Now, this is a great offer for mamas to take advantage of a discount for Get Babied! services. What was even better, though, was their offer to other childbirth professionals! For $15, Get Babied! would add that childbirth pro’s business name, logo, and summary of her offer to that coupon!

What a win-win! Here are some benefits of this offer:

1. Get Babied! builds connections with other community businesses.
2. Get Babied! has an additional income opportunity by offering this to other birth pros.
3. Childbirth professionals have a great marketing opportunity at such a great price.
4. Mamas can take advantage of a great discount and choose from a wider variety of local businesses.

This is good karma, that’s for sure! Have you participated in something like this? If so, share it with us in the comments. If this sounds like a great idea for your community, use it and tell us how it worked for you!

Related posts:

1. Resource: Natural Baby Pros – For Birth Pros and Parents
2. Resource – Hypnobabies Hypnosis CDs for Pregnancy, Birth, Postpartum, and Birth Professionals Too!
3. Marketing Tip – Make One New Contact A Week

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When I began paying attention to my self care and search for “life balance” about seven years ago, I was encouraged by my coaches at the time to consider my life balance wheel. By filling in how satisfied or dissatisfied I was with different areas of my life, I could see how skewed and “off balance” I was and what areas I could focus on to, well, get in balance. If you could imagine rolling that wheel, it would be a really rocky ride.

These days, I’ve come to learn that life ebbs and flows depending on what’s going on. Seven years ago, I had a toddler, a pre-schooler, and a fledgling business that had to succeed in order for us to pay the bills. Sure, I learned that extreme self-care was valuable and something I’d neglected having dedicated my life at the time to attachment parenting without a village (support system). In hindsight, I learned that the tidal wave of early parenting was intense, and that it passed me by quick as a flash.

How did I learn to manage the constant changing of tides? I experimented with many different systems of organizing the different areas of my life. I dumped more systems than I kept, or at the very least, took what helped me and left the rest.

I now have a 3rd grader and a new middle schooler (I’m still getting over the shock of that!), and over the last 2-3 years I’ve realized each calendar year has a familiar rhythm. My year begins in late summer at the start of the school year and the arrival of the acorns. There’s a fresh new energy in our home at this time, where I create new plans for my business, get used to the new schedule of shuttling the children to school and dance and sports, and come up with a new strategy for meal planning.

My son’s late November birthday kicks off the holiday season and we relish our family Christmas traditions and the winter break from school. My daughter’s birthday in January is typically the start of the Texas winter, when I start longing eagerly for Spring to begin.

I celebrate the first sighting of the redbud and Mexican plum trees flowering and shortly thereafter realize the Spring craziness will begin, with baseball, dance recitals and the end of school. Then, my beloved kiddos and I have lots of fun throughout the summer, where we hibernate in our own special way.

As I plan my classes and workshops for the next six months, I am reminded even more of how much I depend on this predictable rhythm. I have the most energy for my business during the fall, and it starts to wane from about May through July.

What’s nice about having this knowledge is that I don’t refer to the life balance wheel now, nor do I need to ensure satisfaction in all areas of my life at all times. It’s an unattainable falsehood, this idea of life balance. I never achieved it all the years I strived for it.

However, when I began noticing the rhythm of my life, I began to let myself off the hook more and live in the present more often. I learned when it was time to let go of responsibilities that didn’t fit with my rhythm, and I started prioritizing what mattered easily and without guilt.

Living according the rhythm of life is similar to allowing the growth of new life within us. It’s part surrender, part inner listening. It’s also about allowing more and observing more, and I’ve found it often results in more inspiration, the natural unfolding of new business, and everything seems to just… work.

Do you allow your life’s rhythm to guide you? Share your experiences with us!

Related posts:

1. How Balanced are the Various Areas of Your Life?
2. 5 Ways to Maximize Your Time Working At Home
3. Client Attraction Tip – Light Your Creative Spark

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Do you find yourself responding to requests about your services or classes with the same information, again and again?

Do you send all new clients a welcome email with basic information or forms to complete?

Do you have a class series and send your students a follow-up email that’s basically the same from series to series?

