Plan Your Space, Draw People In

At a typical fair, each business has a designated space. Vendors are usually are provided a table, a chair or two, and maybe an electrical outlet. The organizers may also put up a small sign with the business name at the back of the booth.

Beyond what is provided, it is up to you to make your booth a place that people want to come and visit. One way to get ideas is to go to some fairs and see what attracts you. You may notice that many exhibitors have their table at the front of the booth, right up to the aisle where people are walking. The exhibitor may have some items displayed on the table, perhaps some brochures, and they’re sitting at the table, available to talk to the people passing by. Most of the time, what happens? People keep walking. Especially if it is crowded.

Here are some ways to cozy up your space:

• Put your tables against the back of the booth and/or along the sides of the booth so people have to walk into it to see what you’ve got.
• Set up a couple of chairs so people can come in and sit down.
• Bring in a rug to warm up your space. In a conference center the floor is typically concrete.
• Make a space where little ones can sit and color or do some kind of activity while you speak to their parents.
• Bring in a plant or some flowers to brighten up your booth.

Get Their Attention

You’ll also need to have some eye-catching visual aids to get people’s attention and draw them into your booth. Many birth pros will have some of these props just lying around!

• A large banner to hang up, where people can see it from across the room.
• Props for demonstrations – Birth ball, pelvis model, posters, rebozos, baby slings with doll or real baby! With the props, you might put the large items, like the birth ball, toward the front of the booth, close enough to people walking by to have to watch out for it. That’ll get their attention!
• A video playing  on a laptop, talking about what you do or featuring video testimonials.

Carol Peterson, a Hypnobabies Childbirth Hypnosis Instructor and birth doula from Birth Journeys, recently attended a fair and shared her experience:

I have just returned from a local hospital’s Baby Fair, and in seven years of sitting at tables promoting childbirth classes, this by far was my best fair.  Here’s what I did:  pushed the table back and added a visitor chair, brought a stool for myself, took a birth ball and added birth related stuff to the table.  But, the single biggest thing that I can attribute the success of this fair to is my professional Hypnobabies sign.  People actually stopped and said “Enjoy your baby’s birth?!  Really?!”.  I used an inexpensive coat rack with wheels to hang the sign from and the large Hypnobabies logo really caught people’s eyes.  I put the sign behind the table, rather than hanging it in the front, which is what most people do.  Not everyone stopped, but many did.  I had several nursing students stop by, and the nursing instructor will be contacting me to discuss Hypnobabies with her class.  What an opportunity to shape the future!  I gave out packets of information to those who stopped and were interested enough to have a conversation with me and give me their contact information.

Have a Little Help from a Friend

Nicole King of Adventures in Childbirth suggests having someone else there to help talk to visitors, which especially comes in handy if you want to network with other vendors or are speaking with a prospective client.

In addition, a good way to reduce your costs of having a booth is to get together with other birth professionals. You can split the cost of the booth, have someone there to give you a break when necessary, and it’s nice to have somebody there to keep you company and even get to know better.

You could also share a booth with someone who offers a complementary service. I loved hearing from Leigh Short of BabyMine Birth Education, who shared the following:

I plan to join with a local massage therapist of chiropractor.  That way people are willing to linger a bit for a massage.  You can talk while they wait, or after they are in massage hangover mode.  Massage therapist is excited because it will also help her target a specific group.

Give Your Guests a Gift

So, you’ve attracted people into your booth, you’re telling them about what you do, and you want them to remember you.  More importantly, you want to keep in touch with them in the future. Make sure you have information they can take with them. Here are the basics to have available:

• Business cards
• Brochures or postcards
• A calendar of upcoming events
• Packets of more detailed information in case you’ve been hired on the spot!
• Samples of products you sell
• Packets of information for professionals you’d like to network with
• ***IMPORTANT*** – Be sure to have a sign-up sheet and collect their name, email address and phone number so you can email them additional information or do a follow-up call in a few days. If you want to add them to your mailing list, be sure you get their express permission. People get VERY annoyed when they receive unsolicited emails.
• Bribe ‘em with chocolate. Not really, but it’s nice to have a bowl with something sweet to eat available.

