Stop Guessing and Googling to Grow Your Doula Business
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00:04
Welcome to doula Tips and Tits. This podcast is a place where we answer one question about doula work, both to support you and to help you support your clients. I'm Kaylee Harrod. I've been supporting families in this perinatal space since my oldest was born, 12, nearly 13 years ago.
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I am a birth and postpartum doula childbirth educator, La Leche League leader, and a doula coach. I love guiding and supporting doulas as they work out their Doula business. It is a tremendous joy to be trusted in this way.
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Thank you for joining us on this journey. Hello and welcome back to doula Tips and Tits. Today's episode is called Stop Guessing and Googling in Your doula Business. I feel like I just want to amp myself up for a second that my naming is just on point today.
00:56
I'm not sure why that is, but guessing and googling, chef's kiss, right? Like, ah, yes. So good. The point of today's episode is that you are potentially allowing Google and your own guessing and also people like random strangers on Facebook to tell you how to run your doula business.
01:18
And that is concerning to say the least. I say that with so much empathy because starting out as the new doula, I had zero dollars actually, like truly zero dollars to start my business. And so the amount of like googling and learning from free classes and things like that I had to do was insane because I knew nothing and I had to learn everything myself.
01:49
Now, I now have a business coach, which is the most magical thing ever. And I'm of course the fan of you having a business coach. Me, of course, if that feels like a good fit for you, but for the longest time I was the one literally figuring everything out in my business and let me just tell you it is exhausting and maybe you're listening to this and you're like yes Kaylee I know because I'm doing that right now.
02:18
The reality is that inevitably if that's what you're doing you're going to find out later that you're doing some things wrong and that's a hard thing to learn. It's a hard thing to learn it's also sometimes a costly mistake to make right because if you're doing things incorrectly and then later you have to correct them you might be like well shit now I have to completely undo this thing or stop doing this thing that I have been doing that I thought was fine but turns out it's not fine.
02:45
That's a big deal so you're a whole business owner pull up your big kid pants and make sure you're doing things accurately. Now the reason that this really matters I think is that I want you to be like a whole doula empire, right?
03:03
Like I realized that you might be listening to this and like that is not even my aim, Kaylee. But I want you to have a thriving business. In order to have a thriving business, you have to do business correctly and do business well.
03:15
And so that is what I want you to lean into is this feeling of like, how do I just do business in a way that is like killing it, you know? Like what does that look like? And how do I do that really, really well, okay?
03:32
Now, when I think about guessing and Googling, one of the concerns is that you might be surprised to hear this, but not everyone online is an expert like they say or think they are. And you know, that might be surprising to you.
03:52
Like you might be like, really? I thought that Googling always gave me accurate information. Turns out, no, that's not true. But what can happen as small business owners especially is that we can get kind of sucked into a method of doing something because we're coming to this work not knowing certain areas of business.
04:20
So let's just say Instagram marketing, right? Social media marketing. If you're like, I know nothing about social media. Like I don't know how to use the algorithm. I don't know what the algorithm even is.
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Like, I don't know what best practices are. I don't know, should I post? Should I real? Should I story? Should I live? Like, what do I do? How do I do it? When do I do it, right? Like all of that, all of that, we come with that.
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And therefore, if someone says, hey, friend, I have an amazing free class about the best seven things to do in Instagram free marketing. or social media marketing, you're going to eat that up, right?
05:03
And then you may find that those seven practices aren't actually applied universally, right? Like these are only things that are for businesses that sell like virtual services or that sell, you know, online products and not service -based businesses.
05:23
And so you, my friend, as a doula, are a service -based business. Now you may become an eShop or something like that in the future if you have also some like electronic offerings or like eBooks or templates or whatever.
05:37
But for the moment, if you're a doula, and that's primarily what you're doing, you're a service -based business. If you're a lactation consultant, if you are a childbirth educator, you're a service -based business.
05:48
That is what that is, right? Marketing is not a one -size -fits -all scenario. Now, there are some general rules. I'm not saying you can't learn anything. I learned so many things from about 1 ,072 online free classes over the last six years.
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And to be honest with you, it makes me a little bit overwhelmed and, like, dizzy to think about the number of free classes I have taken over the last six years and how unhelpful many of them were, either in that they gave me, like, the teeniest little bit of information but actually nothing working that I can, like, work with, or in that they talked like this is the thing that everyone should be doing and then I did it and it did not work for me, right?
06:37
And what I think is our business is unique. doula work is unique. So, if you have someone telling you how to run marketing campaigns to a service -based business that has a longer life of clients, like, they don't have, like, a nine -month shelf life, right, then you have different practices and needs, a little bit more aggressive practices and needs because you need to get people in now before they have their baby.
