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Over the past two years, I lost my way for a while. The rhythm of life has a way of doing that sometimes. As I plugged along, I forgot a fundamental idea about business, one that led me to start it in the first place — The heart of a business lies in our heart.

Yes, it is important to learn, understand and implement fundamental skills to help it operate and become successful. Marketing, planning, and accounting skills are really important for your business to run smoothly. However, if your heart is not fully engaged, there can be struggle, frustration, lack of action, and discord in your business as well as in other areas of your life.

You see, we have a relationship with our business, that is very similar to any other relationship in our lives. Our business is a living, breathing, entity, one that demands attention and wants to be nurtured. If we do not meet its needs, the relationship will suffer or not grow as you would like.

Here are a few questions that can help you tune in more closely to your heart as it relates to your practice:

• Why am I in business?
• Who am I here to serve?
• Who can I reach out to for support for my business?
• How do I want my business to support other areas of my life?
• What volume of business will enable me to give my 110% without compromising my integrity or other sacred areas of my life?
• What other relationships in my life need a tune-up so I can be more present for my business?

If you are spinning your wheels trying to get started, are burnt out, or feel the need for change in your business, take some time to answer the questions above.

Set aside an hour or more when you can be alone. Make a cup of tea or pour a glass of your favorite wine, grab a pen and a notepad, and get cozy before you start. Being out in nature can be really helpful. See what questions speak to you, then, take a moment to quiet your mind and breathe into your heart center before beginning to write. Treat this exercise as more of an expression of your FEELINGS rather than approaching this from a mental, logical perspective.

Let us know if this is helpful for you. I’ll be spending more time in reflection myself over the next few days and weeks, and sharing what comes up for me.

These posts may also inspire you:

1. Knowing and Standing in Your Value: Part I
2. What Will It Take To Feel The Fire Within?
3. How Balanced are the Various Areas of Your Life?

Now, this is a great offer for mamas to take advantage of a discount for Get Babied! services. What was even better, though, was their offer to other childbirth professionals! For $15, Get Babied! would add that childbirth pro’s business name, logo, and summary of her offer to that coupon!

What a win-win! Here are some benefits of this offer:

1. Get Babied! builds connections with other community businesses.
2. Get Babied! has an additional income opportunity by offering this to other birth pros.
3. Childbirth professionals have a great marketing opportunity at such a great price.
4. Mamas can take advantage of a great discount and choose from a wider variety of local businesses.

This is good karma, that’s for sure! Have you participated in something like this? If so, share it with us in the comments. If this sounds like a great idea for your community, use it and tell us how it worked for you!

These posts may also inspire you:

1. Resource: Natural Baby Pros – For Birth Pros and Parents
2. Resource: Childbirth Education Class Materials by Plumtree Baby
3. Marketing Tip – Make One New Contact A Week

In a recent email conversation with Jen, she urged me to emphasize:

“We are here for both the practitioner/providers and the families – to share what providers have to offer, as experts; to get their information out to the public so that we can support them and their professions and bring education and reason to moms and moms-to-be to connect with them!  What is so difficult in the line of work of most of our professionals (for example, a doula), is that most people have no idea what it is they do, why they would want to connect with them, or that there is even any reason or benefit for them to do so.  Without education (provided through the use of YOUR articles and forum posts), moms and moms-to-be have no reason to connect with you; so we want to provide that education first and the reason to connect, THEN provide the opportunity for them to connect in our directory (Free and upgraded listings)…”

So why wouldn’t you want to be a part of this great organization?!

Opportunities for Childbirth Professionals

There are a few ways that childbirth professionals can join the Natural Baby Pros community:

Basic Free Membership

Natural Baby Pros offers free (yes FREE) listings to childbirth professionals to be listed in their directory. Membership also includes the opportunity for clients to rate your services, the ability to submit articles to be archived on the website, calendar listings for your events, and access to their forums. All members can also have a chance to offer a free giveaway (either a product or service), which is highlighted for half a month on the Natural Baby Pros home page.

Upgraded Membership

For $99/year, you will have an additional, enhanced business listing in the directory at the top of your category, your clients can also add reviews and testimonials about you and your services, the opportunity to be a “Practitioner/Business in the Spotlight”, and much more.

A new feature that began this month for those who are the Practitioner/Business in the Spotlight is the opportunity for parents to connect with them directly in the forum. Parents can get their burning questions on a particular topic answered by following a link through Natural Baby Pros’ monthly newsletter.