If you want to go the extra mile, you could consider some of the following:

• Another way to collect email addresses is to do a drawing for something cool and useful. On the slip, be sure to have a check box so they can choose to add themselves to your mailing list.
• Create some goodie bags, filled with freebie products you’ve accumulated, some candy, and some of your marketing material.
• Be mindful that people who attend these fairs will get a slew of paper from a zillion vendors, and that it’s highly likely these will end up in their recycle bin or the trash. To make sure your name sticks around with them, consider purchasing some useful, personalized products to giveaways. Some things to consider might be pens, a magnetic business card with some handy information about birth or breastfeeding, a stress ball, or a hand held massage tool.

Create Community and Offset Some of Your Costs

You can help out your birth professional community and spread the word about birth and services for women by offering to advertise for other businesses for a small fee. This takes some time and coordination, but it can help you in a few ways.

What you’ll do is to send an offer to your network of fellow birth professionals. What they do is pay you a small fee and deliver to you a specified number of flyers, brochures or samples. You then put together goody bags that you can give away to people who visit your booth. You could also waive the fee if they give you a door prize to give away!

Doing something like this can help to offset the costs of your booth and also help your community of birth professionals!

Get Out There and Do It!

These tips and tricks will help you look professional and attract people to your booth at any Baby Fair. If you have any tips to share, we’d love to hear them too! And, if you have a successful experience using some of the tips we’ve provided, please brag about it! You’ll encourage many more birth pros to get out and be more visible in their communities.

These posts may also inspire you:

1. Marketing in Small Ways Every Day
2. Resource – Hypnobabies Hypnosis CDs for Pregnancy, Birth, Postpartum, and Birth Professionals Too!
3. Resource: Natural Baby Pros – For Birth Pros and Parents

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Money has an energy all its own, fluid and expansive. Take care of it and it will take care of you. Neglect it, abuse it, or hold onto it too tightly, and it hits the road.

I’ve seen how some practitioners in the healing and helping fields have difficulty with money… how they make it, keep it, and grow it. One’s relationship with money affects how much (or whether) that practitioner will charge for servicesand the opinions and judgments one practitioner has about one another around this topic.

Perceptions about money have wide-reaching effects. It affects the ability of practitioners to create a satisfying, self-sustaining living. It affects the perceived value that clients place on services. It affects the value of the profession as a whole.

I had a very enlightening conversation with a good friend the other day about her relationship with money. She set some time aside and reflected on her past relationship with money by:

1. Looking back and taking note of her observations of her parents’ relationship with money. What were their attitudes about money? Was there money or lack of it? What was said about money itself and the money that other people had or didn’t have?
2. Examining how those early experiences at home affected her outside of the home. What lens was she using to view money and its use around her? Was it coming from a place of lack or abundance?
3. Thinking about her own patterns of using money. Was it a repeat of what was observed and learned? Did she adopt patterns different from her early experiences with it?
4. Making note of other close relationships in her life, and how money played a part in them.

After this exercise, she decided to personify money:

1. Was Money male or female?
2. What does Money look like?
3. What is Money’s personality like?

Then, she started a conversation with Money, attempting to gain clarity and unlock some secrets.

1. What kinds of things does Money have to say?
2. What does Money need to be happy?
3. What can be done to strengthen her relationship with Money?

This brought my friend powerful “AHA!” moments and the opportunity to identify and address some of the self-limiting beliefs that she realized have been with her for a long time. I expect she’ll be having more conversations with Money, getting to know him better and how he can be an ally for her.

This exercise could help tap into values you have about Money, and how that might be affecting your ability to attract and expand the money that flows into your life. It can also help you identify any mental blocks or limiting beliefs that may be holding you back in some areas of your life. Once an issue is brought to light, it’s easier to address and change.

If you are already very successful, you could also benefit by this exercise, as this could help validate your good relationship with Money. It will likely help you to attract more into your life as well.

If you would like to improve your personal relationship with Money, perhaps it’s time for you to take some time to reflect and get to the root of your history with it. Discover what Money “looks” like to you, and set aside time on a regular basis to check in with Money for one-on-one chats. Successful relationships require attention and love. Satisfying relationships expand our hearts and increase our ability to be present and of service to others. Money is an important relationship that could use some tender, loving care.

These posts may also inspire you:

1. How Balanced are the Various Areas of Your Life?
2. The Heart of a Business Lies in our Heart
3. What Will It Take To Feel The Fire Within?

Focus on the unique benefits your customers will experience by hiring you. Sure, you can talk about what everyone else talks about in their marketing materials. However, in order for you to stand out, you want to be sure and highlight the problems and solutions that only you can solve for them.

