Make the Most of Massage

Author: Mark Liskey

  • How to Get Your Massage Into Mainstream Medicine

    How to Get Your Massage Into Mainstream Medicine

    Mainstream massage will be connected to mainstream medicine.

    And if you’re not moving in that direction, I think you’re going to miss out an opportunity.

    I’m not talking about getting hired by an orthopedist or physical therapist to do medical massage.

    I’m talking about aligning your massage business with mainstream medicine to serve your clients better and to develop a network of connections and potential referral sources.

    Where Should You Start?

    Not with MDs and DOs.

    They have zero time and little motivation to respond to you. That’s not a slight against them. That’s just their reality.

    The place to start is with PTs.

    Why?

    Because there’s a new, PT business model in town—finally.

    This new business model accepts insurance patients but also accommodates cash patients.

    It has after-care programs for patients who have finished PT and want more help, and it offers a monthly membership for patients who want to continue to use the facility to exercise.

    The PTs here don’t use the word “discharge” when a patient completes a PT program because they want the patient to come back for other wellness needs, like customized exercise training programs and nutritional counseling.

    The business philosophy of these PT wellness centers is 100% patient (customer) care.

    They compete with conveyor-belt, PT businesses where the therapist walks away and lets you do the exercises by yourself.

    Bye-bye conveyor-belt, PT businesses.

    Win/Win for Mainstream Massage Businesses and Clients

    This is obviously good for patients, but it’s good for us, MTs, too.

    Why?

    Picture a PT wellness business as a wheel with spokes.

    At the center of the wheel is the actual business of doing physical therapy.

    The spokes are all the things that PTs need to be connected with in order to be a concierge wellness service, like orthopedists, podiatrists, nutritionists…and, yes, massage therapists.

    (Closest I could get to a wheel.)

    Come on, Mark, mainstream medicine doesn’t want us!

    Maybe not all mainstream medicine, but a wellness-based PT business does.

    For one, some of the their patients request us.

    Two, we’re in a position of “gate keeping”.

    What I mean by this is that some of the people who come to see us need physical therapy and ask us for recommendations.

    Mainstream Massage “Gate Keeping”

    Let’s say Ira injuries his shoulder. And he doesn’t want to go to the orthopedist for host of reasons, including he doesn’t think his shoulder warrants an X-ray or MRI, he doesn’t want to shell out a $60 copay and he doesn’t take pain killers or muscle relaxers.

    So who’s Ira going to call?

    Not ghost busters.

    He’s going to call the massage therapist that his best friend Trudy uses.

    You.

    Ira comes into your office. You do your eval, identify the pain area, follow your protocol and treat him.

    He doesn’t show improvement so you tell him it’s time to get a diagnosis and more help.

    By the way, Ira doesn’t need to go to an orthopedist for a diagnosis any longer.

    Doctors of PT can diagnose, too.

    Do you think PTs are starting to prick up their ears?

    I do.

    Soon it will become apparent to many PTs that we’re on the front-line of people who may need PT care.

    Our PT Wellness Experience

    Recently, my wife and I met with a wellness-based PT business.

    It was a very productive meeting.

    They wanted to understand what we do and how they could help us.

    Who would have ever thought, right?

    The most import thing about this meeting was that we’re all on the same page because we all believe that if we take care of the client/patient, business will take care of itself.

    Right on!

    This is the company we want to grow with.

    Getting Your Mainstream Massage Business Connected

    If you think like we do and want to connect with people in mainstream medicine who share your values, here’s what I would do:

    1. Initiate contact with PTs through your clients.

    Here’s how you do that: How to Advertise Better than Massage Envy.

    1. Pick the PT business that matches your client care and business philosophies.

    For us, a wellness-based PT business was the answer.

    1. Go above and beyond.

    Figure out a way that you can add value to their business. An example would be to offer free self-massage demos to their patients.

    As we forge ahead with this new PT relationship, I’ll let you know how it goes.