There are two expert practitioners featured this month:

• Susie Walton, on parenting dynamics and working through issues before pregnancy
• Bobbi Cecio, on relationships and communication and choosing the right educational path for children

Banner Ads

The third way childbirth professionals can increase their exposure on Natural Baby Pros is to purchase banner ads that appear in various locations throughout the website.

In addition to advertising and membership opportunities, childbirth professionals who live in the San Diego area have several opportunities throughout the year to participate in a variety of networking functions through the Natural Baby Project, a collaborative effort by Jen and Amy Saloner.

If you are looking for a way to increase your online visibility and be seen as an expert in your field, Natural Baby Pros’ professional vibe is a terrific outlet for you to consider!

These posts may also inspire you:

1. Resource: Childbirth Education Class Materials by Plumtree Baby
2. A Double Dip – Marketing and Easy Income Tip for Birth Pros
3. Don’t Make the Same Mistakes in Your Business as… ME!

1. Video demo of vacuum extraction using a model.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FoTCvW5JinE&feature=related

2. From “The Journey to Home Birth” – Woman who shares her story of VBA2C.

http://vimeo.com/5648654

3. Amazing placenta pictures. There’s even a couple of pictures of an amniotic sac filled with fluid.

http://www.pattiramos.com/Placenta.html

4. An OB-Gyn discusses delayed cord clamping.

http://academicobgyn.com/2009/12/03/delayed-cord-clamping-should-be-standard-practice-in-obstetrics/

5. Trailer for the new film, “Babies”.

http://youtu.be/1vupEpNjCuY

6. More OB/Gyns in Canada will learn to deliver breech babies vaginally.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/health/c-section-not-best-option-for-breech-birth/article1186104/

7. The Importance of Skin to Skin Contact.

http://www.naturalchild.org/guest/jack_newman2.html#1260589328

8. Breastfeeding Benefits

http://www.breastfeedingbasics.com/html/Benefits.shtml

9. Craniosacral Therapy in the Midwives Model of Care.

http://www.midwiferytoday.com/articles/Cranialsacral.asp

10. Blog Carnival on Science and Sensibility about Labor Support. Science and Sensibility has lots of great articles around Lamaze’s six care practices and research around birth.

http://www.scienceandsensibility.org/?p=839

And two extras that will make you scratch your head.

11. Robot giving birth. Seriously?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m2SZj0CnEB8&feature=related

12. Yes. It’s true.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VAzmC0uYKAY&NR=1

And finally, here’s a fun babywearing video.

13. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PU84rDbdu8Q&feature=player_embedded

If you’ve found (or written) something great you’d like to share, add a comment below. You can also follow me on Facebook or Twitter and share there!

These posts may also inspire you:

1. Article Round-up for Pregnancy, Birth and Beyond
2. Resource: Business and Doula Skills Videos on YouTube
3. Resource for Clients – Spinning Babies

• Your local Chamber of Commerce or Women’s Chamber of Commerce
• A doula association or birth network
• Your certifying organization such as DONA – some communities create local chapters of larger organizations
• Business groups that form to offer education and networking opportunities

How Can I Find A Professional Group?

Many professional groups can be found online through an internet search. Some groups may be in your local area, but others may have an online presence only. Some groups with a national or international presence may have chapters in various areas.

In addition to finding such organizations online, check with your colleagues and ask to see what groups they are involved with and like. Trade publications may also offer information about groups that may be of benefit to you.

What Should I Look For In A Group?

Here are some questions you can consider when looking for groups to join:

• Is there a fee to join?
• If there is a fee to join, may I attend my first meeting free or at a discounted rate?
• Can I afford the group’s fee?
• Will this group add me to a directory and offer me exposure online or in print? Who will have access to this directory?
• What is the goal for this group? Is it purely for networking mixers, or will there be educational opportunities to take advantage of?
• What kind of people join this group? Do they just want to pay to have their name in a directory and not participate in group activities?
• What will I gain by joining this group?
• Does the group put on conferences where you can learn more about business, your field, and meet new people?

All groups have a different dynamic and feel about it. If you attend a meeting or social event and you don’t like it at all, don’t give up! There may be another one out there that makes you feel right at home.

