It takes time. Connect with any Homeopaths in the area. Leave information at the Doctors' offices. Donate chair massage at any local school or charity events. You might donate massage for the staff at a local hospital once a week. People need to get to know you and your touch to recommend you. I have not seen the usual networks working for touch.

It has taken 2.5 years of slow building on referrals to be busy all week at the business I bought over three years ago. Yed, I took it over the week the recession was announced.

Now that I am busy I have two women starting in my clinic. My problem is how to being in business for them. We have an ad in the gym across the street and I post online. I am sure that it will come, My clients are reluctant to try someone else. So gender bias can go the other way.My clients are almost equally men and women, boys and girls. I offer Asian Bodywork blended with MFR, Craniosacral Therapy, Lymphatic Massage, Aromatherapy and Diet/Lifestyle Change.

Rome wasn't built in a day.

Good luck

Dr. Paul Eric Lewis said:

Well, I have not seen that much recent activity on this site, for this group, but there are interesting threads of conversation here.  Let me introduce myself.

My name is Paul and here in Massachusetts and I am just beginning my MT practice here in central Massachusetts.  We have had a very hard winter.  I especially endured this winter with a major dental problem, delaying my entry into the massage business.  As Spring approaches, I am hoping to get my independent business going.  I am semi-retired, and I intend to work part-time, doing especially 2 types of massage: Relaxation Swedish Massage with Deep Tissue Work; and Sports Massage, pre- and post-activity.  I have done some massage exchanges and I have attempted attracting clientele from a couple flyers and a couple online ads I've posted, following the advice given me by networking here in Central Massachusetts.  I have gotten very few clients in these ways.  I have heard people responding to an ad "unhappy that there are no female massage therapists at your business.  I never heard similar complaints in hospitals about doctors and other practitioners based on gender. 

I am hoping to get a discussion going around this issue of gender because I want to get a good business going when I start my practice.  There is a financial aspect to doing business which we all must deal with now during a time of economic recession and inflation of food and oil prices.  I want my being a male massage therapist to be a plus and not a minus to my business.  Jorge Cisneros' comment, above, is very positive and hopeful, and the choice of name for your locale by Mark Zymewski is something for me to reflect on, also. 

 

Any comments on how being male affects you financially and in getting started?  I do not want to be in the boat of competing with the "spas for the wealthy" in my city.  I want to get an active practice of healing massage going, where being male attracts both sexes.  Any ideas?

 

Paul Lewis, Ph.D., LMT

Worcester, MA -- March 20, 2011 (Spring!)

 

 

Majority of my clients are men. I too believed before school that I would struggle with clientele, etc. Working on a man for me at first was a little awkward but once you break that barrier it becomes a wonderful thing. We as men need the touch and care as well as the females. 

Because men understand this and are more health conscious they seem to get regular massage(at least my clients do).  I do outcalls only and get most of my clients at hotels, or out of town people. Some I grab on Craigslist, etc.

My website is www.massagebyjohn.com if you ever want to contact me. I can tell you step by step how to make this work for you since we are outnumbered by the female therapist. :) Have a great day and please don't give up!

I have found working in the right environment can be the difference between thriving and just plain existing. I spent the first 4 years of my career just existing to the point that I almost gave up. Fate played a hand and by luck I landed a job with a chiropractor in a rural community. That boosted my work, my knowledge, and my confidence. I believe the medical setting provided me with more acceptance by a wide range of clients that normally would have done "oh, do you have any female therapists available?"

Being a 40 something, somewhat overweight male, spas would not consider me for hire. They know that roughly 70% of the available massage prospects would prefer a female therapist for various reasons. Spas will typically have one to two males on staff with the rest of their staff female. The females will stay 100% booked where the males will still have openings through the day. Right or wrong, that is how our industry is. A male therapist will have to be twice as smart, work twice as hard, and be totally committed and tenacious in their career to make half as much as their female counterparts.

This led me to specialize in medical/therapeutic massage. Another good area to specialize in for males is sports massage. Male therapists seem to adapt better in those environments and be more accepted by clients/patients. That does not mean men can not specialize in spa type therapies, it just means they will have a much greater challenge finding clientele.

I agree with the other respondents, the right marketing and consistent networking is key to growing a successful business. The best way to develop clientele is by hand shaking and personal presentation.