Make the Most of Massage

Category: Advanced Marketing

  • How to Make Your Rainmaker

    How to Make Your Rainmaker

    You need massage clients. And what’s killing you is that you’re a good massage therapist. Clients should be beating down your door, right? The problem is you’re not a rainmaker (someone who brings in the business).

    I get it.

    Back in the day, I had my NMT certification and felt really good about my massage.

    So I opened my massage room door so that fitness center members could peer in and see me sitting on my massage stool at my desk, my head ensconced in a massage halo as angels sang: Come forth clients!

    But there was no coming forth. I mean there were trickles and spurts, but no flooding.

    So guess what I did?

    I got more massage skills and training!

    And I sat on my stool in my massage room and waited some more…and I got the same results.

    But now I have clients.

    What’s changed?

    One thing.

    I became the rainmaker.

    Yay, for me.

    Sad for me is that it took me a way long time to bring in the business.

    By the way, you don’t get that time back. So, don’t procrastinate and flounder like I did.

    If you really want a massage business become the rainmaker NOW.

    How?

    Rainmaker Step #1: Accept the Rainmaker Role

    First, you have to accept that YOU are responsible for bringing in clients.

    That’s a big deal, especially if you are used to being an employee or a subcontractor.

    But if you want a massage practice, it’s all on you, sista.

    And getting the work is as vital to your business as doing the work.

    In other words, you have two equally important jobs: 1. Massager. 2. Rainmaker.

    When the work isn’t coming in, you’re sucking as rainmaker.

    Get better at it.

    But wait, Mark, I’m not good at marketing and advertising and outreach.

    You’ll improve.

    Okay, honestly, Mark, I don’t like that crap.

    I know you don’t. It’s not my dream job either. But here’s the thing, being a rainmaker doesn’t mean you have to sell your soul or even do something you hate.

    Being a rainmaker means that you fill your schedule.

    How you get clients to come in is entirely up to you.

    Step #2: Make Your Rainmaker

    What I do as a rainmaker is exactly what I do as a massage therapist.

    I care.

    Through caring I connect.

    And the connecting makes the rain happen.

    For example, when a client is working with a PT, I contact the PT so that we can coordinate care.

    Total win/win.

    The client gets the best care I can provide, and now the PT knows my name.

    Caring doesn’t need to be face-to-face.

    If a potential client lands on our website, she knows that we care about her because she’ll see self-massage videos, an introductory offer and a blurb  about a scheduling practice that let’s her know that she won’t be rushed.

    She calls and connects.

    Can I just say that I’m getting a lot of warm fuzzies here because I can care and connect in both capacities as rainmaker and massage therapist.

    The two roles are perfectly aligned.

    My core values guide me in both.

    Bam!

    I’m getting warm fuzzies thinking about the warm fuzzies I get because my rainmaker and massage therapist are joined at the hip.

    Okay, back to the business of rainmaker making.

    First, if you want a massage business you have to accept the job of rainmaker.

    Then from your brain you have to make your rainmaker.

    And here’s the trick: Don’t make your rainmaker from something you’re not, but rather make your rainmaker from something that is fundamentally you.

    If you think your rainmaker is like my rainmaker then this article should help you out.

    Need some more help in general? Email me at mark@makethemostofmassage.com or check out the Accelerator online course.

     

     

     

  • Google My Business Questions & Answers

    How do you complete Google My Business Questions & Answers when a customer hasn’t submitted a question?

    You write the questions yourself and answer them.

    Wait, that’s deceptive, Mark.

    Well, first of all, you’re not claiming that a specific client, like Terrance, asked you a specific question.

    And if you’re approaching Google My Business (GMB) Q&A with your customer in mind, then you’re doing all your potential customers a favor by answering the common questions that many will have.

    By the way, when you answer common customer-questions you’re doing yourself a favor too because it’s also good marketing.

    How so?

    For one, answering questions shows that you’re going above-and-beyond with your customer care.

    In addition, you can also address common “barrier-to-entry” themes in a way that will give your potential client/customer peace of mind.

    And icing on the cake is that Google likes it when you check all the GMB boxes.

