Whitney Lowe is going to do a presentation on the Value of Orthopedic Assessment to Enhance Your Practice.  Whitney will also be broadcasting video from his latest Orthopedic Assessment DVD right after the broadcast.

There’s no cost and you can get a certificate of completion for CE purposes (NCBTMB certificants get 1.5 CE credits).

It’s free, but you need to register now to save your place by going to this page:  www.worldmassageconference.com

Mark the time out on your calendars now.
When: Wednesday, March 24th at 9PM EST
Where: Simulcast on the web and by phone (you’ll get details sent to you after you reserve your spot)
Cost: FREE

If you’ve attended a workshop by Whitney before, you’re in for a treat. The live online broadcasts are quite incredible too.
You can submit questions for Whitney at anytime before or during the broadcast and he’ll answer as many as possible. In addition, you’ll be able to chat with Whitney personally via their online chat immediately following the presentation.

Reserve your place now by clicking this link…

If you can’t attend the live broadcast with Whitney Lowe, reserve a place anyway and you’ll get access to a recorded replay for a short while following the live event.

You can also still listen to all of the recordings from last years conference

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2. Free Webinar
3. Get Massage CE Online

I was reading some general steps to making a sale that are outlined in various ways by various people.  The general process goes something like this:

1. Greet and introduce yourself
2. Create Trust with the other person
3. Establish a need or get info from the other person to establish what it is that they do need so you can address them.  Find out what they value.
4. Offer a solution based on your own values that will fulfill their need or solve their problem.
5. Ask for the sale (or appointment in a massage therapists case)

For some reason massage therapists don’t like the idea that they are selling or need to sell themselves.  Because they are caring people, selling is usually equated with greed, deception and not caring.

The process of caring and building relationships with someone is quite similar to selling.

If you are at a party and are meeting new people who are potential friends or even a date what do you do?  Pretty much the same!

Since caring is at the heart of a massage business -how can you care and promote yourself too!   I do it by sharing as much as I can about what I know about massage right on my office website.  I get so many people calling and becoming clients and saying “I want you for my massage therapist” even though I am farther away in downtown Seattle and cost more than most massage therapists in other areas.  By writing down all of the things that you are talking about with clients anyways it will show you know what you are doing and that you care!  When you get a client who is already valuing your service when they call, you don’t have to do any hard selling.  People will be attracted to you when they know what you are about and can see what you value!  You then find out what they value in the intake and session so that you can relate to their values – which is usually something around their health and wellbeing since they are coming in for a massage.  When you can understand what they value and link it to your values selling isn’t that bad selling anymore.  It is just telling people what you do so they can make an informed decision.

Go out and look for a massage therapist yourself and look online or get referrals and take a look at the process that someone goes through to find a massage therapist.  I do this all the time and it is scary out there what people are doing to ‘not sell themselves’.  I find websites with no information what so ever about themselves.   The basic things that you want are:

• An about me page -full biography including your philosophy on healing, why you went to massage school, what you love about doing massage
• A full page description of every type of massage that you do – deep tissue, swedish massage – you name it.   People really don’t have a clue about many of the different therapies.  They just want to know if it will work for their pain or stress.
• Show them how it will work for their pain, stress or condition!

Getting new clients is all about creating relationships and yes -selling yourself but doing so with heart – by connecting your values to what you do and telling people about them.

Related posts:

1. Sales – that dreaded word for massage therapists
2. The process of building a website
3. Writing Sales Copy for your Massage Business

Whenever I read that book or start thinking about the history of massage, I wonder how we have gotten so off track and so caught up in licensing and legislation and how touch has gotten to be something we pay for rather than get within our family and social circles.

One of my favorite stories of his was about Australia Aborigines who used to teach their sons massage so that they could massage their wife during labor!  Why didn’t that catch on in other countries?

Now we need licenses to touch and training and more training.

Touch is how we first learn about ourselves as newborns and even in utero.  When we are touched we feel.  When we touch we are also touched.  It is a two way sense.  We learn more about who we are through touch – where you begin and end and where another begins and ends.  It is the basis for attunement with mother as an infant which is a big part of your self esteem that you will carry with you though life.

Touch has been a part of religious rituals, healing rituals, midwifery, nursing, exercise and sensuality.  It is the most fundamental way of showing and giving care to one another.  Touch through history has a rich cultural aspect as well as the medical aspect.

My thoughts always seem to go towards the loss of cultural touch and how that may be influencing our current societies.  Everyone is rushed, stressed, texting more than talking, working on computers more than talking with others and we are losing touch with touch!

