Monthly Archives: April 2010

Bringing Massage to the Clubs

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Here’s another tip from one of the Massage Marketing Tips subscribers…

After working at a chiropractic clinic for a year I decided to go out on my own with my massage business. I knew business would be slow at first and that I would have to work hard to build up my client base.

What I noticed in my first couple of months was that I always got the best response (meaning the most appointments) by marketing with my hands. Nothing works to get people to schedule a massage like actually getting my hands on them and letting them experience my work.

One day, one of my clients who is a golfer mentioned to me that he wished I could be at his golf tournament that weekend to help loosen him up before he teed off. I asked him if other people at his country club might be interested in that as well. He believed they would be so he gave me the name and number of the club manager.

I called and introduced myself as a massage therapist who has had some experience working on golfers and I let him know I was interested in offering my services at the club that weekend for their tournament at no cost to the club. He jumped at the opportunity and had me set up right there on the green.

On the day of the tournament I had a sign reading “massage 1$ per minute”. The results were fantastic. I was busier than I could manage. I had my cards out and people were picking them up as they went by and wanting to schedule a massage for later that week. At the end of the day I made $400, had three massages scheduled and scheduled three more the following day. And even now three months after this first tournament I get phone calls from people I worked on there.

I had such great success at that first club that I decided to try other clubs in my area. Since I had already done it once I knew what to say and how to promote it. I’ve gotten at least three regular clients with each tournament I’ve done. Each tournament has been fun, different, and I’ve been able to get my hands on people to build my practice!

Generously contributed by: Anonymous contributor

This massage business tip originally appeared in the 260 Tips to Build Your Massage Business e-course at BodyworkBiz.

Building Credibility With Current Clients

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Here’s another tip from one of the Massage Marketing Tips subscribers…

I currently have an ongoing binder with all the things that I have done in the past. It is my personal portfolio, if you like, of articles I have written in newspapers and pictures of myself in newspapers, whether it’s from an event or an advertisement I have done. The binder also contains thank-you letters that I’ve received from corporations where I have done presentations, along with cards and emails from existing clients. So my clients have the opportunity to see what I am about.

When I introduced hot stone massage, I had the clients write a comment about their first experience so it too could be included in my ongoing book. The book is accessible to my clients. It’s in my massage room, on a table for them to read.

Generously contributed by: Elaine McArthur RMT

This massage business tip originally appeared in the 260 Tips to Build Your Massage Business e-course at BodyworkBiz.

Ain’t got no money

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According to the latest study here in Ontario, Canada, the average massage therapist makes about $22,000 per year. That works out to $11 per hour. The minimum wage in this province is $10.50.

US surveys come up with approximately the same number: Just over $20,000 per year. That’s the average massage therapist income.

Some franchises pay therapists $15 per hour plus tips, plus benefits, plus bonuses, along with other perks – all without the risk or hassle of owning and managing your own business.

What does that mean in terms of annual income?

If we are to take Massage Envy as an example, the average annual income for a full-time therapist ranges from about $32,000 to $39,000.

So why is it that massage therapists are so against the development of franchises?

An update on Video Marketing Webinar

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I’m keeping the video marketing webinar replay available for a couple more days. You can find the link to it on my blog which you’ll find here:

Video marketing webinar replay

You’ll also find links to a dozen or more online resources, many free or low cost, to help you get found on the top of Google using this strategy.

Here’s an interesting update…

Since I did the webinar last week, things have got even better for Concord Massage Therapist, Lisa Wisen. One of the videos that I uploaded as part of this demonstration was ranked in the number one spot in Google.

Yesterday, I did a search for “massage concord” and I see that two instances of the video are now appearing as thumbnails on the first page of Google. That’s fantastic!

It now looks like this…

These are some of the most clicked links on a search results page and Lisa will definitely benefit from that exposure.

If you want to get found on the first page of Google using short, easy to make videos, watch the webinar replay now.

Another free resource…

How Do I Get My Local Business Website Found By LOCAL Customers?

Google wants to help you get found in search results. That’s why they’ve created the GOOGLE LOCAL portion of their search marketing business and are investing heavily into the local search market.

You can get local visitors to your site, but that you can dominate your local competition in the search engines. I’ve given shared various strategies with you in the past regarding this and the video marketing approach is a powerful one.

David Frey who hosted the Referral Masters Telesummit earlier this year is doing another telesummit on web marketing and he has as a guest a local search marketing expert named Brian Combs who will be sharing his strategies such as:

* How you can dominate your local search engine traffic with 3 simple tweaks to your website
* The key factors to getting your listing on Google Local
* A tried-and-true strategy to getting your business in front of your local consumers overnight

This is basic stuff for me, but it may be very eye-opening for you. You can listen to the broadcast for free today only: “How Local Businesses Can Dominate Their Local Web Listings And Be Found By Their Most Wanted Clients Through Simple But Extremely Powerful Search Engine Optimization Tactics”

Register at…

http://tinyurl.com/free-web-telesummit

No TV Day…

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Americans spend nine times as many minutes watching TV or movies as they do on sports, exercise and all other leisure-time physical activities combined, according to a sobering new analysis by researchers at the University of California, Berkeley.