    So, in order to squeeze every drop of marketing juice from your GMB Q&A I’ve categorized the most important questions that customers have asked me during my 25+ years as a business owner.

    Here are my categories:

    1. COVID-19 questions
    2. 1st-time client questions
    3. Barrier-to-entry questions
    4. Set-yourself-apart questions.

    Before we jump into the questions I need to show you how to add questions to your GMB page.

    You are not going to do this in your account.

    You are actually going to do a Google search for your business. When you do, your GMB page will come up on the side. Scroll down your page until you see Questions and Answers and click on Ask a Question.

    You can check out our GMB page by Googling PressurePerfect Massage.

    Okay, now to the questions.

    COVID-19 Questions

    Letting potential customers know the COVID-19 safety measures you have implemented is a must. And a Q&A format is a great way to get that information out.

    Here’s an example of how you could do Q&A around COVID-19:

    Q: Does the massage therapist wear a mask during the massage?

    Yes. The massage therapist will wear a N95, double-layer cotton mask or a 3-ply surgical mask during the massage.

    In addition, we limit the number of people in our office at a time to two, each room has a HEPA air filter unit and each room is thoroughly disinfected after each massage.

    Q: Do I need to wear a mask during the massage?

    No. Therapists are trained to dodge droplets.

    Haha. Okay, here’s my real answer:

    Yes. To help protect all clients we require everyone in the office to wear a mask at all times. We offer disposable medical masks for anyone who wants one. Some clients prefer the disposable medical mask while on the table because there’s flex to the material.

    Q: What do I do when I arrive?

    In order to assure that you’re not in the office when another client is in the office, please stay in your car and the massage therapist will come out to get you or will text you when it’s okay to come in.

    Safety questions like these are the number one thing that I’d want answered if I were looking for a massage right now, especially if I were a first-time client.

    Speaking of first-time clients, here are some Q&A that we have on our GMB page.

    First-Time Client Questions

    Q: Do I need to fill out an intake?

    Yes. Please go to our website www.pressureperfectmassage.com. Scroll down and towards the bottom of the page you’ll find an intake-form link. Click on the link and you can either print out the form, fill it out and bring it in with you when you come for your appointment or you can complete the form as a Word doc and email it to  mark@pressureperfectmassage.com.

    Q: How should I pay?

    We take cash, check, credit card, Paypal or Venmo.

    Also, in case you didn’t know, we have a no tipping policy. It keeps the math easy and you don’t need to worry about running to the ATM before your massage.

    Q: Do I keep my clothes on during the massage?

    Disrobe to your comfort level. During the massage, you’ll be covered by a blanket and sheet. When the massage therapist is working a particular area, she/he will expose only the area she/he is working while keeping everything else covered.

    For example, if the massage therapist is working your back, the sheet and blanket will be covering your entire lower-body.

    At this point, you may be noticing that some first-time Q&A sound a lot like barrier-to-entry questions.

    For example, a 1st-time massage customer may want to know how much he needs to disrobe for the massage, and at the same time disrobing could be considered a barrier-to-entry because of the general uncertainty around disrobing.

    So, now I want to focus on barrier-to-entry questions that are not necessarily 1st-time client questions.

    Barrier-To-Entry Questions

    Q: Do you do charge extra for deep pressure massage?

    No. We charge the same price for relaxation, deep pressure and sports massage.

    Q: Do you accept insurance?

    We accept Workers’ Compensation. We would like to accept auto or health insurance, but they are not reimbursed in PA.

     Q: Is massage helpful when I’m going to PT?

    You’ll need to ask your PT that question as it relates to your case. That said, when we’re working with a client who is in PT, we encourage the client to allow us to coordinate care with the physical therapist.

    For example, say you strained your back and are going to PT and are now coming to see us. With your consent we would reach out to your PT so that we could all be on the same page to getting you healthy.

    The last category of questions is set-yourself-apart questions. And like 1st-time-client and barrier-to-entry, there’s cross-over. That’s okay. The point is not have sharply defined categories. The point is to make sure that your Q&A section is helpful to potential customers and puts your best foot forward.