I often wonder if the massage profession would not be so large if there was more touch in families/communities.   I do think there is still a place for therapeutic massage for injuries and diseases and such but wonder if there would be less of those if children were taught massage at an early age.

How can we preserve and teach massage to women in communities and bring touch back to were it once was – in the hands of everyone.

We could use more programs like

Touch to Teach

Touch is Great

Massage for Peace

How to start a massage group at your church.

Related posts:

1. World Massage Conference
2. Last chance sale on Websites
3. Worst Massage Websites

Since each state, city and insurance plan is different here are some general questions to ask before deciding to take a massage client that has insurance.

• Who is your insurance?
• What coverage do you have?
• Did you call to ask what massage therapy benefits are available?
• What type of injury do you have?
• Is it from a fall, car accident or other activity?
• Who was at fault?
• Is there a claim manager?
• Do you have an attorney (if it was at work or in the car or other liability)

After you get some basic information you can then call the insurance company to verify benefits.  I also ask the client to call them to verify the benefits too and ask them to fill out a sheet with the information on it.

You will then need to call the insurance company to verify benefits and find out what you need to do to bill the company.

• Are there massage therapy benefits available?
• Is a prescription needed?  (Most always is.  I get one even if they say no.)
• What information is needed from the doctor on the prescription?
• What information do I need to provide to the insurance company to get paid?  It is usually a bill using the CMS 1500 form, the prescription and sometimes chart notes or other reports.
• If there is a case manager they can usually give you more information.
• Find out what benefits are available.  It is usually some number of sessions or dollar amount.  Find out how much has been used if any and what benefits are remaining.  Find out what limits are place on the massage services if any.
• Find out how long it will take to get paid.  Make a note of it and call around that time to check on it’s progress.  You may also want to call in the beginning to check if they received the bill shortly after sending it.
• Get your client involved in the process of making these calls so they are informed about the case and their responsibilities.

As I said before, billing insurance is a process and it will take time in developing your own boundaries (policies and procedures) around what your needs are for financial reimbursement as well as your emotional/mental and spiritual needs.

Billing insurance can help you to fill in time slots that are otherwise empty and you can even focus on creating a  business working with doctors and billing to create a niche for yourself.

I do have more information on massage insurance billing on the website.   As with anything,  this information being provided is a stepping stone to helping you figure out what you personally need to do.  Each state and company are so different – it is just a matter of learning what questions to ask.  This is just the very beginning.

See more on questions to ask clients and insurance companies.

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2. Massage Insurance Billing Manual
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There is also a group of massage therapists who have joined together to try to create a unified definition of massage called the Body of Knowledge.  Here is the first draft of their definitions of massage.

Here is the AMTA’s Definition of massage from their website..

MASSAGE THERAPY is a profession in which the practitioner applies manual techniques, and may apply adjunctive therapies, with the intention of positively affecting the health and well-being of the client.

MASSAGE is manual soft tissue manipulation, and includes holding, causing movement, and/or applying pressure to the body.

THERAPY is a series of actions aimed at achieving or increasing health and wellness.

MANUAL means by use of hand or body.

The historic definitions of massage as outlined by Robert Calvert in this article on Massage Magazine’s Website continues to show the problems in defining massage.

Then there is the word bodywork that makes the whole situation even more confusing.  There seems to be some groups who represent different techniques who want to be referred to as bodyworkers and not massage therapists, making it even more confusing for the general public to be able to figure out what people are doing when they do massage or bodywork.

I also think one of the biggest things is -do people who are receiving massage really even care what it is called!

When you look at all of the different types of massage and bodywork, it continues to grow even more confusing.  I still have people asking me about the different types of massage and what they do.  I say that it really has little to do with they type of massage as they all can achieve results.  It is more about finding a person that you can work with who understands your situation and has a similar philosophy of healing and health so you can work together to create better situations.

Is cranial sacral work massage or bodywork?  Is Hellerwork massage or bodywork?  Is reflexology massage or bodywork?

As Bevis Nathan points out in his book Touch and Emotion in Manual Therapy
:

From the patient’s point of view, the touch has it’s roots in non-verbal communication or communication.  She does not experience the touch as merely a technique or procedure on her body tissues, it involves her self. She is being held, cradled, stroked, caressed, valued, cared-for, healed.  This patient’s experience is above all a phsychological and existential one.

So how should massage be defined?  How should bodywork be defined?  With keeping in mind what most people can understand or comprehend or make sense of?  What do we need to do to come to a consensus or is it even possible?

