Supporting Women Through Pregnancy, Birth, and Postpartum… Without Actually Attending Their Birth as a Doula
Are you ready to take the next steps with your online doula business?
If you’ve been wondering about the “if’s, and’s, and but’s” of entering the online space as a doula, then get out a pen and paper, this blog post is for you.
The 3 questions we answer in today’s blog:
How do I get into the birth world without a medical background? I don't really want to live the doula lifestyle, but I would love to support women through pregnancy and birth.
I'm having trouble finding doula clients. Should I be running Facebook ads?
I'm an experienced childbirth educator with my own comprehensive curriculum. What software should I use to host my online course?
Every Friday, I answer your biggest questions right here on the Birthworker Blog AND the Birthworker Podcast.
To submit a question for next week’s podcast, click here.
Question 1: "How do I get into the birth world without a medical background? I don't really want to live the doula lifestyle, but I would love to support women through pregnancy and birth."
You don't need a medical background to be a birthworker. There are so many ways to work in the birth community without a medical background, and honestly, there are many moms who prefer to hire people who don't have a medical background. It’s definitely not the majority though. In the United States, 98% of people are giving birth in the hospital, but even so, I'm on call for a freebirth right now. She did not hire any medical provider, but this is her first birth and she hired me, a non-medical birth doula.
As for not wanting to “live the doula lifestyle,” this is where my three-pronged approach comes in. You can make birthwork fit your lifestyle, whatever that may look like. You can travel the world. You can stay home with your kids. You can live in an RV. You could never be on call in your life. You could only be on call on select days at certain times. Whatever you want your life to look like, you can make your birthwork business fit that using my three-pronged approach.
If you don't want to “live the doula lifestyle,” but you still want to attend births here and there, then awesome! That is the first part to the three-pronged approach. Attend however many births per year that feels right to you and that you want to attend. Don't attend births just because you need the money. Figure out how to make the money in other ways.
The second part of the three-pronged approach is live online offers like workshops or coaching. You don't have to be on call, but you still have to show up live. You could make a breastfeeding workshop, a “how to write a birth plan” workshop, a freebirth workshop, or a prenatal nutrition workshop… The opportunities for workshops are endless. That's an amazing way to still work in the birth community, but not live "the doula lifestyle".
Then the third part of my three-pronged approach to birthwork is creating passive online offers. You don’t have to be on call, nor do you have to show up in real-time. This can be a pre-recorded online course, or an ebook that you sell from your website.
So to answer the question, the world is your oyster. Not only do you not need a medical background, but you do not have to attend births at all to get into birthwork. You could do placenta encapsulation, placenta art, one-on-one coaching, group coaching, create a membership for moms, host a mother’s circle in your local area, or you could do postpartum work and you could know exactly the hours you work every day. You could create an ebook or an online course to sell passively from your website.
The opportunities are endless to make birthwork fit your lifestyle.
Question #2: "I'm having trouble finding doula clients. Should I be running Facebook ads?"
Absolutely not. Do not run Facebook ads if you are having trouble finding clients in person.
Running Facebook ads is a beast, I have spent tons of money on Facebook ads, and I love them. This is not me telling you that Facebook ads are horrible. This is me telling you that before you are ready to run Facebook ads, you need to have your business completely figured out. You need a funnel in place that is going to lead people to your offers and generate sales.
Running Facebook ads can be expensive for someone who doesn't understand Facebook ads inside and out. For example, if you are selling a $100 ebook or mini course that you want to run Facebook ads to, there's a chance that it costs more than $100 in ads to get one purchase. In that case, it’s just not worth it.
I teach about Facebook ads in Birthworker Academy and my On-Call to Online framework, which lives within the Birthworker Membership right now. I teach my students that before you run Facebook ads, you need to have an offer that is already converting. That looks like a freebie with an email sequence that is converting to something that pays you, whether that is one-on-one coaching calls, your doula packages, or enen an ebook or an online course. Whatever you’re selling, you’ve got to have it figured out and running super smooth organically before you're actually ready to run ads.
If you think you're ready for ads, I would encourage you to jump on a coaching call with me. Click here to book a call. I do 1 and 3 hour sessions. I take them a couple days per week, so spots are limited. If you have trouble booking a call or if you have any questions, just DM me on Instagram and we will get you in.
Facebook ads should not be taken lightly. You should be ready to at least spend at least $150 per month on Facebook ads, and you should be willing and prepared to lose that money. It takes some time to figure it out perfectly. I'm a big fat Facebook ads nerd, in case you can't tell.
Question #3: "I'm an experienced childbirth educator with my own comprehensive curriculum. What software should I use to host my online course?"
I would use ThriveCart. Hands down. Don't even look at anything else. ThriveCart is amazing because not only does it host a course, but it is also a checkout software. Click here to get started. It's what I use for all of my checkout carts, and I use it for some of my courses, but not all of them. Some of my courses are actually too comprehensive that they need something a little more expensive.
One of my favorite things about ThriveCart is that it’s a one-time payment. It's $500 to $700, depending on which tier you choose, and you never have to pay again. The problem with other course platforms like Kajabi is that you have to pay monthly, forever. You never stop paying, whereas ThriveCart is something you purchase once and you're done.
If you were ever a student of the Third Trimester Checklist, or the Birth Plan Blueprint, Autonomous Birth Academy, or any of my birth courses, those are all hosted in ThriveCart. Then, also, if you are a student of the Birthworker.com Childbirth Educator Training Program, which is also in ThriveCart.
If you're wondering, "Kyleigh, where do you host Birthworker Academy and the Birthworker Membership?" Those are hosted in a platform called Searchie. I pay $200 per month for Searchie, and it is worth every penny. It can be difficult to navigate, but it's for those really big comprehensive courses.
If you think of online courses, there are three layers. The course, the modules, and the lessons. Birthworker Academy and the Birthworker Membership have way more than that, so they need more layers. It's almost like it needs a full website, so that's why I use Searchie.
One of the best things about Searchie is that all of the content is searchable, hence the name. When I upload a video to the portal, it’s immediately searchable. You can type into the search bar, "How do I choose my niche?” or “How do I create a contract?” and it will pull up videos that mentioned those words. It's like a Google search engine but for my courses. That's why I love Searchie. I definitely would not recommend it to someone who's just starting out though. So the short answer is to start with Thrivecart, and when you outgrow that, move over to Searchie. It's definitely going to be something that's more comprehensive.
thank you for listening
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Meet your host, Kyleigh Banks, a side-gig doula turned CEO of a multi-six-figure birth-focused business. Her passion? Teaching birth nerds, like you, how to build an incredibly successful doula business that allows you to quit your day job, stay home with your kids, and most importantly, make a lasting impact on the world.