Massage Practice Builder

Article marketing is one of the many online tools for promoting your website, your massage business, your massage school, your massage ce classes, your related massage products that is not very well known by massage therapists.

Article marketing is writing short, to the point articles and posting them on various free services such as ezinearticles.com or one of the many article marketing sites.

The main goal of article marketing really is to get the link to your site.  It doesn’t necessarily about getting people to click on the link but that can help too.  The search engines love to see that you have other sites out there that are linking to you.  They want to know that you are popular.  Most search engines rate and find your site based on the keywords you use in your site and pages and also how many backlinks (other sites linking to you) you have to your site.  They don’t really care if you create your own or not!

Writing in depth articles can also help you become recognized as an expert in your area, field or whatever it is that you are promoting.  Massage schools and massage ce teachers could benefit by writing articles about what their classes are and will do for people.  So many teachers miss the boat for promoting themselves.

Article marketing is fairly easy.   I also have set up a free article directory for massage therapists to add their articles too.  It is just a blog really that I have set up on my site www.thebodyworker.com The way it works is that you just create a free login.  You have to have a valid email address to get the login information.  After you get that you can login and post articles through the dashboard.   It works just like a word processor really.   Here are some ideas for articles that might help you get going:

For massage therapists promoting their business

• massage and fibromyalgia
• massage and cancer
• how muscles get tight
• the real benefits of massage
• describe your unique blend of techniques

For massage teachers/authors/massage schools:

• write articles on a topic that you talk about in your class or school or book and just write enough to want people to know more and then leave a link where they can find out more.
• Write why your class or school is different and what it will do for massage therapists – what will it do for their massage business or in getting a job?
• Write personal things about why you are doing this and what doing massage and doing the things you do mean to you.

In each article you can leave a link to your website.  To create a link just select the text you want to make into a link and click on the link symbol at the top and it will pop up a new box where you enter the exact address.  Select open in new window.   To get people interested in your link use it in an example or put something like :  For more information (on my very interesting class/school/topic) see my website

I started this awhile ago but only have a few articles written.  I don’t think people quite understand the reasons or methods of article marketing so let me know if you have questions.   I started doing an intensive article marketing campaign last month and my website traffic is increasing quickly which in the summer it is usually quite the opposite as far as traffic goes.

Social Networking is the latest craze as many of you are well aware of.  Figuring out what is the best use of your time is important when considering participating in these networks.  How will you find the best opportunities to get new and repeat clients?

Twitter is one of the easiest to use and get results with.   If you don’t know what twitter is yet, it is an online network that you sign up with for free.  Create a twitter account to just be used with your business.  Twitter is unique in that it only allows you a few sentences of space to use to communicate with people.   But who are you communicating with?   People can sign up to ‘follow’ your postings.  But where do you get people?   The best place is to put a twitter feed on your website.  You can get the code to put a twitter badge on your website by going to the Settings page.  In about the middle of that section there is a place for you to put your website address but right under that is a link that says:

(You can also add Twitter to your site here)

Click on that and click on the other tab (or one of the others if you are using one of those systems for your website.)  Click to create a badge.  You can add what you want it to say on the top or whether or not you want to create a flash badge or a html badge.  The flash badge will be interactive and show people’s reply ( I think!) So just copy and paste the code into your webpage where you want it.  I have mine on my homepage above the fold (near the top) where it is the highest profile and also on my services pages.  I also just created a twitter page that people can go to directly.  You can see how I am using it at www.massageseattle.net  I actually just started using it last week and have already gotten 3 new clients.  I also have quite a few visitors to my website and it already gets me a lot of calls but I think it will help even more by making this info of my schedule availability more public.  I am also sending a series of posts based using “you know you need a massage when you ….” and then will do a top ten reasons for getting a massage or something like that and see how that goes.

Facebook – Facebook is fairly time consuming.  It is really important to set up a business only listing.  What facebook is better for is finding your old high school buddies and long lost loves.  You are supposedly not allowed to set up more than one facebook profile.  They do have a way to make a business page and have it connected to your personal page but to me it is not private enough.  I personally don’t mix clients and friends.  You can use facebook to create more messages and even use it like a mini website if you don’t already have your own.  You can search facebook members to find businesses and doctors or other people who you want in your referral network and ask them to be your friend.  You can write a small newsletter like posts.  People can post on your wall or you can opt to not allow people to do that.  The thing I don’t like about Facebook is that people who become your friends will also have access to see each others profiles which may not be a good thing for your clients who want their privacy.  I did find a facebook group for my office building when they were having an open house that I could become a fan of and post my message about being the massage therapist in the building.

