Business cards

[Nicole C]

Ok I am thinking about putting business cards door-to-door because I feel thats the easiest way to reach people who would otherwise not know I exist. Anyone have thoughts on why this is a good/bad idea?

Also, I'm not sure if this has been discussed many times, but what are your thoughts on giving out 5 or 10 free massage certificates to help get word out? Has anyone done this? What was the outcome?

TIA, Terra

 

[Mikey]

I don't know about the free coupon thing, I think it could go either way, but I'm sure you'll get lots of feedback on it

Agh, I just reread what I typed below: it's pretty negative. :? I don't mean to try to shoot ideas down or rain on parades, but for the sake of honest feedback.. I'll leave what I wrote. t120 P.S., i'm pretty hormonal atm. t096

As for the leaving business cards door-to-door, do you mean knock on doors, or just stick the card in the door for the homeowners to find? I admire you for having the guts to ponder door-to-door advertising I'm uber shy, especially about promoting my business (working on that). However, I get kinda annoyed and/or creeped out by people who advertise at my doorstep personally. actually, I don't know if it's legal in my city.. but the annoyance factor is more an issue with my particular personality. I don't like to be solicited at my home
If you were referring to leaving your card in/on/under doors, that's less annoying perhaps, but it still seems a bit tacky to me. I tend to toss these flyers and things without looking at them. It's right up there with windshield advertising to me. :\ Reserved for tree trimmers, cheap cheap food places and maybe, maybe that brightly-colored spa-nail place that just opened on the corner.

Word of mouth through friends imo and maybe talk to some chiropractors, stylists at upscale hair salons, or corporate office building managers to find places to conspicuously leave your cards.

That said, Welcome to the forum!! :tiphat: This is the best place ever for ideas & knowledge-sharing re: the massage industry (and wellness industry in general).




...& wow, I'm big on smileys today

 

[Danu]

Your milage may vary, but I have found both techniques to not work very well.

With the free massages, I often find that people do not appreciate what they don't pay for. I have given free massage certificates at golf tournaments, raffled them off, given them away, and 9 times out of 10, IF they have come in for a massage they don't rebook. Maybe it is me, and me not being very pushy (kinda like backrubmoster).

With the door to door, knocking on doors may work better than just leaving a card, but people don't always appreciate strangers ringing their door bell, and just leaving a card, it will most likely end up in the recycle bin with the rest of the junk mail.

They say (who they is I don't know) that people need to see your name/logo a minimum of 3 times before they will even consider booking with you, if they are interested. So the door to door might count as your one, but maybe make it something bigger than a business card, maybe a pamphlet or flyer.

What about putting an article in a local small newspaper. They are often looking for general interest articles, often for free, or a smaller fee than the big city newspapers charge. Are there any fundraising events going on for cancer, or MS, or something. Walkathons, marathons, bike events, family events. Volunteer to put up a chair or a table, and give short 5-10-15 minute massages, and bring lots of cards, and brochures, and pamphlets.

Marketing is all about repetition, getting people to recognize you, so that when they are looking for someone, they will pick a name they know rather than one they don't

 

[fradya420]

As an MT I really admire your "go out and get 'em" strategy. As a "regular ole joe" I'm not fond of people coming to my door to solicit. I personally wouldn't mind finding a flyer in my door, I think business cards would be too small and easily lost.

I suggest getting to be buddy buddy with the local business people and go with the word of mouth. I work in a fitness facility and I get a lot of business referred to my by our personal trainers / fittness personel. I was just in a class the other day (getting my butt kicked!) when the instructor who is a regular client of mine told the entire class who I was and how I helped her out with a problem last year. Then she had me wave so EVERYONE would know who I was!!! Nice!

Have you thought of coming up with a really good referral program for your existing clients? Something that would reward the new client as well as the referring client?

Steph!

 

[herblaura]

Well I don't have even 1 client yet. I have all my friends and family trying to help market, but it has been 2 months and $500 and not one client so far. I pretty much knew starting out that it was going to be slow and alot of work so I just keep pushing forward.

As for the business card on doors, I just leave them on their door/screen I don't ring the doorbell or anything like that. It would take forever if I did that plus it's really annoying. I don't care for it either when people leave them on my door but 99.9% of the time they are black and white cards and they are landscapers or pool services. I'm hoping since my cards are nicely done, and it's not the same old service, that people might take notice and not just throw them away. If I don't have hope what do I have?

