Alternative Uses for Your Massage Studio: AKA Party Central!

Before we renovated,  I had one big open space separating the reception area from the single established treatment room in the office. I had plans to use this space as a community learning center. Where folks would come from far and wide to hear me speak about the wonders of Massage Therapy. Group Couples Workshops. Lectures on aromatherapy and alternative health information.

One of two things happened. Either I didn't market it enough (entirely possible) or people just weren't interested in me talking about Massage. They would rather my hands do the talking. Which was great! That's primarily what I do. So eventually we built two treatment rooms in this space. To give the people what they want.

While I continued promoting our very first fundraiser, I had an idea. One last hurrah before the walls went up. A Customer Appreciation Event! The event was co-hosted by two friends in related businesses, Virginia Walker of Special-Tea Occasions and Amy Montandon of Rodan + Fields skin care. They each set up a booth for product demonstrations and at the end of the party I hosted a free Reflexology workshop. The party had a beach theme. Photos Here!

It even got us in the paper. 

Once the walls were installed, and two big spaces became one big space and two medium spaces, we still managed to host events in our Center. Events that focused on bringing our clients exclusive access to products that they would enjoy. 

In April, we had another Customer Appreciation Party. We invited Judy Landry, a Dove Chocolate Representative, Patsy Wiley of Juice Plus+, the McReynolds Winery, and our favorite Tea Lady, Virginia Walker of Special-Tea Occasions, all of whom graciously came out to treat our clients to samples of their very best products. 

Of course for these small business owners to make it worth their while to come and demonstrate for two hours they had items available for sale, catalogs to take home, and drawings to collect contact information. Our then staff of 5 offered complimentary chair massage in a quiet room while the guests went from room to room sampling the different vendors. It was a TON of fun! 

Today, we are hosting our third Client Appreciation Party since our opening 14 months ago. And today it is all about purses. Our very own Massage Therapist, Amy Lescoe-Hall is a Miche Representative. She will be sharing with us the latest styles to the Miche line. Party attendees will also be treated to free chair massage and yummy healthy snacks.

Reasons you should have parties at your business:

• You get to hang out with your clients, who are AMAZING people to hang out with. When they come in for appointments it is their time and their time alone. To protect professional boundaries I try not to socialize outside of appointments. Which really sucks for me, because my clients are ridiculously awesome people. The more appreciation parties I have to more chances I have to actually get to know them.
• It shows your clients that you can fit more than two people in your room. They start thinking to themselves, "hey, I bet this would be a great spot to host my daughter's baby shower!" and then they could all have foot massages and paraffin after they play how-many-squares-of-toilet-paper-around-the-baby-bump.
• Advertising! Even if they can't make it to the party, an invitation in the mail puts your business back in the front of their eyes. Hit up the local party supply store and make it a theme. Have some fun! 
• People don't go to parties alone. They bring their friends. Friends that may have never heard about your business otherwise. And what an endorsement! Every potential new client that walks in your door that day is extremely qualified to become a repeat customer.
• It shows you care. You are giving back! Go you!!

I'm missing plenty more reasons that you should have a party next week (tax deduction, staff motivation, etc. etc. etc.) but I'm trying to get this second 31 in 31 blog post out before September. Please add your reasons and party ideas in the comment section to share with others!

Couples Massage Sign Language for Massage Therapists

(This post is in part of the 31 in 31 blog challenge.)

I love doing couples massage. I love when two people choose to share this serene environment we have created. I especially love it when a client mentions that their couples massage was selected as a preferred birthday/anniversary gift- what a honor!

In a solo massage room clients are free to talk, or sleep, or drool. Whatever floats their boat. They are the captain of the USS Serenity. If talking helps them to relax, then let's chit-chat!

But, in a couples massage a strange thing happens. To ensure a peaceful atmosphere for both of our clients our staff becomes extraordinarily quiet. Now, obviously, if both clients are the talkative type then we can easily accommodate that. But if one client needs the peace-and-quiet, well then it is our job to make sure you can hear a pin drop. And if we see a pin falling we will do our best to catch it in between our toes so that our clients are not distracted. I may be exaggerating.

