THE WEBSITE DOULA BLOG
SEO for Doulas: A simple guide to finding and using keywords
Every single day, expectant parents are looking for support like yours online. Can they find you? Just having a beautiful and informative website isn’t enough. It needs to show up in search results when people go searching. But how to do that??? I get calls every week from birth and postpartum doulas like you who…
Being a Doula and a Mom: 5 Lessons Learned the Hard Way
The original post below was written 12 years ago when I still had young kids and was still attending births along with being The Website Doula. Being a doula and mom was a blessing in so many ways, but also really hard sometimes… When I first wrote this post, it was 2013, and the kids…
Doula Business Name Ideas: How to find & choose the best name, plus 50+ brand name ideas to get you started!
Starting your doula business is exciting, but choosing the right brand name can feel overwhelming. Your business name should reflect your values, resonate with your target audience, and stand out in the crowded doula market. In this guide, we’ll explore how to generate plenty of ideas for your doula business name using AI, and how…
How to rank for “near me” and “best” keywords in SEO
As a health and wellness professional, standing out in search results can be a real challenge, especially if you’re in a larger metro area with many other similar service businesses. Learning how to rank for near me keywords in SEO is an essential part of showing up in local search. Clients seeking immediate and nearby…
Thrivecart Review for Health & Wellness Business Owners: 2025
I’d like to introduce you to Thrivecart, the best shopping cart tool out there. While there are loads of benefits, at the heart of are these two simple facts: Here’s what you need to know about choosing ThriveCart for online sales as a health and wellness business owner: ***When you purchase Thrivecart through my affiliate…
Your Google Business Profile: A Guide for Doulas. Updated for 2025!
Do you have a Google Business Profile for your birth or postpartum business yet? If you are a doula, lactation consultant, newborn care specialist, placenta encapsulation specialist, childbirth educator serving local clients and you don’t yet have a FREE Google profile you’re missing out! I know some of you are already ROCKING your profiles with…
Your Doula Business Cards for 2025
Way back when I started my life as a self-employed doula and a childbirth educator, a tiny business card was all I needed. It was a standard VistaPrint design (the funkiest one they had), and included my Name, Services, Phone Number, Email, and Website. Full colour on the front, blank on the back. Old school…
Doula Cost: Should I include my doula fees on my website?
Should I include my doula cost on my website? Yes, no, maybe so? It comes up over and over again with my doula web design clients. Some are 100% on the yes side, others 100% on the no side, and some are simply unsure. Interestingly this topic inspires many STRONG feelings in the doulas I…
Is your web design dated? Here are 7 simple ways to update your online presence.
If you are a practicing birth or postpartum doula or midwife today, the bulk of your client base is currently in the age brackets between the age of 20-45. They grew up with technology and the internet and are considered to be “digital natives”, and tend to be both highly dependent and extra savvy in…
Choosing Your Domain Name (updated for 2025)
More often than not, I get a new client calling me for help building their new website who has a fantastic creative name for their business that has only one major catch: The domain name is not available. Perhaps someone else is using it for their domain, or often an individual or company has purchased…
The Ultimate Guide to Doula Websites
KEY TAKEAWAYS How to Create Your Own Doula Website You don’t need to be super techy to get a beautiful doula website up and running. Website builders like Squarespace, Wix, and WordPress make it pretty doable—even if this stuff isn’t your jam. Making sure yours is the best doula website in town involves these steps:…
Doula Jobs: Launch your doula business or find a doula job with an agency (Updated for 2025).
Over my 30 years in the birth world I have met a LOT of new doulas. Many thrive, going on to have successful doula businesses for decades or expanding their skills set to also serve families as midwives, lactation consultants, doula trainers, therapists and more. Others, however, have struggled to grow their business and make…
Storybrand AI Review: How to make the most of this new marketing tool with tips from a Storybrand-trained web designer.
