Getting those first few clients and building testimonials may feel cumbersome at first. Even daunting. Testimonials help build credibility and credibility attracts more clients—a necessity to running a doula business.
We have put together some ideas that have worked for us presently and in the past to get you started. We challenge you to commit to at least one of these. Let us know in the comments below how it works for you or what challenges you are still facing with this.
1. If you are truly just starting out and have no previous experience in the doula role but you have experience working with pregnant women or newborns (as a medical assistant, night nurse, childbirth educator, RN, or babysitter) start with those. Reach out to some folks and ask if they would consider being a reference for you. Even having a character reference available is helpful to start with.
2. Be sure that you enter your business name under Yelp, Google, Bing, etc and claim this business as your own. Often those listings are already there just waiting to be claimed by you. Once claimed, the search engine will create a link to you/your business. You may even use this link in your email signature for clients to easily click on to review your services.
3. Once you book your first 10 clients make it a goal to follow up with each one and ASK. Honesty goes a long way. Tell your clients when they thank you for working with them that it would be really helpful if they would pass on your name to others or write a testimonial for you. You will find that most people are happy to do so. Add a tab on your website just for testimonials and list them there. In the past I have sent out an email once a year (I like the New Year for checking in with people) and update them on what I have been doing and ask to hear how their families are doing too. In the letter you can let them know you are refreshing testimonials for the coming year and would love to hear from them. It keeps you connected to the families that you serve and MANY will offer a testimonial at that time too.
4. Offer a service as a beta test or Pre-Launch to get the buzz going about something new you are offering to your community. This is one that DTI is tapped into right now. This feedback gives you a tangible way to learn about the kinks and make your business even stronger while at the same time getting advance feedback for testimonials from the get go. Once you launch you will be bigger and better than if you started without a test run—AND YOU”LL HAVE FRESH NEW TESTIMONIALS!
5. Unsolicited Testimonials—Don’t miss them! Check your social media accounts (Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter feeds etc) and see what people are saying about you. When you get a mention on twitter or FB this is a testimonial! You can even set up Google Alerts and Social Mention alerts so that you get an email sent to you when you are mentioned somewhere in cyber land. And don’t forget about your email inbox. It is likely you have some testimonials right there!
We will be discussing all of this and more at our Miami Training on Oct 26, 27 and 28th . Want to join us at The Gathering Place Maternity Center in Miami, Florida for our Postpartum Doula Training? Register now for our Pre-Launch price of $375 TOTAL for our 3 day training and our 9 month commitment as your personal mentor to take your business to the next level!
Leave a comment below about your challenges with this or what is holding you back. What has helped? Share with us your link to great testimonials if you have them on your site! We want to celebrate with you!