Massage Practice Builder

I am always amazed at the number of massage therapists who don’t get regular massage for themselves.  The past poll here at Massage Magazine shows the following results (taken from massagemag.com):

How often do you seek massage or bodywork for yourself?

Weekly 28.6%

Monthly 39.1%

Yearly 5.0%

Six times a year 14.9%

I don’t -12.4%

I actually prefer getting massage 2x a week when I am busy.  I also regularly get other sessions of things like Acupuncture, Integrative Manual Therapy, counseling and peer supervision which I include in the self care section.  I also visit a woman’s spa where you can spend the whole day in hot pools, hot rooms and mediate as well as get spa services like body scrubs.

Getting regular massage has taught me more than most classes ever have about myself and my work.  I often find myself frustrated with massage therapists who are not present in their sessions and just do what they think they want to do rather than doing what I ask.   Like last year when I went into a Massage Envy with some acute pain in my hip and I told the guy about it, I pointed to the exact spot and the person proceeded to work on my back and neck the whole time which I know probably needed work but I specifically asked for him to work on my hip.  It has made me so much more aware of needing to listen to clients and ask questions of clients.

Other spa’s that I have gone to have really short intake forms that don’t ask many physical questions when the intake is really the key to giving a successful massage.

I also can’t tell you the number of massage’s I have had where I requested deep tissue massage and the person on the phone says something like ‘everyone here does deep tissue massage’.  Well my definition of deep tissue massage comes from my background in Zentherapy (an offshoot of Rolfing).  While I understand most people don’t work to that depth, deep tissue to me means applying a fair amount of pressure.  I kept asking when she was going to start the deep tissue work to someone who was barely touching the muscles.

So massage is so subjective and to really get an understanding of what people want and are looking for it is important to get regular massage yourself to hone your communication skills and to also take care of your physical and emotional bodies.

Why people who don’t like to get massage get into the profession is difficult to comprehend.

The other part of this has to do with how much you yourself value massage.  If you are expecting clients to book weekly appointments yet you don’t book weekly appointments it just seems contradictory to me.  Walking your talk is an important part of being successful in the massage profession.

Trading massages is really common in the massage profession and I traded massages for years with various friends. Trading has it’s downside but can be helpful if you find a massage therapist who takes their trades as seriously as you do.  Many people who trade often will call and cancel at the last minute because they want to take a client or do something else.  It isn’t very professional. People also just trade hour for hour when they may actually charge different rates which could cause some other issues when the trade isn’t equal.

A few years ago I started paying for regular massage and experiencing different ways.  I actually prefer just paying rather than trading and find it much more relaxing and therapeutic.  I often go in to places and don’t tell them I am a massage therapist just so I don’t have to talk massage talk. The process of finding a good massage therapist that you would want to see regularly is also interesting.  You can learn so much by trying to find a good massage therapist.   Go and do it for yourself now.  Where would you start looking?  Google? The place you drive by all the time.  Someplace your friends go?  Look at people’s websites and ads and ask yourself what makes you want to go to them.  Call and make appointments and see how you feel when doing so.  Are they friendly or do they know what they are talking about?  When you go in are the professional, on time and do they ask how you liked your massage or do they ask when you want another appointment?  Do you tell them the truth about your massage that you just had?  Do you want to go back?  What would make you go back?

Just before I started writing this I called to make my weekly appointment at my local spa.  I finally did find a guy at a local spa that I liked and started going regularly for the past few years but am thinking of changing because I need something more therapeutic than just relaxing which is what he does.  The kind of massage people give and get changes over time and with different periods in peoples lives.  What would it take to keep a client for 20 years?   Most of my clients have been regulars who have come to me for over 15-18 years and they do come weekly.  My main goal is to just listen to their body week after week and see what they bring in each week.

Do you have your weekly massage scheduled?  What did you learn from it?

An important part of being successful in the massage profession is your perception of the money that you pay out for various services – are they a expense or an investment in your massage business?  So many massage therapists seem to want to skimp on paying for things that are essential in building a business.  Something as simple as your own phone line instead of using your personal cell phone can go a long way in creating an image for yourself.  They don’t want to spend money on classes or their website and try to get away with just getting whatever is the cheapest.  I can understand not wanting to spend money when you don’t have it and that brings up a whole other can of worms in why don’t you have the money that you need to invest in and create your ideal massage business but just changing your thinking from one of the money going out as being an expense to the idea that the money going out is an investment in yourself and your business can go a long way in creating your massage business.  The idea that money going out is just an expense is also a great reflection of your beliefs about money.