    Set-Yourself-Apart Questions

    When you’re thinking of set-yourself-apart questions, think of your massage and massage business strong points. Here’s one we use:

    Q: Do you work with runners?

    Yes. Runners come to see us for help with plantar fasciitis, tibialis posterior tendinopathy, hamstring strains, IT band syndrome and other running issues.

    We also help runners who are training for events by being part of their recovery and monitoring process.

    In addition, we collaborate with running coaches and personal trainers to help their clients reach their running goals.

    Q: Do you work with chiropractors?

    Yes. We coordinate care with chiropractors, physical therapists, personal trainers, exercise physiologists and other medical/health professionals because being on the same page is the key to achieving health/wellness goals.

    As you work on your Q&A information you may start to notice that a narrative is emerging. In other words, each answer to a question is defining who you are as a business, and themes and sub-themes are starting to emerge.

    Your Business Narrative

    Take a look at our boiled-down version of our GMB Q&A page:

    Does the massage therapist wear a mask? Yes.

    Do I need to wear a mask? Yes

    What do I do when I arrive? Stay in your car.

    Do I fill out an intake? Yes—email it or bring it in.

    Do I take my clothes off for the massage? Disrobe to comfort level.

    How do I pay? Cash, check, credit card, Paypal, Venmo. No tipping.

    Do you charge extra for deep pressure? No.

    Do you accept insurance? Only Workers’ Compensation

    Is massage helpful when going to PT? We defer to your PT and we’ll co-ordinate care with your PT.

    Do you work with runners? Yes—and we coordinate care with running coaches and personal trainers.

    Do you work with chiropractors? Yes—and we coordinate care with chiropractors and any health/wellness professional you would like us to contact.

    Here’s the narrative that emerges in my brain from reading our short-version Q&A:

    PressurePerfect takes Covid-19 safety very seriously. They go out of their way to ensure that you are as safe as possible when getting a massage. They are health and wellness oriented and routinely coordinate care with other health professionals to help your reach your health and wellness goals.

    Guess what? That narrative is not new. It’s the same narrative that’s on our website and on our Yelp page.

    I need to mention that I chose the word “narrative” to describe what you offer to your clients over other words like “messaging” or “branding”.

    I did that for a reason. To me, “branding” and “messaging” feel more market-y, and “narrative” makes me think harder about who I am and what I have to offer.

    But don’t get hung up on the words. Whether you call it a “narrative”, “messaging” or “branding”, you’re relaying specific information—who you are and what you offer—to the customer.

    The good thing here is that once you figure out what your narrative is, you can plug it into all of your social media and free, online advertising platforms, like GMB and Yelp.

    GMB Q&A Recap

    Here’s my GMB Q&A recap:

    Create the questions for these 4 categories:

    1. COVID-19 questions
    2. 1st-time client questions
    3. Barrier-to-entry questions
    4. Set-yourself-apart questions.

    Answer how you’re keeping clients safe as possible.

    Address the fears of 1st-timers.

    Remove common barrier-to-entry concerns.

    Show how your business is different from the businesses around you.

    And as you’re creating the Q&A section on your GMB page, pay attention to the business narrative that’s emerging.

    Are you creating questions that emphasize your relaxation massage?

    Are you creating questions that sell rehab massage?

    What are the questions that your ideal customer is asking?

    That narrative should be consistent in all of your advertising.

    If you already know your narrative, plug it into your GMB Q&A.

    Need Help?

    If you want to work with me to get your business off the ground, the easiest and cheapest way is to sign up for the Accelerator Program.

    It has the GMB plan that I used to build and grow my business. It also has my referral building (word of mouth) plan as well as all of my free (or very low cost) tactics for building a business using strategic effort rather than paid-for advertising.

    Lastly it has me in it–3 months of email support. Email me with any questions have you and we’ll get it done together.

    Accelerator
  • Why MTs Succeed: Massage Business Relationships

    Why MTs Succeed: Massage Business Relationships

    What’s the difference between a thriving massage practice and a surviving massage practice?

