This morning I went to hear a great marketing consultant, Taimi Dunn Gorman, speak about getting free publicity. Now wouldn’t we all like more of THAT! She told a great (true) story I’d like to share with you.
There was a restaurant owner (in Seattle I believe) who had a disaster strike one day. A huge truck carrying syrup had an accident and overturned on the street just outside his restaurant. Of course it made quite a mess, and the street was closed most of the day.
The business owners were complaining and whining about having NO business ’cause nobody could get to them.
But not the enterprising restaurant owner… He was way too busy making pancakes!!! And serving them to the hordes of reporters who came to survey the syrupy scene.
Do you think he made the news that night? And then some…
It made me ponder… Where in my life do I whine when I should be making pancakes.
How about you?
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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?
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9. Have a Tracking System
It is important to have a system in place to track your efforts as well as your results. Having such a system in place will give you a clear sense of direction as to where you and your business are going. It will also help you to stay focused and on task.
A tracking system also gives you the evidence that what you are doing is actually working. Think about how motivating this would be! There is nothing better to help you to stick with it until you reach your desired goals, than to see the progress you are making.
And what if things are not working as well as planned? Well, a tracking system will let you know that too. And better to find out sooner rather than later. That way you can make the necessary course corrections to get your marketing back on track.
So, what do you want to keep track of? You may choose:
- The exact source of each prospect.
- How many new prospects each massage marketing strategy produced.
- How many of these prospects became regular clients.
- The actual monetary value that these new clients produced.
So do remember to periodically evaluate the results you are getting, and make any adjustments to your plan as necessary until you reach and maintain your client or patient goal, and the massage business of your dreams.
Well, that’s it for our 9 Step Marketing Plan for Massage Therapists. Hope you found it useful.
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8. Develop Your Action Plan
So now it is time to pull it all together into an action plan. Your Action Plan involves the specific marketing and sales actions you plan to make.
For example, if you chose ‘direct contact’ as a strategy, how many phone calls do you plan on making a day, and on which days will you make them?
And how many personal letters or invitations will you send each week?
If you decided on public speaking, how many groups will you contact per month to inquire about a speaking engagement?
If you decided to network, how many business cards do you commit to collect at each meeting you go to, and by when will you follow up with each of those contacts?
Then schedule time on your calendar to accomplish each of the tasks you have committed on a daily, weekly and monthly basis. That way you will be sure to reach (or exceed) your marketing goals.
Remember, marketing is about simple effective things that you do consistently. So do map out your massage marketing action plan on a calendar, and commit to it.
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7. Create a Budget.
I really do dislike that word….. BUDGET! It reminds me of diet. I much prefer FINANCIAL FORECAST. But then, you might now know what I mean by that.
In any case, this is the step where you decide how much money you will allocate to building your massage practice and getting more clients.
Now do remember that many excellent massage marketing tools are free. Instead of money, what is required is some time, creativity and imagination.
But some tools will require that you spend money. So it is important to decide up front how much that will be, and how you will spend it.
There are a number of ways of doing this. You could allocate a set amount of money each month to grow your massage business. Or you could allocate a fixed percentage of either gross sales (the total your business brings in) or your profits (the total minus your other business expenses).
So take a moment to review the key strategies you picked in step #6, and the goals you set in step #1. Then decide how much money you will put aside each month to accomplish those goals.
If you have never done this before, don’t be put off by it. I know it can seem like a total guessing game. And in the beginning it may well be. But after you have done this for a few months, you will get really good at forecasting you marketing expenses.
Hey! You are getting to be quite an expert in marketing plans. Only 2 more steps to go.
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6. Choose Your Strategies and Massage Marketing Tools
Now we are getting down to the nitty gritty. It’s time to choose which marketing strategies you want to focus on.
There are lots of ways to do this, but it is essential to choose things that you enjoy doing, otherwise you will find ways to sabotage yourself.
I had a massage therapist who hired me as her massage marketing coach. She said that she wanted to focus on public speaking because she had heard that is was a great way to get new clients.
Problem was…. She was terrified of public speaking. So I suggested that she didn’t choose that as a business building strategy, unless she planned on doing some serious self-development work in that area.
Turned out she was a great writer and LOVED to write. So she built a lucrative massage business by publishing articles in local journals and magazines.
So, think about your strengths and passions and take those into account when you are choosing your strategies. This is a time to have fun and get creative!
Massage marketing strategies can be divided into a number of key areas:
- Direct follow up and contact (such as sending personal letters, making phone calls)
- Networking and referral building (such as working with key strategic partners like a Chiropractor)
- Public speaking (for example, a brown bag lunch talk for busy professionals on stress reduction)Writing and publicity (putting a press release in a local paper)
- Promotional events (like chair massage at a sporting event)
- Advertising (putting a display ad in the good ol’ "banana pages")
So decide which key strategies you would like focus on in the next 6 months, and add them to your marketing plan.
OK, so far so good. Only 3 more steps to go.
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5. Your Uniqueness
This step is another of my favorites. Stop for just a moment and think about what makes you unique from the other massage therapists and bodyworkers in your area? What is your “signature style”? What do you do differently from your competition?
What are your most significant accomplishments? Your values? How would you describe your overall approach to life? What are the most important lessons you have learned? What do you most want to pass on to others?
Sum up your uniqueness in a sentence or two and add it to your marketing plan.
Now you are ready for step #6….
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4. What Specifically Are the Benefits That Your Massage Services (or products if appropriate) Offer?
Remember, benefits are different from features. Benefits tell the prospective client how your massage services (and products) are directly useful to them or how their wellbeing will be improved if they come to you for a session.
A feature is a characteristic of your service, like the number of years you have been in practice, or the massage techniques and modalities you use. While features are important, people do not buy based on features. They buy based on benefits.
Your prospective clients want to know “what’s in it for me”. They have busy, complicated lives. They have problems and challenges. And they want to know if you can help!
So don’t bore them with features, WOW them with results.
A good way to know that you are focusing on benefits is to finish the sentence, “You get…”
Here are a couple of examples:
I help tri-athletes reduce risk of injuries, enhance concentration and increase flexibility.
I work with busy executives to relieve stress and tension and to increase concentration and productivity.
So take the time now to write a sentence or two about the specific benefits of working with you.
And I’ll see you for the next step.
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3. Who Do You Want to Work With?
Listen to today’s post here:
So, who is your ideal client or target market? Take a moment to thing about it.
What are their ages? Are they male or female, or do you equally work with both? How much money do they make? What are their hobbies? What magazines and books do they read?
What is the biggest challenge or problem that your ideal client faces? What are the qualities that they possess?
Who do you really enjoy working with (and can they afford to pay for your services)?
Sum this up in a sentence or two.
Here is an example:
I work with female executives between the ages of 28-50, making $60,000.00 per year minimum. They enjoy athletic activities, but want to experience less stress in their life. They are interested and willing to pay for regular wellness care.
So, who do YOU want to work with?
Add this to your marketing plan and I’ll will be back soon with step #4.
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