As a dietitian specializing in digestive disorders, Niki’s nearly 40 niche GI nutrition resources are a hit! Niki has made more than 4,000 sales in the amount of nearly $2,500. Learn her approach.
Welcome to the RD2RD Innovator RD Series! Meet Niki Strealy, fellow RD specializing in digestive health nutrition. Her RD2RD store consists of counseling tools to guide and improve your nutrition counseling sessions with clients who have digestive diseases and disorders.
GI resources are incredibly popular on RD2RD; Niki’s niche benefits many – when you put Niki’s materials into practice, you guide your clients to improved digestive health with less effort than if you didn’t have Niki’s thoughtful handouts.
Her freebies and premium content are popular with RDs who want or need to learn more about counseling clients with GI health concerns – quite a common issue among our clients, right? Learn Niki’s tips below. But first…
Get to Know Niki: the “Diarrhea Dietitian”
Hello! I’m Niki. Growing up, I spent a lot of time at the doctor’s office. I was diagnosed with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) at age 13, and, unrelated, I also broke five bones in my teens! This piqued my interest in medicine.
I met with my college advisor who recommended nutrition as a career. I switched my major to nutrition as a junior. I have been an RD since 1996 and I love my chosen career and the field.
When I started out, I knew I wanted to specialize in digestive disorders. But it wasn’t really a niche focus yet in nutrition. My career began in the hospital with critical care patients on TPN and tube feeding. I also covered the surgical floor, educating post-op patients on various surgical diets. I eventually started my private practice, Strategic Nutrition, LLC, in 2012 and am known by many as “The Diarrhea Dietitian” – I was one of the first branded dietitians! The field of digestive health has grown so much in the past decade; it is extremely rewarding to work with my clients and see them make huge improvements in a short amount of time.
My own personal experience navigating irritable bowel syndrome and Celiac disease fuels my passion for helping others find delicious and nourishing foods that help them feel their best.
We love hearing about your path, Niki. Inspiring! How does your expertise show up in the content that you create for RD2RD?
Niki’s Resources on RD2RD.com
I have several areas of expertise, including IBS/low FODMAP, Celiac disease/gluten-free, diarrhea management, and more recently small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO). I have both bundled materials that focus on these health issues, plus more than 30 individual handouts for various digestive issues. If an RD is starting out in this practice area, my handouts are great for helping them educate their patients.
Here are a few of my best!
- Low FODMAP Brand Name Foods – nearly 100 sales! My patients constantly ask me for help choosing brand name foods during the FODMAP elimination phase. I created this handout to make your job easier! It includes pictures of commonly used Low FODMAP packaged foods, many of which are available in stores across the country..
- Low FODMAP Bundle – New! This bundle includes 27 pages of my best low FODMAP resources for your patients, including unique handouts you won’t see elsewhere – like Expanding FODMAP Reintroductions, FODMAP Enzymes and Low FODMAP Dorm.
- Diarrhea Dietitian’s Diarrhea Protocol – My kit includes “The Diarrhea Dietitian’s Top 10 Tips,” plus individual handouts that explain each tip in greater detail. Topics/tips focus on: GI symptoms and inventory, simple changes to bring relief to those with chronic diarrhea, experimenting with fiber and more.
I also work with a lot of athletes; I’ve created a GI-specific handout just for them, titled “Low FODMAP Athlete Education – Fueling for Exercise.” I know that many sports RDs find GI issues troublesome among their runners, endurance or performance-based athletes. I have many RD peers who say my materials have helped their clients focus on their sport and not on their digestive system.
Hands down, my patients love the low FODMAP Brand Name Foods handout below. That one handout alone took over 40 hours of work! It is super practical for people to know what they can buy and eat while on a FODMAP elimination diet.
Niki’s Tips for Creating Content that Makes the Sale
Tell us how your nearly 50 products have resulted in thousands of dollars in sales, Niki. What’s your secret?
My kickstart begins with a patient simply asking for more information. For example, people with diarrhea or constipation always have a lot of questions for me. Eventually I create a handout that I use in my own practice for a while to “test drive” it. If it’s popular, I will add it to my store for RDs to purchase or download.
Sometimes other RDs ask me directly for a handout and I will create it for the store.
We hear that quite a bit, Niki – it’s smart to give materials a test drive in your own practice, where you can edit them over time based on client feedback before listing it on RD2RD. That way, you know your handout or resource is in great shape and ready to help many!
Another thing that you do really well is provide free resources to your peers on RD2RD – which oftentimes leads to additional purchases.
Definitely. When you look at my total downloads across the freebies that I offer, it totals nearly 3,000– there’s something to be said for being giving of time and materials, while at the same time gaining visibility for what I do and awareness around my other premium products that might sell on-the-spot or later. I know as an RD sometimes you need a handout for a diagnosis you don’t work with often; and these handouts are great for that purpose.
Here are some of my top ones – please help yourself!
- FODMAP Elimination Diet (FREE) More than 1,200 downloads! Confused about the low FODMAP diet? You know it’s a good treatment for IBS but aren’t sure how to teach it to patients? This guide has helped many. .
- Tips for Acute Diarrhea Low FODMAP (FREE) More than 400 downloads. Diarrhea happens…and for those with IBS, the old fashioned BRATT (Bananas Rice Applesauce Toast Tea) diet isn’t a great option, as most of those contain FODMAPs. This free resource will give your low FODMAP clients recommendations that will work for them!
- Gluten Free Travel Guide (FREE) More than 300 downloads. Traveling while on a gluten-free diet or with Celiac disease can be difficult. Use this guide for tips on how to make the trip stress-free. My patients love these easy tips.
- Eating On the Go with Celiac Disease (FREE) More than 300 downloads. This piece makes it a breeze to find restaurants that are Celiac friendly, grab a quick snack at a convenience store, navigate on-the-go eating and more.
Niki – well done on pioneering digestive nutrition – your expertise helps so many other RDs who want to know more about treating, supporting and guiding in this space. We encourage RDs reading to pause and download these helpful freebies before reading on!
Niki’s Advice to Vendors and Vendors-To-Be
If you peeked at the price points of my premium content above, like the Low FODMAP Brand Name Foods handout, you’ll see the price point is really reasonable. That handout is $9.99 and saves your patient a ton of time shopping for low FODMAP products.
There is something to be said for offering a consistent, lower, affordable price point, Niki. How does this strategy work for you?
Yes – while my sales may not be sky high, they are consistent, like you said! I have many three-page resources on RD2RD.com, for example, versus mega guides. Then, when I find which individual assets are successful, I can then bundle them into kits that will sell at a higher price point for those who want more robust GI offerings.
I’d also like to add that being an RD2RD Vendor has increased my visibility as a GI expert. It’s ok to be vulnerable here – it can be a little scary to create content and sell to people you have never met. I oftentimes worry about making spelling errors or wonder if my graphics will attract sales.
Another learning for me was that it was best to outsource the graphics to another person – which meant less stress for me and better-selling products.
I encourage other RDs to create a few freebies to start, then build a store with other offerings that showcase your skills and knowledge in helping others. Get out there and try! You may soon find yourself an expert in your own space with people coming to you asking for more!
Inspired by Niki’s story to create your own niche, create GI handouts of your own, or craft other nutrition materials that would help other RDs and their patients? Let’s get started – become an RD2RD.com vendor today.
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