How TCommerce Empowered Tongue-Tied Academy to Raise Money for Charity
in Birmingham, Alabama, pediatric dentist Richard Baxter, DMD, MS, helps empower professionals to identify and treat lip and tongue tie.
The journey, triggered by the birth of twin daughters in 2014, led to the creation of Tongue-Tied Academy , a platform devoted to solving a widespread yet underrecognized issue.
Since launching the course in 2020 the instructor has had more than 1,500 learners enroll and has given all of the profits to local and international charities.
This is how he came up with his online course business--and how TCommerce was instrumental in boosting his growth.
Skip ahead:
- He found his niche
- He signed up with
- He made it easier to complete the checkout process with TCommerce
- He was the one who drove change through charity
- He launched different versions of the course
- He developed a basic customer journey
- He defined success for him
He found his niche
As his daughters were infants, he discovered they were tied to their tongues, which was affecting their ability to nurse. After finding a dentist who could do a laser treatment on the tongue tie which allowed them to nurse much more easily. "The dentist advised me to watch for tongue ties in children because they're more prevalent than we think. About one out of four children have one," Baxter tells .
Soon, people began asking questions about his tongue and lips ties. Looking to know more and more, he delved into each course and publication about the subject, but realized that there was not a lot of information accessible. After that, he was able to do the laser tongue tie process. After treating patients, and addressing the mom's concerns, he started writing blog posts about it. More and more people reached out to him to seek his advice and he finally decided to publish and write his book, Tongue Tied, in 2018. "People read the book and still wanted to learn more," Baxter says. Baxter.
The next step was to create his own online academy . In 2020, when the dentist's office closed due to the outbreak, He had already completed the over 200-page course script. He later hired the film crew that would film the 25-hour flagship course while the office was closed.
He signed up for
Central to Tongue-Tied Academy's success is the relationship it has formed with providing a seamless platform to deliver courses.
"What's nice about is the ability to arrange the lessons into modules." Baxter shares.
Through this , he was able to offer his content in bite-sized pieces as well as add quizzes at the final part of every module. Additionally, he adds chapters from his book to the program. "I find it beneficial to incorporate different types of material in the lesson instead of only videos," he reveals.
He's an avid user of's function that lets the automatic generation of a certificate for his students. "I needn't do anything for the class on a daily basis aside from answering the questions in discussions since everything is automatized," he says.
He made checkout easier with TCommerce
Transitioning to TCommerce over Stripe has been a huge help in improving the experience of checkout for Tongue-Tied Academy's participants. He believes using TCommerce resulted in him losing more sales. However, since moving away from the Stripe integration, the checkout process has been made much simpler, according to Baxter.
Supporting a variety of payment methods, including Apple Pay and Google Pay, Baxter says that TCommerce provides a smooth transaction that makes it easy and convenient for all users.
"You can now literally hit a button, use your face ID, and buy a course" Says Baxter. "It's a lot easier now instead of having to enter all of your information in a ."
"I never even think about the process because it's so simple," he says. " Payments takes care of everything, and the money just is deposited into the account of the bank. ."
Baxter plans to release an upgraded version of his flagship course in the spring of this year, Baxter plans on using the order bump feature, which allows customers to take another course at a discounted rate--without slowing down the checkout process.
He was able to make an impact with the charity
When the funds are deposited in his bank account, he donates 100% of the profits to charity.
From supporting clean water initiatives throughout Africa as well as Asia as well as assisting rehabilitation and anti-human trafficking efforts, Baxter's dedication to the welfare of communities is a perfect example of the Academy's larger purpose of providing social assistance. "I don't need additional stuff," he says. "We have a house, we have an automobile, and we're good ."
"If I can aid the baby that couldn't feed before or who is struggling with colic and is having a tough time, it makes it all worth it," he continues.
He has launched various variations of his class
Recognizing diverse needs within the population he served, Baxter launched a condensed version of the course designed for professionals such as speech therapists and lactation consultants. The LITE Version course, priced at $495, offers a concise yet powerful study of the topic, offering a wider range of learners.
Each of his courses has an evergreen format, meaning that people are able to sign up anytime they'd like. "Teaching the course online has made it accessible as possible," he says.
Additionally, these courses provide American Dental Association-approved continuing education credits. "We employ an accredited CE provider. That means they can use it towards their dental license," Baxter explains.
Although the course's flagship cost $2600 and the course's content, along with CE approval enables people to see its ROI.
He designed a straightforward customer experience
Despite its success, Baxter says that he doesn't have much of a marketing plan.
The typical customer experience begins when people read his book. Then, if they want to learn more then the book will guide them to the Tongue-Tied Academy.
If he is speaking at events or conferences, typically people in the audience can sign up for his email list. If people sign up for his list of email addresses, they're sent an email sequence from MailChimp that directs them on his website.
He defined success for himself
Baxter defines success as being able to increase the knowledge he has. "It's not me alone doing this." Baxter states.
"We have 1,500 people who've taken our course. If each of them sees even one patient a day, that's more people than I can ever manage on my own. ."
Additionally what defines success for him includes educating healthcare providers, helping parents and making sure that more people get treatment, while also using funds for charitable causes around the world.
If you are making an online course he recommends that creators seek out their passion. "It could be anything," he declares. "And whatever it is, you can make an entire course using it. ."
"Just go for it," Baxter encourages. "I'm not a course online man. I'm a dentist. It's just something I put on the market, and last year, we were honored to be in the top ten courses on ."
Before he created Tongue-Tied Academy, he created two of the courses himself. Each was priced at $99, which around 10 people took. "I took my lessons from this," he says. I received better-quality videos and developed a flagship course with Tongue-Tied Academy ."
"You could fail a few of instances," he adds, "but this is one of the stages in learning. 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, its legacy of empowerment and altruism serves as a beacon of inspiration to aspiring teachers and innovators alike.