In addition, consider joining groups that don’t have anything to do about birth. Finding a group of woman business owners can be very valuable. You not only have a stronger referral group and potential clients, you will have an opportunity to connect with other business owners whose services you may be able to use.

In order to build connections and business referrals, professional groups are a great way to meet other like-minded people. If you are not participating in any groups, consider joining at least one in 2009 and see how it helps your business.

These posts may also inspire you:

1. Life After Training – Part 3: Learn about Business Ownership
2. Life After Training – Part 1: Build Your Support System
3. Business Expenses and Taxable Deductions

What’s in it for me?

Spend some time watching commercials on tv or ads in a magazine. Cosmetic ads promise you will look younger and have “radiant” skin. Clothes will make you look and feel thinner. The latest technological toy assures you will be more efficient, enjoy better quality sounds and sights, or just look cooler than the guy with the older model.

Services are little trickier. For certain products and brands, there is a level of expectation. I expect to have exceptional service and high quality accommodations if I book a hotel room at a Ritz-Carlton. If I decide to stay at a Best Western it’s because of the value-pricing, and my expectations are much lower in terms of the amenities and overall experience. For services from individuals, I want to be sure to receive timely and courteous service, an enjoyable experience, and I want to like, know and trust the provider.

So what about doula services?

Spend some time thinking and writing about the following:

1. What is my philosophy about birth?
2. Who is my ideal client? Create a mental picture of your ideal client.
3. How does your philosophy align with my ideal clients?
4. What is your personal style? Are you the grandmotherly type? More spiritually-based? Hip or crunchy?
5. If you were to hire a doula, why would you be looking for one? What problems do you have, and how will a doula solve them?
6. What benefits will your ideal clients receive from working with you?
7. How will they feel as a result of working with you? Confident? Empowered? Safe?
8. Where will you find your ideal clients?

How does all this translate into your marketing materials and marketing efforts?

• Your personal style will be communicated in the look and feel of your marketing materials. Your logo, your business name, your personality should come alive in your website business cards and brochure.
• Direct your marketing efforts to avenues that will reach your ideal clients.
• Connect with professionals and businesses who serve your ideal clients and see how you can help one another with referrals.
• Your goal is to make a connection with your ideal clients. When they read your materials, will they be nodding their heads in agreement with you because you have identified their problems? Are they relieved when they see how you can solve their problems? Are they looking forward to feeling the results you say your clients experience?
• Your experience and philosophy also play a part in their search and should be in your materials as well. This will help them learn more about you and get to know you.

In their search for a doula, women and partners are going to be looking for results. If you can pinpoint the results they are looking for and align with their goals, your marketing efforts will differentiate you from other practitioners. This will hopefully lead to an interview, where they will be able to make a face-to-face connection with you. Even in your interviews, continue to focus on what potential clients are looking for, and be authentic in your responses about your ability to follow through in order to meet their needs.

These posts may also inspire you:

1. The Number One Rule To Remember When Marketing Your Birth Business
2. 5 Questions To Ask When Setting Your Prices
3. Doula Client Attraction Tip #2 – Identify Your Ideal Client

Step 1: Respond with a question or statement that describes a problem that your listener can relate to.

For example, my cocktail line was, “I give pregnant women guidance to help them have easier births.”

In response to “Tell me more”, I could say: “When you or a friend was pregnant, did you have a desire to feel more supported and confident about birth, but because of mixed messages received from friends and family, doctors and the media, there was only more confusion and anxiety about labor and birth?”

A variation could also be: “Have you known a first-time pregnant woman who was scared to death about labor and birth?”

By offering a situation the other person can possibly relate to, they are better able to connect with what you are saying.

To develop your own response, the following exercise may help:

1. Describe your client – pregnant woman
2. Explain the situation 1) desire to feel more supported and confident about birth, or 2) she’s going to experience labor and birth
3. What is the barrier to the situation that your clients face? 1) mixed messages received from friends and family, doctors and the media, or 2) never had a baby before
4. Identify the resulting problem that your clients experience? 1) feeling confused and anxious instead of supported and confident about birth, or 2) scared to death

Step 2: If the person you’re speaking with continues to be interested, explain your solution to the problem, which is what you have to offer.

If the person you’re speaking to can relate to what you’re saying and wants to know more, you could talk about what you do and how you do it as a solution to the problem she or others have faced.

For example, I might say, “As a birth doula, I develop a relationship with my clients during pregnancy and provide information as well as physical and emotional support during labor to help them feel confident and safe, which enables them to feel less afraid about their birth experience.”