How do you do that? If you’ve determined your niche (and even if you’re still working on that), you will want to create a clear picture of your prospective clients. Depending on your field, you will be asking different questions. Here are some questions a birth doula or childbirth educator may ask herself:

1. What is their age range?
2. What is their marital status?
3. What is their income level?
4. What is their faith/ethnic background?
5. Is this their first birth?
6. What is their birth philosophy? Do they have one? Does that matter?
7. Where do they plan to have their baby?
8. Is their birth high risk?
9. Does your client have specific needs or desires?

Once you have a  clear picture of who your ideal client is, make a list of problems they have, AND the ways you can solve those problems. Get really creative and draw upon your unique skills. What special gems makes you different from other practitioners in your area?

Finally, look at the solutions you have to offer. What unique benefits will clients experience by working with you? When creating your list, focus on how your solutions will affect them physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually. The more prospective clients can get a feel for you from your marketing materials, the more likely they will feel a connection with you.

Your prospective clients will likely want to know more about your background and training, but before they consider that, they will want to know how you can help them. In order for you to stand out from the crowd, identify that something special that only you can give, that your clients will really want and benefit from having you on their team.

So what makes you special? Things to consider:

1. Do you do home visits or private sessions/classes?
2. Do you offer additional services, like massage or nutritional counseling, or lactation support?
3. Are you a one stop shop, ie: you provide childbirth education, birth and postpartum doula services, and breastfeeding support?
4. Do you have special partnerships with other practitioners and can offer special discounts for their services if they purchase yours?
5. Do you work in a practice where clients get the benefits of being served by you and your fellow practitioners?

This is just a starting point to get you started. If you are just starting out, you may not have a clear picture of who your ideal client is or what makes you special. The great thing is, you can change your focus as you go along and gain more experience!

For your particular field, what questions have you explored to determine your niche?

These posts may also inspire you:

1. 5 Questions To Ask When Setting Your Prices
2. What Exactly Am I Marketing, Anyway?
3. 5 Tips For A Great Doula Interview

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

When you think about selling a product in a store, people can see it, touch it, and sometimes sample it. It’s easier to experience a product than it is to experience a service. As a birth professional, you should develop a marketing strategy that allows people to get to know you, like you and trust you.

C.J. Hayden, author of the book “Get Clients Now”, has identified six strategies businesses need to take when marketing their businesses. She also points out that these are listed in order of effectiveness:

1. Direct Contact and Follow-Up (O)- contact by phone, in person, fax or e-mail.
2. Networking and Referral Building (O,C) – making contact with others who can help you to promote your business, in person, on the phone, or online through forums or through social media websites.
3. Public Speaking (V,C)- making a presentation, serving on a panel, leading a meeting or workshop
4. Writing and Publicity (V,C)- articles featured in print publications, on your website, blog or article directories, having articles written about you or being interviewed on radio, tv, or online through podcasts, tele-gatherings or YouTube.
5. Promotional Events (V) – participation in trade shows, free demonstrations or workshops, an event you co-sponsor, or networking events.
6. Advertising (V) – includes all the various ways one can promote a business in print, online, or other forms of media.

C.J. also identifies three types of impact each of these marketing strategies give to you – Outreach, Visibility, and Credibility. In the list above, I have put the type of impact each strategy gives you in parentheses.

The Marketing Cycle

All businesses have a marketing cycle that goes like this:

1. You fill your “pipeline” with prospective clients (O, V)
2. You follow up with prospective clients (O)
3. You get a presentation – ie: personal interview, or they see or hear you at a workshop or class (O, V, C)
4. You close sales (O, C, V)

Throughout this cycle, you utilize various marketing strategies that generate a particular impact. You’ll notice I put the type of impact required for each step in parentheses.

For example, you may do a combination of all six marketing strategies to attract new clients. Your prospective clients may be referrals from someone you have networked with. They may have found an article you wrote for a local paper, saw an interview done on you on a local news program, or perhaps they discovered your website through a Google search. You follow up with them in person, by phone or email. You build a relationship and build credibility through an interview, or they see you present as a guest speaker or read articles you have written. Finally, you close a sale through direct follow up.

