CE INSTITUTE LLC BLOG

by Selena Belisle, Founder/Instructor, CE Institute LLC

Professional massage experts agree that all therapists should refrain, under all circumstances, from initiating or engaging in any sexual conduct, sexual activities, or sexualizing behavior involving a client, even if the client attempts to sexualize the relationship.

 

I Met My Soulmate Situation

What experts “disagree” about is the “meeting of a soulmate” situation when working with a massage client.

As our culture works longer hours, a good deal of relationships start at work. So, this poses the question – what is someone supposed to do when two consenting adults would like to start a personal relationship above and beyond a practitioner/client relationship? What is someone supposed to do when they feel they have met their “soulmate” at work – and are in a forbidden practitioner/client relationship?

 

Apply the Following for Ethical Considerations

Some massage experts agree that it is okay to terminate the practitioner/client relationship to start a personal relationship. Ways to address this could include:

• Determine the “end-date” of the practitioner/client relationship to start a personal relationship. A specific date creates a clear defining moment of when the relationship changed for both parties, and with each other’s consent.
• Draw up a written contract that clearly states the practitioner/client relationship has been terminated for purposes of to start a personal relationship. Include details such as there is no payment exchange for massage or bodywork services in the new personal relationship.
• Consult a licensed attorney or whomever seems most appropriate for the situation when needed.  This includes whether or not the therapist should inform colleagues or superiors of this decision to change the client relationship status.

 

What to Do When You Are a Massage Therapist Employee
Informing an employer that you wish to start a personal or sexual relationship with a client would likely result in a reasonable loss of employment.  Also, not informing an employer could also result in a loss of employment if they found out.  It's almost a no win situation.

Every individual situation is different, and each individual must weigh their own pros, cons and ethical obligations to make their own decision to determine if changing a professional relationship with a client to a personal one is worth it.

 

Personal Experience

As a previous large employer of massage therapists, sometimes employing more than 40 at one-time, I've seen several instances where massage therapists have dated each other from work, which sometimes caused friction at work and was not a great idea for the staff as a team.

I also experienced one therapist tell me very professionally that she was mutually interested in dating one of her regular weekly clients, and they wanted to continue their massage sessions so this would not affect me.  My response was I was okay if they wanted to start dating, but that would mean it would be the end of his clientship at our massage establishment, which they both accepted.  We would no longer be able to service his massage appointments at our business to establish a clear line that the professional relationship has ended and a personal relationship has begun.

 

It is Never a Good Idea to Pursue a Personal Relationship with a Client

How you chose or navigate your own personal choices or interests with clients is a personal decision that each therapist must make for themselves.  What is important to remember is your professional and ethical obligations to the client, including how a power differential might have influenced the interest or start of the personal relationship.  It is NEVER a good idea for a health care provider to start dating their client.  However this has happened with proper and professional discretion amongst a few therapists, with successful navigation when ethics and clear communications were applied.

Soulmates are supposed to be a once in a lifetime person.  Any massage therapist who is regularly dating their clients, regardless of professionally terminating the client relationship, would likely be seen as a sexual predator or someone who is abusing their power differential in the client relationship.  While some may understand that someone has met a soulmate at work, dating multiple people from work would not be appropriate and is extremely ill-advised. In fact, it could be deemed unethical by a licensing board and result with a suspension, training requirements, fines, loss of licensure and become extremely damaging to your public image, nevermind a client who may have felt taken advantage of in the power differential. A therapist also risks personal lawsuit or criminal action if a client claims a sexual relationship started during licensed healthcare services.

Also, even just one inappropriate sexual engagement with a client at work or outside of the establishment would be considered highly unethical, if not illegal.  A once in a lifetime exception, if there ever was one, would only apply when the professional client relationship is mutually terminated to consent to a new personal relationship that would strictly occur outside of the workplace to establish and maintain clear boundaries.

To learn more about massage therapy practice, please click here to find or register for training: https://ceinstitute.com/

#client #clientrelations #ethics #healthcare #healthcarepractices #lmt #massage #massagetherapist #massagetherapyethics #bodywork #bodyworker #massagetherapy #sexualrelationship 

 

 

by Selena Belisle, Founder/Instructor, CE Institute LLC

Address a Client's Massage Therapy Goal

Ascertain your massage client’s goals and address them during bodywork. Notify the client if any of their goals or medical conditions are unreasonable or contraindicated prior to starting service.

Set reasonable client expectations with a bodywork treatment plan, such as expected number of appointments to achieve client’s goals.  Explain to the client that there are no guarantees made with the treatment plan. A treatment plan is a set of goals that you wish to mutually achieve.

Do not continue to work on client if their bodywork goals are not being reasonably satisfied, or if the client’s medical condition deteriorates. Refer the client to a medical professional for greater medical evaluation if or when a (reasonable) client goals cannot be met and the client continues with a health issue or pain.  it is vital to immediately refer the client to a medical professional if their health deteriorates at anytime during the plan.

