Marketing Massage Within Another
Business
"Slow and steady wins the race." —Aesop
We hear from many of you who operate your practice within a chiropractic
office, medical practice, salon, or in some other business. Even if
you are simply renting space from someone else, this can be a great
opportunity for building your own business — naturally!
- It puts
you in close proximity to a business with a ready-made clientele.
- It provides an opportunity for mutual support
with other professionals.
- It gives your clients exposure to other professionals
who may be able to help them.
- It can save you money if you share certain expenses.
- It may enhance your professional image.
It can be so easy and natural to reach out to clients of the larger
business. Here are some ideas:
- Mail promotional postcards to part or all of the mailing list of
the larger practice.
- Put your flyers or promotional
posters in the waiting room.
- Leave your business cards at the desk.
- Leave discount coupons in the waiting room. (Remember to specify
one per client. Give an expiration date, and suggest they pass it
to a friend if they don’t plan to use it.)
- Give sample chair massages in the waiting room.
- Give presentations to groups of clients or patients, perhaps joining
with the other professionals in the practice or salon, such as a
naturopath, chiropractor or esthetician.
- Write articles for the office newsletter.
- What are your innovative ideas? [Click here to share a tip]
For reaching out to clients beyond the office, note where else the
owner is advertising. Can you piggy-back on those efforts? For example,
can you add your business information to their flyers? Can you add your
information to their paid advertisements (offering to pay a percentage
of the costs, of course)?
As you gather your ideas, write them down. If you plan on spending
a significant amount that can benefit the larger business as well as
yourself, write up a sheet of estimated costs of materials, mailings
and other expenses. Then meet with the owner/manager, present it to
them, and discuss if there are ways they can support your efforts. Keep
in mind that you want to emphasize the benefits to their business without
losing sight of the fact that it’s your practice you are building.
Here are some possible benefits to the owner and any other professionals
who practice there:
- Does having your service and your presence in the office help build
his or her reputation?
- Do you offer a service his or her clients or patients expect and/or
benefit from, increasing satisfaction?
- Can you refer clients to each other? (See Referrals.)
- Is increasing traffic into the office via your business something
that could build his or her client base as well as yours?
If you want to jointly market with the larger business, such as by
sending a joint promotional mailing or newsletter, make suggestions
about how you will split costs. Show the owner/manager what the project
will cost, and what you expect the return to be. Remember, if you are
asking to use their mailing list or take space to display promotional
materials such as coupons, business cards or brochures at the front
desk, they are already contributing to your marketing efforts. So make
your suggested split fair by figuring in those contributions. Also,
consider the effort involved. Are you going to spend your time developing
and printing a mailer? Is the office staff available to do some part
of the work?
Encourage referrals from the other professionals in the office. This
can be one of your best ongoing sources of new clients. Begin by offering
these professionals free or discounted samples of your work so they
know what it is like. Make sure you educate them about your specialties
or focus, so they will know to refer clients most likely to benefit
from your work. If you are in a health care setting, collect a packet
of multiple copies of research articles on your specialty to hand to
the other professionals. Or have some copies of A
Physician's Guide to Therapeutic Massage by John Yates to loan or give away. Ask if they
will hand out your business card or brochure to their patients or clients
when appropriate. In return for their referrals, have their brochures
or business cards in your office to give to your clients.
Even when working under the banner of another business, you can’t
wait for someone to build your business for you. Take the driver’s
seat, make a plan and network with the other professionals in your office
or salon. You’ve got a great head start just by being there!
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