Julie Olson and Michelle Kettleborough, doulas and childbirth educators from Denver, Colorado, are the creators of Plumtree Baby. Together, Julie and Michelle have developed a set of teaching resources that will greatly assist birth professionals who are seeking quality childbirth education materials for their students and clients. Each of the modules have been reviewed by medical professionals and lactation consultants, and Plumtree Baby has also consulted with childbirth educators, doulas and expectant mothers to ensure the information in their materials is accurate, useful and verifiable.

Birth pros are able to customize their classes by selecting one or more of the following Plumtree Baby modules:

• Prenatal Wellness – Achieving a Healthy Pregnancy
• The Birth Process – A summary of Labor and Birth
• Thoughtful Decisions – Planning & Communicating for Birth
• Finding Comfort – Ideas for Managing Your Birth
• Natural Childbirth – Finding Comfort and Support
• Following the Birth – The Postpartum & Newborn Period

The modules are 12-20 pages in length, and are three-hole punched so they can conveniently be placed in a binder. In addition, birth pros can purchase binders, a guide with helpful teaching tips, and a set of laminated Labor Practice Cards for use in class or with clients. There is also a teaching curriculum in the works, which will be of great help to instructors who want more guidance using the Plumtree Baby modules.

I had an opportunity to preview the six modules. What I like most:

• They are exceptionally professional in look and feel.
• Each module has a table of contents and clearly marked sections.
• Excellent use of illustrations and photos.
• Short segments of information along with good use of bullet points.
• Objective, unbiased information, and when appropriate, a listing of benefits, risks and alternatives.
• Fill-in-the-blank sections for parents to make notes throughout the modules.
• Educators can pick and choose which modules to use in their classes.
• The cost for these modules are affordable and can be purchased individually or in bulk.

Overall, I feel these modules are a great starting point for educators to present basic information and initiate discussion with their students on a variety of topics. The information is straightforward and not overwhelming, and it is perfect for classes where students have a variety of goals for their births. Students will appreciate the information offered in these modules, and it would be easy for instructors to round out their classes with their own supplementary materials.

Visit the Plumtree Baby website to see preview pages of each module. You can also order a complete set and preview them to see if they are right for your classes. If you find they are not a good fit, you have 14 days to return them for a full refund. Plumtree Baby has also offered Inspired Birth Pro readers a wonderful opportunity to apply a 15% discount for an entire order. Just enter the coupon code BIRTHPRO15 at checkout! This discount opportunity will expire on December 31, 2011.

Plumtree Baby may be the answer if you are looking for beautiful and well-written materials for your group or private childbirth education classes. It will be an excellent resource as they continue to grow and develop additional products.

These posts may also inspire you:

1. Resource: Natural Baby Pros – For Birth Pros and Parents
2. A Double Dip – Marketing and Easy Income Tip for Birth Pros
3. Resource: Business and Doula Skills Videos on YouTube

When IBCLC, birth doula and childbirth educator Micky Jones offered to send me her a copy of her recently published book, “Keep the Fires Burning: Conquering stress and burnout as a Mother-Baby Professional”, I admit I was under a bit of stress in my own life and unsure how I would add a book into the mix of internal drama I was facing. As it turned out, Micky’s book was exactly what I needed.

Micky has written a very valuable book for Mother-Baby Professionals in all stages of their career. It is also an important book for those who are considering entering this field, because it provides what many other resources do not – it discusses the reality of the work and the challenges that many birth professionals face.

“Keep the Fires Burning” is broken down into three parts:

Part I – A discussion of stress and how it is experienced by many Mother-Baby Professionals (MBP)

A brief history of birth politics is described, and the reader gets a glimpse of a MBP’s role within system and gains an understanding of the strain that can be felt while working within the medical paradigm of birth. Further in the chapter, Western cultural expectations and beliefs are explored, pointing to another source of potential stress in an MBP’s life. Finally, Micky sums up the chapter by providing a succinct list of characteristics that sum up what it’s like to be a Mother-Baby Professional. This list alone would be of great value to a new MBP or anyone considering entering this field.

Part II – Forms of stress, or the “Six Flames That Can Destroy Your Passion”

The next segment covers several forms of stress – those that could affect anyone, and specific sources of stress for the MBP. Micky describes six forms of stress as intensifying levels of heat, or the “Six Flames That Can Destroy Your Passion”. The six flames are Stress, Secondary Stress, Vicarious Trauma, Compassion Fatigue, Burnout, and Depression. She continues by scrutinizing empathy and how it plays a part in stress in the Mother-Baby Professional. Then, she considers personal experiences of an MBP and explains how one’s personal history could affect stress levels. A discussion of the stressors unique to MBP’s follows which includes more information about the work that they do and the environments in which they work.

Part III – Eliminating Stress and the Mother-Baby Professional’s Self-Care Plan

After discussing the Six Flames of Stress, the second half of the book is dedicated to “The Six Burn Busters” to eliminate it, along with a variety of specific suggestions, tips and methods that can form the basis of a self-care plan. The Burn Busters are broken down to address two primary areas – Who You Are and What You Do. The six Burn Busters include:

Who You Are:

• Spirit
• Mind
• Body

What You Do:

• Time
• Treasure
• Talent

Each Burn Buster is explored in depth and includes a description of each type of self-care, why it’s important to nurture, specific strategies, and the benefits that can be reaped from these suggestions. The final chapter includes a life inventory and personal self-care plan that you can create for yourself. The life inventory includes a list of questions that can help provide you with a more accurate picture of your home and work life. Once you know where you stand, you can create your self-plan using the prompts given in the book.

