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

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I love all your advice. I live in a tiny town in South Africa and have a health practice - massage, reflexology, Indian Head Massage etc. The place is actually too small to specialise, which is why I have branched out. My question is -

What is the best way of attracting new business (apart from word of mouth)? How do I go about promoting myself?

The short answer is:

No one can tell you what the best way is for you. You need to test it out.

The longer answer: Specialise!

You say that you live in a tiny town. That is actually ideal. It makes it possible that you get known much more quickly for what you do.

Specialising does not mean to say: “I do Indian Head Massage only”.

Specialising means defining what problem you solve and for who.

Maybe you are a stress buster. People with a headache (often developed through stress), you use Indian Head Massage, people with tight muscles (often developed through stress) you massage and where the stress has manifested in problems with the organs, you use reflexology.

In each case, you make sure that your clients feel rejuvenated and relaxed after the treatment. My guess is that happens anyway, so it is just a matter of pointing it out.

You become the expert on stress, chronic stress, acute stress, etc.

Why?

Specialising puts a spin on your promotion. It does not limit what you do.

The biggest reason for putting that clear spin on it is that people can talk about you more easily and consistently. I know you wanted something else than word of mouth. And I ended up here anyway.

There is no way around it, word of mouth is the most effective marketing tool. With your help, it works faster and more effectively. Being a specialist with a clear message is one ingredient.

Giving a great service that over-delivers on your promise is the second important ingredient.

The detailed answer:

The Passionate Training consists of 25 detailed exercises to help you promote yourself.

Do you think it’s worth running a natural health ‘open evening’ to discuss health issues and as an aside promote my practice? I’m a massage therapist, reflexologist and Reiki practitioner.

Hannah, that is a great idea and it is very much worthwhile.

Here are some things to think of:

• Plan it on an ongoing and consistent basis
  Running evenings like that as a once-off might not bring the results you are looking for. Over time, people get to value them and tell their friends.
• Give your participants value
  They need to leave, blown away by what they have learned and how that has positively impacted on their lives. (Could just be emotional support to deal with a specific long-term problem, does not have to be a quick fix).
• Target your market well
  Choose topics that you can help with and let the people you want to treat know. As an example if you work with older people, hold the evenings in retirement villages.
• Invite your friends
  A bigger group is always more exciting for the participants. The networking they do can be a benefit as well. Also, having the support of people who love you helps.
• Invite other complementary health practitioners
  Guest speakers can deepen the conversation.
• Use it for PR
  Remember the post about creating newsworthy actions.

Something else to consider is whether to charge for these evenings or keep them free. Free might bring more people, but they might not value it as much.

I ran events like that for health practitioners, talking about different marketing topics. I charged $5. Looking back that was too little, because it did not translate into direct sales and gave a lot of what they wanted already.

With a harder sales approach (e.g. offering a discount if they purchase something that evening) it might work. I don’t use that because I do not think that it builds positive long-term relationships.

So if you do not expect quick sales, but want to build your network long-term, it is a great way of achieving it.

How do I develop a relationship with health care practitioners who may not be familiar with the modality I practice? (avoiding their discrediting something they don’t understand)

Thanks Jocelyne.

I guess that really depends on what your modality is and how it complements what other health care practitioners do.

A relationship with you

What I am wondering is how they could discredit something that they are not familiar with. It probably means that they have heard negative things of the modality. So they might think that they are familiar with it, even though they do not know details.

Probably the best way around it is to build strong personal relationships: actively networking. It is probably best to focus your relationship building on other interests of yours.

Join a sports club, make music, go to events. Relate to people on a personal basis, so they get to know and trust you. Then will then extent to what you do.

And maybe it is not necessary to put a lot of emphasis on your modality, but rather on the problems you solve and the results clients can expect.

Supporting what others do

If there is a way that your modality fits int what other health care practitioners do (i.e. supports their process), you’ve got a great inroad for some mutual marketing activities.

I would avoid trying to convince people who use another modality that yours is better. But if they are a specialist in a niche different to yours, let them know about your niche and how you can help their clients in your area of expertise.