Archive for Julie Onofrio

How committed are you to being a massage therapist?

August 5, 2009 Julie Onofrio Become a Massage Therapist

One of the things that I often see  in this profession is that people coming into it think that becoming a massage therapist will be a very easy thing.  I am not sure if it is a result of what the massage schools are teaching or people not doing their research before they become massage therapists.  Just because it is a more rewarding field working with people who are in pain and under stress and being able to be a part of changing people’s lives doesn’t mean it will not be easy.

One of the things that is needed to become successful in this or any field for that matte is a commitment to do so.

What are you willing to do to be successful?

  • Are you willing to learn how to promote yourself?
  • Are you willing to stay with it as long as it takes and stay through the process which may include not getting the results you want at first or even for many years?
  • Are you willing to hire a marketing manager, a financial manager and a website developer to get the best results?
  • Are you willing to keep going even when you do a mailing and you don’t get any client response?
  • Are you willing to keep going even if you try raising your rates but you lose too many clients?
  • Are you willing to learn how to educate clients and show them what the benefits of massage really are?
  • Are you willing to learn how to ask “Do you want another appointment”? and not feel like you are too pushy or feel like it is inappropriate?
  • Are you willing to learn to charge people for no-shows or last minute cancellations?

What are you willing to do?

No comments

Massage Jobs – Working for chiropractors

August 4, 2009 Julie Onofrio Find a Massage Job

Working for chiropractors is often challenging but if you like doing injury work and seeing a lot of clients who were in car accidents and who are in pain from sitting too much on the computer, a massage job in a chiropractors office could be what you are looking for.  Massage and chiropractic work can be very complimentary.  Massage loosens the tight muscles to help get better adjustments and help the adjustments hold longer.

Here are some of things to consider:

  • May be shorter 1/2 hour or even 15 minute sessions – can you work quickly and efficiently?
  • Work with chiropractor on each case or some difficult cases.  You could learn a lot from the right chiropractor.  It could also cause issues if the chiropractor is too controlling and doesn’t understand the full impact that massage has and what massage can do.
  • Must be efficient in taking chart notes and writing reports for insurance companies.   Charting will be what can make or break a case especially one that goes to court or arbitration/mediation.  SOAP notes is the most common form.  Learn how to chart quickly and accurately.  Read the information on SOAP notes and functional outcomes at www.thebodyworker.com
  • Most work as an independent contractor which can be very confusing to figure out.  As a contractor you should be able to come and go and set your own hours but it is often not the case.  It is up to the chiropractor (employer) to figure out the correct status as they will be paying for the fines if found to be using independent contractors illegally.
  • You will be working with conditions like whiplash, head injuries, broken bones and strains/sprains from car accidents.  Get more training in handling these conditions if needed.
  • Learn about billing insurance companies even though you most likely won’t have to bill yourself.   Chiropractors seem to be notorious for charging high amounts for sessions done and then turning around and not paying the massage therapist their fair share keeping a higher percentage of the fees for themselves.  While I am all for businesses making money, a massage employee will be much happier and stay longer when paid a decent salary so that they can make a living.  You should be able to make $35-$50 an hour depending on what the chiropractor charges for your services.   If you are doing heat/cold packs they can sometimes add charges for that.  The real problems happen when the client comes in with an insurance case and then later becomes a cash client.  Trying to explain a very large difference in price can be difficult
  • Get it all in writing.  Create a employment or subcontractor agreement and write down as many details as you can.  For more on employment contracts see the main site www.thebodyworker.com

Any other suggestions or ideas?

7 comments

Making money with Youtube

August 3, 2009 Julie Onofrio News

Did you know that you could be making money with Youtube?  Here is my new Youtube account so you can follow along.  You can subscribe to my pages on the right side so you can learn as I go.  (Don’t laugh!)

My friend Ryan from www.massagenerd.com is doing that and it teaching me how to do it and actually helping me to figure it out.

You can make money by uploading videos to youtube on whatever topic you want or create fun little movies.  It doesn’t have to be on massage.

The idea is to get as many people subscribing to your profile and when you get a few hundred followers or so you can apply to the Youtube partners program.   What this is from what I can gather is an Adsense sharing program.  Youtube is owned by Google so they put their ads on the face of the videos.  When people click on the ads, you will get a small share of the ad revenue.

The key is that you have to have lots of videos and lots of followers.  Just take a look an  www.massagenerd.com ‘ s  profile and the number of videos he has on there.

