New practice - what worked for you?

[Emmanuel]

Hi folks,So I finally secured some office space (two days a week--woot) and am still pursuing a job (one interview and one phone interview so far, crossing my fingers for good news Monday). I had my first paying client on Thursday! A friend, but that seems appropriate.Now what? I've emailed everyone I know and told them I'm open for business. I've called the likely prospects to try to set up appointments. I'm working on giving some gift certificates to some raffles going on around the city. And I'll be putting some flyers up soon.But what I really want to know is, what worked for you? Are any of those marketing e-books worth it? What have you tried that was cheap and got you clients in the beginning, before you could have any word of mouth?

 

[Toxic Witch]

New practice - what worked for you?

Congrats on your new space!I'm actually in the same boat. I have an ad in the local healthy living magazine. I've received a couple of calls from this, not quite hopping yet, but working on it. I'm actually joining a new massage practice in July, so I won't be relying on out calls. I've been busy decorating my new office.I think this will actually help me in the end, and may make me look a little more legit. (I told someone I was a Massage Therapist, they asked if I was a LICENSED massage therapist, they put a lot of stress on that one word! lol). I have a chiro referring to me for PI work, but it seems that people don't want to pick up the phone to call. I just don't understand some people! I also have a few people who love to talk trying to spread the word, but it is slow going so far. Good luck! If I come across something that works well, I'll be sure to post!

 

[Nit R]

New practice - what worked for you?

EM,I would concentrate on a comfortable perameter around your new office space (3-5 mile radius?). You can purchase either residential or commercial names & addresses from information brokers such as infousa.com. They allow you to choose all kinds of defining profiles (recently moved there, certain income brackets, etc, etc). If there are certain professions you'd like to get your hands on, this might be a good idea (ie Lawyers, or Counselling professionals, etc). (Nurses have been a great source of clientele & referrals for me, personally.) They may need the work themselves, but also have lots of specific referrals for you if they like your work!You already emailed friends, but I strongly urge you to check out constantcontact.com & use their free 60 day trial. The email campaigns that you can generate there are very professional looking. They have safe unsubscribes & a great "forward" feature. I would design a free email campaign & resend it to those very same people. Let your campaign be about getting the word out to their friends (expanding your network, one family menmber/friend at a time). I signed up for their service ($15/month) right away & I LOVE the marketing flair it gives me. Good luck! wouldn't it be great if you ended up filling your coupla days/week & didn't need to find other work?!Wishing you the best of luck,Jill/Sagetherapist

 

[Fantabulous]

Time and patience are critical when just starting out.  In the beginning, most of your time will most likely be devoted to marketing and getting yourself out there.  You might sit back and say "I spent 25 hours this week marketing myself and only got 2 clients out of it all."  However, remember, that it's a cummulative thing.  People need to be seeing, hearing and reading about you several times before most will make an appointment.  Just because they see your business card in a local store, doesn't mean they will call.  They may wake up with a kink in their neck 3 months from now and you want them to think of YOU.  If they only saw your card once, they are most likely not going to think of you.  And then, once you get your client base building, you will be having more repeat clients and more referrals.Make up a brochure.  It's so easy to do on the computer these days.  A business card doesn't really tell people much about you.  A brochure can tell people some of the benefits they can receive from massage.  My advice would be to list things like "headache relief, pain management, etc." instead of "increases circulation".  A brochure is bigger than a business card and so harder to lose.  It also tells people how to contact you, what you offer, what your pricing is, what kind of hours, etc.  Okay, so once you've made up your brochures, distribute them to anywhere you think your clients may come from, perhaps beauty salons, nail salons, area gyms that don't have an MT, stores that sell sports equipment, the deli where all the construction workers go to eat, etc. Make sure you have several people look over your brochure for accuracy of spelling, etc., as well as to be sure it can be understood.  As a massage professional, you may know what NMT is, but the average client isn't going to know what the heck you're talking about.   If people will give you permission, ask to put out fishbowls and gather business cards for a free drawing for a massage.  Hint:  give only 30 minutes and try to upgrade to an hour when they book.  You will gather a mailing list from these business cards.  Jill has a great idea with ConstantContact.  I use it too (I think I got the suggestion from Jill....thanks!).  It's free for 60 days and then remains free if you have less than 50 subscribers.  And, at $15 per month for unlimited amount of time you can e-mail your subscribers, it is MUCH cheaper than the US Post Office!  It's another way for people to always be reminded of you so that when they do need a massage, they will think of you.  I send out a monthly newsletter and will sometimes add another quick one during the month, to remind the them that Father's Day is coming or perhaps if it is going to snow a lot I have sent an e-mail with some safety tips and a reminder to thank their muscles for all the hard shoveling work by getting a massage.I would suggest devoting a certain number of hours each day to marketing efforts.  Visit estabishments.  Contact friends, family, former co-workers, etc. via phone, e-mail or snail mail.  Develop your ConstantContact newsletter.  Develop your "Welcome to my Practice" letter to send to new clients.  Develop a "Thank you for the referral" letter and coupon for a discount on their next massage.  Write down ALL your possible ideas for marketing and advertising, no matter what the cost of them or how "silly" they seem.  Then, go through and pick a couple each week that you will actually do.  My most important advice is to keep working at it and have patience.  It usually doesn't happen overnight.  It takes time to see the results because it will all eventually begin to build upon itself.  It can be frustrating and perplexing because what works this month may not work next month.  What works for me may not work for you and in your area of the country or the time of year you try it.  Typically, in my area, summer is the slow season, so it would be a hard time to be getting going around here.  But, it's a great time to start laying the ground work.  Getting your name out there.  Unfortunately, too many therapists have unrealistic expecatations and are not willing to do the work necessary to achieve their goals and so drop out of massage.  I do hope you won't be a statistic.  I understand that some people absolutely have to have the guaranteed income to survive.  So, perhaps having another job for a little bit will help.  Or, maybe a job in a spa or salon would be best to start.  I wish you much luck!  Keep us posted.

