www.thebodyworker.com

My latest website survey is really interesting.
People want a website but they don’t want to spend money to get one. People who have websites don’t get new clients from them and don’t think they can do any better. One person had a website and didn’t need to get any clients because he was already booked solid. It wasn’t his website but he is what makes his practice happen.

Spending money on a website is really not about the website either. It is about your issues around money. I just find it interesting that people do not to spend money on something that can make money for them. SBI is only around $25 per month. All you need is one new client a month to make that. And if you get one client who is a regular it basically pays for itself and all of the other clients that you get and all of the money you can make on affiliate programs and adsense and such is just a bonus.

The real beauty of SBI is that it isn’t just a website. It is a success system. It is a business building system. It takes you through every aspect of the process and makes you take a deep look at yourself and what you want. What are you most passionate about? What drives you? What makes you jump out of bed in the morning? Following your passion is what SBI is all about. It doesn’t have to be about massage. What hobbies or crafts do you participate in? What things do you think about and talk about regularly that you just can’t shut up about? Take these ideas and use SBI to make them come to life.

Take a look at the case studies and the results that others are getting.

If you just can’t get going and take the steps yourself, you can hire me to help you.

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I am sure you have noticed an increase in the number of advertisements on my websites www.thebodyworker.com, www.massagepracticebuilder.com and www.massagetherapycareers.com.

This is the way that all of this information and 8 years of writing can be online here for Free for all to view and use. The advertisements are pay per click programs that pays me when someone clicks on the ads.

You can do this too on your site and make additional income with the ads. I don’t recommend putting them on pages that you are trying to get people to call you and make an appointment for a massage. The ads take the visitors away from your site. But on the other hand they may be going already so you may as well make some money from them leaving.

The latest ads I am testing are Kontera contextual ads. They seem to be working to supplement my income nicely.

I have been thinking about creating a members only section where people could pay a small monthly or yearly fee and get access to all of this info without the ads.

Anyone getting sick of all the ads? If so would you be willing to pay for all of this information that I have made available for free since 1999?

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One of the major misconceptions about massage licensing is that people think that the National Certification Exam will allow them to practice in any state that they want.  There is also confusion over what you are actually being certified for.

Certification in massage is not necessarily what you need to be a successful and competent massage therapist nor is it the same as licensing.

The NCE is a test that is given by The National Certification Board for Therapeutic Massage and Bodywork (NCBTMB) and many states require that you take the test in order to get your massage therapy license.   The states may also require that you take a different number of hours of education than the NCE requires.  You have to check each states licensing requirements and fullfill those requirements.

I am also looking into the facts regarding this as the NCBTMB also requires that you recertify every so often but it is not necessary to do that to maintain you license.  Many often find the certification a waste of money and they do not renew their certification.  I for one have never been asked in 18 years of practice if I was certified and I was only challenged on my license once and that was recently by a woman who appeared to be “off her meds”.

I have some personal biases against national certification mainly from the process of it’s creation that I witnessed early in my career.

There is a new agency being formed called the Federation of Massage Therapy Boards is in the process of anaylzing a survey they did on the profession and some of the early results show that most want some form of licensing but they don’t want different levels of certification or licensing.

I think people think we need to be licensed because they are buying into the fear being created by the NCE and different states.  While most may think that it is necessary, there is no proof that it is necessary.  Most are reacting thinking that it will mean that just anyone can go and hang out a shingle and practice massage.  I see this more from people who have had advanced training and while I am not sure if it is due to their wanting to protect their status and legitimize having spent so much money for all of the continuing education or if it is truly something that is needed.

Even in licensed states there are people who are trying to practice without a license and they are being reported and prosecuted.  Does that really mean that they are not qualified to do massage?  Did they learn on their own?  Who would just go and do massage on a whim without any experience or training -even if it was just from a book or video?  I guess they are out there, but I would also guess if they weren’t any good that they wouldn’t be able to build or stay in business.

I don’t know where I am going  with this but am just rambling…Where is the licensing and legislation debate going to lead the profession?  What is happening to the art of massage?  If massage has been around for the hundreds and even thousands of years that the history shows- why now do we need licensing all of a sudden?

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One of the things I hear quite often from people about marketing their practice through a website is something like “I’ll get around to it someday” or “I don’t know when I will get around to it”. I also get emails from people telling me how afraid they are to start their business and they want me to tell them what to do in an email.

When will that be? Will you get around to it? Sometime before you go out of business?

It is hard not to start complaining about not having enough time to do something that is essential to your success. You can either sit around complaining , wishing for clients and crying about not having any clients or you can do something about it. You can either sit around focusing on what you don’t want through all the complaining or you can start thinking about what it is that you do want and start wondering how you are going to get it.

If you are afraid to start your massage business and if you think you won’t be able to do it and be successful - you probably won’t do it and you won’t be successful. Whatever you think is what you will get.

If you get feedback from someone like a partner saying we need to face reality - what is reality exactly? There is no reality really- only people’s perspectives which are based on beliefs. Two people can look at the same thing and see different things. It is the old is the cup half empty or half full view of the world.

One of the ways to face the challenge of different perspectives is to say “thank you for your feedback” and continue on your way. Oprah had a show on yesterday on just this topic. There was a woman who is a songwriter who is the most successful songwriter of all time who was told by her mother at an early age that she should get a job as a secretary. Another guy loved making pottery and was told by his college teacher that he didn’t have any talent for it and couldn’t make a career out of pottery and of course today he is very successful.

Who is out there crushing your dreams with their perspective?

Joining others who have similar challenges as you are facing is one way to help yourself out. I have an online discussion group and there are also many others out there and you can also create your own or gather your friends from massage school to form your own.

So if you are ready to start your website and start taking a look at what you do and what you want to say to your potential clients and clients -today is the day to order your Sitebuildit! website. I have to warn you though - it isn’t for everyone. It is only for people who are serious about building their business and are serious about taking a good look at themselves. It isn’t easy and it doesn’t happen over night. It will take some time for you to get really clear about what it is that you want so that you can write it in a website. The Sitebuildit system while it is simple it is time consuming.

You can read the whole action guide to see what you are getting into. There also is a great Ebook they have that is called the Service Sellers Masters Course which is geared toward selling a service such as massage.

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I am in the process of making an online survey for massage schools to fill out and provide information about their school for readers.

What do you want to know about becoming a massage therapist?

What do you want to know about the massage schools you are considering?

What do you want to know about changing careers?

What are massage schools telling you when you ask them what your future will be like?

What are massage schools telling you when you just call asking for a catalog or brochure about their school? Do they give you any real information so that you can start comparing their programs to other programs?

What do they tell you about how much you will/can make as a massage therapist?

I will also be making the largest online school directory that allows you to review your school and the results will be posted for others to see! I will have to be careful and rule out any spammers or irate posters or even raving posters by asking for an email address.

Stay tuned…

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