Massage Practice Builder - Five Pillars of Success

My Massage Practice Builder program consists of Five different essential areas for starting and building a successful massage business - successful in all ways - financially, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. When you work to build your "Ideal Massage Practice" focusing on working with your "Ideal Massage Client", every step and decision you make along the way will support and nurture your business and your being.

Massage Websites are the first step but it isn't about building just any old website. The process of building a website that I use and recommend is one that will challenge you to start thinking about yourself as a business person and the end result will actually be a business plan. It will require that you learn to write down many of the things that you already say to clients anyway during a session or when they first call you.

Your website must be on the top of the first page of Google and all the other search engines so that when people are looking for 'Massage, your city'- your website shows up first. People who are already looking for massage are your 'ideal client'. They already understand the value of massage but aren't necessarily looking for you. When they find your information rich website they will know that you are the right massage therapist for them. You will need to create over 50 pages of content for your website or as many as it takes to get to the top position on the search results.

Creating a Referral Network will also be a part of building your successful massage business. The next best way to get clients is through word of mouth - through people who already know and respect your work. Your clients will gladly refer people to you (with or without any referral program in place.) You will also build a network of referrals from other healthcare practitioners - doctors, chiropractors, acupuncturists, physical therapists, psychologists, dentists and even other massage therapists, but the key is finding people who you would refer others to first!

Ethics. Throughout the process of creating your website and your referral network, you will be focusing on attracting your ideal client. It is a matter of understanding your own needs and values and applying it to your practice. Ethics is much more than just a class you have to take. It will help build the foundation for your massage business that will help it last for many years and will help you build it into as big of practice as you need. The process of supervision can help you to stay focused on your "ideal client" while dealing with the many issues that will come up in your daily practice.

Self care is what makes all of this come together. After 25 years of being in business for myself as a massage therapist, the one thing I can say that it is more about taking care of yourself than taking care of others. A solid self care program will also involve knowing what you need and making decisions based on your values (ethics) that will support you instead of drain you.

The one last thing I am adding is learning to bill insurance for massage services. This is the one thing that has helped sustain me for so many years through the many challenges. Now more than ever it is even more important to be able to work with insurance companies and become more recognized as a health care profession. It requires that you know how to set and keep boundaries that support you through this process. Insurance companies and other health care professionals will challenge them to the core. Being able to bill insurance companies will show them and the medical profession that massage is a viable and important part of health care.

The process of Supervision is what supports the process of becoming a massage therapist -everything from dealing with daily issues to setting the fees and policies of your business to create a solid foundation for success. Supervision is the process of working with a more experienced massage therapist and get the support you need for making decisions that support you in finding your "Ideal Clients" to create your "Ideal Massage Business (or job)". Ideal clients are nourishing to work with and help you do your best work.