Exercise – What is your solution? What can you offer that will solve your client’s problems?

Step 3 – If the person you’re talking to is still interested, offer more information about how you can help

If you’re talking to a potential client, your conversation will naturally continue and evolve from this point. If you are speaking with someone who could refer business to you, explain the best way they can refer a client to you. For example, I might say, “The best way to refer clients to me is to give them my website address or phone number.” I would then offer a few of my business cards to reference or pass on.

I hope these exercises in creating your elevator speech and follow up response were helpful. Continue to work and refine both of these marketing tools. Over time, you will become more comfortable talking about the issues you solve for your clients and how you can help them.

These posts may also inspire you:

1. Do You Have a Great Cocktail Line?
2. Marketing Tip: Presentations and Public Speaking
3. Give Thanks To Those Who Have Helped Your Business

So how do you get your name out to other professionals? Back in August, I wrote a post about Ronnie Noize the idea of developing a “Team 100″ List. Here it is again with a link to an excellent article she wrote with step-by-step instructions for building your referral network. I will also be posting a reprint of an article by author C.J. Hayden with another way to build your Team 100 List.

What is a Team 100 List?

The Team 100 is a list of 100 people with whom you have a professional relationship. These can be fellow colleagues in your field, other birth professionals, and any business owners who you would like to refer your clients to, and who could reciprocate the favor by sending clients your way.

For step-by-step instructions on creating your Team 100, read this article by marketing coach Ronnie Noize. Ronnie also has other great articles about marketing and business building and will be a great resource for you.

These posts may also inspire you:

1. Expanding Your Professional Network
2. How to Get People Talking About YOU
3. Marketing Basics for The Birth Professional – 6 Strategies

Stephen Covey, the author of several “7 Habits” books, writes in “First Things First”, writes about how humans have four fundamental needs to feel complete. They are:

1. Physical – our basic needs such as food, clothing, shelter, health and economic well-being.
2. Social – our need to relate to others, to love, be loved, and to belong.
3. Mental - our need to continue learning to develop and grow.
4. Spiritual – our need to have a sense of meaning, purpose, contribution and personal congruence or alignment.

In a simple sentence, Covey says the “essence of these needs is captured in the phrase ‘to live, to love, to learn, to leave a legacy’.”

This is another facet of looking at the whole picture of our lives. Yesterday you got to see how balanced you were in specific areas of your life. The model that I’m now presenting melds those areas into these four facets of our basic needs. Stephen Covey goes on to explain in his book that when we are able to view these needs in a way that overlaps, as demonstrated here, we can see how they interrelate. In order to feel fulfilled and joyful in our lives, we must take care of ourselves in all areas of our lives. When one area suffers, it affects the whole.

Do you see the section in the middle that is red? This is called “The Fire Within“. Covey explains, “Fulfilling the four needs in an integrated way is like combining elements in chemistry. When we reach a ‘critical mass’ of integration, we experience spontaneous combustion–an explosion of inner synergy that ignites the fire within and gives vision, passion, and a spirit of adventure to life.

The key to the fire within is our spiritual need to leave a legacy. It transforms other needs into capacities for contribution. Food, money, health, education, and love become resources to reach out and help fill the unmet needs of others.”

Exercise:

Think about a time in your life when you felt really alive. Answer these questions:

• What was going on in your life at that time?
• Who were the people in your life?
• Were your basic needs being met?
• Were you mentally stimulated?
• Were you doing something meaningful?
• Would you say that all your four fundamental needs were met in that moment, and that what you felt was a Fire Within?

I want to sit with this memory for a while, and when you’re ready, answer the following questions. You may want to do this with a friend or partner.

• How would it feel if you could live your life from day-to-day, feeling this Fire Within?
• Picture yourself at the end of 2009, and you are living life with this Fire Within. Close your eyes with you feet flat on the ground, and really feel this Fire. Where are you? What are you doing? Who are you with? How do you look? Where is your family? What does your business look like? How much money is flowing directly to you? Who have you become?