If you’ve ever sat staring at a blank screen trying to figure out which words to use to talk about the power of what you do, I’m delighted to introduce you to the new StoryBrand.AI tool. In just a few minutes of your time, you can generate a full marketing package for your business, including…
What to do with old blog posts
Do you have a blog? Is it a really really old one that you’ve never updated? Are there posts on there that are now out-of-date or no longer represent your approach or offerings? You’re not alone! I’m here to show you how to update old blog posts so you don’t lose great content – and…
How to use local citations to boost your website SEO
Search engine optimization just keeps changing… As a local business owner, one of the tools you may not yet be using to grow your search rankings is local citations. I’ve just started offering this as a new service, so thought I’d share more about the SEO benefits of using local citations. If your website is…
Simple Website Design for Health & Wellness Business Owners
Hot tip: While your health and wellness business may have a bounty of amazing services & resources to share, you need a simple website design to convert visitors into clients. Don’t worry, simple website design doesn’t mean basic, or boring. It means we’re making it as simple as possible for site visitors to become favorite…
8 Features the Best Health & Wellness Websites Use to Attract New Clients
Do you love that feeling of waking up in the morning and finding new bookings for your health and wellness business that came through your website? If that isn’t happening for you (yet!), then keep reading! In the competitive landscape of local wellness businesses today, having the best health and wellness website in your region can be…
Including client reviews on your website: How to use testimonials to get more clients and show up in search
Do you have client reviews on your health and wellness website? What about on your website home page? Client testimonials are a great way to enhance your ability to connect with potential clients and even improve how you show up in search! I very often include testimonials as an integral part of home page designs.…
Is it time to redesign your website for your wellness business?
Did you wake up this morning, look at your website, and just feel “blah”, or even release an outward groan… Building a website is a big investment of time and money, and when we publish our new site we of course want it to last for as long as possible! Here’s the catch: websites seem…
Your Wellness Website Brand Photo Shoot
One of the best ways to uplevel your wellness website is with a fantastic brand photo shoot. Let’s face it, stock photos for health and wellness professionals are limited enough that you often see the same photos over and over again on every other practitioner’s website. If you want to stand out and feel unique,…
Simple Trick for Google Reviews
Having a Google+ Business Profile with glowing reviews is a great way to boost your wellness website rankings, allowing for an additional way for your site to show up in local search. (Here is my tutorial on how to create a Google+ business page for your health & wellness business!) While your clients may be…
Crickets or Cha-Ching? The True Cost of a Bad Website
How does your website work for you? I mean really WORK… Does it lead to the sound of “crickets” in your business, or a steady flow of awesome client inquiries who become beloved clients? TRUTH: Your website is the key link between your holistic practice and all the lovely people out there who would love…
10 best Chiropractor Website web design tips that make the difference.
The best chiropractic websites both inform and inspire, expanding people’s awareness of what chiropractic has to offer and leading them to book their first chiropractic visit & adjustment. How do new chiropractic patients find your clinic? Word of mouth referrals? Advertising? Insurance? What about your website? Can new patients find you online? When they land…
10 Ways to Improve Your Blog Traffic
If you have a blog, most likely your focus is usually on what your next post is going to be about – and when you’re going to find the time to write it! You write a post, you optimize it, choose the perfect featured image, share it on socials or your newsletter, send clients the…
Warm Leads: How to use your website to convert leads into awesome new clients
It is my belief that a website is best used as a living, active tool in support of your wellness business. A well-designed website will actually help potential clients take the next steps to learn more about your care. If you offer free consults as a pathway to convert warm leads into clients, here are…
Why your Website Needs a Privacy Policy
As a health and wellness provider, you are deeply invested in the quality of care you provide your clients. Whether you are a midwife, chiropractor, reiki master, or postpartum doula, you hear countless deeply personal stories in the course of your care. Whether or not your profession is mandated to follow HIPAA guidelines, you of…
How to Take Down a Website
We focus so much on building our lovely websites that it may come as a surprise to realize you’re not quite sure how to take down a website! I got the loveliest email from a longtime client last week. She is ready to retire, and it is much-deserved after many many years supporting her community.…
Free & Paid Stock Doula Images for Birth and Postpartum Doula Websites (Updated 2025)
Let’s face it – there is a wide range of truly bad doula images out there on stock photo sites readily available for you to use on your doula website. Cheesy, unrealistic, excessive pregnant glow, and Very limited diversity represented in ethnicity, and LGBTQIA+ families. Most photos of birth involve a health care practitioner &…
How to safely research health and wellness domain names in 2025.