 

A Massage Therapy Treatment Plans Can Consist of Any of the Following:

• A signed treatment plan (by therapist and client) can show informed consent or agreement as to the mutual plan and goals
• Document appointments with proper record keeping.  This includes notating each appointment’s progress upon completion if anything was observed.
• Include any notes that seem relevant to the massage therapy treatment plan i.e. the client would like reduced pain; however, after the last appointment the client felt so good that they played 36 rounds of golf in one day – and their 36 golf rounds created extreme pain for the client on the following day. Client states they are now back to the original amount of pain they had prior to massage appointment(s).
• Using a SOAP note charting system can be helpful.
• Providing a well-formulated/documented bodywork treatment plan is a good ethical practice where the client can provide INFORMED CONSENT of the treatment plan, and the bodyworker can responsibly track the client’s progress!

 

Formulating a Treatment Plan When Massage Goals are Not Met
Set a reasonable number of massage therapy sessions to achieve client’s goals or improvement.  Educate the client that bodywork may not be able to achieve any reasonable goals - results are not guaranteed.  You can also notify your client that unfortunately the only way to ascertain progress is by the massage application itself.  And that the client should continue to see another medical professional to achieve their goals (i.e. physical therapist, etc.) if their goals were not met with the massage treatment plan.

Inform the client of the health benefits of bodywork, and allow the client to choose if they wish to continue with their bodywork sessions when/if you are not achieving their bodywork goals.

 

To learn more about massage therapy practice, please click here to find or register for training: https://ceinstitute.com/

#soapnote #healthcare #healthcarepractices #lmt #massage #massagetherapist #massagetherapyethics #bodywork #bodyworker #massagetherapy #LMTsoapnote #recordkeeping #massagerecordkeeping

 

 

Massage therapists and bodyworkers are provided an extreme amount of “power" over their clients in order to provide service.  As such it's vital to earn and retain trust in the power differential of a therapeutic massage client relationship. 

Massage and bodywork clients are often:

• Naked
• Vulnerable
• Required to disclose personal details and medical information about oneself
• Sometimes required to leave a credit card number up front to secure an appointment

Massage clients can be agreeable and trusting when the provide what is commonly need to recieve their bodywork session.

 

It is Our Ethical Duty as Bodyworkers to Protect Our Clients

Clients are often in an altered state of mind which can be rendered from our bodywork. Our clients and work require integrity and consciousness for safe and effective application, especially due to the nature of the requirements to provide bodywork.

 

What is Ethics?

Ethics is:  A set of moral principles

Ethics is: Rules of behavior

Ethics is: A branch of philosophy dealing with what is right and wrong

Ethics is: The morale principles influencing and governing conduct

 

Here are Some Important Massage-Related Vocabulary Words and Phrases for Massage Therapy Practice

What are Morals?  Standards and beliefs about what is acceptable or not acceptable.

 

What is Informed Consent? A full explanation of treatment is provided to a client that includes detailed information including service details and any possible benefits or risks, so that the client can make an INFORMED decision whether they would like this treatment, or not.

 

What is Scope? The range of elements of an expression over which an operator has control.

 

Accurately Represent Services When Advertising Massage 
Do not make claims such as “nursing care” or other abilities that are beyond the practitioner’s training, licensing or certification or scope of practice.

 

Massage Therapist Training to Provide the Best Available Services

Seek out legitimate training. Do not seek-out or support educational opportunities that are falsified (i.e. a CE Provider issues a Certificate for 12 LIVE CE Hours of training after only 6 Hours of attendance, etc.)

Continue training in respective field. Information, application, new contraindications, massage philosophies and even science can change over the years. Take responsibility to learn the newest information so that clients can receive the best service possible.

 

Professional Massage Groups, Agencies and Boards

Different agencies (i.e NCBTMB, AMTA, ABMP, FSMTA, etc.) have different Codes of Ethics.  It’s up to each individual practitioner to review all Codes of Ethics with each agency that they belong, and ensure that their practice is in-line with the agency’s ethics requirements.

 

To learn more about massage therapy practice including ethics and medical errors prevention, please click HERE to find a class and register for training with us.

#lmtethics #massageindustry #ethics  #healthcare #healthcarepractices #lmt #massage #massagetherapist #massagetherapyethics #bodywork #bodyworker #massagetherapy #massageethics 

 

 

SOAP note charting is an easy, popular and effective way to keep records, including for the practice of massage.  SOAP is an acronym for:

• Subjective
• Objective
• Assessment
• Plan

A SOAP note provides a narrative of the client's issues.  The massage therapist records how they will address the client's issues with massage therapy application with a well formulated plan after assessment.

The following is a SOAP note example for massage therapy record keeping purposes.  In this SOAP note example, we will review how to record a client's massage therapy treatment to address a client's pain:

 

Subjective: here are some examples of questions for a client who seeks pain relief.  A massage therapists can ask as little or many of these questions as they wish - the more information, the better directed a practitioner will be to addressing a client's needs:

Onset:  When did their pain start?

