Massage Therapy Market Saturation?

There are approximately 300,000 licensed massage therapists in the US. (ABMP says there are about 241,000. AMTA says that there are between 250,00 and 300,000.) Most massage therapists work part time in the profession either in their own practice or for someone else. The average number of clients that a massage therapist sees is about 15 according to ABMP and a further breakdown from AMTA reveals ” 21% work 10-16 hours per week* -20% work 5-9 hours per week -18% work 1-4 hours per week”

Many of those 300,000 licensed massage therapists may not even be practicing.

The US population clock currently shows 303,123,295 in the US.

303,123,295/300,000=1010

Each massage therapist has to work on 1,010 people a week to hit market saturation and then when everyone is getting one massage a week, they goal would to be to increase that amount to 2-3 a week or how about everyday - like Bob Hope used to get. While these numbers may seem unrealistic and we don’t actually know how many massage therapists there are out there nor do we really know the number of people already getting massage regularly, the point I am trying to make is that it is really about your perspective - what you think about how many massage therapists there are out there.

Theoretically everyone of those people are potential massage clients. Every person in prison? Hospitals, nursing homes, foster care, homeless person… you name it.

Does that show that the market for massage is over-saturated?

ABMP reports in their recent consumer survey that 16% of the population gets massage regularly and 38% have received a massage at sometime in their lifetime.

What about the other 84% of the population who are not getting regular massage or the 62% of the population that has never had a massage?

I think part of the problem is that when massage therapists start to look at how many massage therapists are in their neighborhood it has a way of bringing up all their fears of being a good massage therapist and their fears of success.

Steve Capellini explains it the best in his book “Massage Therapy Career Guide for Hands-On Success” (Google online reader)

Some people I’ve talked with have complained about saturation in the massage market in certain parts of the country. They say that there are too many massage therapists and not enough customers. They are afraid that with all of the new people choosing to go to massage school will take away customers from an already dwindling supply. These people are practicing a self defeating philosophy known as scarcity mentality, and they are literally talking themselves out of success.
In my opinion, we have only begun to tap the most superficial layers of a customer base that includes almost half of the people in this country. Those therapists who spend time worrying about shrinking supplies of customers would benefit by spending an equal amount of time instructing the public about the benefits of massage, thus constantly increasing their marketplace.”

The idea that the massage market is supersaturated -whether it is true or not- really only serves to increase creativity, enhance or create new techniques and create new opportunities. Have you noticed the number of different kinds of massage increasing consistently with new methods being developed left and right?

Each person getting a massage could also theoretically be getting a different kind of massage everyday for different needs.

Another interesting fact from ABMP is:

As might be expected, the most populous state in the United States, California, also has the most massage therapists, with 33,658. Wyoming, the least populous state, also claims the fewest massage therapists at 459. Hawaii reports the greatest concentration of massage therapists, with one therapist for every 250 residents. The state with least concentration is Alabama, with one massage therapist for every 3,876 residents.

Resources: ABMP metrics section

States Ranked by Population from ABMP metrics section

OR massage board (pdf) report on demographics 2004

Is your massage market saturated? How do you feel about it? Does it discourage you or encourage you?

Posted in Building Your Practice, Massage Marketing, Starting Your Practice, The Wealthy Massage Therapist | 1 Comment »

The Value of a Massage

I have been doing some research on the average income for massage therapists and doing some thinking about our beliefs create our reality. Put the two together - why don’t more massage therapists believe that they can make $100,000 a year and even more? Everyone seems to equate it with having to work too hard. Most massage therapists only see one client an hour and maybe 4-6 clients a day and usually only see about 20-25 clients a week. Much more than than puts a great physical demand on the therapist. So what is that worth? Do massage therapists take that into consideration when setting their fees for their massage services?
While the amount of money that each person needs varies and not everyone may desire $100,000 a year - but why not at least that?