Now, I’d like to think about what you need to do to get from where you right now, today, to where you are at the end of 2009:

• What do you need to take care of your physical needs of food, clothing, shelter, health and economic well-being?
• What do you need to take care with your relationships? Are you willing to let go of relationships that are draining your energy? What can you do to actively nurture the relationships that mean the most to you? Are there people in particular or a group of people with whom you’d like to create relationships with? How will you do that?
• What do you need to learn in the next year to become more effective in your work and your life? What new skills do you want to learn, and what skills do you want to improve? Do you have certifications to complete? Workshops that you’d like to take? Do you want to learn more about business, or becoming a better parent, or something as fun as art, music or gardening classes?
• What activities inspire you? What centers and grounds you? What actions can you take on a regular basis that calm you, give you joy, and allows you to lose track of time?

Working on your doula practice means working on your life. When you feel mostly joyful in your life (let’s be realisitic — we all have bad days now and again!), your work will flow more easily for you. Your life will flow more easily for you. When all your fundamental needs are cared for, you have the energy, or the Fire Within, to serve others more fully. You will feel less like you’re beating against a wall and more like everything is falling into place.

The exercise you’ve just completed are the goals you will take to live your best life in 2009. What do you think about that? Send me an email, make a comment below.

Join me tomorrow and we’ll explore more deeply into ways to accomplish the goals you’ve just set for 2009. Have a great day!

These posts may also inspire you:

1. Incorporating the Big Rocks Into Your Life
2. 5 Ways to Maximize Your Time Working At Home
3. How Balanced are the Various Areas of Your Life?

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Not more than 3 minutes ago, I sent my certification exam off to become a childbirth educator. It got me thinking about my path as a birth professional and the lessons I’ve learned from training with a variety of organizations. Today I offer 3 tips that may help you as you consider your options of who to train with and what path to take.

Tip #1 – Talk to those in the field.

Whether you’re interested in becoming a birth or postpartum doula, a childbirth educator, a breastfeeding educator, midwife, or a professional in any field, really, you may want to seek out those people in your area who are doing similar work. Questions to ask can include:

• Why did you choose to become a ___________?
• What organization did you train with?
• Why did you train with that organization?
• What do you like most about doing this work?
• What are the challenges of doing this work?
• What is the attitude about birth in the community?
• What resources (people, websites, books, etc.) helped you along the way?

Don’t just talk to one person. Don’t be afraid to call or email someone. Most people love talking about themselves and the work they love to do. If there isn’t anyone who does what you want to do in your area, seek out people online.

Tip #2 – Get a feel for what the climate about birth is in your area.

Find out:

• What are the prevailing attitudes about birth in your community?
• How do women you know talk about birth and their experiences?
• Is there a natural birth community there?
• How many different kinds of childbirth classes are available around town?
• Are there many doulas, childbirth educators, midwives, lactation consultants, etc. in your area?

By getting answers to some of these questions, you can get an idea of how supportive your community will be about what you are considering doing. I hate to say it this way, but feel the need to: You will have an idea about what you’re going to be up against if your community is not so open to what you’re bringing, or you’ll know that you’ll have a ready-made community to enter so that you will have lots of local support in your area.

If you find that you are a pioneer striving to make positive change in your community, you will want to surround yourself with other birth professionals through forums and national/international email lists so you can be well-supported with what you’re wanting to accomplish.

Tip #3 – Carefully consider the organization you want to train with.

Questions to ponder:

• What ARE the organizations that I can train with?
• What kind of commitment do these organizations require and how will I make those requirements fit into my life?
• What is the organization’s philosophy?
• Do I want to be affiliated with a very large organization or a smaller, more intimate one? What are the advantages and disadvantages of either large or small organizations?
• Are there lots of professionals trained with a particular organization in your area? What are the advantages of training with the same organization? What are the advantages of training with another?

For example, in some places, there may be doulas who are primarily trained with one organization, and another area may have a lot of doulas trained with a different organization. That could possibly affect the philosophy of practice in the area. Do you want to have that same affiliation as others in your community? Does it matter?

One thing I’ve personally discovered is that a great benefit about being a birth professional is being part of a wonderful community. It can take a while to figure out where one’s place is in one’s community. If I had known some of these questions before I started my journey in this field, I think it would have helped me adjust, from what it’s like to work in the field, to better understanding the dynamics of birth in my community.

What kind of research did you do before you became a birth professional? What do you wish you would have known before you started? What advice do you want to share? I’d love to hear your comments!

These posts may also inspire you:

1. Joining Professional Groups For Business Growth
2. Expanding Your Professional Network
3. The Importance of your Birth Professional Community