Finding The Clients You Want In Your Masage Therapy Business

When starting Massage Therapy I did the same thing as everyone else did. I put up some flyers (everywhere) and hoped people would be impressed by what massage therapy qualifications I had and call me for a massage treatment.

How blind I was.

Little did I know that was actually costing me valuable time and money....why? Its simple; I did not identify my target market. You've probably heard me talk about this before, but I want to explain a little bit more about it.

You see a common misunderstanding a massage therapist might have is that just because massage therapy is good for everyone, then everyone will come to have massage.

Wrong!

The reality is so far removed from this. The reality is that not everyone will come to you for massage therapy. In fact some people even do not like massage therapy. (Can you imagine not liking massage?) Some people can't stand being touched by a stranger, let alone removing clothing for them. On the other side of the fence, some people can't get enough of massage therapy in general and will pay what ever you ask and will refer you their friends and family, AND come to you for a long time.

The latter group are the ones you should be marketing to for your massage therapy business. Thats easy to say right? The big question is how to find these people who will want to come to you for massage. The key is not only finding people who want massage, but who want YOUR massage. So how do we start such an endeavour?

Okay relax. Its not as hard as you think. You can never be guaranteed of anything in life, lets get that clear. One thing you can do is increase your chances of success, which is what this game is all about.

To increase your chance of success in massage therapy as a sole practitioner in business by themselves is to understand what type of client you have already. You see by doing that you will get a good idea of what type of person actually comes to you. Once you have a profile of this person you can work to increase at getting more like this type of person. Once you have done this then have a look at where these current clients have already come from. Then you can one of two things:

1. You can market yourself to the places that these people heard about you and,

2. You can find out where more of these people are and market to that source.

Okay, doesn't sound too hard does it? It's not, in theory. Its the application of going through all your client records and marketing that takes the energy and time. However I want you to think of it this way. This practice of finding out about your massage therapy clients is an investment. Its powerful because this information is in your very own practise already. You don't have to go outside your own massage business to find out. You dont have to pay anyone to find out; you've got all the information there in front of you already. Its just a matter of sorting out what you need.

Once you have sorted this information out you can then start designing the marketing that massage therapy clients are attracted to by using the right words, images and messages. From this point you can integrate some really dynamic marketing into your target market. So get started!

My best to you,

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What is Massage Therapy?

Any method of pressure on or friction against, or stroking, kneading, rubbing, tapping, pounding, vibrating or stimulating of the external soft parts of the body with the hands or with aid of any mechanical electrical apparatus or appliances with or without rubbing alcohol, liniments, antiseptics, oils, powder, creams, lotions, ointments or other similar preparations used in this practice, under such circumstances that it is reasonably expected that the person to whom treatment is provided ...
Massage is the practice of applying pressure or vibration to the soft tissues of the body, including muscles, connective tissue, tendons, ligaments, and joints. A form of therapy, massage can be applied to parts of the body or successively to the whole body, to heal injury, relieve psychological stress, manage pain, improve circulation and relieve tension.
The manipulation of skin, muscle, and joints (usually by hand) to relax muscle spasm, relieve tension, improve circulation, and eliminate wastes. Over 80 types of massage are in use today. Various forms include: acupressure, athletic, polarity, reflexology, rolfing, shiatsu, sports, Swedish, traeger, and watsu.