Kristin Revere: How a Doula Agency Pivoted During the Pandemic With an Online Course
Welcome to the Course Creator Series, where you can learn directly from experienced course creators on how you can monetize and grow your online business.
I’m your host, Dr. Destini Copp and I help entrepreneurs reduce their reliance on 1:1 services or agency type work and scale their digital product revenue. Today, I had the pleasure of interviewing Kristin Revere.
Kristin Revere is the co-owner of Gold Coast Doulas and co-host of Ask the Doulas podcast. Kristin and her business partner, Alyssa launched the Becoming A Mother course in April of 2021 to better support pregnant mothers during COVID based on the feedback from current clients and students who felt overwhelmed and isolated.
Note: Some of these links below are affiliate links, which means I may get a commission if you try them and purchase. However, none of the fees have been increased to compensate me.
Please tell us about your business.
I co-own a birth and postpartum doula agency called Gold Coast Doulas. We are over five years in business, and I have been a doula for eight years. I owned several solo companies in the past before launching a doula agency. Gold Coast Doulas helps families gain confidence in pregnancy, birth, and new parenting. Our birth and postpartum doulas offer physical, emotional, and informational support to our clients.
Start at the beginning of your journey. What were things like for you? How did you feel? What was keeping you up at night?
I realized that families didn’t have enough support in West Michigan during my pregnancies. I spent too much time researching and asking friends for recommendations. I wanted a one-stop-shop and so I co-created the first doula agency in our area. Our goal was to provide everything our clients would need from conception through the first year in one place.
At what point did things change for you? What was the pivotal moment?
Things changed when I hired doulas for my second birth and then when I took my first doula training. Doulas opened my eyes to what judgment-free support looked like.
What are the top three mistakes you made in your entrepreneurial journey, and what would you do differently?
My top three mistakes are as follows:
Doing more client work starting out than working on the business. We got burned out quickly and needed to add more team members soon after that. We realized we needed to work on the business more than in the business to execute our dreams.
We learned to be more selective when bringing on subcontractors who may not have been the best fit for our clients. Not everyone is a good fit for our model of care, and our clients expect the best.
We spent too much time speaking at community events. We would have done better by blogging more or directly outreaching to health practitioners. Saying no can be good for business.
Please tell us about your marketing? What has worked for you? What hasn’t worked for you?
We have produced blogs from day one. It has helped so much with SEO and authority building. We also created a podcast called Ask the Doulas in 2017 to expand our reach. We interview each other and experts in birth and babies on the show.
We have tried radio, and it didn’t work for us. Print advertising has been good for awareness and authority building but doesn’t bring in clients.
What is your top traffic source, and why do you think it’s working for you?
Google. We invest in SEO and blog consistently. Our rankings have increased as a result. We track where people find us. Google and personal referrals are our top sources. We also invest in Google Ads. They work well for us.
What are some of the best ways you’ve found students for your online course(s)?
Live webinars and word of mouth from our clients. We have also worked on growing our email list.
What is your entrepreneurial life like today? What pain points have vanished? How have things improved?
We have name recognition and repeat clients now. It is so much easier being known and trusted in our community. We have name recognition and repeat clients, so it is easier to grow over time. e
Have you pivoted in your business?
We adapted to COVID by moving our childbirth classes from in-person to virtual, and we created the Becoming A Mother course to reach more families. This has been an excellent move for cross-selling our other virtual services to course attendees.
What are your best tips for growing your online course business organically?
We are new to online courses. I would say strong testimonials are what has worked so far and having a solid email list.
What’s your favorite launch strategy? Webinars, Challenges, Video Series, etc. Why do you like this approach?
We loved doing video series on Instagram and Facebook to promote our launch. We also used live webinars and had a discounted rate for those who signed up during the webinar.
If you had $1,000 to spend on marketing next month, what would you spend it on?
Advertising in podcasts that pregnant women listen to. I would love to target podcast listeners as we know our students love podcasts related to birth and babies.
How do you stay focused and productive in your business? What advice do you have for new entrepreneurs?
My best advice is to contract work out that isn’t in your zone of genius. My business partner and I have clearly defined roles and outsource the rest.
What do you see as the next steps for your online course business?
We want to get a more extensive reach nationally and have two more launches in 2021. We plan to revise the course based on feedback from the Beta group and market nationally versus regionally. We also updated our photos for the next launch.
What is your favorite quote or business book?
I love “Badass Your Brand” by Pia Silva. Her branding advice helped us to stand out from our competitors.
What are the top three tools you use in your online course business that you can’t live without and why?
Click Funnels for the sales page, Typeform for surveys and feedback, and Easy Webinar for the webinars. They are easy to use and affordable.
What advice do you have for other online course creators/entrepreneurs out there?
Don’t give up and use feedback after each course to make changes before the next launch.
How can people find you to learn more?
We can be found on our website at www.goldcoastdoulas.com. We are located in West Michigan and have a podcast called Ask the Doulas on iTunes, Soundcloud, and other podcast players. It can also be found at: www.askthedoulas.net. Please email us at: info@goldcoastdoulas.com. The Becoming Course can be found at: https://www.thebecomingcourse.com/join/.