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Bodywork Buddy Blog

Bodywork Buddy: business management software for the solo therapist that keeps you organized and makes tax time a breeze.

Showing posts with label tools. Show all posts
Showing posts with label tools. Show all posts

Monday, July 24, 2017

The Biggest Facebook Setting Mistake You Don't Want to Make




This past week, I kept trying to tag a local business Facebook page in a post about how awesome they are. Facebook wasn't showing the tag once the status was posted. Then I realized there is a setting in the business page that will not allow others to tag your page.

Just wanted to pass this along in case you didn't know this was an option. You may want to make sure you have this setting set to allow people to tag your business, so when your clients brag about you on FB, they can easily send others to your business page!



Without this setting enabled, when someone tries to tag your business page on Facebook, it will only show the text and not be a clickable link to your business page. Which would be absolutely zero help to getting the word out about your business. You'll especially want this setting enabled if you offer online scheduling right from within your Facebook page. ( *Shameless Plug * Our online scheduling for massage therapists has the ability to embed the scheduler right into your FB biz page, so clients don't even have to leave FB to schedule a relaxing massage with you!)

Check out Hillary Arrieta's massage business, Gaia Bodywork, on Facebook and how her scheduler is embedded right into her business page:




Here's another helpful tip when using FB for your massage business:
When you post graphics or articles from your biz page, be sure to add a little comment in the main post encouraging clients to schedule and include the link to your scheduler. 
Keep in mind that when clients see your posts, it will most likely be from within their feed rather than directly from your page. Make it as easy as possible for them to schedule by including a link they can click to schedule. Otherwise, they would have to see your post, click onto your page, click onto schedule online, etc. Instead, just make it stupid easy with one click! :D

Amanda's business, Soothing Palms Massage, does a great job of this on FB. She shared an image from Massage Magazine, and added her own comment including her link to her online scheduler:



Speaking of Facebook, did you now we have an awesome active group for Bodywork Buddy members? If you're a massage therapist using our online scheduling, we would love to have you join us on FB!


Cindy Iwlew is a licensed massage therapist who has had a private practice since 1999 and cofounder of Bodywork Buddy massage software.
www.bodyworkbuddy.com

Iggy is the branch manager and helps keep Cindy on track with balancing out computer time with playing outdoors.









Today's post was created while listening to Amazon's Playlist '90s Hip-Hop BBQ. (We all need a break from massage music, right?!)
Happy Summer!


Saturday, July 8, 2017

When It Pays to Track Referrals


Do you have a referral program? I used to offer a "refer 3 friends, get a free massage" in my bodywork business and it was a huge success. I got most of my clients from that, and I ended up so busy that I had to discontinue it. (And the surprising thing was, I didn't have to give away very many massages because while it created a ton of new clients, very seldom did 3 people come from the same referring client.)

When I ran my referral program, I used paper to track it because technology hadn't gotten caught up with us yet. This was before smartphones, Bodywork Buddy, etc. i.e. all of the tools that make running our practice so much easier these days!

BWB has always had the ability to track referrals from within each client file so you could see who they referred and who originally referred them. But now we've added a referral tree which is a great visual to quickly see all of your clients and who they've referred at a glance.

So far, it's been a big hit with our members!







What kind of referral program do you offer clients? How many new clients have you gotten from it?
I'd love to hear about your own experience with referral programs in your massage business - comment here and let me know. 🐶 Iggy wants to know, too.



Cindy Iwlew is a licensed massage therapist who has had a private practice since 1999 and cofounder of Bodywork Buddy massage software.
www.bodyworkbuddy.com

Iggy is the branch manager and helps keep Cindy on track with balancing out computer time with playing outdoors.




Wednesday, July 5, 2017

How to Harness the Power of Your Hours Report




I’ve been a fan of Bodywork Buddy (BWB) for a long time. Because I knew of many of the features they offered, I hopped on board on December 31, 2012. This gave me the opportunity to start fresh in 2013, enabling me to view current up-to-date reports right from the beginning of the year.

While there are a ton of features to list, one of the things I’m most impressed about is owner Cindy and Berin Iwlew’s willingness to not only listen to what their users suggest, but to thoughtfully respond with positive action.

Cindy and I have both been massage industry for a long time, about 20 years for each of us. In fact, she’s the one who originally turned me on to online scheduling, long before Bodywork Buddy began.

There were many limitations of that option and virtually no reports you could run. Many companies at that time also had programs you could purchase and download onto your computer, but you’d have to have that computer with you to schedule or add in any comments or SOAP notes.

