Have you ever been tempted to sell products in your massage therapy clinic? Even before Covid-19 the average length of a career in massage therapy was only 8 years! This is because the physical and mental toll of running your own massage therapy business often leads therapists to burnout and move on to a different career.
To try and reduce the strain on their bodies and create some extra income, many massage therapists get tempted to sell products but is it really worth the time and effort or are their better ways to grow your massage therapy business?
One of the most common products that we see massage therapists selling is beauty or bath products from established wholesale companies in exchange for a commission. However many of these companies operate as multi level marketing schemes or MLM's (basically a more legit version of a pyramid scheme).
Often with these products they come with branding that looks very wholesale. Think plain white plastic bottles, stock image looking logos and uninspiring labels. As a client would you be tempted? These products straddle the line between not being a recognisable high street brand but they clearly aren't a homemade mom and pop made product either! Ultimately they the charm and appeal of neither and could even be cheapening your brand by being on the shelves!
This leads us on to the next type of product we see commonly sold by massage therapists; homemade beauty products like soap, bath bombs and microwaveable wheat bags.
However whilst these products can definitely be more tempting to clients who will feel like they are getting a more unique product, the sheer amount of time it takes to create these products and make sure you aren't breaking any rules is immense! If you have done your research to be compliant with the law and you love spending lazy Sundays brewing up a batch of soap or sewing a million patches then maybe combining your hobby with your massage therapy business could work out!
A good time to test out whether your products could fly off the shelves is around Christmas. Save your resources by getting a small batch together for the start of December. Not only could you help clients looking for thoughtful stocking fillers, in the worst case scenario you can gift any products that are left over!
Perhaps the most successful products come under the category of aftercare and these can be a great add on to offer your massage clients. Just always ensure you aren't spending a lot of time sourcing products as realistically your margin of profit will be minimal, a couple of quid at most, to have any appeal to clients. The way to look at this exercise is not as a massive money maker but as an additional service to your clients, making it easier for them to do their homework and take your sessions together seriously. Order offline and keep a minimal supply in stock so that you can offer them to clients during their after treatment consultations.
Raechel brings up another great way you can offer an extra service to your clients, make a little money and save space in your treatment room by not stocking tonnes of product on the off chance someone will buy it! After setting up Amazon Affiliates, Raechel's strategy above is an easy way to go the extra mile for clients and make those after treatment catch ups extra profitable!
If sourcing products, dealing with third parties and all the promotion and marketing that comes with selling products took, let's say 5 hours a month. Would those 5 hours spent elsewhere give you a better return on investment for your time?
Investing your time and resources wisely is crucial to the success of your massage therapy business If you are looking to rev up your income there are other (and I dare say) more effective ways to grow your massage therapy business than selling products.
Social media and promoting yourself online might seem really daunting at first. But as little as 10 minutes on social media a day could really help boost your profile in your local community. Posting interesting facts about anatomy, massage therapy and how you can help with certain ailments is a great way to show off your skills and look like a pro to both your current and prospective clients. You can also share reviews, organise giveaways and promote your latest offers as a way to grab attention and get referrals.
Organising offers both year round and around major holidays like Mother's day is another fantastic way to fill up your books. Social media is the perfect way to share these offers to a large audience, both your own and locally. Creating a beautiful post, sharing on your profiles and engaging with local groups on Facebook is a great way to get your services in front of hundreds if not thousands of possible clients. For example say you are a sports massage therapist, following local running groups and engaging with posts will build up trust, you can then ask to promote a latest offer and introduce yourself as a therapist! Working these offers around big sporting events like the London Marathon or your local equivalents could drum up lots of interest. With a bit of creativity the possibilities are endless!
It might seem completely counter-intuitive but by reducing your target audience and selecting a niche you can actually grow your massage therapy business much faster, by allowing you to position yourself as an expert and charge more for specialist treatments.
Take time to ponder, which clients do you enjoy working with the most? Which issues do you get the most satisfaction from solving? Are there any conditions you have experience with or feel most passionate about helping clients with? Choosing a specialism means you won't stand out to everyone but to clients who are looking for a solution to their problem your treatments could be the answer they have been searching for!
Some niches you could consider are;
Read a full list of possible niches here.
Focusing on delivering tailor made treatments that give real solutions to each client's individual needs will set you apart from a more beauty industry or well being approach to massage. This is in turn will have a couple of knock on effects;
Choosing a niche for your massage therapy business can mean you are working passionately towards solving a problem for your clients but also protecting yourself from burnout and making the most of your hard earned skills and caring energy!
It is vital that when you are growing your massage therapy business that you get outside and get networking in real life!
Other professionals in the medical community are an invaluable resource and especially if you have decided to specialise in a niche then getting yourself known to relevant medical professionals in your local area is crucial!
Visit your local GP's surgery, dentists, community health groups, chiropractors, physiotherapists and provide them with the information they need to share your services with potential clients. A small leaflet introducing yourself and your rates can weed out any potentially problematic clients and makes it a hell of a lot easier for the medical professional to quickly pass on details during short appointments.
You can also ask to leave a flyer on a noticeboard or to come in and deliver a short speech in the clinic about the benefits of massage for your intended niche. Finding online support or community groups you can promote this to is a win win for everybody as it gives the practice some good publicity and provides a needed service in the community. You could even offer short taster sessions or a discount on their first booking to anyone who attends or any patients from the clinic to as further incentives.
Make sure you add a space on your client intake forms so your new massage therapy patients can tell you if they were referred to you by a specific doctor or other healthcare provider. If you do get a referral, send that doctor or nurse a quick email or even a thank-you note in the post to say thanks for their recommendation. You don’t need to go overboard, but showing genuine appreciation for the referral with strengthen your contact and even help grow your network. There a many creative ways to interact with medical professionals in your local area, you can see more ideas from fellow massage therapists here!