In these silent type scenarios, our talented staff does an amazing job of combining their individual massages into a semi-synchronized spa service without words. We still manage to communicate. If a client were to peak under their eye pillow at an opportune time, well they may see one of these humorous scenes:

We have scheduled buffer breaks after every appointment. If we become delayed for any number of reasons we can still give our clients their full time. This means the start and stop time is not set in stone. Both therapists need to be able to end at the same time so this is an important conversation to have.

It goes like this: Therapist A waits for Therapist B to open their eyes and scan the room. It could take awhile. Therapist B may be really into what they are doing, really in tune with the music, unable to feel the eyes of the other therapist. Then, their eyes lock and Therapist A gives the signal. Maybe a simple raise of the eyebrow while pointing at their wrist. Maybe a head tilt with eyes darting back and forth to the clock. The response from Therapist B normally comes back with easy numeral hand gestures. "5 after" they may signal.

The massages continue. A little while later Therapist B's throat becomes inexplicably dry. She waits to recapture the attention of Therapist A to make the drinking mime dance to ask which of the two identical water cups on the shelf is theirs.

The massages continue. It's half way into the treatment and it is starting to get warm in the room with four bodies, two table warmers, and a steam towel cabinet. Therapist A gives the universal rapid hand flapping to signal Therapist B to turn on the table top fan and aim it her way.

Suddenly, a client snorts! The zen has been threatened! The client's partner lets out a little giggle at their loved one's ability to snore them self awake momentarily. As the therapists gently restore the atmosphere, one may give a quiet "Whew!" and wipe of the forehead.

Finally, at the end of the session. Therapists lock eyes and give the headnod to signal they are ready to walk out together. Share your massage-mime situations in the comment section!

This 31 in 31 is going to be fun!

Our Valentine's Day Promotion: Behind the Scenes

Before today, we had a very simple online gift certificate sales system. It looks like this: CLICK HERE. Our gift cards are made from Vistaprint business cards with the appointment reminder back side changed up to look more like a gift card. (250 for $3.99 versus paying $1+ per gift certificate elsewhere on the same site).

Marble Falls Massage Therapy Center Gift Cards

Being the size of a business card makes for really cool gift presentations (in flower arrangements, greeting cards, stuffed animals, etc). Plus smaller size also makes it easy to keep in your wallet, which clients report they appreciate.

Our system is very simple. Our website has a main page dedicated to purchasing gift certificates. This page shows an image of each gift certificate with a PayPal button underneath with a simple form for the purchaser to complete "To & From" prior to check out. Once we received the e-mail of their payment we mailed the appropriate gift certificate and new client brochure to the recipient specified during check out. This gave us contact information for both purchaser and recipient that went into our database for future marketing promotions.

It works okay. What we found is that people like to wait until the last minute to purchase gift certificates for Holidays and 90% of the time a gift certificate purchased online and put in the mail will miss it's intended deadline. So we end up needing someone in the office for clients to swing by and pick up the gift certificates they purchased online. Online gift certificates sales are supposed to be more convenient than in-store gift certificate sales. That's the whole point.

A lot of massage businesses take advantage of printable gift certificates on their websites. And I started to look into this more and more. So we are trying something new today and tomorrow. Sticking to what I know and understand (very little on the interwebs), I stuck with my handy dandy PayPal buttons. I created a new internal page on my website for a special Two Day Couples Massage Sale with a PayPal button for the offer amount. In the programming of the PayPal button code I have it written to redirect to a hidden page on my website upon completion. This hidden page has a large image of a blank Gift Certificate partially completed with the item on sale (in this case a One Hour Couples Massage), the expiration (one year from Valentine's Day), and my authorizing signature.

