Massage Practice Builder

I was already to write a great article on how to use Squidoo to build your massage business and also make money on the side when a news item caught my eye and was too astounding to pass up!

AMTA just announced that they are now supporting the MBLEx exam created by the Federation of Massage State Boards over the NCE!  You can read the whole article on the AMTA website.

Given its development by state regulatory boards and rapidly-growing acceptance by states (15 regulated states already have made a change), AMTA believes the MBLEx exam, developed by the Federation of State massage Therapy Boards (FSMTB), is the best choice for a licensing exam that can lead to portability of massage practice.

AMTA went on to say that all of those (poor -my edit) people who took the NCE will be grandfathered in and it won’t affect their status as AMTA members.

I think this is a momentous moment in the history of the massage profession.  I can’t wait to see what is next!

What do you think?

There has been an interesting discussion going on in my Yahoo Discussion Group
on discounting massage services.  Many people feel like they need to
provide discounted fees for their service in order to get new clients
in, to get clients to come back and to also provide low cost massage
for low income people or people who are unemployed.  Many massage
therapists think they need to offer a sliding scale to their low income
clients to provide a way for them to get massage regularly.  Clients
who have issues with money often becomes a massage therapist who has
issues with money.

There is so much involved in this concept of discounting massage services.  Everything we do is based on  a need we have.

Why do you feel a need to discount your services?

• You think you need to to get the client in the door and keep them coming back
• The client just lost their job and you want to ‘help’ them out
• You think that you are the only one that can ‘help’ them
• You think that at least having a client coming in at a lower rate is better than no client at all

Inexpensive has become associated with ‘cheap’ which also means not
valuable.  Discounting your service assumes that the reason people are
not coming in is because of the extra $5-$10 dollars. Lowering your
rates also indicates that you may be new to the profession.  There will
always be someone, somewhere that is willing to reduce their rates
lower than yours.  Working for less than you need to make also creates
a substantial drain on your energy.  Not having enough money to pay the
bills, market your practice,  save for kids college, save for
retirement and take nice vacations every year says that you are not
worth having those things.

There is a big difference between discounting your service to get
new clients in and to offer discounts to thank them for their continued
use of your service.  Does providing a discounted fee actually help the
client more or  does it support their money issues?  Taking a deeper
look at why you want to help will
help clarify your deeper needs underneath wanting to help.  When you
can do that and see what your needs are and learn to get them met
outside your practice it will allow you to stay more present with your
clients which is the source of healing.

I have had many clients in the low income bracket – a single mother
who worked in a daycare, elderly people on social security and many
others.  These people valued massage and my service and they planned
accordingly financially to be able to come in regularly.  Money wasn’t
stopping them from fulfilling their need for massage.

Sure there are extreme circumstances happening right now but most of
it has to do with people who have overextended themselves financially
and haven’t saved enough money to live in challenging times.  There are
other ways to support these people and provide massage services.   You
can offer classes to the women in the family to teach them basic
massage skills, offer classes for couples, teach massage at a church group,
set up a low income massage clinic or do something besides discount
your massage services (unless you are already set for life
financially!)  You can start a non-profit group that offers massage to
low income people.

Charging what you need to make to be successful in business is just good self care.

Desire is often a controversial topic for massage therapists.  Many give of themselves relentlessly forgetting about their own desires.  The thing is really that desire is what will bring you happiness.  Having a desire or many desires is not bad as you may think it is.  It actually is the key to allowing you to help others more.  When you focus on what you desire for yourself, it expands your inner being and allows you to reach more people.

With so many massage therapists who find themselves struggling part of the problem usually is that they are focusing on what they don’t want by complaining (or just even saying) that they don’t have any clients, they don’t have any money, they don’t have money to hire a web designer, pay a marketing person, pay an office person to help them do what they do best.   There is also another component to being a massage therapist and that is the part of you that feels bad or feels like it is your fault when you don’t have the clients you need to be successful.  When you feel bad, it is hard to do any marketing or want to do anything to get your business going.  So when you are feeling bad the way to change the feeling is to start thinking about what it is that you really desire….reallly, reeaaallyy,  reeeeaaaallllllyyyy desire.

I desire 20 cash paying clients a week who refer me to their friends and family members.

I desire to make a substantial income to support myself and my family in the way we deserve to be provided for.

I do massage because I love being able to be a part of people’s healing process and I learn so much about myself from doing so which enables me to be an even greater resource for my clients.

Wanting to have money is OK.  It isn’t about being greedy.  It is just the basic cornerstone of good Self Care.  Taking care of yourself financially allows you to get more massage for yourself, take more classes, take more vacations and take care of yourself emotionally, physically and spiritually.

With the current challenges in the economy the world is in need of more businesses that are run with integrity and not based on greed.  In order to stay ahead in your business it is important to have enough money to set aside for taxes and to have a savings account that can support you for 6 months to a year or even more.  The definition of wealth really is just the number of days you can live without working.  ( I forget where I heard that from – it was either Suze Orman or Robert Kiyosaki)

So back to focusing on what you desire.   When you focus on what you desire you are creating positive feelings.  Your feelings are what motivate you to take action.  Whenever you are feeling anything but love or joy or happiness you can know that you are not focusing on what you want.  You are most likely caught up in believing that small voice or unconscious voice that is telling you that you are not good enough or whatever your false beliefs about yourself are.  The biggest part is that this is such an unconscious part of yourself that you are probably already saying -well that isn’t me.  I don’t have any thoughts that I am not good enough.  You are if you are having any bad feelings of anger, sadness, frustration or grief.

So what do you desire for yourself, your family,  your massage business and your life?

You can join me in discussing this in my online discussion group at Yahoo Groups (Free of course)