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House calls
Opening up a discussion about house calls. Do you do them at all? Do you require a reference first? I personally dislike them. You never know who or what kind of space youre walking into. And dont even get me started on pets. Im currently trying to build a clientele so i dont want to turn down business. Im using Thumbtack, a professional networking site/tool so many of these inquiries are from complete strangers. How would you suggest communicating with a potential client about this topic?
Subsequently, does anyone have any experience using this thumbtack site? Or any recommendations for a good networking site?
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Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Gordon J. Wallis on
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I don't do house calls anymore. When I first started doing this kind of work in Hawaii, I did. I think this is more of a female therapist problem. As a male massage therapist I was never concerned about the kind of space I was walking into. Hmm, maybe I would today though? I think a female therapist, perhaps should be concerned. Just thinking out loud here. One thing you could do. Is let other people know you are going on a house call, and give them the time and address. You could use your phone to take a picture of the house, and text it too a friend. The time and date would be recorded. Also, when you get the address. You will know what part of town and neighbor hood you will be in. Hopefully there will be another female therapist in here that does house calls that you can talk with.
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Permalink Reply by Daniel Melmed on
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My company exclusively provides "outcall" services. There are many different aspects of it to consider, and advertising is a whole subject unto itself. I thought it might be useful for you to check some of our in home massage FAQs to see how we advise customers on how things work, and how we do things as well.
You may find some other pages on the website useful, including the in home massage rates pages which also detail some of our policies (at the bottom).
Dan M.
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Permalink Reply by Gary W Addis, LMT on
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I don't turn down housecalls unless I get bad vibes when the potential client calls; I'll even take my table and sheets to a motel/hotel room. A strong indication that it's dangerous if you're asked, Do you provide happy endings / I have a really bad spot in my inner thigh, will you work it / that sort of thing.
You're a female, so, yes, you have to be more careful. But, really, IMO it's wrong to make a blanket refusal to do outcalls. For instance, vacationers try to do too much, and get trigger points and or ankle or knee strains or even sprains. Outcall expect to tip well, and willingly do if you manage to stop the pain.
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Permalink Reply by Angela Williams on
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Hello Kim, I'm a mobile massage therapist. I do house calls, and I also travel to offices and hotels to see clients. I'm very picky about who I deal with though, and do a mini interview before I meet with anyone. Safety is very important when doing house calls. If I ever go to see someone and I feel uneasy or not safe, which has never happened, I simply state this to the person, as my safety and comfort are important. I get full names, full address, and other information, if they refuse in anyway I do not book them. I would actually feel less safe having an office space and having god knows who come in, not knowing much about them.
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Also with out call massage you can charge more. The client doesn't have to leave their house you bring everything to them, how nice is that? :)
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Permalink Reply by Melisa Ryan on
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Ive only been doing outcall massage since becoming licensed at 19. Of course most have been references but i have met a few people on the street and even, dare i say it, put out a craigslist ad AND answered a craigslist ad. Both, luckily for me, were not creepers looking for a happy ending or to kidnap me. I had a couple sessions with both gentlemen but they never become consistent clients due to traveling often for work.
When going to these strangers homes, i always let 2 family members (i have 2 designated people for this haha) know where im going, how long, when they should expect to hear from me, and the clients address and number. I also keep a small knife in my bag which id like to switch to a tazer at some point. But it has never gotten to that point. I can usually tell by talking on the phone whether or not they have honest intentions.
I also try to ask beforehand, whether they have adequate space for a 3 X 6 foot table but ive still had to work in tight spaces. I just think its part of being an outcall therapist. I plan to rent a studio in the future for more space and acess to more clients but till then, im pretty happy with doing outcall massage.
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Wow ! I don't do house visits. But that is cool and very worthwhile information. I would not have known..
Laura Owen said:Just as an update to my earlier post on avoiding calls for improper massage: I recently ran an extensive ad campaign on a couple of the major search engines, and through both that and the site stats on my website I can tell exactly what everyone who clicks on my site searched for, whether they clicked on the ad or just found my site during a search. I do have many clicks from searches for what is obviously illegal massage, but I have received a total of one call which may or may not have been a sex call (I don't return calls from men who leave only a name and number so I'll never be sure on that one.)
The point being, that my website makes it very clear what I do, and although I can see that people who are searching for happy ending massages do click on my site multiple times daily, they do not try to book. I can also see that they don't peruse the site, they simply move on (site stats are awesome!!!) Using a professional website and an ad campaign is so completely effective, inexpensive and safe as opposed to sites like backpage, craigslist and others that I can't emphasize enough their importance.
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