The Simple Framework to Mind-Blowing Success as a Doula
I want new doulas to know that it’s okay to do this work for money…and it’s okay to make a lot of money doing it.
It’s about damn time we tended to this money-wound that is running rampant in birthwork… It’s time we help each other make more money, so we can serve more women, support our families, and not burn out in the process!
Today I’m sharing The Simple Framework to Mind-Blowing Success as a Doula.
And - spoiler alert - it has nothing to do with birth, and everything to do with overcoming your fear of investing in yourself.
If you’ve been wondering how to achieve your business goals faster, with less stress, and have a whole lot more fun doing it, then get out a pen and paper, this episode is for you.
Things you’ll learn in this episode:
What is a money-wound and how to heal it…
One common thing your favorite birth influencers are all doing…
The 10-step framework to creating wild success for your business…
… and a whole lot more!
I’m about to spill THE secret that led me to serve over 1,200 clients and students over the last 18 months. This is something you can do to transform your entire life, as a brand new doula, without leaving your couch. And it has to do with the m-word.
That dirty, filthy, society-collapsing m-word. Money.
A while back, I got my first horrible review for this podcast. But I have to share the good news—I finally got another. She said, “This podcast is a ‘get-rich-quick scheme’ but make it birth-y.” Was I offended? Not in the slightest. Instead, I got curious.
Why would she say that? How does teaching birthworkers business skills equal a ‘get rich quick scheme’... I sure as hell didn’t get rich quick.
Why would she say that? Yes, I make more money than I ever have…but I also serve WAY more women than I ever have. I’m also able to put food on a handful of other moms’ tables by employing them. I offer scholarships to every single program I’ve ever created, and accept 95% of the applicants!
Why would she say that?!
And then it hit me. The only person who would say something like that is someone who has tried endlessly to build a profitable career out of birthwork, but couldn’t ever make it work… Or maybe someone who was too scared to fully commit and say, “I want this doula career to feed my entire family… and even more families beyond mine.” Or maybe it was someone who had huge dreams, but then she saw someone with less experience come in and do all the things she wanted to do….
And maybe that doula was me.
So, I’m dedicating this post to the person that left the nasty review. Not to stir the pot, (although I love stirring the pot…) but because money has been such a dirty word in the birth community, and I’m just honestly ready for us all to move beyond that.
I want new doulas to know that it’s okay to do this work for money…and it’s okay to make a lot of money doing it.
It’s about damn time we tended to this money-wound that is running rampant in birthwork… It’s time we help each other make more money, so we can serve more women, support our families, and not burn out in the process!
I am sharing The Simple Framework to Mind-Blowing Success as a Doula.
It has nothing to do with birth, and everything to do with overcoming your fear of investing in yourself. I hear it way more often than I hear anything else as a birthworker business coach. “I don’t have money to even start.”
So let's talk about it.
Investing in yourself looks different for everyone. To some people, investing $100 is no big deal, $1,000 is no big deal, or even $10,000 is no big deal to some people…but maybe for you, $1,000 doesn’t feel very comfortable. You might have to put some things on a credit card, or do a payment plan, or maybe even borrow some money from your mom…whatever your financial situation is.
I need to have a heart-to-heart with you.
I know that when you invest in your business, your entire freaking life will change for the better. Making those scary investments in yourself is 100% what puts you ahead of everybody else. To be a really successful businesswoman, you almost always have to be on the uncomfortable side of investing.
As I started growing my own business, I had to work through some of these money blocks too. When I took my in-person doula training program 4 years ago, the course cost about $2,000, but I also had to pay for an Airbnb and plane ticket since it was away from home. The whole thing cost around $3,500. And honestly, it didn’t scare me much because I was so excited.
Then, like most brand-new doulas, I sat on my butt for way too long and didn't make any money…. I just didn’t know what to do! How to actually find clients and make birthwork my real, big girl career… That’s an unfortunate place where most women end up after attending those 3-day doula trainings.
The next thing I invested in scared the shit out of me. I purchased a business course for $2,000 to teach me how to grow the online portion of my business. A few months after I took that scary step, I had my very first $10,000 month.
That was the most I had ever made in a single month in my life until that point.
So was my $2,000 course I invested in a ‘get-rich-quick scheme?’ I bet the woman who left me that podcast review thinks so…but I think it was the best $2,000 I’ve EVER spent in my life. It changed my life completely.
On March 23rd, 2021, I invested in that business course. On July 13th, 2021… less than 4 months later, I retired my partner.
If that’s a get-rich-quick scheme, sign me up all day long…
The next business investment I made was $3,500 for a mentor. That dollar amount did scare me a little, but you know what I said? I said, “After I invested in that $2,000 course and I made $10,000, what if I invest $3,500 and make $15,000 a few months later?”
And *sneak peek* that's exactly what happened! And after that, I got to the point where I began to realize that any money I invest in myself, I’m going to get it back tenfold. I believe in myself that much.
I have had the pleasure of meeting tons of other amazing, wildly successful businesswomen in the birth community, and do you know what I’ve realized? They are also investing in themselves…all the time.
These women I have looked up to in the birth community are doing the same thing as me, investing in BUSINESS education.
All of us.