    And don’t forget, if you need more help, sign up for my email group.

    I’ll send you the latest information on making more money, building a massage business and staying out of pain.

    And it’s free.

    Sign up is below:-)

  • Massage Business 201: Test Your Limits

    Massage Business 201: Test Your Limits

    You’ll never grow your massage business to the size you want until you test your limits.

    Don’t get me wrong, I’m the first to admit that limits are important.

    If you work 7 days a week, you’ll burn out.

    But sometimes a “limit” doesn’t accurately reflect the moment when you should stop something, and sometimes a “limit” changes over time.

    That’s when limits are a problem.

    If you can’t grow your massage business, here’s a limit that could be stopping you: Your massage max.

    Whoa, buddy, hands off my massage max!

    I get it.

    You’re comfortable with your current massage max. If you stay within the limit, you won’t be in pain.

    But, assuming you can bring in clients on demand (I can help you with that here), what’s preventing you from growing your massage business?

    It’s the amount of massages you can do in day, week, month, or year.

    Increase your massage max and you increase your potential to make more money.

    And injury, Mark.

    Not necessarily.

    Here’s how you can safely challenge your massage max limit and grow your massage business.

    Step #1: Think in terms of “massage max for the week”.

    Yes, I did say “week” instead of “day”.

    Why?

    Because, from a practical standpoint, a week makes more sense than a day.

    If you did 8 hours of massage one day, but need to rest for four days before you can do more massage, it really doesn’t help you to increase your income and grow your massage business.

    Step #2: Take your current, weekly massage max and add 3 to 5 more hours of massage to it.

    Adding three to five more massages a week is only a suggestion. It’s how I started testing my weekly max. You may want to start more conservatively with 1 or 2. The point is to test your current limit by exceeding it.

    Step #3: Open up as many days of the week as you can for massage.

    If you only work 4 days a week now, allow yourself to spill over into the other days of the week.

    Don’t panic.

    This is a temporary move. It will give your body time to adjust to the increased workload.

    Step #4: If you feel bodily discomfort make changes to your massage.

    If you feel pain when doing the extra massage, pay attention to your techniques and body mechanics.

    Here are some basic things you can do to help yourself out: Mix up your techniques, become ambidextrous, lean to generate pressure and/or combine body parts to deliver pressure.

    This article provides more help: How to Eliminate Pain When Massaging: Adaptation.

    Step #5: Evaluate

    If you’re in pain when testing your max and you can’t eliminate the pain, then your current massage max is correct.

    Go back to it. No harm done.

    If you’re not in pain when adding in more massages, go to step #6.

    Step#6: Take your new, weekly massage max and fit it into your desired work-week cycle.

    Let’s say your old, weekly limit was 20 hours in 5 days.

    During your massage max testing you added 3 hours per week, but also added another work day. So, you were doing 23 hours in 6 days.

    Now, it’s time to fit your 23 hours into 5 days.

    Give yourself a month or so to make the transition.

    Grow Your Massage Business: “Limit Testing” Bonus

    There’s an extra benefit when you test your massage max limit. You begin to create a habit of testing limits. And when you have that testing mindset, your massage business will grow.

    Here’s an example of how my business grows through testing limits.

    One busy week I was booked to my weekly max early on.  When more people called to come in I decided to challenge my massage max rather than schedule them for the following week.

    That’s when I found out that I could do more clients in a week than I thought could.

    Great! I can see more clients, but my average (limit) for bringing in new clients without paid advertising was 3 to 4 new clients a month.

    Hmm…could I bring in more than 3 to 4 new clients a month without paid advertising?

    Guess what got tested next?

    You got it: My idea (limit) that I could only bring in 3 to 4 new clients a month.

    Testing a Limit Pep Talk

    Testing a limit is a simple idea. But there are a lot of emotional land mines around the thought of putting yourself in a position of temporary discomfort.

    The thing is, the discomfort will go away.

