Before you spend another hour thinking about your next reel or wondering why the algorithm hates you this week - I want to make a case for something a lot of death workers overlook. Your local newspaper. I know. Bear with me. When the Blue Mountains Gazette ran a piece about the Death Café I host here in Lawson, my phone rang for weeks. People who had never heard of me. People who had been quietly wondering if there was anyone doing this kind of work nearby. Families I am now holding, because a journalist asked a few questions and wrote a story. Local media still carries weight in a way social media doesn’t. It lands on kitchen tables. It gets passed to a neighbour. It signals to your community that you are a real person, doing real work, in the actual place they live. And recently, I was approached about paying for an advert in a “planning ahead” feature of our local paper. Clearly they hadn’t had many takers - but here’s what struck me. It was little ole independent me, and the one big corporation-owned facility that holds pretty much the entire market in this area. Side by side. Same page. That’s the thing about showing up in local media. It puts you in the conversation. It doesn’t matter that they have more money, more staff and a brand that’s been here for decades. You’re there too. And for the family quietly doing their research, that matters more than you might think. This week: look at your local paper. There are two ways in: A paid advert. Small, well-worded, consistent. Doesn’t need to sell anything. Just needs to say you exist and what you do. A story pitch. Think about what angle a local journalist might actually care about. Death Café hosting. Families who choose home funerals. The rising cost of funerals and what alternatives exist. Local Death Doulas. The history of burial in your region. You probably have more stories in you than you think - and journalists are often looking for them. Write down one pitch idea this week. One local journalist’s name and contact. One small ad concept.

Death care content can feel like shouting into the void sometimes - especially in the early days, especially on platforms that don’t always love what we talk about. So let’s make it a little less lonely… Drop your handles below - Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, wherever you’re showing up - and let’s go find each other. Follow, engage, share what moves you. This is how we build something together. 🐦‍⬛ I’ll go first: Insta - https://www.instagram.com/amyfirthministry TT - https://www.tiktok.com/@aussiedeathcarelady Facebook - www.facebook.com/amyfirthmusic The Visible Death Worker: https://www.instagram.com/visibledeathworker https://www.tiktok.com/@visibledeathworker Amy x

It's so wonderful to see you all start to arrive - I feel like the excited/nervous party host who's spent way too long decorating and tidying... now it's time to exhale and receive the joy of you each arriving... :) Feel free to share a quick intro in the comments below... perhaps: where you're based, what you do & one main struggle you have with promoting your work/services... GO! x