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burn out or funk or just recession wake up call
Hi everyone,
I didn't know who to turn to because people outside of the industry think were kind of weird not having traditional jobs. Recently I have this attitude where I just want to throw in the towel and go back to corporate work. The recession has finally hit my business and it might break me. I was fine but my personal bills next month are going to triple. With that being said it just seems the only way to survive is to live off of Living Social because even though I charge $55 an hour. I am constantly getting people saying oh but if your prices were lower. Well I am not going to discount my services more then they are. I just don't know what to do. My creative energy is at a standstill, I feel like I have lost my mojo :( Any suggestions?
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Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Daniel Cohen on
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Have you tried emailing a healthtip newsletter (they are available online) at least monthly to your clients? Have you sent them a discount offer for referrals? Use your client base and reward them for bringing in business. Notices remind them they haven't been in for a while.
Perhaps you could give us a list of what you have done to promote so comment from other therapists would be more productive.
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Permalink Reply by Stephanie Keffer on
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I started being interactive with my fb page and grabbing blog suggestions from my clients. I try to do twitter tip Tuesday's and thursdays. I like to add a wellness article on Wednesday's and a medical article on Monday's. I have a newsletter that goes out every month but the click rate out of 200 contacts is only 30-40% :( I tried the refer me 5 people and receive a free massage, got nothing. Tried the refer me 2 people and get a free one at the seggestion of a business coach but only to my regulars still nothing. I'm going to try that with everyone and see what happens. it just seems that no one bailed my service and if i won't who will? I will try the reminder thing. Also starting in january will be doing a birthday club. Also it will be getting cooler in October so I'm going to start doing hot rocks which a lot a people are waiting for. Was even considering doing a massage envy thing were you pay x amount of month a year and you can get discount rates on massage once a month a few clients liked that idea when I did a focus group.
Daniel Cohen said:Have you tried emailing a healthtip newsletter (they are available online) at least monthly to your clients? Have you sent them a discount offer for referrals? Use your client base and reward them for bringing in business. Notices remind them they haven't been in for a while.
Perhaps you could give us a list of what you have done to promote so comment from other therapists would be more productive.
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Bailed=believe
Stephanie Keffer said:I started being interactive with my fb page and grabbing blog suggestions from my clients. I try to do twitter tip Tuesday's and thursdays. I like to add a wellness article on Wednesday's and a medical article on Monday's. I have a newsletter that goes out every month but the click rate out of 200 contacts is only 30-40% :( I tried the refer me 5 people and receive a free massage, got nothing. Tried the refer me 2 people and get a free one at the seggestion of a business coach but only to my regulars still nothing. I'm going to try that with everyone and see what happens. it just seems that no one bailed my service and if i won't who will? I will try the reminder thing. Also starting in january will be doing a birthday club. Also it will be getting cooler in October so I'm going to start doing hot rocks which a lot a people are waiting for. Was even considering doing a massage envy thing were you pay x amount of month a year and you can get discount rates on massage once a month a few clients liked that idea when I did a focus group.
Daniel Cohen said:Have you tried emailing a healthtip newsletter (they are available online) at least monthly to your clients? Have you sent them a discount offer for referrals? Use your client base and reward them for bringing in business. Notices remind them they haven't been in for a while.
Perhaps you could give us a list of what you have done to promote so comment from other therapists would be more productive.
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Permalink Reply by Marissa on
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My business associates and I gave up on all the discounts and incentives, save one. We offer packages of 3,6,12 one hour sessions at $10 less per session. So, instead of paying $60, they pay $50 and it's paid in advance. The regulars appreciate the discount and for those who don't want to commit to a package, they still pay full price each session. Hot Stone will be good to get back on the menu! I believe there is even a "Pumpkin Spice" oil by Keyano that would really make the service stand out and attract the Fall lovers. Good luck and don't give up! Your regulars will miss you as well as the regulars you haven't met yet.
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Yeah I'm just freaking out because I'm in a weird place right now. I'm going from a 1099 employee to getting an LLC so I can do more then what I have going on. It's scary when you go away from the safe zone. With that being said I love massage and will continue with it. Just got to be creative in how to get people in the doors. Tomorrow(Wednesday) I have about 3 hours to do nothing. So I am using this time to mediate, cry, destress and process everything going on. Crying helps me think more clearly because I let everything go. My regulars are the coolest people ever I love them. They bring me food, give business advice and love being guinea pigs so I can learn more about the body.
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Permalink Reply by Jason David Bratcher on
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Hi Stephanie,
I am sorry that your business is suffering due to the recession and the economy. It is hitting all of us in the LMT world. When I first got into this as a career to earn a living I did not have any illusions about getting rich off of it. I love what I do and I focus my intentions on that and somehow the prosperity flows(well more like a trickle right now,haha) but it's prosperity nonetheless. I think it's good that you are re-centering and checking in with yourself. It's good to do that. Have faith in your self as a facilitator,stay in your heart and keep your power of intention very clear and the prosperity will come to you. Not saying to do-nothing and let the fates carry you,definitely have control over your reality. Since I do not know you,I'm wondering if you are an instructor? Or maybe you want to teach? Just an idea that if you are instructing at a school then you will get your name out there more,hence generating more clientele perhaps?I don't advise Massage Envy,,that place will drag you down in the end. It's not a very supportive environment,trust me I know.
