In this bonus episode of Ask the Expert, Annie & Leah interview Rachel O’Brien, IBCLC about blogging, and how she uses it to complement her private practice. Rachel shares her process of creating blog posts and how that has changed over the years. We learn how we can make blogging work for us and our businesses, and why it’s not as intimidating as we might think.

Rachel O’Brien is an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC) who earned her Master of Arts degree in human lactation in 2015. Rachel prides herself on providing real-life, guilt-free breastfeeding help and specializes in low milk supply, latch difficulty, tongue tie and lip tie, and LGBTQIA+ lactation. 

When she isn’t doing in-home visits for breastfeeding help or working as a lactation consultant at UMASS Memorial Hospital in Worcester, Rachel is often blogging about lactation or contributing as a breastfeeding expert on multiple websites. She uses her expertise, warmth, and sense of humor to help families to meet their breastfeeding and chestfeeding goals.

One thing that might surprise you is that Rachel explains to us that it’s not usually what you write about, just that it's YOU who’s writing it.

"I didn't need to prove to anyone that I knew every single thing that there could be about that particular subject. I just had to know enough to make it make sense to somebody else.”

In this episode, we will cover:

• Blogging for depth rather than quantity (04:28)
• Rachel’s blog post creation process (05:25)
• Creating posts that are easy to understand (07:49)
• Using your unique voice to share information (11:12)
• Leading readers further into your business (13:31)

Links and Resources

• Rachel’s website: rachelobrienibclc.com
• Rachel’s blog for IBCLC’s rachelobrienibclc.com/blog
• Rachel on FB: facebook.com/RachelOBrienIBCLC
• Rachel on IG: instagram.com/rachelobrienibclc
• Subscribe to the Deeper Dive Membership: https://learn.paperlesslactation.com/subscription/deeper-dive-membership
• Have an idea for a podcast episode or a Deeper Dive? Let us know! https://learn.paperlesslactation.com/form/collaborate

If you like what you heard today, please follow us on Facebook and Instagram and leave us a review on iTunes. 

About Us

Leah Jolly is a private practice IBCLC with Bay Area Breastfeeding in Houston, Texas.

Annie Frisbie is a private practice IBCLC serving Queens and Brooklyn in New York City and the creator of the Lactation Consultant Private Practice Toolkit.

Many thanks to Stephanie Granade for her production assistance, and to Silas Wade for creating our theme music