Linkedin in works sort of the same way as facebook but it doesn’t connect you with all of your old friends.  Linkedin is more of a professional networking site.  They also have a section where people ask questions like yahooanswers but it is much more professional than answers is.  You may possibly find someone looking for a massage but it is more like looking for a needle in the haystack.

I am not a big fan of social networking because of the time it takes to put into it all.  I would rather be writing a new article for my website to educate people who are already interested in getting a massage.  My website is found for the keywords that I have chosen – downtown seattle massage and it comes up first on Google and most of the other major search engines so writing there is more targeted advertising.  Also writing more content and educating people about massage and muscles and how the body and massage work together is a way of building trust with people.  When they read a website full of information and research they will get the feeling that you know what you are doing and trust you enough to make the call.

So if you are using one of these or other social networking sites successfully I would love to know what you are doing!

My post a few weeks ago on the $100,000 massage business seemed to create quite a stir.  The idea that a massage therapist can make that much money seems too good to be true for most.  Many come to massage careers saying it isn’t about the money or that they just want to help.   Underneath the idea of wanting to help is usually another side of our profession that is not really talked about. The deeper reasons underneath wanting to help (which is also usually sacrificing our needs to make money) are usually what lead to giving too much and eventually burn out.   Since massage therapy is considered to be one of the many helping professions we have a lot to learn about our needs to help others.

I was first exposed to this idea early in massage school in 1987 when reading a book called “How Can I Help” by Ram Dass.  I actually didn’t think much of it at the time and didn’t think that it really applied to me at the time.  In the book he says:

The more you see yourself as a “helper”, the more need for people to play the passive “helped”.  You’re buying into, even juicing up, precisely what people who are suffering from want to be rid of: limitation, dependency, helplessness, separateness.  And that is happening largely as a result of self-image.

Often what is happening when we feel a compulsive need to help is that we have to get rid of someone else’s pain because it is hurting us too much. Out of helping usually comes feelings of power, respect and a certain knowing that we did all that we could for someone to try to take away their pain.

While helping can truly come from compassion, it is often confusing.  When we help it makes us feel like we are important and are appreciated.   Being able to tell the difference will mean the difference between your success or having to change careers because of being burned out.

Fast forward 15 year of working as a massage therapist and feeling burned out myself,  I read this series of articles by Jack Blackburn called “Caretaking vs Caregiving” and it all came together:

” When we caretake, we assume responsibility for our clients’ healing.

When we caregive, we support clients in assuming responsibility for their own healing.”

Caretaking comes in many shapes and forms.  It can be seen when you charge less than you need to make or don’t have any cancellation policies (or enforce them).   It can be seen when you give advice instead of just listening.   Caretaking has it’s roots in early childhood and usually in the way you learned how to attach (or not attach) to your caregivers.  When your early needs for attention, appreciation and love are not met, many people give up their needs in order to get that attention.  It continues on into adulthood and shows up in relationship, money and career issues and somehow seems to really show up in helping professions.   Setting your needs aside for others benefits while it may seem viruous and noble, usually is not really helping anyone.

I actually used to be one of those people who didn’t want much and didn’t charge much for my services.  I didn’t want to do any marketing or sales because I was shy and hated promoting myself.  I lived a simple life (and still do) but making money became as important as helping since I couldn’t help people when I was feeling burned out or didn’t have enough to take care of my needs. The more I learned about caretaking and ‘noble poverty’ ( the idea that having money is somehow wrong), the more I could see how I created my underearning to support my lack of self confidence.  The thing with underearning, noble poverty and caretaking is that they are really unconscious patterns and you don’t really see them until you are forced into looking at them.  Some people may never get to looking at them and that is OK too.

