Post Personal Testimonials And Reviews
We get it just because you open up shop and create a website doesnt mean that new clients will begin flooding in. People are naturally skeptical and have a lot of options, so youre going to have to go out and make an effort to get the wheels turning and build your list of loyal repeat customers that every healthy business relies on.
Theyre the bread and butter of your business, and its a relationship that is often built on trust.
Youll gain the trust of potential clients quickly if you leverage the word of your past customers. A simple referral, online review, or testimonial can mean the world to your business.
People trust the word of their friends and family more than anyone else. Its up to you to get those people to start talking about your business to their circle.
So how do you do that? One word: ask!
Dont be shy with your customers about how valuable passing the word on is for you. Incentivize them to do so by offering freebies, discounts, and more in exchange for referrals.
Customers are often happy to pass the word along and will be more likely to do so when you also make it worth their time. Simply asking your existing happy clients could lead to more new clients on your table!
Communicate With Your Clients
Communication forms the basis of any good relationship so you always need to keep your client informed.
This might be letting them know of any offers, new services or important information that they need to know.
Or it could simply be reminding them of an upcoming appointment!
This can be done verbally, with a telephone call or through email.
However you choose to communicate with your clients always make sure they are happy, to show them that you care!
Afraid To Promote Themselves
Massage therapists sometimes have a hard time promoting themselves to potential clients because they are afraid to. Some small business owners think marketing is just a way to manipulate and coerce people into buying things they dont need. They are afraid of feeling like they are being pushy, or being like the annoying salesperson that they cant stand.
There are many reasons why someone might be afraid to promote themself. One common reason is a phenomenon called imposter syndrome. This is when people feel like they are a fraud and not good enough. For other people, the fear could come from a traumatic experience in the past, or a fear of rejection. If you have a fear of promoting your massage business, try meditating on this to see whats holding you back so you can overcome it.
Feel the fear and do it anyway.
Susan Jeffers
When you promote your massage services, youre not trying to convince anyone of anything. Youre not trying to sell snow to an eskimo. Remember:
Marketing is just a way of letting your target market know you exist and that you may be able to help them when they need it. Just remember that you are promoting something that you believe in , someone you believe in , to a person you care about . The more you promote your business, the better you will get at it, and the easier it will be for you.
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Create A Memorable Culture
Creating an amazing company culture cannot only help you attract and keep top talent, but it can be a powerful marketing tool as well.
Take Rustici Software, for example.
They have built an incredible benefits program, called Jenafits, named after their company concierge, Jena. She handles everything from laundry and cleaning services to booking flights and restaurant reservations for employees. Its her job to make life easier for the team so they can focus on doing excellent work.
If that werent enough, they dont track vacation days and when they are at work, they focus on having a lot of fun, which includes everything from Ping-Pong and dodge ball.
It might seem that a great culture only benefits employees. But studies show that happier employees lead to increased sales and better productivity.
What can you do to make your company a place that people want to go on Monday mornings?
Making Your Mn Massage Therapy Business Stand Out
Does your massage therapy business outshine the competition?
If you are a practicing therapist in the realm of bodywork, you are probably well aware of the need to conduct your business in a professional, thoughtful manner. But making your massage therapy business stand out from the crowd is often about much more than good customer service. In other words, marketing matters.
In this post, well touch on a few ways you can market your massage therapy business in such a way as to attract great and loyal customers in a highly competitive market. So with that in mind, lets check out a few helpful hints that, if properly applied, could help you and your bodywork business stand out:
- Establish a strong online presence
- Community outreach
- Corporate marketing
In this day and age, getting online is easy. Anyone can get on Facebook, Twitter, etc. But the real challenge is not merely getting online but establishing an internet presence with various forms of social marketing that help your business garner the attention it deserves.
A visually appealing, easy to navigate website is a good place to start. Strong blog content as well as a heavy presence on social media channels is also a great way to go. There is also, simply no substitute for becoming familiar with the proper use of search engine optimized terms relevant to the industry. For those interested in more in-depth discussion of establishing an online presence, here is a link to a previous post on branding.
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Its A Custom Experience
Everyone has different goals, clients included. How someone is comfortable being touched or what areas on their bodies they want extra care changes from person to personand a massage should reflect that.
The first step? Communication. There should be an open dialogue between the client and the therapist beforehand to better understand the clients expectations and goals. By adjusting the amount of effort and time spent on problem areas that target a clients key concern , the guest will feel that much more cared for and listened to. And nonverbal cues can communicate even more about a clients preferences than they may be able to articulate. How they react to an area or a level of pressure can help a therapist tailor the experience to their specific client.