Location:  Where is their pain?

Duration:  How long is the pain a problem?

Alleviating Factors:  Is there anything that relieves the pain?

Aggravating Factors: What makes the pain worse?

Chronology:  Better or worse since onset?  Is pain variable, constant, etc.?

Quality:  Is the pain sharp, stabbing, dull, etc.?

Additional Symptoms:  Is there any numbness, tingling, loss of coordination?

Treatment: What else has been done to address the pain? 

Temporal Pattern:  Is the pain every morning, all day, etc.?

Severity (think VAS which readers can learn more about in our school blog):  A scale of 1-10 can be used with 1 being almost no pain and 10 being intolerable, then the client can choose their # for the pain that they experience throughout the day, or when pressure is applied during the massage.

Objective: the bodyworker will document objective, repeatable, and traceable facts about the client’s status.  This includes:

• Client’s personal statistics
  • Age
  • Height
  • Weight
• Palpable tissue changes (softer, more pliable, etc.)
• Range of motion increases/decreases (use goniometer)
• Observed abnormalities
• Bruises
• Anything medically remarkable that would be relevant to the:
  • Client’s health
  • Bodywork contraindications

 

Assessment:  the bodyworker’s collective assessment of the client’s body (and goals) from the subjective and objective information.

 

Plan: describes what the bodyworker will perform for the client.  This can include the “Treatment Plan” as described earlier in this course, including:

• Number of minimum appointments needed to achieve goals
• Length of appointments needed to achieve goals
• Costs of Individual Appointments as recommended in the treatment plan
• Areas to be worked on (on the client’s body)
• Modalities to use in different areas of the client’s body
• Physical Address of Where Bodywork Will Occur
• Set Goals – the goals the client wants to achieve through bodywork
• Consent or Agreement

To learn more about massage therapy practice, please click here to find or register for training: https://ceinstitute.com/

#soapnote #healthcare #healthcarepractices #lmt #massage #massagetherapist #massagetherapyethics #bodywork #bodyworker #massagetherapy #LMTsoapnote #recordkeeping #massagerecordkeeping

 

 

 

by Selena Belisle, Founder/Instructor, CE Institute LLC

How does your massage therapy practice compare?  Quality massage practice includes ethical execution and much more:

• Operate within your professional licensed scope of practice.
• Set reasonable, mutally agreed massage goals with a treatment plan.
• Communicate about what will be provided for the massage service, including the application itself (oil, lotion, deep techniques, light work, etc.).
• Take interest in the client’s goals and try to satisfy them within the scope of practice.
• Continue communication during bodywork to ensure both the bodyworker and client are on the “same page” for:
• Work areas
• Pressure
• Temperature
• Music
• Lighting
• Draping, etc.
• Be on-time, especially when an appointment is provided with a time-limit.
• Communicate with the client if the appointment needs to be “cut short” due to tardiness issues.
• Explain any financial impacts to a shortened appointment up-front/prior to beginning the appointment.
• Always be clear about how long the actual hands-on time will be provided during the appointment.
• If a 50-minute “hour” is provided, explain to the client that there will be 50 minutes of bodywork with 10 minutes of change-time, discussion, or whatever will be provided in that 10-minute time-frame.
• Provide the full amount of service time. Do not “cut” the client short without:
• Obtain client consent to perform work as planned.
• Provide compensatory recognition if the practitioner must cut the session for their own reasons - not a client's reasons.
• Properly sanitize and disinfect the treatment room between clients.
• Use fresh clean linens for every client. Never “flip-over” or re-use the same sheets or fabric materials amongst different clients.
• Wash hands before and after every appointment.
• Wash lotions bottles, stones, and anything else that was touched or contaminated during the massage appointment.
• Perform the bodywork as the client requests.
• While a client may receive better benefits with deeper work, etc. – always honor whatever the client wishes for unless it cannot be provided safely or other reasonable considerations
• It is advised to start in the client’s chief complaint “cc”/primary concern area when reasonably possible.  Some massage therapists provide the same routine treatment, over-and-over again, regardless of a client’s individual needs.
• Starting the session in the client’s chief complaint area is better planning, so that the appointment time cannot run-out or end before addressing the client’s chief complaint.
• Follow the massage establishment's “rules”. Bodyworkers often partner with different vendors for business operations.
• Read and learn merchant agreement(s) if the bodyworker is responsible for accepting charge cards as payment. This responsibility falls to management if the bodyworker is employed by another who assumes payment collection responsibilities. There are many requirements within a credit card merchant agreement that must be observed, or else the bodyworker could lose the privilege of accepting credit cards if the customer complains or other penalties.
• ii. If services are advertised as “insured”, read and learn the insurance coverage and requirements.
• Follow insurance requirements so that the insurability remains intact, and so that the practice is not improperly advertising an insured benefit. For example, the ABMP provides Hot Stone Bodywork liability insurance to its insureds, only if and after the insured watches a brief video and accepts ABMP’s requirements for hot stone services.  Different insurance companies may have abnormal and/or additional requirements for it’s insureds.
• Honor and charge the prices as advertised.
• If an upgrade or extended appointment is requested or agreed to by the client, then share the additional charges with the client prior to executing the additional service.
• Keep the appointment positive. The bodyworker should not gossip or discuss other clients nor speak poorly of other medical professionals or treatments. Sharing personal issues or problems with clients is ill-advised and unethical.

