June 19th, 2007 Julie Onofrio
The wealthy massage therapist will understand that they have to be proactive in seeking clients. This can be done in many ways but an easy way to stay connected to your clients and get referrals from them is to create a client newsletter.
If you are like most massage therapists, you probably have an aversion to writing about what you do. It is important to start understanding that it really has nothing to do with being a sales person. What writing a newsletter can do for your business is allow you to create more informed clients. Many people do not have a clue about the extent of diseases and conditions that massage can help with. It is an opportunity to educate your current clients and potential clients about you and what you do and what you believe. That takes most of the effort out of trying to get clients. Your clients and potential clients can make a decision based on information that you give them in your newsletter.
There are many resources to help you write and create your newsletter. You can hire services that create newsletters or write your own without actually having to write much yourself.
ABMP offers newsletters with membership in their association. You can log in to their members only section and go through some articles and select the ones you want and create your own newsletter each month.
They also have a great article online at their website www.massagetherapy.com that talks more about doing newsletters.
There are also other newsletter services that I haven’t tried myself but you can explore them for yourself: Bodyworkbiz.com, the massage newsletter- Stayingintouch.com.
Another way to go is to send a e-newsletter from your website. Sitebuildit! has a built in newsletter function that allows you to collect and manage newsletters without much work. You can create a template or create a fresh design every time. It keeps track of how many people have subscribed and unsubscribed and it tells you how many people have opened the email to read it (or do whatever people do with it). If you are at a loss for what to write about you can learn to start writing about yourself (which is nothing more than just talking about yourself and putting it in writing) or find free articles online from one of the many resources.
Here are some of the top ezine directories listed at wilsonweb.com.
with the top one being ezinearticle.com. You can use any of these articles as long as you agree to their terms of service and use the full article signature with who wrote it etc.
I am also a writer at ezinearticles.com and have plans of writing some articles specifically for massage therapists to use in newsletters, but I just haven’t had the time yet. If you decide to start writing your own you may want to consider sharing them with others and including a link to your website. This is also a great way to get traffic to your site and attract search engines. SE’s love to see links to your site.
So if you haven’t started a newsletter yet for your clients, why not do it today?
Posted in Starting Your Practice, Websites for Massage therapists | No Comments »
June 18th, 2007 Julie Onofrio
Mikelann Valterra in her book “Why women earn less” says that “underearners seem to subconsciously find a way for the world not to pay them enough.”
Exploring these subconscious beliefs will do more for your income than any marketing or advertising program. The reasons why massage therapists tend to struggle with finances are complex and not easy to uncover.
Valterra explores some of the possible reasons in her book.
Noble poverty- the idea that being poor or sacrificing one’s self is more noble than having the money you need to take care of yourself”
Waiting to be Rescued - thinking that someone (Prince Charming) or other figure will rescue you and get you out of this bind.
How underearning serves you is by keeping you locked in these beliefs. It keeps you from taking responsibility. It keeps you from having to take the action that you need to get the clients that you want. It keeps you feeling comfortable.Everything that you have in your life is inside your comfort zone. Everything you desire is out side of your comfort zone otherwise you would have it. Going after something outside your comfort zone requires that you take small steps and build the self confidence you need to take the leap to going outside of your comfort zone.
By not making what you need to make, you don’t have to take any risks. You won’t have to give up anything or face any of your fears. Many would rather give up parts of themselves in order not to go after what they want. This self sacrificing behavior is common among massage therpists (and many people especially women). It is a way to get back at people who did not meet your needs -namely parents, family and teachers.
If you don’t make enough money, you can’t pursue the things you would like to do. You won’t have the money to take care of your needs let alone anything that you desire.
Valterra goes on to say that the way out of this is to get in touch with your emotions. The feelings that go along with such behaviors are grief of never having gotten what you needed at an early age and the anger, shame and blame that go along with that.
Posted in Peer Supervision, Recommended Reading, The Wealthy Massage Therapist | No Comments »
June 18th, 2007 Julie Onofrio
One of the issues that we are faced with as massage professionals is lack of a clear definintion of just what constitues massage, massage therapy and bodywork.
As I am researching the definitions that are created by the various states, there is a wide range of descriptions and scope of practice regulations included in the definintions.
One of the things that also concerns me is that most laws are based on using Swedish Massage as the core of a massage students training and uses it for testing purposes. How did we ever come to the conclusion that swedish massage is needed to become a massage therapist? Do people who learn cranio-sacral massage , structural integration, Breema, The Rosen method, Hakomi therapy, acupressure, shiatsu, aromatherapy, Bowen therapy or any of the hundreds of different types of massage really need to learn Swedish Massage and effleurage and petrissage?
Here are some of the various definitions for various states:
NY State: “Definition of practice of massage therapy.
The practice of the profession of massage therapy is defined as engaging in applying a scientific system of activity to the muscular structure of the human body by means of stroking, kneading, tapping and vibrating with the hands or vibrators for the purpose of improving muscle tone and circulation.”
OHIO : “Massage therapy is limited to the treatment of disorders of the human body by the
manipulation of soft tissue through the systematic external application of massage
techniques including touch, stroking, friction, vibration, percussion, kneading,
stretching, compression, and passive joint movements within the normal
physiologic range of motion; and adjunctive thereto, the external application of
water, heat, cold, topical preparations, and mechanical devices.