Related posts:

1. Defining Massage Therapy
2. Massage or Bodywork?
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The first step in marketing your massage business is finding out just who your ideal massage client is.  Most massage therapist start out just thinking that they will work on everyone and anyone who calls or shows up on their table.  In some ways you might actually have to work that way to begin really knowing what you like and don’t like as far as working on people.

After awhile when you work on everyone including people who you find to be draining, it will take it’s toll on you for sure.  I truly believe that this is one of the biggest causes of burnout in the massage profession as well as the cause of most massage therapists struggles.  When you are constantly running around trying to get everyone to be your client your marketing efforts are often scattered and uneffective.  Knowing who your ideal client is can help you in creating a very targeted marketing plan and get the people you want on your table.

You start first with general demographics – location and consider things like age and sex but it is taking it even farther and finding clients who will appreciate you and who value their health enough to be willing to pay for regular weekly massage (or even once a month).

You can also choose a specialty like pregnancy massage, injury work or working with a more specific disease and condition such as fibromyalgia, herniated discs or carpal tunnel.

When you have a clear image of your ideal client you can use it in your marketing campaigns but also in your policies and procedures.  You can also apply it to your everyday interactions with people and clients.  When you are clear about what you want, it makes room for you to have it.

When you work on people who are less than your ideal client, you are giving away your energy.  You are giving up on your values.  You will lose a little part of yourself each time.  After a few years it will take its’ tool on you, I guarantee it.  When you work on people who are less than your ideal client you will end up feeling resentful which could lead to you even doing less than your best work with people.  Yes it is true.  I talked to a massage therapist once who said she actually felt like hurting someone on the table because they were receiving a significant discount from her.  Even though she was the one giving the discount she felt like she had to to keep that client.  She gave up a piece of herself and ended up with really intense feelings.

To me clients who are less than ideal are people who always cancel at the last minute or always forget their check books.  They are people who complain when I raise my rates $5.  They are people who are not injured who try to use their insurance.  (Insurance here covers massage for acute conditions and not maintenance massage.)

Michael Port in his book Book Yourself Solid: The Fastest, Easiest, and Most Reliable System for Getting More Clients Than You Can Handle Even if You Hate Marketing and Selling
says this:

The first step in building your foundation is to choose your ideal clients, the individuals and businesses with whom you do your best work, the people or environments that energize and inspire you.

In the book Attracting Perfect Customers: The Power of Strategic Synchronicity
by Stacey Hall and Jan Brogniez uses these questions to hone in on the ideal customer or as they call it the Perfect customer:

• Is this person the perfect customer because he or she shows you respect and values your time?
• Does this person come to you with realistic expectations?
• Do they appreciate your efforts happily paying for your services and referring others to your company?
• Does working with this person make you feel needed, appreciated, respected and understood?
• Do they reconnect you with the passion and purpose that puts joy in your work-the very reason why you began doing massage in the first place?

In the Book The Answer: Grow Any Business, Achieve Financial Freedom, and Live an Extraordinary Life

.. if you try to be everything to everybody, you end up being nothing to anybody.”

These are just a few resources to help you in learning more about the concept of the “Ideal Massage Client” and helping you on your way to finding yours.

The other thing though is that this is a process.  If you have clients that you find draining it will take time and some marketing to let go of them (and also some self confidence boosting.)  If you don’t have any clients you may not know who your ideal client is.  It will come by taking action and seeing clients and seeing the contrast of how it feels to work with different people.  Having a good business coach or supervisor can also help.

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1. Massage Websites to Get Your Ideal Massage Client
2. Building Your Ideal Practice
3. How to give a perfect massage

This website has been up since 1999 making it the oldest blog about massage I would guess.

Last year I wasn’t able to write about the new year and such with the many storms we had keeping me offline. The summer was beautiful here and I had plenty of posts to make up for my lost time.

My Yahoo Group Massage Practice Builder will be 10 years old this year. I used it at first to send out my newsletter and found my first newsletter which was sent out through my Yahoo! Group discussion group (which used to be egroups many years ago.) With over 2000 members we discuss just about anything and everything on the topic of massage business and careers.

In Feb 2009, I was writing about whether or not to start a massage business in ‘this’ economy.  The question seems to be the same for many still.  Fear is such an interesting thing.  If people wait until a better economy it won’t make much of a difference on how successful they will be.  If you are letting the economy put you in the ‘victim’ mode, then maybe a career in massage isn’t for you.  I am not saying it won’t be difficult.  Many massage therapists end up going out of business even in a good economy.

Megan Holub’s – Magic Touch : How to make $100,000 a year as a massage therapist caused quite a stir online and off.

The indeed.com forums brought out the worst of the massage profession.