While a total exhaustive list of practices to provide the best quality care is not possible in a short blog post, this list should get you started on the absolute essentials.  Also, different clients will have various needs - so the list of what should be provided could change depending on the individual appointment.

To learn more about massage therapy practice including ethics and medical errors prevention, please click HERE to find a class and register for training with us.

#ethics  #healthcare #healthcarepractices #lmt #massage #massagetherapist #massagetherapyethics #bodywork #bodyworker #massagetherapy #massageethics #lmtethics

 

 

 

When a Massage Client Wants to Stop

If the client agrees to the bodywork, then wants to stop FOR ANY REASON, then the bodyworker must stop – no exceptions

If the client wants to stop because they have become ill, then it is the bodyworker’s ethical duty to address the illness and ensure that the client receives proper medical attention. For example: offer to call someone on behalf of the client – so that they can pick up the client at the bodyworker’s office or place of business

Offer to call 911 in the event of a medical emergency. Massage therapist's should not attempt to treat medical illness on their own – instead seek appropriate medical attention and professionals on behalf of their client when the client remains in the bodyworker’s care or office.

If the client wants to stop because they do not enjoy the work, then the client is able to stop and not continue.  Ethical practice and good business suggests seeking another therapist within the establishment to take over if the client simply wishes for a different style of massage or bodywork.

If the client wants to stop because they’ve learned of an emergency which they need to tend to then the client can stop and not continue. Good business practicees suggest the bodyworker provide any appropriate assistance to the client. This includes:

• calling for unplanned transportation from their office
• offering water
• whatever can be reasonably provided without creating liability or risk to the practitioner or business.

If the client wants to stop because they want something illicit that is not being provided (such as sex), then the work must stop – period. It is the practitioner's choice on how to handle this situation. Practitioners should call 911 if they feel unsafe.

 

Client Appointment Modifications
A client can change or modify their appointment at anytime.  If a client requests a shorter time than what was scheduled, the bodyworker must comply with this request for any reason.

It is recommend to ask a client why they are requesting to change their appointment, so that the bodyworker can attempt to service the client in any reasonable way possible (i.e. the room is too cold, so the client wants to leave).

The client is not required to provide a reason why they want to change their appointment – they can keep their reason private. It’s important to be accommodating and not pass judgment. The client could be dealing with a personal crisis or have a private or embarrassing situation which they do not want to share. Bodyworkers must respect whatever the client requests (if it is legal and not harmful) and comply appropriately.

To learn more about massage therapy ethics, please click HERE to find a class and register for training with us.

#ethics  #healthcare #healthcarepractices #lmt #massage #massagetherapist #massagetherapyethics #bodywork #bodyworker #massagetherapy #massageethics #lmt ethics 

 

 

 

by Selena Belisle, Founder/Instructor, CE Institute LLC

Massage therapy application is subject to medical errors because it is a health care practice that can experience adverse effects from erroneous practitioner choices, despite being reported in scientific research that massage is of the safest health care practices available in modern medicine.

Medical errors can occur during massage when proper training and communication practices are not applied.

It is practically unheard of for a massage therapy medical error to cause death, but there have been serious adverse effects in some cases which is why it is important for therapists to learn how medical errors occur, in an attempt to prevent them.

 

One Example of a Medical Error That Can Occur Without Physical Injuries

A young healthy woman was refused traditional massage service because of her HIV positive medical status. The therapist told the client they could not provide the massage without a physician’s consent.

Not only is this discriminatory, but it is also uninformed.  A HIV positive individual does not need a doctor’s consent to receive massage, especially when there are no contraindications. While this interaction did not result in physical injury, it was a preventable medical error to deny the massage for the reason provided.

 

Seek Professional Massage Therapy Education to Avoid Medical Errors

It is ill advised to replace professional education with social media interaction or google. Massage therapists should obtain updated professional training in areas where they would like to learn more or practice. This does not include independently watching YouTube videos without the opportunity to interact with a qualified instructor. Also, strangers on social media may not be the best source of medical advice for your client. While some may find this helpful, responsible and viable client treatment planning can only be achieved with a thorough client intake process then viewing plus feeling the client’s tissues. 

Massage therapists should curate information from reliable sources. Sometimes clients have evidence-based educational resources about their own malady. It is considered best practices to ask the client’s medical provider for advice with contraindications or appropriate massage applications in complex cases.

