One more week to get in your best massage marketing (or spa marketing) question.

We had so many excellent questions. It is going to be hard to find the best. Here is what we had so far:

• What is the biggest difference between spa marketing and massage marketing? by Lorraine Bloom
• We plan to move out of the city into a rural area in the next 6 months, is it worth trying to build up my practice before that, and learn some skills (not to mention, building my confidence) that will make it easier for me to build my practice again once we move? by Catherine
• Practice management software? Any ideas on what to choose? by Jodie
• What is the best way of attracting new business (apart from word of mouth)? How do I go about promoting myself? by Gizelle
• Do you think it’s worth running a natural health ‘open evening’ to discuss health issues and as an aside promote my practice? by Hannah Hempenstall
• How do I develop a relationship with health care practitioners who may not be familiar with the modality I practice? by Jocelyne Chevrier
• A common problem is smoothing out the peaks and troughs where one week is very busy followed by a very quiet week. What do you suggest for achieving or a more consistent workflow? by Krishna
• How can you build credibility in a massage practice? by Peppy Burmer
• How can I build a practice quickly? by Eva
• What should I focus on? by Roland Myers
• I’m no good at selling myself. by Katherine
• How can I discipline myself to contain my treatment times and not overrun allocated session time? by Peter
• I’m about to take on my first staff member - how can I best ensure their loyalty to me, as well as maximise client loyalty to my business, rather than the new therapist (and any other therapists that follow!)? by Paula
• New practice - unsure of repeat biz as yet. by Rodney
• What am I responsible for? by Amanda
• What is the best way to advertise? Reuben Gill
• How can I make money without reaching burn out? by Michelle
• Working from home - a lonely existence? by Tara Jonson

If you’ve got anything to add, ask away in the comments (or send me an email). I will answer your question and you have the chance to win a Passionate Training.

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Practice management software? Any ideas on what to choose? A replacement for MYOB, appointment book, tracking clients writing letters, emails birthday records etc.

I know Health quest has been recommended to me and smart soft front desk has been as well , just wondering before I spend thousands if you have had any good ones or anyone has any comments on software programs?

I am sorry Jodie, I do not have a good answer for you.

When I started out with Passionate Management, we offered a remote receptionist service for natural health practitioners. Their phone diverted to us, we booked clients in and looked after the invoicing and payments.

We used a system called Ealth. We mainly chose it because of its online capabilities, practitioners could access it from their homes. Its biggest downside was how slow it was, so I would not really recommend it.

Decide what you need

What I would do is write a list of your needs. Do not even look at all the features that are available in the different programs, just think about your business processes and what you need.

Here are the steps:

1. Look at all the different places you keep data (e.g. patient addresses, treatment records). Write them all down.
2. Write down what you do with that data (after you have recorded it). How do you use it (e.g. sending birthday cards, using addresses for invoices.
3. Add what you are not currently doing but would like to do (and what data you need to capture to be able to do that).
4. Think about each item, deciding whether the current system is working well (a lot of patient management software can keep treatment notes, but very few practitioners are faster putting them in than writing them on paper). Do not go for things that you do not really need, just because they are possible.
5. There might be some items that are not clear cut. Mark them as your optional functions.
6. Send your list with the features you need (the essential ones and the optional ones) to a sales rep from the practice management software companies and let them get back to you with what their program can do.
7. Do not get too excited about additional features. They often make the program more complicated. Simplicity makes it quicker to learn and quicker to work with.

I know that it is always different to actually use such a system, so if anyone has a suggestion for Jodie, please leave a comment.