Create a Marketing Plan

In order to successfully and continually attract prospective clients and close sales, it is wise to create a marketing plan that includes a combination of the six marketing strategies. C.J. Hayden offers free downloadable worksheets at her website, which can help you devise a 28-day marketing plan and tracking worksheet to help keep you on track during the month. This worksheet will help you identify your marketing goals for the next 28 days, the marketing areas that you feel need the most work, and the specific tasks you need to take to meet your goals. The tracking worksheet will help you track your marketing activities to help keep you inspired.

An additional resource that may be helpful for you is her book, Get Clients Now! to learn effective ways to implement these strategies and make the most of those free worksheets. If your local library does not have carry this book, but has online access to NetLibrary, you may be able to get free access with your library account to read an older edition of this book online.

Take Action

1. Go to the Get Clients Now! website and download the free worksheets to create your marketing plan for the next 28 days.
2. Think about the strategies that you’re weakest in and decide on one activity you can do over the next 28 days to strengthen that marketing strategy.
3. Complete the marketing worksheets and start building your pipeline!

Over the next few days we will take a look at different marketing methods. Please feel free to share your thoughts about marketing by writing a comment below.

These posts may also inspire you:

1. 5 Tips For A Great Doula Interview
2. The Number One Rule To Remember When Marketing Your Birth Business
3. What Exactly Am I Marketing, Anyway?

Not Charging While “In-Training”

I understand that there are quite a few trainers who tell students not to charge while doing their first few births or their certification births. Understandably, you are learning a new trade, and a couple days over a weekend plus a couple of books are not sufficient to support the first few couples you work with.

Some new doulas find that a downside is the lack of commitment from couples who agree to have the doula at the birth. Other doulas have looked at free births as an opportunity to be of service to couples who may not otherwise be able to afford services, and have been lucky to connect with those who really appreciate the services provided.

My suggestion to doulas-in-training who decide to do free births is to have a solid agreement that outlines the expectations for themselves as well as the couple. I would also suggest putting a dollar value on your services, even though you’re not charging, so the couples do understand that your services are of value and as such you must be respected as a professional.

If you can locate a non-profit group or a mentor to work under, that is another way to gain experience without charging.

Doula Services as Ministry

Some doulas choose to offer free doula services as part of their ministry work, and this works well for them.

Charging a Minimal Amount to Cover Basic Expenses

Some doulas choose to charge an amount that would cover basic expenses such as gas and childcare, often under $100. This can be outlined in an agreement as well.

Charging a Lower Than Average Fee

Doula fees vary in different communities. It’s a good idea to find out what an average rate is in your area. When you decide to begin charging for your services, you may want to start at a rate that is lower than average, and slowly raise your fee as you gain experience.

Charging Based on Previous Experience

If you were previously in the health field or have other skills in holistic therapies, you may be able to create a niche for yourself for those who would like doula services as well as other services you offer. If you have previously worked with birthing women, say as an RN, for example, you may be able to begin charging a rate that’s comparable to experienced doulas in your area. If you offer complementary services, you could offer packages, and perhaps the doula package could be lower than average, but it could be made up with the price of other services you sell.

Charging on a Sliding Scale

Some doulas want to be able to offer services to a wide range of clients based on their ability to pay. Some use guidelines similar to Medicaid to determine their rates. Others may have a base rate that they get from everyone, and tell their clients to pay an additional amount equal to what they think the doula’s value was to them.

Bartering for Doula Services

An option for those who want to trade services is to set up a bartering system where clients can trade services or products in exchange for doula services.

Which Way is Best?

That really depends on your personality, what your market will bear, how popular doula services are in your area, etc. One of the best things about owning your own practice is that you can mix and match models, try one model with one client and then abandon it the next.

I Was Told I Shouldn’t Charge But Disagree With It

If you believe you are worth at least a certain fee but was told you must do free births, remember that you have your own business and you call the shots. Unless it’s a stated requirement by the overall training organization, really think hard about whether it will work for you and follow your intuition. If this requirement will cause you undue strain and stress, it will come across with couple you are interviewing with. Talk to other doulas in the area. Are there a lot of doulas doing free births? If so, understand that you may be competing with others with your same level of doula experience who are not charging.

Price Isn’t Everthing

Having a doula at a birth is a very personal choice. In most cases, couples will choose who they work with based on who they resonate with the most. After all, next to sex, birth is an extremely intimate experience. Women need to feel a great deal of trust in the doula they choose, and price may or may not be an issue. They need to feel safe when they are in their chosen birth environment.

