Marketing when your right out of school

[ThatBoyThamer]

I have a question for those of you who took the leap right out of school into your own practice. When you're just starting out and you only have your required classes, and not a whole lot of additional CEUs under your belt yet? Marketing tells us we need to set ourself apart somehow or find a niche. But until you grow, how do you sell yourself with limited skill sets and experience?

Thanks!

 

[askMeSomething]

Marketing when your right out of school

But until you grow, how do you sell yourself with limited skill sets and experience?

I personally felt that I did need more experience before I could effectively market myself. To get some of this experience in the beginning I volunteered to work at some health fairs and sporting events. Not only did this help me with marketing myself, but the volunteer work also directly resulted in me getting some very good paying clients as well. t004

 

[Pastor Art (((SFECU)))]

I started fresh out of school.

Sure, you can take a whole lot of CEU's, but you also need to work on bodies to get all that info to soak in.

Start out with what you know. So you know Swedish, do that. Do something! The more bodies you touch the better you will become.

When you are new there are a few things you can do to set yourself apart. One is price. Another is marketing to those you have already worked on, giving referal discounts or just plain asking for the referals. You can advertise too. I had quite a bit of luck advertising. I usually offered a discount to new clients as it is a good way to determine if your advertising is actually working!

 

[sweetheart]

I think if you're a new massage therapist, your best bet is to market to new massage clients (people who have never had a massage, or rarely have had one). These clients don't know what all the modalities are anyway, and they don't care about continuing education. But they do know what tension feels like, and they do want to feel better! ABMP has two great brochures: "What To Expect During a Massage or Bodywork Session" & "Why Should I Get a Massage?" If you're not an ABMP member, you can buy similar brochures from http://www.info4people.com .Or you can write your own. The goal is to entice people to try a massage, and educate them about the many benefits. Do the same with your adverstising. Focus your marketing on words like Relaxation, Rejuvenation, Tension Relief, Stress Relief, etc. One of our members has a great website, with just this type of focus: http://www.kathrynhackett.com

That's what I did when I first graduated from massage school, and a lot of those newbies became massage regulars.

 

[Duddeee]

Great Tip Blisss!!

But wouldnt it be a great idea after being in business for a (say about 10 years or so) while to market to the massage coniseur? "Massaging Miami's Best since 1985." "Only the best clients walk through our doors." on a sign outside of my door, "Caution - Relaxed People Crossing." Something like that.

 

[CARNAGE *Anti-YOU]

Great Tip Blisss!!

But wouldnt it be a great idea after being in business for a (say about 10 years or so) while to market to the massage coniseur? "Massaging Miami's Best since 1985." "Only the best clients walk through our doors." on a sign outside of my door, "Caution - Relaxed People Crossing." Something like that.

Oh, I love the sign idea: "Caution - Relaxed People Crossing". Every MT (new and experienced) could use that right now. Are you going to put that up outside your new office? It would be so perfect! Relaxed people really do walk out in a daze.

Also, the cool thing is that in 10 years, your old clients (who maybe got their first massage with you) will have become massage connoisseurs themselves! You grow together. I have clients who got their first massage from me who now request unusual modalities like ortho-bionomy and lymph drainage. (After I've given them the chance to experience them.) They never would have booked an appointment for that before trying regular massage first.

 

[katsura kotonoha]

LOL

It would be a hit. I will do it!

How big should it be? Not too... I would want it to be subtle. You know, the kind of sign that people would see a couple times and not realize it was there. And then at their 3rd or 4th view they ask if that sign out there is new.

Right smack dab above the door.... Yeah... that's the ticket! Yeah...

 

[Mariska]

How big should it be? Not too... I would want it to be subtle. You know, the kind of sign that people would see a couple times and not realize it was there. And then at their 3rd or 4th view they ask if that sign out there is new. Right smack dab above the door.... Yeah... that's the ticket! Yeah...

How about this? See, I'm not about subtle. :

 

[Brookie]

Too cute!! How did you do that?

 

[Eat shyt and die]

I felt like having some fun, so did a little design in a software program called Picture It. I got the dancing person from the Microsoft Clipart Gallery Online (it's called a ScreenBean.)

Vita, sorry for hijacking your thread. I'm running on massageplanetfeine & sugar tonight. I'll PM Gratelakes further about this, and repost your original question to get this thread back on track:

I have a question for those of you who took the leap right out of school into your own practice. When you're just starting out and you only have your required classes, and not a whole lot of additional CEUs under your belt yet? Marketing tells us we need to set ourself apart somehow or find a niche. But until you grow, how do you sell yourself with limited skill sets and experience?

 

[EugeneBrumley]

Vita, sorry for hijacking your thread. I'm running on massageplanetfeine & sugar tonight. I'll PM Gratelakes further about this, and repost your original question to get this thread back on track:

Oh, hijack away! The massageplanetfeine & sugar really brought out some new sort of creative goodness in you! :

And I just realized that the headline of this post is grammatically incorrect! I really honestly do know when to use contractions. I blame it on the 24 hour flu bug I had yesterday.