The end of the book includes Micky’s story – her struggle with stress and burnout, and what she did to overcome it and redesign her life. It’s inspirational and a powerful ending to an information-packed toolkit.

As a mom, life coach and business owner, my own personal development path was not unlike Micky’s. I’ve been on my own journey of self-discovery and healing for almost 10 years now. While I have practiced much of the self-care strategies that Micky teaches, what was most valuable to me was the validation I felt from reading about the Six Flames of stress and the section on empathy. I have experienced all six flames and let my empathic side get the best of me, and I can see how this led to my experience of burnout and depression. It also led me to realize that I was heading into that downward spiral again and needed to reprioritize and step up the self-care. Note: If you’ve noticed I haven’t been around very much, it was due to the much needed break I over the past six weeks!

If you work with expectant and new moms and babies, “Keep the Fires Burning” should be at the top of your Amazon list of books to buy! Seriously. Even if you’re not experiencing stress, the self-care tips and strategies are helpful. If you are experiencing stress, from mild stress to burnout, read it from cover to cover so you can create a self-care plan and regain control of your emotions, health and life.

Hale Publishing has published an excerpt of the book online, so go and check it out now. Then by all means, buy the book! If you purchase it in the month of September from Hale Publishing, you’ll receive a $3.00 discount. You’ll help not only yourself, but you’ll be helping your loved ones and the families you work with. You’re worth it, and I want you to be inspired to continue serving others in this profession.

Stay tuned for an announcement of an Inspired Birth Pro Twitter Party, where I’ll be gifting a copy of “Keep the Fires Burning” to a lucky participant.

These posts may also inspire you:

1. Stress + Six Weeks + One Book + One Fire = Gifts of Perspective
2. Where Do You Fall Short and What To Do About It
3. What’s Working and Not Working For You?

Image via Wikipedia

It’s been about six weeks of inaction for me on basically all things business, but in that time I’ve grown so much. It’s amazing how perspective can change, not only in six weeks, but also in an instant.

A Book

About six weeks ago, Micky Jones’ book, “Keep the Fires Burning – Conquering stress and burnout as a Mother-Baby Professional”, made its way into my hands, and quickly, her words made their way into my heart.

Stress is an interesting creature. It can burn you up slowly, over years and years, or it can strike you in an instant.

In my case, stress has burned through me at a slow pace for a number of years. I’m a huge advocate and practitioner of self-care, and I have a number of practices in my toolkit. However, physical exercise was not a tool I actively used.

In the book, one subtitle changed everything for me – “Move Your Body – Sweat is Your Body Crying Happy Tears!”

I don’t know what it was about that statement that moved me, but it was the missing link in my self-care circle that could help me get back on track. Within a couple of days of reading this book, I signed up for a family membership at our local YMCA. I’ve worked out almost daily for the last five weeks, and am loving a variety of fitness classes, yoga and pilates. I’ve also become more conscientious of what I eat. In fact, I’ll admit I’m a bit obsessed with MyFitnessPal!

Of all the self-care I’ve done this year, taking 60-90 minutes each day to move my body has been the most healing activity I’ve done for myself. I visualize all the excess I’ve been holding in my body as the remnants of a past I no longer want or need, and it’s been lovely watching it melt away, slowly but surely. It’s been a form of closure, and with it has come a feeling of freedom.

I’ve been happier, more patient, and more present. I breathe more deeply, make better food choices, and sleep really well, too. Each week, my exercise classes are the Big Rocks I add to my schedule first, and my husband and I make it a point to do what it takes to help each other get in our exercise time.

A Fire

Over the Labor Day Weekend, wildfires began sprouting up in Central Texas. Almost a week later, one fire still continues to burn less than an hour away from Austin. Thousands of acres and almost 1400 homes have been destroyed to date.

Three nights ago, after watching the news and reading online articles about emergency preparations, my husband and I talked about what we would take if we had to evacuate. We agreed we wanted all the framed pictures in the house, my dad’s artwork and any special art pieces, our laptops, my folder of important papers, and some special items of the kids.

The very next day, as I was at my computer in my home office, I heard emergency vehicle sirens outside. When I looked out the window, I saw what I first thought were leaves falling in the front yard, and immediately realized they were actually ashes. Seeing a neighbor walking outside in her yard prompted me to grab my husband and go outside to the front of the property to figure out what was going on. An official-looking truck pulled up to tell us we had to evacuate because there was a fire in the park behind our neighbor’s home. A glance further down the road offered me a view of a large stream of water flowing from a fire truck into the park across the road. We then saw another fire truck pull into the cul de sac behind our property.

I ran to the neighbor’s house to let them know, and when I returned to my house my husband was already pulling all the pictures off the walls. I pulled out the folder of documents, gathered all the laptops and power cords for them and our phones. Trash bags of clothes for each of the children were packed. My husband filled a suitcase of our clothes and pulled most of what was in the closet out. Toiletries and medications were thrown into a bag.

