How Can I Make Myself Unique From Others in my area?
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Welcome to doula Tips and Tits. This podcast is a place where we answer one question about doula work, both to support you and to help you support your clients. I'm Kaely Harrod. I've been supporting families in this perinatal space since my oldest was born 12 nearly 13 years ago. I am a birth and postpartum doula childbirth educator, lovely cheerleader and a doula coach. I love guiding and supporting doulas as they work out their doula business. It is a tremendous joy to be trusted in this way. Thank you for joining us on this journey.
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Welcome back. Today we are diving into a question that was posed to me during the doula masterclass that I had back in March. And that question is how do I make myself stand out? Or unique in my area as a doula? So like, always, like every single question that we answer on this beautiful podcast? It depends, right? I'm gonna give you a few things to start thinking through in terms of helping yourself stand out. And even before that, I want you to think a little bit about your mindset around this. So one thing that I don't love is when you hear someone talking about business coaching, for instance, and they say something like,
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you know, there are a lot of marketers, but you're the expert, or you're the best, right? And I just don't, I don't love that in part because I don't love that we sort of have to put ourselves in a hierarchy, right? Where I'm better than you. You're better than me, et cetera, et cetera. I don't know that that is helpful. And I don't love that kind of competition in business. Now, I will say as a doula, there are some doulas that I don't think do this work very well, and they don't refer to them. Right. I don't think that they
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I don't know the approach that they have the philosophy that they hold, does not line up with what I believe. doulas should be about and doula should be doing. And their ethics are not in line with mine. And so as a business, I don't refer to them. Right. So I'm not saying that there aren't doulas that I don't love how they function as doulas or how they run their businesses. However, I won't just flat out say,
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I think I'm the best in the area or something like that. I don't think that's actually true. If that were true, if I really thought that I would never have a backup doula that I felt was good enough to send to a client, which just doesn't make any sense to me. So anyway, that that whole soapbox, I will not stay on for a long time. But I firmly do not believe that you have to come to this work or to any work as the absolute best. You can still come as an expert, one of many experts. Right. And that's okay. That is it's perfectly fine to be one of many amazing doulas. That's great. Now, some ways to set yourself apart because we do all function a little differently, right? So
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just in general, in the doula world, there are some doulas that primarily support home births. There are some doulas that don't ever support home births only support hospital births. Right. There are some doulas that primarily support epidural births. Some do live that primarily support unmedicated births. So there are lots of ways to sort of niche yourself down or have yourself be unique in this field. So I don't mean that you shouldn't be kind of specific in who you serve and what you do as a doula. What I mean is, that doesn't necessarily mean you have to be like, I am the best that there's ever been at this particular type of dueling, right? So I want to think I want you to think about some ways that you can do this and kind of pinpoint what's one of these things that you can start sort of tapping into a little bit. So one is obviously your name so some people name themselves like anxiety doula, or like high risk or cesarean doula or epidural doula or hospital doula or whatever, right? So if you want some kind of really specific niche or really specific group that you serve, and you want that to be apparent in your name, that's one way to do it. Another is by your expertise, right. There are doulas that are physical therapists for instance, there are doulas who are massage therapists. There are doulas who are
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also Manny's there are doulas who are also chefs or photographers. And so I know that some of them work that into the name of their business, like I mentioned. Some of them work that into sort of how they advertise what they talk about. They really highlight that expertise that they have. And that sets them apart. Right. And so that's one thing to think about. Another thing is your philosophy. What is your philosophy around birth and around support of families? It doesn't have to be that it's like wildly unique from everybody else who's a doula, but I want you to think about
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is there something about your philosophy that really sets you apart? Or makes you unique or
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a little bit more rare, maybe in your area that you are, and that'll take a little research? If you're in a big metropolitan area, like I live in in DC, then you're gonna have to research some like what are other doulas focusing on what is kind of their, you know, their, like unique group, for instance, and get a sense of what they're doing and saying and see if you do have a philosophy difference that sets you apart a bit, right. The other thing is the type of support so maybe you're like only a daytime postpartum doula, then that is what makes you unique, right? And then you want to really highlight that and really hone in on why that makes you super attractive. Why that that makes hiring you a really great thing for people who are looking for that specific type of support only. For instance, let me just give one example of this for postpartum and birth, doulas. So if you are a birth doula only, and you never do postpartum, then you're always referring out to postpartum, right? A lot of folks that only want postpartum care. Really like it when a postpartum doula is not also a birth doula, because they're not on call for births. So their schedule for them is much more predictable. Similarly, I know families that would really love a postpartum doula who doesn't have their own children, because they don't have to then deal with the fact that like, their kids will get sick, or they have to get back in time to pick them up from school, or whatever that comes along with having small kids. And so some of those sorts of things are actual things that families look for. And instead of looking at that as something that makes you like, set apart in a negative way, like I'm only a postpartum doula, I don't do births. And that's like, not a great thing. highlight