How to Attract Clients Online for Doulas
In mid-March 2020, almost ALL Doulas started offering virtual services & birth classes. So with a surge of online support options, how can you stand out and find clients online?
First I’ll share my perspective on the C word: Competition. I don’t believe that competition in business is a bad thing, despite what we’ve been taught.
Worrying that there aren’t enough clients for everyone is viewing competition through the lens of scarcity, or from a fear based perspective. It’s a very limiting, and low vibration way of thinking, living and BEing.
Shift your perspective to sell more
Think about it like this: there are approximately 130,000,000 births / year in the world. There’s an abundance of potential clients, especially now that you’re not limited to your local area.
When more Doulas offer virtual services, this just means that more families will be able to receive support. And that’s what we all desire, right? It means that everyone gets to find their people - on both sides. Families get to find their ideal support team, and birth professionals get to work with their ideal clients. It’s a win-win.
And honestly, do you have the bandwidth to handle even 10% of the potential birth business clients each year, or 13,000,000 clients? I doubt it.
How can you attract new clients online?
Notice that I didn’t say “find” new clients. “Find” has a very push energy, and is a bit too masculine for me. I prefer to “attract” my ideal clients. But how?
Be YOU, show up and speak what’s on your heart, connect and make it easy for people to work with you.
What exactly does that mean?
Speak (or write) in your own voice when you write posts or share videos. If people want to read a textbook summary, they can buy the textbook. They want to hear it in your voice.
Share your unique perspective on things that matter to you. Rather than worrying it’ll turn people off, focus on how it will attract like-minded people to you.
Look at social media as a tool for connecting. Nurture your online community just as you would in-person. Talk to people and engage - virtually.
Show your face. If you want potential clients to get to know you, and trust you, they need to see your face. Logos, infographics and memes are great and have a place, AND we still want to see YOU.
Share your offers. Make it easy for potential clients to see how they can work with you. It’s not enough to list your services and packages on your website, in hopes that someone will find it and sign up.
Still need proof? Take a moment to review some of the accounts that you follow. Pay special attention to the accounts that you really enjoy. You know, those where you feel like you know the person behind the business. THAT is how people connect online.
Doula work is intimate. It’s personal, and we need to get personal in our business. It’s safe to be you.