key West, Florida to visit the cemeteries there including the famous Key West Cemetery. On my way back up the coast, it occurred to me I have literally crisscrossed the country over the past few years.

From the northeastern most state of Maine to the far southern reaches of Hawaii I have visited cemeteries and studied their care. From upstate Washington to this latest trip to Key West, I have been lucky enough to make note of cemeteries all across the nation. In fact, I have visited almost all of the 50 states in my lifetime and I have visited cemeteries in almost all of them. There are still a few states to visit including Alaska, North Dakota, and New Hampshire….how do I keep missing New Hampshire?

In addition to my pure interest in all these cemeteries, I have an ulterior motive of learning about local cultures and the methods people use to care for their loved-ones’ gravesites. You are a beneficiary, too. I include much of this information in the Grave Care Business Course described within this website.

I love sharing my interests in Cemeteries and Grave Care.

If you have ever thought about starting your own Grave Care Business, I encourage you to purchase the Grave Care Business Course. It is designed to help you start and grow your own Grave Care Business.

If you have any questions, we are always happy to help.

And….if you live in Alaska, North Dakota, or New Hampshire, I’m planning to visit your local cemeteries soon.

Learn more about the Grave Care Business Course here:
Grave Care Business Course

Personal Goals Advance Your Business Goals

This blog post is longer than my normal post. Read it through to fully see its importance. I convey the idea that personal goal setting has broad and positive implications in your life. Work toward your goals with positive enthusiastic energy. You will be rewarded.

Choose Your Goals Carefully

Personal goals advance your business goals. I’d like to share a perfect example of the way a seemingly unrelated personal goal will greatly advance your business goals.

In January, I outlined my goals for this year. I wrote a blog post briefly discussing the idea of goal setting at the beginning of a new year. I am a strong believer in making goals. WITHOUT A GOAL YOU CANNOT SCORE.

I am a strong believer in writing goals down on paper.
I am a strong believer in writing the reasons behind the goals.
I am a strong believer in plotting courses to achieve the goals.

Writing goals down on paper establishes a physical connection to your goals. The physical act of holding a pen in your hand and writing a goal on paper causes a physical investment on your part. Have you heard the term “you must have skin in the game”? Writing your goals on paper is the first part of having “skin in the game.” The goal is not just a passing thought if you make the effort to write it down.

Second; writing down a REASON for the goal helps you establish a “bigger picture” of the goal. For example; if your goal is to start your own business, you might write down that you want to start your own business to have more money for retirement. The idea of more money for retirement supports your efforts of starting your own business.

Third; plotting a course gives you a direction to travel in attaining your goals. You cannot begin a journey without having an initial course. Likewise, you cannot start a business without an initial business plan or business model. Yes, your course will change and you will make adjustments along the journey but you MUST have a course to travel before you start.

As I shared in an earlier blog posting, my goals for this year included:

1) Do a better job researching and exploring cemeteries.
2) Learn about the culture of cemetery care in every cemetery I visit.
3) Improve my ability to travel so I can visit cemeteries in a wide range of geographic locations.

Anyone who reads this blog and keeps up with my Cemetery Exploration channel on YouTube knows that I love being on the water. As you might have seen in some of my Cemetery Exploration Videos, I use my abilities of sailing, power boating, and kayaking to visit hard to reach cemeteries and cemeteries in foreign lands.

When I developed my goals for this year, I tried to develop a method by which I could increase my skills on the water and put those skills to use in my cemetery research. I did this through education. In the first quarter of this year, I completed a 56 hour licensing course on becoming a ship’s captain. Now, I will admit that a 56 hour course, by itself, does not give me the ability to captain a large vessel. However, having my Captain’s License improves my knowledge and increases my ability to travel on such vessels.

I’m happy to announce that I passed all my exams and I am currently awaiting final paperwork for my Captain’s License.