Of the two of us, my husband becomes strangely calm and extremely clear-headed in times like these. He directed me around the house to grab my dad’s artwork and my supplements. All our son’s baseballs and trophies. We unfortunately scared our son a bit as we had to call him at school for his lock combination to grab his valuable silver coin collection. We grabbed my daughters cd player, ipod, her favorite blanket, a couple stuffed animals and one of her beloved book collections.

Two cars were packed up, and I drove to a friend’s house a few streets away. My husband stayed to help two of our neighbors save what we now call “Money (valuables that will fit in a car) and Memories”.

As it ended up, the fire was contained within a couple hours, and we were able to return home within another two hours. At first we thought about keeping the cars loaded in case the fire sparked up again. However, it became clear that was a bit impractical, so all our belongings were brought back inside. Through it all, only a glass from a picture frame was damaged. If our house was messy before, the inside currently looks like a tornado blew through it. It’s okay though. Our house is still intact. We have so much to be thankful for.

Perspective Shifts

1. I have a new appreciation for the few objects I truly love. I remember walking through the house one last time before I left, with a feeling of peace that, if the house burned to the ground, I had my husband, my kids, and the Memories of our lives in our cars. Nothing else in the house mattered and was replaceable.
2. We were very fortunate that we actually had time to gather precious objects. I realize that if we only had time to evacuate with the clothes on our backs, our children were safe at their schools that day, and in the end, the Memories would be sorely missed, but what we most valued were safe.
3. Having all my accounts accessible online makes paper backups largely unnecessary. The only papers I had with me included our passports, social security cards, birth and marriage certificates. Everything else is available online or via a quick phone call. Tax records are easily accessible through my CPA.
4. An online backup service like Carbonite is priceless. If something had happened to our computers, we would still have access to our data.
5. Having said that, I have a couple of new projects on my list – get a few more important papers added to that folder, and create a complete inventory of our belongings available for insurance purposes. Before we left the house my husband went room-by-room with a video recorder to record what we own. Yes, I know, not so smart that we didn’t already have an inventory, but so it is.
6. We could definitely live with much less than what we currently own and be just fine.
7. Having five weeks of extreme self care – daily exercise, a clean diet and a month off from anything business-related – contributed greatly to my ability to remain relatively calm in the face of crisis.
8. A period of dedicated self-care and the mind & heart-shifting effects of a very stressful situation has created space for me to re-think the direction of business and life.
9. Stress leads to change, for better or worse. To heal, we must use stress to our advantage. Learn what stress is trying to tell you. Is it keeping you safe? Is it urging you to rest your mind, move your body, rid yourself of all that no longer serves you, love more?
10. Being of service to others is another wonderful way to minimize stress and add to your self-care toolkit.
11. Firefighters aren’t just good looking… they are essential first responders and true heroes. They continue to do so much for our neighbors as they work to contain and extinguish the fires that are still raging just a short distance away.

And finally, hug your loved ones. A lot.

Your Turn

What gifts have you received from the stresses in your life? What is one thing you can do today to shift your mindset and your response to stress to achieve better health – physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually?

These posts may also inspire you:

1. Review of Micky Jones’ “Keep the Fires Burning: Conquering stress and burnout as a Mother-Baby Professional”
2. What Will It Take To Feel The Fire Within?
3. Where Do You Fall Short and What To Do About It

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Have you taken the time to consider what your hourly rate would be for the time you’re dedicating to your birth doula clients? In a recent Facebook Group post for students of Birth Arts International, founder Demetria Clark offered the following example:

If you charge $400 per birth, this is a simple breakdown to consider:

Time with parents – 5 hours (prenatals and phone calls)
Time at birth – 10 hours (sometimes much longer, sometimes much shorter, but 10 is a midline average).
Time in postpartum – 3 hours
Postpartum visits if you offer 2 – 3 hours
Driving time – 3 hours average.
Prep and research time – 2 hours

At 26 hours, you’re rate is approximately $15.38 an hour.

The above example only takes the amount of time you’re spending into account. Other costs you might want to factor in include:

• Gas and parking
• Childcare for your own children
• Meals and snacks for yourself while you are at the birth

Two other costs to consider are the time and expenses that may be incurred while you recuperate after attending a birth. Self care is critical for you, especially if you attend a particularly long birth. Do you need someone to care for your kids so you can catch up on your sleep? Does it help for you to get some body work done? Do you need to talk to someone if the birth you’ve attended was rough? What helps you rejuvenate yourself after a birth?

For Doulas-in-Training/Student Doulas

As a new doula, it is reasonable to charge an amount that will help to cover your basic expenses such as gas, childcare and meals. This is especially important if it would otherwise cause hardship for your family if you did not charge anything. It will be much easier for you to dedicate yourself wholeheartedly to your clients when your basic needs are being met. In addition, clients may place more value and take you seriously when there is an exchange of money for services, even if it is a minimal amount.

There’s No One Right Way To Charge

There are an infinite number of ways you can structure your pricing at different stages of your business. Your philosophy, current financial situation, business goals, and even your personality will play a role in helping you determine the best way to set up your rates.

