How Can Optimized Scheduling Help You?

I recently wrote a blog post titled "It's Time To Kill These 4 Online Scheduling Myths" in which I talked about therapists who are afraid they will lose control over their schedule if they make the switch from paper.

A fellow MT commented that she likes to cluster her appointments together so that she doesn't have large gaps in her day and she didn't think there was any online scheduler that could offer her that option.

This is actually exactly what Bodywork Buddy's "optimized scheduling" does!

Optimized scheduling is an optional feature you can turn on or off at any time within Bodywork Buddy. When it's selected, it will cluster your appointments together so that only openings before or after an existing appointment will be shown to clients booking online.

Some benefits to this are:

• eliminates large gaps in your day
• makes you appear busier than you are / more in demand
• gives you more control over your schedule

Let's take a look at just how this works. On this day, my entire schedule is open except for a noon appointment:

When I have optimized scheduling selected in my settings, this is what my clients will see when scheduling online. Only a 1:15pm appointment available because it is immediately after my 12:00 appointment with my buffer time of 15 minutes built in:

If I don't have optimized scheduling selected, my clients will see all of my open appointment times that day, starting with 1:15 and going all the way until the end of the day with the last appointment opening:

Pretty cool, right? This is just one of the ways Bodywork Buddy can help you maintain control over your schedule and make your life easier.

Want to try it out yourself? Signup for a free 15 day trial (no credit card required).

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

Is Your Lack of Company Policies Leading To More No-Shows and Last-Minute Cancels?

Check out what Marie Forleo has to say on setting boundaries for your business:

*Disclaimer: Before someone accuses me of calling clients fat and body shaming them, just because I'm sharing this video doesn't mean I tell my clients being late makes them fat. I'm just making a point about boundaries using Marie's help with her video.

How do you enforce policies in your massage business? 

Bodywork Buddy can help with online intake forms where clients have to agree to your policies, plus your policies are included in every email reminder. (You can update or change these anytime from Dashboard > account > account settings > company policies.) They're also linked to your microsite. :)

Want to give it a try? We have a free 15 day trial (no credit card required). Check it out!

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

Member Spotlight: Jenny Methot

Today's Bodywork Buddy member spotlight is Jenny Methot from Amherst, New Hampshire.

Q: What inspired you to be a massage therapist?

A: A friend of mine went to massage school after she got her Associates Degree in Nursing. She paid for my first massage and I enjoyed it. Years later, after completing a Bachelor's Degree in Hotel Management and working in the field for two years and hating it, I decided I needed to do something different. Funny enough, something in the movie, 'Sweet Home Alabama', spoke to me about finding my passion. A friend and I went into a bookstore after seeing the movie and I bought a book on Reiki. Around that same time, another friend mentioned that a local college was starting a massage therapy program. I went to an information session and decided to enroll. I really wanted to have a career where I was still working with the public and felt like I was truly helping people.

Q: How long have you been doing massage?

A: I graduated from school in December 2003 and started actively practicing in October of 2005. I've been practicing for over 10 years.

Q: What is your favorite thing about being an MT?

A: I think my favorite thing about being an LMT is the 'love' for my clients. I feel very blessed to have a thriving practice. I consider my clients to be an extended family. Many of my clients have been with me for several years (at least three of them since I came back to New Hampshire in 2007). We've celebrated weddings and births & mourned deaths and illnesses and so much more. And I love feeling like I am making even a small difference in their lives with their health and wellness.

Q: What do you feel is the most challenging issue for massage therapists?

A: As far as challenges, I personally struggle with the balance of setting boundaries, as far as hours go and wanting to help those in pain. I know what my body can handle and am working on keeping set days and need to respect that so that my clients respect that, too. I hate knowing that I may be able to help someone but cannot be at their beck and call.

Also, I think at first, we all want to practice all the modalities that we can and help EVERYONE. Reality is, I personally think, we should find a few that we really love to practice and learn as much as we can about those. And then have other MTs in your circle who you can refer to for other modalities. Better to be a jack of all trades than a master of none. AND be ok with not knowing everything/asking questions. Better to be honest.

Q: What advice would you give to other MT’s to help build their business?

