5 Ways to Engage in Anti-Capitalist Marketing that Feel Good
At BADT, we strive to work in values-focused ways, and we are continually growing, changing, and expanding alongside our students and teachers. One nuance that we have been exploring is: commerce is not capitalism. (Check out our friend Jeffrey’s definition of capitalism here.)
Commerce means an exchange or trade. For example, clients pay a doula, and a doula offers a service. This is important because care work is valuable work, and doulas deserve and need to be paid. That said, we do not align with capitalistic values. Capitalism is a philosophy and system for engaging in commerce. Furthermore, it’s a hierarchical system that relies on extraction and exploitation of workers and/or consumers for the benefit of the owners or shareholders. Commerce > Capitalism
It feels important to address this nuance when we are discussing business and marketing because mainstream culture is NOT having this conversation. The vast majority of marketing practices involve capitalistic techniques that harm someone involved. Our blog 8 Ways to Make Birth Work Sustainable offers a strong foundation of philosophies to keep in mind as you begin your “marketing” journey.
We are focusing on honest, transparent, community-oriented, and values-aligned commerce and ways to market your services.
5 Ways to Engage in Anti-Capitalist Marketing that Feel Good
Connect with community. Being in and with community is crucial. This means connecting (aka networking) with fellow birth workers, community organizations, and families. Showing up, being yourself, and connecting with folks you resonate with, learn from, and inspired by is worthwhile. Keep in mind that this takes time, and always honor your social, emotional, sensory, and energetic needs around this practice. This can begin with an email where you introduce yourself and share what you are looking for (connecting with fellow birth workers, support, a mentor, etc.).
Build a strong referral network. While this practice will massively benefit your clients, it will also impact your business. Building relationships and trust with other providers means that folks will be enthusiastic about referring folks to you too. This is also how partnerships, collaboratives, and group practices can evolve if this is something you are interested in.
List yourself on directories that align with your values and may be visible to folks you want to work with. BADT has a global directory, and we’d love for you to join us! There may be local directories or associations that you’d like to be listed with, as well as resource guides created and sourced by other birth professionals. These may be based on location, or they may be focused on a specific identity, such as queer doulas or Black doulas.
Learn from folks who share your values. Take BADT’s 12-week trainings and engage in our business strategy class. We offer this class 4x/year for all participants who have engaged in 12-week trainings and are in good financial standing. BADT’s founder, Sabia Wade, also offers a business course and workbook. We also love the work of Bear Hebert, Jeffrey Shiau, and Jen Mayer.
Create content that you care about and enjoy. There’s no need to force yourself to be active on all the platforms. Engage with potential clients, colleagues, and community members in ways that feel authentic and accessible to you. These still may be a stretch out of your comfort zone as you do this, AND we encourage you to be gentle and compassionate with yourself as you figure out the avenues and platforms that feel good to you. This could be IG, TikTok, FB, LinkedIn, email lists, blogs, or community workshops and offerings.
Don’t use pressure or bullying to sell your services. Rather than pressuring or fear-mongering people into hiring you, you may speak to the benefits of hiring a doula and some of the reasons clients have needed or wanted a doula in the past. This may include “pain points” (aka fears or issues clients faced that led them to seek a doula), but it’s important to use these truths in ways that are not manipulative. Help people understand the ways you can show up, hold space, and be with them.
Let’s Do This Together
It’s an honor to engage in these conversations and practices with you– our BADT community. We hope to continue this conversation in our offerings and in our community app because this work is the most meaningful when we do it together.
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