10 Secret Weapons Every Massage Room Needs

If you're a seasoned MT, you've probably already realized the importance of these things... and I'm willing to bet 90% of this list is in your massage room.
That realization no doubt came from experience of not having these things and NEEDING them!

So, here's a little list for newer massage therapists.  These secret essentials will really come in handy.

Nualpradid / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

1. Cough drops or water.
   If ever you get a tickle in your throat and have a coughing fit...know it will happen in the middle of a massage.  Probably with a new client.
   (Plus, your client may need a cough drop at some point as well.)
2. Aromatic essential oils.
   Particularly helpful if you get cases of stinky feet.  Hey, it's an occupation hazard - it happens!
   Eucalyptus & Peppermint are favorites for sinuses as well.
3. Aromatic essential oils in a spray bottle.  Or air freshener spray bottles.
   For other cases of unpleasant odors...
4. Hand sanitizer.
   Great to use after you've massage the feet before moving to other body parts, or throughout the massage.  Also, handy to share with your client if they need to blow their nose while on the table.  Seriously, you just never know when you will need this - so have it!
5. Kleenex.
   This is just as much for you as it is for your clients.
6. Hot towels or saniwipes.
   See #2.  I've also had clients come in sweaty from the heat outside or from rushing - and they requested a hot towel to wipe off their face, etc. before their massage. So these are nice to have available if needed.
7. A fan.
   Working in a massage room that is like an oven is no fun.  Have a fan aimed up high so it blows on you but not your client.
8. Hair ties.
   For you and your clients.
9. Hand towels or washcloths for your use.
10. High protein snacks to refuel during your work day.

What other secret weapons do you have in your massage room?

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 of 13 years, and has been an associate instructor for Ashiatsu Oriental Bar Therapy since 2007.  www.BodyworkBuddy.com

How To Burn Out in 7 Years ... or Less!

A post last week from Massage Table Outlet about the importance of self-care for massage therapists has inspired me to write this post.  Unfortunately, it's a topic that I feel doesn't get enough emphasis in our field.

- Massage Table Outlet

Therapists often don't realize the importance until it's too late!  So while my list here is playful, please take care of yourself and take this information to ♥

How to Burn Out in 7 Years... or Less!

Master isolated images / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

• Do as many massages a day as humanly possible.
• Only schedule enough time in between clients to change the linens on the table.
• Fuel up on gummi bears and Mt. Dew during your work day.
• Forget everything you ever learned about proper body mechanics.
• Use your thumbs AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE in your work.
• Consider doing massage as your daily requirement for "exercise" and never do anything additional for your body.
• Try to work 7 or 8 days a week.
• Don't stretch - this is for sissies.
• Say YES to everything and everyone - especially clients.
• Never learn any new techniques. Stick to the exact same work you've been doing since massage school so you're sure to be bored out of your mind.
• Play the same massage music every day... for years.
• Charge just enough to feed yourself and possible not make your mortgage or rent payment each month.
• Take on all of your client's emotional and physical baggage yourself - make yourself a martyr.
• Give all of yourself all the time to every one....except yourself.
• Don't learn to work with any kind of tools.
• Spend your off time doing hands-heavy hobbies like playing piano, gardening, kneading dough, etc.
• And last but not least:
  Never receive any bodywork yourself!

Do you have other tips to add on how to quickly burnout as an MT?  Comment below - I'd love to hear your thoughts!

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 of 13 years, and has been an associate instructor for Ashiatsu Oriental Bar Therapy since 2007.  www.BodyworkBuddy.com

How to Create a Free Commercial for Your Massage Website

Have you ever heard of Animoto?   It's a cool little site where you can take video clips and pictures - add text & music - to create a free 30 second video.

It's a great tool to create a commercial about your massage practice to add to your website.  It's fairly simple - after creating an account and logging in, you can choose your pictures from several different sources including your Facebook account.  Add any text you want and choose music to go with your video... and Animoto then does the rest.