Your rates play a part in reflecting your self-worth. Know that you bring tremendous value to a woman and her partner at a birth, no matter how much experience you have.

I’d love to know how if you’ve broken down your rates, what you discovered in doing so, and whether you intend to make any changes.

These posts may also inspire you:

1. 7 Pricing Strategies for Birth Doulas
2. Packaging Your Doula Services
3. Should You Include Your Prices On Your Marketing Materials and Website?

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The first two parts of this series covered social media tools that will save you time connecting with people and ways to easily find and share online content.

Over the past couple of months, the tools I’ve been using have really helped me have a more frequent online presence while at the same time allowing me to have more time to do other things in my life. Once again, here is a list of the tools I shared:

Tools to Connect:

• Topify
• SocialOomph
• Rapportive

Tools to Find Content:

• Summify
• StrawberryJ.am

Tools to Share Content:

• Buffer
• Tweriod
• Timely

Here is an example of how I use these tools:

1. Once every day or two, I’ll check my Topify email filter and go through email notifications. When I open each e-mail, I’ll see who they are and what they’re about, and then I’ll either follow back, ignore, or sometimes even block them. Rapportive will show me each user’s most recent tweets and display a Follow button that I can easily click.
2. Two or three times a week, I’ll go through my Social Oomph emails and scan the chats I missed, reply to mentions I missed, and thank users for retweets and Follow Friday shout outs. Sometimes I’ll use TwitterGadget for Gmail, which allows me to send tweets from Gmail and avoid going directly into Twitter.
3. Once a day or every other day, I’ll scan my Summify emails and StrawberryJ.am and add tweets to Buffer and/or Timely. I’ll also add some articles on my Facebook page directly or schedule them manually to post to Facebook using Hootsuite.

I’ve found that as an active curator, the key for me to be more involved and focused with social media is to do what I can OFFline. This keeps me focused on the task at hand, because once I’m on Twitter or Facebook I will likely get distracted.

“Best Practices” for Social Media Tools

You might be thinking, “Say what????? Isn’t the goal to be, well, social?”

There is definitely an ongoing debate when it comes to whether or not to automate posts and what “best practices” for using social media should be. The tools I shared above are just that… tools. Many birth professionals busy in their businesses and are also moms. As solo business owners we don’t have a marketing department, and most of us do not hire assistants. To make the best use of our time, tools like the ones shared above can be utilized to help us keep in contact with those who like and want to know us better. These tools can be set up to work for us while we sleep, when we’re at births, and while we’re spending time with the very beings who inspired us to work in this field!

Be mindful of the following when you’re using social media:

• Be helpful. Understand what your followers are interested in and give them quality tips and resources that they will want to share with their followers, or even more importantly, apply to their own lives. Their followers may then see your helpful links and tweets and want to follow you too. The thing is, you can’t be online all the time, right? You may have followers in other parts of the world who will see your scheduled tweet live in their stream. You may be sleeping, but you’re giving them useful information when they’re online.
• Be curious. Tools like SocialOomph are great for finding conversations to jump in, even if you’re a little late. Show interest in others. Ask questions and see if you can offer help.
• Be responsive. If you’re going to be posting at various times of day, it’s a good idea to look out for replies and comments to your posts. Show appreciation to those who took the time to hit the retweet button or recommended you to their followers. Reply to their questions or responses to your tweets.
• Be professional. If your social media profile bios say you are in the birth field, realize that your tweets and posts reflect positively or negatively on you, your business, and your field. If you need a personal outlet, create a separate one from your professional accounts.
• And finally, DO also spend some time interacting live with others. One of the easiest ways to do so is to join in on one of the numerous chats happening on any given day on Twitter. @BirthSwellhas put together a growing list of Twitter chats related to pregnancy, birth and breastfeeding. You can also find chats on just about any topic, so do a bit of research and asking around and jump on in.

As always, I love comments, emails, and of course retweets. If there are any other tools I need to know about, please share them with me.

These posts may also inspire you:

1. Social Media Tools to Minimize the Time Suck: Tools to Connect (Part 1)
2. Social Media Tools to Minimize the Time Suck: Tools to Find and Share Content (Part 2)
3. Stepping Back from Social Media Madness

Image by _DaniloRamos via Flickr

In part one, I shared three social media tools to help you connect with others on Twitter. Today I’ll be sharing a few useful tools to locate awesome content and share it easily.

About a month or two ago, I discovered there’s a buzzword that describes people like me. I’m a “curator” – someone who finds informative and useful online content and shares it with friends and followers. I’ve been the resource gal for as long as I can remember! Being a curator is very time consuming (fellow curators, please nod along with me). Luckily there are apps for people just like us!

Tools for Finding Useful Information

In the past, the way that I found most of the material I shared was from spending a lot of time on Facebook and Twitter, reading through my SocialOomph emails, and scanning my Google Alerts. Aside from this time suck (in my denial I called it all “research”), I also knew there was a lot more great information out there that I wasn’t seeing when I wasn’t online. That knowledge drove me crazy. Then, I found the two following tools:

Summify – This awesome tool will scan your Facebook feed, Twitter stream, and Google Reader feeds, and then it will send you a specified number of top stories (based on the number of times the stories were shared). Each email you receive will include the title, summary and link of the story, the names of your friends and followers who shared them, and the number of times that article was shared thus far in Twitter and Facebook. From here, you can click and share the story on Facebook, Twitter or Google Reader, or click on a friend’s username and share directly from their post/tweet.