 

[Sarah E]

New practice - what worked for you?

You know, I wanted to add something that I've been having great success with recently (just since I moved to my new location). I read in one of Eric brown's (BodyworkBiz.com) free newsletters of a great idea to "make your business cards work harder". It suggested professionally printing an offer like "FREE additional half-hour with a 60 minute therapeutic massage. Limit one per person." on the back. I printed up 250 very beautiful cards from Vista Print when they ran a special (something like $3.99 for the cards plus shipping). I actually had to reorder! Its a wonderful "return visit" incentive. If you don't like VistaPrint, that's fine, use another method. When I give 5 or 6 of these to someone at the end of their appointment, I ask them to help me grow my business by handing these special offers out to friends who might love to try massage. I make sure to tell them they can use the offer themselves, the next time they visit. They usually book it before they leave! So, if you give these to friends in the salon business, etc, they can write on the back "Shaunna sent me!", etc, so you know who to thank for the referrals. You could even print these as a one-sided card for free at VP. Just make sure your contact info is as clearly legible as the special offer.Bottom line, I am doing more 90 minute massages than ever! I prefer to work this time frame anyway. I would much rather do a 90 minute massage for $60 to "capture" that new client's confidence & repeat business than give away free half hours in the hope that they'll upgrade for $20, etc. (then you are CERTAIN to get a high perceneforum.xxxe of coupon chasers & discount junkies) I may do fewer of these offers, but I am seeing much healthier results in dollars received, and new clients repeating visits.One step further, I ask them to consider a standng appointment of every 1, 2 or 3 weeks. There's no contract or required length of committment. I will give them $10 off each massage if they keep their standing appointments. They can then afford MORE massages per year, if you do the math. There's no prepaying or monthly electronic funds transfers (such as with massage clubs), and they can purchase gift certificates for the same discount while they are 'in standing'. (I just started offering this about 6 weeks ago & I have 12 standing appointments now... some of them new clients, some of them existing clients who used to come in monthly or 'whenever needed'!) Good luck!Jill/SagetherapistP.S. Wherever you put up flyers, check in with the business owners periodically & change out your flyers with different looks & hooks. The new look or hook ("It's time to give Dads & Grads what they really need.... MASSAGE" etc)will catch the repeat shopper's eye, refreshing your presence in their mind.

 

[jacko brightside]

One step further, I ask them to consider a standng appointment of every 1, 2 or 3 weeks. There's no contract or required length of committment. I will give them $10 off each massage if they keep their standing appointments. They can then afford MORE massages per year, if you do the math. There's no prepaying or monthly electronic funds transfers (such as with massage clubs), and they can purchase gift certificates for the same discount while they are 'in standing'. (I just started offering this about 6 weeks ago & I have 12 standing appointments now... some of them new clients, some of them existing clients who used to come in monthly or 'whenever needed'!)

I do something similar to this and it has worked out great!  I don't notice any slow times at all!

 

[Pompal 09.]

New practice - what worked for you?

(I know. I think I got the idea from you! Thanks!)

 

[Zilog32]

Thanks for the information.My school never really gave us any kind of information on how to market ourselves when we got out of school. Acutally we had very little practical business advice either. There was supposed to be classes on this, but somehow they were never as informative as I had hope, and was filled with things I already knew.  :-/Thank you all for your wonderful advice. I think I've learned as much through the boards as I have in school. Jenn  

 

[stopadeeboomba]

New practice - what worked for you?

