The Way TCommerce Powered Tongue-Tied Academy to raise money for charity
The Birmingham, Alabama, pediatric dentist Richard Baxter, DMD, MS assists dental professionals to detect and treat tongue and lip tie.
This journey, catalyzed through the birth of twins in 2014, resulted into the establishment of Tongue-Tied Academy A platform devoted to solving a widespread yet underrecognized issue.
Since the launch of the course in 2020 he's had over 1,500 learners enroll and has made sure to donate all profits to charities both local and international.
The author explains how he developed his online course business--and how TCommerce helped to bolster his growth.
Skip ahead:
- He found his niche
- The sign-up was made with
- He streamlined the process of checkout with TCommerce.
- He was the one who drove change through charitable donations
- He launched different versions of his course
- He developed a basic customer journey
- It was a definition of the term "success" for him
He found his niche
When the girls were young when they were babies, he noticed they were tied to their tongues and this was hindering their nursing ability. Upon finding a dentist to perform a laser treatment to the tongues of their children which allowed them to nursing more effortlessly. "The dentist suggested that I watch for tongue ties in kids because it's more common than people realize; about one out of four children have one," Baxter tells .
In the meantime, people began to ask his opinion on tongue and lip ties. Wanting to learn more, he dove into every course and book on the topic but realized that there was not a lot of information to choose from. He then learned how to use lasers for the tongue tie process. After treating patients and answering the mother's queries, he started writing an article on his blog about the procedure. A growing number of people reached out to him to seek his advice which led him to publish and write a book, Tongue Tied, in 2018. "People have read the book but were still interested in learning more," Baxter says. Baxter.
He decided that the next move was to build his own online academy . In 2020, when the dental clinic shut down because of the pandemic, He had already completed the over 200-page course script. He then hired an film crew to record the course's 25 hours of flagship during the time that his office was closed.
He signed up for
Central to Tongue-Tied Academy's success is the partnership it has with creating a seamless system to deliver courses.
"What's nice about is the fact that I'm able to organize the lessons into modules." Baxter shares.
He could offer his material in bite-sized portions and added quizzes to the end of each module. He also adds chapters from his book to the software. "I find it beneficial to add different types of content to the lessons instead of just video," he reveals.
He's an avid user of 's feature that allows the automatic generation of a certification for his students. "I can do not have to worry about doing much for the course in a day, aside from answering discussion questions because everything is automatized," he says.
He made checkout easier with TCommerce
Transitioning to TCommerce over Stripe has been a huge help in improving the process of checking out for Tongue-Tied Academy's participants. He believes that using TCommerce resulted in him losing fewer sales; since switching to the Stripe integration and the process of checkout has been made much simpler, according to Baxter.
With support for various payment options such as Apple Pay and Google Pay, Baxter says that TCommerce ensures a seamless transaction process that makes it easy and convenient for users worldwide.
"You can now literally hit a button, use your face ID, and purchase a course," Says Baxter. "It's a lot easier now instead of having to enter everything you know in a ."
"I don't even think about the process because it's so simple," he says. " Payments takes care of all the details for me and the money just shows up in the bank account ."
In the hopes of launching an upgraded version of his most popular course in the spring of this year, Baxter plans on using an order bump feature which will enable purchasers to take another course for less, and without ever slowing the process of purchasing.
The impact he made was through charity
After the money is deposited into his bank account He then donates 100% of the earnings to charities.
From supporting clean water initiatives throughout Africa and Asia to aiding rehabilitation as well as efforts to stop human trafficking Baxter's dedication to the welfare of communities illustrates the Academy's wider purpose of providing social assistance. "I don't need anything else," he says. "We have a home and an automobile, and we're good ."
"If I am able to help a baby who couldn't nurse previously or is struggling with colic and is having a tough time, it's all worth it," he continues.
He launched different versions of his course
To meet the varied needs of his audience, Baxter launched a condensed version of his course that is designed for professionals such as lactation consultants and speech therapists. This LITE Version course, priced at $495, is a concise yet powerful examination of the subject catering to a broader spectrum of learners.
Each course is a perpetually updated format meaning that people are able to sign up anytime they'd like. "Teaching this class on the internet has made it as accessible as possible," he says.
Additionally, these courses provide American Dental Association-approved continuing education credits. "We employ an accredited CE provider, meaning you can apply it toward the renewal of their licenses," Baxter explains.
While the flagship course is priced at $2,600 The content, when paired with CE certification--helps users see the return on investment.
He designed a straightforward customer journey
Despite his success, Baxter says that he does not have a marketing plan.
In general, the journey of a customer begins when people read his book. In the event that they wish to know more about the subject, the book guides users to the Tongue-Tied Academy.
At events where he gives talks and conferences, usually, those in the crowd are likely to sign up. When people join his mailing list, they'll be given an email sequence by MailChimp which directs people to his content.
He was the one who defined success
Baxter says success is being able to increase his knowledge. "It's not just me doing this," Baxter states.
"We have over 1,500 patients who have completed the program. If they each see at least one patient per time, it's far more people that I've ever been able to treat alone. ."
Additionally the definition of his success is based on educating the providers, helping parents, and ensuring that more patients receive care, all while utilizing the money to support charities all over the world.
In the process of making an online course he recommends that creators seek for their interests. "It could be anything," the author says. "And regardless of what it is it is, you could create the course you want to with it. ."
"Just do it!" Baxter encourages. "I'm not a course online guy. I'm a dentist. It's just something I put out there, and last year, we were honored to be in the top ten courses on ."
Prior to establishing Tongue-Tied Academy, he created two of the courses himself. Each was costing $99 and about 10 people took. "I took my lessons from this," he says. I got higher-quality video and developed a flagship program through Tongue-Tied Academy ."
"You might fail a couple occasions," he adds, "but this is part of the learning process. You're only in danger of making a mistake if you don't take the lessons learned from it. ."
As Tongue-Tied Academy continues to evolve, fueled by a steadfast dedication to education and service and its history of altruism and empowerment serves as a beacon of inspiration for students and educators alike.