You can spend $500 on a newspaper ad and maybe get 10 clients. Or you can spend $100 on an ad in a high school flyer and get 10 clients.

As I said in the last entry, you need to know whom you’re talking to. Once you know whom you’re talking to, you know what to talk about.

And when you know whom you’re talking to, you’ll know where to find them.

Yes. It will take more time and effort than just writing a check to your local paper. It will also attract the kind of clients you want to work with.

When you run a general ad in a general publication — local newspaper, Val-Pak, Yellow Pages, Google key word “Olympia” — you’re going to get lost in the shuffle. It’s better to focus your money and efforts on the specific group of clients you are looking for.

(For those of you who create superb, well-crafted text with engaging designs, I’m not talking to you. You know the drill.)

In the brainstorming/massage marketing consultations I’ve been doing these past couple weeks, we’ve spent a chunk of time exploring where you can go to find your ideal clients. Here’s a rough list from my consultation notes:

Pregnancy Massage (Pre and Post)
Find the doulas, midwives and pre-natal yoga teachers.
Ask what it would take for them to recommend you to their clients.
Do they have mailing lists? Will they be willing to mention/recommend you in their mailings?
Do they or their group have newsletters? Will they sell you space for an ad? Can you contribute an article?

Are there any parenting classes at the local hospital or community college? Usually these classes have lots of informational/self-care handouts. Can you contribute one?

Find the dads-to-be. The dads need some way to help. (By the bye, dads need very specific instructions. They are very afraid of messing up. I know this.) See if you can do a foot massage how-to at a parenting class or whatever.

Where do the grandmas shop? We have two baby goods resale shops in Olympia. They are grandma magnets. I would go there and make nice to the owners.

Sports Massage
Gyms have mailings lists. Can you buy space for an ad in them?

There are running clubs, soccer clubs, sports teams administrated by cities and counties. They have meetings and mailings and on-line groups. They have scheduled competitions. They need volunteers. Go out and meet these people.

Where do athletes go after a game? Go. Feeling brave? Ask the owner if you can set up your chair. Or your table.

(A side bar: My friend used to work at a sports bar in DC. The ex-pat rugby players hung out there because the owner let them bring their dogs. When my friend got off shift, she massaged the dogs. The dogs went into bliss position. The owners looked thoughtfully at their dogs. She handed them her card. This is not something most MT’s would do, but it worked for her.)

Active Seniors
Again, there are clubs. With meetings. Go check out the community centers and the senior centers. Go check out the Hispanic Women’s club down the block. Go ask at the golf course if there are any groups that meet regularly. Fishing clubs, dog walkers, yoga studios, political meetings. Go.

Elders/Frail
For these folks, I would look for their family members. Especially the family members that live far away. Speaking personally, I fervently I wish I could find an experienced reflexologist in the Perrysburg, OH, area to go to The Home and work on my grandmother and great aunt. Surely when someone goes into a home, his or her family gets some sort of information package. See if you can’t be a part of that.

For those that are still independent, ask around at churches. VFW. Granges. Again, at community centers and senior centers.

Who else? I’ve got a million of ‘em. Come on, throw some more at me. I’m ready. (*puff* *puff* *snort*)

All my best,
Eileen

PS: For anyone wondering — or caring — about all the whom-ing at the beginning of this entry, it’s in response to my dad giving me endless grief about yesterday’s entry’s headline. I know it’s grammatically incorrect, but that’s how people talk. You can’t go around whom-ing people in headlines. I’m 40 years old. I can do what I want.