The Way TCommerce Powered Tongue-Tied Academy to Raise Money for Charity

Jun 28, 2024

in Birmingham, Alabama, pediatric dentist Richard Baxter, DMD, MS can help dentists to recognize and treat lip and tongue relationships.

This journey, catalyzed through the birth of his twins in 2014, led to the creation of Tongue-Tied Academy  which is a platform devoted to solving a widespread yet underrecognized issue.

Since launching the course in 2020 the instructor has had more than 1500 students sign up and made sure to donate all profits to charities both local and international.

The author explains how he developed the online course company, and how TCommerce was instrumental in boosting his success.

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He found his niche

When the girls were young, he discovered that they had tongue ties, which was affecting their nursing ability. Upon finding a dentist to perform a laser treatment to the tongue tie, they were able to take a much easier nap. "The dentist advised me to be on the lookout for tongue ties among children because they're more prevalent than people realize; about 4 out of 5 kids are wearing one" Baxter tells .

Then, people started asking questions about his tongue and lips ties. Wanting to learn more about the topic, he read all the books and courses related to the topic, only to discover that there weren't many sources to choose from. He then learned how to do the laser tongue tie procedure. After treating patients and answering the mother's queries and concerns, he began writing a blog post about it. A growing number of clients contacted him to seek his advice and he finally decided to write and publish the book Tongue Tied, in 2018. "People have read the book but still wanted to learn more," Baxter says. Baxter.

The next step was to create his own online academy . When the dental clinic shut down because of the flu pandemic He had already completed the over 200-page course script. He then hired the film crew that would film the 25-hour flagship course while the office was closed.

He signed up for

The key to the success of Tongue-Tied Academy is the partnership it has with creating a seamless system for course delivery.

"What's nice about is the ability to arrange the lessons into modules." Baxter shares.

He could present his material in bite-sized portions and added quizzes to the end of each section. Additionally, he adds chapters from his book to the software. "I find it beneficial to include different kinds of content in the lesson instead of just video," he reveals.

He's an avid user of's function that lets the automatic generation of a certification for his students. "I can do not have to worry about doing any of the work for my course in a day, other than answer discussion questions because everything is automated," he says.

He made checkout easier with TCommerce

Moving to TCommerce over Stripe was instrumental in optimizing the experience of checkout for Tongue-Tied Academy's participants. He believes that using TCommerce has made him lose more sales. However, since moving away from the Stripe integration that process, checkouts have been made much simpler according to Baxter.

With support for various payment methods, including Apple Pay and Google Pay, Baxter says that TCommerce makes transactions seamless, facilitating accessibility and convenience to users around the world.

"You have the ability to simply click a button, use your ID with your face, and purchase a course," says Baxter. "It's an a lot simpler rather than putting everything you know into a ."

Moreover, 's automated calculations of sales taxes feature reduces the burden of administrative tasks, while ensuring the compliance of regulatory standards across different states. Baxter states that the cash earned through his classes is deposited more easily than his prior payment company.

"I never even think about this because it's easy," he says. " Payments handles everything for me, and money shows up in the bank account ."

With plans to launch an updated version of his bestselling course this spring, Baxter plans on using the option of ordering bumps, which allows customers to purchase additional courses for less, and without speeding up the process of checkout.

He drove impact through charity

Once the money lands in his bank account the banker donates 100 percent of the profits to charity.

In addition to supporting clean water initiatives in Africa as well as Asia to aiding rehabilitation and anti-human trafficking efforts, Baxter's dedication to the welfare of communities exemplifies the Academy's broader purpose of providing social assistance. "I do not need any more stuff," he says. "We have a house We have a car, we're fine ."

"If I am able to help the baby that couldn't feed previously or is colicky and having a hard time, then it's worthwhile," he continues.

He introduced various versions of his program

To meet the varied needs of the population he served, Baxter launched a condensed version of the course designed to professionals like lactation specialists and speech therapists. The LITE Version course, priced at $495, offers an easy, yet effective study of the topic, catering to a broader spectrum of students.

Each course includes an evergreen structure, which means that students can enroll whenever they want. "Teaching the course online has made it accessible as possible," he says.

Plus, the courses offer American Dental Association-approved continuing education credits. "We utilize an approved CE provider, meaning they can use it towards the renewal of their licenses," Baxter explains.

Although the course's flagship costs $2,600 and the course's content, along with CE certification--helps users see the ROI.

He designed a straightforward customer journey

Despite his success, Baxter says that he doesn't have much of a marketing strategy.

Typically, the customer journey starts when the reader reads his book. Then, if they want to know more about the subject then the book will guide readers to Tongue-Tied Academy.

When he speaks at events and conferences, usually, those in the crowd will sign up. If people sign up for his email list, they're sent an email sequence from MailChimp that directs them on his website.

He was the one who defined success

Baxter describes success as being able to increase the knowledge he has. "It's not me alone doing this." he says.

"We have over 1,500 patients who've taken our course. If each of them sees even one patient a each day that's more people than I could ever treat on my own. ."

Further the definition of his success is based on educating the providers, helping parents, and ensuring that more people receive treatment--all while using funds for charitable causes across the globe.

When creating an online course, it is recommended that the creators find to discover their own passions. "It can be anything," he declares. "And whatever it is it is, you could create the course you want to with it. ."

"Just take it on," Baxter encourages. "I'm not a online-course guy. I'm a dentist. But I just put it on the market, and last year we were honored to be in the top ten courses on ."

Prior to the creation of Tongue-Tied Academy, he created two of the courses himself. Each was priced at $99, which approximately 10 students were able to take. "I took my lessons from this," he says. I got higher-quality video and designed a flagship course through Tongue-Tied Academy ."

"You might fail a couple of instances," he adds, "but that's just one of the stages in learning. There's no way to avoid a mistake when you don't learn from it ."

as Tongue-Tied Academy continues to evolve, fueled by a steadfast dedication to education and service, its legacy of altruism and empowerment serves as a beacon of inspiration for students and educators alike.