If you’re a health and wellness professional, whether you’re a doula, chiropractor, yoga teacher, birth center or wellness clinic, you likely have been through a lot of possibilities for your business and domain name. Now that you have a great idea you have to see if the perfect domain name for your holistic business is…
5 Ways to Move Beyond Competition as Doulas (updated for 2024)
Is competition really an issue in the doula world? It seems that the answer depends on who you ask. There do seem to be some communities where competition, at least as it might be experienced in a negative way, simply doesn’t come into play. Perhaps your birth community is extraordinarily supportive with shared referrals, community…
Teux Deux Review 2024: Your To-Do List Productivity Hack for Wellness Pros
Introducing my 2024 Review of Teux Deux, my favorite to do list tool that just keeps getting better every year I use it. Their team is incredibly responsive, continually looking to fine-tune & add features while still keeping is sweet and simple so there is no learning curve or overwhelm while using it. One of…
Are you stuck at 6cm? Why it’s so hard to write website copy for your doula website.
I’ve seen a lot of doula websites in my years as a birth professional and website designer, and unfortunately a lot of them are almost exactly the same. Sure, the colors, logo & photos might vary, but the actual content tends to be boringly standard and predictable. While this might give an accurate idea of…
Domain Privacy. What you need to know.
Most health and wellness business owners I work with on websites have never heard of domain privacy, and bump into the question of website privacy for the first time when setting up their new domain and hosting account. The cost for domain privacy is usually around $12 / year, which is pretty negligible in the…
Rock your health and wellness blog & social media with ChatGPT (with these tips to make it better!)
Are you struggling to get out a new health & wellness blog post? Stuck figuring out what to say on a social media post? Need to generate client handouts and feeling overwhelmed by the task? There’s a new AI kid on the block: ChatGPT, and it’s all the rage. It’s really impressive, actually. I’ve tested…
Do you use Google Analytics? How to make the switch to GA4.
Every once in a while there’s a big shift in the way we do things online thanks to Google shaking things up… A few years ago it was Google Core Web Vitals. A few years before that it was ensuring your site had a security certificate installed (SSL). And almost 10 years ago I got…
How long does it take for my new website to show in google search results?
It’s hard to resist, I know… So often the moment we launch a new website, clients immediately hop on google the next morning expecting to show up #1 on page 1 of search results. Or at least somewhere on that page! Or the next page perhaps? Somewhere on google? Anywhere on google! I get it.…
How long will a good website last for my business?
I met with a potential client recently. Built in 2017, her site has reached a point where it is time for a website refresh. The technology is no longer current. The backend has tools she’s no longer using. There is information that no longer matches her services. Photos of her young kids who are now…
A Fresh Approach to Childbirth Education: Meet HelloBirth
Meet Jenny Bennett, founder of HelloBirth Class! I’ve worked with Jenny for many years, and have watched her transition from part-time practitioner to full-time childbirth educator and doula, found an agency, train doulas, reestablish herself in a new state, and more. Like so many childbirth educators when I first started out I adhered closely to…
Want to build your own website? 6 questions you should answer first.
As a website designer (aka website doula…) I get the calls from the doulas who are ready to throw in the towel after months of wasted time trying to figure out whatever website platform they have chosen. I get the calls from the doulas whose websites have been live for a year and haven’t resulted…
Why your website needs regular health checks.
I want you to take a moment and consider the things that turn you OFF when you’re cruising the internet looking for a service or product. Slow loading pages or images? Yep. Broken links? Most definitely. A security certificate warning? I won’t even try to open the site. Incorrect or out-of-date information? It makes me…
Five key business mistakes I have made in my years of self-employment
Ready? Here are five key business mistakes I have made over the years that I wish I had done differently… This is how we learn, right? We make mistakes. Ideally, we learn from them. I’m doing this in the name of showing that we are all on a learning path, that where we are right…
Five expert design tips for your new health coaching website.
*While I wrote this post specifically for health coaches, the lessons below are equally applicable to just about any wellness practitioner and entrepreneur. If you’re a doula, therapist, acupuncturist, or chiropractor, you can keep reading as well! So you’re a health coach! There are a lot of steps between being a brand new health coach…
Why Choose Workspace (Gsuite) as your Email Provider
A surprisingly complex topic that comes up over and over again with my web design clients is email. How do I create a domain-based email or should I just use gmail? Can I get a free email? How many email accounts can I have? What should my email address be? Now, I am not an…
Core Web Vitals: How the new Google Update will impact your wellness website
Once again, I get to write you a “Friendly FYI” blog post. This time, it’s about an upcoming change on Google that will impact your presence in search results (SEO). Ouch, I know. But don’t walk away, please. Keep reading. Do you have a wellness website? Most of my clients are doulas, chiropractors, midwives, massage…
Google Fonts for your Holistic Website Design in 2021: Free, Easy to Use, and Web-Friendly
Choosing fonts for your doula website can be crazy overwhelming. Not only are there gazillons to choose from, but you also have to ensure that they are a) legible, b) affordable, c) match your brand, and d) web-friendly. As The Website Doula I definitely have some favourite sources of quality fonts, including Font Squirrel and…
Warm Website Design for Therapists & Counselors
Are you a therapist or a counselor? While you may have considered key factors to include on your counseling website such as your credentials, specialty areas and a booking calendar, what about having the branding that creates a warm website design?