 

[Amanda P]

I don't know whether the strategy will bring in a ton of clients, but I do sympathize with the 2-months-no-clients situation! Hang in there, advertise what you do best, go to a Chamber of Commerce meet-&-greet (especially if they offer 1 or 2 free before you join), there are more techniques to try but most of all don't give up! We are here for you and there are about a billion good ideas in this forum. t056

 

[tron]

Hi Terra Stone,

I am in a similar boat to you. I recently started marketing and have given a total of four massages now as a result of my efforts. One client was a repeat.

Here's what I did for my Mobile Massage:

Put a flyer up in the workout room at my apartment complex for a deep discount. - I worked one one lady because of that, but I actually talked to her about a month before while we were working out. So she was looking for that flyer to go up.

I made 200 brochures and put them in bags that go on door handles. I went to a few areas near where I live and put them on the doors. This was about a month ago. ZERO responce.

Created my website through ABMP and put ads on Craig's List, Massageanywhere, and massageangels. I have had calls from all three sources. All of the ads give a link to my website. It's only been about 3 weeks, but hey I have given 3 massages from it and it's a start.

I do discounts for 1st timers, but no freebies.

Good luck to you. My husband encourages me that it will start out slow then eventually I will have to many too work with

 

[Cee]

Rather than going to houses to distribute your business cards, how about giving them out at your local businesses? Perhaps going to local lunch hang-outs and hand them out then? That would be less invasive than going to people's homes and would probably be easier to do.

Angie

 

[BEAUTY QUEEN]

Hey Terra-Stone,

Welcome to the forum! I agree with the others. I think leaving business cards on doorsteps would be a waste of time & resources. Here's a link to a thread that discusses more effective business card promotion ideas:
http://www.massageplanet.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=9244

Regarding response to free massage certificates, opinions vary. Pueppi has an interesting perspective (quoted from another thread):

I do offer $ Off GC's intermittently - ususally this is with some study I am doing or because I want to get out and meet more people in my area. What I have noticed with these is I can hand out thousands (literally) along with brochures. I meet some nice people and usually about 10 GC's will show back up in the office and of those I'll get about 3 really great clients. And, when I say really great, I mean really great. It is a lot of work, but I wouldn't give those clients up. They've been great assets (they have all been the kind of people you are really happy seeing walk through the door - so very worth the effort) to the office and most likely, I wouldn't have met them any other way.

Here's a link to a thread on brochures. I think they're FAR more effective than business cards, for getting the word out about your massage practice:
http://www.massageplanet.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=9322

You said it's been two months, and you've spent $500, but so far haven't gained any clients. Can you tell us what you've already tried?

Rocky Mountains mentioned website promotion. It's a great idea, and really inexpensive marketing. Two options are Godaddy.com (if you're comfortable designing your own website) or Spaboom.com (if you want them to design it for you at a reasonable price.

Lastly, spend a few hours reading this marketing forum. There are tons of ideas here. For starters, here's a good thread called "Creative (low cost) Marketing Ideas":
http://www.massageplanet.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=7119

 

[No longer waiting!]

I have read most of the post here skimmed the rest but I think I understand what you are trying to accomplish. And that is Business. You will want to check in your area and see if solicitation is against the law or prohibited in certain areas. If so then your putting business cards on doors is considered solicitation. Just be careful.

If you are in a community with a homeowners association or an apartment complex they usually have a newsletter that they put out on a monthly basis. Most of the time for a nominal fee, sometimes free if you work out something on a barter with the office manager for a massage or two you can put an article about yourself and massage that you offer. That way it would be delivered by the company automatically once a month to every homeowner/tenant. It's a fairly cheap way to get a piece of advertisement out to a great deal of people. and you really only have to put out a small amount of money if any. Like I said most times you can work out a barter with the manager.

Also check out the local hair salons that do not offer massage services. Most times they will allow you to put out your business cards or a flyer or two to help you advertise. Especially if you are in a small town/area. This works great for word of mouth.

I have to agree with the statement that people don't always appreciate what they don't pay for. Be careful how many you give away for free. It's great to volunteer at fund raisers for various charity functions and things of that nature but when it comes to just giving away massage that's a whole new ball of wax.