Massage therapists should also curate information from reliable sources. Sometimes clients have evidence-based educational resources about their own malady. It is considered best practices to ask the client’s medical provider for advice with contraindications or appropriate massage applications in complex cases. 

To create the best plan of action, a therapist may apply a variety of techniques to learn which generates the best response through both verbal and nonverbal communications with the massage recipient.  These types of methods are taught in professional massage CE class training.

For professional medical errors prevention training for massage therapists, please visit: https://ceinstitute.com/collections/mandatory

#medicalerrors #medicalerrorsprevention #healthcare #healthcarepractices #lmt #massage #massagetherapist #bodywork #bodyworker #massagetherapy

 

 

 

Past Massage Business Advertising Practices

Prior to the mid-1990s, most massage therapists advertised one-hour massage appointments then scheduled an additional 15 to 30-minutes after their 60-minute hands-on service for sanitation practices, client consult and dressing time. A one-hour service was commonly scheduled for 75-minutes or longer in an appointment book.

This 60-minute hands-on scheduling standard did not leave a client feeling shorted for their time or money, which appears to be a new legal liability when a 50-minute massage is provided as a one-hour service, given the recent success of Missouri’s class action lawsuit.  In Missouri, a class action successfully sued a massage and spa chain that advertised one hour services, but then only provide 50-minutes of hands-on time plus 10-minutes in between appointments to consult with the client, allow dressing time and sanitation practices.

Some establishments and practitioners still provide a full 60-minute hands-on service with their advertised one-hour appointments. And more importantly, there have been no class actions lawsuits claiming unfair business practices with a standard 60-minutes hands-on application when it is advertised one hour appointment.

 

The Explosion of Massage Therapy Practice in the United States

So how did a one-hour massage change into 50-minutes of hands-on service with massage appointments being booked on the hour, every hour?  

The number of clients seeking massage services in the 1990s and earlier was much less than the volume we experience today. The professional business practice of massage was much more relaxed, with less consumer demand prior to the 1990s.

Somewhere in the late 1990s, the massage profession exploded. This happened with an increase of massage schools which produced an increased number of providers for a greater number of available massage service industry appointments.

The massage industry also simultaneously exploded in the 1990s with the practice of hot stone massage. It was the new fad. News media loved the idea and interest of getting massaged with a rock. Everyone had to have one. It was the new cabbage patch doll.

Hot stone massage was one of our first industry times where major news media outlets covered the massage profession in a positive light. Luckily for massage therapists, hot stones were not a fad and our practice continues today.

With the increase of massage therapists and consumers, massage practice also became a larger interest to study and discuss. All of a sudden major news outlets shared that massage was not just a luxury, but that it was healthy too! Massage therapists and most recipients have always known this, but major news outlets continued their favorable coverage of massage practice by publishing massage-related health benefits.

It is doubtful the massage industry would be the mainstream practice it is today if it had not received so much favorable news coverage around 25 years ago. This created an explosion of the number of massage graduates seeking to practice massage and a greater demand of favorable interest in massage-related health benefits.

 

Prioritizing Business Interests

50-minute hands-on hour appointments were born mostly out of the 1990s massage industry explosion. The sudden increase in demand for massage appointments instantaneously created many new business practices, including taking credit cards to secure massage appointments.

There are many advantageous business benefits to providing a 50-minute “hour” massage appointment. Business practice interests capitalized on those benefits without disclosing to clients that their one-hour appointments would not be a full one-hour hands-on massage application.

It should be clear that there is nothing wrong in prioritizing business interests, unless it is practiced to the determent of others. And in the Missouri class action, the judgement ruled the massage practice of providing a 50-minute hands-on application advertised as a one-hour service was to the customer’s detriment.

 

Debatable 50-Minute Appointments and Massage Industry Standards

Some massage therapists feel that it is rushed to schedule 50-minute appointments on the hour, every hour.  It can be difficult to reuse the same equipment on multiple clients with proper sanitation practices, plus allow client consultation and dressing time in just ten minutes. 

Despite debatable experiences with how long appointments should be scheduled for any particular service, a 50-minute clock hour is a normal industry standard appointment time in most massage establishments.

 

Ethical Massage Business Advertising and Practices

The class action ruling was clear that it did not matter that 10-minutes of the one-hour appointment was spent on massage practice customer requirements such as sanitation, consultation and dressing time. What is advertised must be provided, and the expectation is that an advertised one-hour massage appointment should be a one-hour application of hands-on massage, unless it is properly disclosed that the hour includes sanitation, consultation and dressing time.

While it is perfectly acceptable to schedule and provide 50-minute hands-on services as hour long appointments, it is critical to detail that the hands-on service time will only be 50-minutes long. A business can additionally disclose that 10-minutes of the hour service is provided for client consultation, sanitation practices and more, at the business's own discretion.

