How many people do I see in a week so that I can make a living and not burn out?

This seems to be a universal question among massage therapists but the answer is very individual.  Here are few questions and thoughts to contemplate to help you find your own answers.

For most of us our energy levels can vary from day to day and our ability to take on more work varies as well. Our expenses can vary but out of the two, money can be easier to track.

Figure out what you need financially on a monthly basis. Add another 20-30% for wiggle room or fun money.

Write down what you currently charge or the average amount per massage. Some of us work independently, some work for others. Most of us do a combination of the two.

Divide that by the number from above.

Divide this by 4.3. This will give you the number of massages you need to provide weekly.

Do you feel that is good amount of massages that you can do comfortably without hurting yourself and provide consistent quality massages to your clients?

Let’s say your gut reaction is that, that amount of work is way too much.

Here are some options.

1. Don’t worry what others charge, it is for you to put your value on what you offer as an individual therapist. There are no two therapists alike. If you were to increase your rate by just 10% you now can reduce the number of massages to do per week to meet your financial goals. Consider what you offer that is unique. It could be techniques you know or it could be the way you do business.
2. What other products or services can you offer? What can you up sell to your current clients that doesn’t take up your physical energy? I am not suggesting that you can’t make your money solely as a massage therapist. Every company has other products or services that they offer to meet other needs of clients and customers. Coca Cola has Aquafina, some accountants offer financial services, shoe stores sell handbags.

Make sure it is something that dovetails with what you are offering. If you work mostly with corporate clients don’t try to up sell wellness products for individuals. Your customers are the companies. Your end users are the people you massage.

I know I’m not giving you what to sell. I think that is something to figure out on your own so that it is unique to you. Plus if we posted it on a blog and everyone was doing it, it wouldn’t be that unique would it?

I will add one personal thought to this. Do not do the dollar per minute thing. I have been a therapist for 14 years and those were rates many therapists charged then and I’m sure they charged that long before I became a therapist. Value your time. If you are in a corporate office and some one is on the phone late for their massage because they have work to do, that is fine, but you are there and your time and professionalism has value as well. Cater to your client, bend over backwards for them but value yourself as well.

For other settings like tradeshows and mall settings where you are charging by the massage, charge for the session but do not make it into a per minute situation.

If you are the type of person who feels the number of sessions you need to do is easy physically but you aren’t able to get that many clients regularly, it may not be the number of modalities you know. It may be time to learn more effective marketing and advertising skills. Another thing to consider is how much are you charging. If you are charging a lot, think about from your client’s perspective if what you are offering is worth the extra expense. My advice would be to increase your value or offer a special from time to time that adds to your practice, rather than lower your rates. There will always be some one charging less.

Over the years, I have observed that many massage therapists list their contact phone number with the spa that they work at. Unless you own the spa or are a partner I would not recommend this method of contacting you. Many people use their cell phone or home phone for professional reasons, it is not uncommon nor do you have to have an expensive answering service. I imagine that therapists give the spa number as their point of contact to sound more professional. I can appreciate that and love when therapists are professional. I think there are better ways to create professionalism and or boundaries for your practice.   I am not a fan of utilizing a spa number, whether you are an independent contractor or an employee.

When a therapist lists the spa they work in as their contact number, all potential work opportunities must filter their inquiries thru the spa. Who is the person answering the phone at the spa? You guessed it, a receptionist. What is one of the primary duties of the receptionist? That’s right screen all incoming calls. The receptionist then does his/her job by acting in a gatekeeper capacity, and only being receptive to calls regarding opportunities for the spa. So by providing the spa’s number a therapist in effect is getting exactly the opposite of their desired result, which is to be apprised of potential income opportunities. If you are looking for potential income opportunities, or better yet mutually beneficial business relationships, it is always best to list your cell phone number and e-mail. Let the person who has the opportunity contact you in the way they are most comfortable. Once you have a chance to hear or know about the opportunity being presented to you can you make a decision about whether or not the opportunity makes sense for you to pursue. At that point you can let the person know the best way to reach you if you want to take the opportunity or find out more.  Some of you may be thinking, I don’t want someone I don’t know calling my cell phone, or sending me junk e-mail. I like when the receptionist screens my calls. The problem is that you may not be aware of how much they are screening your calls if they are not working for you as compared to the spa owner. I don’t think the receptionist is trying to deceive the therapists. I think most of them are just trying to do what they think is their job. Take care of people looking to utilize the spa’s services.