Make Your Business Stand Out
In a world with seemingly unlimited competition and new businesses popping up every day, it can feel impossible to stand out and win new customers. But, with the right ideas and marketing plan to back you up, you can truly make your business stand out and build loyal customers to keep your business thriving.
Stephanie Heitman
Stephanie is the Senior Managing Editor for LOCALiQ, where you can find her sharing tips, insights, and stories about how marketing helps local businesses grow. When shes not researching the latest and greatest marketing news and updates, shes probably watching reality TV with her husband or playing with her two pups.
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How To Get Started
Start by thinking about what your clients ask you about during sessions. Do your clients often forget how often they should come in for a visit? Do they remember what stretches they can do to keep their hamstrings loose between sessions? Is there one area of massage that you specialize in, like helping athletes or pregnant women? Are you passionate about helping your clients feel completely blissful during sessions, or would you rather dig in to help them loosen deep knots?
Once youre generating original writing, make sure you share these thoughts across your social media accounts. Let your current and future clients know what youre great at, who you are, and how you can help them live their best lives. When you become too busy with clients to keep writing, you can always outsource that work so you can focus on doing what you love.
Remember, people prefer to work with experts in their field. By keeping on top of communication and education, youre on your way to being recognized as one!
How To Start A Body Wrap Spa
Body wraps, also known as body masks, are spa treatments that offer a variety of health benefits. Customers are wrapped in minerals such as algae, mud, clay, or seaweed, and then a secondary bandage wrap. Depending upon the minerals absorbed, the body is hydrated, skin is toned, and muscles are soothed. Some treatments call for heat supplements, via pre-warmed wraps or heated blankets.
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Build Your Massage Business Brand
Another thing to consider is your massage business brand. Your brand is what differentiates you from your competition. A brand is not just your business name or logo. It is the core values that you exhibit through your business. As a massage entrepreneur, you are your brand. Not only who you are now, but who you strive to be.
Your brand is your promise to you clients. All of your client interactions should reflect your brand. Strive for consistency, genuineness and transparency in your brand. This consistency builds trust, which is a key component of building a thriving business.
When building your massage business brand, consider the following:
- What is the personality of your practice?
- How would you describe your style?
- Whats the tone in your communications with your clients?
Why should clients choose you?
Of course your family and friends think youre special. But why should a client? What is it about what your business that makes you stand out? What makes you different and better than your competition?
Think about it. Most massage chains offer convenient scheduling, low cost, clean and aesthetically appealing treatment rooms, and a consistently good customer experience. Their customers would only switch to your practice if they see that you can offer something better.
You may not like massage chains because they dont pay the therapists well, or for some other reason. But that isnt a big enough concern for most customers to affect their decision on where to go.
Lotus Massage And Spa
This colorful lotus flower is beyond beautiful and certainly not one youd forget easily. Its exceptionally decorative and would make a wonderful addition to any business card. If youre looking for lotus-inspired logo ideas, this one certainly demonstrates how powerful color and good design can be.
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How Do I Start A Massage Business
For your plan, lets lay out the steps required to start a fully licensed and certified massage therapy business.
Start-up costs range from $6k to $10k, which is very low when compared to other businesses. Where you attend massage school and your choice to work from home or in an office are the top factors in determining the cost.
Well explore all of those options in the next sections, but first, lets list out the costs to open your business.
If youre a first-time entrepreneur, starting a business from scratch can feel a bit overwhelming. Buying an operational massage business can cost more but takes less time and work to get started.
Start-up Costs
We asked Pam about her largest ongoing expenses and she stated:
What Equipment and Supplies Do I Need?
Massage therapists require specific equipment and supplies for operation. Its important to get high-quality equipment to provide the best care for your clients.
The equipment may seem expensive when youre first starting, but be sure to prioritize quality over quantity.
Choose Safety
The other factor to note when choosing your equipment is safety. Clients view massage therapy as a business thats both safe and relaxing, so your space and equipment should reflect those standards.
However, you also have to protect your own body.
If your massage business is mobile, then youll require a foldable table you can safely transport between locations .
Protect Your Body
- Massage Table
- Laundry and Cleaning Equipment
- Carrying Equipment
Safely Running A Massage Therapy Business
Safe practices are essential to protect you, your clients, your employees and your business.
Some ways you can safely run your massage therapy business are:
Register with an accredited body
Although not legally required, registering with an accredited body can help your business to operate more safely. It can also offer reassurance to potential customers and increase your customer base.