 

Establishing Clear Appointment Scheduling and Advertising Business Practices

It is important to learn from this type of history. This lawsuit teaches us that when advertising a one-hour service, it should be precisely detailed if the customer will receive less than 60-minutes of hands-on service. This equally applies to 30-minute, 90-minute and all time lengthened appointments. 

According to this lawsuit precedent, a one-hour appointment should have been advertised as a 50-minute hands-on service, with 10-minutes being provided for sanitation, consultation and dressing time. Unfortunately, that detail was not provided in the advertising, hence the ensuing legal action.

 

Please visit us for all of your professional massage therapy training needs at:  https://ceinstitute.com/

#lmt #massage #massagetherapist #bodywork #bodyworker #massagetherapy

 

 

 

by Selena Belisle, Founder/Instructor, CE Institute LLC

Marketing a massage practice is not for the faint hearted. While marketing and business building strategies can occasionally backfire, boldness is often rewarded.

It is critical to find a happy medium where you’ve spread your word with positive engagement to build a solid business. Here’s a list of 30 marketing suggestions and business building tips that have been accumulated from over 30-years of successful massage practice:

1. Advertise Locally

Sometimes local newspapers will have remnant ads and spaces available. You may earn an “in” with your local newspaper by making a connection with your local ad rep.

 While advertising and news are supposed to remain separate departments in news agencies, your local ad rep could create a connection to request press coverage when you have newsworthy events to share. We made the front page of the Boston Globe newspaper during the holidays with this type of connection, which led to a heralding amount of gift certificate sales from this free press.

2. Appointment Add-ons

Develop a list of available add-ons for anytime that you’re not fully booked or need additional work or income.

Massage therapy add-ons could include a full body, back, hand or foot scrub, foot soak, hot towel treatments, hot stones, a mini-reflexology add-on, aromatherapy bath or shower, body wrap, back, foot or hand mask or anything that would be within your scope of practice to provide.

Having a readily available add-on service menu will help practitioners optimize practice time during last minute cancellations and other business hiccups.

3. Banner and Trade Show Kit

Invest in one or more and get yourself out to trade shows, sporting events, corporate onsite work and anywhere you can show your brand to a large number of prospective customers. Small trade show kits can usually be broken down into duffle bags for easy travel.

When handled carefully and properly, banners and kits are a lifetime investment that can be acquired for a few hundred dollars or less, with endless use possibilities when you’re on the hustle.

4. Be the Best

Quality service is what keeps your customers coming back and referring others. Remain mentally present during a client’s entire appointment, from greeting to parting. Use proper sanitation measures at all times and keep the workspace clean with less clutter.

Continually seek education and training to provide the best technical skill possible. Spending quality time servicing happy clients will curtail greater marketing needs.

5. Blog on Your Own Website

The greater the amount of massage-related content and language on your own website, the greater the amount of keyword searches that could produce your website as a search engine result. Do not use a business blog for negative thoughts or to rant – just keep it positive, engaging and informative. Some readers may bond with you simply over your enthusiasm from your blog, then book service.

6. Business Branding

For those who wish to be aggressive, think about any place you can apply your business logo, which might include pens, calendars, or other useful items. Hang signage in your establishment hallways, bathrooms and treatment rooms with upcoming special events, such as Mother’s Day or Valentine’s Day offerings.

Create inexpensive marketing flyers and post these at grocery stores, train stations, doctors’ offices, basically anywhere permissible. Be sure to include your contact info such as tear-off tags with your phone number and website URL so that interested consumers can find you.

7. Business Cards

Always give two business cards or more. One of the best ways a contact can share your information with others is by giving them plentiful business cards to do so.

Think about creating different kinds of business cards, such as a large inexpensive batch that can be distributed indiscriminately with special offers for new clients, and a second batch of higher quality cards for repeat clients.

Money matters when it comes to profitable business marketing, so while quality is important, make sure that expenses are properly curtailed whenever possible.

Using preprinted materials with companies such as Vista Print can help keep expenses lower, instead of creating and printing custom designs.

8. Call the Press

Whether you advertise with your local news agency or not, call the press when you have a newsworthy event so that they can provide possible free coverage of it.

My business has been repeatedly highlighted on TV news broadcasts for working massage events such as a 24-hour onsite at our local hospital. We’ve also been in Time Magazine for caviar services.

The press is usually looking for interesting stories – give them some by sharing yours!

9. Chamber of Commerce

Consider joining and participating in their networking events. Your membership and events are regular tax deductions, and you could make some new friends, learn some new business tips as well as pick up some new clients, including corporate accounts.

10. Continuing Education for Massage Therapy & Bodywork

The more modalities you learn, the more services and appointments you’ll be able to offer. You can see a greater variety of clients and avoid burnout when you’re able to practice different modalities, i.e., prenatal, hot stone, MLD, aromatherapy, oncology or geriatric bodywork, etc.

