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Elizabeth Fletcher Brown
Elizabeth Fletcher Brown

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Archive for Massage and Money – Page 2

Putting All This Prosperity Stuff To The Test…

by Elizabeth
January 22nd, 2007

So, I’ve been re-reading one of my favorite classics, The Science of Getting Rich by Wallace D. Wattles, which is really the science of manifesting anything you want in your life, when….

Well, let’s just say I was thrown off course by the unexpected. You see my husband had a number of surgeries recently and just prior having them I called my health insurance company to verify our coverage.

Being self-employed, we pay over $800 a month for a high-deductible “catastrophe” policy, hoping that we’d never have to use it, but knowing that it was (at least on paper) an excellent policy if we ever did need it. In almost 10 years we’ve never put it to the test as we keep ourselves pretty healthy.

So after being told that we had 100% coverage after we met our deductible, I went white when I opened the mail on Saturday to find bill after bill has been denied, and for no reason that makes any sense. It adds up to a LOT of money.

So, how do I stay positive and feel abundant when facing a mountain of unexpected medical bills? Of course I’m going to appeal it, but who needs to deal with that!

I noticed that my mind keeps wandering to the “lack” side of the fence and I have to go get it and haul it back to the reality that it is an abundant universe.

So it was somewhat comforting to read in The Science of Getting Rich this morning that…

Every person has the natural and inherent power to think what he wants to think, but it requires far more effort to do so than it does to think the thoughts which are suggested by appearances. To think according to appearances is easy. To think truth regardless of appearances is laborious and requires the expenditure of more power than any other work a person has to perform.

So now I don’t feel quite so bad. It’s not just me that has trouble with this. Wattles goes on to explain that sustained and consecutive thought is the hardest work in the world. Especially when the truth it is contrary to appearances. That’s because every “appearance” creates a corresponding form in our mind. The bills certainly made an impression on my mind!!!

Yet, to create true abundance and wealth, I have to return time after time to the truth that it is an abundant universe, and that I can be, do and have what I want?

Boy, I’ve got my work cut out for me today…

Categories Massage and Money, Success Mindset
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The Secret to Financial Prosperity

by Elizabeth
January 20th, 2007

When thinking about being wealthy it can bring up all kinds of uncomfortable feelings because of our past financial conditioning (especially all the stuff we heard as a kid about money not growing on trees. Duh!).

Bob Proctor, one of my mentors, says that the secret to financial prosperity is that we have to work through those uncomfortable feelings and not let them stop us. And once you learn how to do that in the area of money, you can apply the same principles to any area of your life.

Maybe you feel uncomfortable marketing and promoting yourself, or are uncomfortable with the concept of selling your massage services or products.

Or maybe what you really, really want is nothing to do with your massage business at all! Maybe you want to find that ideal life partner or soul mate. But the uncomfortable feelings come up when you even think about it. You know… the negative self-talk… that little voice that tells you all the reasons why it will never happen to YOU.

So the reason I believe that the book The Science of Getting Rich by Wallace D. Wattles (see left side bar) inspired the movie The Secret, was simply because when you put these timeless principles into place THEY WORK, and they apply to anything you want to manifest, not just money. Hence…. “the secret”.

And from watching the folks interviewed on The Secret, you do get to where the uncomfortable feelings become comfortable. As Bob Proctor has pointed out to me, wealthy people are very comfortable talking about money. But they didn’t all start out that way.

Growing up in my family, money was never discussed in public except in arguments. How about you?

Categories Massage and Money
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Have Your Massage Fees Kept Up With The Local Ecomony?

by Elizabeth
January 16th, 2007

Tamara Felix, PhD, LMT of The Right Touch had some great insights about massage fees. Read on….

One way to establish wellness massage fees is based on the local economy.

Our local gas prices are a federally regulated cost of living check. More expensive in Southern California where the cost of living is greater, for example, than in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where the cost of living is a bit lower.

In the early 1990s when I was first introduced to massage therapy as a client, the average full hour wellness Swedish massage was $45, sometimes $50-$55, depending on location; a 15-minute (unit) seated massage was $10; and the average gallon of gasoline for premium was about 75 cents. A $45 hour ($10 unit) calculates at 75 cents per minute, the cost of a gallon of gasoline in my neighborhood at the time.

Since the early 1990s, the cost of living has increased (tremendously) and so has the educational requirements to become a massage therapist and maintain licensure or other credentialling and national certification.

If you will take a moment to think about it, all costs of living increase when the gallon of gasoline increases: groceries and household items are more due to the extra transport costs, utilities take a hike, real estate is worth more, and employees get pay raises.