Accredited bodies you could choose to register with include:
Purchase insurance
Although insurance is not usually legally required for massage therapists, it is recommended as it can protect you, your business and your clients. Consult the list above to determine the type of coverage you may require.
Exercise your right to terminate the treatment
If you feel threatened or unsafe or a patient doesnt maintain professional boundaries or acts inappropriately, you have the right to terminate the treatment immediately. You could have your code of ethics visible to customers or ask them to sign a contract stating they will act appropriately. If you ever feel uncomfortable or threatened in any way, terminate the treatment and contact the police, if necessary.
Have a check in system in place
Obtain the relevant qualifications
Although qualifications are not a legal necessity, training and qualifications can help you to ensure safe practices and make your massage therapy business more successful.You have several qualification options:
Use personal protective equipment
- Gloves.
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Advertise How Youre Different On Your Website
Websites can be big, hairy deals or they can be little, hairy deals. I prefer the little hair deals. Haha.
Heres how you make them little, hairy deals: First, dont do the free website if you can spend $100 or so a year.
Free is not professional. It will have ads on it and you wont have a domain name that you own.
I own pressureperfectmassage.com. My URL is www.pressureperfectmassage.com.
If I went for a free massage website, my URL would be a subdomain of the free massage website platform, like: www. weebly.sites,free/mark64massage.com.
Doesnt look so professional, right? And how do you put that on a business card? So, spring for the $100-ish/year if you can.
Which website builder should I go with?
Good question.
In this article I compare 3 website buildersWeebly, Wix and Hostgator.
All three are good. I give you the short version of my comparison in the opening paragraph.
If youre looking to have a blog or are going to have more than one website and are willing to invest some time into learning a platform, I would recommend a WordPress website.
WordPress is free. You will pick a theme for your WordPress site. Some themes cost money. Some are free.
You can also add or change functionality on your WordPress website using plugins. As in the case with themes, some are free and some cost money.
In a minute Im going to direct you to my Build a Massage Website that will help you create a professional-looking, 3-page website on WordPress and other website platforms.
Other Gmb Housekeeping Details
You can also add a COVID-19 Update. I like that feature and have been using that a lot during the pandemic.
If you want to add event post click on Add Event at the top of the post page. And if you want to add an offer post click on Add Offer at the top of the post page.
Lastly, I need to mention keywords.
You dont need any SEO superpowers to choose your keywords.
Keep keywords simple and they should be the same keywords you used in your description and other areas: location, massage and type of massage you want to promote .
GMB posts done.
So far with the steps Ive shown you theres not a lot money that needs to go down to get clients walking through your door. The last step in this plan requires a little cash outnot crazy cash out, just some.
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How To Get Repeat Business And Earn Referrals
When you do start building up your clientele, you need to know how to keep clients and earn referrals. Ive grouped keeping clients and getting referrals together in this section because you achieve both of these goals the same way.
Its been said that it is six to seven times more expensive to attract a new customer than it is to keep an existing one. Also, your probability of selling to an existing customer is much greater than selling to a new customer. So it makes sense that a business owner should work as hard to keep a customer as they do to find a new one.
Pro tip: Market to your best clients first.
Your ability to market and promote yourself can get clients in the door. But to get repeat business and referrals from your massage clients, youve got to be the best massage therapist around. This is where your ability to deliver an outstanding massage and client experience really matter.
Your marketing strategy should include your client retention strategy. It is MUCH easier to grow a massage business by encouraging repeat business than it is to continuously have to keep getting new clients.
It is six to seven times more expensive to attract a new customer than it is to keep an existing one.
One way to create a raving fan is to solve their problem. When I was in massage school I naively asked my instructor, Once we fix the clients problem, wont they leave us because they dont need us any more? His response was:
Include Your Business In Massage Therapy Directories
If youre looking for leads, you should go where the customers are. The best way to go about this is by including your business in massage therapy directories.
Directories are a great way to boost your visibility and attract people looking for professional massage therapists and businesses. The bonus: popular directories like MassageBook get high conversion rates since your customers are already looking for what you offer.
Research and add your business to massage directories that are a good fit for your practice and rank well in web searches. They can be an effective way to market your massage practice without having to do anything beyond creating a professional looking listing.
Be sure to complete your profile, include quality photos, and include all relevant information about your business, hours, services and fees, as well as a way for new clients to book an appointment with you online.
MassageBook offers an amazing opportunity to include your business in our popular massage directory get your free listing now!
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