Can I Be a Sleep Consultant Virtually?

Since early 2020, many people that had never worked remote had to adapt to a new environment, and in a lot of cases, this has become the new normal. While some jobs seem to lend themselves easily to a virtual world, others feel less intuitive, especially those that are based on relationships. You may think that sleep consulting falls into the latter category- after all, isn’t sleep training something that happens in the home?

The certification program through the Center for Pediatric Sleep Management is specifically designed to help you work virtually, including business plans and marketing tactics aimed at this type of work. While you can choose to offer in-person services, sleep consulting is actually extremely well suited to a virtual offering.

How Sleep Consultants Help

To see why sleep consulting can be so effective virtually, it’s important to understand exactly what a sleep consultant does. We do not come into the life of parents and sleep train babies for them, which would require being in the home. The role of a sleep consultant is to guide parents on the right steps to take to teach their own babies the skill of independent sleep. In fact, the less we step in to do work for the parents, the more effective they will be.

Discovery calls, creating sleep plans, check ins, and advice can all easily be done over text or email. By providing consistent support without being constantly present, parents learn to implement your advice on their own while still having somewhere to turn.

Running a Virtual Business

For many people, especially those looking to add to existing businesses or stay at home with their children, being able to work from home is the dream. Running your own business already allows you flexibility that you would never get as an employee, but add to that the ability to run your business from home and you are even more in control. This lets you schedule calls and planning around family dinner, other meetings, or whatever else you choose to prioritize.

A virtual business also means that you can balance multiple clients at one time, increasing your efficiency and earnings. Of course you will need to determine the right limit for you, but by opening up your schedule in this way, you can expand your business to meet your goals. These clients can also be all over the world, rather than limiting yourself to the market close to your home!

Other Options for Sleep Consulting

Some sleep consultants do choose to offer in-person services like consultations or even overnight stays for observation and hands-on coaching. You can do this instead of or in addition to services offered virtually. But even if you work this way, some things will still be done remote, like discovery calls and ongoing support after an initial period of services.

The program at the Center for Pediatric Sleep Management is designed to open all options to you. You’ll learn how to create packages and business plans that work for you and your clients, whether that is entirely virtual or a hybrid set of services.

To learn about how others have been successful with virtual businesses, you can visit our Facebook group and join the conversation.