Best of wishes to you and blessings of much deserved prosperity,
Jason
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Hi Jason,
My first hour of massage school my teacher told us if you think your going to be rich like your admissions adviser told you get out of my classroom right now. Going into massage school I did it mainly because i had several friends that made really good money at it but had no clue what to expect, among other reasons to personal to get into. However, I have learned to love this field instantly once we started learning techniques. My first client I helped was my mom from having rotator cuff surgery. I don't plan on being rich I just want to live comfortably without worrying if I have my rent money due. I am in the process of kind of a re birth. I changed the company name because I now have three therapists under my belt that do events for me. Some how and I never question it God or the universe always provides. When I wrote this I was freaking out because my build in income went away. So I took swift action and doubled it 48 hours later. The law of attraction will always provide those that believe in it.
As for teaching I would love to teach. I keep looking for opportunities and by doing this for the last 18 months on my own(worked for previous people) I have learned so much marketing and advertisement stuff that I should teach a course on how to effectively advertise in a crap economy. Thought about contacting the head of massage at the school to see if they could offer a course to the students getting ready to graduate since they are scared and clueless. Something to look into.
For Massage Envy I am not a fan of how they treat there staff. The element I wanted to take that they started was the membership fee for discounted services. They can keep their cattle call type services. I just know of other therapists including the one i see that does this membership based fee and it's taken off like gangbusters.
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Permalink Reply by Gordon J. Wallis on
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Well , what if your prices are lower? After all there are more poor Americans then ever...It was in the news today..One out of six Americans or something like that. . This country is on economic hard times for more people now, then in a very long time. One of my favorite sayings is.. " Desperate times, require Desperate Measures". Or maybe tell everyone you massage that you will discount their next massage session $10.00 for every new client they send you. ? Or get a part time job of some kind...That will just introduce you to more potential clients anyway...Just gear everything you do into being a professional massage therapist no matter the situation. Just shift gears some. Might not be the best advice? Im not really sure?.. But that's what I did years ago.. And it worked out.
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Permalink Reply by Kay Warren on
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I wouldn't discount my services anymore either. Try doing some talks at your local health food store on things like low back pain, neck pain, etc. Take a breather, trade a massage with someone else. Explain the benefits of massage beyond relaxation. People are looking for deals right now, and other people are pushing for all they can get for the least amount of money. Most of them aren't thinking about real benefits & quality, which is just plain sad. I've been where you are and it sucks. I've gotten better about feeling creative, but the money still sucks in this economy. I'm getting by, but it's neither fun nor easy. Good luck.
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Yeah I'm to the point that I don't have to discount my services as much as I did in the beginning. At my networking functions I always instead of a 60 second commercial I give an educational minute. People like this and it makes you more reputable then the chick down the street just taking your money. I'm just trying to think of creative ways to make money. I just reserved my networking headquarters office for Sweetest Day and I'm going to teach techniques for couple's massage. I have 5 people who signed up in 20 minutes. I'm not giving them all massages just techniques for when their hubby's whine my hands hurt. I'm charging $60 a couple and catering the event with a new healthy gluten free company in the area as well as a gluten free bakery. I have always wanted to teach but my alma mater isn't hiring currently. I'm in finals this week for school(finishing my business degree) so next week I will be revamping my goals list. Thank you everyone for all the suggestions that is why I love this site :D
Kay Warren said:
I wouldn't discount my services anymore either. Try doing some talks at your local health food store on things like low back pain, neck pain, etc. Take a breather, trade a massage with someone else. Explain the benefits of massage beyond relaxation. People are looking for deals right now, and other people are pushing for all they can get for the least amount of money. Most of them aren't thinking about real benefits & quality, which is just plain sad. I've been where you are and it sucks. I've gotten better about feeling creative, but the money still sucks in this economy. I'm getting by, but it's neither fun nor easy. Good luck.
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Gordon,
I offer discounts generously to my clients, I'm thinking it has a lot to do with the kinds of people that are asking for these deep discounts. They are also the kind that think the dollar store is the new Macy's. For a part time job I'm trying to find something overnight or one or two days a week just until I get over the hump. It's that time of year I start to get busy. This post was my momentary freak out but any suggestions please bring it :)
Gordon J. Wallis said:Well , what if your prices are lower? After all there are more poor Americans then ever...It was in the news today..One out of six Americans or something like that. . This country is on economic hard times for more people now, then in a very long time. One of my favorite sayings is.. " Desperate times, require Desperate Measures". Or maybe tell everyone you massage that you will discount their next massage session $10.00 for every new client they send you. ? Or get a part time job of some kind...That will just introduce you to more potential clients anyway...Just gear everything you do into being a professional massage therapist no matter the situation. Just shift gears some. Might not be the best advice? Im not really sure?.. But that's what I did years ago.. And it worked out.
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