New practice - what worked for you?

[Giny]

New practice - what worked for you?

Hey EM,

That was 2005... and for some reason, a poster (spam in all it's glory) resurrected your thread... So, let's take it as a sign, and ask you to give an update here... t004

 

[melia]

New practice - what worked for you?

Here's how I would respond to the OP today, off the top of my head ;-)

1. Set clear hours for those days and make sure clients are aware of them (I still don't do this, but I think if I had started early that would have been good).

2. Bootstrap the business with flyers around the surrounding neighborhoods advertising your massage for a bargain basement amount. Find out the average pay among the spas that are currently declining to hire you due to your lack of experience and use that. People will jump at the cheap massage and you'll make no less than you would working for someone else while learning a lot more.

You have more time than money right now, and this will fix that problem. It will also help you play the numbers game that is finding the clients with whom you have the best match for a working relationship.

When your schedule is full you can raise your rates, say $10/hr to new clients. Keep the old clients on the old rates for six months; after six months, evaluate whether to adjust either rate (new clients, old clients) up or down.

3. Look at Cherie Sohnen-Moe's yearly/monthly marketing plan and use it. Keep notes on it and make it your own over time.

4. Get your website up faster, and not just a business card site. It's one of your first sources of credibility. Get on Yelp sooner too.

5. Decide if you want to be available for same-day appointments or not. In my case, I found that same-day appointments are not good for my workflow. In that case start nipping the same-day scheduling in the bud asap: implement online scheduling, get long term clients into packages/memberships for a discount, perhaps raise the price of your ad hoc sessions, communicate clearly on your website that the best massage schedule is about regularity more than frequency and educate on the benefits of having a set appointment cycle.

6. Donate gift certificates as silent auctions items for as many non-profits as you care to, find the ones that you can really work with and develop a relationship of yearly donations like this.

7. Develop referral relationships with therapists located around the country and world. SF is a destination city and you can get a surprising number of referrals from out of town.

Hmm... I better start listening to myself! That's probably tip #8!

 

[Ava Lynn born 8-4-09]

New practice - what worked for you?

Great post - great tips!

 

[2536856]

New practice - what worked for you?

And, how's your business since back then? Update?

 

[illeciavE]

New practice - what worked for you?

Hard to say, as I've been through a rough year and a half with a major death in the family and lots of time spent on wrapping up the estate and related projects that have dropped in my lap.

But when I am doing bodywork, things are going great... I feel like I'm continuing to learn a lot, clients feedback has only gotten better, evidence indicates that I'm well known in the community and viewed positively, I've started getting referrals from people I've never heard of ("so and so in Santa Barbara", "my wife's energy worker", etc), and I've been teaching some (the signature head massage class at the salon I go to went great) and planning to do more.

Some more tips to my just-starting-out self:

8. was Listen to that little voice that seems to have good ideas--it knows what it's talking about, so don't drag your feet implementing what it says. (I'm currently reading Execution and finding out that it's not just me, this is a problem lots of people and even whole companies have!)

9. Start teaching sooner... even if just in small ways, informally for free to groups of friends, at the San Francisco Free School, at anarchist skillshares, whatever. Find places to practice teaching and help people create more positive touch in their lives and our culture.

10. Get coaching. Find a coach you can trade with and, when it's no longer working well, find a new one.

11. Trade bodywork more often; trade regularly; in fact, set a day of the week and time for your trade and invite other bodyworkers to sign up for slots (one week give, the next week receive, repeat). You'll learn a lot, take care of yourself, and build professional connections.

12. Get bodywork regularly from master bodyworkers. You'll learn even more, take even better care of yourself, build professional connections, and you'll *maintain your inspiration and motivation*.

13. I know that you do an excellent job at inner growth work, both personally and in relationships. Unfortunately that's only 1/2th of the picture. You also need to focus on your body (hire a personal trainer) and your environment (hire a personal organizer). These will bring the outer circumstances of your life into greater alignment with the inner growth you pursue. Work in all these areas together will synergize. [Someone else reading this might be tidy and organized, go to the gym regularly, but need some psychotherapy or psychological coaching, a meditation practice, and/or communication classes to balance.]

14. In every area of your practice, discern what you want and get clear about it. The clearer you are, the easier it will be to get it; the sooner you get clear, the sooner you can get it.

15. Go to Peru and drink ayahuasca sooner... the work you do with it it will boost areas 1-14 tremendously