Marketing Companies?

[Taboohunter]

Hi everyone:

I asked this question in the introduce yourself forum but it probably applies better here.

I am thinking of trying to make a living at massage and want a plan before opening doors. I have worked for a chiropractor for a short time but am not too happy with $15 hour and the other busy work. I'd rather be out there selling my services somehow.

My chiropractor has marketing seminars that he attends and they talk about marketing your practice some time in advance. He didn't share to much of it with me.

Are there any massage marketing/consulting companies that do similar things?

Terry

 

[Another Massage Therapist]

Have you considered purchasing a mailing list? Try this one,

infousa dot com

 

[carmencita120]

This month's Massage Therapy Journal had an excellent article on this, and I highly recommend it.

Start by learning about how to set up and run a business. The nuts and bolts are critical, and will kill you if you don't understand them in advance.

Absolutely do NOT start with a mailing list, as you will waste your money if you don't already have everything else you need in place. Besides, mailings are relatively expensive and need to be well targeted in order to achieve a 2% or better response.

Understand also that running a business is much harder than working for someone else. It takes a ton of extra time, and your hourly wage will drop considerably lower than $15 until you get a regular clientele built up.

Keep working on people and build your skills and reputation as you learn about running a business and make the necessary preparations. When you are truly ready (and not just frustrated), you will be in a far better position to make a go of it.

If you decide not to put in the effort to prepare well (and no shame, 'cause it's TOUGH), you could just look for another position that pays better.

 

[Wooster Rooster]

When you are truly ready (and not just frustrated), you will be in a far better position to make a go of it.

If you decide not to put in the effort to prepare well (and no shame, 'cause it's TOUGH), you could just look for another position that pays better.

Best advice I have seen here in ages.

Assuming your work is FT, $15 an hour for showing up and doing the work is not a bad deal. You might think $30K a year is nothing to write home about, but you are free to pursue private clients on your evenings and weekends. 1 a week means a 10% increase in our income.

If you do the math on keep working FT and doing 1, 2 or 3 private clients a week vs. what you would have to do in your own practice, paying rent, etc, etc and you will see just how big a challenge it is to be successful in your own business. And rent is just half the battle!

 

[staff6]

Relax&Rej:

Maybe I am being naive, but I think that there are a lot of opportunities out there for MT's. $15/hour is ok but it doesn't equate to 40 hours/week in most situations.

I do believe that the massage franchises will make it quite important for a MT to have some sort of solid business plan to compete with these places.

I did some internet searching this morning and all I see for "marketing" is a bunch of pre-packaged stuff on the web.

I really don't like the idea of giving 1/2 massages away as some of these marketers suggest.

 

[Alicia Renee]

If your efforts at finding a marketing company have not panned out, I would recommend the book Business Mastery by business coach Cherie M. Sohnen-Moe, a semi-retired massage therapist. 800-786-4774; they also have a website and do workshops.

Even if you have found a marketing company, this book is a valuable resource.

 

[Da Cute Dude]

Maybe I am being naive, but I think that there are a lot of opportunities out there for MT's. $15/hour is ok but it doesn't equate to 40 hours/week in most situations.

I think R&R was using those numbers to show you the potential of someone making $15/hour FT, and what the increase could be with private clients on the side. There are some jobs that might pay $15/hour for 40 hours. That doesn't mean you are seeing 40 clients in a week. The 40 hours could include other duties as an employee of the business. (Just my interpretation of R&R's post)

There are lots of opportunities out there for MTs. But you need to weigh in factors that R&R and Jason mention. Because of expenses, at first, you may be making $15/hour or less. Let me show some numbers. There are obviously many variables involved. I just want to get you thinking ...

If currently you are working 30 hours per week, you are grossing $450/week; 1800/month; $22500/year (based on 50 weeks for time off). Of course this does not account for taxes being taken out.

In private practice at an hourly rate of $60/hour you would need to see 30 clients per month to match the $1800 from your current job. (Again no taxes removed.) Not bad, 8 clients per week; If you have the initial demand of 30 clients per month. But what if it's only 20 clients the first month or two?

20 clients @ $60/hour = $1200/month. Now you are making less and haven't even factored in expenses.

If your expenses average $1000/month:
20 clients = $200/month (before taxes)
30 clients = $800/month (before taxes)

To make the $1800/month that you are currently making, you would need to see 47 clients/month (about 12 per week). Again, 12 per week is a very easy work load. But how long will it be for you to get to 47 clients/month to equal what you are making now? And the 47 clients may fluctuate from month to month. Unlike the guaranteed $15/hour, $1800/month from the D.C.