My basic message today is that caretaking is a big part of our profession.  As you become more aware of how caretaking influences your clients lives and your life, you can begin to make different choices that support caregiving (healing).   You can live simply but you don’t have to live in poverty and wonder if you are going to get by.  You don’t have to make $100,000 a year but you can make what you need to make to pay the bills, live debt free, take nice vacations each year and save for retirement.   The process of unraveling caretaking from caregiving will be a contining challenge.   It shows up in how you care for yourself financially – Do you raise your rates each year?  Do you have a cancellation policy and enforce it?  Do you give away your time to clients by doing longer sessions or excessive volunteering?  (What other profession gives away their time for free?)    It shows up when you are challenged by becoming friends with clients, by undercharging, by not doing the things you need to do to promote your business.  It shows up when you take low paying jobs thinking that is all that there is.

This is really a very short post about a very broad and intensive topic.   I would recommend that you begin reading about this in some of my favorite books and free online articles I have posted on my website.

Recommended Reading List

The Code of the Caretaker

Noble Poverty - Mikelann Valterra’s Website

Jack Blackburn’s articles “Caretaking vs Caregiving”

In the Service of Life – Rachel Remen.  This is one of my favorite articles that also started my interest in this topic.

The thing is that once you get started in exploring these issues with either a regular therapist or in the process of supervision you will most likely see your massage business grow.  The steps in building a business gets easier as you clear up some of the unconscious programming and beliefs about money and success.  So you can make $100,000 or more even if you want.  Making that much money isn’t a crime.  The more you make, the more you can actually help by doing things like setting up non-profit groups that offer free and low cost massage.

Last night when I was watching Oprah I was so moved by the story of the guy who was a singer who would rent out theaters to perform in and then go out on the street with a CD player and let people listen to him singing and sell tickets to his shows.  He started with a small theater that he rented for $3000 without actually having the money in the bank and went and sold tickets all weekend so that he could have the money deposited by Monday when the check went through.  He of course made it.  The most interesting part really is that he rented a theater in Chicago for $18,000 and was attempting to do the same.  He put a video up on Youtube and invited Oprah and Gail to go to the show.   Gail showed up at the theater and invited him to be on the Oprah Show.  The thing is that he had the video up for awhile and was really hoping and counting on Oprah showing up.  The day before Gail showed up he had given up hope and he said he was actually crying all day in his room.  Gail showed up when he had given up – surrendered.

Marianne Williamson who is a teacher of the Course in Miracles is also another story like that.  She taught for free for years before becoming a well known speaker and writer.  She just had so much passion for the material and lessons that she just kept with it not knowing or caring if it did become anything.

It got me thinking about just how much passion is really needed to make things happen. While I know some massage therapists have that, others don’t and I think it is the reason that so many struggle to start and build their massage business or even find a job.

What would you do to build your massage business?  What would you do to find a high paying ($45 an hour) with good benefits job in massage?

Offer free massages for a month?   Offer to work for someone for free for a month to show them how much you could improve their business?

I also keep thinking of a story that I read in a book but can’t remember where about a story about a Chiropractor who was wanting to start a business in a small town of about 6000 people that already had many chiropractors.  He went door to door in the community and asked people about their health and what they needed.  He focused on the people.  Of course his business was full right from the start even though he didn’t actually promote his business in the inquiry.  He was just gathering info about what his community needed so he could provide it.

Would you go door to door to everyone in your area to find out what they want in a massage or massage therapist?

Would you offer free consultations?  Go into offices and offer free consultations?  Work for free for a month or as long as it took to build the trust and respect of your community?

Would you set a massage chair or table up on the street in front of your office offering a sampling of your work and selling appointment times until your business was full?

Would you offer free massage classes for couples or friends until your massage business was full?

Would you work for free at a hospital, spa or medical office to show them just what you can do for their customers and how you could enhance and increase their profits?

What would you do to make your massage business a success or to get the best job in the massage profession?

There is some contoversy over working for free.  Massage therapists struggle at fairs, conventions and such giving away free massages.  Some people who get free massages just want free massages.  But I think if you change the context of the free massages and look at it as an informational gathering session or come into it with so much passion in your heart that people can just tell what massage means to you – that it is an amazing healing method that can help to heal a persons physical and mental/emotional injuries.  It is different from behaving like a used car sales man (who always get the bad raps!) who is selling and conniving just to get something.

Do you love doing massage so much that you would stand on the street and offer free samples and ‘sell appointments’ like the guy sold tickets to his own performance?  I guess you also have to see the Oprah show where they showed him visibly moved by all that happened and how passionate he was about singing.  He was just born to sing. Here is a clip.

Were you born to do massage?

