Marketing Checklist

There are so many things to consider when beginning a new business that it can be difficult to know where to start. Many people choose to do the bare minimum, use clipart in Word to create a quick advertisement of some sort, use the same clipart to print out some do-it-yourself business cards and declare themselves open for business. While this is not an uncommon thing and doesn't necessarily preclude a successful business, a lot depends on location and intended clientele. A hippie mama living in the country is much more likely to pick up this type of advertisement and call then a trendy mom living in the city.

The key to attracting professional clients (willing to pay $600 out of pocket for a doula) is professional advertising. That's where having a plan comes in handy to help you know which things might be worth paying a professional to do for you and which can be skipped, put off, or done yourself.

Some of the basics are:

1. Logo - Sounds obvious, but it's important. This will "brand" you and set you off from your competitors. You may start with your business name, or with an image you really like, but you need to have a distinctive look that will carry through all of your advertising efforts to maximize return on investment. Do NOT use Microsoft clipart for this!
2. Website - Today's consumers in the childbearing years are internet-savvy and they do a lot of their research that way. Not having a website is not an option anymore. This is a vital part of your marketing strategy and needs to be one of the first things you do. If you are being asked to pay more than $150/year to keep your site up and running with your own domain name, you are being ripped off. While the initial site design might run into higher costs, the actual yearly upkeep is minimal and can be done for under $100/year depending on what options you need available to make your site work properly.
3. Business Cards - It is best to have this professionally done - it definitely shows. You will want to pass your cards out everywhere, leave them on countertops, stick them in books, place piles at the chiropractor's office or baby store. They reflect very directly on you and your business and need to look good. If you decide to do them yourself, look into having them professionally printed - Kinko's, Staples and OfficeMax (or similar stores) have fairly cheap custom printing options and it's worth the money to have them properly printed. If you absolutely must create them yourself, there are business cards that you can print and then peel off instead of tearing apart. They still look "homemade" but they look far better than the tear-off kind.
4. Brochures - Trifolds and rack cards (one-third of a tri-fold) are very common advertising options. They allow you to add a lot more information than a business card, and can stand out better in a crowd. Keep in mind that there may be other tri-folds in front of yours, so whatever will catch someone's immediate attention needs to be in the upper third of the page.
5. Forms & info sheets - While this is not as vital, for the sake of your overall consistency, it is a good idea to have a basic letterhead created and use it as the basis for all of your routine paperwork. This keeps your information at your clients' fingertips at all times, as well as providing more chances for your logo and "identity" to be seen and remembered. Formal letterhead also looks good when you are writing to clients or other health care providers for whatever reason.

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