Now the important question. Are you writing these emails from scratch every. Single. Time? If you are, consider creating email templates from those old emails so you can recycle them from here on out. Then when you need to send out responses or new emails, all you do is select your template, personalize it a little bit, and hit the send button!

Rather than recreate the wheel and write a post with detailed instructions for creating templates, I’m going to give you a few links with directions for creating email templates for both Microsoft Outlook and Gmail.

Email templates for MS Outlook

What I like about creating email templates in Outlook is that you can also include attachments! Click here to get directions for creating a template.

Now, I have found that it takes a few steps to open and use your template. So, I learned how to create a new toolbar to access the email templates easily with just a couple clicks. It takes a little more time to set up, but I really believe it’s worth the effort.

Email templates for Gmail

Gmail has great template feature too, called “canned responses”, and it’s very easy to set up. Unfortunately, you aren’t able to include attachments with the template, but adding an attachment after the fact is quick and easy.

I challenge you to spend some time today creating some email templates to save you time in the future. If you already use templates and want to share some additional tips, inspire us with your comments!

Related posts:

1. 5 Tips for Getting on Top of Your Email
2. Inexpensive Marketing Tip #2 – Website
3. Ask Inspired Birth Pro: Getting Paid for Birth Doula Services

1. The Effective Labour Contraction by Midwife’s Thinking Blog
2. Circumcision is on Decline by Cosmo Magazine online
3. A Sign on the Door by Jennifer Stover of Labor of Love
4. Call for support to Open a call center for pregnant & breastfeeding women using medicine. Request for a Pepsi grant.
5. Planned home birth and neonatal death: Who do we believe? by Science & Sensibility.
6. Creating Your Birth Circle by Helene Rose
7. Milk Paranoia, by Nancy Morhbacher
8. Review: Pregnancy Companion iPhone App (free this weekend) on the Enjoy Birth Blog
9. Hospital policy of withholding food during childbirth coming under scrutiny, on Cleveland.com
10. NIH study indicates stress may delay women getting pregnant, by NIH News

Come across any interesting links? Include them in the comments below.

Related posts:

1. 10 Birth-Related Links Round-Up
2. Resource – Hypnobabies Hypnosis CDs for Pregnancy, Birth, Postpartum, and Birth Professionals Too!
3. Increasing Your Earning Potential, Part 1 of 3 – Diversification, by Leanne Palmerston

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The way in which a client’s birth unfolds starts long before the birth itself. There is no coincidence that you and your client crossed paths,  no coincidence that you chose one another to experience that birth in the way that you did.

“When the student is ready, the teacher will appear.” Buddhist Proverb

I often consider my clients and their babies my teachers. Yes, I have skills that will benefit them, but there is so much to learn, not only about birth and our skills as childbirth professionals. I learn so much about human nature and how our minds and emotions affect birth.

After I attend a birth, it’s important for me to process through it. Sometimes I ask my husband to listen, sometimes I call a fellow doula or mentor, and every time, I put pen to paper. My whole being runs the gamut of emotions – from joy, to anger, sadness and frustration. The goal is to get to… peace. Sometimes I get there quickly, and sometimes it takes years.

Developing a support system as a childbirth professional is vital – it prevents burnout, assuages grief or disbelief in the crazy birth culture and system and exists, encourages exploration into new perspectives, helps heal our own birth experiences, promotes growth as a professional, and it helps us, if necessary, to forgive ourselves and others.

Inspire us with your comments:

1. How do you process births you attend?
2. What tools do you utilize to support your own healing process?
3. What can you do to strengthen your support system?

Related posts:

1. 5 Ways to Maximize Your Time Working At Home
2. 5 Tips for Manifesting Your Business Goals
3. Life After Training – Part 1: Build Your Support System

If you have created additional income streams into your business, please share your experience in the comments section.

Related posts:

1. Increasing Your Earning Potential, Part 1 of 3 – Diversification, by Leanne Palmerston
2. Increasing Your Earning Potential, Part 2 of 3 – Two Types Of Products, by Leanne Palmerston
3. Increasing Your Earning Potential, Part 3 of 3 – Product Suggestions, by Leanne Palmerston

Hale Publishing provides breastfeeding books and materials such as Dr. Thomas Hale’s ever popular Medications and Mothers’ Milk. I just learned that they also have a page on their website with 8 pamphlets in PDF format that can be printed and shared:

• A New Breastfeeding Mother Needs…
• Sore Nipples – Engorgement
• If Your Baby is Not Gaining Weight
• When to Call Your Doctor
• Breastfeeding and Working
• Breastfeeding and Drugs
• Breastfeeding and Traveling
• Becoming a Dad

These are perfect for printing and sharing with students and clients!

