So I Passed My Massage Boards: Now What?

It was not too long ago that I felt that exciting rush of anticipation as I realized I was about to graduate from massage school and prepare for the National Boards. I studied for a month, practicing massage techniques and scrutinizing my anatomy books. I, like many others, passed with flying colors! Then I rented an office. And waited. What now? I, unfortunately, was amongst the ranks of those who felt that if they constantly strived to perfect their craft, learn more, and become the best therapist possible with the education and experience accessible to me, my practice would become magically full! I was gravely disappointed that this did not happen. I started to think I had thrown ten thousand dollars down the drain. I started making lists of graduate programs I could apply to to go into a more "secure" field. And then, an inspiration hit!

What if I could utilize this constantly growing entity known as the social web to grow my business? What if I could stop wasting my time making flyers and calling friends, running sales that were not enough to cover my basic overhead, and utilizing all the "old school" marketing methods that I had learned about? What if I could really tap into what smart marketers and online entrepreneurs seemed to understand? They were claiming to make five and even six figures using a few very simple techniques. I wanted that for my business. I spent about two years diving completely and totally into the online marketing world. It was overwhelming, confusing, and exhilarating all at once.

I learned a few really basic things that I want to share with you so that you do not have to make the mistakes I did. First of all, I learned that potential clients do not particularly care about our product or service, namely, massage therapy. They care about the benefits of massage, they want to know how massage can improve the quality of their lives, how they feel after a massage. They care about stress reduction, headache relief, better sleep. They want to know that they will have better circulation, less pain, and boosted immunity function.

This essentially means that we as holistic practitioners have a responsibility to educate our potential clients about benefits, rather than providing a laundry list of what services we provide. I encourage therapists as a collective to take this on so that the general public will learn to take massage even more seriously, so that they will understand why it is not just a luxury to put at the bottom of the to-do list when there is extra cash in the house, that rather it is a regular part of creating lasting health and increased quality of life. This is where Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter come into play. The social web is an incredible place where we can meet and educate clients. By constantly building our social networks and providing them with valuable information, education and inspiration about our chosen field of massage therapy, we build credibility for ourselves, and we attract clients more efficiently and effectively than we could have previously imagined. It is a very simple, cost effective way of spreading the word about our individual and collective skill set. I think it is crucial that we assist each other so that we can all be successful in our massage careers.