working for free
How many massage therapists do alot of massages for free or offer a sliding scale to clients?
Working for free has various sides to it.
On one hand working for free because you absolutely love massage and offer a special technique or work on a special population of people it is a way of truly doing what you love.
Marianne Williamson in her book “A Return to Love” wrote about how she did talks for free for years on the course in miracles. She was so passionate about it and felt so compelled to spread the word - she did it for free for years. Now she is a best selling author and speaker.
I also read an ebook which I can’t remember what the name of it is - on marketing your massage business that said that a great way to start your practice is to work on everyone for free for the first month and you will be booked the rest of your career. The one thing about this way is that I would set clear boundaries around it and get really clear about what you do so that you can convey it in all those free sessions enough that you create a following and get people to come back. Otherwise you are just doing free massages.
Some of the reasons people use as to why they do free massages are:
-don’t want to lose that client
-there are many disadvantaged people who really need massage and can’t afford it.
-they think they have to work for free to get more clients
If you are doing massages for free and have enough income in other areas or financial support in a spouse or partner or family - then doing massages for free is a great service to the community.
If you are trying to make a living doing massage and all you are doing are free massages you will most likely start to feel resentful of your work (burnout).
I did free foot massages and free chair massages in the beginning when I started out. I don’t think it did anything but attract people who wanted free massages. Some people just don’t value massage or much of anything for that matter so they are just wanting everything for free. If you can find someone who really does need it and is very grateful and shows their gratitude by doing other things for you - like sending you new clients then doing some free massages may be worth it.
There are special populations and situations where people really can’t afford massage. People in need of touch in hospitals, hospice centers. and nursing homes (and many other situations) really need to have a massage program where massage therapists can volunteer and provide massage to qualified receivers. Giving massage as a way of building community can be rewarding work.
Just giving massage away for free trying to get a business started and feeling resentful when people don’t come back and pay or send paying customers really reflects your beliefs about money. It can reflect how much you value yourself and provide you an opportunity to really uncover your core beliefs about yourself that lead you to taking actions that show how much you value or don’t value yourself.
If you don’t value yourself, how do you expect anyone else to value you?
Many therapists start out early in their practice or right out of school thinking that they aren’t good enough to charge alot and that they need to work for free to get clients. It is a good way to start working on a number of people and getting experience and building confidence, but you can also learn from your experience and start seeing that you need to make a living and that it is ok to ask for money in exchange for a massage.
There really isn’t any right or wrong here and there are many sides to the issue…
How many free massages do you do a month?
How many free massages have you done in your career?
Have they been worth it?
How have you benefited from it?
How has working for free helped or hurt your practice?
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