Here’s the beautiful part:

a friend of a friend who knows I have earned my Captain’s License needs help moving a large sailing vessel from Key West, Florida to Charleston, South Carolina next week. Because of the Captain’s License I earned this year, I have been invited to work as crew during this trip.

Now, how does this relate to cemetery research? Well, Key West, Florida and Charleston, South Carolina have amazing cemeteries. The cemetery in Key West has hundreds of fantastic tombstones and I will be able to study the care that is given to them under the harsh south Florida sunshine. The innumerable cemeteries of Charleston require special care of their own. Those cemeteries are packed into nooks and crannies of Charleston’s small church yards.

This opportunity of sailing from Key West, Florida to Charleston, South Carolina and having the ability to visit the cemeteries in each of those towns would not have presented itself if I hadn’t been active in advancing my education of driving boats.

The Law of Intended Consequences

When I wrote down my goal to “improve my ability to travel so I can visit cemeteries in a wide range of geographic locations” I looked for a skill that I already possessed (sailing) and thought about how I could use that skill to increase my ability to visit cemeteries. I had no idea earning my Captain’s License would pay such quick dividends. I could not have envisioned that improving a skill I already possessed would allow me to study cemeteries in two fantastic towns within one month of completing the Captain’s License exams. However, I knew that working hard to earn a Captain’s License would present unimagined opportunities. I believe the Universe works that way….I believe when you work hard and put your energy into work that you love, you are rewarded with unforeseen opportunities.

So, I’ll ask YOU:

What are your goals for this year?

Just because it’s not January anymore does not mean your goals are at a Dead End.

Grave Care is a Rewarding Business Model

The pages of this website describe the Grave Care Business Course designed to help entrepreneurs start and grow their own Grave Care Businesses. I love cemeteries and I know there are other people who share my love of cemeteries and want to start a small business doing what they love. Grave Care is a rewarding business. Your clients will be very grateful that you are caring for their loved-ones’ precious grave sites. They will be happy to pay you good money to do work you enjoy. This is a great business and right now is a perfect time to start your own Grave Care Business.

If you have already read the Grave Care Business Course description and are ready to purchase, you can click the “Buy Now” link below and we will ship that right out to you via priority mail. If you need some more time, please feel free to look through this website for a full description of the material. Feel free to ask us questions via our Contact Form. We love cemeteries and are always happy to help.

Thank you:
Keith
www.GraveCareBusiness.com

Purchase the Full Course Program Here:

Grave Care Business in Big Demand – Non-Perpetual Care Cemeteries

Heavy undergrowth damages tombstones and grave markers in Atlanta’s Hollywood Cemetery.
Grave Care Business Owners Make Great Money Maintaining Grave Plots

As budget cuts deteriorate the availability of paid workers at perpetual care cemeteries, cemetery management companies are forced to reduce the amount of maintenance performed by their workers. “It takes a lot of time, effort, and money to properly care for large cemeteries” say representatives from GraveCareBusiness.com “We find that cemetery management companies are in a continual struggle to reduce their payroll costs. In some cemeteries, this means the gravesites must be maintained by the families of the interred.” A new niche business idea is growing in popularity that allows entrepreneurs to make money providing grave site services. GraveCareBusiness.com is a website that provides instructions to people who want to start their own Grave Care Businesses. “Grave Care is an ideal business for people who work well by themselves and want to make good money providing grave care for families who can’t do the work themselves.”

Non-perpetual care cemeteries are of particular interest to grave care business owners. Family members whose loved-ones are buried in non-perpetual care cemeteries are often willing to pay for services not provided by the cemeteries. “Floral placement, grave stone cleaning, and general plot maintenance are just 3 services provided by many grave care business owners.” The spokesperson for GraveCareBusiness.com emphasizes that most Managed Care Cemeteries normally do a great job of mowing the grass and performing general upkeep but fine detail work is often omitted or underperformed. “We find family members are very willing to pay someone to keep the gravesite up to their standards. Often, an elderly spouse can no longer visit the gravesite and adult children have moved away from home.”