Here are some tips to create an awesome commercial:

• Keep it short.  You can purchase a longer video, but 30 second videos are free... and really, 30 seconds is the perfect length for a commercial.  You want to entice people, not bore them with a long video.
• Animoto has a very large library of music to choose from... however, in my opinion, not much of it goes nicely with massage therapy.  I'd recommend uploading your own music.  Keep in mind that there may be some legalities to uploading just any music... To be on the safe side, I recommend using music from ASOMAssage*.  (ASOMAssage is a music membership site with royalty free massage music - only $9.95/month membership gets you 6 hours of downloadable music each month! It's a great service, despite their use of that talking popup that I just advised against in last week's post...)
  The music in the video below is a sampling of the beautiful massage music you get with a membership.  If you're a member of ASOMAssage and would like to use some of their music for your videos, please contact them for details.
• Use pictures of yourself - not other therapists.  Trade with a photographer to get some nice, professional photos.
• Remember to put your website address and phone number in the video. Direct clients to schedule online if you offer that service.
• Post your video on your website and Facebook page.

Here's a little example of what you can do -

Have you made your own commercial with Animoto?  Post a link here so we can check it out!

*I am an affiliate with Asomassage, which means I will receive a referral commission if you signup for this service.  However, this commission does not influence the information I provide in this blog nor does it mean that you will pay more if you buy through my links.  I always provide honest opinions and reviews to share my findings, beliefs and experiences.

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 of 13 years, and has been an associate instructor for Ashiatsu Oriental Bar Therapy since 2007.  www.BodyworkBuddy.com

When Good Websites Go Bad / Part 2

A couple of weeks ago, I posted the first half of When Good Websites Go Bad.
So, how can we fix these common website mistakes?

Each page is a "wall of text".  Especially the home page.
There's so much text that after one glance, visitors are instantly overwhelmed and don't bother reading any of it.

• Break up your content into relevant pages.  You don't need to show all of your information on the home page.  Your content is actually more likely to be read if you have it organized in appropriate ways.  Break up remaining content into paragraphs.  Add images in as well as spacing between paragraphs to help set apart the content.  Take a look at the final formatting... would you sit down and read through all of this if it were on someone else's website? 

healingdream / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

There are no pictures or anything visually pleasing.

• Use images to help tell your story.  Pictures of yourself are great - clients will love to see YOU giving a massage, etc.  (High quality pictures are best).  Find a photographer to trade with to get some nice, professional pictures to use on your site.

No luck with high quality pics of yourself?  Use stock images.  There are several sites that provide stock images for your use - you simply need to give credit to the site and photographer.  Freedigitalphotos.net is an example.

Notice the photo to the left?  And the link below it that gives credit to Free Digital Photos and the artist.
Or, if you are a member of ABMP, they have a beautiful library of royalty free images for your use.  (Login to the member area of their website and hover over Marketing Center, click Photo Library.)  Again, remember to give credit to ABMP.

Stolen pictures or content from other sites.

• NOT COOL.  DON'T DO THIS.

Not only someone else's pictures, they're hot-linked.  Don't think this will go unnoticed.

• NOT COOL.  DON'T DO THIS.
  Keep in mind that this image is not controlled by you.  The person hosting the image will notice you're hot-linked, and may choose to teach you a lesson by changing the image.

No call to action to visitors.

• A call to action is a banner, button, or some type of graphic or text on a website meant to prompt a user to click through to convert them from a visitor to a client.  What do you want your clients to do when visiting your site?  Make an appointment, right?  Have a clear and precise way for them to do that.
  
  

50 different fonts.  And font sizes.  And colors.

• Keep it simple.  A uniform look and feel is best.  If you're trying to draw attention to a certain area, there are more effective ways to do it than to get crazy with the fonts, colors, and sizes.

Talking flash graphics, pop-ups, or the windows that pop-up behind the browser.  Or pop-ups that prevent visitors from leaving the site.

• Don't you hate these things on other people's websites?  Then WHY would you put one on yours???

Same content and look since 2008.  The site is never updated.

• There are many reasons to have fresh content on your site.  For one, it helps with search engine optimization.  But it also shows your site visitors that you are still here... give them something new so they come back to your site frequently.  Your site is not just a static business card - it's an interactive experience.
  
