Massage Practice Builder

I came across an interesting thread on the indeed.com job forums (very enlightening reading!) asking what to do about being bored when doing massage.  I have to say that I was quite shocked to think that people are bored doing massage.  I have been doing it for 20 years and I have to say I have been a lot of things – burned out, frustrated, sad, excited, sick, tired but never bored.  There is too much going on to be bored.

In The Heart of The Soul, Gary Zukav says,

“Boredom is a flight from what is important. Like workaholism and perfectionism, it is a way of distracting yourself from inner experiences. It occurs when you look outward and do not find anything to engage your attention. Instead of feeling your emotions – becoming aware of the functioning of your energy system – you become bored. Boredom … is a flight from your higher potential. It is fear of the transformation that wants to occur, and will occur in you, when you explore your emotions. It is your resistance to spiritual growth.”

When I posted that on the forum I got people telling me that boredom is genetic and all sorts of things. Then one person said she has gotten massage from someone who she knows is bored and she couldn’t tell the difference.

I for one would not want to be going to a bored massage therapist.  I can tell when people are working on me what their focus is for the most part.

It is hard for me to understand why people remain in a profession if they are bored.  Time is too short to waste.

If you are bored and are looking for some answers the quote above seems like a good place to start.  I guess I am never bored because every person seems like a new situation to me even though I do have weekly and even clients who come 2x a week.  I focus on what I am feeling in my hands, the clients body and my body and time flies.   I work with people to engage them in the process of massage often asking them to compare sides after working one arm or asking them how things feel when I feel tightness.  Letting them give words to what they are feeling helps people focus inside.

Yes and staying present is the goal and challenge at all times.  Sometimes it is easier than others.  Presence is what creates the therapeutic relationship which is really the basis for healing.  Having presence requires that you are able to look at your own feelings and have them without acting on them.  Clients will be able to heal better and faster when in the presence of someone with presence.  It will enhance your ability to use your intuition in massage sessions.  It is also the key to preventing burnout which is so common in the massage profession.  Working with presence can leave you feeling refreshed after a day of doing massage.  Creating presence allows you to go beyond your techniques and connect with people on a very deep level.  It is also the key to overcoming boredom while doing massage.

Suzanne Scurlock-Durana talks about it on her blog here at Massage Magazine and  her website  www.healingfromthecore.com which has a few really great articles on creating presence.

Just wondering if there are others out there are bored and why or what are you doing about it or are you just fine being bored doing 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!

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.

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)

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?

Building Your Ideal Massage Practice starts with first creating a vision for yourself and your massage business.  Since massage is such a personal business it also helps to have your vision be compatible with your personal vision for yourself and your life.  A fun way to create and develop your vision is to create a “Mind Movie” for yourself.

Your vision will of course evolve as you do.  Start with thinking big!  What do you want for yourself from your business?   How many clients a week do you want to be seeing?  What kind of office do you want?  Do you want to share space or even rent space out to others?  Do you want to work alone or have others who can be a support network?  Do you want to be close to home or in a busy or quiet section of town?  What types of clients do you want to work with?  Start with describing the type of work – like working with pregnant women, elderly, athletes or some specific population.  If you can’t narrow it down – don’t worry.  You can develop that as you go when you start working with some so that you can learn more about what you like and don’t like.  Most importantly though your ideal massage practice will include clients who value their health and their well being and are willing to pay for services that support that personal value.  (more on this later!)

Learning everything you can about marketing and business is also necessary to build your ideal massage practice.  Most massage schools have a few hours or maybe even a weekend on this.  I usually tell people right out of high school to get a degree in business or marketing before going to massage school!   It is a constant learning process – something that you can do everyday.  There are many resources and support groups out there to help you along the way.

Another thing you can do is take the time to plan for your business and create a business plan and marketing guide.  This also includes creating a website for your massage practice.  I am sort of a website junkie as you may be able to tell.  In today’s world with all of the economic challenges having a website can help you get a regular stream of new clients.  People are looking for information online.  With a website you can give them more information than they ever dreamed of and become the expert in your area.  When people find your site by searching for “massage, your city” they start out without having to be ‘sold’ on the idea of massage.  They are already looking for it – but not necessarily you!  With a website you can tell them why YOU! are what they are looking for.  There is a lot to creating a website like this but I have it all outlined on my website www.thebodyworker.com 

The process of doing all of the things and learning all of the things that you need to know to create a successful practice can be very overwhelming.  To make the journey lighter one of the best things you can do is to get support for yourself.  When you work on yourself and get the support you need to uncover your unconscious beliefs about yourself that are holding you back you increase your chances of success.  Participate in online discussion groups.   Start or join your own peer supervision group. (Peer Supervision is a fairly new concept for the massage profession but a much needed one!)

I’ll be writing more about it here.  When I started my own peer supervision group about 6 years ago, it is then when all of my websites and writings and massage practice started to really come together.

So what is your biggest challenge in creating your ideal massage practice?  Posting questions on blogs like this can also help with getting traffic to your website – not that potential clients will find you from this link – but search engines love to see links to your website.  It makes them think that you are popular so they give you better page rankings.)