Charging people money for grave care is a niche business and there is very little competition for these services. Many communities do not have anyone in the area offering the specific service of floral placement, plot maintenance, and tombstone cleaning. There are also other services such as grave sitting and grave stone resetting. “I began this service when an elderly lady I knew asked me to mow the grass around her husband’s grave site. It was a new and exciting business venture. I love exploring old cemeteries and I began making money doing something I loved to do anyway.” GraveCareBusiness.com was founded to help people start their own grave care businesses.

There is a huge demand for grave care services across the nation. Some cemeteries are well maintained but there are a great many large and small cemeteries that are not cared for properly. “We are continually visiting cemeteries where grave plots are unmaintained. Family members will pay good money if someone is just willing to do the work. Starting a Grave Care Business takes a little bit of work. Grave Care is a rewarding business where you are truly helping others and making good money working in the peaceful surrounding of your local cemeteries.”

GraveCareBusiness.com offers a professionally produced Grave Care Business training course to help people start and operate their own successful Grave Care Businesses. For more information, visit their main website: (link below)

Grave Care and Maintenance Business

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Grave Care – Culture, Weather, & Geology Affect Cemetery Maintenance

As you go about starting your own Grave Care Business, you will benefit yourself greatly by realizing there are differences in cemetery care depending on 3 main factors.

1) Local Human Culture – local belief systems and acceptable grave care practices differ from community to community. Your understanding of local culture allows you to cater your services in a wide range of cemeteries in your local area.

2) Local Weather Climate – weather and seasonality determine the types of profitable services you should provide your clients throughout the year. Opportunities for spring, summer, fall, and winter services allow you to make money year-round.

3) Local Geological Attributes – soil substrates, types of local rock used for tombstones, and erosive forces in your local cemeteries affect your ability to provide proper services. Application of your knowledge of local geology will make you a MUCH better Grave Care Professional.

I have spent the more than 20 years visiting and studying cemeteries world-wide to gain greater understanding of their care. It should come as no surprise that a cemetery in upstate New York will require different care than a cemetery in southern Mississippi. Cemeteries in Hawaii are bound by different forces of culture, climate, and geology than cemeteries in other parts of the United States or in other countries of the world like England, New Zealand, or Italy.

Human Culture, Climate, and Geology affect acceptable practices and methods of cemetery care.

Let’s look at three examples of cemeteries I visited recently. Culture, climate, and geology affect each of these cemeteries differently.

1) The first example is a cemetery in the deep southern part of Mississippi. Local culture in this Mississippi Cemetery embraces chain-linked fence surrounding each grave plot. Since proper grave care and cemetery maintenance should be tailored to the local culture, a grave care professional who services grave plots in this cemetery will get more clients and will make more money by providing chain link fence maintenance in addition to other grave care services.

2) The second example is a cemetery in Northern Scotland. Scottish Cemeteries face fierce weather climates. Winter howls with gale force winds in this part of the world. Those winds and winter storms add stress to fragile centuries old tombstones. Along Scotland’s coast line, there is salt in the air from the mist of seawater splashing fearsly against craggy outcroppings during violent north sea storms. The very atmosphere of Scotland’s weather climate demands adjustments to the level of care provided by a Grave Care Business in that part of the world.

3) The third example I want to look at today is Hawaiian Cemeteries. Hawaiian Cemeteries are intimately linked to their local geological forces. Especially on the Big Island of Hawaii, hardened substrate from recent lava flows should be paramount in the minds of Grave Care Professionals servicing these cemeteries. Plot maintenance practices should be adjusted to accentuate local natural features. On my recent trip to Hawaii to study cemeteries there, I discovered that understanding the geology of the area and the effects of active plate tectonics will greatly increase the profitability of a Grave Care Business in that region of the world.