    But the rewards will stay:-)

    Hey, if you’re looking for more discomfort…I mean info about building a massage practice, making more money and staying out of pain, join my email group.

    I’ll send you my latest everything.

    Better yet, tell me what you need help with and I’ll send that info your way. My email group is  free and you can unsubscribe anytime.

    Sign up below:-)

     

  • Advanced Massage Body Mechanics: Get Vertical

    Advanced Massage Body Mechanics: Get Vertical

    As you hunch over your massage table, massage after massage, do you ever get a mental picture of a little, old, humpback woman leaning on her shopping cart in the grocery store? (Suddenly massage body mechanics seem important again, huh?)

    You may have tried to counter the massage room hunching with cobras and pec stretches, but who has the time to stretch?

    Before you beat yourself up for not stretching, ask yourself this question: Do I have to hunch over my massage table?

    The answer is yes.

    Just seeing if you were paying attention.

    Absolutely not.

    In fact, if you do the opposite—get vertical—really good things start to happen.

    When I get vertical during a massage my body feels less taxed at the end of a day, especially my upper shoulders and mid-back.

    Here’s what I mean by getting vertical: While you’re doing a massage straighten up your torso so that your spine is in a neutral position.

    I’m not saying do the whole massage in the vertical position. That would be hard to do (but not impossible).

    I’m saying as you work on your massage body mechanics, try to get vertical 25% – 50% of the time during a massage

    That will be enough time to give your back a break.

    Getting Vertical Formula

    My formula for getting vertical is simple. You just need to pay attention to your butt.

    When your torso is not over your butt, you’re not vertical.

    In this picture you can see that my head is hanging, my upper thoracic spine is rounding and my torso is leaning forward.

    There are key times during a massage when you can get vertical.

    My favorite time is when doing one-hand static pressure.

    1. One-hand static pressure.

    I transition into a lot of one-handed presses when I’m doing two-handed massage strokes.

    Here I’m doing a two-handed, short stroke glide.

    From this position, I simply turn both feet to my right and switch to one-hand static pressure

    My feet are parallel to the side of the table, and I regulate my pressure through my stance. With a wider stance I have less leaning leverage. A narrow stance gives me more leaning leverage.

    If I want to give  my working arm a break, I can turn the opposite way and use my other hand on the same spot or another spot.

    I also like getting vertical when I can squat.

    2. Squat.

    When I squat I can direct my pressure by simply shifting my weight from the back of my feet to the front of my feet or from my heels to the balls of my feet.

    Working on necks and feet are perfect for squatting.

    Here I am pressing into cervical erectors.

    To exert more pressure, I lean in (shift my weight to the balls of my feet).

    Feet are also a time to get vertical.

    The wide stance allows me to get my butt under my torso.

    When you experiment with stances and one-hand static pressure you’ll find your own ways to get vertical.

    Here’s a more complex move that still has good, vertical massage-body-mechanics.

    In this picture I’m using a T-bar on the upper trap/levator scapulae (or where the upper trap and levator scapulae would be if my skeleton was a person).

    To rest my shoulder and neck, I have my arm against the front of my torso, and I’m generating pressure by simply pushing with my legs, not my shoulder.

    Jonesing for Vertical

    The downside of getting vertical during a massage is that it’s addictive. Once you get vertical, you’re going to want to get more vertical.

    This is a one-hand press with a stretch.

    Your back will love this.

    Here’s the going vertical Cliff’s Notes:

    Advanced Massage Body Mechanics: Going Vertical Recap

    1. Keep your butt under your torso.
    2. Go vertical when you switch to one hand.
    3. Go vertical when squatting.

    Body Mechanics CE Course That Will Save Your Body

    If you need more help with massage body mechanics, growing a massage business or making more money, check out my online, home-study, CE course here.

     

  • Why Your Massage Practice is Meh

    Why Your Massage Practice is Meh

    The key to building a massage business is to actually build it.