So How Do I Differentiate Myself From Other Doulas in My Area

First of all, understand that there is a doula for every woman, and that doula may not be you every time you interview with a potential client. Really and truly, we are not here to compete with one another. We would encourage every woman who wants one to have a doula, and the more doulas there are, the more choices women have. That’s the beauty in our diversity as birth professionals. Women should have the freedom to choose the perfect birth team for themselves.

Here are ways to help you attract clients who will work best with you:

• Consider a niche for yourself. Perhaps you find you attract many teen moms or women seeking VBACs. If you have a passion for a certain type of client, concentrate on that demographic and find as many ways to connect with those people. By doing so, you will soon be considered THE doula to hire if people are having a particular kind of birth.
• If you offer other kinds of services that can help you create a niche for yourself as well. If someone wants a doula who is a massage therapist, that would likely whittle down the choices women have in your area.
• If you discover your niche, make sure you create a referral network of those who know you cater to a particular group of women. Communicate this well on your website and other marketing materials.
• Create opportunities for women to experience you and your energy by offering free talks, hosting a birth circle or a “Meet The Doula Night”. Pair up with practitioners in your referral network who may already have an audience of potential clients for you.
• Explore your personal philosophy about birth and how that relates with your potential clients. For example, if, at this point in time, you feel you only want to help women who want a natural birth, seek clients who want a natural birth. Again, make this clear on your marketing materials and work with others in your referral network.
• Understand that as you grow as a doula and gain more experience, you may find your philosophy about birth changes. Do the inner work necessary to know yourself best. One sure way to burn out is to work with women whose philosophy is very different from yours. If you are unable to leave your judgments at the door of the birth room, at the very least, be mindful of who you choose to work with. The more aligned you are with your client, the easier it is to fully support them.

A Few Things To Consider

I spoke once with a woman who got a degree in social work. All throughout school and her internships, she was never paid. However, her clients did not get their services for free. They paid the school’s clinic for her services. They did not offer completely free services because they found clients did not have any incentive to see their treatments through. Her suggestion for doulas was to consider asking clients to make a monetary donation or volunteer with a cause that is important to them. This way, there is an exchange.

Another doula I once spoke to was completely content doing free births. She felt that it was a special honor that her couples were entrusting her to witness the birth of their child. The exchange in her mind was the intent of an exchange of energy. She earned experience and the couple benefited from her services.

Yet another view is that to insist that doulas do free births is to devalue this important service to women, and that it can ultimately devalue the profession as something that can be acquired free. If one can find someone for free, why pay? Think about the various services you use in your everyday life. What is your personal opinion on the value you place on free vs. paid services? Do you take one more seriously than another? Do you wonder why some services are free? What do you tend to value more or less?

And finally, examine all the factors that go into being a doula when deciding on whether, what and when to charge. How much time does it take for you to prepare for meetings? What do you need to do to ensure your family is well cared for in your absence? What do you need to pay and to whom in order to do this work? Place a dollar value on your time. What are you really worth? Do you feel worthy to ask for what you feel is fair? Is there undue pressure for you and your family financially if you DON’T charge for your services?

So Many Choices

I realize I may have just confused you more about pricing. I hope I offered several perspectives for you to consider. It’s up to you to decide what works best for you. If you’re completely confused, I would suggest talking it through with someone. Get your partner involved and gather his or her perspective. Look at your own financial situation. Consider how much time you want and need with your kids. Create your own best scenario. If that still doesn’t help, journal, or sit in a quiet place, take some deep breaths, and ask yourself what to do. You have an inner voice that will give you the answer you seek. It’s typically the quiet voice, not the one that’s listing off twenty reasons why you need to do this or that. Always remember two things: 1) You can always change your pricing structure, and 2) Always give your clients an agreement so everyone is on the same page as far as expectations go.

As always, tweet me or take the discussion to the Inspired Birth Pro Facebook page, or add a comment. I’d love to know how your pricing structure evolved. Please remember no one way is right or wrong. Just like with birth, each doula needs to decide what is best for her situation.

These posts may also inspire you:

1. Should You Include Your Prices On Your Marketing Materials and Website?
2. 5 Tips For A Great Doula Interview
3. Packaging Your Doula Services

Who should you send thanks to?

