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Episode 54: Becca Campbell - Scaling a Business through Online Education
150 Plays5 years ago
Today we are chatting with sleep consultant Becca Campbell of Little Z Sleep. Becca helps parents get sleep through teaching them how to train their babies how to sleep through the night.
While we do find some time to chat about some sleep training tips (and Krista and my current struggle in moving Jack from 2 naps to 1 nap), we spend much of the episode learning how she built her business, and we chat about how she moved from 1:1 service model to a 1:many online course model. We cover how she used her 1:1 experience, what steps she took before creating her online course, and how through creating online courses she’s able to better serve her clients.
For the show notes and additional resources, visit https://daveyandkrista.com/btb-becca-campbell-episode-54/.
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Transcript
Anticipating Responses in Conversations
00:00:05
Speaker
Once you start to anticipate what people are going to say, then you do. You know how to adjust it. But there was also this weird problem that I was getting to where sleep is a big issue and people are really struggling with depression. They're struggling with their marriages. And I, again, kind of when we decided to go to the courses, I knew I had an hour long script in my head. I knew what to say. I knew what to say all the time. I started making like jokes sometimes about things. I was like, I've got to stop doing that. Like this is really serious.
Introduction to Brands at Book Show
00:00:37
Speaker
Welcome to the Brands at Book Show, where we help creative, service-based businesses build their brands and find more clients. I'm your host, Davy Jones.
00:00:51
Speaker
Today we are chatting with sleep consultant, Becca Campbell of Little Z's Sleep. Becca helps parents get sleep through the night through teaching them how to train their babies to sleep through
Episode Overview with Becca Campbell
00:01:00
Speaker
the night. While we do find some time to talk about sleep training tips and Chris and I's current struggle of moving Jack from two naps to one nap, we spend much of the episode learning how she built her business and we chat about how she was able to move from a one-to-one service model to a one-to-many online course model.
00:01:17
Speaker
We cover how she used her one-on-one experience to create her online courses, what steps she took before creating her online courses, and how through creating online courses, she's better able to serve clients. Be sure to check out the show notes at dvandchrista.com for the resources we mentioned during the episode, and I'd like to hear from you about what kind of content you'd like to see on the Brainset Book Podcast as we move forward.
00:01:39
Speaker
I'd also like to know what episodes have you enjoyed most so far and why. To leave your feedback, head on over to the Davey and Krista Facebook page and send us a message. Now, onto the episode.
Becca's Journey into Sleep Consulting
00:01:54
Speaker
All right, well, Becca, welcome to the brand set book show. I'm excited to have you on the show for a couple reasons. One, because I'm excited to talk about the business aspect of things as well. But you being a sleep consultant, Jack is in the midst of transitioning it looks like from one or two naps a day to one nap a day. Love to get maybe some insight into how to make that go more smoothly. But welcome to the show.
00:02:18
Speaker
Yeah, thanks so much. Thanks for having me. I love both of those things business and sleep. I could talk about all day. Yeah, awesome. Well, we're in the right place then. But I would love to hear a little bit about how you get how you get started with sleep consulting for you know, newborns infants, toddlers. So how does one even get into kind of that industry?
00:02:37
Speaker
Yes. Well, I started by being a tired parent myself and not knowing what I was doing. So I'm a former elementary school teacher, so I taught third and fifth grade. And ever since I was little, I always wanted to be a teacher. And when you grow up, you just think that always means, oh, I'm going to be a classroom teacher. That's what it means when you're a teacher. You're in the classroom. And I loved it. I loved teaching elementary until I had our first daughter.
00:03:00
Speaker
And then all of a sudden, I hated going to work every day. And I hated being in the classroom. I just wanted to be with her. But at the same time, we weren't sleeping. So I went back to work when she was 12 weeks old, and it was awful. It was terrible. We were waking up every 45 to 90 minutes throughout the night. I also then hated going to work, but I also didn't want to be with my kid because it was awful. Everything was terrible. And I remember sitting down in the kitchen getting ready for work one morning and just Googling, how do you get your kid to sleep?
00:03:29
Speaker
Like not even how to sleep through the night. Like just how do you get a kid to sleep? Like I didn't know. And none of my friends really had had kids yet or if they did have kids, it just seemed like it was supernatural to them. So I didn't even know that this was something you're supposed to struggle with. So anyways, I googled, I found some things and I was like, oh, I'll just buy a book. A book will be totally fine. I can teach myself because hello, I have a master's in teaching. I can do this. So I read the book and
00:03:53
Speaker
just part part way did it like i didn't really do it actually and it course it wasn't working cuz i'm not actually doing what i need to do and about that time i was approached by a consultant who i bought the book through. And they were like hey how's it going i was like terrible it doesn't work and they're like well maybe you need some help and so i ended up working with someone and that was when it all clicked so like when i had somebody to talk to to problem solve with to be accountable to then within two weeks my form and total sleeping twelve hours all night.
