I have been wanting to write this article for some time. I have a story to tell you and it doesn’t necessarily have a happy ending BUT the outcome is looking brighter all the time. In January of this year, after 25 years of working at a massage table, I was forced to retire. I had surgery on my left thumb (ouch) because I wore the bone off doing massage. I tease people and tell them I literally worked my fingers to the bone – because that is exactly what I did. Occupational hazard? Yes, mostly, with a little auto-immune stuff thrown in for “fun”. But overall this is one…
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One Small Thing that Can Have Huge Impact on Your Business
After years of trying to figure out how to stay in the “game” of working for myself, I have found that the thing that has the greatest impact on yourself and your business is continuing to learn – every day! I think that there are 3 reasons why training every day or even once a week has a huge impact on your ability to continue to work for yourself: Learning Helps Prevent Burnout Burn out is a real problem in our profession. How do you avoid becoming burned out? You must constantly learn something new to keep the forward progression of yourself and your work. Burn-out is real in many,…
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Why Is It Important to Have Ethics Training?
When I graduated from massage therapy training, I did not really have a clue as to what “Ethics” were. Yes, I understood that when you were in business honesty and integrity were important, but at the time I hadn’t really absorbed the concept of ethics and how far they reached into what I did at work. I was raised in the self-employment world. My father owned his own business for over 40 years and I heard him complain often that the integrity of others in his business world lacked much to be desired. It always amazed and frustrated him, sometimes to the point of legal action, that others in the…
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How to Create a Positive Impact to Your Massage Business EVERY WEEK!
Do you want to increase the number of scheduled clients you have? Do you want to become re-inspired to be self-employed? Are you struggling with moving forward with your business? Do you feel mentally burned out? Having been self-employed for 25 years (and counting), I believe there is one solution for all these feelings and it is very simple. Start investing time in yourself by learning something new. Watch and Learn I like to see what makes people become successful in business and I can tell you that there is a theme that I keep finding every time I start observing their behavioral patterns. Successful business people never stop learning.…
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How to Influence and Win CLIENTS
In today’s blog topic I am going to quote Dale Carnegie’s book “How to Win Friends and Influence People”. I highly recommend this read for anyone starting out in business or needing a refresher on business etiquette and life protocol. This book was written in 1936 – 82 years ago people! What he learned then is the same now when it comes to what people like to feel from someone else. It even defies technology. Mr. Carnegie listed 6 ways to make people like you. Now, “make” doesn’t mean you are going to force people to like you. It’s quite the contrary. These are the attitudes and behaviors that just…
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The 3 Keys to Getting Clients to Reschedule
The 3 Keys to Getting Clients to Reschedule You work hard for each and every client you get to schedule with you for the first time. You try your hardest and do you best work to showcase your skills when that first time client comes to see you. They tell you it was a great massage – and then they don’t reschedule. Why? Was there something you did not do correctly? Did the client want something different and didn’t tell you? What can you do? Ask yourself this question and answer it: Why do you go back to a therapist you like? Or even better yet! What makes you NOT…
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The 3 Causes of Being “Mentally Stuck” in Your Massage Therapy Business
Working for yourself, no matter the career choice, can be mentally challenging. You will go through periods of time where you love your career and business; you are excited for the possibilities every day! Other times you don’t want to get out of bed in the morning and face your “must-do” list. It becomes a HUGE mental chore to just motivate yourself to do things that help you be successful. Having been a massage therapist for 25 years, I understand both of those mental places very well. I have had to learn how to keep myself feeling motivate about my career and at the same time, stop the mental exhaustion…
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Why Massage Therapists Feel They Can’t Raise Their Rates
How Do I Raise My Rates? Let’s say you have been a therapist for 5 years and have worked very hard to create your clientele. Your schedule is full most of the time and feel that you have created a good business for yourself. However, your fees and rates are still the same as they were when you started practicing and you feel like it is now time to start making more money without working more hours. BUT then the “fear” starts to creep in and you are not sure HOW or IF you should raise your rates. Some of the questions that are probably going through your mind right…
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The 3 Problems that Create Low Client Retention
You work hard to get every client you can on your table. It costs money and time to get them there. It is very important that you keep them If you are losing even 10% of your clientele that is too much! How do you enhance your skills so that you keep as many clients as you can? How do you meet the unique expectations of each client to help them enjoy your service so much that they consistently reschedule with you? Honestly, the best way to solve this problem is to look at it from the therapist’s perspective and then the clients’ perspective. Typically, the answers can be found…
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Are You Getting “Burned-Out” Being a Massage Therapist?
The 3 Causes of Physical Burnout in Massage Therapy You LOVE being a massage therapist! BUT…. There comes a time when you are just not sure if you can keep being a massage therapist. Believe me when I say YOU ARE NOT ALONE. Here are some of the questions that might be going through your mind: Am I really going to be able to keep doing massage for the next (fill in the blank) years? I get so tired – how can I keep going? Maybe I should get a real J.O.B. with benefits and a retirement plan… I just can’t seem to make enough money doing massage and doing…