A practitioner of massage therapist may treat temporomandibular joint
dysfunction provided that the patient has been directly referred in writing for such
treatment to the practitioner of massage therapist by a physician currently licensed
pursuant to Chapter 4731. of the Revised Code, by a chiropractor currently licensed
pursuant to Chapter 4734. of the Revised Code. or a dentist currently licensed
pursuant to Chapter 4715. of the Revised Code.
New Mexico: ““Massage therapy†means the assessment and treatment of soft tissues and their dysfunctions for therapeutic purposes primarily for comfort and relief of pain. It is a health care service that includes gliding, kneading, percussion, compression, vibration, friction, nerve strokes, stretching the tissue and exercising the range of motion, and may include the use of oils, salt glows, hot or cold packs or hydrotherapy. Synonymous terms for massage therapy include massage, therapeutic massage, body massage, myomassage, bodywork, body rub or any derivation of those terms. Massage therapy is the deformation of soft tissues from more than one anatomical point by manual or mechanical means to accomplish homeostasis and/or pain relief in the tissues being deformed, as defined in the Massage Therapy Practice Act, NMSA 1978, Section 61-12C-3.E.”
With such a wide range of definitions no wonder massage is still not widely accepted as a health care profession.
The other reason why we need to define the massage profession is because if we don’t, someone else will. And it is already happening here in WA State with the definition of medical massage being defined by insurance companies with the creation of a medical massage therapist credentialling by one insurance company here.
How can we create a defininion that allows all types of massage and touch therapies to practice what they want to practice? How do we create standards of practice for all of these various therapies that are acceptable to the political arenas demand for protecting the public (which does not really apply to our profession since there hasn’t been proof of harm - but that is a whole other post!)
Do you know how massage is definined in your state and how does this affect what you do and how you practice massage? Are you allowed to do treatment massage? Are various disciplines exempt like Reiki, Structural Integration or Reflexology? Are there confusing issues such as in OH where one therapist said that “If someone has been diagnosed with TMJ, you can only work in their mouth if they are referred by a doctor or dentist. If they haven’t been diagnosed with it, or do not disclose it, you can work away without any legal repercussions - just make sure you document intake and ask if they have TMJ.”
And is states without licensing - Does not having a licensing requirement affect your ability or right to work with clients in any way? Are you able to bill auto insurance companies?
As I ask these questions what I am finding is that most do not even know what their laws require of them nor have they ever questioned them which really makes me wonder what is going on out there in this profession. We want massage to be accepted by the public but keep our heads in the sand and don’t participate unless it directly affects our own practice.
Just some thoughts to hopefully get you thinking about what it is that you want for the massage profession and yourself.
Posted in Licensing and Legislation | No Comments »
June 15th, 2007 Julie Onofrio
A few new tidbits of information on massage licensing and scope of practice in Ohio is now online at www.massagetherapycareers.com.
Voice your view of Ohio massage licensing and legislation issues here.
Posted in News | No Comments »
June 13th, 2007 Julie Onofrio
The wealthy massage therapist values themselves and their work and charges what they need to make a GREAT Living.
This is one of the things Suze Orman talks about in her latest book “Women and Money” but it could really be called “massage therapists and money”. She really says directly what I have been beating around the bush saying all these years -
If you undervalue what you do, the world undervalues who you are. And when you undervalue who you are, the world undervalues what you do.
You are undervaluing yourself when you think things and do things for a discounted rate thinking that is what you need to do to get or keep that client.
When you are asked to work on 5 out of town guests on an outcall situation, you give them a break because you think they will like you better or whatever
You offer a sliding scale to those who you think can’t afford you.
When you raise your rates you try to explain it and make excuses for it. You don’t have to tell anyone anything about why you are raising your rates. You just need to do it.
A client offers you some artwork in exchange for their massage sessions and says their work is worth $5000 so you do a lot of massages even when you hate the piece of art
You start your business by offering really low rates thinking that is the only thing that will get people in the door
You say things like “I am not in this for the money” or I am doing this because I like to help.
The reality is that you need to make money to take care of yourself and your family. Anytime you give up your needs for someone else’s or what you perceive to be someone else’s you are sacrificing a part of yourself.
There is a place and time to offer massages to special populations that really are in need of massage and can’t afford it but not if you are going to be a wealthy massage therapist. You may think this is selfish, but until you can take care of yourself - you won’t be of much use to others. You (we) need money to open up clinics and facilities where underprivileged people can get access to massage. There will also be a hidden agenda to your work feeling resentful of making discounts or working so cheaply.
Being a wealthy massage therapist means that you understand your value and ask for top dollar for your time, energy and expertise.
Part of the problem is that some massage schools are teaching you not to quit your day job saying you won’t be able to make it in the profession. They are telling you that you will have to take discounts to survive.
I am not saying that it is easy. It does take courage and self confidence and faith in yourself.
You have to be able to say no to those you don’t want to work with. You have to say no to working with people who always undervalue your work and take a discount. You can make exceptions and you have to remember that you are human.
Posted in Ethics, Peer Supervision, Starting Your Practice, The Code of the Caretaker, The Wealthy Massage Therapist | No Comments »