Each year about this time I start creating my spending plan for the next year.  I create a plan rather than a budget.  I plan on what I am going to need and then figure out how to get what I need.  If you just start out without knowing how much you need to make, how will you know what it is you need to do to make that happen?  I allow for a massage each week, two vacations away somewhere, a class or two, my website for my massage business and a few new ones to develop new ideas with and the usual costs of doing business – phone, rent, business cards, any other marketing things, taxes, savings and retirement savings.  Even these things are an investment in your massage business.

When you invest in your massage business, you are saying that your business has value and meaning to you.  You are willing to put money and time into it and know that the returns will make it worth it.  Having faith in these challenging times is challenging in itself.  Often when you are starting out it is important to just take little steps and make little investments in your business and see how they work out so that you can build faith in yourself.  And if they don’t work out that doesn’t mean that they don’t work as in just creating a one page website without doing any optimizations or reading about creating websites.  This is where the faith comes in that will help you stay with the process of creating a website that works for your business or doing whatever it takes to get the clients you need in the door.  ( I always just talk about websites because they are what saved me from having to go out there and market myself and do those ’sales related’ things that I hate to do and I also make most of my living now just from my two websites – www.massage-career-guides.com and www.thebodyworker.com alone.)

Here is my list of essential investments in your massage business:

1. A website that works- one that gets you a steady flow of new clients and makes you money as you do massage
2. Business cards that are printed professionally that have the necessary information on them to contact you.
3. A separate phone line to keep your business and personal life separate.
4. A financial counselor to help you create and manage a spending plan for your business.
5. A class each year to inspire and support you
6. Regular supervision sessions with a more experienced massage therapist or counselor to help you create professional boundaries and enforce them in difficult situations
7. Regular in depth counseling to help you become more aware and do your own personal growth work.

Investing in your massage business is just part of good self care. What do you invest in for your massage business?  What would you like to invest in to add to your massage business?

The key to marketing your massage business is quite simple.  Do something.   Anything.   Test it.  See if it works.  If it doesn’t change something and do it again until it does work.  Try something else.  Test it.  See if it works and if it does keep doing it.

You have to be doing something every day but it has to be something that is in tune with your vision and mission for building a practice.  Your vision should include a picture of what your “Ideal Massage Client” (that I talk more about in my first post here) looks like so you can know who to market to and which clients to take.  Yes you can choose which clients you take.  I recommend that you take clients that are nurturing to you – that is they show up on time, pay the full fee, they value massage and your time.  I had a massage teacher tell me that a long time ago and  it took me more than 12 years to really get it and do it.  I was burned out at about 12 years but now at 20 years of being a massage therapist I can say that he gave good advice.

Clients who are draining to you in whatever way are not a good match for your businesses success.   At first when massage therapists realize they don’t have to take every client that calls they either are relieved or respond with yes but I can’t afford to turn people away.  In some ways you can’t really afford to take them all either.

There are so many different ideas for marketing your business and the possiblities are endless.  I am creating a whole section on marketing massage on my website www.massage-career-guides.com where you can actually share your own ideas and read what others have done to get more ideas.

The part of doing something everyday is the hard part.  We sabbotage ourselves like that by not doing the marketing we need to do to be successful because of the false beliefs we often carry about our own self worth and value.  These beliefs were engrained in us early in life in our family of origin.  You can begin to discover what your beliefs are by looking at what you have going on in your business (or don’t have going on in your business.)   You can tell what your beliefs are by tuning into your feelings about success, money and getting clients.   How do you feel when you say something like ” I have 15-20 clients a week? (or whatever your goal is).   Do you have little feelings like ‘oh no, I am going to have to do sales to get that or that just seems impossible?   Your feelings are what tell you what you believe.  Since it is often difficult to actually see what the thought is because most of our thinking is unconscious we have our feelings to go on.  The way to change your feelings is to start thinking differently.  When those little voices pop up into your head or the feeling of dread hangs over you, start thinking of something that makes you happy.  In the beginning it can be something as simple as puppies or babies – who doesn’t smile at the thought of those two things.   As you become more aware of your feelings and thought you can then choose to change them.

Actually that is my main method of marketing – just working with my thoughts.  My practice sometimes slows down and it always seems to coincide with me being out of sync with my feelings.  Like in Sept. I sold one of my websites which was a good thing yet very stressful – my practice plummeted.  It was OK because I had the relief of a large sum of money coming in and it gave me time to build a new site and now I am wanting more clients again.  All I started doing was to take the time to start thinking about what I wanted to happen.  The phone is now ringing off the hook.   So it doesn’t really matter if you have a good marketing campaign if your thoughts aren’t matching up with your feelings.  You good feelings are what motiveate you to take action!

So what actions are you going to take today?