Tech and Automations For Your Doula Business
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Transcript
Welcome to doula tips and tips. 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 Kaylee 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, La Leche League leader, 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 welcome back to doula tips and tips today we are talking about setting up automations and getting things ready to go on vacation and be off call and all the awesome things that are happening in july so um as i've talked about there's many tech things that i use in my business to make my life easier i also have an amazing vie eve who i adore and is doing wonderful things with me um i also have a sister who sometimes helps me with stuff laura um and so and i have a newsletter writer my copywriter mel who's just glorious on every level um so i have people behind the scenes as well right it's not just automations in tech but at this point a lot of my business relies on tech and automations in part because i'm doing a lot of my business myself right because of that i am um i'm needing to kind of think ahead when i have something that i want to be doing super presently and not like every day doing something in the business so my plan for july is to have all my episodes um recorded and scheduled so that um they're just running right they're going that means for every episode i need to record the episode i need to um make a post about the episode i need to make a uh an infographic like well not an infographic like a just a graphic that goes with it on the website i need to write show notes for it i need the transcript for it and um is that all there's something else oh i need to embed it on the website so so i need to do that process for every episode for the month right so the month of july every single episode that's what's gonna that's what it's gonna be um and then i need to um have like social media posts and things like that for those as well so that's one piece right so if i just do that i have two pieces of content going out every single week for july so that's something right the other thing is that i'm trying to keep this roll this ball rolling with social media um it's hard to do on your own as i know you all know and so um i'm not always perfect at it but i am working on being consistent in that space and um and like utilizing my team to help me be consistent in that space what that looks like is planning out content that's pertinent to the to the podcast and pertinent to you all right and then working through what that looks like and and it honestly i don't have a super great rhythm for this yet like i'm working on it but it is it's a hard thing for me to get into a good groove in advance like i am a person that's like oh i have something to post today but that inspiration doesn't come every day and so it makes consistency really hard but also that means that i have to force myself to plan ahead a little so that is a really really important piece as i'm looking at july and knowing that i have a number of days that i don't want to be on social or i don't want to be on social much like i'll probably look at there look at it and see like who's commenting and comment on other people's things but not necessarily be on there creating live content right um and so that's another thing that i am getting ready so another thing i'm getting ready is i'm looking through our contracts i'm looking through our email automations i'm looking through who is still due who still has hours left in their postpartum contract so that nobody is feeling like they're falling through the cracks in the midst of my time with my family now i'm not gone and not working the entire month of july right the thing in july is that i'm trying to spend as much time as possible with my children and my husband um and part of that is vacation we're going away for seven days in july with my family and then part of that is um just like swimming and hanging out in dc and like living life right so it's not that i'm never going to do a postpartum shift it's not that i'm never gonna you know see my clients or have prenatal visits or consultations it's more that i want to be able to prioritize the things that need to happen and make sure that the people who don't like urgently need me in july know that they're not forgotten about right and don't feel forgotten about in the kind of like automation that i have going in the business obviously i'm not automating everything because i'm also like hanging out with my clients and like doing you know postpartum care with some families and doing some prenatal work so it's not like everything that clients are getting from me is automated all summer long that would not be realistic and also unhelpful, right?
But what it is, is that as much as I can, I'm making sure that our processes are working well so that when I sign off for our time away and then for the month to be a little bit less on and present, I am able to know that my clients are still getting really good information from me and they're able to get what they're needing in terms of care.
So that matters deeply to me, as you can imagine. So when I think about this, I think about setting things up that I need a break from, right? And this looks different for everybody. So like for me, I specifically need a break from being on call.
Like I need a break from people calling me at two o 'clock in the morning in labor. Now obviously there's still a chance that will happen but I'm not, it's very low chance because I'm not gonna have my own people who are due, right?
The other thing I need a break from is the like, the like, oh my gosh, I have to put that podcast out this week by Monday or by Wednesday or whatever, right? Like that grind is what it feels like sometimes.
It's just like, oh gosh, it's Thursday, the podcast is due tomorrow. That I want a break from, right? I also honestly just need to be in a better rhythm of that again, because that was in a really good rhythm of recording in advance and then my broken leg and I went to my sister's to help with her baby and blah, blah, blah and it just has completely crumbled.
So my rhythm is one of the things that I am focusing on this summer to get back into a good rhythm of self -care, get back into a good rhythm of movement and get back into a good rhythm of doing the podcast and running kind of the bones of the business, right?
So those are some of the things I'm setting up. I would love to hear what ways you use automation in your business to kind of get you some time off or to get you some time where you are able to rest from some of the parts of the business that are really hard.
And I would love to hear what that is. And the best way for me to hear that from you is on Instagram. So if you're not already connected with me on Instagram, go over to Instagram at haraadoula, connect with me there.
I would love to hear from you. What are some things that you're doing to kind of set yourself up for a summer of a little bit more ease, even just a tiny bit more? All right, I'll see you in the next episode.
Thanks for joining us for this episode of the Dula Tips and Tits 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 haraadoula 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 a 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 your health and your business.
We'll see you again soon.
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Doula businesses need tech and automations just like any other business does! But oftentimes doulas have no knowledge or experience with technology. I remember the first time someone talked to me about a customer management system and just got a little blurry eyed. Today I can navigate through the world of tech a bit easier and it makes my business easier to run!
Quote from the show:
“As much as I can, I'm making sure that our processes are working well so that when I sign off for our time away and then for the month to be a little bit less on and present, I am able to know that my clients are still getting really good information from me and they're able to get what they're needing in terms of care. I have people behind the scenes as well right it's not just automations in tech, but at this point a lot of my business relies on tech and automations in part because I'm doing a lot of my business myself. Because of that I’m needing to kind of think ahead when I have something that I want to be doing super present and not like every day doing something in the business so my plan for July is to have all my episodes recorded and scheduled [ahead of time].”
CONNECT with Kaely on TikTok or Instagram
https://www.tiktok.com/@doulacoach
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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