Glad to hear I wasn't the only one with that experience, Talenyn.So hopefully my friend printed my first 150 give-to-get coupons last night... I'm looking forward to picking them up and getting started with them I started making a list of local non-profits, with the idea that they could give these to members who donated at a certain amount or above. Any tips on how to pitch this, how to contact, what to say? Since I've already got a list of 13 or so I think I want to start out just calling... but I'm honestly not sure who to ask for or what they really care about... and I want to address what they care about, not just my concerns.Of course I've got the typical self-saboeforum.xxxing thoughts coming up Things like, "Oh they're not going to want these, they won't think these are valuable for their members, they'll think I'm trying to take advaneforum.xxxe of them," etc, etc.

 

[MaqAtak]

Hey EM!My suggestion is joining the chamber of commerce if your town has one!  I just joined mine about a month ago and the calls are definetly increasing!  Not only does it get you noticed by the buisness professionals around your town, but it also tells people that you are a professional and puts away any thoughts that are inappropiriate!!  Also, do some research, the web is the most amazing place for that.  One more thing, it takes time so be patient, you can't be successful over night, it happens gradually!  Hope you get everything you want!!Good Luck!!Lisa ;D

 

[[email protected]]

New practice - what worked for you?

Cool, I'll look into the chamber.Thanks for the encouragement I wonder if my new landlord will be ok with me "gradually" paying next month's rent... Sorry if I sound overanxious, I'm just facing root chakra worries ;-)

 

[drhnk07]

Hey folks,So things are going better I got my first regular client... he prepayed for a month to get a discount (20%).I also realized that when I fill my two days a week, that will be enough to scrape by. Encourages me to get any kind of part time job in the meantime, since I see that it will in no way be "forever". (Scared of getting "stuck".)Been distributing the give-to-get coupons. 40 of them were raffled off at two different events on Saturday... here's what one of them said:

Josh, it was a really great time!  Your certs went like wildfire.  People should be calling you soon to set up some time.I played you up as new in the area, establishing your clientele... great massages, etc. Let's stay in touch ... and let me know if folks come out of the woodwork.

In the meantime, I've been offering a ridiculous deal on craigslist -- free 30 minutes, or upgrade to a full hour for $25 -- the same ridiculous deal on the coupons. It's funny, I look at my fairly unscheduled calendar with apprehension, but somehow my days are managing to fill... usually the day of. What's with all these people expecting to book same-day appointments?

 

[timmy7]

New practice - what worked for you?

EM,Those are the people you can play up a 'maintenance rate' or savings with. Let them know you're happy to work them in, but things are going well & you'd like to see them on the schedule in advance, so they are sure to get the work they need, etc.So glad things are going well for you!Remember to take good crae of yourself!Jill/sagetherapist

 

[illeciavE]

New practice - what worked? London massage

at some seforum.xxxe - the sooner the better - you can start thinking about your own website.Initially a lot of work - but pays back for years to come.

 

[Bobber Geldkraft]

New practice - what worked for you?

Thanks Jill.

 

[Sammie]

New practice - what worked for you?

does the craigslist pull in allot of clients? im thinking about offering a 90 minute massage for the price of a 60 minute massage to pull in some new clients.

 

[Zia]

I just started working for a chiro (today) as an IC.  I have a wonderful arrangement there.  He provides me with his office staff and a room (rent free)  The other great benefit is there are already a few clients.As for marketing and such..I bought the ProVenture Smart Business Pack for $30 at staples.You can use it to make labels, business cards and brochures.  It also has some stuff for a database, invoices, and legal forms. There are 15 programs.  I am still getting familiar with it, but my business cards are beautiful.Next I want to make the brochures too hand out to local businesses and communnity boards.  This was suggested to me today.Thanks for the chamber idea.  I'm not familiar with the are I am now working in.  It'll be a great way to meet people.

 

[Squirtle]

New practice - what worked for you?

So I'm a bit disappointed with the Give to Get coupons... I've only had two calls, one appointment from them. Currently working on sending a mailer to folks who have bought homes in the area recently.Something's gotta work ;-)Still looking for a job... it's a jungle out there.

 

[Pompal 09.]

Bodyfocus - Craigslist can be problematic.  Every time I tried advertising massage services there I received responses from men only.  Each and every one of them were trying to book an erotic  massage even though my post made it perfectly clear that I offer therapeutic masssage and explicitly stated "non-sexual inquiries only".  After 3 or 4 tries of tweaking the wording, trying to target a specific demographic, etc., I finally cut bait.HOWEVER, if you offer a modality like ear candling it's not a bad forum for advertisement.  I got several EC clients from craigslist.  It's very hard to interpret ear candling as anything other than therapeutic  

 

[kdanley]

i'm still a student, but my therapist used to take her table to the local races (5k & 10ks) when she was starting out. she would offer free (with a tip jar) 10 min leg massages and pass out her cards. i don't know if it worked for her, but it's REALLY hard to get an appointment now. i'm planning on doing the same thing after my boards. Good luck!