These are only three examples of cemeteries requiring vastly different care based on human culture, weather climate, and geology.

We’d love to hear from you. Share with us information about your local cemeteries. What cultural, climatological, and geological variables affect the cemeteries where you live? If you love cemeteries, leave a comment below and tell us about the forces affecting your local cemeteries.

My name is Keith. I have a life-long love of cemeteries. In addition to visiting and studying cemeteries for myself, I believe a financial incentive can help people care for and maintain their local cemeteries. Family members of those who are interred in local cemeteries will gladly pay you money to provide general plot maintenance, tombstone cleaning, and floral decoration on grave stones. Everyone wins in this arrangement. The families are grateful you are providing these services, the cemeteries attain a better level of care, and you make money with your own small Grave Care Business.

IF you’ve ever thought about starting a Grave Care Business, we provide a comprehensive Grave Care Business training course to help you get stared and grow your own successful Grave Care Business. The course provides even more information on the 3 subjects listed above as well as a HUGE amount of material on starting your own grave care business.

To learn more and purchase the course materials, please visit our website:

Grave Care Business – Training Course and Instruction

If you have questions about the course, please let us know on our CONTACT page. We love cemeteries and are always happy to help.

Dash Camera helps Grave Care Business

In my grave care activities, I am always looking for techniques and technologies helpful to grave care business owners.

The newest piece of technology I’ve implemented in my business is a dash camera. Watch the video below to see how it helps me with my cemetery explorations.

Start your own Grave Care Business:
Grave Care Business Training Course

Grave Care and Cemetery Maintenance – Looking ahead to 2018

Sunset In The Cemetery – After a Most Peaceful Day’s Work.

Today (January 5, 2015), the first work day of the new year, I found myself engulfed in projects I’ve been promising and goals I have wanted to accomplish since early December. Time passed seamlessly and before I knew the day was drawing to a close I looked up to see a most beautiful sunset.

The new year is a chance to refresh and renew and to set goals to accomplish.

In this new year, I know you have many goals of your own to accomplish. I would love to year your main goal. Is it to become more physically fit? Start eating right? Make more money? Find work you enjoy? Start your own business?

If you have read through this website, you have learned that we offer a professionally produced Grave Care Business Course. This course is designed to help you start and operate your own successful Grave Care Business. The course has recently been updated and it is a perfect way for you to start the new year.

If you love cemeteries and have ever though about start a business providing these services, this course is perfect for you. We monitor this site daily and we will ship your parcel as soon as we receive your order.

Grave Care Business – Three Course Levels

Please let us know if you have any questions. We are always happy to help.

Grave Care Business – Work Van

Grave Care Work Van — A functional work vehicle will increase the money you make in your business.

Grave Care Business – a versatile business vehicle will help you make more money in your grave care business.

Hi Everyone:

I added a new Grave Care Business work van last month.

This van has already positively improved my effectiveness working in cemeteries. If you are thinking about starting your own Grave Care Business, proper vehicle selection will help your business run smoother and more profitably.

Functionality is one of the reasons I chose this van. In addition to professional appearance and proper service, the work van adds functionality to my business. Last week, I had a small landscaping job and the van proved its functionality. This job included hauling and spreading straw over a newly landscaped plot. Straw provides erosion control. I was not driving my company’s work truck when I needed the straw. So, instead of heading back to the office for the work truck, I simply stowed the seats in the back of the van and loaded the straw through the rear hatch.

Grave Care Business owners often have the need for functional vehicles. We often carry straw, tomb stone cleaning materials, or floral decorations. Owning a functional and versatile business vehicle greatly improves effectiveness in business operations.

Have you ever thought about starting your own grave care business? Whether you want to provide plot maintenance, tombstone cleaning, or other grave care services, our professionally produced Grave Care Business Course will help you start & grow your own Grave Care Business.

For more information on the course, please visit our main website by clicking this link: