We’ve all had them. You can’t please them; they are always late then have the audacity to complain about your massage room, the oils, the curtains, your music, or whatever they can think about that doesn’t meet their standards of perfection. They’re never come for their appointment on time, they leave their money ‘at home’, they never refer anybody to you….the list goes on.

I had a client once who was always clinging on to her Asthma for an excuse for everything. After 20 minutes into the appointment she arrived late (couldn’t find her puffer), doesn’t apologise (why should she, she was an asthmatic) and still expected her hour treatment (because Asthmatics need a full hour) and then criticised me for not using X,Y,Z technique, after all her last massage therapist did it (she die of asthma if I didn’t and it would be my fault)….I wanted to strangle her. But I didn’t because I wanted her business.

Then one day she forgot her purse at home (her puffers made her do it) and said “I’ll be back in ten minutes with the money.” I didn’t see her again. By this time I was so sick of it that I wrote her a letter. I was polite yet assertive. In a nutshell I was sick of being walked on and treated without respect. After all her breathing had never been better like when she was seeing me…I don’t mean to big note myself but it was just a fact. I deserved better.

About a week later I wrote her a letter explaining that I felt disappointed and hurt that she didn’t pay me because it was like she did not value me or the good work I was doing and to please pay within 7 days of getting this letter otherwise I shall seek legal action. As any normal business person would.

Well you can imagine what her reaction was. Because I’d spoken to her in an assertive way she was very angry after all she could have had an Asthma attack and died. She accused me of being unfair and didn’t want to see me again. Phew! I was so glad. She sent me a cheque pretty quickly though. And that was all she had to do. Frankly I didn’t want her back. And I was not being aggressive, I was being assertive. (There is a huge difference.)

Question: What went wrong? Why did this person give me grief?

Answer: because I let them.

I just wanted to make my massage business to work and I thought I had to accept new clients just because they gave me business. I thought that a big part of making my massage business work was accepting clients that came my way…ANY clients.

But I learnt something very different (and extremely valuable) from that experience. That was to value myself as a person and a massage therapist. So I made the decision to never let another client treat me like that again. I would recognise the signs of a “difficult” client and nip it in the bud, so to speak and stop it from getting stressful. (After all the difficult client doesn’t feel stress; YOU DO!)

I devised a mental formula to prepare me to terminate difficult relationships without delay. As soon as a new client displayed any of the signs of being a difficult client, they were referred to someone else instantly. I had a mental checklist and used it actively. Since then I was able to recognise difficult clients and make the conscious choice of self value and my life would be so much better. After all who needs it for $70?

If you have had an experience like this then you know the headache they can cause you. So the first thing to bringing fabulous, regular, appreciative clients into your life and get rid of the difficult ones, or disconnect them from your life. To do this you need to recognise the signs of a difficult client.

Checklist to avoid:

• A ridiculously late arrival for the treatment without any apology or acknowledgment that they have inconvenienced you.
• Forgets their money or doesn’t have enough at the end of the massage treatment (let you get the whole massage through and then tells you they don’t have enough money on them).
• Criticizes you in some very subtle way (this is called ‘invalidation’ such as “are you still using that cheap massage oil?”)
• Always compares you to their other massage therapist out loud in conversation with you, implying they were better and they are just seeing you because the other person went out of business, town etc, etc
• Tells you that they would like to make an appointment but suggests that you give them half price because eventually they will tell people about you, which somehow qualifies them for a huge discount. (This really means they do not value you.)
• Rings five minutes before the appointment to cancel then gets annoyed because they can’t have an appointment on a time you don’t work (like 10pm Friday night.)

Believe it or not their behavior is not personal. These people are like this because they don’t like themselves and have a difficult time with self value and respect. This manifests into insecurity and a difficulty in relating to other people in an honest and respectable way. They have not learnt to show others respect. They are like this to everyone, you just have the unfortunate situation dealing with them right now.

If a client displays ANY of these things you can handle it effectively for yourself by making the decision to be assertive. My advice to you is that they are just not worth the stress or headache. You are a valuable person and a very important massage therapist who deserves the very best that clients can give you and should not take any less, consider yourself to accept anything less. You are here now, doing something incredibly good for humanity so value yourself for it.

And think of this; if you charge $70 per massage treatment then you are putting up with all of this for $70. Is it your happiness more to you than $70? If it is, tell these people to see someone else. You are worth more.

Best wishes,
Amy Roberts
www.massagetherapysuccess.com

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You just graduated from massage school and are ready to go out into the world and find that wonderful job in massage that you were told about. You send out a few applications, go for interviews and you take the first job that you are offered only to find out later that it is the massage job from #^&*@! You are working long hours without breaks between sessions, the chiropractor is billing $120 an hour and you are only making $20 an hour, your massage office doesn’t have a real door but only a curtain dividing you from the hair salon, you can’t get a key to the office because of problems with past employees. These are actually stories that I have heard from massage therapists.

Finding a job in the massage profession that pays really well and can support you on your path to being a massage therapist is really about first creating an image of your Ideal Job in Massage.

1. What is your philosophy on healing and health?
2. What type of environment would you like to work in? With doctors, other medical professionals, at a spa, on a cruise ship?
3. How much would you like to get paid? What benefits do you want?
4. What hours do you want to work?
5. What incentives are there for you to get clients to come back or even bring in new clients?
6. Do you have complete control over the session or will someone be instructing you what to do and how to do it?

Once you get a list of places that you think you would like to work at and that would fit your idea of your ideal massage job, start doing some company research. Go and get a dozen massages there and see how you like the service and environment. Ask the massage therapist there what it is like to work there. Find out what the management and service is like first hand. Then you can decide if you want to be part of such an environment. You don’t have to take the first job that is offered to you. If you are desperate for a job and need to do that do it knowing that it will be a learning experience. It will be a stepping stone to finding out what you do want in a massage job. Sometimes when you are first out of school, you won’t really care. Expect to change jobs until you find your ideal job or have the patience to participate in whatever job you do take. While you may think that getting a job means that you don’t have to do much and that clients will just be directed to you - you will be much more successful if you treat it as if it were your own practice. Learn to work with clients and communicate and educate them as to what getting regular massage can do. Having repeat clients will show the management that you are good at what you do. It will give you leverage in asking for what you want.

To find out more about how to find or create your ideal massage job visit the job center at www.thebodyworker.com

Julio Onofrio
Founder www.thebodyworker.com

If you have just graduated as a Massage Therapist and want to start up your practice from home here are some ways you get started.

First of all, let me say that starting from home is an excellent way to keep overhead costs down, build up a solid client base in the control of your own environment and there are no traveling times to and from work.

Before I give you these important directions to follow lets look at this first, otherwise you won’t be able to do anything: The hardest thing about getting starting is developing momentum. This factor is so underestimated. It’s very easy to sit back and say “it’s all too hard” and rely on clients to come to you without any effort. It can be hard because you have to be very self motivated and be willing to put the time in to start this momentum.

So what are some ways to make this “gaining momentum” easier?

Write down in a special book (blank) that every day you will commit to a minimum of at least one hour dedicated to the pursuit of getting clients. If you work better with routine, then say to yourself “okay everyday, Monday to Friday, between 10 am and 11am I am going to work actively at getting clients.”

See how that feels already? Already you have formed a picture in your mind of yourself actually doing that. That picture can grow into reality and form into your life. That mental image is the basis of getting what you want. It’s very important.

The next thing to do is to have a very clear picture in your mind of what you want to be experiencing. In your special book (I call this my “inspiration book” its really a business planning book, but you can call it whatever name works to get you going) you can then ask yourself a question:

What are some of the ways I can start getting clients today?

Your response might be “contact the local Physical Therapy Center and introduce myself, and leave a brochure or flyer there.” It’s a small gesture but it might lead to something else later.

Make sure though, that the clients you want to treat actually go to the Physical Therapy Center. No point marketing yourself where your potential clients have no intention of going. I want to make that point as clear as the palm of your hand.

Follow-Up

The next thing to do is to make sure you follow up and follow up with these people or places you contact. It’s SO important to keep tabs on what your results are from your contact so that you know what’s getting you clients and what is not.

There is no point contacting a swimming center over and over again over a 4 month time frame, and leaving brochures there if you get absolutely no clients from that. There’s no sense “flogging a dead horse” as the saying goes.

This is why you must keep tabs. All you have to do for this is to write in your special book how many times you have contacted them over what period of time and whether you got any response from the swim center or not. If you did special offers and incentives to the swim center over a 6 month period, and gave your “all” and got absolutely nothing back, move on.

If you contacted the Physical Therapist a few times and had two clients from them and those clients came back and referred you other clients over a six month period, to compare, then you know that source is a good source to work on. Perhaps then you can contact the Therapist with a thank you card and some incentive for them to keep referring you their clients. It might be free massage, it might be something else. Whatever it is, make sure you do it and give them something they will like. There is no point rewarding them for the business they have given you with a nice bottle of white wine if they dislike alcohol! Just find out from their receptionist or colleague first. It’s just a bit of sneaky detective work that will go along way.

When do you stop your daily hour commitment to getting clients?

You never actually stop working on your massage business to get clients, you’ll always be doing it. That’s just business and if you’ve been in it for as long as I have (since 1994) or for twenty minutes you must realise that the act of marketing is just as important as the massage itself.

The more you build up the busier you will be and that time you spend may go from one hour a day to three hours a week, but whatever time it is, make should you do it and commit to it.

Don’t worry if you take a bit of time to actually gain this momentum, just make sure you commit to it and follow through. Because the thing about starting to take action like this is actually making a promise to yourself and, on a personal level, enhancing your self esteem as well.

My best wishes to you,

Amy Roberts
www.massagetherapymarketingsuccess.com

Hello to you. I’d like to extend a warm hello to you. I would like to provide you with some great articles about how you can get more clients in your massage business.

My best wishes to you,

Amy Roberts
www.massagetherapymarketingsuccess.com

Amy Roberts is a Massage Therapist and International Business Consultant for Massage Therapists. Amy has helped over 10,000 Massage Therapists world wide grow their massage businesses, and is also an international speaker on many issues that therapists face in their businesses. Travelling overseas to the UK, Amy was a guest speaker at the Bowen Therapy Association UK and then a guest speaker at the Therapeutic Massage Association of New Zealand.

Amy has a regular column with the American Massage Therapy Association. She also has been accredited by the AMTA’s continuing education program on stress management issues in a Massage practice. Amy has 6 eBooks that she sells online and coaches therapists in person and in groups. Amy’s website is www.massagetherapysuccess.com . She answers all emails personally.

One of the best ways to start and build a massage practice (besides using a website which I wrote about last week ) is to create a network of referrals.

All of your clients should be referring their friends, coworkers and family members to you. The way to actually get them to do this is to just kindly ask them. Most are more than willing to help. They will automatically refer people to you when they also feel like they have received a special session.

You can also set up a referral reward system like if they send you 3 new clients, you will give them a free half hour massage. I have heard of many massage therapists doing this but I actually have never really needed to do that. I think it just makes for a cleaner relationship if they refer people on their own because they want to.

Asking for referrals from others seems to bring up a lot of fears in massage therapists. They don’t want to seem like pushy sales people. They don’t want to be bothersome. They don’t want to be rejected or seem foolish. The thing is that people want to help you if you are helping them. Women in particular seem to be skeptical of asking for what they need. But in business, asking is how you create relationships and get what you want.

Some massage therapists seem to attached or identified with their practice. They think if they ask for what they want, the rejection will be too much to bear. When you identify with your massage practice in such a way rather than see it as a business with needs, you limit your opportunities.

Your other referral source is doctors and other health care providers. The best way to create a referral network with this group of people is to get to know them first. Find out about their practice , their philosophies on health and healing. Would you go to them yourself or send your mother to them? If you respect them as a health care provider and start sending people to them or even going yourself, you increase your chances of them referring to you without even asking. If you wouldn’t go to them for care, why would you want to see people that they refer to you? Creating a relationship with people before you ask them for referrals increases your chance of getting them to refer to you without your even having to ask for referrals!

Some ways to ask for referrals are:

I have a few openings in my schedule on this and this day if you know of anyone who needs to come in.

I am building my business and would appreciate your referrals.

I prefer working on only people who have been referred to me by people I know and trust.

It takes time to build up a referral network but it is well worth the time and effort. If one person refers one person who comes once a week for a year - well you can figure out what that would mean for your massage practice.

Julie Onofrio
Founder www.thebodyworker.com

Recently I’ve been reading quite a lot about some highly regarded websites being penalised by Google. I can see why they want to keep the spammy sites out of their search results, but in many cases it seems like innocent businesses are being hit by this as well as the unscrupulous operators.

In fact my husband noticed a couple of weeks ago that one of his websites had been penalised and his visitor numbers from Google had dropped right off as a consequence. When we checked his site, we found that some of the sites he’d been linking to for years were now horrid spammy sites (rather than the reputable sites they were when he’d first linked to them). He’s now removed these and asked Google to reconsider, but you can see why you’d want to avoid getting on Google’s bad side in the first place!

If you’re doing any promotion of your web site yourself, it’s well worth reading and complying wit h Google’s quality guidelines on linking to other websites. If you’re linking to other sites, make sure the other sites are:

• relevant - e.g. they are on a similar subject
• provide quality content that you’re happy to recommend

A good rule of thumb is to link to a site only if you feel it’s genuinely useful to your visitors. Don’t be persuaded to exchange links just for the sake of a link back, and don’t buy links to enhance your rankings. Lastly, check your links occasionally - good sites can go bad, so make sure the sites that you’re linking to are still relevant and high quality sites.

Happy Marketing,
Catherine
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Founder, Soothed - web design & online marketing for natural therapists
Editor, natural bloom - sharing the inside story on holistic health

“There’s no easy way to bring it up.
It’s easy to bring up, “hey, where’d you get that ring tone?” because the ring tone just interrupted everyone. It’s a lot harder to bring up the fact that you just got a massage.”

That quote comes from Seth Godin’s Blog. It is one of the reasons he sees why word of mouth does not happen.

Does it mean, massage cannot generate word of mouth? No way, on the contrary, there are so many ways it can. What is one of the most talked about topics among friends? Health (or actually the lack of it).

People talk about how tired they are, how stressed they are, how their backs hurt. These things come up a lot more than cool ring tones. So, all you need to do to be talked about is change your identity from “I am a massage practitioner.” to “I give backs their strength back.” or “eliminating stress in 30 minutes”.

Hold that last statement in your head for a minute, I’ll come back to it.

The important thing is that people have you as someone in mind who does a really specific thing, a specialist. The specialist who can help beyond anything that others might hope for. And the better that specialty relates to what people are talking about, the more you will get word of mouth.

The Irresistible Offer

There are very few books, I read more than once. But if I do, I usually read them 5 or 10 times. One of my re-reads is called “The Irresistible Offer” by Mark Joyner. It teaches “how to sell your service in 3 seconds or less”.

How? By developing a “touchstone” that answers the four biggest questions people have when they evaluate a service (or product). After reading it, you will know why “I just got a massage” can never lead to successful word of mouth referrals and - more importantly - how you can develop an identity that will lead to lots of successful word of mouth.

Just imagine what “Eliminating stress in 30 minutes or less or it’s free” would do for you.

If you want to understand this example, you need to read the book.

You can get it at Amazon or you can download it here: The Irresistible Offer for free.

I got a great question recently: Do you recommend Google AdWords as part of the marketing campaign for complementary therapists?

Note: (if you do not know) Google AdWords are the ads you see on the right hand side of any Google searches. Advertisers bid how much they are willing to pay per click (so they do not pay when the ad is shown, just when someone clicks on it). Google then ranks the ads by how much the advertiser bids and the quality of the page the ad points to.

So here are my thoughts:

AdWords are a science in itself. the advantage: you can target the people who will see your ads very specifically (through the keywords you bid for, and you can specify a geographic area). The disadvantage: competition is quite high for keywords and the prices you need to pay per click are rising every month.

So, unless you are certain that your website converts visitors to paying clients, it is a dangerous game to use Google AdWords.

If you want to do it, I would establish a conversion rate for your site first (i.e. how many people visit your site before someone books a session, if 200 people visit the site, before someone books, your conversion rate is 0.5%). You can use Google Analytics to work that out (if they can book online).

Once you know that and you know how much profit you make from each person (e.g. they come 5 times on average and pay $50 each time, so the revenue is $250. Your costs, including your own time, rent, washing, etc. are $150, so you could theoretically spend up to $100 to get people to your site.)

Now you need to multiply your conversion rate with what you want to spend on Google AdWords (e.g. $100 x 0.5% gives you $0.50). So the maximum you want to spend is $0.50 per click.

Then, you need to test that for each keyword and each different ad. It might be that more people who use click on a Google Ad convert or less than the traffic you had before. My experience is that it is usually less than from the organic traffic.

In my opinion, you are much better off to optimize your site for organic search engine traffic. You can download an ebook that shows you how to build successful websites that draw organic traffic. It is a tiny part of the education you get when you purchase the SiteBuildIt package.

Money well spent if you enjoy working on the computer. Otherwise, find yourself a good webdesigner who understands about Search Engine Optimization. And by having read this document, you will be able to ask the right questions to find out whether someone is knowledgeable.

You can contact Julie for support in using the SiteBuildIt package or contact Catherine for web design services.

