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Speech Therapist trying to sell PDFs - not working - what to do?

by FrznrthS
17 replies
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Hi

I'm a speech therapist. For the last 12 years or so, I've been trying to sell PDF programs to parents and other professionals to use to do speech therapy.

I used to have a very small bit of success, enough to pay my costs and enough to keep me trying.

I revamped my site and my products about 6 months ago. Since then I have had very little success. I try to sell on my site, on a site called teachers pay teachers and on amazon. I do get a few amazon sales buy my "profit" is so low it hardly seems worth it - maybe enough for a cup of coffee every few days.

My site gets a few visits from searches and I've tried promoting it on face book - this gets a few more visits. A few people download my free stuff but no one buys anything.

I'm not sure where to go with this - if it could possibly succeed or if I've been delusional. There is a site that I can compare some of my products to. It does very well and was an inspiration to me. I think my products are just as good or even better and for far less $. I don't know what I'm doing wrong.

[Edited by moderator: please do not link to your site in posts]

Thanks for your help.

Garth Schindel
#pdfs #sell #speech #therapist #working
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  • Profile picture of the author Frank Donovan
    I'm not sure where to go with this - if it could possibly succeed or if I've been delusional.
    Well, trying for 12 years without success does sound a little delusional.

    I don't know what qualifications you need to practise speech therapy or how many clients/patients you've dealt with, but PDFs are just one monetization option out of many - and probably not the best.

    Have you tried creating videos showing your actual therapy exercises? Audio products? A book? Do you have a social media presence and following? Testimonials from past clients/patients and endorsements from peers?

    If all you're doing is creating PDFs and hoping for sales, you'll just continue earning coffee money, if that.
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  • Profile picture of the author Monetize
    Originally Posted by FrznrthS View Post

    Hi

    I'm a speech therapist. For the last 12 years or so, I've been trying to sell PDF programs to parents and other professionals to use to do speech therapy.

    I used to have a very small bit of success, enough to pay my costs and enough to keep me trying.

    I revamped my site and my products about 6 months ago. Since then I have had very little success. I try to sell on my site, on a site called teachers pay teachers and on amazon. I do get a few amazon sales buy my "profit" is so low it hardly seems worth it - maybe enough for a cup of coffee every few days.

    My site gets a few visits from searches and I've tried promoting it on face book - this gets a few more visits. A few people download my free stuff but no one buys anything.

    I'm not sure where to go with this - if it could possibly succeed or if I've been delusional. There is a site that I can compare some of my products to. It does very well and was an inspiration to me. I think my products are just as good or even better and for far less $. I don't know what I'm doing wrong.

    [Edited by moderator: please do not link to your site in posts]

    Thanks for your help.

    Garth Schindel

    Sell SPEECH, not written PDFs.

    As Frank Donovan stated, develop videos and I would add
    it's super easy to create talking avatars with A.I. tools.

    You could produce cute little animations, cartoons, animals,
    and photorealistic images by adding motion and speech.

    Learn these new methods at YouTube, they are easy as pie
    and could greatly enhance your business.

    BTW, don't try to be the cheapest, be the best and people
    will pay you for it.
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  • Profile picture of the author FrznrthS
    Hi
    Thanks
    You both have good advice. I don't have a social media presence - I tried a TikTok ad once is all. I don't have any videos or audio. I did write a small book on how to teach your child to talk - this is my least sold product, which is a bit surprising to me.

    I like the idea of talking avatars to show what my products are and to give tips about speech and language. I will give that a try. I'm not really the social media type otherwise.

    With price - is it ever a good idea to give products away to attract a following - gain attention? Right now I'm giving away a set of sound cues (images, gestures, labels) for each sound in English. Most of my other products use these sound cues in them. I was hoping by letting people see a useful part of my product that they would want more.
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    Garth Schindel
    www.Speech-TherapyAtHome.com

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    • Profile picture of the author Monetize
      Originally Posted by FrznrthS View Post

      Hi
      Thanks
      You both have good advice. I don't have a social media presence - I tried a TikTok ad once is all. I don't have any videos or audio. I did write a small book on how to teach your child to talk - this is my least sold product, which is a bit surprising to me.

      I like the idea of talking avatars to show what my products are and to give tips about speech and language. I will give that a try. I'm not really the social media type otherwise.

      With price - is it ever a good idea to give products away to attract a following - gain attention? Right now I'm giving away a set of sound cues (images, gestures, labels) for each sound in English. Most of my other products use these sound cues in them. I was hoping by letting people see a useful part of my product that they would want more.

