Starting your career with Chair Massage

[AaronTassle]

I have heard this (chair massages) are the best way to start to build a client base. As someone who would be starting out do you agree with this? It makes complete sense to me but I love to get a second, heck even a third opinion on information that I recieve from others. What do you all think?

 

[cadij]

I think chair massage is a wonderful way to build up a practice. It has wonderful advavneforum.xxxes-it's portable,can be done in many places where tables cannot go-schools,hair salons,hospitals,daycares,malls,etc.,plus the work is easier on the therapist-less strain on the wrists,you use fewer techniques, mostly compression,petrissage and tapotement and much easier cleanup,because the client remains fully clothed,and this way,even the most modest client can benefit greatly from just a 15 minute chair massage. I do alot of chair massage for various events,such as numerous health fairs,hospital health awareness events, the American Cancer Society Relay for Life, the Susan B. Komen Race for the Cure,the American Red Cross,and my favorite cause,the Carolina Emergency Response Massage Team,which is an organization formed out of need in 1998 to do chair massage for emergency workers-we have done massage for alot of causes,including the 9/11 attack on WTC,Hurricane Katrina relief massage in LA and MS to emergency workers and volunteers,and various events here in NC. I love doing chair work so much. My biggest advice is to buy a good quality massage chair-it will last you longer-I have a Golden Ratio Quiklite,and it has been wonderful to me,and has helped alot of people. Just enjoy building your practice,and helping others who need you.

Namaste'
Johnny

 

[micki]

It was not a way for me to build table clients. I like it as a stand-alone modality. This is a question I would leave until after you are most of the way through school -- although I know it is hard to wait!

 

[catface]

I enjoy corporate chair massage, although several hours straight can get quite tiring. I also use it to introduce people to Myofascial Release and it does lead to table clients.

 

[Charly Hayes]

I enjoy corporate chair massage, although several hours straight can get quite tiring. I also use it to introduce people to Myofascial Release and it does lead to table clients.

MarionFM,

Sounds like you have been there before. I was thinking of starting this way but it will also depend on what happens while I am at school Thanks!!

 

[Shivani]

I wanted to clarify that, although "the chair doesn't lead to the table" for me, I love the chair not only as a separate revenue stream as mentioned above, but also for use all by itself in the office for some clients. For a couple years, I had a weekly 90-minute chair client -- she paid my rent all by herself. And I have others, less regular, but the chair is the only thing that has convinced them to have bodywork.

Owning a chair also enables you to do festival/farmers' market type work when you want to, which can be lucrative and rewarding by itself too. Basically for me it's hard to imagine being without the flexibility a chair affords my practice. It has paid for itself several times over the last 4 years.

 

[Anuj]

Making Money With Your Chair

Hi All,

I'm a newbie. I have both a table and a chair. I'm considering emphasizing my chair to start.

In response to this statement:

I have made a lot of money in my chair over the years

For those of you who have made steady money with chair massage, could you provide any step by step suggestions, or some tips on how you did this? How did you get for example your first 1/2 dozen regular clients? What tactics did you use to keep them coming back?

Thanks!

 

[marion.ofsherwood]

From A Newbie Setting Up Massage Gigs

I do alot of chair massage for various events,such as numerous health fairs,hospital health awareness events, the American Cancer Society Relay for Life, the Susan B. Komen Race for the Cure,the American Red Cross,and my favorite cause,the Carolina Emergency Response Massage Team,
Namaste'
Johnny

Hello!
How did you set up your massage gigs? Were they paid or volunteer?

Thanks,

Newbie AngelHands

 

[Juancho]

I wanted to clarify that, although "the chair doesn't lead to the table" for me, I love the chair not only as a separate revenue stream as mentioned above, but also for use all by itself in the office for some clients. For a couple years, I had a weekly 90-minute chair client -- she paid my rent all by herself. And I have others, less regular, but the chair is the only thing that has convinced them to have bodywork.

Owning a chair also enables you to do festival/farmers' market type work when you want to, which can be lucrative and rewarding by itself too. Basically for me it's hard to imagine being without the flexibility a chair affords my practice. It has paid for itself several times over the last 4 years.

off topic a lil bit (i apoligize for it) but how in the world can you do a 90 minute chair massage???

 

[moonlight smile xxx]

It wasn't typical chair work! : She came for what she called "trigger-point" work -- they weren't true TPs as they didn't refer, but they were chronically tight and tender, typically in her upper body. She had a number of health conditions that, while they didn't preclude massage, made it v. uncomfortable for her to lie on a table, and her "spots" were so numerous and required so much focused attention that we ended up doing 90 minutes on them, in the chair. I just sat on my stool and used my tools! (Of course now that I've learned SRT I think that would have been a much more effective technique than the tool-digging she liked so well, but live and learn...)

 

[Patrick G]

From A Newbie Setting Up Massage Gigs

[
How did you set up your massage gigs? Were they paid or volunteer?

I did a volunteer event while I was still in massage school. (Here in TX we cannot charge for massage until we have our license.) A licensed MT friend of mine who lives in the next city over told me she was doing an event and asked me if I wanted to come along. I did it to gain the experience. Learning chair massage in the field was a wonderful learning tool, much better than any CEU class I could've paid for! And I made a couple dollars in tips on the side.

Once I got my license, though, every chair massage event I've worked has been a paid gig. I've done a singers' convention with 1200 ppl (about 10-15% get chair massage), where we did $1/min in 5-min increments. I also did a couple of school PTA events (also paid) for a straight $60/hr for 4 consecutive hours. (Consecutive time blocks are the only arrangement we'll enter now, due to heavy demands on our time.) My husband (also a licensed MT) volunteered his chair massage services for local (walking-distance) elementary school health fair that lasted about an hour and a half. He did chair massage, donated a small coupon, and discussed the benefits of massage, chiropractic, and a healthy lifestyle in general. He got to meet parents and young kids in the community, and his clientele had not built up much yet, so he had a little time to spare. Only under very special circumstances will we offer services for free like that, though. It's pretty rare. I do not appreciate the current culture (in some place more than others) that assumes chair massage should be free. It shouldn't. You have time and a skill, and that's all you have to sell. You should get compensated for it!

Hugs,
~Jyoti

 

[placplacplac]

I wanted to clarify that, although "the chair doesn't lead to the table" for me, I love the chair not only as a separate revenue stream as mentioned above, but also for use all by itself in the office for some clients. For a couple years, I had a weekly 90-minute chair client -- she paid my rent all by herself. And I have others, less regular, but the chair is the only thing that has convinced them to have bodywork.

Owning a chair also enables you to do festival/farmers' market type work when you want to, which can be lucrative and rewarding by itself too. Basically for me it's hard to imagine being without the flexibility a chair affords my practice. It has paid for itself several times over the last 4 years.

off topic a lil bit (i apoligize for it) but how in the world can you do a 90 minute chair massage???

I too have done 60 minute and longer chair massages. The chair is great for people who are not comfortable lying down, or people who have had an injury like whiplash and are concerned about their neck moving when they are being worked on on the table.

You go looking for areas of restriction (I like MFR) and then release them. It is great not to be rushed in doing so.