I got a question this week on the Ask Eileen page from a long-time reader/commentor, Fran D.
Fran is an energetic and forward-thinking person. Over the last two years she has been in transition. Surgery slowed her practice down, then she was working hard to find a place where she could run her practice her way. Last I heard from Fran she found a spot close to home and seemed excited about the future.
I bet most of you are, have been, or will be where Fran is right now. Here is her question. If you have any insight for her, please leave a comment.:
“How do you know when to step back?
I feel like I am drowning sometimes with constantly trying to get my weekly book filled. I always manage to average the same amount of appointments per month which cover expenses with little else left.
I post business cards, fliers, offer discounts, blog, emailings, newsletters …”
Fran, when you start wondering whether you should step back, step back. The trick, I think, is to step back while still looking forward.
What are you wanting to step back from? Your practice or marketing? I’m going to assume it’s marketing your massage practice.
Without knowing details, two things immediately spring to mind:
1) I wonder what your business cards, fliers, etc, look like and I wonder what they say.
Here are the Duhs just to get them out of the way: Cards have to be printed on decent paper by a professional printer. Fliers, etc, should be free of misspellings and grammatical errors. Emails shouldn’t be so big that they take 7 minutes to download. Stuff like that.
But the big questions I have is — What you’re saying on all your client communications? This leads me to …
2) I wonder if you know who your “ideal” client is.
When you know who your client should be, you will know what to say to them. Really.
Okay, that’s a kind of simplistic statement. But it is true.
You aren’t going to have much impact if you run an ad essentially saying, “Massage makes you feel better. I have a nice studio.” That’s nice, and true, but it doesn’t mean anything to me. I think I feel fine.
But if you know you are after work-from-home moms you can run an ad saying, “Your kid weighs more than two sacks of potatoes. That’s why your shoulder and neck feel all pinchy. Give me a call and we’ll take care of it.”
If you want to focus on teachers, you have to tell them you are available for work when the teachers are not at school. Believe me, they want to know this.
Maybe you have a knack for banishing headaches and that’s the work you want to do. Well, hey, get a hold of those teachers, moms, grocery clerks and lawyers and tell them how good you are.
When you write, you must be specific and focused. Maybe people do want to know five things about you, but they’ll only remember one. So tell them just one thing that will really, truly help. That they really, truly want to know. If you know your clients, you’ll know what that one thing is.
When you focus on the one thing (or one thing for each group you’re trying to attract) you will save money. You certainly will save time.
Let me know the details, Fran, and we’ll talk more.
All my best,
Eileen
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3 users commented in " “I feel like I’m drowning …”: Overwhelmed with marketing your massage practice "
Great tips Eileen. Finding a balance is crucial in any practice. Not enough customers or too many customers take a toll on one’s health.
Hmmmm. So I have had to read this over several times and marinate on it. My ads during the winter months to promote hot stone massage were:
March Madness! Get a hot stone massage for an unbelievable $– regularly &– a savings of 25% and I noted the benefits of hot stone work.
I got three new customers and two of the current clients in. Good. I extended the offering time, no additional responses.
I did one that said” Having Trouble Sleeping at Night?” Come in for hot cup of tea and relaxing, soothing massage after a long tiring day. $10.00 off new customers. Got one taker.
So here are some scenarios:
1.A small percentage of my regulars now seem to expect this discounting. But are not interested in the package option.
2. I do as much on line networking as possible because it’s free.
3. My newsletters touch on health and nutrition promoting the products I offer and maybe a package discount on a combo service.
My perfect client??? Well It’s that person that knows the difference that massage makes in their lives by reducing aches and pains associated with age in most of these cases. Come hell or hi water they are there. Women have naturally been a large community for me and perhaps a husband, son or two which I am comfortable with, I do not actively seek male clients though.
I offer spa services however…I have come to realize that people associate the word spa with luxury” peel me a grape” thinking. My idea is much more on the line of therapeutic value of the body wraps and such.
I am about health and wellness and offering that to my clients and I am looking for the client who wants a partner in the process. Less interested in slick show. I have numerous clients tell me about their journeys elsewhere and having experienced dissatisfaction. Whether the paid more or tried to go cheap.
How is that for a start?
PS- I think sometimes the practice can become to gimmicky with the wrong approach. I hate that. I am looking for the same respect and notoriety as the chiropractic, PT, and other health care pros. I have grappled with the idea of insurance but do not want to open this can if I am not prepared to deal correctly with it. Why? Because it targets a population who need the service.
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