00:04:22
Speaker
She was taking great naps. I was a completely different person. It was absolutely amazing. And so from that point, I was like, oh, this is a thing. People can like teach people how to get their kid to sleep. I think I want to do that. So I ended up applying to a certification program, told my principal like, hey, I'm not coming back. I had to skip standardized testing time to like go get certified, which was a big deal. But I was like, whatever, I don't care. I'm gone.
00:04:44
Speaker
Did that left at the end of the year and everybody was like, oh, you're going to take a couple of years off to take care of your kids. That's so great. I was like, no, this is what I'm doing now. I'm a sleep
From Client Hunting to Referrals
00:04:54
Speaker
consultant. So I just dove headfirst in what was that 2015 and here we are today.
00:05:00
Speaker
Yeah, awesome. And one of the reasons that or I guess how I came to know you a little bit was because we have a bunch of mutual friends or at least I have a bunch of friends who you've worked with and they all rave about you and how good you are at what you do. So I am excited to dive a little bit more into actual tips for getting for getting children to sleep. But it really does make such a big difference. I think the whole childbirth thing is it's so funny to look back on because it's this miraculous amazing thing.
00:05:29
Speaker
But at the same time, I remember when we transitioned from getting next to no sleep at night to getting sleep. So we went through a similar thing. We trained Jack according to a program that we bought. And I remember it was around eight to 10 weeks and he started sleeping through the night, which was amazing. But then looking back on those eight to 10 weeks and wondering, how did I do that?
00:05:51
Speaker
And while you're in it, I guess, at least as long as it's not too long, you don't realize, I guess, how valuable sleep is. But then when you're looking back on it, you're like, how did I get through that time period? Yeah. It becomes a blur, that's for sure. Yeah. And then it's funny, of course, it's not just, or at least it wasn't for us. I remember the first time you slept through the night and how good I felt the next day. And then I remember a couple times that week him not sleeping during the night anymore. And then all of a sudden me being very frustrated.
00:06:20
Speaker
Don't make me go back there, you know? Yeah, exactly. But also interesting, how many teachers that I talk to that become entrepreneurs? There must be some connection there. I think so. But you said you dove headfirst into becoming a sleep consultant. How did you find your first clients then? So actually, I went to the training and I had already had my business cards printed. I had my website. I just thought, oh, this is what I'm going to do. I'm doing this full force.
00:06:48
Speaker
So I have everything ready. I go to training. I'm like the only one. I am the only one who was like, I know my business name. I know I'm going to do. I know this. Like, so I think like when I even left to training, I had already started telling people like what I was going to do. And I kind of needed to anyways, because I mean, that was kind of crazy. My husband was also a teacher. So.
00:07:06
Speaker
Two teachers, why would one just quit? Like what are you going to do? So we kind of started to tell people what I was doing. And then like literally the weekend I came back from training and went to church on Sunday. And I like remember walking up the stairs to go talk to some people. And there was a girl that I knew just had a baby and I knew she wasn't sleeping. And like I walked straight up to her and I was like, hi.
00:07:25
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I can actually help your baby sleep.
Developing Online Courses
00:07:27
Speaker
I mean, like, how crazy is that? Because I literally just got back from training. But I was like, I can help you. I can do this. And so we worked together. And then from there, I just I just was like, I feel like at the time I was just a machine. Like I just was like telling people I can help your problems. I can solve your problems. I can do all these things. It was just total fake it till you make it stuff. I like reached out to people. I sent emails. I sent Facebook messages like to anyone and anything that would like listen to me. And I just started like gathering clients and gathering clients. And it took about
00:07:55
Speaker
I'd say like four months for it to feel like I wasn't on the hunt all the time. Like people were kind of starting to be like, oh, I heard so and so my neighbor told me blah, blah, blah. I was really active in a lot of Facebook groups. I would just insert myself into and host Q and A's or things like that. And finally, I think after a year
00:08:13
Speaker
is when it was like, I really didn't have to go hunt things down. It was like a lot of referrals coming through. So in the beginning, I was just like, anybody who had ears and a kid who like was possibly not sleeping, I was going to come talk to you. Yeah. I mean, that's awesome that you just put yourself out there like that because I think first of all, four months, you know, I guess being out of that phase where you don't always have to be on the hunt after four months, I feel like that's a pretty short amount of time.
