About Elizabeth


Elizabeth Fletcher Brown
Elizabeth Fletcher Brown

Listen to a brief message from Elizabeth now!

Get In Touch



Have a question?
Suggestion?
Contact Me!

Archive for massage practice

Do You Want A Successful Sports Massage Practice? Part 2

by Elizabeth
September 15th, 2008

runners_athletes_260_border.jpg 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.

Categories Getting Massage Clients
Comments (0)

More Power To You

by Elizabeth
July 20th, 2008

power_woman_150by150.jpgIt’s been a long time since I had my massage practice in Kona, Hawaii and bought my first electric massage table (almost 20 years in fact!).

It was not the most comfortable table in the world, that’s for sure. And it was clunky and noisy.

But my oh my… the convenience of being able to adjust the height and position with a touch of a button were well worth it.

One of its biggest drawbacks was its weight – it was HEAVY. So when I left the islands I sadly left it behind (much to the delight of the therapist who inherited it).

My somewhat mobile lifestyle made it impractical to replace it right away, but I missed it so much. Once you have experienced the delights of using an electric table, it’s hard to go back.

When I finally went to replace my hydraulic table a couple of months ago, I was blown away with the selection now available. They’ve come a long way baby! They now come in a huge range of both price and features.

More about that later….

Meanwhile, if you have any comments about the pros and cons (yes there are a few) of using an electric table versus a portable one, do let me know. You can reach me at elizabeth @ massagebusinesscenter.com.

Categories Self Care, Success Snippets, Tools of the Trade
Comments (0)

Build Your Community, Build Your Practice

by Elizabeth
March 4th, 2008

community-houses-150by150B.jpgForming referral partnerships with key professionals in your community is absolutely one of the most effective and powerful strategies you can use to build your massage practice.

Not only is creating referral partnerships a long term and sustainable way to build a business, it can happen fast. And it is efficient because you are working with the principle of leverage.

A referral partnership is a relationship or partnership with someone in another business that refers clients to you. There are two types of referral partnerships, primary and secondary.

Secondary partnerships are casual, for example, if you focus on sports massage you could leave your business cards with the owner of a sporting goods store where their customers can see them.

Primary referral partnerships on the other hand are more formal, professionally structured relationships.

There are three key elements to their success. Firstly, the partnership has to be win, win, win. In other words, it has to benefit you, your new referral partner and their clients or customers.

Want to know what the other two success keys are? Over the next few days I’ll be sharing them with you, so do check back.

Categories Getting Massage Clients
Comments (0)

Inventive Ways To Get Massage Clients Using the Web

by Elizabeth
April 24th, 2007

Looking for some ideas of how to use the internet to get more massage clients?

Then just check out what one very enterprising mobile massage therapist has done……

You can also view the video at Rob’s Mobile Massage.

Categories Getting Massage Clients, Massage Business Snippets, Smile!
Comments (0)

Massage Promotion and the Yellow Pages

by Elizabeth
December 30th, 2006

I’m melting, I’m melting…….. I just got a wonderful massage from therapist extraordinaire, Elizabeth (Beth) Brown (no relation). Thanks Beth!

Isn’t it odd that in a small sized place like Bellingham, Washington there could be two therapists with the exact same name. So to avoid confusion she goes by Beth Brown and I by Elizabeth Fletcher Brown. But there is still confusion. Good job we are friends and are happy to communicate when someone calls the “wrong” Elizabeth Brown LMP.

But what it has made me notice is how many clients use the yellow pages to find me when they need to change, cancel or schedule an appointment and they don’t have a biz card on hand.

You see, Beth has a listing in the “banana pages” and I do not as I have scaled down my practice to devote time to building
The Massage Business Center, and am accepting massage clients by referral only. So I didn’t think it a neccessary investment.

But sooooo many of my clients simply pick up the yellow pages, see “Elizabeth Brown LMP” and call Beth thinking they are calling me. Of course, the accent always gives it away (if you haven’t heard me speak I have a bit of a Scottish Brogue).

Anyway, I still wouldn’t choose the yellow pages as my only source of “getting the word out” about my massage practice. I think that is where a lot of therapists get stuck. But if you have an established practice, an ad in the banana pages might be a good thing to consider adding to your “massage marketing mix”. In addition to general visibility, it will make it easier for existing clients to find you.

Categories Getting Massage Clients, Keeping Massage Clients
Comments (0)

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
Comments (0)

Do Massage Therapists Work as Slaves?

by Elizabeth
October 4th, 2006

Today’s Success Snippet comes from Dr Michael Kruse, who has been nominated twice as Chiropracter of the Year in Washington State, and has referred thousands of his patients to massage therapy.

Listen to find out why he thinks we work as slaves!

This was recorded live at a North Cascade AMTA business panel featuring Dr Kruse, Sally Ledgerwood and yours truly.

Weekly Success Snippet:
“You Work As Slaves!!!”

listen right now:


Right Click Here to Download MP3/Audio

(length 2:30 minutes)

Subscribe to Feed Below:



Do you think we work as slaves? Hit the comments link below and tell us what YOU think.

Categories Success Mindset
Comments (0)

Reason #7: Why You May Not Be Making The Money You Deserve In Your Massage Business

by Elizabeth
October 2nd, 2006

You are trying to do it all yourself.

At a certain point in your massage business you realize that you just can’t do it all yourself and you need help. If you are busy as can be, and are still folding sheets, answering the phone to schedule appointments, doing your own billing and bookkeeping etc, then I mean YOU.

Why are you doing work that you could hire out for $10 – $15 an hour (less in some states) when you could be building your business and even creating additional streams of income? And working towards true financial freedom? But instead you are filing forms!

And I don’t necessarily mean employees. There are inexpensive phone answering and appointment scheduling services. There are independent bookkeepers and laundry services, and even virtual assistants who can do billing and make calls for you from their own home or office (which can even be across the country).

I had a virtual assistant who lived in New Zealand. We communicated primarily by email and instant message, and never actually met in person.

Categories Massage and Money
Comments (1)

Reason #6: Why You May Not Be Making The Money You Deserve In Your Massage Business

by Elizabeth
September 29th, 2006

You have chosen a market that really cannot afford your services

So what do you do if they really CAN’T afford your services? Most massage therapists get into the field, not to make money, but to help people. But if you have chosen a market that simply cannot pay you what you need to make to run a viable business you need to rethink your strategy.

I hate to sound cold, but if you can’t make enough money to stay in business, who will you help then?

So if you are in this situation, you may want to seriously consider choosing a target market that CAN pay you want you are worth, and then DONATE a certain amount of your time and services to the market you feel passionate about serving.

That way you all win!

Categories Massage and Money
Comments (0)

Reason #5: Why You May Not Be Making The Money You Deserve In Your Massage Business

by Elizabeth
September 27th, 2006

You are not charging enough?

Way too many massage therapists simply don’t charge enough for their services. It may be because they lack confidence in their skills, or are concerned about losing clients to the competition if they raise rates, or think their clients couldn’t (or wouldn’t) pay more, or don’t value their work and the difference they make in the lives of their clients.

But if you don’t charge what you are worth, how can you hope to build a sustainable massage business?

Are you charging enough for your massage services?

Categories Massage and Money
Comments (0)
Next Page »

Get Your FREE Workbook


8 Steps workbook
 Name
 Email