Karen from Pain-Free Birth.
Emilie from Freebirth Society.
Bridget from Built to Birth.
Stephanie from The Pregnancy and Birth Made Easy Podcast.
Lizzy from Unmedicated Hospital Birth.
Dr. Nicole Rankins from the All About Pregnancy and Birth Podcast.
We see ourselves as entrepreneurs. We keep one foot outside our comfort level when it comes to investing in ourselves. Every single one of us.
So how did I get to where I am today? By putting my head down and focusing on two things: my foundational knowledge of both birth and growing a sustainable business, and continuing to always be on the uncomfortable side of investing in myself. I now know that every dollar I invest will come back to me in the next year.
I want you to know that I didn't just wake up one day saying, “Oh, no big deal, let me just invest thousands of dollars into myself…” It wasn't like that at all. I wanted it bad enough, that I was more than willing to rent out the two extra bedrooms in my house…as a pregnant woman and when I had a newborn… (I'm sure you can imagine exactly how not fun it was to have two other adults living in my house with a newborn.)
But my vision was so clear…and I knew that it was going to be worth it.
Investing in yourself is scary, but it's a whole lot less scary if you have a clear roadmap to get your investment back. And that clear roadmap is inside the Birthworker Membership.
The membership has 4 core pieces: The course itself, coaching, community, and challenges… and right now I’ll just be walking through what’s inside the course, because that’s the framework each of you will follow to take your doula business online, regardless of if you join the membership or not.
Module One: Business Setup
Imagine how good it will feel to have a legitimate business with all of your tax and financial stuff set up, and the back end of your business completely organized. The initial business setup makes every other step moving forward so much more streamlined.
Module Two: Build Your Brand
Once your business is legit, it’s really important to nail down who you want to serve, and aim your branding toward that client avatar. As hard as it is to say this, you can’t serve everyone… and you don’t want to serve everyone, trust me!
Module Three: Copywriting
In this module I’ll be giving you everything I know about creating content to grow your audience and turn online strangers into raving fans. I share the exact strategies I currently use to write killer copy (like IG captions, webite pages, emails, and blogs) so you don’t ever have to stare at a blank screen again.
Module Four: Social Media
Here I’m sharing exactly what I did to grow my Instagram account to 10,000 followers in less than a year, and almost 30,000 followers in just 2 years!
Module Five: Weekly Content
This is where you’ll take it up a notch and learn how to create the content that puts you ahead of 99% of the other birthworkers out there. You’re gonna learn how to strategize, plan, create, and batch weekly content like a blog, podcast, or YouTube channel. Once you have your weekly content machine set up and optimized, everything starts coming together. Your weekly content will become the engine that drives all the other parts of your business.
Module Six: Email Fundamentals
Here, you’ll learn how to take your original weekly content and turn it in to weekly emails! Creating an email list is such a foundational part of growing your online business… and I’ll walk you through all the the tech set up, step by step, and share my secrets along the way. (Like how I grew my email list to almost 9,000 moms in less than 2 years. And how I automated a sh*t ton of emails, so that those moms get on my email list and become students of mine without me having to lift a finger.)
Module Seven: Website Setup
Now you get to set up a killer website. There is a lot of strategy behind setting up a website that actually converts your audience into students and clients…and I’m sharing it all here. We will walk through website strategy, the types of pages you need on your website, SEO (search engine optimization) and other advanced website hacks that I love!
Module Eight, Nine, and Ten: Freebie Funnel, Online Offers, and Facebook Ads
These three modules are all about planning, creating, and selling your online offers. We will walk through the complete set up with tech tutorial videos and templates all along the way. How to nail down your paid offering (whether thats an e-book, workshop, course, coaching program, or something else) and then choose the perfect freebie that leads people into your paid offer.
And for those of you who are business nerds like me, we will also dive into Facebook Ads strategies… and how spending just $5 per day on Facebook Ads could change your entire life.
PSA: these modules won’t just be an overview. I will never tell you what to do WITHOUT literally walking you through it, step by step. I will be there with you, answering every single question you have through weekly live coaching calls and a private community for members only. Imagine how it will feel to join a group of 60 other birth nerds (doulas, lactation consultants, childbirth educaters, and coaches) and to be supported in a community 7 days per week as you grow your business.
Starting your path as a birthworker or taking your existing birth business online can feel lonely, but now you won’t have to walk the path alone.
It would be my absolute honor to help you grow your business to a level you’ve only dreamed about until now.
If your goal is to create a recurring revenue stream in your business that brings in $500 per month, so you can stress less about money. Let's freakin do it. If you want to replace your six-figure income so you never have to work for somebody else again, let's do it together. Whatever your business goals are, I know that you are going to get there faster, with less stress, and have a whole lot more fun with the support that you're gonna receive inside the Birthworker Membership.
So if you're ready to see what level of business success you're capable of, and if you're ready to join a group of women with the same goals as you, women who continue to show up every single day and give it their all, click here.
thank you for listening
If this episode lights you up, I’d love it if you’d rate and review the show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts. After you review the show, snap a pic and upload it here… and I’ll send you a little surprise as a thank you.
Your feedback helps this podcast grow and I wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for you!
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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.