Top 8 reasons to have a blog
As you might imagine, I can list lots of great reasons to have a blog. However, if there is one thing that I can rely on causing looks of panic or downright resistance in a client call it’s bringing up the idea of having a blog. I get it. Blogging is daunting. You have to…
Do you need instagram AND facebook? Social Media for Doulas
A doula recently asked me >> “Do I HAVE to do both Instagram AND Facebook?” First, you actually don’t HAVE to do either social media platform. There are other pathways to marketing your business such as search engine optimization and word-of-mouth referrals. If you’re truly going to be miserable on a particular social media platform…
A new website is like fabulous new dress – with pockets
Hey everyone! So I was antique shopping one day last fall (back when we could randomly wander into shops and browse for hours – remember that?!) and in the very back of this shop I found a clothing rack. And on that rack was what is best described as a magical tunic. It is crazy…
Finding and defining your Niche
“If you don’t have the guts be a meaningful specific, why do you think you can succeed as a wandering generality?” Those words of wisdom came from Seth Godin and a podcast interview with Amy Porterfield of Online Marketing Made Easy. I listened to it a few days ago as I was driving to my…
Website Hosting and Domain Registration for Wellness Websites
If you are a wellness or holistic practitioner, such as a doula, chiropractor, midwife, acupuncturist or therapist, you are likely looking for a website host that will provide great tech support, not oversell you on hosting packages you don’t need, and that will keep your website safe & sound. So many wellness practitioners I meet…
How to add SMS links to your website
REALITY: Chances are good that the majority of your site visitors are arriving on your site via text. I’m going to show you a special trick. With just a bit of code (I’ll show you how!), you can allow potential clients to click-to-text, and even draft a message for them to send! This is perfect…
Choosing keywords for your chiropractic website
I recently sat down with Dr. Danielle Angela on the Health and Wellness Practitioners Podcast to explore search engine optimization tips for chiropractor clinic websites on her podcast. We quickly found that we have a lot in common in our approaches to supporting clients, including defining your unique niche in order to implement an effective…
Simple Logo Design: 6 Common Design Mistakes
As a web designer I have seen A LOT of logo drafts. While I do not do graphic design myself, my web design clients who choose to have an image-based logo often present me with various iterations of their concept needing feedback. Sometimes we get caught up in our ideas of all the symbols that…
Why you really do need a website (preferably a great one!)
Whenever I meet with a potential client who is just starting out in their practice, the question “Do I really need a website?” inevitably comes up. There are SO MANY “should haves” when you’re just starting out – from business cards to social media, and of course a website… Then the website brings up 1001…
Favicons 101: Why, What & How
One of the small details of web design I often get asked about is the mystery of the favicon. On Chrome, Safari and Firefox when you open up a website, the favicon appears in the top left of the tab you have open. Over and over again I get questions such as: How do I…
How to reach new clients with content marketing
So there are all kinds of people who are looking for your business, right? Let’s talk about how to reach potential clients who are just in the early informational stages and exploring options. They want to get a bit more information, and have a question – or five… They have a sense that they’d like…
Why you need an SSL Certificate
Have you noticed the little green padlock symbol with the words secure starting to show up on the latest edition of Google Chrome? That little green padlock is an increasingly good thing to have. As birth professionals, trust is absolutely Key to your success as a practitioner, and that little green padlock can work wonders.…
How to take a doula holiday
I’m headed out on holiday this week! As happens every year, we are loading the car with camping gear and headed to a beautiful place for unknown adventures. This year’s destination is the badlands of South Dakota. I’m excited for rugged terrain, blue skies, and wide open expanses (I know, I sound like a tourist…
Why is it so hard to get a website headshot?