Finding the same limitations that I did but with Berin’s prowess in programming, the Iwlews set out to give massage therapists an online solution. Not only would it have the same features as other programs, but they added in everything Cindy had on her wish list.

I loved the idea from the get-go. The only reason I didn’t hop on board sooner was that BWB required internet, which I didn’t have at my office at the time.

Today I’ll just talk about my favorite new cool feature, the Hours Report.


One feature they’ve added recently is super cool-reporting of how many hours you’ve completed in each style and session length of massage you offer. I think I was the first one who promptly ran a report and posted it on Facebook!


You can run in for the current year, any year you’ve been using BWB or a total of all years. Your most popular sessions will begin at the top and work your way down. In my case, I had a price / name change, which is why it shows 2 different items that appear to be almost identical.

When you go into your BWB back it, it looks something like this:

I had never kept track of my massage sessions before. Because I specialize in Ashiatsu and heavily promote that, I knew that my 90 minute session would be at the top of the list. Interestingly, I had no idea that my 2 hour sessions outweighed my 60 minute massages.

Knowing how many hours you’ve performed a massage can show proof of expertise to anyone else that you have plenty of experience in your field. When people ask what kind of experience I have with barefoot massage, I can say, “In the last 4.5 years, I’ve actually spent 2074 hours getting paid to do ashiatsu on my clients!”

If you have a modality that you love doing but isn’t near the top of what you actually have been doing, it’s a fantastic way to come up with a promotion so you get that service up at the top of the “hours you’ve massaged list”.

Another thing you can discover is your number of hours you average per week. Simply take the total number listed at the top of that year’s report and divide by the number of weeks so far in the current year. *Update: this is now a feature that automatically shows the average at the bottom of the dashboard. Yah, no math required!

If you’ve been with them for a calendar year, just run the report and divide by 52.  You can see trends from year to year as to how your business is growing. Or perhaps it stays steady because you have a lot of regular clients.
Whether you view this report as just a fun “thing” or you use it to detect patterns and trends in your business, this feature is a hit in my book.


 
About the author:

Mary-Claire Fredette has been practicing the art of ashiatsu for 15 years and is a Co-Creative Force at the Center for Barefoot Massage, where they offer continuing education to LMTs who want to learn the skill of barefoot massage.

She lives in Cincinnati and co-owns Affinity Massage Studio with her husband, Paul. They have 8 children, 1 turtle, 1 outdoor cat, and 2 rescue German Shepherds.




Sunday, June 4, 2017

New Features Released Today!




We've been working hard to bring you some cool new features within Bodywork Buddy. This weekend, we added:


*Custom Business Hours: Open/Close specific days. 
You can now adjust hours by specific days without affecting your default business hours in your settings.







*Hours Report: Shows how much time you spent on services by year.
See the total number of hours you've worked since the beginning of using Bodywork Buddy, or for the year. Break it down into reports of how many hours per specific services.









*Referral Tree: See, at a glance, who all the referrers and referred are.





You may need to clear your browser cache after these updates. If you notice anything wonky in your calendar, clear your cache and check it again! :)



Tuesday, May 16, 2017

New Microsite Themes, An Editor, and Bears, Oh My!



We're excited to announce some new designs available for our online scheduling microsites as well as some other cool features and updates to the microsite area!

There are now 11 color/theme choices for your microsite. We've also added an editor to the main text area of the microsite - this means you can now add your own links, images, bold or italic text, etc in your main text.

This makes our online scheduling microsite more customizable than ever! Combined with the ability to choose a video, upload your own images or use images from our library, and add your own text, you can truly make your Bodywork Buddy online scheduler reflect your personality and your business.

Interested in creating your microsite to match the design of your website completely? We do offer individual designs as well. Contact us for pricing and details.

Not sure if Bodywork Buddy is right for you? We have a risk-free 15 day trial. I'm a licensed massage therapist myself (still in practice, btw). I get it. It's hard to switch over to a new system, or to take the plunge away from your paper book. That's why we offer the trial and will also import your client list for you. We also have amazing customer service, if I do say so myself! ;) I'll be here along side you every step of the way if you need me.

Try it free.

Oh, and I was just kidding about the bears. Don't worry, there are no bears.



Saturday, April 1, 2017

Inspiration to Blog for Your Massage Business



I admit, it took me a while to realize the benefits of blogging for business. I had always heard that we should be blogging, but I didn't really grasp the "why" until after I had started.