A: The best advice that I can give is to learn and practice as much as you can and to get out there as soon as possible. I had some circumstances (and mental blocks) that kept me from practicing for almost two years. I'm thankful to have a thriving business now, but I can only imagine where I would be if I had the confidence to start sooner. Also, get out there and market yourself. When I worked as an office manager at a chiropractic office while building my business, I would tell all of the other practitioners that the BEST way they could build their business was to meet the patients. People like to match names with faces. They want to feel your energy. That is how I built my business. Many of my current regular clients, I met as patients. And know that not every client will be a good match. Some will come and go. Let them go to open yourself up to the ones who really need you.

It's Time To Kill These 4 Online Scheduling Myths

1. "I won't have control over my schedule."

A lot of therapists have this fear that they will lose control of their schedule, clients will suddenly dictate their life with too much access to their book, there will be too many appointments, too close together, and chaos will ensue!

Mary-Claire Fredette of Affinity Massage Studio in Cincinnati, Ohio says before she started using Bodywork Buddy, she was afraid that she would be at the grocery store buying ice cream when someone would schedule a massage. Her life would be ruined as the ice cream would melt info puddles as she massaged someone. It makes me laugh, but as a therapist myself, I can understand this concern!

Luckily Bodywork Buddy has some key features that would prevent this from being an issue.

• Your clients request an appointment online from the openings shown, and you can then accept or decline the appointment request. (So it's not an automatic confirmed appointment until you accept it.) You're sent an email to notify you of the request, and it will also show within your BWB account on the dashboard and the calendar.
• Stacked time slots versus interval time slots: BWB lets you choose how your openings are shown to clients. Do you want to show intervals of 10 minutes like 10:00, 10:10, 10:20 giving the client the most flexible options? (Interval options vary from 10-60 minutes.) Or only show them blocks of times like 10:00, 11:30, 1:00 giving YOU more control? It's up to you.
• In your settings, you can choose to show openings to clients online ranging from immediately to 4 days out. So if today is Monday and you have 4 days set in your settings, clients will not see any openings in your calendar until Friday.
• BWB's "optimized scheduling" feature is an optional setting to only allow clients to schedule appointments before or after an existing appointment, which helps to eliminate large gaps in your day. So if you have this setting selected, and you only have 1 client today at 5pm with the rest of the day open, any other clients looking to schedule online will only be able to select today at 3:30pm or 6:30pm (times may vary depending on your settings).  So at 10am you can buy your ice cream with no worries of it melting :)

2. "It will become a double-booking nightmare."

Do you worry that a client will schedule online at the same time that you're scheduling a client in the office?

Once a client requests an appointment online, it will show in your calendar in orange so you know it's been requested. That time slot will not show as open to other clients unless you decline that request.

When you're manually scheduling a client who is in your office or on the phone with you, it will instantly no longer be shown as an opening online.

Tristin Resinger of Akua Esthetics and Bodywork in Ann Arbor, Michigan says the owner at her previous job refused to get online scheduling out of fear of these kinds of mistakes happening, but Tristin points out that those mistakes seemed to happen a lot with a paper book. Having an electronic trail of each appointment can actually cut down on misunderstandings and human error. Within BWB, you can see a log of all emails sent to clients and 

even see if/when they've opened them.

3. "The online scheduler won't work."
Erin Howk of Therapeutic & Stress Reduction Massage in Fairmont, Minnesota says she had a fear that online scheduling wouldn't work and she'd have clients showing up that she didn't know were supposed to be there.

There's a few things within BWB that prevent this from happening. When a client requests an appointment online and you accept it, it turns into a confirmed appointment (in green) in the calendar and the client gets an email letting them know the appointment has been confirmed / accepted. 

The client will then get an email reminder shortly before their appointment (you can customize the how many hours before their appointment this is sent out in your settings.) If you have SMS services enabled and the client has opted in, they will also receive a text reminder.

If they don't have an appointment in the calendar, they will not get these confirmations and reminders.

4. "Nobody will use online scheduling and I'll still have to answer the phone and pay for a useless service."

While some clients might take some time getting used to scheduling online, the majority of clients today want the convenience of online scheduling. Not only scheduling online, but from their phones and tablets! Studies have shown that mobile use has skyrocketed in recent years. Offering online scheduling that is mobile friendly will cut down on phone tag and make scheduling an appointment with you a breeze.

