Congrats!  You are on your way...

You have taken the leap of empowering and investing in yourself, Yay!  Keep in mind that everyday will not be easy and it takes time to build your clientele, but if you stick with it you will find success.  Keep your eye on the prize, stay positive, build your network, be consistent in offering excellent customer service and a regular schedule and eventually you will find yourself so busy you need to hire help:)  We are here to support you along the way! 

Marketing to new clients

The most important thing about marketing is doing it consistently and all the time!  Also really honing in on who you are speaking to (or your target market).  Don't forget to utilize your business marketing plan to stay on top of weekly tasks.  Marketing can be very expensive and not every option will give the best returns, once you have decided who your target markets are you will have an easier time deciding where to advertise.

Here are a few tips for best practices with marketing:

• If you are running an ad in a magazine, newspaper or other print publication you will want to plan on running it for at least 6 months to see if it is effective.  This means having a budget to keep the ad going for 6 months and specific goals for the ad itself as well as a way to measure it such as a promo code, specific phone number potential clients will call or asking them to bring a coupon from the ad in with them. 
• You need a marketing strategy, which includes several ways you will market the specific promotion you are running.  The marketing rule of seven says that a potential buyer must see your advertisement seven times before they decide to buy which means that diversifying your marketing plan is a good strategy.  For example I want to promote a gift certificate sale to up my holiday sales from $7,000 in December to $10,000.  I create a marketing strategy including my financial goal, who I am marketing to (current clients and new clients within 30 minutes driving distance of my studio) and how/where I will market (Facebook ads, paid Google advertisements, email newsletters and blasts, signs inside my space, signs outside my space, a snail mail post card and an advertisement in a local paper) as well as deadlines for when I will accomplish each piece of the marketing plan.  I also create a spreadsheet for tracking each of these marketing avenues and update it weekly so that I can see if I am meeting my goals. 
• For every marketing campaign you run you will want to make sure you are branding, including important contact information, using a call to action (telling the client what you want them to do such as "book today sale ends soon!")  and that you have thought about what will appeal to your target market both in the language you are using and visually. 

Client retention

Mastering client retention should be a priority!  It takes a lot more effort and money to gain new clients than to keep those that have already tried and love your services. 
Tips for effective client retention:

• Offer excellent customer service every time
• Pay attention to the details ie. clean office, offering water, being timely, communicating effectively, make your clients feel special
• Educate clients about what issues you found and how these issues might effect them in the long run if left untreated/how massage can benefit them
• Ask every single client to re-book before they leave and thank them for coming in to see you
• Follow up with clients both electronically with automatic emails built into certain schedulers such as Mind Body and Massage Book, email clients such as Constant Contact or marketing services such as Hire Frederick.  Send old school thank you cards that include your logo and contact information as well as a suggested treatment plan for each new client.
• Stay in touch!  Sometimes clients just need you to remind them that you exist and that it has been x amount of months since they have taken care of themselves.  Don't be shy about keeping up with digital and snail mail communications.
• Read this great article for a guide on getting your clients to re-book more often!

Cash flow and tracking financials

Don't fail on accident by not using effective financial management techniques, if money isn't your strong point I suggest you get help right away! Utilize free resources such as the SCORE office or the SBDC to get the skills you need or hire someone to do your book keeping for you.  At any given moment you should be able to answer how much money you need to run your business, how much revenue you need to generate per client, how many clients you need to see per day at x amount and how many days per week you need to work to break even.  Keeping a tight budget and understanding cash flow will help you make wise decisions about purchasing supplies, marketing options, insurance billing and even whether you can take an extra day off here and there. 

Don't forget to take care of yourself!

A major reason that Massage Therapists burn out is due to overworking themselves and not paying attention to their own health and well being. 
A guide to self care:

• You need to get some form of body work every week!  I know, it sounds like a lot but if you work it into your regular schedule it will make it easy for you.  Trading with other professionals will also make it easy on your pocket book:)
• Stay in shape.  Not something we all love to hear but as a massage therapist it is best to face the music early in your career.  To do this job long term you need to have a healthy balanced body that is both strong and flexible.  Find something you enjoy such as dance, hiking, circus, gymnastics or swimming and build it into your regular routine.  It will not only help you have endurance for your sessions it will help you have mental clarity, stress relief and extra energy for the business side of things.
• Live a healthy lifestyle.  You are an example for your clients so it is important to practice what you preach in the form of getting enough sleep, eating healthy, exercising, working on your mental health etc...
  
• Keep a regular schedule so that you have enough time off! 
  

Learn more on our blog!