Attending a massage conference (or other type of educational conference) is a big commitment of time, energy and money and yet it can be extremely rewarding. голова болит секс
Massage conferences can be a fantastic place to get fresh ideas for your massage business, meet therapists from other areas, and get renewed and re-energized.
Here are some things that you can do before, during and after a conference to maximize your investment and make sure you get the most out of it.
Before the Conference: голова болит секс
1. Make a list of the things you want to accomplish in the next year. For example, you could decide to increase your massage income by 25% by getting and keeping more clients. Then go through the list of available workshops, with your specific goals for the upcoming year in mind, and choose the ones that best fit your needs.
2. Create a list of questions or specific things you want to learn from each speaker.
3. Find a buddy to attend the conference with. In addition to keeping you accountable (more on that later), they may also help you save on travel costs.
4. Decide ahead of time what your budget will be so you can take advantage of the vendors’ conference specials without breaking the bank.
5. Make sure you have a good supply of business cards that clearly state the type of massage you do and your target market if you have one.
Next post I’ll give you some ideas on things to do at the conference.
Posted in Getting Massage Clients, Keeping Massage Clients, Staying Motivated | 6 Comments
There are many things to consider when starting a massage business, and none are more important than the name.
A name can either help project your “brand” and make you stand out from other therapists and massage businesses, or it can add to you getting lost in the shuffle, or worse yet, confuse your potential clients (as is too often the case).
Not sure of the difference? Here is an article that has examples of both good and bad business names, as well as some things to watch out for.
Posted in starting a massage business | 10 Comments
We had an unfortunate incident at our home last week when a huge (250 volts) surge of electricity went through our whole house.
We were awakened by the popping and crackling noise of surge protectors literally melting with the strain of the current.
I had surge protectors on almost everything that I value, but here is what I learned. You get what you pay for…
The more inexpensive surge strips did absolutely nothing. As a result I lost one of my computers, speakers, monitor and a bunch of household appliances.
The more expensive protectors (the ones that come with a warranty if your equipment is damaged) worked like a charm, and so my main computer and lovely big monitor were fine.
And best of all are the surge protectors with battery back up and software to save your work and turn off your computer in the case of a power failure.
So I have gone out and replaced all my surge protectors with more powerful ones. Of course there is no guarantee that they will always work, but I’d rather increase my chances of saving my stuff.
Posted in Tools of the Trade | Leave a Comment
Well the recent posting on Massage Success Radio resulted in more email in my inbox than any other blog post EVER!
I guess it’s a hot topic. In case you missed it, I posted a short audio clip of a well-respected chiropractor explaining why he thought massage therapists change people’s lives, but don’t charge enough.
Now, this was recorded prior to the recent economic challenges, but I’ll bet he’d stand by his comments.
Speaking of comments, here are some of yours (names are withheld as I don’t have permission to publish them).
“I would like to charge more but I am competing against fellow massage therapists, so to attract clients I need to charge the same or just a little more.”
“We should probably all raise our prices to what we feel we should charge.”
“I think some of us work as slaves. I do, without choice as my practice is in Jamaica so the exchange rate makes it impossible to charge more.”
“I agree compared to a lot of other professions. But it is such a fine line, charge too much people will go some where else and you may set them up for disappointment. Or charge too little and they think there is something wrong with you, even if the massage was great. Plus it takes some guts to charge more than the rest.”
Its funny how this DC says we don’t charge for what we do . This year the PT and the DC assoc filed a complaint with the wash state L & I and they told them that we were getting paid too much for our service (118.00 per treatment)… they agreed with them and now we are to get only 88.00 per treatment max. per day.”
“I agree with this chiropractor, but he certainly has an attitude on him.”
If you would like to hear the extended version of this audio, as well as have free access our massage community, click here.
Meanwhile, I’d love to know what you think. Just click the comments link below and let us know.
Posted in Massage Success Radio, Success Mindset | 6 Comments
Whoo Hoo! We have a new name.
MassageYourMindBlog.com is now MassageSuccessTips.com. We think the new name is easier to remember and shorter to type.
What do you thinik? Click on the “Leave a Comment” link below and let me know.
Posted in Success Snippets | Leave a Comment
Yes, it’s International Passion Day. Whoo Hoo!