Today, a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline in my neighborhood (Portland, Oregon) is more than $2.50 per gallon, and closer to $4 per gallon in Southern California. Each more specialized gas is an additional 10 cents per gallon, with diesel at as much as 50 cents per gallon more than regular unleaded.

Establishing wellness massage fees based on the local economy, a basic wellness Swedish massage should have increased over time to about $150 per hour (based on $2.50 per minute/gallon of gasoline), and a 15-minute seated massage should have increased to about $40. And that doesn’t begin to cover the additional educational requirements, and more focused and specialized training most massage therapists practice.

Do you also have advanced training beyond Swedish? How many years experience do you have? Each year of experience and advanced training program you pay to learn are certainly worth 10 cents per minute! Just a thought.

How have your fees kept up with your local economy?????

Thanks Tamara. Now that’s food for thought?

Categories Massage and Money
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If money was no object….

by Elizabeth
January 11th, 2007

This morning I was reading in The Science of Getting Rich, (see previous post) that Wallace D. Wattles doesn’t believe that we should be content with anything less than a life of abundance, including lots on money. He is not into poverty at all! In fact he says it goes against the universal laws of life.

“Whatever may be said in praise of poverty, the fact remains that it is not possible to live a really complete or successful life unless one is rich. No person can rise to his greatest possible height in talent or soul development unless he has plenty of money.”

Imagine having so much money because of your successful massage business that you never have to say “no” to something because of lack… Imagine being able to do what you want, when you want, with whom you want and as often as you want…

And when he said “rich” he was not speaking figuratively. He clarified by saying…

“To be really rich does not mean to be satisfied or content with little. No person ought to be satisfied with a little if he is capable of using and enjoying more. The purpose of nature is the advancement and development of life. Every individual should have all that can contribute to the power, elegance, beauty, and richness of life.”

So, Wallace D. Wattles believed that riches are an essential part of life. And let’s face it; with money we are able to expose ourselves to so much more. We are able to learn from great teachers, and have the experience of travel. With money, we don’t have to limit ourselves or the experiences from which we can learn and grow or give back to humanity.

Because I had the money, I was able to travel to study personally with one of my mentors, Bob Proctor who introduced me to The Science of Getting Rich two years ago. And that has impacted my life tremendously. Bob has now become so popular because of the success of the movie The Secret that had I not taken that chance to be mentored by him, it may not have presented itself again.

If money was no object, who would you like to meet and study with? Which conferences would you like to attend? Where would you like to travel to? How would your life be different from how it is now?

Categories Massage and Money, Success Mindset
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Should Massage Therapists Be Rich?

by Elizabeth
January 10th, 2007

The popularity of the movie The Secret has brought a renewed interest in the classic, The Science of Getting Rich by Wallace D. Wattles. I’ve written about that book before and will continue to do so because I think it has a very powerful message for massage therapists.

Wattles says, right in the first chapter of the book, that it is our BIRTHRIGHT to live full, abundant lives. The universe is an abundant universe, and wants us to have it all. He goes on to explain that being rich in all areas of life, including financially is our Divine Right.

He says that many people believe it is all right to be content with poverty? Do you? A lot of massage therapists seem to think it is. I too used to have a difficult time charging what I was really worth. I felt that because I was helping folks I should give my services away (or almost).

I felt guilty even thinking about or imagining getting wealthy from serving others in need. And let’s face it; doesn’t everyone need healing touch these days? So how was I ever going to have that lifestyle I dreamed about? And my husband Francis was (still is) also a massage therapist! So did that mean we were doomed to a life of “just getting by”?

No it did not! But it did mean I had to make some changes in my business and in my life….. and most especially in my thinking.

And I’m going to share with you in upcoming posts some of the things that helped me along the way. Maybe they’ll help you too, or other massage therapists you know who may be struggling with making money and creating abundance in their lives. My passion is to help bring more prosperity to the massage profession as a whole. Will you join me?

Categories Massage and Money, Success Mindset
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Ho! Ho! Ho! Gift Certificates to Go

by Elizabeth
December 15th, 2006

christmas_cert.jpg

My husband’s massage practice is mostly made up of busy professionals and executives. So one year, in early December we sent a letter to all of his regular clients with 3 lovely gift certificates.

He explained in the letter that he wanted to alleviate some of their holiday stress. So if there was someone on their holiday list that they did not have a gift for yet, all they had to do was call us with their credit card information (or mail a check) and give us the certificate numbers and we would instantly “activate” them. Then, the certificates were ready to be put under the Christmas tree or popped in the mail. What could be easier?

We followed up with a brief reminder call to anyone who hadn’t used them a week before Christmas, incase they just forgot about them. A few clients who had been procrastinating about gifts were really glad we called, and we sold quite a few more.

