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4 Ways to Market with Seated Massage
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From the MASSAGE Magazine article, "Market Your Practice with Seated Massage," by Ralph R. Stephens, in the May 2009 issue. Article summary: Are you looking for more and better ways to promote your massage practice? A massage chair may be the best advertising investment you can make.
by Lynda Solien-Wolfe
Besides a cell phone and business card, my massage chair is the most important marketing tool I use to build my practice. On-site chair massage allows the public to learn about massage and feel firsthand the power of your touch for little or no cost.
1. I do not charge for most of my chair massage. I pick events that are in my target market and the events that attract the type of client I am targeting, so it becomes a great marketing tool that is well worth my time and effort.
2. I do free chair massage to local schools near my massage office every May, for Teacher Appreciation Month. In exchange, they give me free advertising in the school newsletter. It is something they look forward to every year.
3. I massage a lot of golfers, so when I first
started my massage clinic, I met the golf pro at the local country club and he invited me to do chair massage to the members every Tuesday. The club put my name and business in the members' newsletter to tell them I was in the pro shop on Tuesdays and how to contact me to get a massage at my office. I did this for a few years, until I was so busy everyone just came to my clinic and I did not need such promotion.
4. Other opportunities include county fairs, any special or unique community event—even disasters can provide opportunities for both community service and sales. Accountants, lawyers, engineers, architects, real estate agencies, banks—virtually any business can be a source of either on-site chair massage or table massage at your office.
Take these ideas and adapt them to your situation. Practice your sales techniques as well as your massage skills, and you will soon have a very busy practice.
Lynda Solien-Wolfe is a nationally recognized massage therapist, author and consultant on massage. She built her office practice using chair massage.
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Comments
Location: Pacific Grove
If I'm that wrong about chair massage, then why do I see empty chairs at local farmer's markets with the $1.00 per minute signs on them? I'm sure it may be different in Canada, but in my area, it's not that way. I've talked to lots of practitioners who have the same experience. There are no stand alone chair massage business in the county. I've only been able to grow my practice my word of mouth referrals, not with chair massage. I wish it was different.
Location: Kitchener, Ontario, Canada
@ Jody - your sorely mistaken to believe chair massage cannot be effective for building your clinic practise. I have never put any money into advertising and grew my practise entirely by doing chair massage, mainly at our local farmers market. As a rule I never do chair massage for free. The people willing to pay are the ones that likely will be willing to come to your clinic.
Location: Pacific Grove, CA
I have been practicing chair massage for over 10 years and table massage for over 20. I have not found chair massage to be an effective marketing tool for the following reasons: 1. Many people don't want to get a chair massage in public: farmer's markets, WF stores, gyms, etc. 2. Where I live it, the weather is foggy, windy and cold. No one wants to sit in a massage chair outside when it's freezing. 3.. I have never had a chair massage client become a table client. 4.. I do not think that giving away free massage is a good business decision. I find it's best to build my practice by face to face marketing. I have had the best success with local CPA firms during tax season.