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Originally Posted On: https://www.dynamicdesignsnw.com/gratitude-healing-arts-online-course-build/

Relieving Stress to Make Room for Growth

THE STORY

There are very few things that Nicole Keane of Gratitude Healing Arts cannot do. She has been a manual therapist for nearly twenty years and is also a teacher, a writer, an incredible artist.  As if this is not impressive enough, Nicole also made an incredible shift in the middle of the pandemic that gave her a new perspective on her business, her personal fulfillment, and how she serves the world.

Manual therapy is the tactile portion of physical therapy, involving touch, massage, and energy work to create healing. As you may have guessed, this type of work took a nosedive during the pandemic, and Nicole’s income source was shut down completely. It was during this time that Nicole pivoted her business strategy. She knew she could help individuals with pain and trauma through her healing work, but she realized the way she may be able to impact the most people was to create a course that helped others learn the art of Manual Therapy, as well.

Nicole spent a year and a half researching, writing, drawing, and developing classes for her online course. She also spent this time developing workbooks, manuals, and art illustrations overlaying the treatment theory she practices for anyone who would participate in her course. The motivation and the idea were there… now all she needed was a way to get this information out to the public.

THE OBSTACLE

Nicole had the skills, the drive, and the passion to make her new business model a reality, but what she was lacking was a website that was able to host her course, complete with a membership portal for her students.

A friend of Nicole’s volunteered to help out with web design and started a website that would soon serve as her teaching portal. However, Nicole soon found that the friend was not able to translate her vision into reality, and was not able to commit to the time needed to get the course running effectively.

With her cash flow on pause, and new income dependent on the development of the new site, Nicole began to feel overwhelmed and bogged down. She had so much to do in order to simply get the course up and running – adding the technical aspect of the website to her plate seemed incredibly daunting. She knew it was time to bring in some help.

THE SOLUTION

Nicole came to me seeking a female web developer near her in Hood River, Oregon. Since she was a manual therapist and energy worker, being able to meet face to face was important to Nicole, and we were able to connect as I learned about her struggles and what solutions Dynamic Designs NW could do in order to help get her website running and the cash flowing!

Nicole commented on the stress of doing everything alone, and her desire for a helping hand in the process of creation and content production for the website. After an initial meeting, we got to work!

Together, we were able to create a new website for her course that matched the aesthetic of the branding website in order to create cohesiveness. Then, we created a member portal with the functionalities needed to host an effective course portal with multiple classes and chapters. People were able to easily log in, and participate in the current version of the course while she continued to do work on the final version of her project.  Meanwhile, we improved the SEO of both sites so potential clients could find this work.

“Stacie was intuitive and empathetic. I was in a really stressful position and she could tell I needed help and was able to prioritize my project, which did wonders for me.” The kind words mean a lot coming from someone who heals others for a living!

THE RESULTS

With the site up and running and a consistent cash flow headed in the door, Nicole was finally able to take an exhale. She had weathered the business challenges the pandemic had created, and came out better than before with a renewed purpose of who she was meant to be serving. Previously, Nicole admits, she felt disjointed and stressed out, which took away from her work as a therapist.  With website support, she can confidently take care of her business and priorities all while knowing the technical aspects are taken care of.

The business side of Gratitude Healing Arts has improved and grown exponentially. Along with the course launch, she was able to publish and market her book, The Tao of The Polyvagal Theory, beautifully written and illustrated by Nicole herself. Also on the horizon are two press releases and a fall feature in a magazine. This, Nicole credits, with a significant increase in people finding her website through organic searches and SEO Optimization.

The pandemic was not what anyone expected, but it inspired necessary change for many individuals. Through our work together, Nicole and Gratitude Healing Arts were able to shift focus in a way that benefited her personally and professionally.

To learn more about Nicole and her journey, you can visit her website or check out her Instagram here.