By Sharon Muza, BS, CD(DONA), BDT(DONA), LCCE, FACCE, CLE
The DONA Doula Chronicles blog has been published for over three years and this post is #151. That’s a lot of useful information that has been put out on the “interwebs” by DONA International over time. This blog serves many purposes that are useful to birth and postpartum doulas, DONA members, and the general public. I wonder if you have ever considered using this blog and the posts that are published on it to help you market and grow your business and position yourself as the expert in your community on matters relevant to expectant and postpartum families.
Here are six suggestions on how you can use the DONA Doula Chronicles blog posts in your own business development and marketing plans.
- Share a DONA Doula Chronicles blog post on your Facebook Business Page, with some additional words of wisdom from you that relates to the topic of the post. Invite people who read your page to comment or share their experiences to further continue the conversation on your page that was started in the blog post. We always provide a visually pleasing graphic to include with the blog post so your Facebook post should look appealing. This invites others to read, explore and join the discussion,
2. Include snippets of information and a brief summary of the post in your periodic marketing e-newsletters that you send to clients and others. Include the link so that readers can find out more information if they desire. Consider using an application like Constant Contact or MailChimp to make your e-newsletters easy to compose and easy to read.
3. Use the topic discussed on the DONA blog as a jumping off point for blog content for your own blog. Remember, it is not okay to cut and paste an entire blog post written by someone else, but grabbing a few sentences in quotes, with a link to the original post and placing that in your blog post that you write is always okay. You can then continue to share your own thoughts or opinion using the DONA blog as a jumping off point.
4. Share the blog graphic on your Pinterest board(s), and let your followers click on through to the post. Let clients know about your boards as potential references for things they want to learn more about or may find useful.
5. Tweet your concise thoughts in 140 characters on a topic discussed on the DONA blog along with the blog link.
6. Create a client only password protected section on your website and include links to the blog posts that you feel are most relevant for clients. They can use it as a resource page, visiting the posts that they want to learn more about.
Consider using this valuable resource
The DONA Doula Chronicles is a blog for you to enjoy, learn from and find useful. It can also be used by you as a savvy business person to create community and engagement on your social media channels, your marketing material, and your website Consider using the material on the blog to position yourself as a resourceful expert who can provide benefits and value to potential clients.Would you like to riff off a DONA blog post on YOUR blog and share the link in the comments section so we can all learn and enjoy! Have a go!
Do you already use the DONA blog in your business development? If so, let us know how you are finding it useful for your community.