Insider tips for a great massage business
Devon Collier is a massage teacher specialising in deep tissue, hands-free training for beginners and existing therapists. Her business is Lake District School of Massage based in Ambleside, and her courses include guidance on getting set up and succeeding in business. In this article she shares some of her favourite tips for massage therapists who want to earn more.
When I started out as a self-employed massage therapist, I was excited by the prospect of earning cash by doing something I really enjoyed, and something which truly helped my clients. It is fun stepping away from having a boss and making money on your own terms, it feels exciting and empowering. But in order to sustain your work as a therapist, some essential business skills are required. And my business know-how was very basic at first. My initial tactic was to price my treatments lower than other massage therapists in the local area in order to increase the number of bookings I got. I had made myself into the Aldi of the massage world! This cut-price method did attract a decent amount of interest at first, but not much money overall, because as you know, there are a lot of outgoings involved in providing your services including training, insurance, materials and promotion. But for a short time when I started out, I was proud of being ‘affordable’. It was even written on my business card! Being ‘affordable’ is never the best-selling point for someone as dedicated and caring as you. You are not a supermarket which has sales, you are a highly trained individual who puts all your energy and time into your healing skills, so never discount what you do. Discounts literally devalue your work and everything that you put into it. Instead, in your marketing focus on what the client is getting by explaining how they will feel better after your treatments. To do this, imagine your main type of client’s pain points (whether physical or emotional) and describe them. Then explain how you can help them to reduce these. When a potential client recognises how they feel from your words, they begin to trust that you understand them, and become motivated to get in touch.
Being crystal clear on who your services are for and how they benefit your clients is key in marketing. On your website, this should be at the very top of the homepage. It is quite common for massage and other holistic practitioners to have their ‘About me’ section at the forefront of their website. Of course, a potential client might be interested in finding out about you, but the first thing they need to see when looking at your site or Instagram bio is who you help and how you help them, or how will they know if you are for them? To reinforce your message, you can use written and video testimonials as evidence of how you help your clients, so always ask for reviews. The more excellent reviews you have, the more bookings you get, and the more clients you can positively impact.
As well as clear marketing messages and obtaining reviews, another way to get more bookings is to have an online appointment system where clients can simply choose a date and time and pay in advance. I was hesitant to use such a system for a long time, because I thought it would limit my free time. When in fact it increased it, because you can simply block the times and days you prefer to work, then clients choose from these. The result is that your free days became pure and work-free without the worry that someone would want an appointment at an inconvenient time. This type of work-life balance boundary is essential for self care. In addition to the feeling of freedom gained from having an automated booking system, the need for clients to message you to arrange an appointment, and the subsequent onslaught of messages to find a mutually beneficial appointment time is removed! As well as this, some systems allow you to automatically send a consultation form to your client in advance; another nifty way to save time. Lastly, booking systems can help prevent dodgy people from booking in. Let’s face facts, it’s not nice to think that someone could book in who wants more than you can give, and you might think that an online system would make it easy for them to do so. However, having to pay online in advance can put off people with wrongful intentions because they prefer to avoid a ‘paper trail’: having their payment details and address stored on the system. Plus, you can list your policies and set it so that they have to sign to agree to them.
If I could sum up my favourite business tips for massage and other holistic therapists, they would be to price yourself well, to use Google a bit like social media by adding pictures and reviews to it often, to get an online booking system, and last but not least, to rebook your clients straight after their appointment with you by discussing the goals for their next session and when that should be. To get into this rebooking mindset, consider yourself to be like a dentist or chiropractor; a highly trained professional who needs to see their clients regularly to help maintain their wellbeing.
Your business goals are ultimately to help more people and to create more income for yourself. Abundance breeds abundance, so instead of pricing your treatments competitively, think of earning more for yourself so that you look after yourself and can go on holiday more! The better you feel and the more energy you have, the more you can help people.
You can contact Devon if you would like to ask about any of the tips mentioned, or if you would like guidance on making your therapy business sustainable, you can take a look at her Grow Your Massage Business guide.
Email Devon: devon@lakedistrictschoolofmassage.co.uk
Website: https://www.lakedistrictschoolofmassage.co.uk/
Telephone: Freephone: 0800 086 2644