Make the Most of Massage

Author: Mark Liskey

  • Massage with Your Back to the Table

    Why would you want to do massage with your back to the massage table?

    Well…there are two reasons why I do massage with my back to the table.

    One, I can get a quick rest.

    And, two, I can get more vertical so that I can get out of a static posture.

    By static posture in the massage room I mean a prolonged work position, like hunchy back.

    Before you think I’m nuts, I need to throw some qualifiers in here.

    Strategic Back Bends

    First, I don’t have my back to the table for long periods of time.

    In fact, the times I do are strategically worked into the massage.

    And, two, I’m only using one hand (though I have experimented with two).

    I know, it’s getting hard to picture, right?

    So here’s what it looks like:

    I’m applying static pressure with one hand.

    And by using only one hand I can stand up straighter than if I had two hands on the client.

    But, Mark, can’t you just stand up straight with having one hand on your client and without having your back to the table?

    You can.

    It looks like this.

    But when you have the back of your legs against the table supporting your weight you can actually lean back a tad and get more extension in your back (like you’re doing a standing cobra).

    Man, does that standing cobra feel good.

    Besides occiput trigger point work, my other favorite times to do standing cobra are with sacrum compression…

    and hamstring compression near the ischium. (It’s a super-comfortable lean into area.)

    Get Your Standing Cobra On

    So what about you?

    Do you actually take time to rest during the massage?

    You should.

    Try the standing cobra rest/recharge.

    Standing Cobra Formula

    Here are the steps:

    1. Pick your areas to try it in.

    My areas are sacrum, hamstrings, and occiput.

    By the way, your table will have to be low to do this.

    Go here for more information about experimenting with a low table.

    2. Turn your back to the table, switch to one hand and lean into the one hand as you straighten your back.

    3. Then allow yourself to lean back into the table so that you create some extension in your back (standing cobra).

    You’ll know you’re doing it right when there’s absolutely no strain in your back because your body weight is supported by the back of your legs against the table and your hand on the client.

    Take strategic rests (resets), like standing cobra, and you’re body will be happier.

    Add if you layer in other strategies you’re body is going to be so happy that you’ll be able to raise your weekly massage max.

    By the way, the How to Deliver Deep Pressure without Hurting Yourself course is here. It’s a 3 CEU online, home study course. It’s packed with videos and guidance. Let’s get you out of pain and keep you out of pain:-)

  • The Secret Weapon That Will Save Your Back: Your Massage Table

    The Secret Weapon That Will Save Your Back: Your Massage Table

     

    I love my massage table.

    I know that sounds a little strange, but I have a good reason to love my massage table.

    My massage table saved my massage career.

    Here’s the short version.

    Saving My Massage Career

    A while back I stressed my shoulders doing massage in an attempt to save my neck and elbow.

    Then to save my shoulders, I stressed my back.

    At that point I was feeling mighty low and about ready to quit massage because no matter what I did something always hurt.

    But then I discovered a cool thing about my massage table.

    I could lean into it. 

    When I did my back got happy AND I was able to use the strategies that saved my shoulders, elbow and neck once again.

    Why did my back get happy?

    Because it didn’t have to work as hard to keep me upright and it could unbend from the typical massage-hunchback position.

    In a minute I’m going to show you how to lean into the table to save your back (and shoulders and neck).

    But before I do that I want to give you a framework for leaning.

    So, I’ll start from the beginning.

    How My Massage Table Saved My Massage Career

    My daddy was born into a family of sharecroppers living in the rolling hills of Harrisonburg Virginia…haha…not that far back.

    At one point in my massage career I was diagnosed with Cubital Tunnel Syndrome, cervical radiculopathy and an shoulder instability.

    Every time I did massage something hurt and the pain wasn’t going away.

    So I threw myself into an experiment to save my massage career. 

    My Experiment

    I had three rules for the experiment.