Hope this helps a little bit. Good luck to you and welcome to the forums.

 

[2 days left !]

If you are in a community with a homeowners association or an apartment complex they usually have a newsletter that they put out on a monthly basis. Most of the time for a nominal fee, sometimes free if you work out something on a barter with the office manager for a massage or two you can put an article about yourself and massage that you offer. That way it would be delivered by the company automatically once a month to every homeowner/tenant. It's a fairly cheap way to get a piece of advertisement out to a great deal of people. and you really only have to put out a small amount of money if any. Like I said most times you can work out a barter with the manager.

Having had family members who have been resident managers for apartment complexes for years, none of which had a regular monthly newsletter. I'd suggest a variation on this... one that would probably take a lot less time but would still involve a certain amount of "schmoozing" with the office manager...
Think about everybody moving in and moving out of these apartment complexes. Lifting heavy boxes and bulky furniture... why not see if you can come up with a brochure, and perhaps some sort of inexpensive promotional product... so that those moving in or moving out will automatically think of your business when their back goes into spasm! :
"Yeah who is that MT who gave me that nice letter opener and welcomed me to the community? Now, I need her!"
Resident manager's jobs can be stressful, so out of courtesy, I'd try to contact them in the middle of the month. The last few days and first few days of the month can be stressful with people moving in and out.
You might want to consider local moving companies as well.

 

[ladycoltsfan]

Another idea, something I've been thinkin about......4H. When I was younger and involved with 4H (showing horses) each class was sponsered by a business. When the placement was called at the end of each class the anouncer said something like "This class was sponsered by Blah Blah Blah" and they would award the winners with ribbons.

I haven't researched this idea yet....sorry, just thinkin out loud. What I do know, from my experience with 4H, is that parents are HEAVILY involved. Might be a great way to get your name out into your community. Like I said just an idea and 4H season is on it's way.

Steph!

 

[Edwina Monsoon]

Nice thread.

OK, I am gonna do my best to get my rear in gear and type up what I found with my handing out certificates, brchures and cards --- this next week. I've accomplished a number of large tasks in the past two months and will get a breather here pretty soon.

I will be sending you a PM Terra_Stone, with a few other details on the following original door to door (housese/apartments/condos):

On my original experience (1996), when I got a wild hair to do something like this - I handed out 500+ color postcards introducing my new location (I had moved), and got zero known return from it. However, it did make me feel like I did something to at least try and promote myself and in the end, I got a much better feel for the neighborhood. Both good things in a general way, though I don't know that I generated any clients. Another however --- You never know who may have eventually come in years down the road though, because they saw that first post card. It's hard to say, because on occasion, you do have clients who say: "I looked for you on the internet, your name looked familiar or, I think I know you from somewhere".

All in all, I don't think door to door (houses/apartments/condos) is a problem, but you most likely will not get a large flock of people coming in.

I am in something like the 5th largest city in the US though, so, I am working under a different set of logisitics than smaller towns.

As for my most recent extravaganzas this past year or so, Bliss quoted the summary. Not a lot of quantity for a lot of leg work, but it has paid off in spades with the quality, plus some very beneficial barters and kind referrals to other people who would have never known I existed.


There is a lot of leg work that can be done now, while you aren't busy. If you don't have to hold down another job, this is the time to get after it.

I also, suggest you take this time to start making general lists of names, addressed and phone numbers of people you may wish to contact in the future. Family docs, neurologists, orthos, other MT's, chiros, naturopaths, acupuncturists, PT's, reflexologists, realtors --- anyone who may end up in your hoped for network of people. It takes a LOT of time to build up good lists, and it is something I just got around to (but if you have time due to not so many clients, it's a worthy effort to consider now).

The lists I am currently preparing come from the internet based phone books (verizon, superpages, etc.), or other sources I have in teh office. I am slowly sending letters about my practice to all of them. I do it in waves and groups of people. Again, no referrals yet, but I think it makes sense to get your name out there. It is something to consider, though it may not generate tons of business, as if you find one or two great people who refer, you can generate a small base just from those few people.

Breathe mentioned the other day (on another thread) she has about three or four professionals who refer to her and she stays busy with this.

