I’m an artist.
Actually, I can’t paint. I don’t play guitar. And I have no spatial sense.
But I do share one characteristic with some of the most famous artists.
Artistic outbursts.
That is I have an overwhelming desire to express myself.
Unfortunately, artistic outbursts in business can bite you in the butt.
My Business Card Outburst
Here’s a perfect example. When I first started massage I had some business cards made up.
Expensive stock paper. Raised printing. Pretty classy and professional if I do say so myself.
But then I had an artistic outburst.
I took colored pencils and magic markers and started to personalize my nice, white business cards with pictures of flowers and plants and abstract shapes.
And, OMG, my “Would you like a massage from a professional massage therapist?” business card turned into “I might have some issue that I’ll need to talk about while I’m giving you your massage…wait, why are you walking away” business card.
My wife, Lisa, girlfriend at the time, did warn me that my artistic outburst on my business cards may turn people off, but I couldn’t help myself—and I handed them out.
Funny, I can’t remember anyone ever asking me for more cards to give to friends.
But anyway, you live and learn, right?
Well…not exactly…
I still have self-expression outbursts.
The difference is now I know that I need to manage these outbursts in order to have a good business (life).
By the way, I did say manage, not squelch.
Because if you truly have a unrelenting desire to express yourself, it’s gonna find a way out.
So what do you do?
Here’s what I do.
How to Make Self-Expression Work for You
First, I view business as a medium where self-expression will happen.
But then I do something a little different than allowing myself to have artistic license to do anything. I manage my self-expression.
How?
By being strategic. Some self-expression I’m going to let out. Other things I’m not.
Why?
Because for self-expression to work in the business medium there are certain rules that I don’t want to break.
This one in particular: Don’t repel customers with self-expression.
This rule is self-explanatory. If you drive customers away with artistic outbursts, you won’t be in business for long.
There’s an interesting flip-side to repelling customers with self-expression.
You can actually attract customers with strategic and properly dosed self-expression.
For example, what would have happened if instead of drawing primitive pictures on my business cards I had a “loving to help other people” outburst.
Well, here’s what happened.
Massage Envy and Me
Ten years ago, Massage Envy moved into our neck of the woods.
I’m just going to be blunt. I don’t like their business model.
If there business model was a totem pole with four faces on it, the top face would be a Massage Envy corporate executive, under that a franchise owner, under that a customer, and at the bottom a massage therapist.
Lisa and I want to challenge that business model.
So, it was time to channel an artistic outburst.
And I got my colored pencils out and started drawing pictures of Massage Envy being eaten by a dragon…
Haha. Not this time.
This time Lisa and I funneled our self-expression into our business philosophy, which isn’t fancy, profound or groundbreaking.
It’s just two words that are missing in the massage franchise world.
Fairness matters.
We are determined to express fairness in everything we do in our business, especially with each client who walks through the door and with each massage therapist who chooses to work for us.
(Though I still reserve the right to draw a dragon eating Massage Envy on my business cards).
Self-Expression and Your Massage Business
But we’re still a little broad here, right?
Let’s talk about how self-expression could be making or breaking your business right now.
When Salvador Dali was asked Do you do drugs? his response was I am the drug.
Is your website like Salvador Dali’s response?
Do you only talk about you?
That’s fine if you’re a brand like Erik Dalton or John Barnes.
But if you don’t have that kind of clout you might want to engage the potential client by showing him that you get him.
And because you “get him”, you have an answer to his problem/quest: Your massage.
Conversely, if you don’t talk enough about you, your website will be too generic.
I can help you sort out self-expression on your website here.
How about this: Are you too much into your art (massage style)?
I only do deep tissue trigger point clients, and I’m not rubbing anyone to sleep, said former massage therapist, I.M. Artist.
I know you’re thinking that I’m trying to stamp out the artist in your massage and your massage business.
Believe me, I’m not.
I haven’t come to this point in my life to be a cover band either.
We are originals.
We want to play our own music.
And we can.
BUT to have success in the business medium, we need to figure out how to play in a way that actually builds a business.
Play originals when working with the clients who like that or who can be influenced to like that.
Play cover songs for the rest.
But there’s so much of me that I want to express through my massage, Mark!
By all means express yourself, BUT find other venues to express yourself when a particular self-expression will hurt your massage business.
Lisa and I are vegan.
We just started a vegan education non-profit because we thought force feeding our clients green smoothies before they get on the table might be bad for business.
Drawing stream of consciousness figures on my niece’s birthday card made me happy and didn’t hurt my relationship with my niece (I think…lol).
Drawing weird sh** on my business cards creeped out potential clients and set me back a year or two.
Making Self-Expression Work
Figuring out how to express yourself in your business takes some thinking and experimenting.
Too much of yourself and you may repel customers.
Too little and you won’t attract them and/or you might lose interest in your business.
It helped me out a lot when I realized that I could express things about me that could be bad for business through non-massage ways.
If you need to reverse engines so that you can change the trajectory of your massage business, click here.
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