    Massage business relationships. Thrivers knows how to develop them. Survivors—not so much.

    Most of us tend to ignore them.

    For good reason: A business relationship is a little weird.

    To sustain one, you can’t just keep talking about the weather nor do you want to be sharing deep, dark secrets.

    Business relationships are in this awkward middle. They’re not superficial. They’re not super personal. And if you you don’t have experience with them, you’re going to do what I did and make them something they shouldn’t be.

    Massage Business Relationships Mistake #1: Superficial

    Years ago I wanted to build massage business relationships. So I made a list of doctors, PTs, and other health practitioners in my area. Then I called them.

    “Hi, this is Mark Liskey. I have a massage business down the road from you. I was wondering if I could talk to Dr. Goaway…oh, she doesn’t take calls…could I drop off some of my business cards?…fantastic, I’ll drop some off tomorrow.”

    Checkmark next to Dr. Goaway on the list. Cards to her the next day. Bam! Let the referrals roll in!

    Crickets.

    Why?

    Because Dr. Goaway didn’t care. Why would she? I hadn’t had a meaningful interaction with her.

    Massage Business Relationships Mistake #2: Too Personal

    Other times, I went the “let’s be buds” route.

    Years back I contacted a chiropractor. We hit it off. I did demo massages at his office, promoted him to our clients, and went out of my way to get to know him.

    All was peachy and getting peachier until one day at his office I heard him express his unsolicited political views to a patient.

    As time went on, I noticed he did this quite frequently. It was almost as if his practice was a platform for him to rail against X, Y and Z.

    Some patients agreed with him, others put up with him, while others asked him to stop (he didn’t).

    Can you say unprofessional, un-therapeutic and offensive?

    Pulling out of that business relationship was complicated and left a little bit of a rift between the two of us.

    Aim for the Middle

    Eventually, I started to realize that the most successful business relationships I had contained these two elements: I strongly connected to the other business person over one or two shared values that related to work AND I didn’t go out of my way to explore the relationship outside the business context.

    For me, shared work values are (1) pride in the work one did, (2) a desire to help clients/patients get better, and/or (3) a compassion for people in general.

    A Success Story

    Here’s a massage business relationship that was a winner

    A while back I contacted personal training studios in my area and I offered to work on the owners for free. (Check out How to Build a Massage Business for $0 for more help with setting up demo massages.)

    Out of five businesses owners, two bit. Of the two, one business owner had moved into corporate fitness exclusively. The other business owner, Rita, came in for a demo massage.

    While Rita was vetting me (getting a massage), we connected on how to get and keep clients out of pain.

    After the massage, she encouraged another personal trainer who worked for her to get a demo massage from me.

    As the momentum built I offered to do demo massages at Rita’s studio. Rita was more than happy to have me there—especially because she wanted me to work on some of her clients that were in pain.

    Rita started sending me clients and our business relationship grew.

    Do I know how Rita votes?

    Don’t want to know.

    Do I know who Rita’s best friend is?

    I know it’s not me.

    Do my wife and I go out with Rita and her spouse for dinner?

    Never gonna happen.

    And yet our business relationship is just fine because we both value doing everything we can to get and keep clients out of pain.

    When You Can’t Help Yourself

    Have there been times when one of my business relationships turned into a good friendship?

    Yep, a few over the years. Justin, a personal trainer, was one of them.

    The relationship got tricky at times.

    For example, if Dr. Suzi Sunshine hadn’t sent me a referral for awhile, I would think, Okay, time to do some demo massages at her office to get things moving again.

    But if my good friend Justin hadn’t…hmm…what the hell was that all about?!

    Is he mad at me?

    Did he find another MT to refer to?

    Better not have or he’ll be painting is apartment all by himself next week…butthead…

    At the end of the day, our business relationship survived because we prioritized our friendship and didn’t obsess over the business part, which probably didn’t make it the most productive business relationship in the world.

    The Quick Version

    If you’re new to massage business relationships, here’s what I recommend doing:

    1. Recognize when and why you connect with someone. It’s a go if the connection is related to getting clients better, pride in your work or compassion in general.
    2. Don’t set out to be friends.