The Federation of Massage State Boards keeps growing and expanding the list of states accepting the exam as licensing forcing the NCBTMB to rethink its role and offer discounts for pizza.

The Conspiracy of the Rich brought some new ways of thinking.  Creating residual income in any economy can help you to lessen the effects of any economy changes and keep your economy separate from the nations economy.  Robert Kiyosaki thinks the economy is going to get worse.  If it is true we are in for quite a ride!

The Massage Body of Knowledge Group was formed to start helping in defining the massage profession.

Sometime in the summer I released my first edition of my Ebook ‘The Massage Job Guide:  How to create or find your ideal massage job”  (or I should have called it how to find higher paying jobs)

More people are finally getting what Site Build it! is about and how to use a website to effectively market your massage business AND create residual income from your website.

What will next year bring???

Related posts:

1. Year in Review
2. How to Make $100,000 a year as a massage therapist
3. Did you make enough this year with your massage business?

So what is on your to do list?Even if it isn’t officially on a list it is spinning around in your head taking up your time and energy.

• start a website for your massage business?
• washing the car
• cleaning the house/office
• doing a mailing to local businesses
• networking with doctors or other health care providers
• phone calls to make or return
• clean your desk
• clean out your clothes closet
• clean off your bookshelves
• backup your computer and organize your files
• clean up old magazines
• get that oil change for your car
• organize your photos
• contact people you have been meaning to connect with
• take a second look at all of your projects and organize them in the order you want to work on them
• return items that you borrowed
• clean out that garage and storage area

Whatever you can think of that is just hanging over your head it is a good time to start taking care of it all.  There are basically just a few options – Clean it up, complete it, or delete it (forget it!)   but there are a few ways to take care of these options.  You can just do it yourself, delegate it to someone, put a date on it as to when you will complete it or just delete it (or get rid of it)

Whew! Doesn’t that feel better already?  The whole basis for building a successful life actually revolves around constantly trying to find relief from your unconscious thoughts and feel more positive (even if you are facing a difficult challenge!)  This is just one small way to start.

With all of this stuff out of the way you can jumpstart your creativity and start thinking outside of the box (as they used to say) and start planning for the New Year and a very successful year!   I already have so many things in the works, I can hardly wait!

No related posts.

You can keep the second one for yourself or give it away to someone who needs more income!  Each year SBI! keeps adding more and more things and their prices never go up.

Find out how you could be soon saying “Sorry I can’t take any new clients.  I am booked for 3 months”

If you are a fan of Robert Kiosaki and have read his latest book “The Conspiracy of the Rich “  – using SBI! to build online income is what he recommends doing to not let the next economic crash hurt you! (And there is another big crash coming according to him! )  Stop wasting your time and start building an online business.

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The best thing to do is to build a fan page for your massage business.  That way it keeps things separate from your personal Facebook page.  People don’t have to become friends with you – they just become a fan of your page.  When people become fans then their friends and family who are connected to them on Facebook will also see that they are a fan of your page and it might inspire then to find out more.

Even with a Facebook page you really need a website to back you up and refer people too from the Facebook page that outlines all of your services, fees, location and is also filled with articles on why people should get regular weekly massage (yes weekly!) and how massage can help them.

To create a fan page first go to the small link at the bottom left hand side that says ads and pages.  It is there that you can create your page.  (I think!)  It took me a few hours to figure it all out and even now I am not quite sure about it all!)

Once you get your page created you can then create a badge to add to your website so people on your website can follow your page.  Also ask a few friends to follow you to get it going!

The one drawback to fan pages are that the wall and other postings don’t show up on your main wall which is what most people see first when they login to facebook.

On your pages section you should also create articles and add photos.  I have just started a page for my massage business and am not done yet but you can take a look at it.

I have also created a page for Massage Practice Builder and will be working on updating that and adding more content.

I actually can’t figure out the craze really but it is what it is.  People like facebook.  It is fun and I have been able to connect with old friends easily but keeping them all separate is a challenge.  You can create a separate friends list for clients and create different privacy settings.  You don’t really want clients seeing all your friends from high school or what you had for dinner or your new remodeling project.

I actually get much better results working on my website because I not only get traffic to my website and clients from my website but it also makes me additional income while I am busy writing on my other sites and doing massage.  I actually have been busier than I ever have in my massage business right now for some reason.  The only thing I have been doing is writing an article now and then for my clinic site.

How are you using Facebook?  Has it helped your massage business?

You can join my Facebook Fan page!  The best way to learn how it works is to just start using it!

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2. Websites for your massage business
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