I was also looking at massage schools and came across this very interesting one- The Acadamy of Natural Healing in NYC that says:

Your most important consideration each day will become, “Am I making a difference?” It’s a funny thing though and you may not think that it is a very holistic way of looking at things but…When you complete your education in some area of alternative medicine and natural healing if you have not learned how to reach thousands of people annually and bring in at least $100,000 to a half-million dollars a year in your health and healing business - you won’t really be making an impact. And that’s the honest, hard truth. Now if you’re offended - and you may be - let me explain why I’m using the number of clients you will have and the amount of money you make as a measuring stick. Because that’s exactly what it is. Really. Here’s why…

If you see fifteen clients a week for 52 weeks but you’re doing it for a fee of $50 or less - you will not be in a position of great influence. You’ll probably be hanging lot’s of flyers on health food store bulletin boards, making lot’s of follow-up calls to potential clients and sometimes sitting around waiting for occasional clients who just don’t show up and don’t bother to call..

If you see forty clients a week for 52 weeks but you’re doing it for a fee of $75 or less - you will not be in a position of great influence - you’re still not making the impact you should. You’re briefly in someone’s
life, then you move on to the next client, and they go on with their life.

If you’re really making an impact, you are:
Speaking regularly to large groups
Selling educational and motivational products
Consulting with the influential health food and natural product
companies and organizations in your area of expertise; and
Touching thousands or millions of people on a daily basis, through the media, your web site, books, tapes and videos.

That’s the way the universe works… When you give value - you are rewarded in multiples of that. You do the arithmetic. If you are really making a difference in natural healing and alternative medicine - that translates into at least a $100,000 to a half-million dollars a year in revenues and maybe even more. (end of page)

In some ways the massage schools themselves (not the one above of course!) are teaching massage therapists to think in only small ways of achievement and sharing of massage. They also say things like “don’t quit your day job” which to me says they don’t think enough of massage as being a viable profession. They also influence the fees that massage therapists set for their service by telling them they have to start at a low rate because they are unexperienced and that is the only way they will get enough clients.

I was also reading the latest edition of Massage and Bodywork Magazine and they were sharing some of the latest statistics on massage from their recent survey. They reported:

62% of survey respondents who have never received a massage, 36% said they didn’t perceive a value to massage or feel that it was necessary; 30% cited cost as a deterrent; and 37% said they just didn’t have time for a massage.

In other words - massage is not valued by the public. Value is a subjective thing, but it is also based on having enough information to place a value on something. If someone really understood the value of a massage and were flat broke they would find a way to get a massage. The same for the people driving Lexus’s or other fancy cars saying that they can’t afford a massage. It doesn’t really have anything to do with money - it has to do with what they value.

Suze Orman in her book ‘Women and Money” says:

…that 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.

So is the massage profession itself creating how people value massage?
-what does it say to people when you offer your services at a really low rate?
- what does it say when you don’t charge people for not showing up or when you work for the full hour even though a client was late?
- what does it say when you don’t get a massage yourself regularly?
- what does it say about massage when you tell people you aren’t doing this for the money?
-Is it the way massage therapists look and dress - usually in more comfortable clothes?

What perception of massage is being created by the way you run your massage practice?

What is lacking in the massage profession that teaches people how valuable massage is? Is it the need for more research to prove massage works? Is it more great websites that really connect with the potential clients need for information and building trust? Is it more licensing and legislation with clearly defined standards of practice (which we do not have at all in the US.)? Is it a clearer definition of the massage profession and what we do?

What is it that will increase the value of massage and help change the perceived value into real value?

Posted in Building Your Practice, Massage Marketing, Starting Your Practice, The Wealthy Massage Therapist | No Comments »

Only 26.8% of massage therapists use websites

The recent ABMP member survey reports that only 26.8% of massage therapists use websites to promote their practice.

This could mean a few different things…

- massage therapists have all of the clients that they need.
-massage therapists don’t know where to start in creating a website
-they are afraid of putting their business online thinking it will attract less than desirable clients
-they don’t understand that they can also make other money from their website that could supplement their income

Most people are also using brochures, referrals and networking as their main methods of marketing. If you are doing any of those and don’t have a website, you are missing on a big opportunity to provide more information and build more trust which is what a website does.

Whatever the reasons for not having a website, there just aren’t any excuses any more. I can boil it down to just three words - Site Build It!