that in a way that is actually really beneficial. And that shows how great it is. I'm a, I'm a postpartum doula, and therefore, I am never going to cancel a shift because someone's in labor. Right? Now. It's up to you. If you're like, Well, eventually I do want to do births. And so I don't really want to talk about how it's great that I'm not a birth doula. That's fine, right? You need to think that through be strategic about that messaging, but if you're thinking right now, okay, Kaylee, I know I am an overnight postpartum doula, I do not want to do daytimes I do not want to do birth. i This is really like my focus, then I would really recommend, think about your name, your my, like kind of messaging, your marketing strategy, your the way that you talk about your business, around highlighting the fact that you are this very specific service, rather than highlighting the fact that you do all sorts of birth things, right? Because you don't, you don't do that and that's okay. And you also want people to find you who are actually excited to have someone who just does this. Also, I will tell you if you are that specific, like I only do overnights for postpartum clients. There are probably a lot of daytime, doulas and birth doulas who would refer to you because those of us who don't do overnights have like a very hard line that we do not do them. And so, for me, for instance, I don't know why my body just like really hates me when I do overnight, doula work, and so I don't do it anymore. And that means I always refer to the same couple people for that service because I trust them. My clients love them. And they do it and I know they do it. And so I can consistently send folks to them and be like, hey, talk to this person, you're gonna get great care from her. Right and that's, that's something that I do on a very regular basis because I do not ever plan to offer that service myself. The same is true for placentas I know you've heard me say that before. Placenta Encapsulation is tow
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totally not my thing. And I refer for other to other people for it. And I love to refer to other people for it, because I do not want to do it. And I do not plan to do it. And I am perfectly happy to tell people that and to say, that's not something I do, but I do have friends who do that. And I am happy to send you their business information. Right. So I hope that's helpful in terms of getting yourself started.
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I will say that back to sort of the mind, mindset piece of it, I would not emphasize how you are better, or feel the need to highlight the difference between you and other people, when you're getting to know folks, right? Like, I think that marketing strategy doesn't really work great for our field. And maybe I mean, I'm not a marketing expert, so maybe I'm wrong about that. I will just say, from my experience, from feedback from other professionals, from talking to clients, it really is not a field that
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is very conducive to that sort of like competitive marketing have, like, I have the best whatever in the area. And I'll like, you know, prove it to you. That's not really the type of work that we are. And so that's a turn off for some people, right? And so I would, I would really recommend that as you start to highlight the difference, the positive things that set you apart, highlight those, instead of highlighting how they're better than something else, right, how they're better than someone else's business. Because that's kind of kind of a yucky way to do it. You know, at least from my opinion, I realized that I do not hold all the opinions about this sort of thing. But that is my recommendation is to really get to where you're comfortable talking about what makes you great at being a doula and not
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why other doulas aren't great, right? So that's all for this one. Next episode, we're gonna jump into doula consultation. So this is often where this comes up, which is why I did this one first. And then I'm doing that one because oftentimes, I find that people are trying to show how they're different in their consultations. But that can also come across kind of like, you know, like, I'm trying to prove to you that I'm a really great doula sort of thing. And so that's next episode. If you have any questions in the meantime, that you would like me to add to my list for 2023 survey, or 2023 podcast episodes, I would love for you to send me a message on Instagram. I'm also on tick tock. All of that information is in the show notes. And I would love to give you a shout out when I answer your question. So until the next episode, I wish you well informed consent filled business experiences.
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Thanks for joining us for this episode of the doula Tips and Tips podcast. If you learned something today or had an aha moment, we'd love for you to share that on Instagram and tag us at Herat doula, so we can celebrate alongside you. If you found this podcast helpful. We would so appreciate you taking a second to leave a rating and review on your favorite podcast app that helps other doulas find us as we do this work together. This podcast is intended as educational and entertainment it is not medical advice or business advice. Please consult your own medical or legal team for your own needs around
If you live in an area full of doulas like I do it can feel a little intimidating to put yourself out there and seem like a different or unique option. I am firmly against the idea that you have to market yourself by saying you are the BEST or the ULTIMATE or any other bleh marketing words. You can set yourself apart by building relationships and showing your unique experience without needing to downplay anyone else in the field.
I won't just flat out say, I think I'm the best in the area. I don't think that's actually true. If that were true, if I really thought that I would never have a backup doula that I felt was good enough to send to a client, which just doesn't make any sense to me. I firmly do not believe that you have to come to this work or to any work as the absolute best. You can still come as an expert, one of many experts. It is perfectly fine to be one of many amazing doulas.
While I can’t tell you exactly what to do to set yourself apart without us having a detailed conversation, this episode highlights a few ways you can consider setting yourself apart as you build your business.
Key Takeaways:
You can add uniqueness in your business name
You can highlight your expertise in your website or marketing materials
You can highlight your philosophy and how it differs from other doulas
Set yourself apart from other doulas in the types of support you offer
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Kaely Daily is produced by Kaely Harrod of Harrod Doula Services
It is sponsored by The Birth Prep Blueprint Childbirth Class
Music by Madirfan: Hidden Place on Pixabay