SPOILER ALERT: You’re going to see lots of old photos of me in this post! Be sure to check out my more recent post on planning your wellness website photo shoot! Today’s blog post is inspired by a post by a birth doula over in the Doula Toolbox Community on Facebook (check it out!). I’ve…
Get More Clients With an Effective Contact Page
Does your website have a contact form? If so, great! It’s an important tool for any effective website. Keep reading – because I’m about to share some valuable ideas to make the most of your form. Don’t have a contact form yet? Totally fine. Keep reading – you’ll get great tips on how to set…
Struggle with your blog? Here’s my secret.
I would like to take this opportunity to introduce you all to the wonders of the free Temi voice transcription app. I stumbled upon it when a friend recommended it and I put it on my phone a bit hesitantly. Believe it or not I’m a relatively recent convert to even having a phone (yes,…
White Space & Your Website
I took a writing course this fall learning about memoir writing as a woman and mother. This was something new for me… I can write an informational blog post with ease, but taking my thoughts & experiences and translating them into memoir form was, to say the least, challenging. As we dove into exploring writing…
How to create your gravatar
What is a gravatar, you wonder? It means “globally recognized avatar”. The word root is Avatar, kind of like the avatars your kids choose for themselves while playing video games. I’m waaaay too outside of that world to do a real comparison of the two, despite having 2 teenage boys! Avatar was actually originally a…
How to be a LGBTQ+ ally with your website
I invite each and every one of you to take a moment to do a Google search right now. Open a new tab in your browser, and type in “Doula + your city”, or midwife, or childbirth services. If you are straight, and married, you are likely to quickly find language & imagery on these…
Warm, connected & cared for: Building relationships online
By the time potential clients contact you for an interview, they should already be coming from a place of connection and excitement to work with you. They are already well down the pathway to wanting to hire you.
Informed Consent, Your Website, and Privacy Legislation
WARNING: This is not a juicy, warm, lovely blog post. It’s downright overwhelming and will likely make most of you want to stick your heads in the sand. I get it. I feel the same. But it’s important. So please read it… and make an informed decision for yourself. Y’all put a lot of effort…
How to get unstuck with writing your doula website content
Sound familiar? Here’s the problem. When we get stuck in our writing it means all that is wonderful about what you have to share with the world is Stuck as well. As a result, either your website creation will be delayed by months, or you will go with more standard (i.e. less personal) content that…
How to Rock your About Page
The about page is one of those that too often feels like an after thought on wellness websites, much like the resources page. (See my guide to your resources page here!). The standard format seems to be a quick introductory paragraph, a list of trainings & credentials, and perhaps a photo or two. While the…
Rock your resources page
Oh the resources page… Perhaps the most under-utilized page on doula websites, usually consisting of no more than a list of linked resources for pregnancy and birth. But isn’t that what a resources page is SUPPOSED to be, you ask? Well yes, and no. Yes, you want to provide great resources to site visitors and…
How to Register a Domain Name
The mere logistics of getting started with your website journey can feel completely overwhelming at the beginning. If you’ve seen someone on a forum casually mention “registering a domain name” and you’re not even sure what a domain name is, or how to register one, let alone how to choose a domain name or connect…
The Truth About Googling Your Business
You’re pretty much not going to like what I have to say here. You might find it disheartening, dismaying, disempowering, disappointing, and likely a few other dis- words I’m not thinking of at the moment. Admit it – you’ve Googled yourself (along with a few exes…) It is interesting to see what comes up, and…
Common Doula Website Design Mistakes
Why isn’t my site working for me? This is one of the questions I got asked in my 2017 website questions survey, and while she was directing the question to her specific site my answer is to all of you. By identifying common doula website design mistakes, hopefully you can identify a few good tweaks…
Getting Feedback on Your Doula Website
Why isn’t my site working for me? This is one of the questions I got asked in my 2017 questions survey, and while she was directing the question to her specific site my answer is to all of you! You’ll find my actual answer regarding common doula website design mistakes here, but I want to…
Fast Websites Have Better SEO
I’m not sure “Fast Websites Have Better SEO” would make much of a tshirt slogan, but the benefits of site speed are worth paying attention to. Did you know that 40% of people abandon a website page if it doesn’t load in less than 3 seconds? THREE SECONDS y’all. I can’t even say Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious in…
Why Your Doula Website Isn’t Showing Up in Search