There are ways around this. You can have a different phone number that has a different ring forward to your phone. Give one number to your friends and family and the other for your business. Then you know which way to answer your phone when you do get a call. If someone is repeatedly calling you with whom you do not want business from then don’t take that call.  If you don’t want certain types of emails, unsubscribe, just click delete and move on. In the mean time you are open and available for when real opportunities come your way. You are putting yourself back in the driver’s seat to decide which way you want to go with your own career. After all besides being fortunate to have a career where you are making people feel good wasn’t one of the greatest points of becoming a therapist about your own personal freedom? Take your freedom back for you to decide what options are best for you and the advancement of your career.

What are some ways that you create professionalism when people contact you?

How do you allow people to connect with you?

Why do you choose this way?

I’m not sure if my thoughts on this topic will be the popular one. After speaking with many therapists on this topic what I have heard most was…Wow I never thought of it that way.

Have you ever tried to throw something against a wall and hoped that it would stick? How does it feel? Tell the truth, don’t you always feel like its not going to work, but maybe you’ll get lucky? Essentially this is the mindset of a Massage Therapist who volunteers their services hoping to obtain work as a result. It’s a lot of effort for a little bit of hope. Not a good Return on investment in my opinion. I don’t know of any other profession where one volunteers on a regular basis hoping to create more income. I do feel that there is a time and place to volunteer but it must be carefully looked at. There are ways to get your name out, show good will, par-take in causes that are near to your heart without giving away the services that you provide both as a professional and that put food on your table. As my grandfather used to say, “Why buy the milk when the cow is free?” He wasn’t talking about massage or milk for that matter but I think the expression fits for this subject.

I believe a better solution than volunteering, is to use that time to better hone your business skills. Learn some new marketing techniques, take a sales class, read a book on people skills, all of these things will be much more lucrative and time-efficient than volunteering. It’s about getting out of one’s comfort zone and investing in you. You already invested in yourself by going to school to become a massage therapist. But there is little in school that speaks of what one needs to do to become successful. I am not putting down the schooling of massage. I believe that is true in most fields. Accountants go to school to become good at accounting but they rarely learn in school how to create a successful practice.

I understand wanting to be a caring professional that gives. Just understand, often the Not-For-Profit agency you are volunteering for has a budget for the event and is paying for other things, like the dinner, the shirts or whatever else they have. There are other ways to support a cause, show that you are an expert in your field and get the word out about your services than to just give it away. Funny how at the same time therapists often wonder how many massages they should do to be profitable without hurting themselves. Keep in mind the big picture when you choose to volunteer and the impact that has on our industry. Not only are you giving away services that you should be paid for but you are also giving them away when someone else could be earning an income. Think about that on a bigger scale. If you look at any volunteer opportunity most of them really could be a paid situation.

At one time years ago in our industry, we needed to get the benefits of massage out into the public, and volunteering was a way to do that. We have accomplished that goal, as evidenced by my recent purchase of a carton of Tropicana Orange Juice showing pictures of people staying in good shape. One was of a person receiving a massage. Here’s a little secret…(I think the word is out and that massage is a major benefit. It has become mainstream.) The leaders in our industry have done a tremendous job. Now it is time for another shift in how our profession is viewed. The next phase for our industry needs to be creating awareness that massage is a valuable service for many different reasons. Not only for how it makes people feel but because of that it is a great way to attract people to a fund raiser or for profit reasons. The NFPs know it and businesses also know that massage is valuable to them but if you are giving it away why would they want to pay for it? In my opinion it has gone way to far. I see volunteer opportunities all the time that aren’t even for NFPs. Look any place where volunteer postings are listed. What benefit is it really serving the therapist? When one gives there should be real value in the giving to the giver as well. Not just a let’s get some exposure. You can get paid and get exposure.

I recently saw a volunteer opportunity to give massages to a well known, publicly run company. This was posted by a massage membership organization who also spends the members money on advocating the higher standards for massage therapy. They do a great job in many areas of our industry but I can’t understand why they continue to put such effort into volunteering the therapists’ services. How is that helping?

Recently I received an email from a large department store wanting our services for free in exchange for advertising. O.K. doesn’t sound bad if that were our market? But it wasn’t our market. I have two thoughts on that. One is to offer a discount for the exchange if there is value to one’s practice. . Two, (and this is a subject for another blog…) know your market. You can’t be everything to everyone and I will guarantee you will be happier, more focused and make more money when you create a niche for yourself and value your profession.

What is your opinion on volunteering?

What do you do to increase business for yourself?