Marketing Massage - How To Build A Steady Stream of Clients!
If you give really great massage treatments all the time it'strue that your clients may recommend you to their friends, whichmay generate more business for you, however when it comes downto it, just being a great therapist does not guarantee that youwill be able to build a thriving and successful massage business.In fact, a large majority of the massage therapists that Iknow, all say that they would like more clients.So how does the career massage therapist get a steady strea...
...m ofclients? Well they certainly don't just sit and wait (and hope)for the phone to ring, that won't pay the bills. No, what everymassage therapist who has decided to go out on their own shouldbe doing (when they are not massaging) is in fact 'marketingmassage'.Now I know that the idea of 'marketing' may conjure up in yourmind, corporate images of elaborate and expensive advertisingcampaigns and the like, but really all I'm talking about isconsciously and effectively putting your business in front ofthe different kinds of people you would like to attract to yourmassage business as clients, and getting them to make contactwith you and book in for a treatment. That's all!You could be the most knowledgeable, talented, highlytrained massage therapist out there but unless people 'know'about you and how 'your service' can be of BENEFIT to them, youmay never experience the kind of practice or income that youwant or deserve!The first thing that I feel is necessary to grasp is that amassage practice (no matter how big or small) is in fact a'business', your business! The next most important thing is thatthere are two sides to your business and one cannot survivewithout the other.One side of your massage business is the providing of excellentmassage treatments. The other side of your massage business isthe marketing side i.e. the strategies and systems you use toattract a continual stream of clients and to get them to book infor a massage with you. The secret to building a thriving and successful massagebusiness is to realize that you need to be a marketer of massagefirst (in order to get the clients), and a provider of massagesecond. These are the twin pillars of your business. Once youget the clients on the table your job is only half done, youthen need to give them a first class treatment that is basedaround their needs, each and every time! So now that you know that you need to be a massage marketer aswell as a massage therapist, the next question to ask is,"How do you market your massage?" Well it allstarts with the most important rule."Don't try to be all things to all people all atonce!"The biggest mistake I see therapists who are trying to build upa list of clients make, is that they will do up a brochure orbusiness card etc that has their name or business name and / orlogo, a list of the services they offer, and maybe a littleabout who they are and their qualifications, and that's it!The thing is, every other therapist is doing exactly the samething, so not only do they not stand out from the crowd, theyare not speaking to the specific needs of the people that theyare trying to attract as a massage clients. In fact manytherapists are not even sure who it is they're even trying toattract. So before you even think about printing up another brochure,flyer, business card or doing another ad, you need to first askyourself, "What type of clients do I want to attract to mymassage business? Who are they? Where are they? How can I getthem interested in my business?"Some massage therapists like to work specifically with sportspeople, others with women only, or people with back pain, otherswith people who are rehabilitating from illness or injury andothers primarily for relaxation and rejuvenation etc, OR youmight be the kind of therapist who wants to attract and workwith people from all types of backgrounds. There are really nolimits!However, in order to effectively attract specific types ofpeople into your massage business, your marketing must be'tailored' to reach these people directly and speak to 'their'individual needs!The mistake that a lot of massage therapists are making is thatthey'll do up a brochure or put an advertisement in a magazineor newspaper and they'll try to promote to all of these types ofpeople at the same time. They might list the different benefitsof their massage treatment by saying that their massage is goodfor back pain, relaxation, sports injuries etc.By doing this they are saying that their massage is good foreverything and everyone and while this is probably true, theyare not speaking directly to each individual type of person, andtherefore the power of their message is diluted.The key to getting a great response is to market to each styleof person individually, and whether or not you use a flyer,brochure or paid advertisement, you need to come across as aspecialist by listing only those benefits of your massage thatwill appeal to that style of person.Let's say that we work from home or out of a small clinic andthere are a couple of gyms in our area. We know that many peoplewho go to workout at the gym will be interested in receivingmassage so we decide that we would like to attract some of thesepeople as clients.If we want to attract a particular style of person to ourmassage business, we first need to get into their head and findout what their 'needs' are.This usually isn't too difficult. In regards to people who go tothe gym, just put yourself in their shoes. "Why do they goto the gym?" People generally go the gym to workoutbecause they are health conscious and they care about theirphysical appearance and their level of fitness. Now think about what happens after you have a hard work out?Your muscles can become tight and tense and often there issoreness due to lactic acid build up. You often feel energizedbut your body now needs a period of rest to rejuvenate beforethe next workout.Keeping this in mind, a great way to market to people whoregularly workout at the gym would be to focus on all of the'physical' benefits that these people would receive should theycome to have a massage with you.You could for example, focus on the BENEFITS of receivingmassage treatments 'in between' workouts and list only thosebenefits that would most appeal to the style of person who worksout on a regular basis. Some benefits of receiving massage that would be effective inthis example are that it:- Quickly eliminates muscle soreness after yourworkout. - Relieves muscular spasm quickly. - Improvesyour flexibility and range of movement. - Cuts your recoverytime in half. - Reduces the chance of injury by alleviatingtension in the body. - Increases your body's ability toabsorb nutrients and vitamins. - Oxygenates your body'scells giving you greater levels of energy. - Can greatlyimprove your general health, well-being and appearance. -Makes you feel relaxed, refreshed and ready to take on theworld!At the top of your flyer you could combine a few of thesebenefits into an attention grabbing headline for example,"Discover How To Quickly Eliminate Muscle Soreness After YourNext Workout!" followed by a subheading, ...and feelcompletely relaxed, refreshed and ready to take on the world!A benefit rich headline that captures the interest of your'target market' should be at the top of every piece of marketingyou do, whether it's a flyer, an editorial or just a simpleadvertisement!You could then follow up with the rest of the benefits above, sothat you come across as a therapist who 'specializes' in workingwith people who do intensive exercise on a regular basis.If possible you would then throw in a testimonial or two fromclients that fall into the same 'target market' that you havemassaged previously, so that it gives you credibility and showswhy they should have a massage with you.Then give them a special offer of say 90 minutes for the priceof an hour and mention that it's for a limited time only, tellthem to call A.S.A.P to make their appointment type and in yourphone number so that it is big and bold. If possible, include asmall photo of yourself and voila, you have a very targeted,inexpensive method of putting your business in front of aspecific type of client that has a high probability of makingcontact with you.Now this is just one example, and you could tailor differentflyers for different styles of people and also different stylesof massage. The main thing that I'm trying to get across here isthat even though your massage itself may not change that muchfrom person to person, you need to target your marketing so thatyou are speaking to each different style of person (targetmarket) specifically and answer the question, "What's init for them?" by clearly listing those benefits thatwill be appealing to that style of person. So to recap on what I covered so far today, think of yourmassage practice as a business that has two equally importantsides - the 'marketing of massage' and the 'providing ofmassage'.Work out what types of people (target markets) you would like tohave as clients and then market to each of those groupsindividually with benefit rich, 'attention grabbing' headlines.Then answer the question of "What's in it forthem?" by illustrating the specific benefits of yourservice. Then, make sure you give yourself credibility by throwing in oneor two testimonials from clients that are in the same targetmarket and make them a 'time sensitive' offer that they can'trefuse. Last but not least, tell them 'how' to make contact withyou. Make sure that these elements are included in ALL forms ofmarketing that you do, whether it be brochures, flyers,editorials or simple classified ads etc.Then when clients show up for their massage treatment,give them 110% each and every time! This is a must!If you can do just these simple things with your marketing, Ihave no doubt that you will be well on the way to building avery successful massage business with a steady stream ofclients!
|