    1. Figure out what triggered or caused me pain in the massage room.

    2. Stop doing the the things that triggered/caused pain.

    3. Find alternatives to get the job done.

    The first thing I went to work on was my elbow pain (Cubital Tunnel Syndrome),

    To be honest, it was sometimes hard to differentiate between the pain coming from my neck (cervical radiculopathy) and pain coming from my elbow.

    But one thing for sure triggered both–using my forearms to massage.

    So, out went forearms.

    That stunk because they were a big part of my deep pressure work.

    Hmm…what could replace my forearms.

    I tried fists.

    But when I used my fists at my normal table height I had to really engage my upper body and I ended up tweaking my unstable shoulder.

    Now what? Knees? Believe me, I thought about it for a second.

    But lucky for me I was already familiar with leaning (using my body weight to generate pressure).

    In fact, leaning was core to my forearm work…

    …and massage tool work, too.

    So, now I just needed to lower the table far enough so that I could lean with my body weight using my fists.

    And that’s precisely what I did.

    It worked like a charm.

    There was no strain in my upper-body because my body weight was doing the work.

    My shoulders and neck liked that.

    However, not all my body parts were happy.

    My back started to bother me from working on a low table, especially when the client required less pressure (light to medium).

    Less pressure meant that I couldn’t lean all my body weight onto the client so my back and legs had to do more work. 

    Because I was on a mission to massage efficiently and effectively (aka, to be lazy and expend the least amount of energy as possible) without being in pain, it wasn’t long before my leg found the side of the massage table.

    The leg against the table provided extra support.

    That meant less work for my back to do and, ultimately, it allowed me to change positions so that I wasn’t in the  massage-hunchback position all the time.

    Leaning into the massage table has become a central feature to my body mechanics, so much so that if you randomly pulled the massage table away from me when I was standing during a massage, I would fall on my face 90% of the time.

    Here’s what you need to know to experiment with leaning into the massage table.

    1. You can lean into the massage table for support with all sides of your legs (front, back, side, inside).

    It doesn’t take much leaning to provide enough support to be able to get you out of massage hunchback.

    Here I’m leaning into the table using the inside of my left leg.

    In this next picture I’m leaning into the table with the side of my leg.

    Here’s classic leaning into the front of a leg.

    And here’s what you’ve been waiting for: Leaning into the back of a leg(s).

    2. Think plank when leaning into the table for deeper pressure.

    Deeper pressure is going to require more weight onto the client rather than onto the table.

    So you’re contact leg that’s leaning into the table is going to help stabilize your “planking”.

    Don’t worry about getting more vertical when leaning and doing deep pressure.

    Here’s what leaning into the table delivering deep pressure looks like:

    3. Straighten up and change back positions with light to medium pressure and/or when using one hand to massage.

    For light to medium pressure my stances widen because I don’t want to transfer all of my body weight onto the client.

    The combination of not needing to exert a lot of pressure and having the support of the table is the perfect opportunity for me to unbend my back.

    Time for a Change?

    As you can tell by now, I’m a very lazy creature when it comes to working in the massage room.

    I want a workout in the gym to feel like a workout in the gym.

    And I want the work I do in my massage room NOT to feel like a workout in the gym.

    That’s why I’m addicted to leaning.

    To find more about doing massage effortlessly check out Minimal Effort Massage. 

    And if you’re ready to jump into massaging pain-free, here’s the online, home-study course (3 CEUs) that will get the job done: How to do Deep Pressure Without Hurting Yourself.

    The course is based off my real-life experiment of overcoming career-ending conditions in the massage room.

    Lean on.

     

  • Massage Marketing Tips: Free Tools (Square, SendinBlue)

    Square and SendinBlue have free services that make my heart ka-ching.

    Square is a credit card payment service.

    SendinBlue is an email marketing service.

    I’m not going to lie, I wish I didn’t have to use a credit card payment service or an email marketing service.

    For one, I want all the money for each massage I do.

    But a lot of clients want to pay by credit card.

    So, you have to pay-to-play.

    Regarding an email marketing service, here’s what I was willing to spend on email campaigns in the past.

