Amish Community

[Bees Knees]

I was wondering if anyone has ever worked with the Amish community.  There is a large one in the area that I live and would like to work with them.  I have tryed doing a surch on google and ask.com for massage and the Amish but have not been able to find anything.  So I thought I would ask all of you.  If you have worked with them how did you go about advertizing to them?  Were there any special considerations I should know?Any info would help a lot!  Thank you!Morgie

 

[Joshua]

Amish Community

I can't speak from experience, but from what I know of the Amish, they don't associate with people outside of their community.  Also, they have very strict ideas about touch and modesty, so I don't think they would be open to the idea of someone other than a spouse touching or viewing their bodies.Again, I'm not speaking from experience, but I used to live in a community with many Mennenites (sp?), and they have similar lifestyles to the Amish.

 

[connie_jon]

Thank you for the feed back.  The Amish here do associate (somewhat) with the English (thats us).  I should have mentioned that I already do have a client (a new one) who is Amish.  But I want to work more with their community.  She did stay dressed and I was very careful to make sure that she was comfotorable with everything that I did.  I know that I will not be able to work on the men.  But want to find a way to advertize to the women.Morgie

 

[firesign]

How interesting that you have an Amish client!  Well, what brought this client to you?  Have you asked her about referring others to you?  

 

[Matej]

Amish Community

My thoughts as well. If you have a client who is from the community, maybe they can be your access to others.

 

[roezy@sbcglobal.net]

I think your client would be the best source for you to find out how to advertise to them and more about their customs.  Perhaps it is against their rules for her to be coming to you and maybe she will let you know that you would be offending them to advertise to them.  You wouldn't want to get her in trouble.  OR.....maybe, lucky for you, all she will have to do is spread the word at the next big gathering and you might have clients flocking to you.  Perhaps one of the reasons they don't get massage is because maybe they don't know much about it.  They are fairly isolated from the "English" world from what I understand.  So, maybe they just don't know about it.  It seems to me that they do a lot of physical work and could probably benefit tremendously from massage work.  I don't know enough about their religion and their customs though to know whether this would be considered "selfish" and something they shouldn't do.  I'm curious how this client came to you.  

 

[TahoeT]

I'm in the middle of a large Amish community in PA.  I've done chair work on a few Amish that work with my husband but none have never shown any interest in table massage.  And the ones I have worked on only came to me because the company was paying me, not the employees.  I was told by all of them that they wouldn't have been there if they had to pay for it.  So, I have no ideas for you, lol!But, we also have a large Mennonite population around here, similar to the Amish.  I have had several Mennonite clients who became regulars.  They do come for table massage.  Most of my Mennonite clients came through referrals from other Mennonite clients or from the family practitioners or chiropractors they use.  I've also picked up a few from advertising in our local freebie paper.  Most of them have started coming because of a good offer and kept coming back after they realized the good it did them.  In my area, *free* is a magic word!I do have to say, however, most of these clients will come regularly for a time then slack off for a while.  They will usually pick up again but will continue to cycle like this, on and off.They are a very closed community.  Even if you can get close to members of the community, they will always be a bit wary because you are *English*.Where are you located HandsOnHealth?

 

[uberhax1]

A very good friend of mine does a lot of (massage) work with the Hutterite and Menonite communities in our area - when she talks to them she really really stresses the therapeutic aspects of it, she has said that they only come for deep, deep tissue work - if it feels good then it is a luxury and they wont go for it.  She has only been able to get their business from word of mouth as it is difficult to really have any access to their colonies.Good luck -they are a very hard working bunch and would so benefit from massage therapy.Dori

 

[Dhan Noon]

Thanks for all of the replyes.  I have created a brosure (if anyone is interested in seeing it let me know) specificaly for them.  My Amish client was refered to me by an English client who drives her when she needs to go farther then the buggie can safly take her.  Which by the way is another big "business" around here.  That is all some people do for a job is drive the Amish around.  They cant own cars but they can ride in them! lolShe has already refered her sister to me.  And as soon as I can met with her she wants an apointment!  So YEAH!!!  ;D  ;D  ;DMamajen:  I live in the south west part of michigna about 15 minuts from the Indiana boarder.  My other thought was about not being able to work on men.  Since I am a woman.  But I will come to that bridge when the time comes.  Maybe I will have to "hire" a male massage therapist or whatnot.Morgie

 

[Pluto C. Rat]

I'm curious, H on H....where are you going to put your brochures?  Are you just going to keep them in your office to hand out, or is there someplace you can put them where they'll be seen?Things have changed since I lived in the Midwest....so they can ride in cars now?  Interesting....I guess driving a buggy in below zero weather isn't much fun  BTW, I think it's wonderful that you're interested in bringing massage into this community.  Talk about a hard-working group of people!  If they don't need massage, I don't know who does.  And once they're comfortable with the idea, they should be all for it - afterall, it's all-natural!  I'd love to see your brochure.

 

[Angel H]

Knead-uNo I dont think it would be!  As a child I had an Amish babysitter and it was bad enough riding in one of those things in the spring and fall when it was windy and cold!  You might think this is cute....yesterday I was at the Amish clients house and a buggie pulled up.  Honked a horn that sounded like a CAR! lolI have always had respect for the Amish because they do prefer to do things the natural way.  They will go to see a chiro and a herbalist before they would ever go to an MD.  I would be glad to send you a copy of my brosure but can you tell me how to do it?Morgie

 

[sajeesh E.R.]

Do you have it saved as a file?  If so, you could attach it to an e-mail.Sometimes I think "how wonderful it would be to live that way!"..... and then I think "no INTERNET??!!"  AAAHH!!  LOL  ;D

 

[hot potato]

LOL yeah no internet would be a total killer!!!!   If you PM me your email addy I will send it since I do have it saved as a fileMorgie

 

[student]

Amish Community

I'm curious, H on H....where are you going to put your brochures?  Are you just going to keep them in your office to hand out, or is there someplace you can put them where they'll be seen?

My origonal Amish clint was refered to me by an English woman who is also a client of mine.  I had given her a copy of the brosure I had created to look over.  Then when she decided that she wanted an apt I was given directions to her house to meet with her and set one up.  The Amish dont have phones so everything is a little bit more complicated! lol

After the first couple of apointments I asked if she would be comfy recomending me to others.  Haveing a recomendation is almost better then having a credential as far as the Amish community goes.  She said yes so I have her 5 brosures and business cards.

Today I have my second Amish cleint!!!!! I realy hope this works out.

 

[Taylor!]

Just wondering how this is going.

 

[joediaz_1970]

It went very well threw harvist but now it has died off and I no longer have Amish clients. Honestly Im not sure if I will do it agian next year b/c I now have a job at a spa, am doing private pratice at another location and am going to college full time! Can anyone say over doing it? lol :

 

[froggie88]

HandsonHealth,
I found the subject matter of this thread interesting... although we do have some Amish communities in Wisconsin, there are none in my area. But this information may prove useful to others!