Summify just created an iPhone app and after trying it, I think I almost like the iPhone’s interface better for immediate sharing!

StrawberryJ.am – Connect with this cute lil’ site, and it will give you just the sweet goodness – links baby! Strawberryj.am goes through your Twitter stream and only pulls out links and shows you a tiny thumbnail of the users who shared them. Here are some highlights:

• You’ll see the title and links to real-time or popular articles shared by the Twitter users you are following.
• You can view the most popular links or a real-time stream of links.
• Add search terms, hashtags and Twitter lists, and these will be included in your results.
• Click on the links to read articles immediately, or save them for later and read them in an instapaper.
• Move your mouse over the picture of the Twitter user who shared it, and down will drop the original Tweet, along with an opportunity to retweet or Buffer it (see below about Buffer App)
• You can also opt to receive an email summary once a day to receive a specific number of links.

I am still exploring StrawberryJ.am and look forward to using it more!

Tools for Sharing Information

As a curator, I enjoy sharing information but have been frustrated that in order to share links, my choices are to either retweet or post links all in one sitting, or to take even more time by scheduling tweets manually using Hootsuite or Tweetdeck. Then I discovered two awesome services that enabled me to share multiple links that post at different time intervals, all with just a couple clicks. So easy.

Buffer – Here’s what you do:

1. Decide what days you want the application to send out tweets, and on those days, choose how often you want to tweet each day, and the times you want to tweets to be sent. (Tip: if you want to know the best times to tweet based on when more of your followers are online, check out Tweriod.)
2. Once your Buffer is set up, add tweets to your Buffer. You can type them in on the Buffer website; install an add-on to your Chrome, Firefox or Safari browser that enables you to add a link to Buffer from any web page; Buffer a retweet directly from Twitter; or share an article right from Google Reader or StrawberryJ.am.
3. That’s it. Buffer will send out your tweets automatically at the times you’ve previously set up.

The free version allows 10 tweets in your Buffer at any given time. If you sign up through my link above, we’ll both get an extra tweet! You can also pay an additional fee for more tweets in your queue and track your links through Bit.ly. I’m waiting for an iPhone app to be released, but Android users can take advantage of a mobile version of Buffer right now!

You’ll also want to follow Buffer on Twitter and read their blog if you’re a Twitter tool fanatic like me! They’ve also started #ToolsChat, a Twitter chat dedicated to discussing the top Twitter tools.

Timely – Timely is somewhat similar to Buffer in that you simply add tweets to your queue and Timely will send them out automatically. It also has a free and a paid version. Benefits of Timely include:

• Simplicity. Timely analyzes your last 199 tweets and determines the best times to tweet them for you.
• You can have unlimited tweets and you can use your Bit.ly or Awe.sm accounts to monitor clicks.
• You can add unlimited twitter accounts and invite other people to add to the queue
• All you need to do is add a bookmarklet to your browser. When you come across a link you want to share, click your “Create a Timely” button and a window will pop up pre-populated with your link to share.

So with the last post, you found a way to save time connecting with your peeps. Now you have some tools that will help you find and share information. You’ll find that with your tweets and posts spread out through the day, you will have more opportunities to connect with more of your followers and friends. Isn’t that cool?

In my next post, I’ll sum it all up and share with you how I use all of these tools on any given day. In the meantime, I urge you to sign up and start using the above tools. It will change the way you receive and share information, and you may be pleasantly surprised at how much more time you have at the end of the day.

These posts may also inspire you:

1. Social Media Tools to Minimize the Time Suck: Putting it All Together (Part 3)
2. Social Media Tools to Minimize the Time Suck: Tools to Connect (Part 1)
3. Where’s the Party? Doula Party, That Is

Image via Wikipedia

There’s no going back – many of us lead busy social lives… online. Social media needs to be an essential ingredient in a birth pro’s marketing and networking strategies. Facebook and Twitter are currently the places to be – they are where a large number of expectant mamas hang out, and where we can get their attention. These online gathering places are where we can be influential, and where we can really expand our reach to change the state of maternal health in our society.

The issue many birth pros face is that aside from the learning curve newbies face when starting out, to get the most out of social media, time must be invested in it. Anyone who is a heavy user of Facebook and Twitter (and now Google+) knows all too well the time suck that can result.

As a busy mom and business owner, squeezing as much time out of my days is becoming an art. I am an enthusiastic advocate of tools that add to my efficiency, both online and offline. Lately, I’ve been experimenting with a number of Twitter tools and discovering how I can create a more efficient rhythm for my social media usage.

Before I talk about the tools, I’ll share two main reasons I use social media:

1. To connect with birth professionals, potential clients, friends, and other interesting people. My social media activities include one or two Twitter chats each week, conversations with those who happen to be online when I am, and responses to questions or comments. On the Inspired Birth Pro page on Facebook, I ask questions and invite birth pros to respond. The variety of interactions have been great for developing friendships with people locally and around the world, learning more about current issues and trends in the birth field and maternal health.
2. To find and share useful information. In addition to connecting with others, I share blog posts from Inspired Birth Pro and links pertaining to birth, parenting, social media, small business, and quirky stuff. I enjoy exploring the links that friends of mine have shared, and admit that finding great information and resources has become a hobby. Being curious about what others are doing, saying and sharing makes social media fun and interesting. Being helpful lets others know that they can count on you as a dependable resource.