Have you been thinking about blogging, or maybe just wondering why it's a good idea?

Let's break it down.


Why Blog?


  • SEO (Search Engine Optimization)
    Blogging helps your site get found by Google and other search engines. Every time you write a blog post, it's another indexed page on your site. More indexed pages means more chances of showing up in search engines and driving traffic to your site. New content on your site signals to the search engines that your site is active and worth checking in frequently.

  • Educates
    Blogging is a great opportunity to educate clients (and potential clients) on the benefits of massage, any special services or offerings that you have, and overall wellness information.

  • Establishes Authority
    Your current clients probably already see you as an expert in the field, but that fact will really be driven home when you regularly blog about wellness and massage. New clients will be put more at ease seeing your expertise from your blog posts. It's easy to forget that some of the information we know after being a massage therapist for X amount of years isn't necessarily common knowledge to clients and potential clients.

  • Fosters Relationships
    Creates a two-way conversation with your clients, helping to build a relationship with them before they even step foot in your massage studio.



What To Blog?

  • Think over your past week in working with clients. What are some questions you were asked? This is a great source of blog topics and material.

  • Wellness tips and/or products.

  • Spotlight different services you offer and explain the benefits of each one. (1 service = 1 blog post.)

  • Youtube videos showing self-care tips - just add your own commentary and there's a great, informational post! Here's one that I used recently during cold & flu season, and several clients thanked me for it:



My Results From Blogging



  • After writing and publishing a post to my website, I create an email campaign to my client list and paste in the entire blog post. (My main goal is for clients to read it, but if my main goal was traffic to my site, I might only put the first paragraph of the post and then link back to my blog. Or, you could still drive traffic to your site by including the entire post and then asking them to comment on your blog.) I end the email with any openings in my schedule coming up soon, and a link to my online scheduler. These openings always get filled after my email goes out.

  • Many clients have mentioned that they love my emails about the benefits of massage and thank me often for them. Just this morning at yoga class, I saw a client and she thanked me (for about the 4th time) for sending these emails.

  • I've sold more product and have been able to educate my clients on how the products I carry can help them.



How To Get Started



  • You don't have to have some fancy blogging software to get started with reaping the benefits of blogging right away. Many website services include a blog option (Weebly, ABMP's free website, etc.) Or you can use a free service like Blogger.

  • If you have trouble thinking of topics, start with the first month's posts before you publish any of them so that you get the ball rolling.

  • Choose how often to post and stick with being consistent.

  • Email your clients / mailing list your blog post. Encourage them to comment on the post and link back to the blog.

  • If you have openings you need to fill, include those in the bottom of the emailed posts to clients.

  • Add an image! Canva is a great option to create an image for your blog posts. It's a free service and you can legally use those images on your site.

  • Have a friend proofread it if spelling and writing are not your strong suit.

Do you have a blog for your massage business? Share it in the comments, you may just inspire another massage therapist to start their own blog!





Cindy Iwlew is a licensed massage therapist and cofounder of Bodywork Buddy Massage Software.

Thursday, March 23, 2017

My Favorite Shoes To Wear For Massage





I used to work barefoot (for hands-on massage, not to be confused with doing barefoot massage), and while I loved it, my body did not love standing on a hard floor all day with no arch support.

Because I also do ashiatsu, I needed shoes that could easily be slipped on or off as well as easily cleaned and sanitized throughout the day if needed.

One of my clients told me about Oofos* sandals. I LOVE THESE SANDALS. They are perfect for working in. I just keep them at my office as my work shoes. My back and knees are so much happier since I've been wearing these!

Have you found an awesome pair of shoes to work in? Let us know in the comments.


best shoes for massage therapists to wear



*Thank you for supporting our small business. Profits made from retail sales / affiliate links are reinvested in caffeine for our developers for Bodywork Buddy so we can continue to provide you with the best services possible.

Tuesday, October 18, 2016

How Do You Know If Your Client Got Their Email Reminder?


Bodywork Buddy has always had an email log so you can see when your clients received/opened their reminder emails. (Accessible from dashboard > account > email services > scroll down to email log.) Last I knew, no other online scheduling service offered this.

While it's a handy feature, we've had some members request a quicker, more "at-a-glance" way to see if clients haven't received or opened their email reminders. So we've implemented a new envelope icon in the calendar next to the client's name. An envelope outlined in white shows that the reminder has been sent, and the envelope will turn to solid white once it's been opened by your client. Pretty cool, right? Our members have been enjoying this feature for a few weeks now and the feedback has been pretty great.



