Getting to Know People

It's the basis of the work we do

Sep 10, 2024

Available for iOS and Android

Lactation care and birth work are based in relationship-building.

As hard as so many people strive to position pregnancy care, childbirth, and infant feeding as strictly medical functions, the truth is that our clients need to trust us in order to trust (and follow!) our information.

Without relationship, rapport, and connection, all of our expertise and knowledge are wasted.

This is one of the reasons that peer support is so effective: people come together and build their network, and practical, supportive information is shared.

We are social beings, and no matter how introverted, shy, or awkward we think we are, we need each other when things are challenging and new for us.

I also believe that for anyone who identifies as neurodivergent in any way, who lives with a physical disability, or who feels in ANY way that they are not “like” others around them, getting to know the background and behind-the-scenes info of a person they are considering trusting with an intimate and vulnerable part of their life can be THE BIGGEST FACTOR in facilitating that decision.

We want people to use our services because they have gotten to know us and feel connected to how we communicate and what we can do for them.

There’s no better way to let them into our world than to offer them an online course that they access at their own comfort level.

We need to show people who we are and what we know in a way that helps them get to know and trust us so that they will trust us with their lactation, birth, and postpartum needs.

Whatever your focus, I want you to know that YOU can be an online course creator.

Yes, you. And why would you want to?

Because it can build your business.

Let's reason this out together: if you are an IBCLC and you add an online prenatal course to your practice, you'll be attracting potential future clients to your email list (by offering them something free first, as my business mentor Amy teaches), then by offering them your course (for a fee), and building a relationship with them so that if they encounter problems with lactation when their baby is born, you'll be the first person they think of to ask for help.

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Remember, an online course is a tremendously scalable revenue stream, and in our specific field, building up our potential client base through teaching them prenatally solves 2 of our objectives:

we KNOW people need MORE prenatal education so that they can have an easier start to breastfeeding and making milk
we can ALSO help them after their baby is born

>>>>>But wait — Of course, you could always teach an online course to support folks who are already breastfeeding or pumping. It could be a back to work class, a class for lactating parents who want to venture into getting fit, a lactation nutrition class, a class on pumping for people who would like to pump occasionally but not rely on a pump, a class for people who are active duty military members or first responders or parents older than 35.

The options are endless.

One thing I have learned is that people are very attracted to courses that are geared toward them specifically. When you use Amy's marketing guidance to ensure you are attracting the exact folks you seek to teach, it really works!

Plus, you only have to create your course once, and then you can sell it over and over again. It becomes a business asset for you.

Meaning the bulk of the work is done up front.

The remainder of the work is making connections with beautiful souls online – like you and I have – and offering them supportive, straightforward, self-guided solutions.

What I have observed over the years is that a LOT of birthworkers and lactation care providers rely on word-of mouth referrals and social media to spread the word about what they do.

Those are amazing when they’re working, but they are not enough.

Social Media is not enough to build your business.

It's cool and fun and flashy, but it's not enough.

Hold on, let me say that again: social media is not enough.

It’s also not reliable - what if the platform you are using goes down right when you need it to be working, or what if they make changes to how they operate?

Also, you do NOT own your list of followers and you can’t do anything with it.

{Hint: An EMAIL LIST is the way to have control over who follows you and gets information from you.}

Word-of-mouth referrals and online ratings are also super cool when they come in, but there are no guarantees that your clients will have the time or energy to do those things for you.

The bottom line is that if you want to control your own future, you need to shift how you’re marketing and strategizing your business.

I’ve got something special to help you with that.

My business mentor, Amy Porterfield, is offering a special, limited-time bootcamp called Course Confident. Inside, you can get: What you might teach, what you’d be able to charge (based on examples across TONS of industries), how to structure your course content, how to grow an audience NOW that’s ready to enroll when you’re ready to launch - plus tons of mindset shifts and important knowledge about marketing courses online that you really need to stabilize your lactation business.

If you decide to enroll using my link in this email, I will also be working alongside you, and I have set up a WhatsApp chat so we can communicate about what we’re learning and accomplishing as we go through Course Confident together!

It's going to be fun to work together on our courses!

(Also, accountability with others is a HUGE motivator for me, so I hope you’ll enroll so we can motivate each other!)

I'm currently updating my First 100 Hours Masterclass course, so I will be using the Bootcamp as a refresher as I continue to create content, grow my email list, and build out my course.

I hope you will join me and the others in our community

who have ALREADY enrolled!