00:08:36
Speaker
when starting a business so i just think it speaks to i guess how much you can speed up that that period of time by putting yourself out there and when you when you approach that first person like what was the pitch you know because at that point right like it really just leaves you know sleep trained your own kid
00:08:55
Speaker
And then went to training so it's not necessarily that you had like a dozen case studies to talk about So what was kind of what was the pitch or did you just not even you know think about that? Did you just kind of focus on what you could do for them? Yeah, a couple of things we the girl that I first pitched to she her daughter was the same age as my daughter who I had like just sleep trained and I knew because I could I heard her at church and things like that talking about how I
00:09:19
Speaker
Her kids slept terrible and so like when I went to go talk to her I remember kind of being like hey is that still happening well this is what I do now and this is what I'm training for and I mean I didn't ever when I say fic until you make it I never was like I am now an expert and I can now solve your problems I really was like hey I am starting this business and I'm I just got trained in this and to even go through the certification process you needed to have
00:09:41
Speaker
three families within three months. And I was like, heck no, I'm having three families in one month. And I was like, we're doing this, I'm gonna be the best. And so I just went to her and I was like, can you be one of my first three families? And I was cutting like a super big deal. I forget what it was like, probably like 100 bucks. Like, I'll work with you and I'll give you all the support in the world, it'll just be this much. So I like cut a great deal. I just told her what I could do. And then I probably, not even probably, I remember because I was so invested in it, like I wanted to go above and beyond. So like,
00:10:09
Speaker
I offered tech support all the time and all this stuff like just everything possible to make sure that it was going to go well. But I think that was definitely like just the attitude of I'm going to go after you. I'm going to care about you and we're going to solve these things so that you can then go out and be a mouthpiece for me was like my my kind of like how I wanted to see it played out.
00:10:28
Speaker
Yeah, absolutely. And did it work out like with Yeah, actually, just the other day, I had a Q&A on Facebook and that girl popped in and said, Hey, we're getting ready to have our second baby. What do we need to do? Victory.
00:10:41
Speaker
Yeah, that's awesome. I bet that felt really good seeing, you know, first client come back the first client. Yes, for sure. So in those early days, you basically just price yourself, you know, in order to get through those first three clients. And then how'd you go about pricing yourself after that? You know, you don't you don't have to share specific prices necessarily. But yeah, what did that process look like?
00:11:01
Speaker
Yeah. So I, my goal was when school started back, so we were living in Louisiana and they, we let out in May and they started back up in August. And so by the time August came around, I was like, I want to be making the same as my teacher salary.
00:11:14
Speaker
So I kind of just tried to break down like how many people could I actually work with? What does that look like? And it took probably until like October, November, I remember around like Thanksgiving, I was making like my teacher salary again. I also had my
Balancing Business and Family Life
00:11:26
Speaker
daughter with me though. And by then she was one. And we were also pregnant with our second and we were going to be ready to move come the following spring.
00:11:33
Speaker
so i was like okay i'm just gonna like we're just gonna do and i'm just gonna however much i can do kind of like you guys going to that one nap like okay i can work during nap time and i can work in the evening my husband was a band director at the time so like he was gone all evening at all weekends and i would just work anytime i possibly could so i just tried to kind of calculate out like okay let's problem solve as if i never stopped working i just have to make that income now so i just really started there and even looking back i mean i really only offered i think
00:12:02
Speaker
I only offered two packages like a virtual one-on-one with tech support and phone call support and everything all in or an in-person all in and there was only like a $50 difference between the two because I really just didn't care. I was like just trust me and I just wanted to like really get as much experience as possible. Sure and for the in-person stuff like you actually went to their homes before bedtime or during naps, what did that look like?
00:12:29
Speaker
Yeah, so I tested out a kind of a bunch of different packages and a lot of consultants when I was training were talking about doing overnight. So I was like, I love my sleep way too much. Like I cannot.
00:12:40
Speaker
spend the night at someone's house plus I'm taking care of a one-year-old like that's not possible and we didn't have any family around so it's not like I have a sitter so I was like okay overnights are out because I don't want to do that what about a half night so I only ever did even to this day I've only ever done three half nights days and the kid never woke up like I would be there until midnight the baby never woke up I went through the whole thing and I lost like five hours sleep but you know it's fine so I was like okay no more no more till midnight so then I kind of tapered down to
00:13:08
Speaker
The big need that people want is just that first night when you're making all that change. If they really want personal accountability, it's just bedtime routine. Bedtime routine is the foundation of everything, so if I can be there to check out the kid's room, walk you through what we're about to do, go through everything, talk through everything, and then start with you and let the baby go through our process. I'm going to help you get the baby to go to sleep, and then I'm gone.
00:13:33
Speaker
That was so good for me because then i was only gone from my home from five thirty to eight thirty and they got to go to sleep and they didn't have to have like essentially a stranger in their house until midnight so that was much better and so we started offering things like that for a while now i don't do any in homes because i haven't really
00:13:49
Speaker
the way that our our direction of our business has gone i really need to offer in homes anymore and i i love that i can stay home all the time and i can get their kids all the time so we've stopped doing those but it was when we kind of realize like what fit me i didn't need to look at everybody else and what are you offering half nights i need offer half nights like.