I can't promise that you'll never have to answer the phone again, but it can make your life easier and save you time.

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

How To Email Receipts To Massage Clients

Bodywork Buddy makes it easy to send receipts to your massage clients!


First, you'll want to make sure you have your email services enabled in your settings.

Make sure you have an email address on file for your clients.

After their appointment, click into the green confirmed appointment in the calendar, and choose "complete appointment (create session)" from the popup window.

From within the session record, you can record payment info and other details including SOAP notes, etc.
After you've filled out the details you want to record for the session, click "email receipt" along the top in orange.

A popup window will ask if you're sure, click the green "email receipt" button.

And it's done! Total time to email receipt to a client: 2 seconds.


Want to see how Bodywork Buddy can make your life easier? Signup now for our free 15 day trial and get started in 2016 on the right foot - organized and saving time!

Here's what one of our recent members has to say about our service:
"I am ever grateful for the high quality and super fast help I receive from this company!! Top notch all the way!"
Thanks, Virginia! We love working with massage therapists.
Read what other members have to say about Bodywork Buddy.

Hope you're having a terrific start to the new year. Wishing you many happy clients as well as some table time for yourself in 2016.

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

*NEW FEATURE* Show All Testimonials On Microsite

We've had many members ask us to add the ability to show all testimonials in addition to the 3 random reviews shown on the microsite... so we've added it!

Now you will see a link "read all reviews" under the 3 random reviews on the microsite. The link will open up to a full page of all testimonials that have been left for you by clients.

Member Spotlight: Justin Wellman

Today's Bodywork Buddy member spotlight is Justin Wellman of Hadley, Massachusetts. 

Q: What inspired you to be a massage therapist?

A:While putting myself through college, I had taken a job a local boot factory. I was working in the order fulfillment center. One day during a shift, a forklift operator backed into a six-tier stocking shelf, tipping it over onto me and pinning me down against a conveyor belt. The injury caused a four vertebrae bulge in my thoracic spine—and without the care of a massage therapist and chiropractor I might still be suffering from the injury. Their care set me on the path to receiving regular massage care and ultimately opening my interest into the field.

Q: How long have you been doing massage?

A: I am recent graduate of Massage School and have been practicing for about 9 months.

Q: What is your favorite thing about being an MT?

A: I work with quite a number of athletes in my private practice. I am a CrossFit athlete myself, and treat a number of other CrossFit athletes. When I see one of my clients pushing through their last Personal Record (PR) to set a new one it always makes me smile knowing that I've had a role in their continued improvement. I especially enjoy the delight on their faces when we have a breakthrough in their treatments that improve range of motion, or decrease tension and tightness, or maybe just give them that moment of total relaxation. It makes the difficult work of treating heavily muscled athletes worth every bit of effort. Helping them improve their game is such a rewarding feeling to me.

Q: What do you feel is the most challenging issue for massage therapists?

A: The stigma that still lingers once in a while in peoples impression of the industry. As a male massage therapist, the most challenging part is lingering societal "norms". Its unfortunate that we live in a culture where women fear for their safety and where men feel uncomfortable being worked on by a male therapist. This is something that those in this profession must be hyper-aware of and vigilant to change the paradigm. I always find it interesting when its assumed that because a therapist is a male they must give deep/painful pressure, or that a female is the only one to give a gentle relaxation massage. Some of the deepest pressure I've ever received was from female MT's and my personal MT (male) gives wonderfully relaxing massages. In my private practice I embrace a body positive, queer supportive, safe, and professional environment for all my clients.

Q: What advice would you give to other MT’s to help build their business?

A: It takes time. You will not grow your entire business overnight, or in the first week/month/year. Be patient. 80% of your first year will be spent on marketing yourself. You are the brand, and you have to treat yourself like a brand. Representation is vital. Word of mouth will always be the most effective means to grow your business. A recommendation from one of your clients is more lasting and impacting than an add, or coupon. Treat your clients well and they will tell their family and friends. Be willing to try everything. Be willing to take CE classes even if you don't need CE credits. The more you know the better you are able to serve your clients. Never lose your hunger to improve yourself and your practice. Be professional, and perfect your draping!