And in addition to selling a record number of certificates, his clients really appreciated that we made their lives a bit easier during the holiday season. A win-win situation for us all (not to mention the happy recipients!).

Don’t forget to download your free massage gift certificates. Enjoy.

Categories Getting Massage Clients, Massage and Money
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Massage Gift Certificate Success! – How Did She Do It?

by Elizabeth
December 9th, 2006

I posted this last December, but it was so good….. here it is again.

Last December, a massage therapist who was taking part in my Massage Marketing Marathon program, set the intension to sell 30 Christmas gift certificates. That was more than she had ever sold before (by far) and in fact more than she had sold in the entire previous year. But not only that… she had fun doing it. And in the process she completely shifted her attitude about “selling” to one where she is so much more comfortable promoting her services and products.

Want to find out how Beth Brown, Licensed Massage Practitioner of Bellingham, Washington did it? Then click below to listen (or “right click” the MP3 link to download to your computer). Way to go Beth!


Categories Getting Massage Clients, Massage and Money, Success Snippets
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What Do You Do When You Can’t Massage?

by Elizabeth
December 3rd, 2006

JJ_snow.jpg

We recently got dumped on with a foot-and-a-half of snow at my house. It was cold enough to freeze my dog’s whiskers to his face. And yesterday was the first day in a week that I could get out of my driveway (I live at the top of a very steep hill).

And when I did get into town, I ran into a colleague at the post office. She told me that she had to reschedule ALL of her massage clients for the entire week because of the weather. It reminded me of when I was 100% dependent on my massage client income for my livelihood.

But now I make money from a variety of sources, some of them pretty much passive. For example, I have written a number of programs to help other massage therapists build successful practices. Once the initial work of writing the program is done, I continue to make money each time someone buys it.

I have spoken to other massage therapists who have written e-books for their target market, or on a specialized subject, such as proper stretching techniques. Some therapists teach teleclasses or live workshops. Many have websites that promote a variety of products through affiliate links (where they don’t actually stock and sell the products – but they refer folks to a website like www.Amazon.com and make a commission on any sales made).

So I was wondering how many other therapists have found interesting ways to make additional massage income streams that don’t depend on them doing hands-on work, or that maybe are even completely passive (in that you do the work once, and continue to make money).

If that’s you, please hit the comments link below and let us know what you’ve done. We’d love to hear from you.

Categories Massage and Money
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Free Massage Insurance Billing Information

by Elizabeth
November 19th, 2006

Julie of www.thebodyworker.com recently commented on a previous post on insurance billing for massage therapy. She has some free resources on her website that I wanted to share with you. You have to click around a bit to find the free manual, and be wiling to sort through a bunch of ads. If you want to bypass the ads you can make a donation and get the ad-free version.

Here’s what Julie has to say about insurance reimbursement.

The medical massage profession is in a big state of confusion. Here in WA State we are able to become contracted providers with companies such as Regence Blue Shield. But that is a mixed blessing. While we want to be a part of the medical profession, the insurance companies here are raking us through the coals and taking advantage of the fact that massage therapists are willing to work at such low rates. ($59 for one such company.)

They are also making it harder to collect money and are limiting benefits. Do we as a profession really want to be a part of such an organization?

My personal passion is teaching people how to bill insurance companies for massage services so that they can then see how it does not serve our profession.

I also have most of the information that one needs to know to bill insurances available online for free at
http://www.thebodyworker.com

Thanks Julie!

Categories Insurance Reimbursement, Massage and Money
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Great Massage Billing Resource

by Elizabeth
October 24th, 2006

Tamara Felix, PhD, LMT who has made some extremely useful comments on this blog, and who I have interviewed in my Successful Therapists series, has a book I thought you should know about. It is “Medical Massage Therapy Billing Textbook for Oregon–CPT Codes, UCR Fees and the Law.”

Although the laws in the book are for Oregon, the laws in other states are the same, they just have different “numbers.” Besides, the first 2 chapters are on creating and building a successful, sustainable massage practice by writing, developing and implementing business, marketing and financial plans. Then in Chapter 4 she discusses at length the differences between wellcare clients and medical patients.

What I love about this, is that Tamara is extremely knowledgable about the laws and codes, but she is also a massage therapist and speaks our language.

And after talking at great lengths to Tamara, she sure knows what it takes to build a successful massage practice.

The book is $59.95 plus postage ($5.95). You can request it by sending a check to her office: The Right Touch, 1363 NE Cornell Road, Hillsboro, OR 97124; by faxing a request with your credit card info to (503) 844-6150, or by calling her office at (503) 795-9402.

Categories Massage and Money
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