Balancing Creativity and Productivity: A Doula's Guide to Making the Most of Your Ideas
Have you ever wondered how the *best* birth doulas manage to stay creatively inspired while also being productive and efficient?
If you are ready to learn how to tap into your own creativity while maximizing your productivity as a birth-business-owner, then get out a pen and paper, this episode is for you!
The 3 questions we answer in today’s episode are:
I have SO many ideas for doula offerings… How do I decide which subjects should be freebies, ebooks, webinars, courses, etc?
How do you schedule the weeks/months for your business? I'd love to hear more about how you batch all your content, as well as how you organize your time for the backend of your business.
My local midwife is not on board with doulas - she finds them interfering and unqualified to support birth. Have you come across this before? How can we break the stigma? How can we join together with midwives?
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.
If you're tired of feeling like your creative ideas are constantly competing with your productivity goals, then you wanna listen up! Balancing creativity and productivity can be a tricky task, but as a doula, I've learned some valuable strategies for making the most of your ideas without sacrificing efficiency.
Question #1: I have SO many ideas for doula offerings... How do I decide which subjects should be freebies, ebooks, webinars, courses, etc? — Breanne
I understand firsthand how challenging it can be to decide which subjects should be offered as freebies, ebooks, webinars, courses, and other services. You want to provide your clients with the best information possible, but you also want to make sure that you are getting paid for your time and expertise.
Here are some tips to help you decide which topics to offer as freebies and which ones to charge for:
Start by identifying the most common questions that pregnant moms ask you. These are the questions that keep them up at night, and they’re most likely to pay for answers to. You can create a freebie that answers these questions in detail, and then offer a paid course or webinar that goes into even more depth.
Look at your competition and see what they are offering. You don't want to copy their content, but you can get an idea of what topics are overdone in the birth space, and which ideas are untapped!
Think about what you enjoy teaching the most. If you are passionate about a particular topic, your enthusiasm will come through in your teaching, and your clients will be more likely to resonate with your content.
Consider creating a series of related products or services. For example, you could offer a free ebook that introduces a particular topic, then offer a paid course that goes into more detail, and finally offer a one-on-one coaching session for clients who want even more personalized support.
Don't be afraid to experiment. Try out different formats and topics to see what your clients like best. You can always adjust your offerings based on feedback.
When it comes to creating valuable content, remember that your #1 goal is to provide your clients with information and support that they can't get anywhere else. By focusing on their specific needs and interests, you can create a thriving online doula business that helps women have the best possible birth/postpartum experiences.
Question #2: How do you schedule the weeks/months for your business? I'd love to hear more about how you batch all your content, as well as how you organize your time for the backend of your business. – Danielle
As a birth worker, you are juggling a lot of different tasks and responsibilities. To make sure that you are using your time as efficiently as possible, it's important to have a solid schedule and time management system in place.
Here are some tips to help you manage your time effectively:
Use a planner or calendar to keep track of your appointments and deadlines. Whether you prefer a paper planner or a digital calendar, having a system in place will help you stay organized and avoid double bookings. You might already know, but Airtable is my favorite for organizing deadlines. (And organizing basically everything else in your business…)
Introducing: time blocking! This is where, you guessed it, you block out chunks of time for specific tasks. For example, you could dedicate Monday mornings to client calls, Tuesday afternoons to content creation, and Wednesday mornings to administrative tasks. By batching similar tasks together, you can maximize your productivity and avoid switching back and forth between different types of work.
Take breaks throughout the day. It's important to give your brain and body a chance to recharge so that you can stay focused and energized. Try to take short breaks every hour or so, and take a longer break (30 minutes - 1 hour) in the middle of the day. Obviously, if you have kids or are on call for a birth, this can look a little different. This is just a baseline for longer, administrative work days.
Outsource tasks that are outside your expertise. If there are tasks that you don't enjoy or don't have the skills for, consider hiring someone else to do them! This could include tasks like bookkeeping, social media management, or website design. This has been one of the #1 things that has pushed my business forward in the last year.
Click here to meet my team, they’re the best!
Finally, remember to take care of yourself. As a birth worker, you are passionate about helping others, but it's important to prioritize your own health and well-being too. Make sure that you are getting enough sleep, eating nourishing food, and taking time for exercise and relaxation. (As much as you can.)
By implementing these time management strategies, you can make sure that you are using your time effectively and efficiently, while still leaving plenty of room for self-care.
Question #3: My local midwife is not on board with doulas… she finds them interfering and unqualified to support. Have you come across this before? How can we break the stigma? How can we join together with midwives? – Jodi
It's not uncommon for healthcare professionals (not just OBs!) to view doulas as interfering or unqualified. Here are some strategies to help overcome the stigma and collaborate with midwives and other providers:
Educate providers on the role of doulas. Many healthcare professionals either don’t fully understand the unique support that doulas provide, or they have some misconceptions about the role. Provide them with statistical information on the benefits of having a doula, such as lower rates of interventions, improved maternal and fetal outcomes, and increased satisfaction with the birth experience.
Be respectful of the provider’s expertise. While doulas provide valuable emotional and informational support, providers simply have a different role in the birth process. It's important to acknowledge and respect their medical training and expertise. (Even if you don’t agree with all of their opinions/suggestions…)
Remember that we are all working towards the same goal - a safe and positive birth experience for the mother and baby. By working together and respecting each other's roles, we can provide comprehensive support for our clients.
As a birth worker, it's so important to provide valuable content for your clients, manage your time effectively, and overcome any barriers to collaboration with other healthcare professionals. By focusing on your client's needs, prioritizing your time, and building healthy relationships with our clients’ midwives/OBs, you can create a thriving doula business and make a huge impact on the birth community as a whole!
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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.