      Do what works for you but you should consider publishing
      videos to YouTube, it is an effective method of generating
      business leads.

      You can publish one or two videos a week, it doesn't need
      to be overly time-consuming.

      Giveaways are fine, just don't give them everything or give
      them more bonuses when they buy something.

      If you have been at this for 12 years and floundering, you
      probably need to educate yourself more about running an
      actual business.

      It's not enough to be an expert, you need to know how to
      market your products and services.
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  • Profile picture of the author FrznrthS
    Hi
    Thanks for the advice - I'm working on the AI Avatar idea - If I can get it to work I will start putting up videos.

    I have been at this for a long time - clearly I have lots to learn about business and marketing.
    Thanks for the support.
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    Garth Schindel
    www.Speech-TherapyAtHome.com

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    • Profile picture of the author Monetize
      Originally Posted by FrznrthS View Post

      Hi
      Thanks for the advice - I'm working on the AI Avatar idea - If I can get it to work I will start putting up videos.

      I have been at this for a long time - clearly I have lots to learn about business and marketing.
      Thanks for the support.

      Your website looks very organized and professional.

      I am a developer, not an expert, but I would replace
      the header with a video, because everybody wants
      videos now and that could make a big difference.

      It could be you explaining the service, talking avatar,
      cartoon, scenery with voiceover or whatever works.

      It's super easy to make the talking avatars, it takes
      practice, and you will need a paid app but this is not
      expensive.

      Canva is great for generating A.I. images and dozens
      of other uses, IDK if they have a voice app on Canva,
      but there are numerous apps from outside developers.

      Hang in there, you are on the verge of breakthrough.
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  • Profile picture of the author FrznrthS
    Hi
    Thanks for the encouragement. Very glad that you think my site isn't looking too bad. I'm working on the talking avatar idea. I'll look into using one for my banner.

    I haven't set on a way to make my avatar yet - there are a lot of choices. Do you know if one service would convert a video of myself into an animation but then also allow me to use the same avatar to do Text to Video clips with the same voice? A lot of what I would want to communicate involves demonstrating the hand movements for my Speech Cues. I've never been able to get AI to do accurate hand movements.

    It looks like there are also

    Happy Friday the 13Th!
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    Garth Schindel
    www.Speech-TherapyAtHome.com

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    • Profile picture of the author Monetize
      Originally Posted by FrznrthS View Post

      Hi
      Thanks for the encouragement. Very glad that you think my site isn't looking too bad. I'm working on the talking avatar idea. I'll look into using one for my banner.

      I haven't set on a way to make my avatar yet - there are a lot of choices. Do you know if one service would convert a video of myself into an animation but then also allow me to use the same avatar to do Text to Video clips with the same voice? A lot of what I would want to communicate involves demonstrating the hand movements for my Speech Cues. I've never been able to get AI to do accurate hand movements.

      It looks like there are also

      Happy Friday the 13Th!

      I am so superstitious about Friday the 13th.

      Back in the olden days, when I had a job, I used to call in
      sick so that I didn't have to leave the house. I am retired
      now but still wary of this day.

      My talking avatars are simple, I just need them to talk, not
      move or have hand gestures. I know how to make them
      move, I just don't need that for what I'm currently doing.

      I have been producing A.I. generated videos for a couple
      of years, so if you're just learning, it is going to take a few
      days. Just be patient and take your time, you will learn as
      you do more and experiment with your own techniques.

      The basic process is to develop an A.I.-generated image,
      then animate it, then add voice, sounds, and/or music.
      But you could animate any type of image.

      For your website, you could probably get by with one or
      two hand gestures, maybe try it with the simpler ones.

      That's all I have for you on that topic, but if you have any
      other questions, I am here for you.

      Also, in case it hasn't occurred to you, ChatGPT can help
      guide you with all of this.
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  • Profile picture of the author FrznrthS
    Hi
    Sorry if I brought up any bad memories of the 13th.

    I asked chat gpt what it would suggest for my needs and it came up with HeyGen. They seem like a decent company - at least they responded to my emails quickly and confirmed that they can do what I am wanting. I'll give it a try.

    It looks like I can make any type of avatar from very realistic to cartoon. Any suggestion as to what might work best? Do cartoon avatars look "professional"? Or can they be better as they are cute? Grab your attention? Do people feel that realistic avatars are trying to fool them? I'm leaning towards cartoon but wonder if parents want to get advice from a cartoon?

