Massage Therapists in a Money Fog

One of the main reasons that people are drawn to the massage profession is that they are seeking a career in which they can help others more and participate in work that is more meaningful. While that is all well and good, there is usually a whole other side to helping that people never dreamed they would have to deal with. When people come to the massage profession only to help, they seem to think that helping others will get them the money that they need to live or they may even go as far to say that they don’t need much money or that it isn’t about the money. Being in such a fog about money is usually what leads to such thinking or should I say they aren’t thinking.

I also get a fair amount of massage therapists emailing me or sharing their stories on various forums about how they are underpaid and not taken seriously by their employers. They initially agreed to specific terms without really knowing what they were getting into and are left feeling resentful when working on clients or dealing with the employers.

Mikelann Valterra in her book “Why women earn less” (which I think really could be called ‘why massage therapists earn less”), she outlines some things to think about to see if you are in a money fog:

Do you regularly balance a check book?

Do you know exactly how much you are making each month?

Do you know where all of your money goes?

Do you know if you are saving enough for emergencies and retirement?

Many high school students today are researching careers and jobs and the first thing they ask me on my site www.massagetherapycareers.com is how much can I make as a massage therapist? The massage schools will tell them that massage therapists are charging $60-$80 per hour and more but fail to leave out the fact that this is not really what you make as a massage therapist. If you are working for yourself you need to deduct expenses or if you are working for someone else you usually get about 20-30% of that which isn’t much after you pay taxes on it all.

It is good that high school students are asking today. I know when I went to college a very long time ago, I never went with the intention of how much money I could make.

Choosing a career based on your need to help others is really also saying something else. Why are you wanting to be a massage therapist? There is usually really an unconscious deeper need being played out which is usually really a need for love, attention or acceptance. Choosing a career without knowing or caring how much you can make could mean that you are in a money fog.

You can best do that by taking a look at what you charge clients for your services as well as what you charge for no shows or last minute cancellations. I read in one of the massage magazines awhile ago a survey that asked how many people charged for no shows and most said they didn’t and always made excuses for the client. I was quite shocked. (I’ll have to find that again.) That’s a great example of money fog.

The way to get out of a money fog is to track just how much you are spending and become more aware of your spending patterns and money blueprints. Also joining or starting a peer supervision group can assist you in becoming more aware of issues like this which is the first step and basically the answer to changing your beliefs about money. I am starting an online peer supervision/mastermind group very soon - hopefully next week and will start taking applications from interested participants so stay tuned for more information.

Posted in Changing Your Beliefs, Money issues | 1 Comment »

Tipping Massage Therapists

After a very interesting discussion on tipping on my Yahoo Group for www.massagepracticebuilder.com I have gathered some of the information to share it here on the blog.
Is it appropriate to tip a massage therapist?

Is it appropriate for a massage therapist to encourage tipping?

Is it appropriate for massage therapists to accept tips? Should you even mention tipping on your website, policies or anywhere in your office?
Massage Therapists for the most part are licensed health care professionals. Some states still do not recognize us for that.

Tipping comes from the

“Are tips required?” and then answer
with: “No. Although greatly appreciated, tips are not
required.”

‘Clinical clients may not
tip, wellness clients may tip is so inclined, Thank you.’
In our office we have discreet signs which simply
state “Gratuities graciously accepted” along with envelopes that
clients can use and write a note on if they wish at the reception
counter

“Massage is generally a tipping industry and supports the
therapist’s income”, or “general gratuities are 15-20% and should
always simply be a reflection of your customer satisfaction”, etc

Tipping a massage therapist varies widely mainly because of the wide variety of fees that massage therapists charge and how they view their practice.  A massage therapist that views their practice as being a ‘medical or clinical’ massage practice will probably be charging more and may also be licensed as a health care provider which would make tipping the massage therapist inappropriate.

Most spas expect the client to tip the massage therapist and don’t pay the massage therapist much  based on this assumption.  Tipping is usually much appreciated by the massage therapist.

Do you tip your massage therapist?

Posted in Money issues | 1 Comment »

Becoming a Massage Therapist

I got this idea for a story about becoming a massage therapist after reading Sean Sloviks story “Is Becoming a Massage Therapist like Becoming a Merchant Marine?” that is posted on www.massagetherapycareers.com

When you first start out in massage school, you will be studying for a year or so, learning all sorts of things you never imagined - anatomy, physiology, pathology, massage techniques - all of which are preparing you to be the best massage therapist in the world. By the time you get out you have massaged many people in the student clinic and all of your friends and family call you all the time for a massage. You are ready to take your State Board Exam or if you are in one of those last states that don’t have any exam, you are jumping right into a practice or job in massage therapy.

You of course pass the exam in flying colors because you spent all of that time studying, memorizing and learning.