    I should know. I spent many years thinking I was building a practice when I was simply living off referrals from a few key clients.

    Eventually, my referral sources dried up, and it was sink or swim time for Markie.

    That’s when I discovered something really important about business: Either go all in, or go home.

    Going all in is critical because it will afford you the time to work on all the things you need to do to make your business succeed.

    Many Hats Challenge

    But going all in can be a challenging, especially if you wear many hats like me (massage therapist, business owner, CE teacher and writer).

    At first, it seems like the “many hats” strategy provides a level of income security. If one job goes, you still have the other ones to support you.

    But the reality is unless each job is set up to produce extra income on demand, you don’t have security.

    For example, if your $1000 a week massage therapist job suddenly goes south because you injure yourself, it’s unlikely that your $50 a week daycare worker gig is going to replace your massage income.

    Building a Massage Business Detour

    Years ago when my practice took a hit, I threw myself into generating more money through my side jobs (personal trainer and writer) and a vicious cycle started.

    I spent a lot of time working the side jobs that didn’t generate as much as I was making as an MT, and my massage business (where I should have been throwing my attention) shrunk even more.

    If having “many hats” is preventing you from going all in with your massage business, I’ve got a pill that can help you out.

    Alright, I’m lying. No pill. But I do have something else.

    It’s self-interrogation.

    Yeah, I know, it’s not a whole lot of fun.

    Here, I’ll make it easier by going first.

    “Mark, good, ole buddy, why do you wear so many hats?”

    Because that’s who I am.  

    I feel my best when I have multiple things going on.

    And I don’t like being boxed in.

    Are you trying to box me in?!

    (Long, contemplative look from internal interrogator.)

    “Anything else?”

    Well, yeah, if I go all in I could fail. That gets me nervous.

    And there’s the thing about competition. I really don’t have to compete with others if I’m only half-way into massage.

    Not to mention that I’d have to sell myself (my soul) if I went all in. (No you don’t.)

    Oh, and once I’m all in, I could get stuck in something I don’t want to do.

    Sure enough when I did my own self-interrogation, I started to see a pattern,

    I was emotionally comfortable having many hats. And when the going got tough with my massage business, I’d throw myself into writing or personal training.

    Later, recognizing this pattern was enough to keep me on track when I wanted to diverge from working on my massage business.

    And getting small wins, like  more clients walking through my door, made me want to stay all in.

    Building a Massage Business Bonus

    At the end of the day, going all in with building a massage practice, netted me more than a massage practice.

    It gave me confidence.

    Oh, and remember that fear of getting stuck?

    It went away because I had the confidence to try other things, like developing and teaching CE classes.

    I also didn’t have to give up being me.

    Hell, I even added more jobs, like Make the Most of Massage.

    The difference between me then and now is that now I recognize when the other jobs are distracting me from growing my massage business.

    Building a Massage Business Quick Notes

    If you’re business is floundering because you’re not all in, try some self-interrogation.

    You may find that one reason you have a lot of things going on is so that you don’t have to commit to going all in with your massage business.

    Once you commit to building your massage practice, you’ll begin to recognize the times when you’re avoiding massage business projects because they’re unpleasant.

    I ain’t going to lie–the costs for going all in are blood, sweat and tears.

    However, the rewards are a productive massage business, confidence and opportunities to build other businesses.

    P.S. When I opened my first office, I knew a massage husband and wife duo. They opened up a massage practice in a high rent district and tried to make it as a wellness center.

    It failed.

    Damn, Mark, why are you telling me this when I was getting pumped about starting (growing) my practice?

    Here’s why. Their business didn’t fail because they hadn’t gone all in.

    They had.

    Their business failed because they started off too big. They had too much rent to cover.

    Being “all in” is important to building a massage business.

    A good business plan is, too.

    Can’t get beyond 30K?

    If you need to take a meh massage business to the next level, then this course will finish the job for you: Accelerator.