This is the day when, all over the world, folks are re-igniting their passion and purpose in life.
So why not take time today to think about what really matters to you in regards to your massage career or business, and your life.
Here is a very cool movie that’s aimed to inspire at least five million people to take action to follow their passions and begin living their life purpose. Enjoy!
www.passiondaymovie.com/
Posted in Staying Motivated, Uncategorized | Leave a Comment
Why should they choose you?
So you know who the ideal clients are for your sports massage practice, and the specific problems they would pay to have solved. But why should they choose you?
If you have done a good job of answering the previous two questions (see past two posts), you are already well on your way, because:
- By focusing on a clearly defined segment of the sports massage market you will be setting yourself up as an expert in that area.
- By addressing a prospective client’s biggest challenges, it shows that you really understand them. Then, naturally, they will want to know if you have a solution that works.
In your marketing materials you can also increase the chance that they will choose you by telling them:
- How you would address their problems.
- The experience you have working with other athletes in that market.
- Specific results some of your clients have achieved.
- The kind of clients you’ve been able to help who have similar problems.
- Any rewards or recognition you’ve received.
- How your services will affect the quality of their sport and their life.
By mastering these things you will be well on your way to creating success in the exciting field of sports massage.
Posted in Getting Massage Clients | 1 Comment
What do they want and will pay for?
What specifically are your ideal sports massage clients looking for? What problems do they have that you could help them with?
Let’s delve a little deeper here. Let’s say you work with runners who want the competitive edge. It may be true, but not too exciting to put on a business card or brochure.
But what if you overheard one of your clients say to another, “I’m so tired of always coming in second… I’d so love to cross the finish line first for once.”
Now, do you think that is something that they want and will pay for? Absolutely! So try to get past the obvious clichés and get inside the head of your ideal prospective massage clients. Find out what they really want.
And if you don’t know, do some research and ask them. Then use this in all your promotional materials to attract more perfect clients.
Posted in Getting Massage Clients | Leave a Comment
Once upon a time focusing your practice on sports massage was sufficient to make you stand out. However that is no longer true, unless you are the only sports therapist in your town or city.
So in this, and in upcoming posts, I’ll be sharing with you three things you need to know to be successful in this growing field.
1. Who do you work with?
You might think this is a bit obvious. But saying that your target market is athletes is not specific enough to help you attract an abundance of your ideal clients.
You need to delve a little deeper and ask yourself what type of sports massage practice you would like to build, and who would be the most rewarding athletes for you to work with.
For example, is there a specific sport that you feel connected to? Are you a runner, a skier, a golfer? Do you love dance or practice yoga? Have you always been fascinated by sculling or rock climbing?
Or have you considered working with a specific segment of the population? As the baby boomers age there’s a growing demand for therapists who really understand the unique challenges that “mature” athletes face. Perhaps your passion is working with athletes with disabilities, or weekend warriors, or with elite athletes?
Is there a particular injury that you have expertise in working with? Maybe you really like working with athletes who have knee injuries, or carpal tunnel, or back problems.
Of course, if you have a big enough population to draw from, you could narrow your market even further, for example, swimmers with shoulder issues, or skiers with ankle injuries.
And don’t worry about getting stuck in a narrowly defined field. When I lived in Kona, Hawaii I focused my practice on working with triathletes training for the Ironman. When the word got out about my massage successes, I began getting calls from NFL football players who were coming to Hawaii in their off season to recover from injuries. So don’t worry about getting bored!
Posted in Getting Massage Clients | Leave a Comment
I know you have probably heard this a million times, but just in case you have not done anything about it yet, may I share this with you in the hope that it will save at least one person from business disaster?
Having a hard drive failure (i.e. you lose ALL your data, music , photos, videos etc) is not a matter of IF but WHEN.
If you read my last post you will see that I recently lost a computer to a severe power surge. Thankfully I had my entire hard drive backed up to an external drive that was not plugged in at the time of the incident.
It used to be a real pain backing everything up. But you can buy an inexpensive external drive that you just plug into your computer and it backs up everything, either as you create it, or on a regular schedule.
Especially if you use your computer for keeping your massage client database, or client notes, or your business financial data, do back up on a regular basis. Otherwise a simple power surge such as I just experienced could be a massage business disaster.
Posted in Tools of the Trade | 2 Comments
