19 Things to Do When Your Birth Business is Slow

When you've got a doula business, it's not uncommon to have busy periods and lulls, and sometimes when the dip happens, it's difficult to know what to do. It's important to remember that in busy and slow times, marketing doesn't stop. In fact, it's easy to forget to market your business when you're busy until you wake up after helping a client and realize that's the last client you have on the books for a while.

I recently shared some ways to attract clients by increasing your outreach marketing efforts – getting out and connecting with people in your community in a variety of ways and doing some of these activities will help get your face and name out there. You'll need to make a habit of doing these kinds of marketing activities when you have just one client on the calendar, but most especially when you've got clients booked for the next six months.

If you do find yourself faced with a slow period in your doula business, you have the opportunity to take advantage of this breathing room to catch up on tasks you've put on the backburner, beef up your online marketing efforts and learn something new.

Here is a list to get you started:

1. Review or create your business and marketing plans
2. Create email templates for messages or responses you send again and again, such as answers to common questions, checking in with clients, setting up appointments or sending reminders, follow-up emails after classes or visits, etc. Look through your sent messages to see what you're always sending out.
3. Update your marketing materials
4. Write out your client workflow, from the time you are first contacted by a prospective client until you close out her file. Think of all the emails you need to send from following up after the interview to booking prenatals. What to prep for classes, what goes in your doula bag for a birth, how to collect payments, and what happens when finalizing account after your last meeting. You can use an add-on for Gmail called Streak or a Client Management system like Dubsado to move that workflow from paper to digital.
5. Update your social media cover photos using online software like Canva
6. Create an irresistible opt-in offer to help build your email list
7. Learn something new that is business-related (but not birth related) – blogging, SEO, a new social media platform, graphics program, email marketing software
8. Update or create your website's resource list
9. Collect testimonials to add to your website or ask past clients to post them on Facebook, Yelp or DoulaMatch.com
10. Get a new headshot for your website
11. Touch base with past clients. Create a few email templates you can re-use and tweak when checking in with your past clients. Add a timeline to your client workflow to indicate how often you will follow-up.
12. Update your website – hone your message, speak more clearly to your ideal client, add or replace images, change your website theme, tighten your SEO
13. Create a social media plan to connect with local businesses and attract ideal clients. Schedule out your social media posts for the next month or two. If you have an irresistible opt-in, experiment with running a Facebook ad to get more eyeballs to your website.
14. That list of advanced doula training or other courses you want to take or visual aids you want to buy? Create a savings plan to pay for them.
15. Make a point to connect on social media or in real life with potential referral and/or joint venture partners
16. Clean up your workspace to clear your mind and increase your productivity (try it, it works!)
17. Catch up on your accounting
18. Establish a relationship with an accountability partner to keep you both moving forward in your businesses
19. Create something new – an exciting program, class, online course, challenge, ebook or ecourse, product

What do you do if you have a slow period? Come join the conversation in the Inspired Birth Pros Facebook group.