After the purchaser prints their gift certificate they can personalize the card with the To: and From: sections. Going from buying to printing to gifting in seconds! Now, there is nothing unique about the gift certificate image on this page and nothing stopping someone from printing a million of them. To ensure a gift certificate coming in for redemption has actually been paid for I have included a line on the gift certificate image that says "Email Used At Check-Out". If a gift certificate is missing this line it can not be redeemed.

We've promoted this new concept on our facebook and to our email contact list. I'll post a follow up blog to let everyone know if it was successful. 

Their is also a note about how I would like for them to schedule and our cancellation policy on the gift certificate image.

Spanish & English Intake Forms!

A big huge gigantic thank you to Martha McDermott of the Aromatherapy Shoppe in Virginia Beach, VA for proofing my Google Translated intake forms. She found quite a few context errors for me. Below you will find two images. One of our newly revised (and hopefully error free!) Spanish intake form and the other one our new English intake form. All of the information all matches up for quick and easy reference.

You are welcome to use this to create your own Spanish intake forms with your company's information. But please, if you plan on using any of the translations in the following images please go to Martha's Facebook page and give her company a "Like" as a thank you. They are a brand new business and she was so kind to take time out of her busy schedule to correct my translations on her cell phone!!!

 So here you go:

Spanish Intake Form

English Intake Form

Spanish for Massage Therapists: Part 1

Being that our office is in Texas, the next chapter of our Center's development is the addition of Spanish health intake forms and brochures to offer our services to a wider population pool. We are also planning on creating a Spanish version of our website down the road. 

Our Progress So Far:
I took a few years of Spanish in high school. I have tried several "teach yourself Spanish" systems. But I am by no means fluent in the language. So, God bless Google Translate for the majority of our work so far. I translated our existing English intake form, word-for-word and phrase-for-phrase when necessary, and then emailed a proof to my Spanish speaking friend who is also a massage therapist for review. When we hear back from her we will create matching intake forms in both languages for easy comparison.

We have taken extra precaution to see that both forms meet the Texas Department of State Health Services Consultation Checklist as required by law.


Next Steps:
When asked if they would feel comfortable communicating with clients who spoke a different language, both of my therapists responded "Absolutely! I mostly talk with my hands anyways!" But for added convenience, I will be posting a series of blog posts to teach our staff (and anyone else who reads these) some common phrases and terminology that may help us better communicate with Spanish speaking clients. Google Translate is a great thing. You can push a button and it will pronounce the word for you. [Please note we are still learning and there may be errors below. If you spot an error please let everyone know in the comment section so we don't perpetuate false information]

Very Basic Phrases:
Hello! My name is _________________                      
Hola! Mi nombre es __________________

Pardon my Spanish. I am learning.
Perdonen mi español. Estoy aprendiendo.

Good morning!

¡Buenos días!

 

Good afternoon!

¡Buenas tardes!

 

Good evening!

¡Buenas noches!

 

Thank you.

Muchas gracias.

You are welcome.

De nada.

 

Who: ¿Quién?

What: ¿Que?

When: ¿Cuándo?
Where: ¿Donde?

Why: ¿Por qué?

How: ¿Cómo?

 

Intake Questions & Possible Responses

How can I help you?

¿Cómo puedo ayudarle?

 

I need a massage.

Necesito un masaje.

 

Half hour: medio hora

Hour: hora

Hour & a half: hora y un medio

 

Please complete this form.

Por favor completa este formulario.

 

 Where do you have pain?

¿Dónde tiene el dolor?

 

Head: cabeza
Neck: cuello
Back: espalda
Shoulder: hombro

Arm: brazo
Elbow: codo

Hand: mano

Abdomen: abdomen

Hips: caderas

Leg: pierna

Knee: rodilla

Feet: pies

For how long?

¿Por cuánto tiempo? 

 

1: uno

2: dos

3: tres

4: cuatro

5: cinco

6: seis

7: siete

8: ocho

9: nueve

10: diez

days: días

weeks: semanas

months: meses

years: años

 

Do you have any allergies?

¿Tiene alergias? 

 

Peanuts: cacahuates

Fragrance: fragancia 

Pollen: polen

Seasonal: estacional

Cats: los gatos

   

Are you pregnant?