00:14:07
Speaker
Why? Yeah, I'm going to get a couple hundred more dollars, but I'm also losing sleep. To me, that's not worth it. Sure. I'd love to talk about that transition because you've moved from doing one-on-one client work to one-to-many through online courses. I'd love to talk about that transition because I think a lot of people are interested in doing that with the services that they offer. I think it's great because you're now able to help infinitely more people than you were previously able to help.
00:14:35
Speaker
So, I think a lot of people could do something similar with their service-based business. I do want to just, again, recap some of the things that I've admired about your story so far. One, when you decided you wanted to do it, you just jumped in. And so, I think that there's a lot to be said for that. And then, on the same point, going after clients.
00:14:54
Speaker
You know, I think in the beginning there's just kind of this, we have to get over any sort of embarrassment that we might feel going to people. I'm sure that, you know, on some level there might have been rejection or maybe there wasn't, maybe everybody was like, oh no, yeah, of course I'll hire you. Yeah, I think honestly, when you have something that you know is going to change somebody's life,
00:15:12
Speaker
or add a lot of value to, why would you not go to them and be like, I can help you? Now, it's different sometimes because you can't twist somebody's arm to force them. But if you know that they're in the market, they're in the need for something and you have something that they would want or that they would add value to their life, why not? Why not take a chance?
00:15:30
Speaker
Yeah, absolutely. And I think that's so important to remember early on, especially when you might not feel as you're starting your business that you really have the tools to do what you're saying you're going to do. But if you don't believe that your service is going to change somebody's life, then they're certainly not going to believe it. So I really appreciate that aspect of your story. And again, I think that just the results speak for themselves as well. Getting out of that feeling like you have to, as you put it, be on the hunt in four months, that's a really quick amount of time to
00:16:00
Speaker
I don't know, get the word of mouth referrals coming
Creating Effective Online Courses
00:16:02
Speaker
in. So anyways, all that to say, how important do you think your one on one client work was in order to start a one to many online system? Oh, my gosh, super important. I honestly felt like we were ready to put out a course and we were ready to put out things like that. But there was still a part of me inside me that was like, am I good enough for this yet? Like have I do I have enough credentials yet? Because the last thing I wanted to do was put out a DIY program or a course.
00:16:29
Speaker
And people be like, yeah, but how many people have you helped? Like, does this really work? And I think that that, you know, I wanted enough credibility in myself and in our work. So right about the time that I had our second daughter, I already knew, I mean, I knew what to do this time. That was a game changer. And like, oh, well, I know how to get a kid to sleep. I've got this. And while I was going through Hattie's newborn stage, I was like, there's nothing magical that I'm doing here. Like, I'm just doing my routines. I'm just doing my stuff.
00:16:58
Speaker
I should just write this out that should just be a newborn course because this is the same everybody should just do this there's nothing different. So I started to kind of like map out a newborn course at that time while taking some like newborn education classes and things like that and then after she was kind of out of her newborn phase I just decided to do.
00:17:16
Speaker
Like a not a soft launch but i basically did a newborn class and then recorded it so that to me was like that was a good transition of like instead of just going straight from one on one to like now i have courses we did like live classes and recorded those classes and then sold those classes and so.
00:17:34
Speaker
that was huge because people really wanted that information and people were willing to come live on not in person but all over the world on our computer and learn together and so that was great to have that even feedback as i was going through teaching the modules and i would have cut q and a time at the end and,
00:17:53
Speaker
they might ask a question like I forgot to clarify that I should go back and do that so that was huge and then for a really babies I honestly remember like I would fill out my calendar with like eight to ten consults a week and I felt like a talking head like I felt like the teacher from Charlie Brown was like I don't know I'm saying anymore like I'm just I knew my script and I was going through my head and half of the time I would get off the computer and be like who I just talked to like I just said the same thing I said yesterday
00:18:23
Speaker
And then when i started to have two consults a day i was like i can't do this is exhausting yeah because i am any of them type two like i you have to be like i got all their i'm all in for you like i you are my best friend like i'm here for you i'm gonna help you in every way and that was exhausting when i like.
00:18:42
Speaker
physically and emotionally couldn't be there for you and then would honestly forget your kid's name. Like that is not somebody you want to work with if they cannot even remember who you are. So I was like, something's got to change. At the same time, we were also getting to the point where if you had a tired kid and you wanted to work with me, it really sucked to be like, great, that's $500. And you're like, oh, I can't afford that. So I didn't like that I was like out pricing things and that's not fair. So
00:19:10
Speaker
It's really been last summer is when we sat down to be like we need to change something and we decided to go the course route to help that because I really believe that you don't have to have crazy amounts of money to get your kid to sleep like that's ridiculous. We say a lot of times like sleep is not a luxury and I really believe that and anybody should have access to knowledge to get their kid to sleep.