    $0.

    Oh, “free” was out there.

    And I found it, but “free” was okay at best.

    As my business grew I outgrew “free”, but the not-free version was too expensive

    Couple that with a monthly fee my credit card payment service was charging me on top of transaction fees and it felt like some major sticking it to the little guy/gal.

    But now it’s different.

    I have a free email service with all the features I need and a credit card payment service that gives me the capability to sell gift certificates and schedule clients online for free.

    That’s huge.

    Seriously.

    Okay, before I get too excited and have a heart attack, I need to tell you that the services I recommend below have affiliate links. That means if you click on a link and sign-up for a service, I get a commission.

    If you sign up through a link, thank you for supporting my work! And if you ever have a question/issue with a service I recommend, come to me, let me know and I’ll make sure that you have an answer/solution.

    Sound good?

    Okay, back to free.

    Let’s start with Square.

    Square

    Square charges a percentage fee for each credit card transaction (like all credit card payment systems).

    So, they want you to do A LOT of transactions!

    And out of the goodness of their hearts (haha), they provide tools to help you sell.

    Enter online gift certificates.

    Online Gift Certificates

    If you have a free Square account go to the home page and click on gift cards.

    There you can choose your template and fill in the the dollar amounts.

    Once you’re done that you simply click on Configure and that’s where you’ll find the URL to stick on your (hyperlink) website. (If you need help with that, let me know.)

    That URL takes the customer to a Square page where she can purchase an  online gift certificate and print it out or send it via email to someone else.

    Here’s what it looks like on our PressurePerfect website.

    In the past I used a service called Gift Card Café to sell printable gift certificates on our website.

    Their cost is an additional 4.95% per order for the Lite plan on top of the normal credit processing transaction fees of the credit card payment system.

    Free versus an additional 4.95% per order…wait let me think about this—NOT.

    Online Scheduler

    Like I said, Square wants us to have everything we need to sell our services so that they can profit, too.

    That’s why they also provide an online scheduler.

    For a one-person massage operation (individual), the scheduler is free.

    It syncs with Google calendar.

    Clients can book on your website and you can set it up to text appointment reminders to clients.

    Did I mention it was free?

    I’m loving what Square is doing.

    The more marketing tools they provide to us (for free), the more both of us make money.

    Total win/win.

    Okay, onto the dreaded email campaigns that no one wants to do.

    SendinBlue

    I had a love/hate relationship with my previous email service, Mailchimp.

    I loved that Mailchimp had a free option which allowed me to do email campaigns when I was at my poorest as a massage therapist.

    I didn’t like that the free version wouldn’t allow me to do certain things, like automated emails, without upgrading to a paid version which was cost prohibitive at the time.

    But the biggest problem I had with Mailchimp was that there was no support for the free version.

    Guess what? I’m massage therapist with a massage business not an accounting firm with a marketing team. I need help.

    The final straw for me with Mailchimp was when it wouldn’t allow me to send a time-sensitive email campaign and there was no way I could resolve the issue right then.

    Within 30 minute I discovered SendinBlue. An hour later, I had transferred my contacts to SendinBlue and sent the email.

    Can I just say, I love them.

    High-Five Usability

    The dashboard is super easy to understand and use.

    Directions are clear.

    And they provide support—even if you’re using the free version.

    Basically, SendinBlue provided all the solutions to the problems I had with Mailchimp.

    And it’s no accident that they’ve reached frustrated Mailchimp users like me.

    By the way, if you know that you should be doing some email marketing, but don’t know what to do, go here.

    More Low Cost Marketing

    Hey, we’re not done saving money. I have more ways that I make online marketing affordable.

    I build my own websites without hiring a designer or a SEO specialist.

    The two resources below will help you out with that.

    Build a Massage Website Guide.

    Choose a Website Builder Article (4 minute read)

    And if you want to know when I have more cost-saving tips out, sign up for my email group.

    It’s free:-)

     

  • The Biggest Mistake in My Massage Career

    What was my biggest mistake in my massage career?