¿Está embarazada?

 

Yes: Sí

No: No

 

How many months?

¿Cuántos meses? 

 

1: uno

2: dos

3: tres

4: cuatro

5: cinco

6: seis

7: siete

8: ocho

9: nueve

10: diez

 

I anticipate a fair amount of confusion in the beginning. If I do not understand a word they are saying I can ask that they write down a response so I may enter it into Google Translate. So the following phrase may be the most important:

Please, write it down.

Anótelo por favor.

My initial thinking is that medications will be a brand name that we may recognize, but we won't really know until we start seeing more Spanish speaking clients come in. If you have any suggestions or comments please leave them below.

In the next post we will learn more about possible client/therapist dialogue.

 

SEO Salespeople

More than once this month my office has fielded phone calls from salespeople from some small marketing firms claiming they could get us on the front page of Google.

The first conversation I had with an SEO (Search Engine Optimization) saleswoman went like this:
Me: Thank you for calling the Marble Falls Massage Therapy Center. How may I help you today?
SEO Saleswoman: Yes. Would you like to be Google?
Me: ::pause:: excuse me? How would I like to BE Google?
SEO Saleswoman: yea you know... Google. We can get you on Google.
Me: I am confused. We are on Google for free. What exactly are you selling?
SEO Saleswoman: we can get you on Google's first page and a pin on the Google map (which is also free and you can do it yourself) for $XXX.00
Me: Where are you located?
SEO Saleswoman: Seattle.
Me: and how did you learn about our business?
SEO Saleswoman: I found you online.
Me: So we already rank pretty high on Google then?...
SEO Saleswoman: ::pause::

A large percentage of our new clients find us from searching for "massage in Marble Falls" or some variation. Our business name is Marble Falls Massage Therapy Center. We secured the URL www.MarbleFallsMassageTherapy.com . But, when we first opened that wasn't enough to get us on page one. We built up the website, added a Facebook page, and requested our pin on the Google map. We learned how SEO works .... by Googling it... and we attended a workshop hosted by Google in downtown Austin. After the hosting/domain name for the website and the gas to the workshop, everything else was free.

When linking back to your site was THE way to increase rank, we linked back to our website through our Facebook page, blog, and other people's blogs. Now that the emphasis is on fresh and relevant content, we've changed to adding new, content-rich subpages in our website in addition to our blogs. By staying on top of current trends we've managed to get an average of 6 spots on the google front page for "massage in marble falls"

I suppose there are business owners out there who still don't understand SEO, or websites for that matter, and for them the services offered by small marketing firms in Seattle are worth their weight in gold. But honestly, once you figure out the rules it's easy to play the game and coach your businesses own SEO with home field advantage.

Keep a Paper Trail

Our office computer finally bit the dust this morning after threatening to do so for weeks. Luckily, I had backed up our client management files to my phone yesterday so everything is still accessible ... just not conveniently accessible. Throughout this slightly frustrating day I have become more and more aware that maybe the old pencil and paper way of life ain't so bad after all. Just how dependent are we on our machines?

Online scheduling is great. Clients seem to love it. They can schedule anytime of the day or night. Our therapists love it. They can change their schedule at a moments notice. It's fantastic ... until one of your therapists get's locked out of her account some how and can't access the technology she's come to rely on and all hell breaks loose. Yea that happened earlier this week.

Our offline client management system is great for printing invoices, generating reports, and compiling pay sheets. But it is only accessible on one computer, backed up to my phone (but changes made in my phone don't automagically appear on the computer so it has it's limitations). Now that it is down for the count, today was pretty crazy.

So maybe the paper and pencil ain't so bad. No loading times. No viruses. Everything is right there in front of you. I am currently registering every. single. gift card ever purchased. ever. onto a paper log to back up the information on my phone because Murphy's Law says that's next to go.

What do you think? Paper the way to go? Or does the convenience of the computer outweigh the risk of losing data at the drop of a hat?