Massage Your Mind Blog

So, would you like to get more massage clients by creating exciting partnerships with other professionals and businesses in your community?

There are endless possibilities for great partnerships. However it's a lot easier to pick those key referral partners when you're crystal clear about who your target market is, and how you serve that market in a unique way.

Your ideal partner will have the same target market as you, but offer different but complimentary services or products to your own.

However, if you haven't defined your niche yet, don't let that stop you. My first alliance was with a chiropractor when I was straight out of massage school. It worked because he liked my work, he knew I had great training, our services were complimentary, and he was the kind of guy that when he suggested something, his patients really listened.

In exchange for use of a treatment room in his clinic and as many referrals as I could handle, I worked for him a few hours a week, massaging patients prior to adjustments. In addition to having a thriving practice in no time at all, he became my mentor, and I learned a lot from him about how to run a successful business.

So don't let lack of experience stop you. But do approach the potential partners in your community in a professional manner. I will be writing more about how to do that in upcoming posts, so do pop back!

Posted by Elizabeth Brown at 1:25 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

In response to a previous post I had written about a massage student trying to decide whether to work for an established wellness center or go off and build her own practice, another therapist, Marcy, recently had some great comments that I wanted to share with you. She said:

Learn all areas of the business before you jump in to starting your own practice. It takes years of discipline and hard work to sustain a thriving business. It's a lifestyle not a job. Start taking classes to enhance what you already know and continually attend trade shows and networking events to stay current and get your name out there. Persistence, perseverence and a positive attutude will help you naturally succeed!

Thanks Marcy. I couldn't agree more.

Do we have any more experienced therapists out there with insights for new therapists thinking of starting their own massage practice? Just hit the "comments" link and feel free to share your thoughts.

Posted by Elizabeth Brown at 10:56 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Do you ever have those lulls in your business... when you know you have to go "out there" and get more massage clients? But you loath the very idea of picking up the phone and making those calls? Or scheduling a wellness talk? Or going to that networking event?

You see, often the problem is not that we don't know what to do to get more clients, but that we are simply a little "under the weather" when it comes to marketing confidence. And let's be honest, even the most successful therapists have confidence challenges from time to time.

Now I am not talking about general confidence. You may think you're the bee's knees in other areas of your massage business and in your personal life. But if you'd rather get a bikini wax (sorry guys) than make those follow up prospecting calls, then you might be suffering from the Massage Marketing Confidence Blues.

But the good news is, no matter how atrophied your massage marketing muscles may be, you can strengthen them with some simple confidence building strategies. I'll be sharing some of my favorites over the next few days. I'd love to hear some of yours...

Posted by Elizabeth Brown at 8:53 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

I recently received an email from a massage student who was currently studying to be a licensed massage therapist. She was thinking ahead and planning how she was going to get started in her new career.

She wondered if she should either work for an established wellness center (and possibly even begin to develop her own clientele "on the side") or start looking for a location and immediately go out on her own as a self employed professional. She asked for my advice.

I though that there might be others out there reading this who would be interested in the subject, so here's what I told her…

"The approach you take really depends on how good you are at promoting yourself and running your own business. If you want to go off on your own, there are a lot of benefits, but you will need a good plan in place to market your services. That is where many of the therapist I talk to get stuck.

In addition to business and marketing skills, you will also need some start-up capital, or at least money to live on for the first 3-6 months while you build up your clientele.

If you think that you can really get the word out in your community and have the discipline and motivation to run your own business then go for it. The rewards are super; freedom from someone telling what to do, keep all of the profit for yourself, run your business however YOU want.

But if you are unsure about your basic business skills (or even your massage skills for that matter) then I would recommend that you begin your massage career by working for someone else. Let them take care of getting clients in the door, and you can focus on developing your skills and your "style" as a therapist. That way you will have a lot more confidence if you later decide to go off on your own.

It will also give you some idea of what it takes to run a business, so you can decide if it is something you are cut out for. Many therapists underestimate what it takes to run a successful massage practice and are ultimately happier being employed by someone else."

And that is what I wrote. But that is just one opinion. And I know there are some experienced therapists out there who read this. So my question to you is….

What would you have told her?

Posted by Elizabeth Brown at 8:36 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)