Posted in Building Your Practice, Starting Your Practice, Websites for Massage therapists | 1 Comment »

Site Build It! results…

I was just checking on my monthly statistics for my websites and noticed some interesting things…

My SBI! site www.massagetherapycareers.com is starting to show up in the top 2-5 pages for searches like “massage therapy” and for specific states massage schools at Google. Most of what I did this summer was just focus on writing a few new pages a day on massage schools and massage licensing- something that I put off because the thought of it was so overwhelming because of the amount of time and information involved. I still don’t have those sections complete or totally up to date and am hoping more people will start submitting their information on state licensing issues and massage schools.

My site www.themassage-directory.com is also starting to show up more for searches on massage schools. It is a free directory of massage schools, massage therapists and massage related products. If you haven’t already put your website on the free link boards, now is probably a good time. While the act of getting a link on a site may not directly influence your traffic, it makes it look more appealing to search engines.

I have also been tracking my adsense ads on each site and my SBI ! site with about 240 pages has a much higher click through rate (almost double) than my non-sbi site www.thebodyworker.com that has over 800 pages. It just continues to boggle my mind and make no sense really, but the bottom line is that an SBI! site just converts better and is so targeted with keywords that it just flat out works! Take a look at this short video from a massage therapist in NY….

Posted in Building Your Practice, Starting Your Practice, Websites for Massage therapists | No Comments »

Massage Therapists Income

What is the average salary for a massage therapist? How much can a massage therapist make?

I have been doing some research on these questions for my ebook that I am writing called “The truth about becoming a massage therapist” and it has also got me thinking…

ABMP reports the following about salaries for massage therapists:

Average massage-related income for massage therapists in 2005 was $18,950, with a median income of $14,500 (2005 ABMP Member Survey).

First-year practice average income was $9,589, reflecting the challenges of establishing a professional-service practice (2005 ABMP Member Survey).

The median price for a one-hour massage is $60 (ABMP 2005 Member Survey, correlated by the same finding in the Harstad Strategic Research 2007 Consumer Survey

AMTA reports slightly higher numbers based on the Bureau of Labor statistics which ABMP claims are inaccurate.

Either way, massage therapists are not making much and are not anywhere close to a $100,000 a year practice. I picked that number because it is usually not associated with a massage therapist and most would say that it isn’t about the money.

After reading Harv Eker’s book ‘The Secret of the Millionaire Mind‘ where he says:

“Let me put it bluntly: anyone who says money isn’t important doesn’t have any! “

We use the excuse that it isn’t about the money to keep ourselves in the low paying professions.

But why is a $100,000 a year salary or income from business sound so unrealistic? The last time I mentioned the idea of “The Wealthy Massage Therapist” I got a few emails saying that they didn’t want to be wealthy. Wealth seems to bring up many things for people. It really shows you your beliefs about money. What do you think of someone who makes that kind of money? That they must be doing something illegal? That making that kind of money is not respectable? That helping people is more important than making money?

To make $100,000 a year a massage therapist would have to do about 21 massages a week and charge $100 a session and work 49 weeks a year. (that’s roughly). But what massage therapist charges $100 for a one hour massage?

I had this sudden realization that the massage profession itself is creating this problem.

Massage schools only talk of how difficult it is to start and build a practice and often tell students not to quit their day job and plan on taking a few years to build a practice. If our thoughts create our reality - what is this doing to the massage profession????

I know you will want to explain the lower than $100 an hour fees with thing like - it is way above the market rate and there are many who can’t afford it and you just want to help everyone and that includes the people who can’t afford massage. It doesn’t have anything to do with being able to afford massage. It is really more about valuing massage. I have had many less fortunate clients who I do know were struggling- single moms, people who could work as much due to their injuries etc. If people were serious enough about getting a massage - they would find a way to save to get one. Then there are those who have all the money in the world and complain when you raise your rates-they too are just not valuing massage.

If what we have inside of us is reflected in what goes on outside of us - what does this say about how we value our own profession and ourselves?

What exactly is a massage worth? What is it that massage actually does for a person? It is like comparing teachers salaries with that of professional athletes? What we have in this country is an mis-representation of our values. What about comparing massage therapist salaries with professional athletes? What price can you put on something like massage?

What if all massage therapists everywhere in the country charged $100 an hour? How does the idea of getting that much make you feel? What would you do differently in a session if anything? What fears come up for you in asking for what you need?

Posted in Massage Schools/Students, Recommended Reading, The Code of the Caretaker, The Wealthy Massage Therapist | 4 Comments »