Related posts:

1. Use Online Map Software to Help Track Mileage
2. How To Get More Website Traffic
3. Marketing in Small Ways Every Day

Confident Beginnings is having a Summer Special!

We offer customized birth kits and supplies to Midwives and student Midwives. All of our birth kits come in a reusable bag, which is a great gift for the new
family.

**Until the end of August 2010 we want to extend a special offer to you: If you let us supply birth kits to your clients, we will go ahead and give you one birth kit (to have as a back up) for free! Send over your supply list today and we will get you a quote right away.**

Contact April for more information.

Related posts:

1. Resource – Hypnobabies Hypnosis CDs for Pregnancy, Birth, Postpartum, and Birth Professionals Too!
2. Setting Up Your Home Office
3. Resource: Natural Baby Pros – For Birth Pros and Parents

I love my iPhone, and I’m always searching for great apps to make my work and my life more efficient. The most recent list I came across was the Top 10 iPhone Apps for Busy Mompreneurs for Work, Life and Play on MOMeo Magazine. I don’t know that I’d call them the top apps to have, but I do actually use two of the apps mentioned – Shazam for tagging songs that I want to buy later, and OpenTable for making restaurant reservations.

Here are the apps that I use most frequently for work, life and play:

1. Toodledo – This to-do list is for those who love to compartmentalize their lives into different categories. This is perfect for the busy birth professional and mom! Set up different folders for work, home, and family tasks. Identify goals you would like to meet and link specific tasks to help you achieve those goals. Group tasks by priority or due date. The combinations are endless. What I also like about Toodledo is that you can link and sync it to a free online Toodledo account. There are even plugins or add-ons to get access to your Toodledoo account through your email, Google, Firefox and more. Basically, there’s no excuse to not have access to your to-do list if you have your computer or phone nearby. I don’t typically like to pay for apps, but this one is worth it for the syncing capability. $3.99
2. Trip Cubby – I will admit that I’ve been terrible about keeping track of my mileage. Every year I depend on my calendar to backtrack where I’ve gone and calculate the miles I drove. It’s worked, but I’ve missed out on expensing a lot of miles for all the little trips, like going to the post office or the office supply store, and other random errands. This year, I’ve developed the habit of tracking my mileage real time using Trip Cubby. I record where I’m going, the purpose of the trip, and I enter the starting and ending mileage. At the end of the month, I email myself a log for all the driving I’ve done, and it arrives in my mailbox as a neat and organized spreadsheet. Yay! Another app to pay for, but well worth it. $4.99
3. Paymo.biz – In the last few months, I started doing some contract work and am paid by the hour. I was so glad to find Paymo.biz, which is an online timekeeping program and invoicing system. You can create a free online account that allows you to create clients, projects and tasks so you can track not only your time, but what you did during that time. If you have contracted to work a certain number of hours for a client, you can also track the total time you’ve worked for a client. The free version of the program allows you to send up to three invoices each month. The iPhone app allows you to clock in and out, and you can also edit times you’ve already worked. This data will automatically sync with your online account. Free
4. USAA – Not useful for everyone, but if you bank at USAA and have an iPhone, you just have to use this app. What I love the most about it is the ability to deposit checks by taking a photo of the front and back of them. Is that cool or what? No more trips to the bank to deposit checks! Free
5. Grocery IQ – With Grocery IQ, I am able to scan the UPC code of many national brands of products and add the price and aisle I find it in. I can create a list of favorite items, create lists for each store I need to shop at, and once I put the item in the cart, I can check it off. It keeps a running tally of what I can expect to spend, which helps with budgeting, and at the end of the trip, I can check out. I can’t say that this program is saving me lots of time yet. I’ve only been using it for a couple of months, so I’m still organizing and adding to my lists. Even with the scanning capability, there are lots of products (like the store brand products) that are not in the database. However, it has been valuable to have a list of prices for future reference and the running tally of what I’ll be spending while I’m shopping. It’s also helped me identify prices that are wrong in the store’s system! Free
6. SnapTell – Such a simple program. With the phone, take a picture of any book or media product, and the program will tell you where you can buy it – online and locally. I use it any time I find a great birth or business book and it tells me the cheapest place to buy it. Brilliant. Free
7. RedLaser – Another shopping assistant. Scan just about any barcode and find out where to buy it on or offline. If SnapTell can’t find it, RedLaser usually can. I use this for everything from office supplies to vitamins to cleaning products. Free
8. AroundMe – This app is a must have if you’re traveling for work or play, and it’s also handy in your own town. Open it up to search for nearby restaurants, gas stations, restaurants and more. Sometimes if I have time to kill between a client meeting and picking my kids up from school, I’ll use AroundMe to look for a coffee shop to hang out at for an hour or two. Select a location and it opens up Google Maps so you can get directions or a phone number. Free
9. LivingSocial and Groupon – If you’re lucky enough to have either or both of these services in your area, you need these apps on your phone. LivingSocial and Groupon sends out daily emails with coupon savings from a local business, usually for at least 50% off of their services. Buy their deal, and your coupons are saved to your account and are accessible through their iPhone apps. No need to print out a coupon, just show your coupon by opening up the app. Save money and paper, and get some great deals! Free
10. Fandango – My family likes going to the movies, and Fandango is a great app to see what’s playing at a theater near you. You can order tickets through the app too, yay! Free