Also factor in any benefits you get from the D.C.. Remember that your tax rate will be higher as self-employed (even after writing off expenses). And you will have all the added tasks associated with running your own business.

I am not trying to talk you out of anything. I am self-employed and love it. I had years of invaluable, fantastic training in customer service, management, and how to successfully run multi-million dollar stores with staff of up to 200 employees. My parents have run their own business since before I was born. My life experiences led me to be a successful self-employed therapist. But it's not for everyone. You need to consider all aspects of running your own business, because it all falls on your shoulders.

How quickly can you bring in a consistent 47 clients/month? And how quickly can you increase that to 60, 70, 80 clients per month to really bring in more than what you make now? As I previously mentioned, there are many variables you need to factor in ...

How much do you want to make? How much do you have to make? How much are your monthly expenses, including taxes? How much can you charge per hour in your area for your services? Do you want to work alone? Etc, etc ... I could go on.

This turned out to be a more lengthy response than I intended. But, I went into private practice right out of school, and for about a year and a half made just over what my monthly expenses were. Then I took a job as a spa manager to have a more stable income and grow my skills and client base. (I was allowed to market to anyone I had seen at the spa if I ever left. A clause I negotiated based on my management experience.) After 2 years at the spa, I left to go back into private practice. It still has it's ups and downs. So, I'm advising you to just be prepared.

I really don't like the idea of giving 1/2 massages away as some of these marketers suggest.

I have used this marketing strategy. I still occasionally throw it back into the mix when I need a new inflow of clients or during slow months. The idea behind it is that if you are sitting around with time on your hands and no clients, why not get people in on your table to experience your work. There is also an aspect of the strategy that does get you income for that massage. While it's not your full fee, it is something for your time. And wouldn't you rather have the opportunity to have a new client on your table to impress and make a regular client (read as a $720/year potential) rather than sitting around with no work waiting for clients to find you?

It is an extreme strategy and doesn't work for everyone. But I have had success with it and will continue to use it to bring in new business until I am solidly booked a month or two in advance.


Wow that was lengthy. :shock: I hope it all makes sense as I have to run and can't re-read it right now. I look forward to more discussion.

 

[LadyrootFiX]

Brian:

Thank you very much for your input and experience. I just think with the right direction (marketing) a person can get to an income level that is satisfactory for a MT.

I have had the opportunity to spend a lot of time with the chiropractor that I have worked with and learned a bit about the marketing direction he is using in his office now.

From what I gather from him it is all about creating value with your care and not giving services away, he is pretty excited about the new direction he has taken. He told me that giving services away can be short term gain, but then this method has the chance to come back to bite you in the butt in the long run. My chiropractor thinks that the "giving it all away" philosophy is ruining the DC profession and I tend to agree.

Many of his "free massage" patients never seemed to stick around for any length of time. I think if you start getting used to giving services away, you will always be competing with the massage franchises that are starting to pop up here and there. It is the whole devaluing your care mantra is what he is telling me.

I understand the whole concept of overhead and such, but the chiropractor I worked for was not looking for a 40 hour/week employee. I think he pays his non-MT employee about $10 of $11 per week for her duties in the office. I don't want to have anything to do with dealing with the insurance paperwork she has to deal with, that stuff is crazy.

TL

 

[McWolf]

Hi tlmassage,

You can definitely make a living as a massage therapist in private practice. You are already one step ahead of most new massage therapists, because you seem excited about the idea of marketing & are willing to put time & effort into that aspect of the business.

First off, have you read through the MassagePlanetL threads in this section? There are tons of great ideas, and generally it's trial & error. What works for one doesn't work for another. However, if you're willing to market in different ways every week, you'll find the things that work best for you.

Here are a few great threads to review:

Creative (low cost) marketing ideas
http://www.massageplanet.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=7119

What worked/what didn't work
http://www.massageplanet.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=7631

 

[Wott Wott]

I just think with the right direction (marketing) a person can get to an income level that is satisfactory for a MT.

I absolutely agree and apologize if my post stated otherwise. I just wanted to help you see clearly where you need to be to make what you are making now and then where you need to be to increase your income to a "satisfactory" level. ("Satisfactory being different for every person.)

Some people just look at the $15/hour and think "I could make $60/hour working for myself." But then they don't really think about all the expenses involved.

Yes, it can be done. I just hope to help people see what it takes to get there.