How to Make Money as a Massage Therapist
A successful massage therapy practice requires you to become aware of what and where you want to be. Begin with visualization—write a paragraph that describes your ideal week, “I have 18 clients a week in my appointment book, each for a one-hour session. My clients value health awareness and what my massage therapy can do for their health. I have one new potential client calling weekly to inquire about my services.” Write another paragraph that outlines your definition of success.
Determine your client target markets and develop your business plan; review it weekly.
Assess where you are now in relation to where you would like to be, in terms of how many clients you see daily, weekly and monthly. Determine how many clients you need to see to become prosperous. Target clients that can afford to pay you what you need to make to earn a successful living. Pinpoint what solutions you offer to your clients and what benefits they receive from massage therapy.
Stay in close contact with your client base. Confirm appointments and call clients the day after their session to see if their health condition has improved. Send clients thank you notes, birthday and holiday cards and occasional discount certificates for services.
Improve your massage therapy practice website by making it more comprehensive. Your website should contain basic practice information, education, newsletter, gift certificate, and downloadable brochure pages while driving highly targeted traffic to your site. Site visitors should be able to subscribe to your newsletter.
Develop a client marketing kit that includes information about treatment costs, educational articles, cancellation and payment policies, your business card, and brochures. Make certain your kit clearly communicates who you are and what you do. Ask your clients for testimonials for your site and for brochures and flyers.
Do competitive market research about other massage therapists in your city. Contact them and request information about their services.
Develop a community referral network for your business by contacting practitioners and health-related businesses in the area and requesting mutual referrals. MD’s, orthopedic physicians, physical therapists, chiropractors, acupuncture physicians, homeopaths, naturopaths, health clubs, and yoga studios, among others are often willing to provide referrals.
Give free consultations.
Run holiday promotions emphasizing gift certificate sales.
Build your practice using free chair massage events. Have your business cards, newsletters, flyers, gift certificates, and your appointment book with you. Have a sign up list for your newsletter. Everyone is a potential client.
For information about Acupuncture & Massage College’s Oriental Medicine and Massage Therapy programs call Joe Calareso, Admissions Director, at (305) 595-9500.
How much does a massage unit cost? Do you think it´s possible to earn much money with it?
Great article on massage therapy. I think that this is a great profession!
Great Post!
Making money is not that hard really. It is good to read about ways to make money specifically in the Massage Therapy area.
The information you provide about how to grow your business is informative and relevant to small business.
It really does apply to any online business or even offline business.
Making money is about making sure your business is professional
Thanks for the information.
Regards
Joanna
I agree with most of your strategies, however I take issue with “freebies”. It has been my experience that free massages should be offered judiciously. Sometimes people see “free” as having “no value”. I feel there should be some exchange between the therapist and client, this will weed out the people that are just looking to take.
Perhaps fast-paced New York City where I practice at Much Kneaded Massage has more “get all you can for free” types than other areas.
One strategy that has worked well for me is to offer a “massage guarantee” when a client books their first massage. I tell the client, if within the first 15 of the session they decide I’m not the right therapist for them then they are welcome to say so. At that point we will amicably end the session at no charge. Not one person has ever ended their session within the massage gauarantee” time frame!
nice article there about massage therepay. you may not know my mother’s also have that job.
Great artical, my girlfriend is thinking about getting into this and has done the courses, now she is looking for costing ideas, if you could enlighten us that would be fantastic.
Thanks