11. Customer Reviews

It is difficult to conduct operations with a bad business reputation. Protect your reputation at almost any cost.

While I worked in the Ritz Carlton spa, they made it clear to us that the customer is not always right, but it’s critical to keep them happy with reasonable practice and gestures.

When something’s gone awry, do your best to salvage the situation to keep the customer happy and your reputation intact. Collecting customer testimonials immediately after appointments and addressing them on the spot could help avert a public business reputation crisis later.

12. Email Lists and Customer Contacts

Collect customer contact information for future marketing purposes. Stay in touch with your existing customers, such as sending a special birthday wish or offer.

Continually contact customers with positive messages, new offerings, a reminder if you haven’t seen them for a while or anything that feels like an appropriate gesture or follow-up.

In marketing, it’s known as “fatiguing” your lists when excessive efforts and strategies are exercised without justifiable returns. As such, use your contacts sparingly, and only when you can accommodate any extra volume generated from the effort.

13. Employment Unions

Do you have any large-scale projects that are behind schedule in your area? I was in the Boston market during the “Big Dig”, which was behind schedule and over budget. One problem was that many big dig workers had been overworked for years. Most were injured and too exhausted to continue the pace.

We were able to secure a contract with one of the local pipefitter’s unions, where any of their union employees could receive as much massage as they wished at the union’s expense during the big dig project – the union paid for it all. 

We billed the union monthly and they paid in full. This helped the pipefitters get back to work with less aches and pains and with better productivity, while we earned a greater number of massage appointments and income from the union referrals.

Sometimes a union worker brought their partner in for a couples massage. and then paid cash for their partner’s appointment too.

14. Facebook

Social media can be a necessary evil for some. Facebook seems to be leading the pack for small business optimization by launching a never-ending amount of business services.

Learn and partake in whatever makes sense for you. There are plentiful articles and YouTube videos available online to learn how to maximize Facebook use. 

Until recently, Facebook ads were insanely inexpensive. Sometimes remaining abreast of new offerings can provide an operational advantage when you’re able to partake in discounted trial prices.

15. Improve your SEO (search engine optimization)

Consider using a website that you can manage and edit yourself so that you can constantly refresh and update your own website information.

Link your website to others and be sure that other websites are linked back to you. There are a number of tips and tricks to increase your SEO.

Managing your own website and learning how to achieve the best SEO with it, will enhance almost any business’s prospects.

16. Massage Business Logo

Incorporate your phone number or website URL or both into your logo, to ensure customers can reach you anytime they see it. Use colors and design combinations that are recognizable, and can achieve the strongest possible brand awareness impact.

Keep it professional and do not use profane gestures or language to attempt attention, unless you’re prepared for the negative response that could result with anything that could be considered unprofessional.

17. Medical Referrals for Massage & Bodywork

Many physicians today understand the importance of soft tissue manipulation with massage, MLD and more, but do not have the time or skill to personally provide this labor-intensive care to their patients.

Target orthopedic surgeons, chiropractors and other medical professionals that specialize in musculoskeletal orthopedic industry work, then ask if you can leave business cards, brochures, flyers or more at their offices.

Seek education in the medical procedures being referred for massage, to provide the best care to ensure continued referrals.

18. Outcall and Onsite Massage Services

Some potential massage clients are stuck at home with kids, elder care, work on the farm and other commitments. It may be worth considering providing onsite services at their location.

When appropriate, be sure to build in your travel time and any road tolls, gas or parking expenses into their onsite price.

Ask if there are others who would enjoy a massage appointment while onsite, which could help minimize the travel expense amongst multiple appointments.

 

19. Pay per Click (for websites)

Isn’t a bad option for new businesses to get started, or when your website doesn’t have a lot of traffic, if you’re able to earn a top ranked position for just a few pennies.

There are plentiful articles available online that can teach you how to entertain this option on your own.

20. Pricing Strategies

Charge more during peak hours or seasonal times. If you’re turning away dozens of clients for an appointment that’s already booked, chances are you could have charged more for that appointment simply due to demand.

If you’re in a tourist area, setting different price standards for established or repeat locals during non-peak times is equally recommended.

21. Product Retailing

Offering products that advertise you as a retailer on their manufacturer site could help drive traffic and additional sales to your business. Try to find products that are in demand but not available online or sold directly from the manufacturer to create the need for the consumer to visit your establishment to purchase.

We had one product line that wasn’t available online, and we were also listed as a top seller on the manufacturer website. An international customer showed up to my business with an empty suitcase after finding us on one of our retail product manufacturer’s websites. She took over $2,000 of retail products at an average price of about $30 each. I was able to earn about $1,000 of profit within 15-minutes.

After over 30-years of massage-related work, that’s still one of my easiest and most profitable business moments in my life. I was so happy to watch her walk out with that overstuffed suitcase – I’ll never forget it!

22. Reach out to Local Corporations

Invest in a portable massage chair and offer onsite services.