• Past clients
• Current clients
• Those who refer business to you
• Doctors, midwives and nurses you have worked with
• Those who are part of your Team 100

If you have other ideas, by all means, go for it! If you don’t already have an ongoing list of contacts, start one now, using a contact manager, spreadsheet, database program, your Quickbooks lists, Outlook, or even something low-tech like index cards or an address book. Go through business cards you’ve collected and your past client records to help you create your list.

The cards you send can be as simple as nice-quality cardstock or as fancy as cards personalized with your logo and business information. Write a short note as opposed to running cards through your printer. This adds a nice touch of personalization and lets the recipient know you really took the time to do this.

What do you say?

• Tell them you appreciate their business or support.
• If you’ve helped them with a birth, acknowledge the family and baby.
• If this is a note to a care provider you worked with, mention whose birth you attended and thank them for the great work they did.
• Let them know that you’d love to work with them in the future and to think of you if people they know could benefit from your services.
• Consider making a coupon for some savings off future services with you.
• Include a few business cards and seal them up!
• Buy some pretty stamps and send them off. For doctors offices and L&D departments, consider hand delivering the note along with a basket or tin of sweet goodies like chocolate or cookies.

What are some benefits to sending a nice handwritten note of thanks?

• Think about how you feel when you open your mailbox and see a pretty envelope hand addressed to you. Pretty good, right? In this age of email and micro-blogging, receiving correspondence in the mail just makes a person feel special!
• Everyone likes to be acknowledged. It feels good!
• You are on their radar again, and hopefully they will think of you when they or someone they know could use their services.
• If you’ve given them a coupon, you may get some repeat business sooner than later!

Getting into the mind space of appreciation is a wonderful exercise for you. The more time we spend appreciating the people in our lives, the better we will feel. And when we feel good about those we’ve helped in our business, we often find more business coming our way.

These posts may also inspire you:

1. A Double Dip – Marketing and Easy Income Tip for Birth Pros
2. Doula Client Attraction Tip #1 – Have Those Interview Packets Ready and Waiting
3. What Do You Say After Your Cocktail Line?

One of her most successful methods for word-of-mouth marketing has been through doing public speaking. Lisa made the following suggestion: search for mother’s groups on Meetup.com. Find some interesting groups, especially those related to pregnancy, and email the organizer. Let the organizer know you are available for public speaking opportunities and would like to do a presentation at an upcoming event.

I thought I’d try that out, so I went to Meetup.com and emailed the organizers of a few groups. So far I’ve received one response and we are making arrangements for me to do a presentation for the group. That was easy!

Lisa told me that she gives the group leaders suggestions of topics that she’d be willing to speak about based on her expertise. So for me, I gave it some thought and made a list of topics to offer, such as Comfort Measures for Labor, Self Care Ideas During Pregnancy or Creating Your Birth Plan. I’ve even offered to speak about Attachment Parenting – Babies through Early Childhood, to offer my experience and feedback with this type of parenting.

When you speak to a group, your primary purpose is to deliver useful information and to connect with your audience, not to sell your birth services. Of course, you do want to let them know what you do and provide your business card and brochure. If you have handouts, add your name and contact information in the header or footer of the document.

If your audience learns to trust you and like the great information they’ve received, you’ll be seen as an expert. When it comes time to use services you offer, you may hear from them. If they have friends who needs your services, they’ll remember the great information you gave them and give your contact information to their friends. This is the power of word-of-mouth advertising. The more often you speak, the more visible you will be in your community, and the greater the trust factor will be. Not to mention that the more we teach, the more we learn ourselves.

Savvy Challenge:

My challenge to you is to:

1. Create a list of topics you could talk about. Remember that you don’t have to do all the talking. You should have some points to cover, some useful facts and tips that attendees will be happy to receive. Draw in your audience by asking them questions and making your sessions interactive. They will bring up more material for you to discuss.
2. Go to Meetup.com and find some potential groups you can speak to. Consider groups that you could get passionate about and relate to. Are you a single mother? Find some single moms groups. Are you a strong Christian? Find some groups that are for Christian moms.
3. E-mail the organizers. Introduce yourself, offer your services to attend one of their meet-ups, and let them know some of the topics you can speak about.
4. You may not hear responses from anyone. Keep trying by contacting other groups. Celebrate when you receive a positive response and set up a speaking engagement. Congratulations, you are now a public speaker!

I would love to know how you find speaking engagements, topics that you’ve spoken about, and how this method of marketing is working for you. Please share with the community by adding a comment below!