Most of the tools that I’ll be sharing are for use with Twitter, but there are a couple that will work with Facebook as well. All of these tools are also either totally free or they have a free version you can use. Some of the services require that you fill out an email form to request an invitation to use their service. Don’t let that deter you. Sign up and within a few days you will be able to begin using their tools.

Finally, I will also apologize in advance to very new Twitter users, who may not understand all the lingo that follows. Please contact me if you need me explain anything further.

Tools for Connecting with Others

When I first started using Twitter in 2008, I admit I used a service that auto-followed other users when they followed me. It was easier than opening each one of the emails I received from Twitter, going to Twitter to see who they were, and then following them. However, as marketers and spammers learned about Twitter, the amount of spam I was seeing in my stream was ridiculous, so I stopped using the service. I also stopped using Twitter for about a year.

Eventually, I cleaned out all the followers who were not offering me anything of value, and began looking for better ways to “vet” my followers. Here are the tools I use now:

Topify – When you sign up to use Topify, you have to initially set up Twitter notifications to go through Topify’s system. Once that’s done, when someone follows you, Topify will send an email that includes your new follower’s name, her bio, number of followers, and a few of her most recent Tweets. Once you review the information, you can choose to follow that person, block her, report her for spam, or do nothing.

Because there are so many Twitter users who either use auto-follow services, are spammers, or are just following random people to increase the numbers of followers they have, using Topify offers Twitter users a way to quickly see who followed them and lets them take immediate action.

SocialOomph – SocialOomph offers a wide variety of free features and also has a paid professional version with a boatload of tools. The main feature I use is their free keyword tracking service. Specify up to 50 keywords of interest to you, and this tool will send you periodic emails with all tweets that contain those keywords. Note that these are tweets from Twitter’s public stream (as in ALL tweets), not just from your own. My keywords include my own Twitter username so I can see who shared my tweets or replied to me, and several hashtags, such as #birthpro, #birthgenius, #doulaparty and #breastfeeding.

Once or twice a day, you’ll receive an email with the tweets for that 12- or 24-hour time frame, categorized by keyword. Following each tweet are links so that you can reply, view the tweet in Twitter, retweet it, or send the original user a direct message. Also linked are Twitter usernames, hashtags and website links.

I’ve found this SocialOomph feature extremely helpful for reading Twitter chats I missed and replying to those who contacted me or shared my tweets. It’s also a great way to find new Twitter users to follow and links to share.

Rapportive for Gmail – I’ve recently added Rapportive to my Gmail and think it rocks! Basically, when you open an email, Rapportive creates a column to the right of the email and lists the sender’s social media links and shows their bio, recent posts/tweets from several social media services. In addition, you are able to follow or unfollow people, and you will see links to other emails within Gmail from that sender. This tool is especially useful for business owners, because you may find new people to connect with or see what your friends and colleagues are up to, right from your email.

Try out any or all of the above tools, and let me know how they work for you. Next time, I’ll be sharing more tools that help you find and share links and information.

These posts may also inspire you:

1. Social Media Tools to Minimize the Time Suck: Putting it All Together (Part 3)
2. Social Media Tools to Minimize the Time Suck: Tools to Find and Share Content (Part 2)
3. Stepping Back from Social Media Madness

Image by CarbonNYC via Flickr

I’ve been hearing from birth professionals who are struggling with finding clients and getting hired. These women are very actively marketing themselves. They’re putting themselves out there, making contacts, getting interviews, following up, but they’re just not closing the sale, or they’re not attracting the kind of clients they want – namely, paying clients.

In almost all of these stories lies a similar, underlying message – I’m not good enough.

“I don’t have enough experience.”

“I’m brand new.”

“There are so many established doulas/cbes in my community.”

“I don’t have ________ skills. Maybe I should become a ________.”

“The only way people will hire me is if I give them a discount.”

Sound familiar?

As I’ve listened and read these stories, I’ve noticed my heart clench up and I want to jump up and down and start screaming. Why? Because I really see who you are.

I see the desire in your heart to help women and families.

I feel the passion you have for this work.

I know the strong belief you have in the power of knowledge and support that will help women have better birth experiences.

I also…

Hear the gears in your head moving, trying to figure out the “perfect” things to do or say so someone will hire you.

See the gremlins standing behind you, hearing them tell you all the reasons why what you’re doing isn’t working or won’t ever work.

Feel the desperation as you attempt to think and work harder to find success.

Why this hits so close to home is that I’ve been there. I’ve had times when I’ve felt I’ve done all the right things, and it wasn’t leading to new clients. I’ve had moments when I believed that I had to think and do something different, or add more skills, or try a new spin on something in order to be successful. So I worked harder and thought harder and worked some more. I’m here to tell you that it’s not only ineffective… it sucks out your vital energy, affects your physical and mental health, and spills over into other areas of your life.

If you’re connecting with what I’ve described above, this is what can help you:

STOP.

Step back.