I have one MD who refers clients to me and it is another wonderful source as the clients that come from her are great people, and understand the benefit they recieve. I don't have to do much more than provide excellent care and a warm smile for these folks. It is a win-win for everyone involved. Meeting this MD was a bit of an accidental happening, as were most of my awesome clients. So, I never want to say an idea for marketing is a bad one.

Sometimes you do a lot of work and then run across that one jewel and that jewel is another piece of your practice you love.

I love our clients. It's rare we get a bad apple (so to say). Our clients respect us, our time and our work. When we have one that doesn't - then we have to let them go. But, overall we've been quite blessed over the years with just some absolutely wonderful people. --- I am rambling --- sorry.

So, don't get discouraged. If you feel like it's worth it, then it probably is, even if you don't see immediate results.

I think the main thing is being aware that your time may be spent in other areas that will bring higher returns. But, if you don't have those options for some reason, or have other thoughts of how the door to door will benefit you, then go for it.

 

[lu_dicrous]

Thanks to everyone for the great advice. It gives me alot to think about. I only ended up putting out about 30 business cards because I hate to waste them knowing most likely no one will respond.

The $500 wasn't really all marketing it also included some supplies but it was alot for me. I was just hoping to have at least 1 or 2 clients by now but oh well...

Ok I like the advice of getting Chiros and Dr's and others to give referrals but my question is how to I have that conversation? Like if they don't really know me or my massage then why would they refer to me? Any ideas of how that conversation should go? Should I offer to help them out?

 

[WinonaGal]

Ok I like the advice of getting Chiros and Dr's and others to give referrals but my question is how to I have that conversation? Like if they don't really know me or my massage then why would they refer to me? Any ideas of how that conversation should go? Should I offer to help them out?

Before asking a doctor to promote you, offer to give them a free massage. When you go into the office simply state that you are a new therapist in the area and would like to get to introduce your services to them. Ask them if they already refer to a therapist. Ask them if they refer often. Remind them of the benefits of massage and how well it compliments chiro or whatever kind of doctors office you are in. Be friendly, put a smile in your heart that shines through your eyes and be genuine. Once they meet you and experience how wonderful your work is, they will be more than happy to refer clients.

Make referring easy. On the back of your business card, have printed directions to your office with hours of operation or create perscription pads with your name and information on the top so that the doctor can just sign the perscription and send the client on their way to see you.....

These are just some suggestions which I'm sure others have posted elsewhere?????? Hope it helps

 

[so.moon]

I would also suggest doing a free workshop at your local library. Pick a topic that's catchy - "Stress driving you crazy? 10 ways to decrease stress" or "Are you making these 5 mistakes at the gym" - basically a topic that you feel you can share with confidence. I would avoid a topic like "how massage can help you live a better life" or "how massage can decrease pain" - too general and generic.

Don't have your topic be all about massage, looks too much like you're just there to promote yourself. Focus on providing people with quality information, of which massage can be a part of.

Make your workshop topic specific and problem oriented.

Post fliers announcing it at your library, health food stores, doctors, chiropractors, psychotherapists, etc. - "wanted to let you know about this free workshop designed to give people tools to manage stress"

At the actual workshop you must have a way to follow-up. People need a reason to give you their contact information - usually more than "would you like to join my mailing list" - what's in it for them? Have notes, or a follow-up article and let people know that if they would like it you're happy to email/mail it to them and will need their contact info to be able to do that.

Email is definitely the easiest method and lends itself nicely to a newsletter. If you plan on sending out a newsletter make sure to be up front and let them know "with this information you'll receive the article I promised as well as my newsletter filled with more tips on how to manage stress in your life that comes once a month" (or however frequently/whatever topic).

The purpose of the workshop is:
a) you provide people with quality, helpful information that makes a positive change in their life
b) they get to know you and you start to develop likeability and trust - both essential factors for your business
c) you gather contact information from people who are interested in learning more and have a way to stay in touch with people who are interested enough to sign up (this won't be everybody, you're weeding out tire kickers from those that are truly interested)

People get to know you and they like you and they're perhaps interested in scheduling but they forget. You need to be able to maintain a relationship with them in some way. You need to be able to stand out from the crowd.

That's why a business card under the door rarely works. We're in a business that depends upon relationships. If people don't know you or haven't heard something about you from someone they trust, they're highly unlikely to be willing to get naked on your table no matter how good a therapist you are.

Hope this helps! Best of luck to you!

Lisa