The My Doula Village PATH for New Doulas who Need Local In-Person Clients
Want a road map of how to set up your doula business and start getting in-person clients? Here’s your road map.
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Create a Yelp Profile
One of the easiest things you can do to promote your doula business is to create a profile on Yelp.
You just need to create it once and encourage some people to leave you reviews and that’s it! (It’s not like social media where you have to keep posting)
Now, when people Google “doula near me” your Yelp profile will show up even if you don’t have a website yet/your website doesn’t show up high in Google Searches.
Add your Location to your Instagram Bio
This is another little shift you can make that will have a BIG IMPACT
Add the word “doula” (or “postpartum doula” or “birth doula”) and your LOCATION to your Name line on your Instagram bio. See example here.
Also make sure that your location is in the bio description as well. Bonus points for starting to add your Location to all your posts (click on “Add Location”). This will help Instagram know who to show your posts to!
Once you’ve created these profiles, here are some next steps:
STEP ONE: Send an email to two local small businesses who also serve pregnant people (other doulas, chiropractors, maternity photographers, prenatal yoga studios, etc.) to start to build a referral network in your community. Watch this training in My Doula Village with Danielle Eaton on Relationship Marketing/Networking.
STEP TWO: Download the Instagram Cheat Sheet here and set up your Instagram BIO to help you get new followers and local clients.
STEP THREE: Get a professional doula website. Hate technology? Learn about the doula website templates that my design team created here. Save 25% with your coupon code VILLAGE25
STEP FOUR: Start posting on social media. People are going to scope out your website and social media profiles before they set up an interview. Make sure there’s some content there!
Need ideas? Grab the Social Media Prompts Calendar that I email to you on the first of every month and start posting! Or purchase 30 pre-written posts here for only $37 (use your VILLAGE25 coupon code)STEP FIVE: Get LOCAL on Instagram. Your dream clients spend hours scrolling Instagram every single day. Learn from Guest Expert Molly Cahill about 3 ways to reach LOCAL clients on the Gram.
STEP SIX: Get into the groove of creating your own social media content. My friend and Social Media Strategist, Deb LaFlamme, has an EASY way to think about “what to post”. Watch the video here.
STEP SEVEN: Send an email to two more local small businesses who also serve pregnant people (other doulas, chiropractors, maternity photographers, prenatal yoga studios, etc.) Watch this training in My Doula Village with Danielle Eaton on Relationship Marketing/Networking. Danielle recommends reaching out to two providers/week to sustainably build your referral network.
Getting stuck? Need a hand? Finished with this list? POST in the My Doula Village Facebook Group and tag me @DoulaDarcy.