This blog and website are written by me – Julie Onofrio. I am a massage therapist and have been one since 1987. I went to massage school after working in the photography profession for about 12 years where everyone needed everything yesterday. The bulk of my training is in Zentherapy an offshoot of structural integration. I no longer do 10 session work but the principles I learned and the methods of working on triggerpoints have shaped my massage practice into one where I work with hard to change problems that most doctors don’t know what to do with.
In 1999, facing some minor health challenges and feeling burned out from working as a massage therapist, I started this website to start writing about everything that I learned in massage school. At the time it was strictly a hobby and mostly therapy for myself as it was a constant reminder of why I choose the massage profession. A friend of mine had wanted me to create an apprenticeship program for her to become a massage therapist. In WA, you can go through apprenticeship programs to fulfull your requirements for becoming a licensed massage therapist. I started collecting all the info that I would need to teach her and ended up not going on with getting the program approved. I had all of this material so just decided to put in all into a website. I never thought it would make me any money. It was just fun and a way to get back to my roots of why I wanted to become a massage therapist.
In about 2004, after a few years of hearing about Google Adsense, I decided to put ads on this site. Google has a program called Adwords where advertisers pay them to post their ads on the search engine results geared toward specific keywords. You can get a free account with Google that allows you to place the ads on your website. When someone clicks on the ads, you will get paid a very small portion of what the advertiser paid Google. (They don’t tell you how much but there are ways to estimate when planning a website around a keyword or topic.) I had been avoiding it because I didn’t think anyone would click on them. I put them on the top 25 pages and found that yes indeed people were clicking on them. I put them throughout the site and it has now become about half of my income and I am working toward creating more sites and more content and making a living full time on my websites along with selling ebooks and writing books.
In about 2000 or so I read an Ebook by Ken Evoy called “Make Your Site Sell” which you can now read for free and even though it is a little outdated you can get a basic understanding of what is involved in creating an online business. I continued creating this site based on his principles of Content, Traffic, Presell, Monetize which means simply write lots of high quality content on a specific topic to build your traffic. This in turn creates trust with your readers enough to keep them coming back and to make your most wanted response – what ever that may be….to buy an ebook, click on an ad, buy other products or call to make an appointment for a massage.
In about 2002, I started my other site www.massagetherapycareers.com (which I sold in 2008). After being in the profession for about 15 years, I had seen many massage therapists come and go and I also saw how much people struggled in this profession. They didn’t seem to mention that in massage school or anywhere else so I wrote my first edition of the “Massage Therapy Career Guide – The truth about becoming a massage therapist”. I started selling ebooks within about 2 months. Not enough to quit doing massage but enough to pay for the site and a few nice dinners out. Google’s Adsense Program has allowed me to continue writing while I just do massage part time. After I sold that site, I created another to take it’s place and continue selling my ebooks – www.massage-career-guides.com continues to grow and build traffic.
The thing is that you can really take almost any topic that you know and love and turn it into a website that will make some money for you- even $500 a month would help most massage therapists. SBI! will teach you how to do it all and I will help you in any ways that I can. Take the quick tour to find out more about SBI!
I took the first ebook and made it into more pages on the website. I now just redid the ebook and am selling it again this time enough to pay my office rent each month! I am now also turning it into a real book where it will be available on www.amazon.com and other online booksellers in 2011.
It has now grown to over 1000 pages of website and 2 years of blogging.
I have found that being able to work with massage therapists and share what I know is a spiritual process that allows me to share my experience and all of the years of information with others. I hope that somewhere along the lines I am able to reach more people and grow as I learn too.
I am now helping others to do the same when they use Site Build it! Actually it is all laid out very simply in their complete action guide and extensive online library and forums. It isn’t just about making a website. It i
s about creating an online business and a different way of life.
There is a lot to read here so take your time, visit often and contact me with any questions, comments or feedback! Join my Facebook Fan page or my online discussion group to get in touch with other massage therapists for support. I also offer email consultations by the month for $150 or for one specific issue/project you are working on. I can help you with getting and keeping clients as well as helping you with the issues that you are faced with on a daily/weekly basis. Contact me in the form below for more info.
To your Success!
Julie Onofrio, LMP
www.thebodyworker.com
www.massagepracticebuilder.com
Comments or questions are welcome.
Powered by Fast Secure Contact Form
Hello Julie,
Just wanted to leave a post saying that I think massage and its benefits aren’t yet totally appreciated by the general public. I suspect the average perception is that massage is all about feeling good, not necessarily solving legitimate anatomical issues. I personally recommend massage to all of my clients and athletes to ensure any kind of muscle adhesions are worked out. At any rate, please continue the good work.
That sounds like exactly what is needed.
I too actually feel like a ‘lone barker’ on this issue. People I think are just concerned about making a living and not stepping up to help make changes and that is ok too.
What are your ideas? Contact me through my site if want more info.
Julie
I am enterested in more information please leave an e-mail and or contact infor i am currently in ILLinois and would like to have some additional information on your web-site any body that has been in the business for as long as you have has aquired information that is extremely valuable, thank you Maggie Hamblin I may be relocatiing back to the Seattle area where i am originally from so i may also need information on making a transition to the state of Washington with getting proper licences for that state also on if hr can be transferred etc. thanks again, hope your holiday season was a good one.
I am not sure what you are looking for… You can read the sites http://www.thebodyworker.com and http://www.massagecareerguides.com for free. Contact the WA State Board of Massage if you are thinking of relocating.
Julie
Hey Julie,
I am a licensed MT in Ohio since ’95. I would like to provide similar input to the good students who are about to enter the world of massage here in Ohio, as well as the newbie beginners.
I do not know if I have the savvy to carry it as effectively as you seem to be with your info and impact. And I am not sure what my question is for you. But I have some ideas that I think are on target – from where I see the issue. My biggest concern about the massage therapy profession is the inconsistency of training – which does include the many parameters as your ebook mentions. My interest is in developing those areas of skill that are glossed over by the local schools (because their missions are to pump out kids so they can “pass” their licensure exam) – this includes touch, working with the naked form, ego, mechanics that means more than posturing, and stretching. Moreso, my focus is on health care of the practitioner.
I sometimes think I am a lone barker with ideas of how to that could easily be perceived as a whiner in the wind. However, I really rather want to take the approach of being the professional who can offer more motivating incites, resources and progressive stepping stones to practitioners.
So, I hope to be effective here in the Mid-West, as it seems you are in the Pacific West – but with a respect to what you are doing as well.
Any suggestions and comments – muchos thanks.
Respectfully,
Renee
I don’t think that massage therapists don’t care to post, I just think, they need to know why, they should post and how it can help us all, to achieve success, in our massage industry.
Keep up the great work!!