Why is it that so many massage therapists think that being a salesperson will somehow take away from what they do when they do massage?  Why do people think that massage is so holy that people will just flock to their table because they have good hands or can give a good massage?

Massage Therapists who own their own business need to be sales people if you want to be successful.  Even if you have a job and work for someone else you will be doing sales.

Maybe part of the problem is the used car salesman and other sales people who give the word sales a bad name.

Sales is just telling people what you do so they can decide if it meets their needs.  It is a matter of using your skills and knowledge about health and massage and sharing it with potential clients and current clients.  Is telling clients that you recommend that people get massage once a week doing sales?  Is asking people at the end of their session if they want to make another appointment being a sales person?  It is and being a sales person can be as simple as that.  You don’t have to lie or deceive people or bring your snake oil.  Just be yourself and promote yourself because you believe in the power of massage and your skills as a massage therapist.

How does this take away from what you do?  What is it that makes massage seem so special that many massage therapists don’t want to charge for it or do sales?  Yes it is nurturing at it’s most truest sense that everyone should have gotten for free when they were in their infancy and before they were 5 but since they didn’t get it then, they can get it now unconditionally from a skilled therapist who sets clear boundaries and teaches them that they are OK at their deepest level.  Can massage do all that?  I think so and much more.  But it takes being a salesperson to get people on the table so they can experience it first hand!

No sales = No massage profession!

Writing a massage business plan begins with creating a simple vision statement as I talked about  last week. The next step is to weave it into a mission and purpose statement which often gets confusing depending on how you want to define those terms.

In order to create a business mission statement you must know what your personal mission statement is because it is important to have the same things in your personal and business mission statement otherwise you will be working out of integrity with yourself.

To do this you must know what you value.  Taking some time to think about what you value and why you value it will help you create a mission statement that is more true to yourself.

Here are some examples of various companies mission statements:

• Reebok: “Our purpose is to ignite a passion for winning, to do the extraordinary, and to capture the customer’s heart and mind.”
• Walt Disney: “To make people happy.”
• Wal-Mart: “To give ordinary folk the chance to buy the same things as rich people.”
• The Body Shop: “Tirelessly work to narrow the gap between principle and practice whilst making fun, passion and care part of our daily lives.”
• Sony: “Our mission is to experience the joy of advancing and applying technology for the benefit of the public.”
• Coca Cola: “The basic proposition of our business is simple, solid and timeless. When we bring refreshment, value, joy and fun to our stakeholders, then we successfully nurture and protect our brands.”
• 3M: “To solve unsolved problems innovatively.”
• Federal Express : “Help the world through better and faster communications”

Your vision that is based on the values that you honor will drive you to take the steps in your mission statement. Your mission is what you intend to become or accomplish. It should be challenging but achievable. It is what will take your vision from dream to reality.

A mission statement will include your purpose an values.  Your values are often inherited or values that have been ingrained in you rather than ones you have personally chosen.  Taking the time to consider your values and choose values can make a powerful impact on the way you will run your business.  Your values drive your actions.  The mission does not say how the results will be achieved.  That will be done in the planning section of a massage business plan.

For more information see also:

Massage Business Plans on www.massage-career-guides.com

Mission Statements on www.thebodyworker.com

Share your Mission Statements here to try them out!

One of the most basic things to do when starting or building your masage busines is to create a simple massage business plan to keep you focused on what you want to achieve and outline the steps you want to take to get there.  It doesn’t have to be a comprehensive plan with detailed financial statements unless you are looking for small business loans.

A business plan will keep you inspired to move forward even in challenging times.  It begins with having a vision for yourself and your business.   What do you envision for yourself? What will make a successful massage business?  A successful massage business has the required income it needs to be able to pay the bills and have the things you desire while also providing meaning for each business owner.  You can be financially well off but not be personally satisfied.   Your vision will include what it is that will bring you a feeling of satisfaction or meaning in your life.  Without a business vision to inspire you, your chances of ending up in a state of burnout increases.

A vision statement is a one or two sentence statement about what you see is possible for your business.  Bill Gates started with the vision of “A computer on every desk’.   I know when I first started out my vision was that every person in the world should be getting a massage once a week and that would lead to world peace!  While that may seem a little grand it has lead to me writing extensively online about massage, becoming a massage therapist and supporting other massage therapists in building $100,000 a year businesses.  I actually never thought I would be writing when I first started out, but I did believe in that vision and still do!  (Maybe Obama is looking for  a minister of massage?)