So I just started and since I don’t have a massage school and willing participants to put up massage technique videos, I am starting with his ask the massage therapist questions and providing my video reply.  I am going through his list of questions and looking for the questions with the most views and that I am interested in and creating video replies.   I just uploaded my first videos.  Now don’t laugh!  I never speak in public to groups or have taught publically but it is a start.  I just got a little logitech web cam the Logitech 9000 and hooked it up to the computer.  I got this one first because I can also use it for Skype calls which are really amazing if you haven’t already tried it.

How much is he making?  Well he said enough that he could really quit work right now but he wants his wife to be able to quit first.  That’s enough for me to give it a try.

No comments

Teaching Massage Continuing Education

August 1, 2009 Julie Onofrio News

Massage Continuing Education classes are usually a required part of renewing your massage license in most states.  I have been doing some work on a new Massage CE calendar for the Seattle area and started doing some research about CE classes.  It appears that Seattle is unusual in that we have literally hundreds of independent massage teachers offering their classes.  We currently have something called the CME Calendar that goes out to about 4000 massage therapists a month with listings from all of these teachers.  The thing is that it is very expensive to advertise in and it is just a few lines of info on the classes which really doesn’t say much.  You have to already really know the teacher or be interested in the information.

Teaching massage continuing education classes is a great way to make money.  In other areas, this is not really happening from what I have found out so far.  The place people usually go for massage ce is back to the massage schools (which are just taught by the regular massage school teachers for the most part who are all underpaid!) or take classes online or pay to travel to another state/area to take a class offered by a nationally known massage teacher like Upledger, Eric Dalton, Whitney Lowe and others.

If you want to start a CE Calendar in your state, you will have to first figure out how to set up and teach a class.  Here are some things to think about:

  • What will you teach?  What are you an expert at?
  • Do you know how to teach?  You can learn by doing but you can also get help in learning to teach.
  • You will need space to hold the class.  I put on CE classes for awhile in the mid-90′s.  You can also make money sponsoring the class or at least get to take the class for free.  We did classes in the Polish Hall which was a big Polish Communities dance and meeting hall.  It had a big room with a kitchen.  We hauled tables in and out.  You just have to hunt around for community meeting places.  Try your local churches, community centers and such.
  • While having your own space and having your own tables would make it easier you can just have people bring their tables until you can afford to buy tables.
  • Figure out how much you are going to charge.  Figure out a way to take class registrations by mail and online.
  • Create policies about due dates for registrations and cancellations and what to do if someone gets sick at the last minute and can’t make it.
  • Have a feed back form for people to help you improve.   Throw out the best and the worst and read the ones in the middle for the most constructive criticism – that is from Cherie Sohnen-Moe!
  • Set the hours of class time and break time.
  • Give instructions for parking, getting there, what they need to bring, lunch places and networking with others in the class in a registration confirmation letter.
  • Take the class from Eric Brown at bodyworkbiz.com on how to create a massage class.

I am also going to be writing an ebook on how to set up a Continuing Massage Education Calendar using WordPress like I am using for my local calendar.  The reason I am using wordpress is because it will allow teachers to also blog (write articles) about what they do and how their classes can help others.  It is the best way to promote workshops and get people interested in them.  They will be able to post pictures and videos and such to really get people involved.

One comment

Common Sense Massage Job Interview Skills

July 29, 2009 Julie Onofrio Find a Massage Job

Common Sense Massage Job Interview Skills should be taught in basic massage school.  In case you missed that class here is a list of my favorite simple things you can do to ace a massage job interview:

  • Dress as a business professional.  Even though you are doing relaxing massage doing massage for a living is about creating and running a business.  Show the employer that you are serious about your work.  Even though massage tends to be a casual dress environment you will be sure to stand out when you dress up and dress more like a business person.
  • Turn off your cell phone.
  • Come with questions for the interviewer.  Find out if they are a match for you!
  • You don’t have to take the first job that is offered to you.  Make sure the job is a fit for you so you don’t waste your time or the managements time.  For more ideas on what to ask see my Massage Job Guide - How to Find or Create Your Ideal Massage Job.
  • Be on time!  Be early in fact!  That shows you are serious about your commitments and work.
  • Be prepared to do a massage as part of the interview.  Do a full intake as you would with a real client.  Show the interviewer that you know how to work with the conditions that clients bring to the table and know how to address their needs.  Learn how to do an interview that gets you the answers you need to work more efficiently and effectively to get the results that client is expecting.
  • Get a professional email address.  Don’t use your stupidradname@yahoo.com or hotsister@hotmail.com address.

What tips to you have for people in a job interview?

3 comments
« Older Entries   Recent Entries »