I got this question from a doula on social media and thought I’d turn my response into a blog post because it touches on some important points to remember when evaluating how your site is performing in search. (Also, a great example of how to make blogging easy!) My business website is not coming up…
You asked – I’m answering
Last week I put out an anonymous questionnaire inviting you to ask me just about any personal or website related question with the goal of opening up a new level of conversation in 2017. You all responded with a host of great business questions & a few tasty personal ones, and now I have pleasure…
Avoiding Doula Burnout: The Tale of a Doula Sabbatical
I know a lovely, skilled, dynamic, and incredibly inspired doula & childbirth educator who has been at risk for doula burnout. Let’s call her Betsy. She does absolutely incredible things in her community, creating innovative offerings that have established her as a respected expert. She’s one of those people that wakes up with an idea,…
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…
Mary’s Birth Story: The Poems of Lucille Clifton
As a devoted, albeit retired, former doula and childbirth educator, I’ve always felt a fascination with Mary’s side of the story as we approach Christmas. As a young woman I discovered a series of five Mary poems by powerful poet Lucille Clifton. From Mary’s childhood with a future already written, to her experience of conception, birth,…
How to Get New Doula Clients
Many years ago my dear husband took an advanced networking and business skills training. He was looking to translate his international non-profit skills into a new sector, and find effective ways to communicate his worth to potential employers. He was gifted with an incredibly simple, but invaluable teaching that has been of tremendous value on…
On Birth Nerds and Passwords: My Confession
As a website designer I have endless opportunities to share passwords with clients. New website login information, mailchimp logins, email passwords – I spend an unusual amount of time each week verifying passwords. As you know, a quality password should involve a blend of capital and lowercase letters, numbers, and symbols. Now, when are talking…
Birthing Your Website: Finding Your Design Inspiration
There is this moment in the journey of birthing a new website as we seek design inspiration and just the right blend of elements. It happens with every single website I help design. It feels a lot like that moment when a labouring mom is 8cm and things really get moving… We begin with ideas,…
Spam or Real? Comments on Your Blog
If you blog on your wellness website, you likely get spam comments appearing in your inbox from time to time. One arrived in my inbox this morning that I actually read twice just to be sure my spam hunch was correct. They aren’t just about Viagra and Russian girlfriends anymore; in fact many seem to…
The Downside of Facebook Like Ladders
I know how lonely Facebook can be… When you created your business Facebook page, perhaps you envisioned lively conversation on topics about birth and postpartum. You’d share a great resource, your page fans would like, comment and share, and your number of likes would grow grow grow. This is, in theory, how Facebook is meant…
Creating Passive Income for Doulas
One of the topics that often comes up when talking business with birth and postpartum pros is the challenge of having income streams tied to billable hours. In order to increase income to a sustainable level it is common to see birth workers adding on services such as placenta encapsulation and childbirth classes to their…
Online Links for your Doula Website
Getting links for your birth or postpartum website is a key component of your SEO strategy. Along with of course local listings on the websites of other local practitioners such as the midwifery clinic or chiropractic office, you can set up national or international level links on a variety of listing sites. Along with the…
Vaginal Steaming and SEO
It would appear that a new trend has emerged in the birth industry! While doing search engine optimization for a client’s website I found a striking result in the Google keyword tool. It’s pretty crazy. Between December 2014 and January 2105 searches on Google for the terms “vaginal steaming” and “vaginal steam” more more than…
Your Doula Website is Your Office
If you’re a doula, chances are you don’t rent office space where you can meet with clients. While the majority of midwives, and massage therapists, childbirth educators, and prenatal yoga teachers do have spaces they can call their own, or at least share with other practitioners, doulas tend to live in a more fluid work…
Be Prepared: Questions for the Doula Interview
Given that the average doula interview lasts roughly an hour, it is pretty amazing how much ground we can cover in that time. While some clients do sit down with a list of “questions for your doula interview” they have printed from a pregnancy blog, most interviews end up including your answers to the bulk of…
Blogging 101: Tips for Birth Pros
I’m going to start this post with a bit of advice that is perhaps a bit unexpected: If you are only writing a blog because you feel like you should, but you don’t actually enjoy it, then don’t do a blog! A blog is not a key ingredient to business success, it’s simply one of…
Considering Wix for your Birth Practice Website?