Your business vision will require that you take steps to learn and continually improve yourself in some way.  Your business plan will then complete the process on how you will achieve that.

You can also start with a simple massage business vision of ‘having 20 clients a week that pay me $100 per session”.  That may or may not fit for you.  It may bring up many feelings of I don’t think I can charge that much or want to charge that much.  Set a goal that you feel that you can achieve.  ‘I have 10 clients a week that pay me $60 an hour’.  As you achieve your goals you will build self confidence to the point where having 20 clients that pay $100 per session is not that far off.

Your vision should call to you and pull you along.  It should inspire you to take the steps you need to take to achieve it.  Reviewing your business plan every week and making adjustment or adding a project will help you to get to where you want to be.  Then you start it all over again with higher and bigger goals?

What is your vision for your massage business?  What is your vision for the massage profession itself?

Read more about Massage Business Plans on my site at www.thebodyworker.com

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.

Yes it is true that we are faced with a challenging economy to say the least.  Many people are losing their jobs.  As a self employed massage therapist, you are priveledged to have skill and tools that are now neeeded more than ever.  Awhile ago I watched a PBS special called ‘Stress Kills’ that talked about the research of Robert Sapolsky who studies stress in animals.

With the economy falling down around us the best thing you can do for yourself is to get regular massage to help keep you relaxed and centered in all of your actions. Reacting to such goings on won’t make anything better. Accepting what is and taking the steps you need to take can help you to stay out of the stress response and act more effectively.

I only caught the last half of the show but one of the most interesting parts is where he talks about a tribe of Baboons that he has studied for 30 years. About 20 years ago they started eating out of the garbage at a resort of some sorts and contracted tuberculosis. The interesting thing is that the Baboons who survived were the ones who were LESS AGGRESSIVE, more socially involved and who were groomed more often!

While massage isn’t grooming like the baboons engage in – getting regular massage is similar in that it is providing the soothing touch that our bodies need to let go of the stress that is internalized all day at the office or wherever you go.

Massage can be the refuge for the world for people to help them get through their many challenges.  While people may be short of funds, there are many who also value themselves enough to keep getting massage through these stressful times.  To me massage is more than just getting rid of people’s pain or injuries.  It helps people to feel themselves more fully and remain present which is the one thing that will also help people go on to find/create new jobs and get through this.

It is a time for us to all come together to start helping each other.  It is a time to start becoming creative with your massage business and finding ways to help people who are being impacted by their economic and job choices while not sacrificing your own needs.  It is hard not to listen to all the news, but I try not to listen too much so I can just stay focused on what it is that I want and what I am doing to help massage therapists and clients in dealing with the challenging economy.

A friend of mine teaches massage classes at a low cost to hispanic women so that they can bring massage to their families.  The history of massage is full of stories of how touch was used in community and in the family.  We have gotten so far away from touch at that level but maybe it’s time to get back to the tradition of using massage in family settings.  Boys were taught massage at an early age so they could massage their wives in some early cultures.  The Blind Japanese massage therapists went out into the streets calling “Anma” out and going into people’s homes to provide massage.  I have one massage therapist who wrote an article on my website about starting a church massage group.

What ideas do you have for creating community and promoting massage?  How can we use our skilled touch to bring people together?  It is almost like this troubled time is just for us to shine and share what we know and support the healing process that is only just beginning.

Why do I dread the benefits of massage?

I am sure you have a list of them on your website or on your flyers and brouchures. Here is a list on my site www.thebodyworker.com

Does anyone really know if they are true?  Have they been proven scientifically?

And better yet – Does anyone really care about them?  What does it mean to someone who is looking for massage that their circulation will be increased?

The so called benefits of massage don’t really mean much or matter for that matter.

What does matter is getting to the heart of what the real benefits of massage are and communicating that information to your potential clients.  Just put yourself in your client’s shoes.  I actually recommend that you do actually go out and try to find a massage therapist for yourself or even better for your mother.   Would you go to someone who only has the long list of the benefits of massage listed on their site or would you go to someone who really can explain what it is that they will be getting?

To get to the real benefits of massage – just start asking after each benefit -  “So What?”  and keep asking it until you cry or it doesn’t make any sense.  They you will know what you have.