  Have a blog with tips for self-care for your clients in between massage appointments.  Change the look or content according to the season.  If you have a Facebook business page or a Twitter account, link those to your site so your clients can see your daily updates.  (Don't use a personal FB or Twitter account.)  If you post frequently, I would recommend you keep the FB or Twitter feed to the last 3 or 5 posts so as not to fill the whole page with updates.
  
  Don't have time to blog or add fresh content to your site?  Daily Om is a great site that publishes articles that could be of interest to your clientele.  You can easily add it to your website, so you will get a constant stream of fresh content to your site - while you are massaging!

Following these simple rules will keep your website professional and effective.  What other ways do you like to keep your website fresh?

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 of 13 years, and has been an associate instructor for Ashiatsu Oriental Bar Therapy since 2007.  www.BodyworkBuddy.com

10 Minute Tasks to Drive Your Massage Business Forward

You're busy.  I get that.

You may think you don't have time to do marketing or other things to help your business.  But here's a list of things you can do to help your business - and can each be done in less than 10 minutes.

Do you have 10 minutes today to work on building your massage business?  Let's get started!

• Send out a postcard to clients you haven't seen in more than 3 months.
• Email this week's openings to clients and offer a
  discount if they schedule an appointment now.
  (or don't offer a discount... but DO contact your clients with openings!)
• Write a quick article on self-care or benefits of massage for your clients.  Post to your blog or website, or include it in your next newsletter.
• Send a postcard with a special offer to clients with birthdays this month, or just a card wishing them a happy birthday.
• Send hand written cards thanking clients who have referred people to you.
• Call a local chiropractor or other complimentary business and schedule a meeting to discuss how you can help each other.
• Choose one of the business or marketing articles in massage magazines or blogs and decide to implement one idea from the article.
• Change your voicemail and content on your website to reflect the season so it has a fresh feel to it.

Take 10 minutes a day and work your way through this list.  In just over a week, you will have done a lot to move your massage business forward.

Do you have other 10-minute suggestions to help your massage business?  Add them to the list by commenting below.

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

Benefits of Online Scheduling

Visit Bodywork Buddy for a free trial of online scheduling.

As a follow up to this article I wrote for massagemag.com about online scheduling, I'd like to hear about your experiences with this technology.

• How has it helped your massage business?
• What other benefits have you noticed with offering this convenience to your clients?
• What creative ways have you used your online scheduling to generate referrals or gain new clients?
• What would you tell other therapists who are hesitant to offer their clients online scheduling?

If you don't yet offer online scheduling, I'd love to hear why not and we can discuss those concerns in another post.

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 of 13 years, and has been an associate instructor for Ashiatsu Oriental Bar Therapy since 2007.  www.BodyworkBuddy.com

Promote Yourself for Mother's Day

Mother's Day is only a couple of weeks away...  but it's not too late to ramp up some marketing for your massage business!

Here's a great idea from Essential Massage Therapy:

They sent out an e-newsletter to all of their clients that included this Mother's Day Contest.

Enter to Win!

Visit our facebook page and post on our wall a Mom/Daughter or Mom/Son picture telling us why Mother's Day is special to you. Share with your friends and have them vote by commenting on your photo "I vote for you". The 2 Fans with the most votes will each win a ONE HOUR MASSAGE! All photos and votes must be posted by midnight, Wednesday, May 9th. We are looking forward to seeing all of your submissions! 

This contest is a great way to get more LOCAL Likes to your Facebook page - friends of your clients will be stopping by to vote.  These could be potential new clients!  Everyone will be tuning in to see who wins... you could also use this as a chance to remind everyone that Mom will love a gift certificate (if they don't happen to be the winner of the free massage!).  Essential Massage Therapy has a listing of Mom's Day Massage Packages just to the left of this contest on their newsletter - brilliant!

*Thanks to Essential Massage Therapy for letting me share this great idea.

Do you have another creative marketing idea for Mother's Day?  Comment here what has worked for you in the past, or what you're trying different this year.

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 of 13 years, and has been an associate instructor for Ashiatsu Oriental Bar Therapy since 2007.  www.BodyworkBuddy.com