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They don't have two, three years to, like, warm up and be nurtured and get on your email list and things like that. No, they can't, they can't really do that for a long time because they need to buy your class, like, right now, buy your services right now because they're about to have their baby in a few months, right?
07:27
So, what I see sometimes is straight up just bad information, of course, like, you're guessing and Googling, you're getting some crappy info. The other thing you're getting is unhelpful information that ultimately makes you do a bunch of work that you actually did not need to do and you shouldn't have done and then you maybe have to undo it.
07:46
I can't tell you the number of times I've had a whole system set out for something that I thought I was doing correctly, found out I was not doing it correctly, had to completely revamp the entire system.
07:55
It's, like, days of my life. Just wasted. Just gone forever, right? The other thing is that these people are not speaking from a place of a doula business. Now, obviously, if you're coming to like a master class with me, you're getting information that is not a guess.
08:14
It's not a Google search, right? It is specifically for doulas tailored to doulas. And I have space for you to ask questions about your actual doula practice. That is different. I'm not saying that there is no online offerings that are worthwhile and beneficial.
08:31
Obviously, I don't believe that because my own offerings I think are both worthwhile and beneficial, right? But I'm not the only one. Like there are other amazing doula coaches out there and they do factor in how your business works as a doula.
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But if you're learning from random business owner, they do not necessarily have that framework. And they are not functioning with that in mind. They're certainly not giving you on Google or on their blog or whatever a like tailored to you approach to doing this thing.
09:05
So while I think there are times in business when the only thing you have is guessing and googling because you just don't have the financial means to invest in coaching or invest in an expert in something that you're needing to learn.
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But I think when you can invest, you should invest. I really cannot reiterate enough how much my business has grown and flourished since I've had a coach that I could ask all the questions that I for so long have just wondered if I was doing it correctly.
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Like truly life changing, right? And so I want you to also have that freedom. Like that's what I want for you. That's what you should have in terms of guidance. It should not feel like random person talking to a screen, not connecting with me and who I am and giving me guidance on my doula business.
10:07
That is what you need, not random people on Google or Facebook or wherever else giving you guidance and coaching on your doula business. So this is coming out at the beginning of April. That means you have a very short amount of time before we have our April 8th free masterclass client chemistry.
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Getting and keeping clients in a way that makes your business thrive and grow and feel amazing and fulfilling and wonderful and awesome and gives you all the money. That is of course not the actual title.
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The title is client chemistry. The masterclass is online. So it's on Zoom. You can be on your own couch, on your own computer, on your own phone taking it. We will be live together but if you have a birth or you have another commitment there will be a replay it just will not include the Q &A.
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So if you're present with us in person I mean live at that time not in person on Zoom you'll get to ask questions in real time and get real answers to those questions. That Q &A portion will not be part of the replay but the rest of the class will be part of the replay.
11:18
I would love for you to be there. Why? Because it is better guidance than guessing and googling. And quite frankly if you're feeling stuck in your business you need some empathy there. You need some doulaying in that space and what better way to get that than to come learn alongside other doulas and let me kind of nurture you for a little bit right?
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Spend an hour with me while I doula you. That that is magical I promise. I will treat you well. I am good at this work and I love this work and it lights me up to doula other doulas in their business.
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So go grab the link in the show notes, sign up for that class. If you have questions about it or you're not able to find the link, hit me up on Instagram at hara doula. I will see you in the next episode and then I will see you in that class.
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Thanks for joining us for this episode of the doula tips and tits podcast. If you learned something today or had an aha moment, we'd love for you to share that on Instagram and tag us at hara doula so we can celebrate alongside you.
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If you found this podcast helpful, we would so appreciate you taking a second to leave a rating and a review on your favorite podcast app that helps other doulas find us as we do this work together. This podcast is intended as educational and entertainment.
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It is not medical advice or business advice. Please consult your own medical or legal team for your own needs around your health and your business. We'll see you again soon.
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Google is a great resource we have, right? But, what is there were other ways to make sure we got evidence-based and helpful information for your doula business? Let’s discuss some other ways to get the information you need rather than helplessly searching through every possible link in Google.
“It's not a Google search, right? It is specifically for doulas tailored to doulas. And I have space for you to ask questions about your actual doula practice. That is different. I'm not saying that there is no online offerings that are worthwhile and beneficial. Obviously, I don't believe that because my own offerings I think are both worthwhile and beneficial, right? But I'm not the only one. Like there are other amazing doula coaches out there and they do factor in how your business works as a doula. But if you're learning from random business owner, they do not necessarily have that framework. And they are not functioning with that in mind. They're certainly not giving you on Google or on their blog or whatever a like tailored to you approach to doing this thing. ”
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Kaely Daily is produced by Kaely Harrod of Harrod Doula Services
It is sponsored by The Birth Prep Blueprint Childbirth Class
Music by Madirfan: Hidden Place on Pixabay