Other ways to cut down on no-shows in your massage practice:
  • Send text reminders.
    Easy to do within BWB. Enable SMS services, have clients opt-in by texting the word "START" to 269-509-4288, make sure client's mobile number is on file.

  • Have a cancellation / no-show policy and make sure clients know about it.
    You can have your policies show within your email reminders, and you can also choose to have clients agree to your policies when they schedule online from your microsite.

  • Train clients from the beginning that you might not be able to get them back on the schedule immediately if they miss or cancel their appointment. You might be surprised how clients will be able to make it work once they realize they won't be able to get back in for several weeks. I discovered this by accident when I was so busy that I really was booked out for a month in advance. Clients started saying that they didn't dare cancel, because they knew they wouldn't be able to get in until next month.

    Even if you're not booked out for weeks in advance, you can show less openings in your schedule using Bodywork Buddy's "optimized time slots" feature. It only shows openings immediately before or after existing appointments, not only cutting down on large gaps in your day - but also creating a scarcity of available appointment times.


Do you have some useful tips to help cut down on cancellations and no-shows? Share here in the comments, I'd love to hear what has worked for you! 


Friday, September 23, 2016

2016 Massage Therapy Resource Bundle *ONLY 2 DAYS LEFT*




I'm excited to tell you about this great resource bundle that I've had the pleasure of being a part of! There's only two days left to get the 2016 Massage Resource Bundle.



It’s a small investment that will deliver tremendous value and new ideas to help you advance in your massage career. I don't want you to miss out.
Right now you can get over $800 worth of CEU classes, business classes, Ebooks and bonus offers for only $39.95. I think you’ll agree that is one amazing bundle!

I love that this kind of support is available now. When I started doing massage, there was little to no online support. New and seasoned therapists alike were left just floundering on our own.

Included in this bundle is my own ebook on growing your massage business with referrals, as well as a discount when joining Bodywork Buddy for your online scheduling and business management needs. (Plus LOTS of other great courses, ebooks, and bonuses from leaders in the massage profession!)


Check out just a few highlights included in the bundle:












Ok so... the countdown is on - jump on this now!


Wednesday, August 31, 2016

4 Ways to Make Your Policies More Effective


Sure, we all know that boundaries are important in a massage practice and that having policies will help cut down on no-shows and make your business run smoother. 

But how do you make sure that your clients are aware of your policies? Many intake forms have some fine print at the bottom that they are agreeing to when they sign, but does anyone actually read that?

Here's a few things you can do to ensure that clients are aware of your policies - thus making it easier to enforce them:

  • Have them printed, framed, and displayed in the client changing area in your massage room and check out area.
  • Have them posted on your website.
  • Occasionally include them in your email newsletter as a reminder.
And Bodywork Buddy just added a new feature that can help. You can have the option to require clients agree to your policies when they schedule online!

From within your BWB account, you can add a general service policy, a reservation policy, a cancellation policy, and a payment policy. You can choose to have any or all required for clients to agree to when scheduling.

Here's what it looks like in action:




Pretty cool, right? Clients can't claim ignorance to your policies.

I've posted this helpful video from Marie Forleo before, but it fits so well with today's topic that I thought it was worthy of a repost.










Cindy Iwlew, LMT is co-founder of Bodywork Buddy Massage Software, a complete online management solution for independent massage therapists that includes online scheduling

She continues to operate her own private massage practice since 1999.  www.BodyworkBuddy.com



Tuesday, August 16, 2016

How to Get the Most Out of Bodywork Buddy On Your Phone



I often get asked if Bodywork Buddy has a downloadable app for phones and tablets. When we built BWB, we decided to go with a mobile responsive design for the entire system to be accessible on any mobile device via a browser. So while there isn't an app to download, the system works great on your phone through a browser by automatically adjusting the size of the site to your screen.

Here's a few reasons we went this route instead of a downloadable app:


  • Bodywork Buddy is a pretty large and complex system, and in order to make it as a downloadable app we would have to make it more bare bones and the entire system wouldn't be accessible through an app.
  • The app stores typically require companies to submit their apps (and any updates) for approval before being available for download. We make frequent updates and changes to BWB on the backend, and we're able to do this as often as needed without waiting for any approval from a 3rd party because we have our mobile responsive design instead of a downloadable app. This also means that when we have updates or changes, you automatically get those without having to install any updates on your phone or tablet.
  • Having a downloadable app would also technically mean having 2 separate systems for our company to maintain: the main system and the downloadable app. As you can imagine, this would double our team's work load and take us longer to make updates and changes. Actually, it would triple our team's work because we would need one system for Apple, another for Android, as well as our desktop version.
In order to provide the best experience for our members and the best customer service, we feel that the mobile responsive design is the way to go!