    Think of massage business relationships as being on a scale. Superficial is on one end. Good friends on the other. Shoot for the middle mark.

    1. If a friendship happens, just know it’s going to be a little more complicated to figure out—but not impossible.

    To start building business relationships so that you can establish an A-team of health practitioners and get the referrals cranking, check out Start a Massage Business: Connect with the Right Physical Therapist.

    Contact Me

    If you have a business relationship question or any massage business question, let me know–mark@makethemostofmassage.com.

    Email Group

    Join my email group. I’ll send you links to the information you’re looking for. It’s free and you can unsubscribe anytime you want. Sign up below:-)

  • How to Get Massage Clients: Nurture the Connectors

    How to Get Massage Clients: Nurture the Connectors

    Your cats are eating dog food. And you desperately need more money. The only way you know how to get massage clients is through referrals.

    Here’s how that has worked in the past: you did a good job, and some clients referred their friends and family to you.

    Unfortunately, this approach takes months and months to generate referrals.

    How to Get Massage Clients by Working Your Client List

    A proactive approach would be to go through your massage client list and find reasons to engage the referrers (people who have referred a client(s) to you).

    “Hey, Mary, it’s Mark. Just calling to see how your shoulder’s doing (subtext: why haven’t you been in to see me?), and I wanted to say thank you for telling Rita about me a few months ago (subtext: send me more clients, please…oh, yeah, NOW would be good…).

    The problem with working your clients for referrals is that you can only go to the well so many times before it starts to look unprofessional.

    Referral Program

    You could have a referral program where you incentivize clients to send you referrals, but, honestly, are you going to do that?

    Not me.

    It’s a little awkward when you’re both running the incentive program and getting the referrals. In other words, it’s a lot easier to say “refer to us” (a company) rather than “refer to me” ( a “me”).

    But there’s another way to get referrals quickly and without stretching too far out of your comfort zone. And that is to develop referrers outside of your client list.

    How?

    Through connectors.

    How to Get Massage Clients by Finding the Connectors

    Connectors bring us together with referrers or people who can lead us to referrers and/or more connectors.

    Zzzzz…zzzzz…oh, sorry, that sentence put me to sleep, too. Let’s try this again.

    Let’s say Kisha puts you in contact with Alexandra, her chiropractor, and Alexandra now refers a client to you.

    Kisha is a connector.

    Or, Ramit introduced you to the Enya, the head of the borough council. And Enya introduced you to other council members, and through those connections you orchestrated a local charity event which brought a lot of attention to your business.

    Ramit and Enya are connectors.

    The Compounding Effect of Connectors

    It doesn’t take a whole lot of imagination to see how this connector thing could grow. Connectors send you outside your client list into pools of other referrers and connectors. Those people connect you to other people and so on. This massage marketing strategy has feet.

    Who Do You Call First?

    So let’s make this less hypothetical. You look at your schedule book and see that you have two crappy weeks coming up. In addition, you need to make an extra $200 a month.

    So you start to go through your client contacts, hoping to dredge up some referrals. Who are you going to call first?

    The client who is both a referrer and a connector.

    Why?

    Because this combo person has the potential to immediately throw a referral your way and lead you to referral sources.

    How to Find the Combo Person

    You’re going to find the combo person by making a list. Grab a piece of paper and in the center write down the names of the clients who’ve referred you a client and the names of the clients who’ve connected you to a potential referral/connector source.

    Next, write “referral” to the right of the name of each person who has referred a client to you.

    Then write “connector” to the left of the name of each person who has introduced you to someone who could lead you to a referrer or marketing opportunity. Your list should look something like this:

    Now circle the names that have a both “connector” to the left and “referrer” to the right.

    These are the clients you call first because they have the most potential for immediate and sustained impact.

    Next, of the remaining names who are either a “connector” or a “referrer”, rank them according to referral or connectivity potential.

    You now have a plan to help you get massage clients through referrals. Start with the circled (combo) names. Then work on the rest according to how you ranked the names on your list.

    How to Work the Plan

    Working the plan doesn’t have to be stressful. First, you need to find a reason to call, text or email the clients on your list.