One of the things I am quite passionate about is sharing my knowledge and experience in using websites to start and build a massage practice. It is one of the most easy and direct ways to promote your business. When someone searches for the words ‘massage, your city’ the first thing that should come up is your website. Well or so we would all like. To create a website that achieves that status involves a little bit of learning about Search Engine Optimization. The first step is using the keywords in your title, heading and metatags. Your main keyword will most likely be just what I said before ‘massage, your city’. It also helps if your domain name uses those main keywords. You domain name does not necessarily need to be the same as your business name. There is a little bit more to creating pages that I have outlined on my site www.thebodyworker.com

If you don’t know what it all means just know that if you are hiring a webdesigner or purchasing a premade website find out if the pages will be optimized for search engines.

The next part of the website is the content. You can get your website to the top of the search results for your keywords with search engine optimization. You can get them to click on your listing and read your content when you create a site that is about them- not about you. A good website needs lots of content. A basic 8 page website is a good place to start but it is just more of an online business card. What we need to do is start really educating clients about massage, what it does, how it works, what to expect, why they should be getting an hour and a half massage 2x a week (yes that much! I have two clients who have been doing that for over 15 year each. With regular clients like that you won’t have to keep marketing.)

Back to content… The standard list of the benefits of massage needs to have one page for every benefit or even a few pages. If that amount of content intimidates you just stop to think - you are probably already telling people this all day long. The thing about writing content is to remember that you are just putting down what you would usually want to say to people. Having quality content allows the reader to start trusting you before then even call for the appointment. It allows you to share your values and purpose and helps you find clients that share those too making for a better match. Working with people who are not your ideal client can end up being draining resulting in burnout, stress and even resentment. A successful practice will be full of your ideal clients.

So just start writing about things that you learned in massage school. Most people have little understanding of what massage is or can do. When I started telling people more about it, I attracted regular weekly clients. One of the things I always ask too is would you like an appointment for next week to continue working on that so and so.

The way to create your pages is to also be sure that you are focusing on your readers needs - not yours. A site that is focused on your needs goes on and on about your credentials, I did this, I did that etc. Content that is focused on the reader should feature “you”… You will experience, You will receive… You don’t have to live in pain. What will your service do for me ( the reader)? How will it make my life better? How will it make me feel about myself? People want to know what is in it for them. Put yourself in their shoes. Actually do this for yourself- go online and look for a massage therapist in your area. Who would you go to? The person with a few pages of flashy graphics or someone who will tell you more about themselves?

Keeping it simple and just teaching readers and potential clients how massage can make a difference in their lives is what having a website that works is all about.

You can read more about websites www.thebodyworker.com in the Creating a Website that works section.

Julie Onofrio
Founder www.thebodyworker.com

You may not have given much thought to the colours you’re using in your logo and marketing materials, but did you realise that colour can subtly communicate what you stand for, and the wrong choice can put people off?

A client of mine has made great consistent use of colour throughout her practice. Sonia wanted to use a lotus flower as the inspiration for her logo and web site. For the web site, I picked out a palette of purples and greens from photos, and her graphic designer used the same palette for brochures and business cards. Finally Sonia painted her new clinic in matching shades to create a wonderfully relaxing environment that you remember because it stands out from the crowd.

So, what are the best colours for a natural therapies business? If you’re working with a graphic designer they’ll be able to select a colour scheme to reflect your core philosophy. If you’re making the choice yourself, my recommendations would be to consider:

• Green. Green is a tranquil colour that is often used to represent healing, renewal and growth. According to Siba Graphics, green lowers blood pressure, relaxes the nervous system, and calms and soothes the mind.
• White. White is the colour I would recommend for web page backgrounds, and other text-heavy applications. It’s professional, and when used with black text makes the text easy to read. White symbolises purity, peace, and simplicity.
• Purple. Purple is a spiritual colour that is often associated with meditation and the higher self.
• Blue. Blue is often associated with medicine. Pale blue can be calming, whilst darker blue can suggest wisdom.

Generally speaking, muted tones create a welcoming, calming mood, whilst stronger tones are more playful and energetic.

Although using different shades of a single colour can produce a harmonious peaceful effect, you might want to spice things up with an accent colour. Go ahead and experiment, but don’t go crazy - choosing between 1 and 3 colours will ensure a more professional look.

As Sonia’s story illustrates beautifully, choosing the right colours and using them consistently allows you to create a lasting impression.

Happy Marketing,
Catherine
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Founder, Soothed - web design & online marketing for natural therapists
Editor, natural bloom - sharing the inside story on holistic health