One of the things they may or may not talk about in massage school is the idea that in order to be successful in this profession you need to be able to set yourself aside from others in this profession by choosing a specific niche or population to work with.
While some may come into the massage profession with an idea in mind that usually is motivated by their current profession – working on elderly if you worked in a nursing home, working on athletes if you were one. etc.
Most come out of massage school with their eyes so wide open just looking for anybody to be their client. The fear of having to pay the bills without having a steady clientèle can leave you with this idea that you just want to work on anyone.
Part of the process of defining and narrowing down your niche comes from understanding what you want and don’t want. It is studying and exploring the world of contrasts. It means trying different things until you find one that sticks. This is what the law of attraction is about – know what you want by first knowing what you don’t want.
In general, you can start with the obvious about what you don’t want..
I don’t want to work with insurance companies. I want to work with cash clients only.
I don’t want to work with people who are always late, forget their check book, are asking for discounts and extra time without wanting to pay for it. I want to work with people who value my time, energy and work.
From there you can start looking at various populations to work with.
Do you want to work with an athlete (amateur or professional) who continually takes their body past their limits?
Do you want to work with infants, children, teenagers?
Do you want to work with business executives?
Women? Men?
A specific area in the work force? Plumbers, electricians, musicians, landscapers, contractors?
It starts by looking at what people you are drawn to for whatever reason and tuning into the feeling you get when thinking about working with them. If you get the feeling of joy, you are on track. If you feel drained, fear, or bad in any way, you are not on track.
One of the things I tell people to look at is what it their purpose and what are their values.
Most people don’t stop to really think about what is important to them. Taking time to discover your values and what your purpose is – for what reason are you doing what you are doing (massage), you can begin to carve out a niche that is in line with your values and purpose. When you can do that, your clients will start to fall into place. You can make better business decisions when you know what you want.
I started a section on my website www.massagepracticebuilder.com about finding out what you value.
When you have a clear mental image and know with every cell in your body, what you want to be focusing on, you will have a greater chance of hitting your target or goal.
Massage Marketing Rebellion (Yahoo Group)