Anyway, I really appreciate the input. You have given me some things to think about!

I had about 11 months after school and before licensing where I was travelling a lot for my main job. During this time I gave 4 massages a week (within the legal and ethical guidelines of my state) in order to get some practice on new bodies, try some things I was learning and attempt to iron out some of the things I knew weren't so good about my massage.

I do belong to the abmp and was perusing the brochures suggested above this weekend! I'm also focusing very hard on customer service and making the experience something special, and doing a lot of "education" (brochures, newsletter, info sheets to hand out post-massage). This way I don't have to have the focus shine so brightly on what little experience I have.

Vitalia, I have quite a few large chair massage events coming up and while I can't get paid for them I am able to advertise all I want. I will take your lead and use this as a marketing and learning experience. Thanks!

 

[Unixmen]

Whats the first thing they say at any multi level marketing seminar? Start with your warm market. That is start with the people you know. That generally is a good base. Also you can give them a reasonable rate and then the referals will flow.

Jason

 

[Karmaman]

Whats the first thing they say at any multi level marketing seminar? Start with your warm market. That is start with the people you know. That generally is a good base. Also you can give them a reasonable rate and then the referals will flow.

Be careful about the challenge of dual relationships, though. In my experience, clients who are also friends are the most likely to arrive late, cancel at the last minute, ask for discounts, and just generally push your professional boundaries.

 

[Isadora]

Vitalia, I have quite a few large chair massage events coming up and while I can't get paid for them I am able to advertise all I want. I will take your lead and use this as a marketing and learning experience. Thanks!

You're very welcome! I still remember what it was like just starting out and how excited I was about doing some of the chair massage events. One of the very first was set up by a local acupuncturist who arranged for me to volunteer some time at a local hospital doing chair massage for a "Nurses Appreciation" event.

You can't imagine how good it made me feel when I saw the flyers inside the hospital and discovered that they were already lining up and waiting 30 minutes before the event was supposed to start. I would still have to rate this as one of the most positive experiences I have had during my massage career.

 

[Pompal 09.]

Be careful about the challenge of dual relationships, though. In my experience, clients who are also friends are the most likely to arrive late, cancel at the last minute, ask for discounts, and just generally push your professional boundaries.

I'll be honest, when I spent the year giving away my services (I wasn't licensed so I couldn't accept anything but still wanted to work on my skills), I never expected to transfer any of those clients to paying clients. True to form, when I was finally licensed, they continued to want free massage. I set a firm boundary and while I've taken on a few friends as paying clients, most are brand new or have been referred. I haven't had any problems yet, but it was enough of a concern that I reviewed my policies upfront and let them know they would be held to the same "rules" as everyone else.

Bliss, (or anyone) in your experience have you had issues with those friends after setting firm boundaries? Or do they usually respect the boundaries after they are set?

 

[Max Powers]

[Bliss, (or anyone) in your experience have you had issues with those friends after setting firm boundaries? Or do they usually respect the boundaries after they are set?

First of all, congratulations on setting boundaries up-front. As for how your friends will respond, it really depends on the friends. Some will respect you and your boundaries. (Those are your good friends.) Others will test you & make you enforce your boundaries. For this latter group, if they continually push boundaries, I drop them as clients, and quite frankly, it often signals an end to the friendship as well. When a "friend" treats me disrespectfully, I start to question the value of the friendship. That's the tricky thing about dual relationships; problems with one part of the relationship usually spill over into the other.

For me, the majority of my friends fell into the "good friend" category. But for the few who didn't, it was a painful process. Enough so to make me cautious about having friends as clients. And I definitely don't let my client relationships develop into friendships. I don't want to risk the therapeutic relationship.

 

[BRET69ER]

Hey, Vita!

When I started out, I just used bits and pieces of everything I had learned in school: basically Swedish massage with some NMT, Shiatsu and DFR mixed in when appropriate. Never had a complaint! I also read some books on Trigger Point Therapy and other modalities.

And, as Bliss said, your clients will grow right along with you. They love it when I say, "Would you like to try so-and-so I just learned in a workshop?" They are more than happy to be part of your learning process -- especially when they benefit from new treatments!

Obviously we can't know everything -- and my clients are so appreciative when I do some extra research on the web that in some way helps them or gives them additional information. Essentially, we learn together!

What a great job!

Sherry

P.S. Bliss, I SO want that CAUTION sign you designed for my clinic! I tried my graphics program to come up with something similar and had no luck. Is there any way you could get it to us in 8 x 11 format for a fee?
I'll sign up!

 

[lollipopsy]

that sign is hilarious...now i'm going to go tool around my picture it stuff and make one too!

anyway, another way you could market yourself is with your hours. if you have "convenient/flexible hours" that will grab people's attention. it doesn't all have to be the massage skills that you're marketing. flexible hours, convenient location &/or any specials will help you stand out.