People spend 4 hours per day, 28 hours per week or 2 months per year watching TV.

How much could you accomplish if you were given two extra months of free time every year?

Time to get out of the recliner people!

Socialize, exercise, be productive.

Reply to this post if you are committed to having a no-TV day today.

Video Marketing Webinar Replay Available…

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The webinar replay will be available for about a week. No cost. Get more info about the event and what you’ll learn here:

Free Video Marketing Webinar Replay

Here’s the first comment to come in after the broadcast…

Thank you so much for the Webinar on making videos. This was fantastic! I have been looking for another way to market my business. It seems that to stay ahead of the pack you must always look for something new. Tthis is it – making a video. Thank you for sharing. I am very excited about putting a video together. I guess I’ve been reluctant because I don’t look like a celebrity and wondered how the general public reacts to every day people. I guess we’ll try it and find out. Thank you again – much appreciated. That was one hour well spent.
Gail Russo, LMBT, Cary, North Carolina

Here are some links from sites I mentioned throughout the broadcast:

The Power of Video for Marketing Your Business

Thanks for attending the webinar. We looked at lots of great information for getting your business found online and getting new customers.

You saw how I was able to get videos at the top of Google search results for not just my businesses, but for any massage practice. I uploaded a video for a therapist two weeks ago and within 24 hours she got a page one result. It’s not that hard and I outline exactly how you can do it.

Here is the video that I produced for her. It took me about an hour using one of the web services mentioned below:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1jSOn7TuG4w

Here you can see the video has a number 1 position in search results out of 639,000 competing pages and the video was uploaded less than two weeks before this screen shot was taken:



For more marketing info, be sure to sign up for the Marketing Tips newsletter at
http://www.bodyworkbiz.com

Also more info at my blog:
http://eric.bodyworkbiz.com

Subscribe to my YouTube Channel at:
http://www.youtube.com/user/bodyworkbiz

Free website building video course:
http://www.spiffydiywebsites.com/

My son’s site. He was 10 years old when he built his site using the instructions in the video course:
http://www.seththechef.com

Free website creation tool used above. No catches or strings. Completely free and your website is hosted for free. Super easy to use:
http://www.bodyworkbiz.com/freewebsite

Flip Video is the camera that I normally use. It’s super easy: An on/off button and zoom button and that’s it. It plugs directly into your computer and the software is in the camera. And it’s very affordable:
http://www.theflip.com/

Edit in Windows MovieMaker, a free program that comes installed with Windows. It is simple to use and has a very short learning curve. (Mac users have iMovie.) Example of video edited with MovieMaker to get a sense of possibilities (World Massage Conference):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NKiNG2G_pAc

Online video creation services:

Animoto for Business. Nice looking videos. Some stock images, video and music. $249 per year or $99 for 3 months: http://animoto.com/business

SpotMixer. 30 to 90 second commercials. Some stock images and video. $79 to download your completed video: http://www.spotmixer.com

This video was made with SpotMixer (I did a small edit in MovieMaker):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1jSOn7TuG4w

Jing Pro: Does screen capture and combined webcam/screencapture. Can download MPEG files. $14.95 per year: http://www.jingproject.com/pro/

Have someone do it for you. Prices usually range from $500 to $5,000. Best and lowest cost service I’ve seen on the web is iFlashVideo. Professional 60 second videos for only $49 per month. Write the text for your commercial and they will put it together with images, video, music and voiceover. They open up for membership on an occasional basis and you have to lock in your subscription.

http://zi.ma/iflashvideo

Important Note: iFlashvideo is an unbelievable bargain. You will not find this kind of production value for so little anywhere. I signed up as a subscriber when they first opened their doors. They are open for new members for just four days. Check it out and if you are in the least bit interested in video marketing sign up right away before it closes. Sign up is not open from the main site, go here:

http://zi.ma/iflashvideo

Once you have your video produced you must upload to as many video sharing sites as possible. You can automate the process to a certain extent with distribution services.

Free distribution service: Tube Mogul distributes to a limited number of video sharing sites
http://www.tubemogul.com

Paid service: Traffic Geyser is the crème de la crème of video distribution services. I subscribe to this service. Will upload to about 20 sites and will upload audio to podcasting sites. At $99 it’s a little pricey, but if you are going to do video marketing in a bigger way it is certainly a worthwhile investment.
http://www.trafficgeyser.com

I will be developing some web marketing services and courses in the future and will eventually do an expanded version of this Video Marketing strategy. Be sure to sign up for the Marketing Tips newsletter to get updates on these:

http://bodyworkbiz.com/newsletter.php

Bulletin Boards: An Effective Way To Advertise For Free

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Here’s another tip from one of the Massage Marketing Tips subscribers…

I keep coupons and business cards on the bulletin boards in all of the local health food and natural grocery stores. I do the same in coffee shops, as well as the hospital and clinic employee mail or lounge areas.

This does not cost anything and I get a number of calls from this each week. This method represents about 40% of my new clients!

Just be sure to check these areas every week or so to replenish your cards and ads.

Generously contributed by: Mary Axelrod, Certified Reflexologist

This massage business tip originally appeared in the 260 Tips to Build Your Massage Business e-course at BodyworkBiz.