In talking with some of our members, I've realized that what many therapists are wanting in an app is simply the ability to have an icon on their homescreen to click and be taken immediately to their BWB account. The good news is: an app isn't needed to do this! You can create your own clickable icon for your homescreen.

The good news is: an app isn't needed to do this!



This article details how to do this for different types of devices. Check it out and follow the steps according to what kind of phone or tablet you have!


Here's some other tips on how to get the most out of using BWB on your mobile device:


  • Try turning your phone to landscape when scheduling from the calendar or from different parts of the system. This will allow you to see more information all at once on the screen.
  • When you're trying to click within the calendar next to an existing event (say something in your google calendar that is synced to your BWB), zoom in on that day so you're able to click into the blank space next to the event to create your new appointment or event.
  • Need to call a client? Do a quick search from the main clients page, find the client in the results, click right on their phone number next to their name to call immediately.
  • You can email clients the same way from your phone, click their email address next to their name in the client search results to open your email program on your phone and compose a message.
  • Stay signed in to BWB on your phone by checking the "remember me" box so that when you click on your icon on your homescreen, you're taken right to the inside of your account.

Did you find these tips helpful? Let me know in the comments if there is something in particular you're struggling with, I'd love to help if I can.


Cindy Iwlew, LMT is co-founder of Bodywork Buddy Massage Software, a complete online management solution for independent massage therapists that includes online scheduling

She continues to operate her own private massage practice since 1999.  www.BodyworkBuddy.com

Wednesday, July 27, 2016

3 Ways to Share Client Testimonials on Social Media


Testimonials and reviews are a great marketing tool for your massage business. They are social proof of the work you do and build trust with prospective clients. As we MT's know, building that trust is especially important in a field like massage and bodywork.

85% of consumers said they read up to 10 reviews before feeling they can trust a business. (Search Engine Land)

While it's great to share glowing reviews on social media, plain text might get lost in the noise. Make it fun with images* and designs that get noticed.
*Make sure you're using images you have permission to use.



47% of Americans say Facebook is their #1 influencer of 
purchases. (Jeff Bullas




Here's a few tools to help you do that:

Canva

Canva.com is super easy and they have the dimensions for social media images all laid out for you. Simply click the first choice of "social media" to get started on your design. 




They have tons of images for you to choose from that are free and you're allowed to use. (Also an option to upgrade for more options, or choose from images with a price-per-image.) I searched "massage" and "spa" and got tons of images at $1/piece. But you could also just use one of their free graphic images.

Here's one that I created using one of their free designs:

Canva Testimonial
www.canva.com

You can download it to your computer after you've created it, and they even give you an option to post to social media right from there.






Screenshot

If a client posts a nice testimonial publicly on FB or Twitter, you could simply take a screenshot. Here's a handy site that guides you through how to do that from specific devices.

Below is a screenshot of some kind words about BWB from one of our members that was posted on our FB page. (Thanks, Mary!)

I just took a partial screenshot, highlighting only the comment that I wanted to take a pic of. (On my mac, it's command + shift + 4.) The image saves to your computer, which you can then upload to share to social media. Or if they've posted it right on your page, you can share right from within the comment itself, too.


Screenshot Testimonial





Bodywork Buddy

BWB has a new feature that allows you to easily share published testimonials from within your BWB account right to your FB page. (It also makes it super easy to collect testimonials by automatically emailing clients after their massage asking them for a review. You'll be amazed how the testimonials just roll right in!)

From within your account, from dashboard > account > client testimonials > click the "share" button next to the published testimonial you want to post > select which page you want to post it to > don't forget to add a personal note to encourage clients to schedule with you online and include your microsite link to make it as easy as possible for them!

Bodywork Buddy
Free trial www.bodyworkbuddy.com


It includes the image that you have on your microsite as your main image, and you have permission to use this image posted from BWB to your FB page. Clients can also click right into the image to be taken to your microsite to schedule or read all of your testimonials.




Cindy Iwlew is co-founder of Bodywork Buddy Massage Software, a complete online management solution for independent massage therapists that includes online scheduling

She continues to operate her own private massage practice since 1999.  www.BodyworkBuddy.com