Do you have any iPhone apps that help you to save time and money? I want to know what they are!

And, if you have another type of smartphone and have some favorite apps, I’d like to welcome you to write a guest post, so contact me about it!

Related posts:

1. Contraction Master iPhone Application for Clients or Yourself
2. Use Online Map Software to Help Track Mileage
3. New Thoughts on Time Management Based on the Numbers 3, 6, and 9

New subscribers to my newsletters receive a message from me asking them what they need help with most right now for their birth business. Sometimes there is already a blog post on Inspired Birth Pro that I can send with my reply, or it sparks an idea for a new blog post. Although I don’t always get to personally answer questions that come in, they are valuable to me because it gives me insight into what it is childbirth professionals need help with when it comes to their businesses.

Here is a a question I received about a month ago from Val Peterson of Birthday with Val:

I love being a doula!! I would have to say that the most challenging area for me with this work is the financial consistency aspect.

I have come into a much stronger comfort level when it comes to stating my fee, but I could sure use some guidance in being more organized, or a better word , systematic with financial side of things.

I used to have individuals sign my contract, and pay a retainer fee. The remainder would be due around 37 weeks of pregnancy. Now that I take more clients on, I have offered two options… either they pay half when they sign my contract, and the remainder is due at 37 weeks, or if they can afford to pay the entire fee up front, I have been offering 20% off the total fee.

Even with this system of mine, the finance part is tricky for me. Some couples say they want to use me, and then it can be real quick that they send me the payment, or sometimes dragged out….

I replied to Val and asked for some clarification on what she’s doing now, and her response was:

I typically have problems collecting the payment. I do so much work with my clients, and have not come up with a consistent method of being paid. I have great couples who typically always pay me before their births…

I need some guidance for after the first meeting, and they decide to use me as their doula, getting paid!!

Asking to be paid without feeling like you’re a collection agency can understandably make small business owners feel uncomfortable. Here was my response to Val:

What has always worked for me is that before their final prenatal visit, I’ll email them a reminder about the meeting and say something like, “Also enclosed is your final invoice. If you would like to pay via PayPal or with a credit card through Google Checkout, please let me know and I’ll send you a payment request.” At the prenatal visit I’ll also hand them a paper copy of the invoice. It’s always worked well.

Accepting credit cards can help to facilitate quicker payment. The downside of course would be the approx 4-5% credit card fees, but that is just a cost of business.

People generally expect that they will receive a bill or invoice when they receive services, so having an invoicing system is an easy way to address the issue of getting paid.

What works for you? Add a comment to share your experience!

Related posts:

1. Getting Your Books Straight
2. 10 Tips for Taming That Paper
3. 7 Pricing Strategies for Birth Doulas