00:19:33
Speaker
Yeah. And again, I think that moving to the one-to-many model, you're able to provide a similar service to what you're providing at home for people who can afford you. And we talk about a similar idea just in having associate photographers be able to reach a certain base of your market without having to lower your prices because you can't
00:19:53
Speaker
you know, you can't multiply time, you know, your time is finite. But a few things that I really appreciated, you know, through what you're saying about how you came to create online courses, one moving to kind
Sleep Training Challenges and Tips
00:20:04
Speaker
of that live model. And I don't know if this has been your experience as a teacher. But when I was teaching high school, and I was writing lesson plans, especially for the first time, I was always stunned at the questions that I did not anticipate, you know,
00:20:17
Speaker
And I remember walking into kind of my first couple classes, first week of school, and having everything planned out and thinking that I was walking through it in a completely logical way, and then getting some questions and realizing very quickly, oh, wait, no, I really need to back up here. Or I can't believe that this is the fifth time I've heard that question today, you know, and being able to adjust for for future classes. So I assume that, you know, a lot of this really helped
00:20:41
Speaker
nail down what is now in your online courses today, just based on the different questions and people and problems that people have had. Oh, 100%. There's and there was also like the level of like you said, like you started once you start to anticipate what people are going to say, then you do you know how to adjust it. But there was also this weird problem that I was getting to where I mean, sleep is sleep is a big issue. And
00:21:03
Speaker
People are really struggling with depression. They're struggling with their marriages. And I, again, kind of when we decided to go to the courses, I knew, I had an hour long script in my head. I knew what to say. I knew what to say all the time. I started making like jokes sometimes about things. I was like, I've got to stop doing that. Like this is really serious. And, but I was able to then when we turn it into the class, like kind of read off of like, okay, this does need to be,
00:21:29
Speaker
Serious but there's also elements to this like i make a half joke half like serious strategy where i always know people anticipate what should i do when your sleep training and my kid is standing up cuz they just learned how to stand up so great cuz we celebrate that. Yeah that is great but you can't play a game can play jack in the box all night where you go and you're like sit down they stand up and sit down and stand up like that's gonna happen and i always knew parents were gonna ask me that between the ages of like nine to thirteen months i always know it so i just started saying it and every single thing.
00:21:58
Speaker
And because of those things, like you start to anticipate your questions and you put them in there, people are now saying like, Oh my gosh, I can't believe like you answered like pretty much every question I was going to have like score. And that's what it was for. But there's also the element of like, you can't people want to know in a course.
00:22:14
Speaker
Everybody thinks that their kid is a unicorn, right? Like they really, truly believe, but like, no, my kid needs personalized help. Yeah. And I've started to say this recently, probably because I have a lot of friends now in like the creative wedding world where I'm like, you know what? There's really not much difference between each wedding, right? Or each kid. Every wedding has the same elements. You're having ceremony, you're having the first look, you're having the reception, you're having this, you're having the cake. Also the same structure is the same thing for a kid.
00:22:41
Speaker
It's just some things may be slightly different. Like the family may be having, you know, just mom does nighttime or just dad does night. Like there's just very small differences, which we can account for whenever, if you want one-on-one support, or we offer just a lot of podcasts or blogs that kind of like help you problem solve those small details. So in reality, while yes, every kid is unique, not every kid is a unicorn.
00:23:06
Speaker
Yeah, yeah. Do you feel like you're able to provide even more support now through courses? Because like you said, for you know, when you're doing just all console all one to one, you find yourself saying the same thing over and over and over again. And there's probably a certain amount of base knowledge that you need to share with everybody, you know, you have that script, and then people have more, you know, personal questions. Do you feel like you're able to offer better support to people, you know, now that okay, well, I know this person has gone through, you know, these lessons in the course,
00:23:33
Speaker
And so now you don't have to cover those things, you can just dive into their specific questions. Yes, 1000%. And you can also at the same time, you can start to learn who is not listening to the course content. And you can be like, you know, I covered that on x page, whatever, or in this section of the course. And so we get tons of emails where people will ask a question. I'm like, Oh, I know I covered that in the program. And so
00:23:57
Speaker
Therefore, I don't really need to be on the email to answer that. Like somebody else can answer that for me because it's part of that. But yes, it's also really powerful when people say, hey, I'm doing your six to 16 month e-coaching program, but my kid is just about to start daycare. How do I account for that? Well, that's definitely not the first time that's been asked. And you're definitely not obviously the first kid in daycare. So you should go to this podcast I have where I talk about daycare naps. So little things like that where
00:24:22
Speaker
My our podcast our blogs are definitely meant for like seasonal things are small topics but also for just the overall maintenance that's today's podcast even is like maintenance for a toddler toddler kids change you know i mean jack's gonna go from two to one nap and there's other things that happen with that so we just need to be like aware of maintenance that happens as your kid grows yeah yeah i keep everytime krista and now you remind me that jack's gonna go from two to one naps like no
Content Creation for Podcast and Blog
00:24:50
Speaker
Please no we have his day perfect right now he goes to sleep from like nine thirty to eleven is you know we have in home childcare who comes from like eleven to when he goes down for his next nap which is around two and so basically we have a work day of like nine thirty to four ish.