    If you don’t have a lot of history with a client, here are some conversation starters (assuming that you’re actually going to do and mean what you say):

    “Just checking in to see how you’re doing…”

    “Just wanted to let you know that I’ll be away in June for two weeks, but I’ll be seeing clients both weekends before…”

    “I saw this article and thought of you…”

    “I’m starting an email list for clients where we send out…”

    “Thanks for helping me out…”

    How to Get Massage Clients: Advanced Engagement Ideas

    If you have some history with the client, you’ll want to get more specific with your outreach.

    Here’s what I did with combo people on my list:

    Offer a Free Gift Certificate

    Lauren is a runner. She’s a great connector/referrer and comes in regularly. I gave her a free gift certificate for the support she provided when I was involved in a charity event.

    Give Time and Attention

    Travis is a personal trainer. When it comes to taking care of his clients, he’s like a mother hen (in a good way). He constantly refers his clients to me and is always hooking me up with other health professionals who share our health philosophy.

    For Travis, I’ve carved out more time in my schedule so that we can talk about how we can best help our mutual clients. I really enjoy our conversations and it deepens our business and personal relationships.

    Here’s what I did with my top referrer on my list:

    Provide Additional and Pertinent Information

    Trish is a runner with a recent IT band issue. I normally do a follow-up after I work on her, but this time I did some extra research and talked to her running coach.

    Consequently, I was able to provide Trish with good information that helped her make some difficult decisions regarding her training.

    Be the Promoter

    Also, think about this: Do any of the people on your list have a business or work for a business that you can promote? If so, think about how you can help them?

    I often do videos. I either interview the person I’m going to promote or have that person do an instructional video for my clients. I post the videos on our Facebook page and/or send the video link out to our email list.

    Be the Connector

    You could also help that person out by being a connector yourself.

    One of my connectors hooked me up with a chiropractor. The chiro and I hit it off.

    The chiropractor was thinking about opening a practice in town. I offered to get him exposure through a local trail race my brother-in-law was spearheading. If he participates as a vendor, he’d have an opportunity to connect with athletes, other business owners and health professionals.

    How to Get Massage Clients Referral Style In a Nutshell

    Working your list to get massage clients basically boils down to this:

    1. Engage clients who are both connectors and referrers first.
    2. Rank the rest of the clients on the list and engage them in the order you ranked them.
    3. Rinse and repeat with the new people you add to your list.

    Here are some ways you can engage your clients:

    Merge Authenticity with Strategy

    If, at this point, you’re feeling a little out of your comfort zone with working your list, I get it.

    I was fired as a Business Development Consultant because I wouldn’t schmooze. I quit a job as a massage therapist director at a franchise spa because I absolutely refused to sell products and services under the guise of evidence-based health, when little proof was offered.

    If I was forced to do those jobs again, I still wouldn’t schmooze or mislead (lie to) customers. Those weren’t the comfort zones that needed to be stretched.

    Here comes the “but”.

    But if your livelihood is solely dependent on your efforts as an entrepreneur, at some point you have to find a way to be authentic and strategic at the same time.

    Work the List

    Engaging clients who are referrers and/or connectors is the perfect scenario to work things out.

    Take your care, kindness and love and pour it into the relationships of the clients who are both connectors and referrers. Then do the same with the rest of the connectors and referrers on your list.

    When I do this, I find that maintaining my integrity and making more money aren’t mutually exclusive.

    And my cats are a lot happier:-)

    DIY Next Step

    If you’re good to go with your massage business and are just adding marketing strategies to your marketing toolkit, this article will be helpful: Massage Marketing Tips: How to Pick Winners.

    If you’re getting confused, overwhelmed and/or stuck, here are two options to consider:

    Massage Business Accelerator Course

    This is a straightforward, online course that teaches you how to take your existing massage business to the next level. You can find out more information about the course by clicking on the button below.

    Accelerator

    Or Email Me

    mark@makethemostofmassage.com

    We can email chat. Sometimes it just takes an ear and a suggestion to get moving in the right direction.