Blog Strategies for Doulas: Six Tips to Keep it Simple
Want to blog but worry about the time commitment? Have trouble imagining how on earth you’ll manage to write regular posts? Blogging doesn’t have to be nearly as complicated as many birth workers imagine. I find myself sharing these same nuggets of advice over and over again with clients, so it’s time to bring them here to the blog for all of you!
1) Break it down.
When writing an informational blog post, you don’t have to share Everything you know! Take a close look at any given post and ask yourself - can this be broken down into multiple posts? For example, instead of writing everything there is to know about water birth, choose your top 5 water birth pics and turn them into individual posts such as Renting a Birth Tub, The Experience of Water Birth for Babies, Benefits of a Water Birth, Water and Pain Relief, a Birth Story from a Home Water Birth, Tips for Filling and Emptying the Birth Tub, and so on…
2) Keep it Simple
Short and sweet is just fine, with a 300 - 700 word range. Seriously. You don’t have to turn in a 3 page essay! If you find yourself getting stuck in the writing process, try closing your eyes and just Typing all the ideas on your chosen topic that come to mind. Then go back in and rearrange them into your post with a bit of loving editing.
3) Guest Blog Posts
Remember that you don’t have to be responsible for 100% of the content. There are fantastic practitioners in your community who would love the opportunity to share more of their expertise with your audience either through a guest post, or an interview. In the case of guest posts, you might provide a topic or a series of questions, and then you simply edit what they provide you & hit publish!
4) Have Fun!
Your posts don’t have to all be hugely informative and chock-full of important facts or tips. Remember to include elements that convey the personality of your practice, such as favourite photos, quotes, birth stories, and recipes. These posts can be as simple as a few lines long, providing inspiration rather than education.
5) Get Personal
Some doulas find their blog to be a great way to help potential clients to get to know them. By sharing more personal posts such as favourite recipes, or musings on your motherhood journey, you are giving them a sense of who you are as a person and what you have found interesting, helpful, or inspiring.
6) Keep a Schedule
Most regular bloggers find it helpful to divide their blog topics into categories, and create a schedule with a regular rotation of your different types of blog posts, including perhaps personal posts, informative posts, inspirational posts, guest posts, etc… You don’t have to post something new every week, but if you can pull off twice monthly that is a good solid foundation to aim for. This simple step can help it all feel overwhelming.
Most of all, remember that your blog is a change to connect with your audience. Yes, it’s great for your search engine rankings, and a wonderful support and resource for your clients. Still, the most important benefit in my mind is allowing for a range of creative content on your site that your future, current, and past clients to see you as an ongoing resource and inspiration.
>> Here are more great doula blog tips from a post written a few years ago.
>> You'll also find this post on spam comments on your doula blog helpful.