00:25:07
Speaker
And now I'm thinking, okay, how are we gonna work with childcare now and my day's not gonna... Oh, just... I know. There's... It's always something. It really is. And I talked to a mom the other day who I was like, I'm sorry, your kid just needs to stop napping because he's not falling asleep till 9 pm and you're giving him like a two-hour nap that can't happen anymore. And she was like... That happens when they're like 15, right? Tell me that happens like... But that's okay.
00:25:31
Speaker
Oh and that's I guess that's probably one of the more most frustrating things is just every time you know you get in a routine I feel like okay now there's now there's some new you know he's going from this many naps this many naps or you know whatever the duration of the naps change or you know whatever it is but but I will say the last I don't know it has to be like six months now
00:25:52
Speaker
having them on a consistent schedule has made just a huge difference. Anyways, I digress because we're going to talk about your podcast and some of the content that you've been creating. Really appreciate that you create content not only to market your business. So I'm assuming that the podcast and the blog help you market your business. I want to get into that in a second. But also answer questions that are being repeatedly asked. And I always tell people if they keep track of the questions that clients are asking them or that they're just getting
00:26:20
Speaker
whether it be at conferences or whatever via email, they'll never run out of content to create. So can you talk a little bit about how you create content for your podcast, why you've decided to focus on a podcast instead of another medium in order to market your business? And also, well, let's start there. And I have a follow-up question from there.
00:26:40
Speaker
Okay so we start I mean I started out with the blog and what's actually interesting about the certification program I used is that every but every consultant got a little like thumb drive with blogs on it that like you could tweak and you could put out and there you have like I think it was six to eight months of content.
00:26:59
Speaker
The problem was i was like what is nice it's nice like starting off point that's not my words and i also felt weird putting those things out because i didn't know that yet like who might i go out and be like you should do blah blah blah when i have zero experience started doing blogs.
00:27:12
Speaker
in the beginning just kind of based off of like my experience and questions i was getting and then it was right about when we moved from louisiana to virginia i had an eighteen-month-old a three-week-old i was trying to do the business i was like something's gotta give so i just stopped blogging i stopped doing basically everything except for like taking some clients on and then i was like let's get back into it
00:27:29
Speaker
I started to get back into it and I was like, this is really hard. I'm a better talker than a typer. So I just decided like, why don't we just start doing podcasts because it's super easy for me to sit down and just like blur about content and just talk through something and then I'm done. So we started doing that over a year ago and it's been a huge game changer because people when you work with their child, that's a huge element of trust.
00:27:55
Speaker
to be like here's my child please fix them please help them sleep and so having the podcast instantly gave us more no like and trust because they people were listening to me and they understood what to do and they were starting to see some progress so. We rock that we're still doing the podcast we've been doing that for about yeah about a year and a half and we keep it really short I mean the mom audience has like.
00:28:17
Speaker
15 to 20 minutes of uninterrupted maybe drive time or like cleaning up or whatever they're doing and so our goal is to keep it really really short. We do have guests on occasionally and I really try to make it just like a conversation like hey like you said on Instagram somebody asked this question I'm just gonna turn that into a podcast where I'm gonna sit down you know talk out what I would do and there you go and then once I felt like we had the podcast going well it's like we need to bring the blog back because I do like writing so let's bring that
00:28:45
Speaker
So now we do blog and podcast both every week both I try to do like kind of one baby one toddler topic or sometimes it is both the same doesn't matter but we do we definitely have a very different reach on our podcast and our blog which is cool but yeah there's never a shortage of content that's that's for sure.
00:29:03
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. And again, I think just listening to what people are saying and what people are asking and you'll never run out of anything to create. But also 100% agree about the podcast. I think a few advantages of doing a podcast even beyond people being able to hear your voice. And I think that instilling a little bit more trust
00:29:21
Speaker
they're not quite as ubiquitous as blogs, right? Everybody has a blog. It's just much harder to compete to a certain extent in that space. But podcasts are just not as popular yet. And so not everybody has a podcast. And then like you said, just knowing your audience, the fact that
00:29:38
Speaker
Moms probably don't have a ton of time and by probably, I mean, I know Krista doesn't to sit down and read an article for 15 minutes on a given subject
Marketing Strategies and Collaborations
00:29:50
Speaker
because you have to devote your entire attention to reading something, whereas she will listen to podcasts all day long. So I do think for certain audiences too, they're just better suited. What about YouTube? Have you considered starting a YouTube channel or getting into video? I would just assume that
00:30:07
Speaker
what you do would really lend itself to creating videos. Yes. Tyler Harrington, you're listening. This is next.