Breathe deeply.

Know that you are good enough.

Believe it.

Really.

Right now, I want you take a break.

Physically.

Mentally.

Emotionally.

Socially.

Spiritually.

If you are thinking, “Well, I need to keep working because I have no clients and no money and _________ and _________ and ________…”

STOP. This isn’t helpful.

Now, go do an activity you really enjoy. Something creative, something that lets you lose track of time. Get your kids involved too.

Laugh and be silly. Call a friend and have a girls’ night out.

Pack a picnic. Get outside. Just add water. Watch the squirrels run and play, and see how the birds peck in the grass.

No computer, no tv, no books. Tune into YOU.

Get some bodywork done. Get a pedicure. Go ahead and indulge and treat yourself to something sinfully sweet. Or make yourself a really healthy meal that truly nourishes you.

Give yourself permission to fully relax.

Rinse and repeat for the next few days. I want you to dive into some well-deserved, indulgent, decadent self-care.

You’ll know you’re ready to get back to work when your inner guidance kicks in. How do you know when it has? When ideas start popping up, when you feel inspired to contact someone, or add some text to your website. You’ll recognize your inner guidance when the voice you hear in your head is calm, wise, comforting.

I am a fan of Esther Hicks and Abraham, and I drew the following from their set of “Ask and it is Given” Cards, which I feel is so appropriate for this piece:

“I Must Be Selfish Enough to Align with Well-Being”

If you are not selfish enough to deliberately align with the Energy of your Source, you have nothing to give anyway. Some worry that if they take too much of the pie, others will be left with nothing; while, in reality, the pie expands in proportion to the vibrational requests of all of you.

To know and stand in your value, you must, without exception, be gentle with the thoughts you think about yourself. Your circle of influence begins with your passion and desire, and has nothing to do with what others around you are doing.

There are no failures, just lessons to learn from. When you nurture yourself you open doorways of understanding and give your inner wisdom a chance to shine through.

Join me next time, after you’ve taken some time off, where I’ll offer you more food for thought on the mental game of knowing and standing in your value.

These posts may also inspire you:

1. The Heart of a Business Lies in our Heart
2. For The Sake of Changing Clients’ Lives
3. The Law of Attraction and Birth Work

Image via Wikipedia

New subscribers to the Inspired Birth Pro updates receive an email requesting their burning business questions. I’ve compiled the list of questions over the years, and I’ve started posting them on Facebook, because honestly, I don’t have all the answers! I also learn from other birth pros, so I really appreciate it when fans take the time to share their wisdom.

If you have not liked the IBP Facebook page yet (why haven’t you?), I’m going to start compiling the questions and responses into a blog post, along with the link to the question, in case you want to add to the conversation. I also imagine that at some point the Facebook updates may disappear, or at least get lost and buried, so it would be nice to archive them in some way. If you notice that your comment was not included, please contact me to let me know.

If you want to add a comment to one of these questions, just click on the word “question” preceding it to go to its respective page on Facebook.

Okay, here we go!

Question 1: Name one important step you took to ramp up your part-time birth business to a full-time practice?

• Jessica Bejot – Networking with everyone all the time!
• Jen Davis – Business school…crash course

Question 2: What are your budget-friendly ways to advertise your birth business?

• Smooth Transitions – Social Media (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn) is great for creating awareness but referrals are the best way for us to get new clients.
• Rachel Mueller -  www.doulamatch.net, very affordable!
• Desirre Andrews – No advertising. Marketing with fliers, referrals, website, car magnet, tshirts, etc.

Question 3: Is your birth business an LLC? What tips would you give other birth pros who would like to form an LLC?

• Desirre Andrews – Yes it is. I believe it adds professionalism and protection while still allowing for simple tax accounting.

Question 4: Please share one creative marketing technique you’ve used successfully.

• Motherjoyca – I donate a small amount of my time for silent auctions and end up getting contracts for more.
• Krystal Bartz – I got $100 for Google Adwords and actually used it. I developed amazing key words and actually got 3 clients.

Question 5: (for Birth Doulas): How do you find paying clients?

• Andrea Donaldson Lythgoe – My web site, hands down. I don’t even do any other marketing. A *good* website will get you farther than anything else you do.
• Jessica Bejot – I agree with the website. Networking for referrals is also profitable. Attending everything birth related in your community. Most of all be professional and value yourself with confidence. Set your price stick to it, then earn it, you’ll get referrals from clients that way too! It snowballs after that.
• Danielle Rylander – I have a top notch website, but I live in a tiny town so I’m not seeing much from the website. My clients all look at it after they’ve heard about me while they’re trying to decide if they want to hire me. Definitely crucial, but not much traffic from this small town. I think the way I get paying clients is through birth classes or through referrals.
• Desirre Andrews – Website, word of mouth, referrals, marketing materials, magnetic sign on car, office sign, about in that order.
• Gentle Balance Birth – There are many people in my region that attend births for very low cost or even for free. I believe over time though I have turned down a few births here and there, I get paying clients by continuing to act and treat myself as a professional. Like all professionals I do volunteer my services and time in certain specific arenas, but I do not volunteer my services for people who are just looking to save a little money. When I was a younger, newer doula it was more challenging for me to stick to my price and let some births go, but I realized I didn’t want my reputation to be as the doula who was willing to work for almost nothing. I wanted my reputation to be the doula who was so hard working, professional and dedicated to her clients that she was worth every penny. And guess what? That’s what it is!