Send letters, emails, and research studies that show how onsite massage increases employee productivity. Call large local employers and follow-up on your correspondence.

23. Referral Bonus and Customer Tracking

Outwardly express your appreciation for referrals when you need to build your business.

Practitioners can inform clients they’ll receive a gift at their next appointment, every time a new client visits you with their referral, then gift whatever you wish. Suggestion: go to Dollar Tree and stock up on scented candles and mini boxes of chocolates, then make your own gift boxes for just a few dollars.

Tracking where new clients came from will help practitioners determine where efforts should be focused for best business building optimization.

24. Social Media

Like Facebook, social media has become a necessary evil for many small businesses. Instagram, twitter, YouTube, Pinterest, nextdoor and more are all available to burn up your time with endless posting.

Some practitioners are able to achieve a strong following with social media, and some will dwindle.

What I found with social media, which can also apply to almost any marketing effort, is that it’s critical to observe the quality of return for effort. My return on social media posts was small, but the financial calculation on those returns was massive.  Corporate accounts have selected my business because of our social media presence with past business pictures posted. They wanted the same for their staff.

So, if you have a client, or a couple of clients that has delivered over $10,000 of business in one year that was solely obtained through social media exposure, ask yourself, did that justify the time spent on free social media posts to obtain that client?

25. Sporting Events

Whether you’re at the starting or finish line, there are plenty of places massage therapists can engage weekend warriors and athletic aficionados.

Contact local sporting event organizers to learn if there’s a massage tent or registration processes to participate. Don’t forget to bring banners, a trade show kit, business cards and all other marketing materials to provide greater exposure with your presence.

Also, for those who desire income, don’t forget a tip jar if it’s allowed during volunteering. Most athletes such as marathoners will not have their wallet on them, so preprint business cards with your PayPal or Venmo account for anyone who says they’d love to tip you, but have nothing on them to do so.

Don’t be discouraged if someone doesn’t follow-up with you after an event. What’s important is you got your mojo out there which should create a positive ripple effect, even if you don’t feel it right away. 

26. Testimonials

Collect them and share the word. Obtain the client’s written consent prior to public distribution.

Have clients fill out an evaluation at the end of service, take photos of them at your business or take video testimonials. Post these to your website and social media and tag the client, when they’re willing. Allow clients the option to tag themselves to posts as well.

Clients love to see themselves online and in social media, especially when it is to memorialize a special occasion, such as bridal parties, birthdays or holiday. Their positive memorialized testimonial will likely draw more customers who will be seeking the same.

27. Trade Shows (local)

Work them, but I wouldn’t recommend paying full price for a booth. Explain to trade show organizers how your services will allow attendees to stay for longer periods when you’re able to help relieve their foot or back pain from standing on concrete all day. Exhibitors will be happier with your presence too. Think soothing #footmassage for trade shows.

Bartering for a massage trade show treatment area is a fairly common option, then brand your work area with banners, business cards and more.

Some trade show exhibitors may pay you to join their booth to drive traffic to it, or sooth customers during long wait times.  And some trade show organizers will provide discounted or even free space if you’re willing to use whatever last-minute space that can be provided.

Do great work so that your reputation can book similar opportunities.

28. Vanity Phone Number

I once held the phone number 617-AMAZING, which was incorporated into our company logo. I didn’t have to pay to find this number. It was only a matter of finding a 7-character word that was available in my local area code, which can take some time and creativity.

Here’s some massage-related 7-character word suggestions to find your own vanity phone number:  massage, amazing, therapy, backrub, comfort, healyou, 4relief, 4health, healthy.

29. Website

Is a must. Detail your education, massage related research and how you can help clients beyond advertising prices and services. Someone who is in pain and cannot sleep may be googling your local area for relief at 2 am.  A website makes you available, 24/7.

Write, edit and manage your own website whenever possible to save on expense. Being your own website editor may provide better options for updating and adding website information.

30. Weddings

Offer in-house or outcall massage or spa parties at your establishment, a client’s home, their hotel or where-ever legitimately permissible.

A series of foot soaks, hot stones, scrubs and massages with various essential oils can create a fairly large event or specialty party menu. Think Lavender party, or a Renew Your Refresher party using mint essential oils.

Take Your Business to the Next Level

While the list of marketing and business strategy practices is endless, your effort shouldn’t be.  Choose some strategies that make the most sense for you so that you can give them your all. In life and business, you will often reap what you sow.

Of course, working for others as an employee is another viable option, and would reduce the time required for marketing if someone else does this for you.

Marketing can take time, effort and on occasion, some financial expense in advance; however, it’s often worth the effort.  If something doesn’t seem to work, try something else, then try again.

The same strategies do not work for all, but rewards are often paid from effort.  Eventually, over time, practice and the right attitude, you should be able to find your own niche of strategies that work well for you.

To learn more, please register for quality, affordable, professional training at: https://ceinstitute.com/

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