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.