You are now on to working at your first job or building your massage practice. You are quite nervous - the changes you have been through are quite amazing. You have grand visions for a job in a fancy spa that pays you $60-$100 an hour (isn’t that what they said in massage school that massage therapists make?) You tell yourself, this isn’t about the money. You just want to help others. You can live cheaply. You don’t really need much. You cherish your freedom and flexible hours.
You show up to your first job or office, and of course, you are a bit nervous. You take a deep breath and look back at your schooling and say to yourself, “well gosh, I shouldn’t be too nervous. I know where all those muscles are and all of the things to watch for not to do. You console yourself that you actually know a lot, maybe even feeling you know everything.

After a year at working at a Spa that hardly pays you much or struggling to start your practice and not getting very many clients, you start to wonder what the heck did you do by choosing this career? You find that working at the spa wasn’t all it was cracked up to be. You are working more hours than you agreed to because they can’t find anyone to work. You don’t have any benefits or vacation pay, and are starting to feel resentful that you are working for such low pay. If you have your own practice, your ideas of changing the world don’t seem so grand - you can’t pay the bills. Do you go back to work doing some menial job that you know you will hate?
But you stay with it and start learning about marketing, sales, customer service, finances, the therapeutic relationship. You take a part time job to help pay the bills. You join or start your own peer supervision group and find solace in knowing that there are others in the same boat. You start reading and learning. You keep learning new techniques. You keep working with as many clients as you can. You are learning so much about yourself as you go.
You can begin to see that everything that is happening to you is really a reflection of your own beliefs about yourself, but at the same time you think it is all about everyone else- your teachers’ didn’t show you enough, you don’t feel like you know enough, clients are getting more difficult health issues, money is slow to come in. You see clients who have physical health issues and are at a loss to help everyone. What you thought would be fun in helping others, now seems like a drain. You keep giving free massages away and start at a really low rate thinking that it will get you more clients. When someone doesn’t show up, you are disappointed and just think you are out the money- you don’t bother to charge them just thinking that you are doing them a favor because after all- they had a last minute appointment that was much more important.
“well, I thought I knew it all back when I was in massage school, but now I realize there’s actually a few things I don’t know.” You somehow thought clients would just show up at your door begging to get a massage. You just want to be doing the massage part- you don’t know anything about marketing, sales or running a business.

You begin to wonder if you made the right choice in becoming a massage therapist. You now are in about year 3-5. You can’t live like this much longer, yet you hate the thought of giving up what you love doing. You stick with it all and move up the ladder at the spa, getting better hours, more pay, maybe a managers position. Your practice is beginning to finally have ends meet. You are beginning to think about hiring other massage therapists. Your training and experience now brings in even more difficult clients. You begin to understand that healing is really not about the techniques that you have learned. They don’t really work on everyone or as quickly on some people as they do on others. You have worked on many clients with serious health challenges- cancer, mastectomies, serious car accidents. sports injuries. You have watched people with constant headaches for a year, suddenly get rid of them when they quit their job. You see people with chronic pain patterns resolve themselves when they start cleaning up their diet. You see people grieving who have lost their parents or other loved ones. You have seen people with post traumatic stress syndrome from accidents, war and trauma. You stand in awe of what the body, mind, heart and soul can do when they finally truly connect to each other. You learn that healing doesn’t necessarily mean that a person is paid free or disease free. You see that death is an inevitable part of life and can’t be avoided no matter how healthy we keep ourselves. You see that health is really about connecting to our wholeness- something that we always had inside of us but we just didn’t know it. You understand that saving the world is about saving yourself. You understand that healing others is about taking care of and healing yourself.

Your once ‘massage can fix’ all vision is quietly put in it’s place but a new vision has arisen. Knowing your place in the world allows you to be present for others to experience their healing and wholeness - still touching one person at a time - but you know that you don’t even have to touch them physically. Your presence is enough - but the massage is the icing on the cake. You see that the more you think you know about the human body, mind, spirit and healing the less you really know…

But there is a new employee at the spa or you are looking to hire other massage therapists. You wonder if you will continue to be successful because you don’t really know a thing anymore…but that brand new massage graduate must know everything so you don’t have to worry.

(How does this story end for you? )

Posted in Licensing and Legislation, Massage Therapy Jobs, Money issues | No Comments »

The Unstoppable Massage Therapist

More than anything what a massage therapist needs to be successful as a massage therapist is being passionate about what you do…

Does doing massage leave you feeling more alive? or feeling drained?

Does doing massage add more to your life? or does it seem like a chore?

Do you love doing massage enough that you are willing to do whatever it takes to build a successful massage practice? Are you willing to market your practice and work to educate the public about what you do?

I get emails from people saying they have tried everything to build their massage practice - sent flyers, put an ad in the newspaper and did what they thought was everything to get new clients. The thing is that most advertising does not work as people react to sales pitches. What is needed is building trust with a potential client. In order for a potential client to trust you or have anyone trust you, you must trust yourself first.
Just sending one flyer to one group of people is not trying. Sending 20 mailings and changing the mailing each time and sending it until you get the combination that works is trying. And even if that fails - do you have the passion and motivation to keep going? Are you willing to take a part time job in a spa or at massage envy while you follow your dream?

