Monthly Archives: April 2010

Free Webinar: Using Video to Promote Your Practice

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I’m doing a FREE webinar on using video to promote your practice this Wednesday, April 14th at 11am EST (New York/Toronto time).

This is going to be a very informal presentation, but I’ll show you how to use videos to get on the first page of Google. I do it all the time and it’s easier than you can imagine. Even better, you can use free resources to do everything from creating your video to distributing it online. And in this presentation I’ll introduce you to these and show you where to find them on the web.

Why am I doing it for free? I plan to either write a book or create a video course on the subject of video marketing and want to find out what kinds of questions come up for you as you find out more about this powerful strategy.

Watch this little introductory video to get a sense of what we’ll be talking about. (Click the Full Screen button in the bottom right corner to get a better view.)

Register by entering your name and email address below and I’ll send you the access details. I know I said in the video that I’m going to charge for the replay, but I changed my mind. I’ll give you access to the replay for a week at no charge.








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Photofunia

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Link:

http://photofunia.com/

Okay. This is not really extremely useful, but it is extremely fun. My son and I spend hours on this one playing.

This free online service allows you to take a photo you have and create all kinds of amazing effects. You don’t need to know a thing about image manipulation. You don’t need to be a computer genius. Just three mouse clicks is all it takes to instantly transform any photo.

For example, I took this photo:

And turned it into this…

The process to create this really fun image involved three mouse clicks and took less than 30 seconds.

You can put your face or your friends or clients face on a coin, dollar bill, a magazine cover (like Glamour or Esquire), on Mount Rushmore, on a coffee, mug, puzzle, TV screen, art gallery wall, etc. I’ve played with it on my own and with my family.

Here’s just a few of the effects they allow you to create. More inside with additional ones posted regularly.

Imagine sending your client a picture of themselves on a Times Square poster or on the cover of a magazine or even dressed up as superman.
You can use the create pictures of yourself to put up on your website instead of the forgettable ones you currently use, create an avatar for you discussion board posts or include them in client emails as a talking point.

Or you can just have fun.

Call The Lawyers

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

I have been in practice for three years and one the most successful actions I utilized was targeting a specific population.

I was keenly interested in and have a 75% patient load of MVA injuries, knowing full well our Public Auto Insurance provider has good rates for massage therapy benefits for non-fault injury claimants.

I researched and discovered that six lawyers in our area account for 85% of the MVA injury claims.

I put a presentation together with PowerPoint. It outlined relevant studies of the effects of massage therapy on MVA cervical and lumbar injuries. I invited those six lawyers to a dinner and presentation two months in advance. All of them accepted my invitation.

I now have approximately 80% of their clients as patients. And there have been a couple of side benefits: Those patients have really been responsible for a great deal of word of mouth advertising for my practice. Secondly, the doctors of these patients now specifically refer patients directly to my office.

Generously contributed by: Arminder Sidhu, RMT, Vancouver, Canada

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

You Can’t Polish a Turd

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“If it’s not working, you can’t polish a turd”
- Director Lee Unkrich of Monsters Inc. and Finding Nemo by Pixar, on the importance of having a strong storyline and characters. The technological  wizardry can’t save a bad movie.

First Page Listing with Google Local Business Center

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http://maps.google.com/localbusinesscenter

You’ll want to read about this tool for sure because I’m going to show you the easiest way to get found at the top of Google search results even if you don’t have a website… and it’s even free!

I’ve been preaching it for years, but the message becomes more important with each passing month.

The web is replacing traditional advertising media, in particular the Yellow Pages which so many massage practices have relied on in the past.

People are now turning to the Internet to find local products and services… including massage!

Google recognized this trend years ago and has invested hundreds of millions of dollars in local search technology. They want to make sure that they have all local businesses listed in their system so they can provide searchers with the best possible results.

And Google makes it incredibly easy for you to get found by people who are looking for massage in your neighborhood by offering you a free local business listing that gets displayed at the top of their search results.

You can list as much or little information as you want including: your address, hours of operation, payment methods, photos of your storefront or products and even videos. It’s easy and you don’t need a website of your own. (And did I mention that they do this for free?)

How do you get your listing?

It’s easy. Just go to:

http://maps.google.com/localbusinesscenter

If you don’t already have a Google account, you can set one up for free. Then you basically fill in the blanks.

You’ll need to be verified by Google to ensure that you really are the business owner. If you are sitting by your business phone, they can do this right away. Otherwise they’ll send a postcard to the address provided to make sure that you are legit.

I could give you all the details of setting up your listing, but Google has a great video that you can view here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lviDz8fUMTE

One feature that you should absolutely make use of is the coupon feature. Google allows you to create a coupon and will display it prominently near Google Maps. This feature is hardly ever used by businesses, so it’s your chance to be the first on the scene and make an impression. Like your listing, it only takes a couple of minutes to complete.

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Chair Massage For Male Practitioners

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Today’s tip is for male practitioners who feel that because of their gender they are being discriminated against by clients.

Take a look at this finding from a recent chair massage study: While 17.8% preferred female practitioners, 78.8% of the participants had no preference on gender.

Very interesting, isn’t it?

While I don’t think that the findings could be directly applied to table massage, if you really feel that the “being male” issue is interfering with your ability to make a living, then maybe supplementing your income with chair massage is a very viable option.