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1. What Do You Say After Your Cocktail Line?
2. Joining Professional Groups For Business Growth
3. A Double Dip – Marketing and Easy Income Tip for Birth Pros

How Many Packages Should I Offer?

Three is the magic number. You won’t overwhelm a potential client  with too many choices, and yet it will feel like there is a a variety to choose from. You can have:

1. A Basic Package
2. An Upgraded Package
3. Your High-End Bells and Whistles Package

I’ll offer my own packages as an example:

1. A Basic Package: My basic birth doula package is pretty standard, offering what most other birth doulas offer in terms of prenatal and postpartum visits, attendance at the birth, and so on.
2. An Upgraded Package: I am a Reiki practitioner, so I offer an upgraded package that includes some Reiki sessions in addition to everything that is in the basic package.
3. My High-End Package: I am also a life coach, so my high-end package adds a birth/parenting/life coach package to the Upgraded package. So, clients will receive doula services, Reiki and coaching.

You are not only limited to adding services. If you make and sell products, you could add some of your products to your upgraded packages. Use your imagination to build packages that no other doulas around you offer. This will automatically set you apart from your competition.

How Should I Price My Packages?

In a past article I offered some questions that you can ask yourself when setting your prices. Refer to it if you need help determining the price for your Basic Package. For pricing your Upgraded and High-End Packages, a good rule of thumb is to increase your price 10-30%. For example, the rate for your Basic Package is $295. Your mid-range package could be about 10% higher, at $325. Your premium package could be $375, a difference of about 15% over your mid-range package.

Magical Numbers?

Some marketing experts suggest that people really respond to prices that have any 5s, 7s and 9s in them. I can’t say that I agree. I do admit, though, that in the above pricing examples, I started off using the numbers $300, $330 and $380, and that I personally feel more attracted to the prices listed above. For some reason, they just look nicer. I invite you to experiment with your prices and see what feels good to you.

These posts may also inspire you:

1. Should You Include Your Prices On Your Marketing Materials and Website?
2. Set Your Doula Business Apart From The Rest With Effective Service Descriptions
3. 7 Pricing Strategies for Birth Doulas

Here is a typical basic package description for birth doula services:

• Two prenatal visits
• Birth plan assistance
• Access to lending library
• Continuous support during labor and birth
• Initial breastfeeding support after the birth
• One postpartum follow-up visit
• Unlimited phone and e-mail support

If you were searching for a birth doula and read this list on someone’s website, would you understand the purpose of the services being offered? You’d see that you would meet prenatally and postpartum with that doula, but what would you do? Why are you meeting? Why would you want assistance with your birth plan? What exactly would your doula do to help you during the labor and birth? What does “continuous support” mean?

Here is a new and improved version:

• Two prenatal visits to assess your needs and desires for birth, define and understand our expectations of one another, and provide you with useful tools for labor and birth
• Birth plan assistance to help you clarify your preferences for birth and explain the options that are available to you
• Access to my lending library of books and videos about pregnancy, birth and baby care, to support your learning
• Continuous physical, emotional, and informational support for you and your partner for the duration of labor and birth, to help the you hold and move towards the vision you created for your baby’s birth
• Initial breastfeeding support immediately after birth to help your baby latch on properly and encourage the establishment of breastfeeding
• One postpartum follow-up visit to celebrate the birth of your baby and answer any questions you have during the early postpartum period
• Unlimited phone and e-mail support to answer your questions and offer suggestions and support throughout pregnancy and early labor

After reading the second description, how do you feel and what did you think about the birth doula who described what you can expect to receive for each part of her package? Do you have a better idea of how each of the services described will help you if you hire that doula? Has this doula successfully held your interest?

The above descriptions would be appropriate on a website or on a sheet you give to potential clients that describes your package offerings and your rate. Be aware that in a printed brochure, long descriptions may make the brochure look cluttered and busy. In this case, you may want to create shorter descriptions that still include a result for each point.

You are welcome to use the above examples in your own materials, but I encourage you to change them to reflect your personal style. Add a comment below to share with us other types of services you would offer to your clients, or give us a link to your own website with your new and improved service descriptions.

These posts may also inspire you:

1. Packaging Your Doula Services
2. The Number One Rule To Remember When Marketing Your Birth Business
3. 5 Tips For A Great Doula Interview