00:30:14
Speaker
He has been like bugging me about that for a very long time and I know I know it is the neck and I actually am I'm Perfectly fine to do videos like I'm not scared of them. I do Instagram videos like all day long So that is like the next step that I know I need to do There's I mean, there's three huge things that we have on our plate. We're gonna be doing and we're doing ads with you guys YouTube and then Pinterest with Vanessa and so we're like, okay we've got all these three things like what are we gonna prioritize also I
00:30:43
Speaker
let's remember our life and our kids about to start kindergarten and you know we possibly may be looking to move and like what's happening just moving in town but it's just a lot of stuff but it's exciting I mean I could pump I could work all day long if I wanted to but I always always always have to remember that like kind of going back to my kids like my kids are only this age one time you know and I'm trying to walk that balance of like I want to do all these things but I also need to be here for you you know not need to but like I want to so yeah.
00:31:11
Speaker
Yeah, I totally get it. And even if you're comfortable in video, I think that producing a video just takes a lot more technical effort than a podcast or even writing a blog, you know, we're writing a blog, you can come back to and you kind of work on bits and pieces, recording this podcast, you know, we set up some mics and we start talking and there you go, you have a podcast.
00:31:31
Speaker
Whereas with video, you know, setting up the camera, you actually have to make sure that you look somewhat, you know, decent. And then the effort that goes into cutting up that video. So a little bit more work, for sure. But again, I do think that for what you do, it's probably going to be
00:31:47
Speaker
Yeah, it's just going to be so helpful for people. So and you know, you're running Facebook ads. So yeah, we're helping you with that again. And I've talked about this a little bit on the podcast, but started a separate business with Jesse Marcheccio and Ryan Akins. And we've been running ads for people and we just started running ads for Becca. And we literally just started so too early to talk results yet. But hopefully, hopefully we'll have some good news to report in the future.
Actionable Sleep Tips for Parents
00:32:13
Speaker
Moving on from that, I do want to talk about getting your kid to sleep any tips that you have for especially parents who are working at home, who are like new to the whole parent thing. They're kind of like us where, you know, well, I mean, we just were winging it. Yeah, we went through the program.
00:32:31
Speaker
But even going through a program, you're never really sure what to expect next and all of that. So what are your best tips for parents trying to get their kids on a good sleeping routine?
00:32:45
Speaker
Yeah I think just like like y'all were sharing that you kind of have your day scheduled right now just like we crave structure and hey when can I work when can I do this that's exactly what your kid wants your kid wants to know your baby your toddler your preschooler wants to know when am I going to get up when am I going to have nap and they don't know times no but their body is very in tune to how much time they can be awake for and what they can have.
00:33:06
Speaker
And so a couple of things i mean for one is that when you sleep train or you're working on your child sleep there are a million different ways seemingly that you could train your kid there's really not a million ways but you can google anything you want. So i definitely want people to always just kind of like tap into.
00:33:24
Speaker
what kind of sleep philosophy they might have. And that's important because just like style of photographer, there are styles of sleep training. And so I would want people to understand that like, hey, if you want to have your dedicated work time and you want your kid to be sleeping independently in their crib or in their bed, great, we're a good fit.
00:33:41
Speaker
I'm not for co-sleeping or things like that. And if you are, then we need to go a different direction. So it's always like that fork in the road, like, hey, are you with me or are you not with me? And then if you're, however, wherever you go, it's all about building that structure for your kid and understanding that, you know, how old are they? How many naps do they need? What are we looking at? What are, what are the expectations? Because it's like one thing to say, okay, my kid needs or they're, you know, they're on a one nap schedule. I would like them to sleep three hours.
00:34:08
Speaker
they may sleep three hours but then they're not gonna go to bed till like eight or nine pm is that what you really want so we definitely just have to be in tune to the things that happen as your child grows but let's make sure they have a solid structure i always talk about like nap time routines bedtime routines.
00:34:24
Speaker
They're the same things that you and I do and we don't even realize it. Like, how do you get ready for bed? This is what you do. How do they get ready for bed? This is what they do. But it's also, it's just very important to give them that structure because it's what they crave. So that's, I mean, priority number one is, you know, implementing and trying to find their structure. And we offer all kinds of tools. The parents are listening. They're like, wait, what? Nap time? Like, what, what is that? And when can that happen? We offer a free schedule generator and you can find that on our website or on our Instagram links.
00:34:54
Speaker
But it's it's just important to know those things change so and it rapidly changes between in their first year of life so it's normal if you're working from home and you feel like every couple of months you're like having to figure out a new routine that's actually pretty normal sure and go easy on yourself but also at the same time to with that I mean I worked from home I mean obviously still work from home with when our girls were babies.
00:35:16
Speaker
And I couldn't work as much as I wanted to during the day. And I had to carve out that time at night. And that's why bedtime routine was so important to me. Like, we need to have you guys in bed by 7 or by 6.30 so I can work in the evening. And it does sound radically crazy to have your kid go to bed like 6.37. But again, most babies and toddlers that I work with, actually pretty much all of them need 11 to 12 hours of sleep.
