Mobile Reflexology

[Froggies angel]

Hi, My sister has just recently qualified as a reflexologist and is looking at setting up initially as a mobile reflexologist. However, I am a little worried for her even though she will be visiting and treating female only clients.

Has anyone had any bad experiences? Is it safe to visit clients in their home (female only)?How many clients do you get per week or month as a mobile reflexologist?How many months did it take of advertising before you got any clients? Initially how many clients did you get per week?Where did you advertise?Is it better to specialise (fertility or pregnancy) in order to gain more clients?How much do you charge per session? My sister is looking at charging £25. Is that too low? (based in the north-west)Thank you in advance

 

[SandraAmore]

Recommend that your sister goes to the following Forum http://www.massageplanet.net/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=26 and spend a few hours/days going through some of the threads - you could try putting 'setting up mobile' as a Search and see if anything specific comes up. This topic has been discussed a lot on HP.
From personal experience I can answer the following:
1. No - never had a bad experience and I do not discriminate between male or female. Many years ago, I had a couple of people look surprised when they answered the door - they had forgotten the appointment. Also, 3 times (over 30 years, so not so bad) I have got to a client only to find they had gone out!!!
2. When I first started out, I only had around 5 clients in a week. I also worked part-time, which I did for around 5 years, as I still had bills to pay. Nowadays, I do other stuff and maybe only a couple of reflexology treatments in a week - I have, on average, 5 clients per day, including every other weekend (sat & sun!).
3. Advertising was a let down. Newspaper advertising (remember, this was 1978) was more trouble than it was worth - eventually, it was word of mouth, and giving talks at local clubs that got the word out! Nowadays, it appears to be websites that really do the best job. (Ironic really that I don't have one, as my OH is a website manager/designer!!!)
4. As mentioned in 3 - newspapers were useless, as were flyers. I had around 1000 leaflets printed, which were left in healthfood shops etc. I think they probably ended up in a bin somewhere.
5. Specialism is a good idea, but use it as an 'add-on' - I know that several HP'ers are maternity/fertility reflexology 'specialists', so hopefully they will have some ideas for you too.
6. As for fees. Check local therapists to see how much they charge. Charge the same, or slightly more (remember that travel/set up time has to be incorporated). If your sister is only doing mobile work, she must cover her travel costs. Set a treatment fee, then add mileage (I add 40p per mile). Or, advertise a specific price which has taken into account travel/set up etc. So, if she was thinking of £25 for a session, but recieved a booking for someone 8 miles away - add around £5 for travel, making home visits £30. Always encourage a multiple booking - that way you could offer an incentive - book (and pay for!) 4 sessions, get 5th treatment reduced by 10%. I have never offered free treatments for home visits, but do the occasional discount - such as for birthdays!

 

[Jarhead]

Thanks Jabba, interesting read . Did you find it hard to find clients intially?

Are there any mobile fertility/pregnancy reflexologists that would like to give their input as well?

Thanks in Advance.

 

[connie_jon]

As Jabba has posted above, the Business & Marketing forum is the place for aspects of your query such as advertising.

For safety for therapists, take a look at this 'sticky' thread at the top of General Therapies:

http://www.massageplanet.net/forum/showthread.php?t=38788

For pregnancy reflexology, if you go to the Reflexololgy forum main page:

http://www.massageplanet.net/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=74

there's a 'Search this forum' tab, top right. Click on it and type pregnancy reflexology into the box, and you will get a list of former threads on the subject.

HTH

Holistic