    Wait, just one…I’ve got 4 screaming Pick me! Pick me!

    Okay, just one.

    Here’s my pick: Mission creep.

    Specifically, I didn’t stay focused on building a massage business.

    I kept chasing other business ideas instead.

    Why did I chase other business ideas?

    Because I wanted to be more than Mark massage.

    I wanted to be Mark writer.

    Mark audio history business owner.

    Mark Renaissance person.

    But there’s more to my mission creep than me just not wanting to be boxed in.

    Though I wanted the independence of working for myself, being 100% responsible for bringing in the business scared the pee out of me.

    That’s why a chunk of my massage career was punctuated with side jobs, like new business fitness center consultant and personal trainer.

    Don’t get me wrong, having a job outside of massage is not a bad thing at all.

    But a potential trap of adding another job is that you may be bailing on your massage career/business.

    The Insidious Bail

    The thing about bailing is that it’s sometimes hard to know when you’re actually doing it.

    In my work life bailing wasn’t: I’m out of here!

    It was more like: I can make a few extra bucks doing this.

    The “this” paid some bills. And so I did more of “this”.

    Meanwhile, the more I did “this”, the less time I had to get massage clients.

    You see where this is going.

    It’s a slow bail with an inevitable outcome—your massage door slowly closes.

    Talk about a catch-22, right?

    The additional job is paying bills and provides emotional security. But the additional job starts to pull you away from your massage career. And the next thing you know, you’re thinking about getting out of massage altogether because it’s not making you enough money.

    At this point, it’s easy to jump to this question: So, how long should I try before I give up on the idea of having a successful massage business/career?

    My answer: I have no idea.

    Sure, you can set an arbitrary timeline around the question, but I don’t think that is going to put you anywhere closer to success.

    There’s a better question to ask and it’s this: How hard should I try before I give up?

    I have an answer for that one: Harder than you’ve ever tried.

    Market and do massage until it hurts and then do it some more.

    The Way “Hurt” Has Worked for Me

    When I went all in with massage, I was forced to figure out the “bringing in more clients” thing.

    And I did.

    Here’s what I did.

    Then when I had so many client that my arm went numb and my elbow wanted me out of command central, I was forced to figure out the body thing.

    And I did.

    Here’s how I did that. (Btw, another solution would be to hire people to work for you. We did that, too.)

    The point is that you don’t get to be a successful parent unless you stay the course and work harder than you’ve ever thought you could so that you have the opportunity to figure out the challenges of parenting.

    And you don’t get to have a successful massage business/career unless you work your butt off bringing in and working on clients.

    The Price to Pay

    Does avoiding mission creep, being focused on your massage business/career, mean you have to give up your free time?

    Yes, but only for a very short period of time in the grand scheme of things.

    Once you get your massage business/career to where you want it to be, you then have the freedom to create other revenue sources or use your time elsewhere.

    Ask my massage therapist friend, Bobbi. She goes away 3 months of the year and returns to her massage business as if she had never left.

    Is it Mission Creep or Time to Add an Additional Job?

    So how do you tell the difference between mission creep and a legitimate need to add another job?

    Well, first you need to ask yourself what part of your income do you want massage to represent? 25%, 50%, 75%, or 100%?

    If it’s a 50% or below then obviously you need another job, too.

    And if you’re hovering around the 75% plus range and you’re current massage income isn’t enough to pay the bills, then, yes, get that 2nd job.

    But beware of mission creep because this is what’s going to happen next.

    You’ll be dead tired from working that extra job and you’ll feel like you’re working hard enough to bring in clients, but the truth is you won’t be.

    Accept the pain.

    Do more.

    By doing you’ll create the perfect environment for figuring out how to build a massage business/career that works for you.

    Need more help bringing in clients?

    If you’re starting your business or have a business that is making less than 30K, go here: Jumpstart.

    If you have a business that is paying the bills, but you want to take it to the next level, go here: Accelerator.