Looking for a simple, attractive Website Builder? I’ll start this post by acknowledging that you’ve probably had a few dear doula friends tell you how much they love Wix. A lot of their reasons are really solid and good; it is indeed very easy to use, and has some beautiful templates to choose from. I get…
My First Real Birth Business Website
This is the story of the first professional website for my birth practice, and how it allowed me to double my childbirth education and doula practice. Ok, to be fair to my brother, I did have one website before this one. He built it for me with lots of love, but it was 2002 and…
I’m No Good At… (How to Build Your Business Skills)
Ever notice yourself saying “I’m not good at… (fill-in-the-blank here, Marketing, Websites, Social Media, Networking Events)? I hear it all the time from doula web design clients, and part of my job is to help each of you find the sweet spot where you can thrive in these essential elements of self-employment. While we get…
Why I am Not a Midwife
Happy International Day of the Midwife everyone! My 26 years in the birth world been quite a journey, and the incredible work of midwifery is a core part of who I am today. Given how many doulas and childbirth educators I meet who dream of “one day” becoming a midwife, I thought I’d take a…
Pinterest 101 for Birth Professionals, or.. How to Have Fun Marketing your Birth Practice
Let’s explore tips & tricks on building your business presence for your birth practice on Pinterest, and creative ways to use it to better support the families you serve. For those of you who are brand new to Pinterest, here are the basic steps you need to get started>> 1. Create your Business Profile Go…
Love Birth – Love Pinterest
Do you love Pinterest? So do I. I have gathered on my Pinterest boards a lovely collection of craft projects, recipes to try, gift ideas, homeschooling projects, and inspirations for my one-day, long-awaited, much-dreamed-of kitchen reno. This is of course, my personal Pinterest page. Thankfully, Pinterest allows you to have both a personal page and…
Meaningful Social Media & your Birth Practice
Would you like to use social media for your birth practice but don’t want to add to the endless “filler” content we see on facebook? When used wisely, social media can be both an authentic voice for your birth practice, and a powerful tool of engagement. Here are a few tips to help you serve…
How To Create your Very Own Birth and Baby Fair
Years ago I sat in a circle with a group of holistic birth professionals, including a midwife, childbirth educator, chiropractor, acupuncturist, massage therapist, photographer & doula. We were sharing our frustration with an upcoming corporate-style baby fair at which booths would run an average of $800 – $1000, far out of our price range. And…
Should I get a booth at the baby fair?
In a recent podcast I shared creative ideas to make sure your booth stands out from the crowd and helps you build your practice. I thought I’d continue the conversation here on the blog by exploring the foundation of a successful booth. You have to answer this question: Is this baby fair a good match for…
No guilt allowed! Your doula newsletter
A fantastic newsletter landed in my inbox the other day from a company that I am actually excited about following and look forward to the content she has to offer, which is actually pretty rare. I tend to be pretty strict around which companies I allow to have access to my inbox. Even though I truly…
Birthing Ourselves – My Path as a Doula & Childbirth Educator
I once read a great blog post by a doula about her experience in a Birthing from Within workshop, I have found myself reflecting on my own path as a doula and childbirth educator. Over the years I’ve done ICEA training, DONA Birth Doula Certification, and Birthing from Within Mentor Certification, along with apprenticing as…
Raw Chocolate Truffles for Doulas
I believe in good food, and nourishing ourselves as birth professionals. Whether at your desk or in the wee hours at a birth, good food can make all the difference in helping you stay alert & focused. Here is one of my favorites – full of iron, calcium & protein – and great to help…
Labyrinth of a New Birth Business
I’ve been working with Labyrinth images for years in my Birthing from Within practice, thanks to the visionary work of Pam England (check out her book the Labyrinth of Birth!) So it’s not surprising that I can relate the labyrinth to the experience of self-employment – much like I can find birth symbolism just about…
Holistic Marketing for Doulas
Marketing: The action or business of promoting and selling products or services. Blech. For most birth professionals and other holistic health practitioners, the traditional sales-oriented marketing techniques just don’t feel like the right match for our style and values. In addition, most of us don’t have a background in business training or marketing and with…
Top 5 Tips for a New Doula Business
I was delighted to write a guest blog for Doula Trainings International this week on being a business savvy doula, including tips for new doulas just starting their business. While it was written to doulas, these ideas apply equally to any holistic health practitioner who is striving to cultivate her business savvy. I wanted to…