Question 6: (for CBEs): How do you attract students for out-of-hospital childbirth classes?

• Desirre Andrews – Word of mouth, provider/birth pro referrals, website, SM, marketing fliers, networking, schedule,reputation.

Question 7: What elements do you think make up an attractive website home page that draws people in to find out more?

• Donna Schulz Rubens – I like simple front pages that are easy to navigate. Too much stuff on the front page looks messy to me. It should be brief with one or two pictures. I don’t like harsh colors or the use of different fonts. I don’t like waiting for flashy “flash” things to load and will not wait and move on to another page. I think with front pages, less is best.
• Andrea Donaldson Lythgoe – Make it personal, include your name and photo. Make it simple, no flashing, not crammed with stuff. NO MUSIC! Easy to navigate. No spelling mistakes.
• Donna Schulz Rubens – I have to add, if your website is about cakes, don’t put up a picture of a rabbit, lol. I have seem websites with pictures that have nothing to do with what the website is about. ; )
• Krystal Bartz – My home page is what’s current in my business life. It’s simple, clean and easy to navigate. My menu is always on top. I think your webpage is a reflection of you and your business. I have been to sites where they look like they have been slapped together with banners and free ads flashing “webpages in 5 minutes” (not for doulas, for other professions) and I exit as quickly as I entered.
• Krystal Bartz – Does everyone have a website to share? I’d love to see how you set yourselves up on the web. Mine is:
  www.ninemonthsdoula.com.
• Donna Schulz Rubens -  www.VCBN.Homestead.com is mine for the birth network I started and I have done several doula sites for friends.
• Donna Schulz Rubens – Here are some I have done. I do them and the client has control over going in and changing things once I set it up. Not always what I would recommend but I think the client should have control and do what they want with their own site. www.donnascreativewebdesigns.com/Portfolio.html.
• Krystal Bartz – My husband is a web and graphic designer. For birthy sites he had only done mine but does lots of freelance stuff.
• Andrea Donaldson Lythgoe – Mine is www.pamperedbirth.com.

Here are a couple questions that haven’t received attention yet, so please chime in if you want to share your view:

Question 8: Do you live in a small community? How do you successfully promote your birth business?

Question 9: (for CBEs): How much do you charge for out-of-hospital childbirth classes and what part of the world are you at?

If you don’t do Facebook but want to chime in, feel free to add to the comments at the end of the post. In addition, if you have a burning question you want answered, either email me or post to the comments or on Facebook and ask away!

These posts may also inspire you:

1. Ask Inspired Birth Pro: Is it Worth Doing Email Newsletters? It Depends.
2. Where’s the Party? Doula Party, That Is
3. Facebook Ad Crash Course for Birth Pros (Part 3)

Image by avrdreamer via Flickr

Last week I decided to revisit my values. The last time I did a values exercise, I was at a very different place in my life. I’ve grown a lot since then and was curious to see what has changed. Here are the steps I took:

1. I really like the comprehensive list of almost 400 adjectives that Steve Pavlina put together for such a task, so I copied and pasted the words into an excel spreadsheet and printed the list out.
2. I took a highlighter and quickly went through the list, marking each word that resonated with me. These 35 words described states of being or personality traits that I admire in others and either see or want to foster in myself.
3. I went through the list a second time with a pen and circled seven of the highlighted words. These words hold more meaning to me and represent more clearly what I’m about and what is important to me.
4. Finally, I carefully thought about each of the seven circled words. The question I asked myself was, “Which of these states of being must be part of my life in order for me to feel whole?”
5. The four words I chose are my core values. They sum up who I am today and how I want to live my life. I might not always be successful at living them, but I try to, every day.

After sitting with these words for a few days, I wanted to put them up somewhere I could see them every day, so I typed each value in a Word document, and my daughter helped me choose a font for each that gave personality to each one. We printed them out on bright, colorful paper and my daughter used some craft scissors to cut them out. I taped each of those on the wall, surrounding two vision boards that I look at every day. Happiness.

What ended up making this exercise a lot more meaningful is that my daughter wanted to choose her own values. So, I gave her the master list, and she went through the process, highlighting, circling and deciding which words meant the most to her. However, after telling me how much she liked all of her words and that there were too many to choose from, an idea occurred to me.

We went to Wordle, plugged in all of her words, played with the color and layout, and printed this out:

We had so much fun doing this that I had to make a Wordle myself:

What I loved about this exercise most was looking at our lists side by side. As I looked at the words my daughter chose, I got to see her in a brand new way, a colorful jumble of joy and fun.

As I look at my words, I can see how much I’ve grown. I turn 40 this year, and there has been a significant shift in how I see the world, what I want in life, and what I hold most dear. And now it’s in visual form. Really powerful.

Try this exercise, and do it with your kids if they feel compelled to join you.

These posts may also inspire you:

1. What Are Your Most Important Values?
2. The Inner Work of Building Your Birth Business – The Spiritual Aspect – Part 2
3. 5 Steps to Summer Sanity: Family Vision (Part 1)