June 5th, 2007 Julie Onofrio
I just started working on a new site for a new client of mine. I set up the Sitebuildit! site and added a few pages and set up the sitemaps and submitted them to the major search engines. I just did that this past weekend. The new site is www.manalapanmassage.com.
Today I searched for manalapan massage using google and it is number one on the first page already!
When I was researching domain names and keywords using the Sitebuildit! brainstormer, the two most obvious words were manalapan and massage. I couldn’t believe none of the other massage therapists or spas were using this domain or any other version of the words in their domain names. I think this is one of the keys to getting found online.
The other part is content. Taking an offline business to an online one you have to consider what people are looking for online. It is all about information. They aren’t really looking for you or your website. They are looking for information.
So give them information and they will come - I should make that my new slogan!
It is what a website that works is all about!
Posted in Websites for Massage therapists | No Comments »
June 5th, 2007 Julie Onofrio
How many minutes is your hour session?
50 minutes? a full 60 minutes?
How much time do you take in between sessions?
15 minutes? half hour? one hour?
While I understand the need to have time for yourself in between clients to rest, do tasks to prepare for the next client, return phone calls, do chart notes and all those extraneous things - Do your prices reflect that time spent?
You may think you are serving the client more by giving them a full hour and then taking time in between and giving them even more of your time. It doesn’t necessarily do what you think it might. What I think it does is tell them that your boundaries are weak and that you don’t take care of yourself (yes I know the extra time is to take care of yourself - but if you aren’t charging for that time is it really taking care of yourself?). It is what sets up co-dependent relationships. Giving up your time thinking it is more important for someone else to have it without them valuing it…
You can try to explain or rationalize it any way you want but I challenge you to really take a look at why you don’t charge for that extra time that you give clients or maybe your prices already do reflect this - then I am not talking about you of course. I would guess for the most part that these extra minutes in between clients are not being charged for.
I really got this ah-ha from watching Oprah a few weeks ago where there were black Americans telling how they had to deal with being black. They were talking about raising kids and that the way kids learn is not by telling them - do this or do that. What kids really do is imitate their parents. If you aren’t taking care of yourself as a parent, your kids won’t learn to take care of themselves.
I think the same applies to building a therapeutic relationship. The clearer your boundaries around your time and service - the more successful your business will be. Co-dependent therapists will end up struggling to be successful and make ends meet.
How much time do you allow for a one hour session? Do your fees reflect that?
(I am not objecting to you taking the time for yourself, but do you charge for it or just give it away?)
Posted in Money issues, Peer Supervision, The Code of the Caretaker, The Wealthy Massage Therapist | No Comments »
June 4th, 2007 Julie Onofrio
One of the things that seems very clear to me that I wish I had done in my early years as a massage therapist was to just charge what I needed to make rather than always making excuses for raising my rates or just doing a 50 minute massage and not taking a break in between clients.
The massage profession seems to attract people who are willing to give up themselves by taking a reduced fee for massage therapy services.
I think we basically have our values all wrong anyways in this contry. We pay movie stars and actresses millions of dollars and massage therapist can barely get by and get paid usually less than $100 per hour - and most way less.
Massage therapy is one of the most healing, nurturing, connecting, awareness creating, healing things one can do for oneself. But people are not willing to pay to take care of themselves. Could you imagine getting paid what we are really worth? How much would a session be? $500 ?? $1,000??
It is all a part of the beliefs we bring to the profession and the level of self esteem we hold. Other professions have it too - teachers, nurses and how about day care workers/teachers who care for the children? What is that really worth to know that you kid is safe?
Ok - I have gotten a little off track.
What would you need to do to be able to charge what you are really worth?
What are you really worth?
What beliefs do you have about making money and what you are worth? Just take a look at what you have in your life and you can begin to see what it is that you believe about yourself.
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Posted in Building Your Practice, Ethics, Peer Supervision, The Code of the Caretaker, The Wealthy Massage Therapist | 1 Comment »
June 4th, 2007 Julie Onofrio
I was just reading the Alabama Massage Therapy State Boards website and they listed the educational requirments as two different amounts one being 650 hours and in the laws it says 1000
(c) after December 31, 2001, 1000 hours of supervised course of instruction:
(i) 100 hours of anatomy, pathology and physiology consisting of 35 hours of myology, 15 hours of osteology, 10 hours of circulatory system, 10 hours of nervous system, and 30 hours of other body systems at the discretion of the school;
(ii) 250 hours of basic massage therapy, contradistinctions of massage therapy, contraindications to massage therapy, and related touch therapy modalities, to include a minimum of 50 hours of supervised massage therapy;
(iii) 50 hours of miscellaneous required courses included business, hydrotherapy, first aid, cardiopulmonary resuscitation, and professional ethics;
(iv) 600 hours of elective to be determined by the school.
(10) To permit animal massage by a massage therapist under the direction of prescription of a licensed veterinarian, the applicant must graduate from a nationally approved program and complete a minimum of 100 hours of postgraduate training and education in animal anatomy, pathology, and physiology for the type of animal on which the therapist will perform therapeutic massage.
So which is it?
Alabama also has regulations for massage schools and requires a massage establishment license.
They define massage as
(13) THERAPEUTIC MASSAGE AND RELATED TOUCH THERAPY MODALITIES. The mobilization of the soft tissue which may include skin, fascia, tendons, ligaments, and muscles, for the purpose of establishing and maintaining good physical condition. The term shall include effleurage, petrissage, tapotement, compression, vibration, stretching, heliotherapy, superficial hot and cold applications, topical applications, or other therapy which involves movement either by hand, forearm, elbow, or foot, for the purpose of therapeutic massage. Massage therapy may include the external application and use of herbal or chemical preparations and lubricants such as salts, powders, liquids, nonprescription creams, mechanical devises such as T-bars, thumpers, body support systems, heat lamps, hot and cold packs, salt glow, steam cabinet baths or hydrotherapy. The term includes any massage, movement therapy, massage technology, myotherapy, massotherapy, oriental massage techniques, structural integration, or polarity therapy. The term shall not include laser therapy, microwave, injection therapy, manipulation of the joints, or any diagnosis or treatment of an illness that normally involves the practice of medicine, chiropractic, physical therapy, podiatry, nursing, occupational therapy, veterinary, acupuncture, osteopathy, orthopedics, hypnosis, or naturopathics.
If anyone can clarify this information, please let me know.
What other things would you want someone who is thinking about a career in massage want to know about doing massage in Alabama? How much can you make? Where can you work? Can you bill insurance companis? What does it take to be successful there?
Posted in News | 1 Comment »
June 2nd, 2007 Julie Onofrio
One of the most common questions I get is what will I need to know to pass the NCE exam for my massage licensing?
I have a list of sample test questions at www.thebodyworker.comÂ
and also a list of resources for some free online massage tests.
There are also some books out there with just pages of test questions.
The thing about the exam is that if you did well in massage school you shouldn’t have any probelm with the exam. Your school should have all that you need as far as what you need to know about the exam and how to pass it. They should be offering exam review classes.
Also participating in a study group is very beneficial as you get to review test questions and see what others don’t know and possibly learn some new things.
I personally would not take the NCE if I ever had to for whatever reason. I know some states make it be required to get your license in your state.
There is actually a difference between being nationally certified and just taking the test. I don’t think you have to be nationally certified or maintain you national certification to remain a massage therapist.
There will most likely be some changes coming as there is a new group called the Federation of State Massage Therapy School Boards (FSMTB). They just recently completed a survey of the profession that they are analyzing and hopefully will have some alternatives to the NCE coming soon.
Posted in Licensing and Legislation | 1 Comment »