When you are passionate about what you do, it becomes contagious. People will flock to you to find out what it is that you know or have that someone else doesn’t have.

If you are going to massage school because it is ‘easier’ than going through another program that you would really be going through - think again. If you are using massage as a stepping stone to other things it usually will be ok, but your practice may not flourish if you are just doing it half heartedly until your other ship comes in.

Your passion is also what will sustain you through all the trials and tribulations - the steep learning curves of engaging in a new career. Being passionate requires a deep conviction in yourself and what you do. It requires a deep faith in yourself and your abilities. It requires knowing that you deserve everything that you desire.

Do you thing that everything comes easy to people like Steve Jobs or others? This commencement speech that Steve Jobs gave back in 2005 shows that he struggled just like everyone else. The difference is that he kept trying until everything clicked into place.

The book “Unstoppable” also has many stories of triumph over difficulties that were brought about mainly through passion and perseverance.

When you work at something that you feel passionate about - the work will feel more like play. You will be excited to market yourself and learn to get the word out to others. And as I said before - it/you will be contagious and usually have little marketing to do. People will come to you because they can sense the passion for what you do in every word you say or don’t say.

The unstoppable massage therapist sticks with it for years if necessary to bring their dreams to reality. They work on themselves to uncover the beliefs that are causing them to struggle to make ends meet. They have passion for what they do and they love who they are. They have an unshakable sense of themselves and don’t give up easily. They do whatever it takes to fulfill their dream. They plan for their business and their personal lives. They respect themselves enough to charge what they need to make. They value themselves enough that others value them to. Doing massage gives a feeling of aliveness and vitality.

The unstoppable massage therapist…

Share your story of being unstoppable here or on my other site www.massagetherapycareers.com in the stories section.

Posted in Building Your Practice, Changing Your Beliefs, Massage Therapy Jobs, Money issues, Starting Your Practice, The Code of the Caretaker, The Wealthy Massage Therapist | 1 Comment »

Why massage therapists earn less

Massage Therapists seem to have a common theme of always struggling to get by and make ends meet. They also are usually very eager to give their time away in many different ways -

Whatever the excuse or reason you give for giving away your time is usually an emotionally based decision which is different from a business decision. Your actions are a way to discover the root cause of issues that you are faced with by helping you to uncover your unconscious beliefs. Your thoughts and beliefs create your actions.

Giving away your time shows how much you value your own time. It doesn’t necessarily win people over or make them want to come back more than when you don’t give away your time. People want to give back when they receive your massage - they do this in the form of payment ($$$). When you try to give them more than they are paying for it sets up a power imbalance. People will feel indebted to you or feel like they have to come back because you gave them more than they wanted.

Wanting to work on people who are underprivileged and really can’t afford massage while may seem noble, it may not be really helping anyone. If you really wanted to help these people you could do something with all the money you do make and open up a free clinic or teach classes to them on how to do massage themselves - teach them to take care of themselves.

When you want to be so giving of your time, it is usually an indicator of how much you value yourself and that it is you who are in need. If you don’t value yourself clients will feel it and not value you either.

Mikelann Valterra in her book “Why women earn less: How to make what you are really worth” says this:

” Our time is one of our most precious assets. Yet many people feel compelled to give it away to others, excessively in some cases, and at the expense of not using it to enrich their own lives and reach their goals…
Chances are that if you regularly put other people before yourself, you probably give away your time inappropriately or excessively. It can feel uncomfortable to put your own needs and wishes first. But learning not to give your time away is essential. It ultimately comes down to the fact
that valuing your time is the same thing as valuing yourself.”

The roots of underearning are usually from early childhood. Our people pleasing behaviors come from not getting early needs for mirroring, connection, acceptance, appreciation and love. Early in life children are taught that they can’t get their needs met so they try to survive by finding out the rules and following them - giving up what they really want and setting aside their feelings. The purpose in life then becomes learning to please others rather and attune to their needs to others or we think we risk losing the connection. We lose ourselves trying to please others. We learn to be caretakers - taking care of others in the way we need/wish to be taken care of ourselves.

I first learned of the idea that caretaking is really different from ‘caregiving’ after reading a series of articles by Jack Blackburn - a local Seattle Trager practitioner and teacher. He defines it in this way:

“When we caretake we assume responsibility for our clients’ healing. When we
caregive we support clients in assuming responsibility for their own healing.”

When we are giving away our precious time in ways that ‘caretake’ others, it usually leads to less than fulfilling practices and not having enough money to take care of yourself (and family.)

Posted in Money issues, Recommended Reading, The Code of the Caretaker, The Wealthy Massage Therapist | No Comments »