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New Ways to Make Money in the Massage Field

Ok I've been a therapist for about 12 years. I've worked in 5 star hotels, with elderly clients, with an NBA team for 5 seasons and now I have a really successful business. I work at an organization in downtown DC with the potential to have thousands of clients. Of course there is only me. I work business hours and a little past. 10:30 7:30. I schedule 30 minute and hour massages mostly and I average anywhere from 5 to 8 clients a day. I've gotten so busy, I've hired someone to work for me one day a week and to cover the days I'm out.

So on the weekend, I have another office at a spa where I'm the only therapist. I usually have a couple of clients there each Saturday and then I do outcalls at hotels and have a few clients I see in their home.

I am beyond blessed in terms of doing what I love and having phenomenal clients. The problem is that there is only one me. The therapist who works for me sometimes has a hard time filling her schedule but I am easily booking 2 weeks out. My regulars months in advance.

I don't want to burn out but I also want some type of income that I can get without using my body but in the massage world.

Eventually I would like to teach but I want to be able to work a couple of days doing something with my brain that I can get in some decent money.

My husband and I also want to start a family soon so I really want something I can train or do and get going asap. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

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Permalink Reply by JB Harding, III LMT A.A.S. on September 1, 2010 at 3:03pm

Well. only if i was in your state and town, I would definitely come work for you.. I am very passionate about massage to the point i am studying something pertaining to massage or psychology of touch therapies... Maybe one day!!!

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Permalink Reply by Jimmy Gialelis on September 12, 2010 at 10:08am

I teach a course called Hydrotherapy at the Arizona School of Massage Therapy. This course teaches we practitioners who to utilize Hydrotherapy treatments to aid in injury recovery and promote health. I employ Hydrotherapy treatments whenever possible since they are easy to administer. This prevents from me burning out after 10 years of massaging. Hope this helps!

Jimmy in AZ

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Permalink Reply by Kelli Dougan on September 13, 2010 at 6:30am

First and foremost...kudos to you for being in such high demand! Especially during these tough economic times. Its so heartwarming to hear of another therapist doing so well. yeah.
As for your dilema...I would strongly suggest training the person who works for you. Get to know their personality, their teckniques and then tweak those things to meet your client demand. If your clients know they can expect the same from this other person as when they come to you, they are more likely to return and book appt's w/ them.
Just for example: I recently went to a spa in my area for a Hot Stone Massage. I always return to this specific spa as I know each therapist performs pretty much the same. They offfer a lovely stone routine to their clients. Well, this last time I went I ended up getting a new therapist who had not yet been trained to their routine and I HATED IT! I was so upset that I had wasted my time, I was tense and spent a huge amount of money for something I hated. Thankfully, I spoke to the owner and she explained that this girl hadn't been trained yet and she made up for it. But many people would just walk out the door and never return.
I hope this helps you. Best of luck.

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Permalink Reply by Kay Warren on September 13, 2010 at 10:37am

the therapist working for you may be trainable, or she may not, finding someone who has what you need can be very difficult, i've been there. Then i made the mistake of moving back to the east coast. I've been doing this 26 years, but I'm not good at marketing. Where are you? if you're in Northern CA, we should talk... I do medical and orthopedic work, from plantar fasciitis to hip, knee & ankle injury and surgical re-hab. I've done Kinesio Tape levels 1 &2.

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Permalink Reply by Zelda Wafer-Alonge on September 13, 2010 at 10:48am

I'm actually in the DC area - my office is in the International Monetary Fund near the White House in downtown DC. I think people just have preferences about who they like. She's been practicing for over 11 years so her massage is fine she's just not me. But I lover her!

Kay Warren said:

the therapist working for you may be trainable, or she may not, finding someone who has what you need can be very difficult, i've been there. Then i made the mistake of moving back to the east coast. I've been doing this 26 years, but I'm not good at marketing. Where are you? if you're in Northern CA, we should talk... I do medical and orthopedic work, from plantar fasciitis to hip, knee & ankle injury and surgical re-hab. I've done Kinesio Tape levels 1 &2.

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Permalink Reply by Julie Onofrio on September 13, 2010 at 4:09pm

I found creating websites and blogging about 10 years into my career (11 years ago!) It supplements my income nicely and will be some retirement income too I am hoping.

I am creating a website on how to do it but I just started it -www.guidetomakingwebsites.com

Some of my sites are www.thebodyworker.com, www.massage-career-guides.com, www.massageceguide.com

I have a ton of ideas for massage therapists wanting to make websites. I just posted a list yesterday.
http://www.guidetomakingwebsites.com/website-ideas.html

It does take a lot of work and time but once you get things rolling, money comes in when you sleep. That's what I like the most!

Julie

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Permalink Reply by Zelda Wafer-Alonge on September 13, 2010 at 4:41pm

this sounds really great - I'm going to check out your sites and if you don't mind I will definitely be keeping in touch with you!

Julie Onofrio said:

I found creating websites and blogging about 10 years into my career (11 years ago!) It supplements my income nicely and will be some retirement income too I am hoping.

I am creating a website on how to do it but I just started it -www.guidetomakingwebsites.com

Some of my sites are www.thebodyworker.com, www.massage-career-guides.com, www.massageceguide.com

I have a ton of ideas for massage therapists wanting to make websites. I just posted a list yesterday.
http://www.guidetomakingwebsites.com/website-ideas.html

It does take a lot of work and time but once you get things rolling, money comes in when you sleep. That's what I like the most!

Julie

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Permalink Reply by Janice Jackson on September 14, 2010 at 7:25am

There is a great book out which I am reading called: KaChing by Joel Comm, How to Monitize an Online Business that Pays and Pays. It tells you how to make money with your website and blog and more.

good luck!
Janice

Zelda Wafer-Alonge said:

I've actually started to blog but for other reasons. I would definitely like to for massage but I haven't researched it enough to know how to get an income from it. I am busy which I hope means good. But since I can't massage myself I have no idea :)

Vivian said:
If you are indispensable, you will never get promoted.
When you are self employed, this means you must eventually begin outsourcing the work or you will never progress beyond what you are doing now.
If you are that busy, you must be good. And from what you have mentioned about yourself you probably have some interesting stories to tell and some very useful insights.
Maybe you can begin outsourcing more of the massage work and learn how to start a blog and begin earning income that way?