00:35:38
Speaker
And wouldn't you love to have that time? And so it's not selfish, especially if you do work from home and you feel like, but I don't get time with my kid as much as I want to. I should have evening time with them. It's selfish of me to want them to go to bed. No, it's not selfish of you. It's what they need and it's what you need. So many different little things in there, but it's always just helpful to recognize that they crave routine, they crave structure, and they do want to go to sleep.
Personal Experiences with Nap Transitions
00:36:02
Speaker
We just have to give them the opportunity to.
00:36:04
Speaker
Yeah, yeah. And I think that's going to be so liberating for people to hear. I think one of the challenges for us, or at least for me, is recognizing the transition time coming up. We'll get in a really good routine. We've been in a really good routine for months now, but now we're starting to get the sense.
00:36:19
Speaker
Jack's waking up a little bit earlier from his first nap. It's a lot harder for him to go down for his second nap and trying to, I guess, making the change. You know, being worried, are we making this too early? You know, is it really something else? He's 14 months now. Oh, yeah, he's totally good. He can go to one nap.
00:36:38
Speaker
Are you sure? Are you sure it's not another six months? But the beauty of that is that we would want like two to two and a half hours of like a solid nap, which is so awesome. Yeah, but it's just how it breaks up the day. Right now, it's so perfect because we can get childcare in the middle of the day for like three hours, and it gives us a close to an eight hour day.
00:36:58
Speaker
you know, whereas now if you have it, you know, if he's taking a nap in the middle of the day, I guess we might still be able to get that if we have it start, you know, first thing or, or childcare start first thing, but still, it's not as easy. I think getting childcare first thing in the morning, you know, anyways, here I am just talking about no, but childcare when you work from home, like,
00:37:20
Speaker
That is, and I listened to a ton of podcasts, and one of them recently was talking about delegating and hiring, not just for your own business, but for your life. And somebody suggested two years ago, because I was complaining about how overworked I was, and I don't have time, and blah, blah, blah. And they were like, have you ever thought to hire what's called basically a mother's helper? It's a middle school girl who comes over after school and watches your kids from three to six. And I was like, that's a thing?
00:37:49
Speaker
and we live in a huge neighborhood with like all kinds of people and so I just put on our neighborhood Facebook group like hey anybody have like a seventh or eighth grade girl who can come over and play with my girls and we did that for like eight months.
00:38:03
Speaker
It was amazing because I was all tapped out by 3pm of playtime and she came over and she's like this bright, shining, wonderful face to play with my girls and I could go work and it was the best thing in the world. So, there's always like creative ways that you can get with your kids but yeah. Yeah, yeah. I guess it's just how much I've loved our current, you know, routine. I know, I know.
00:38:23
Speaker
that it's just a little discouraging to see it changing again.
Where to Follow Becca Campbell
00:38:27
Speaker
But again, I can't, Kristin in the very beginning, she was like, hey, let's, you know, pay for the sleep program. And I was like, no, no, like, why? Why would we do that? People for millions of years have figured this out. Like, we can figure this out. But fortunately, she just did it anyways.
00:38:42
Speaker
And I can't tell you like I waited to go through it until when Jack was born I think it took me about like 3.5 seconds to realize oh wait I actually do need somebody to show me how to do all this Watching it work and I was just thinking this is amazing. I would have paid a thousands of dollars for this, you know and
00:39:00
Speaker
And so it ended up being so worth it. It really has given us a lot of sleep back when just in general, I think that there's a lot of sleepless nights, even when you're doing it well in that first year for your first kid. So it has been a huge lifesaver. But I want to do, I guess two things. Where can people follow along and learn more about you? And then where can people also, you know, those people who are, you know, new parents or expecting, where can they find more information about your programs?
00:39:29
Speaker
Yeah. So you can definitely follow me on either Facebook or Instagram at little Z sleep on Instagram. Super, super active there. And we do Q and a every Tuesday to just go through as many questions as possible. Um, and it's really important to me that on Instagram, we make it very, very like connecting to what people are actually doing. And so you'll constantly see like people actually talking about their success with the program and sharing what they're going through. So that's important to me because Instagram is so personal and I love that.
00:39:55
Speaker
and Facebook as well. If people are interested in any of our courses or learning more, getting any of our free guides, it's littlezsleep.com. You can find everything you need there. Awesome. Well, thank you so much for your time this morning. Thank you for sharing a little bit about the or a lot of bit about the business stuff and then also helping me work through, you know, our current nap conundrum right now. So just thank you for your time this morning. Yeah, thanks so much for having me.
00:40:24
Speaker
Thanks for tuning in to the Brands That Book Show. If you enjoyed this episode, please consider subscribing and leaving a review in iTunes. For show notes and other resources, head on over to dvandchrista.com.