    Thanks

    Happy regular TGIF!
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    Garth Schindel
    www.Speech-TherapyAtHome.com

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    • Profile picture of the author Monetize
      Originally Posted by FrznrthS View Post

      Hi
      Sorry if I brought up any bad memories of the 13th.

      I asked chat gpt what it would suggest for my needs and it came up with HeyGen. They seem like a decent company - at least they responded to my emails quickly and confirmed that they can do what I am wanting. I'll give it a try.

      It looks like I can make any type of avatar from very realistic to cartoon. Any suggestion as to what might work best? Do cartoon avatars look "professional"? Or can they be better as they are cute? Grab your attention? Do people feel that realistic avatars are trying to fool them? I'm leaning towards cartoon but wonder if parents want to get advice from a cartoon?

      Thanks

      Happy regular TGIF!

      No bad memories, I'm just superstitious.

      I am glad you asked ChatGPT.

      I have not tried HeyGen, I am using something similar.
      I subscribe to several apps, once I don't need or use
      them anymore, I cancel and try something else.

      There are hundreds of apps for this, most have free
      trials but if you pay for a month, and decide that you
      don't like it, just cancel, you're not stuck.

      IDK what would work better for your website, I don't
      think people care whether it's a cartoon or a talking
      bear, if you provide useful information.

      Just test some different things, be consistent, and
      see what works, you can always change things.
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  • Profile picture of the author FrznrthS
    Talking bear speech therapist might be fun. I'll play around with some different options.
    Thanks
    Signature

    Garth Schindel
    www.Speech-TherapyAtHome.com

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  • Profile picture of the author Princess Balestra
    Speech is hands-on.

    You eithah gaggin' out bcs fingah down throat, or reachin' out as extended palms 2 audience carry breath to ears.

    So any pdf or promo you gaht gotta get people drilled down on the persnl touch you offrin'.

    Plus also, the glories can follow once you gaht voice stuffs undah yr command.

    Like Monetize said, it is the SPEECH, an' the confidence thereof & therein to engage with an audience.

    Bcs yanno voice without nowan else is prolly jus' screamin' or nuthin'.

    "Confident dialog, actively voiced, all resonant an' assured & troo."

    As yr natchrl Princess, for sure I was coached on all kindsa deportment an' naht-soundin'-like-a-sheeltbrain skills.

    An' yet still I cain't ruzzist Moi no speshl offah in the store!

    The hell is gowin ahn, zackly?
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    Lightin' fuses is for blowin' stuff togethah.

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  • Profile picture of the author dexgohdirectaffiliate
    Other then PDFs have you tried collabing with child care centres and what not?
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  • Profile picture of the author spartan14
    I dont know to much about this field but i think trying to sell pdf its not so good
    I think its better to try using videos and videos have the power to spark emotion

    I think 80 to 90 percent of affiliate offers have a video on their sales page so this should tell you something
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    Find out my best method to make $200-$300 daily with affiliate marketing
    Atention : Not a quick rich scheme ,takes patience, consistency and some work also
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  • Profile picture of the author FrznrthS
    Hi
    I haven't tried branching out from PDFs. I work full time as a speech therapist for a local hospital/health area so providing therapy privately to anyone in my area would be a conflict of interest. I might do some private work once I'm retired. My idea with PDFs was to try to build it into a bit of "passive" income. The one thing I have learned is that there is no such thing as passive.

    Videos to demonstrate my ideas and to gain attention are a great idea. I'm working on doing that with an AI avatar. If you have any suggestions for this let me know. I like the idea of an avatar a lot more than using myself in videos but I'm not sure what people are going to think of an avatar rather than a real person. I used to use a pseudonym as my name on my website but changed it to my real name to try to be more authentic. Does an avatar make me less authentic?

    Thanks for the help.
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    Garth Schindel
    www.Speech-TherapyAtHome.com

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  • Profile picture of the author techschneider
    Depending only on PDFs can limit your success. The field of speech therapy is growing fastly particularly with digital formats.

    I will suggest you to consider expanding your services through video tutorials or audio guides. Create a strong social media presence, collect testimonials and engage with your audience. This can increase sales and make you more trustworthy. Moreover, explore partnerships apart from PDFs to reach more clients. Adapting to market trends and expanding your product types can greatly improve your result.
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  • Profile picture of the author hearme
    DId you ever tried Amazon KDP if you can work on creating a brand over there you can hit good i have a build one if you need help let me know
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    Topeka seo service
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