I’m so excited today to connect you with Adriana Lozada, creator of the Birthful Podcast, who launched the Birth Partner’s Ultimate Labor Support Toolkit: Go From Clueless to “I’ve Got This.” Adriana was one of the few women in the Digital Product Challenge that I didn’t really know at first, but right away I could tell that she had a great platform from which to launch a digital product. She already had a successful podcast and she had several digital product ideas to further serve her community of expecting moms and birth professionals.
As you can expect, time as a birth professional can be unpredictable. During the challenge, Adriana got called to 3 births. It was extremely gratifying to see her stay on track despite these distractions of her “real” work, and she shares more about how she did that in her interview.
Now, with her digital product out and in the world, she’s helping birth partners everywhere support birthing moms with compassion and confidence. I mean, who wouldn’t want their partner to feel more prepared for their birthing day and do the things that will help them have a more positive birth experience?
Without further ado, let’s hear from Adriana.
Laura: Where did the idea for your digital product first come from?
Adriana Lozada: I’d been talking about turning my postpartum preparation classes into online classes for nearly 4 years. As time went by, I felt more and more frustrated, even defeated about how daunting of a task it was becoming.
A few months back, I had Jennifer Rue McLellan as a guest on my podcast, and after the recording, she mentioned that your “30-day Digital Product Challenge” was about to start. It was exactly the kind of push that I needed to turn something -anything!- into a digital product.
30 days is not that long, so I knew I couldn’t tackle the postpartum classes in that amount of time. I tried to come up with something that would have a lot of value, but would be super straightforward and simple to create. That’s how the idea for the Birth Partner’s Ultimate Labor Support Toolkit came to be.
Laura: What were some of the more challenging parts of getting from idea to done, and how did you work past them?
Adriana Lozada: The hardest part was carving out the time to work on this project. Between my birth doula practice, sleep consultations, the podcast, and oh, yeah, life, it was difficult to “put the important before the urgent.”
Doula work requires that I always be as well-rested as possible, so I’m not able to stay up writing until very late at night (although I find that’s a really productive time for me!). During the 30 days of the challenge I was called to 3 births, so I kept falling behind on the tasks that we were supposed to be working on. It was hard not to let that push my emotional triggers, but work through it and keep the momentum going.
My 30-day challenge was more like 105 days, but I was determined to get it done. One of the more drastic steps I had to make was to take a hard look at my schedule and decide to put my sleep consultation practice on hold for the summer in order to focus on the toolkit. I also streamlined some of my other processes so that I’ll be able to have the time to create more products in the future.
Laura: What did it feel like to see that first sale come in?
Adriana Lozada: It was the most incredible feeling ever! I had set up an early-bird list where people could be notified the minute the toolkit was available for sale. Within 10 minutes of the cart being open I had 2 sales.
I actually jumped and did a happy dance for about 5 minutes! There may even have been tears of joy… I was filled with such a sense of relief, knowing that what I’ve been dreaming about for years can actually become reality.
Laura: What kind of results have you seen since that first sale?
Adriana Lozada: Before launching the toolkit, I had no idea what to expect. Never having done this before, my biggest goal was to launch something in order to go through the process; to figure out how all the steps come together and learn how it’s done. But I can certainly see all my hard work paying off! I’ve had enough sales to balance out the hiatus I took from sleep consultations, and that’s extremely exciting.
What I love the most is the feedback that I’m getting from those who have gotten the toolkit. One podcast listener emailed me saying,
“As soon as I heard about the toolkit, I knew it would be the perfect compliment for my husband. I know he wants to be involved and supportive – but is not interested in listening to the HOURS of podcasts that I enjoy for the fun of it. I just completed my purchase – and I have to say I am in tears….joyous tears! I think this is going to be the perfect thing for him when we go into labor.”
Laura: What actions and steps do you feel were most critical in creating this result?
Adriana Lozada: Setting up an early-bird list was key. Most of my initial sales came from that list, and it had a 44% conversion rate.
Also, when I posted the launch on Facebook, I asked people to comment why they wanted the toolkit in their lives, saying that I would PM a discount code to those who commented. That helped me get a feel for who was interested and why, and for them to get instant gratification through the coupon. Having people comment also helped amplify the number of people who saw the post.
Laura: Can you give us a peek into what’s coming next in your online business?
Adriana Lozada: I’m going to spend a few more weeks trying different things with the toolkit as part of my learning process. For example, I was recently invited to be a guest on the Healthy Births, Happy Babies podcast, to talk about the toolkit. The episode aired this Monday, and I’ve gotten great feedback.
Many doulas and childbirth educators showed interest in the toolkit, so I’m working on creating a version that can be licensed and adapted into childbirth education classes.
Outside of the toolkit, my next goal for this year is to turn my “Life with a Newborn” postpartum preparation classes into an online class. Those classes have been invaluable for local parents, and I’m excited to share all that good info with the rest of the world. I’m hoping to follow that with an online childbirth education class.
I have the ability to easily translate all these products into Spanish, and I can’t wait to be able to help even more new and expectant parents that way.
Laura: What would you recommend to other women who are putting together their first digital product?
Adriana Lozada: To go for it! And when they do, to approach it as a learning process. To try to have fun with it, and lessen the pressure for perfection. The first digital product is just that: the first. After that, they will be hooked.
Laura: Thank you so much and congratulations!
To learn more about Adriana’s Birth Partner’s Ultimate Labor Support Toolkit, visit birthful.com/toolkit. You can also listen to the Birthful Podcast on iTunes and connect with Adriana on Facebook.
