Helpful Tips/Hints for New & Not-so-New M.T.'s

[art_of_zen]

Here's a few things I do (and some an MT friend of mine does, too):<br><br>I went on Ebay and bought two gross of world music CD's for about $100... after paying shipping, it comes to about $.54  for each CD, and the music is very nice!  I bought mailing labels and made labels with my info on them on my 'puter, and affixed them to the CDs.  I give them away on birthdays, to new clients, and special promotions; they feel they are getting something of value, and  every new client I have ever given one to has come back (not that their massage wasn't exceptional, but they remember things like this!).<br><br>My friend did it first, but I bought a candy mold in the shape of a hand online, and make chocolate mints to put on the massage table (like a "mint on the pillow").  After the chocolate cools, use lollipop bags to wrap them, and seal with an address label printed on the 'puter with name and phone #... clients love this!<br><br>My friend buys items at the dollar stores, and gives them away to her clients.  She is very much into her faith, and buys religious items, plus water bottle cozies and other items and has them handy for giving if someone has a birthday, or needs a lift.<br><br>Sunbeam makes a heated twin sized mattress pad for around $20.... much better priced than the more expensive massage table versions. <br><br>$13 snagged me not one but TWO twin sized down comforters on Ebay, from The Company Store.  Gotta love Ebay!    <br><br>I have a wall valet from Pottery Barn for my clients to hang their clothes, and a wall shelf to hold their wallets, keys, etc.  <br><br>I make my own postcards on the computer using non-perforated card stock... they print up great!  I invested the $39 in a professional paper cutter, and cut them myself.  They look more expensive than what they are!<br><br>If I use a candle, I use a peppermint scented jar candle and snuff it out with the lid... that way, there is no stinky smell or black smoke trail from a smouldering wick.<br><br>I love the idea of the cookies.... I might use that, too!<br><br><br>

[C-Bear]

For the face cradles---you can get a memory foam neck pillow at any "Mart" store and replace the factory foam with it ...or...use one of those new squishy bead neck pillows...takes a little work to get them in there(5-10 min.) but the clients seem to like it.

[Jen]

Got another tip for y'all...<br><br>I'm kind of in a rut right now. The marketing ploy I've used recently (Fishbowls) aren't really working the way I wanted them to. <br>I've decided to try another marketing technique. Since I need "fresh meat", a.k.a. untapped marketing area, I've decided to place a barter ad. Create a bunch of flyers and have someone pass them out at apartment complexes, coffee shops, etc. for me so the word gets out about New Year's specials I'm having.<br>In exchange for passing out the flyers, they'll get a couple of massages for free. Saves me money and keeps me in practice...my b/f is getting way too spoiled lately  ;D<br>I thought about how I would know if the flyers got out to the different places I had requested that they be distributed; as a solution, I've come up with asking the helper to get a contact name and number or a business card from each of the places they dropped off my flyers. That way I can call or go by the place and see how many (if any) were distributed before scheduling massage appointments for the helper. <br><br>Hope this helps some of you out there looking for another, inexpensive way to market your practice!  8)<br><br>Be well,<br>Jen

[Staggnant]

To ForumAdmin, is there anyway we can make this topic a "sticky" or "pinned" for new MT's that come here? There are a LOT of great tips here.

[Jen]

Here's a link to an online clearance bin that has excellent prices for brand new sheets:<br><br><br>I hope the link works. If you have trouble with it, send me a PM and I'll try and get you to it.<br><br>Be well,<br>Jen<br><br>Forum Admin - Link removed to prevent page widening.

[Texas-gal]

Here's one, two... uhm, three.  (  Would've been nice if I had done this for today!  I would have had a much easier time trying to re-schedule someone.  :)  )<br><br>Always keep your clients phone numbers at home and work.  <br><br>Always keep the clients phone numbers, on you, that you will be providing service for on that day.<br><br>When possible, e-mail youeself your next days schedule before leaving work (with the clients phone numbers attached).<br><br>Just "in case"!

[Staggnant]

*nudges Forum Admin playfully*<br><br>Hey ForumAdmin, any way we can make this thread 'pinned' for newcomers to the board so it's easier for them to find?<br><br>I saw my other post about the parafin bath, and would like to announce that I had a parafin bath donated to me. She gave me 4 bricks of parafin that were already melted, and 2 extras. Strange, it's citrus parafin with a nice orange color and citrus scent. I'd never seen it before, but it looks and smells nice. It only came with the hand mitts, anyone know where I can find the foot booties for a decent price? I'm also still not sure what to charge for it, so for now I'm just treating clients that are interested in it for free. However, for future time restraints, I'd like to charge for the therapy. I've had nothing but great feedback on it though! My boyfriend said after the treatment "My feet feel so... luxurious!" Hehehehe.

[terab]

Hey staggnant,<br><br>I would charge $10 for both feet and hands.  $5 for just one or the other.  (but that's me...not sure what others charge)  Although most of the time I do it for free as an add-on to their massage.  It feels really nice but for some reason I always feel guilty charging for it.  Don't ask me why, I know it doesn't make any sense.   Maybe I would feel more comfortable charging $5 for it.  I think I'll try that.  <br><br>As for the booties, I'd think you should be able to find them just about anywhere.  Seeing as how you got the rest for free, I wouldn't be too concerned with spending an extra couple of bucks to get the booties.  Although my personal input on this is do not get the heated booties.  I hated them when another therapist used them on me.  The terry cloth ones are great!  <br><br>this place looked pretty inexpensive... http://www.therapyzone.com/tz.asp?wci=c ... nd_Therapy<br><br>this place too was good... http://www.folicapro.com/skinbody/hotspa61554.htm<br><br>here's another link for them...looks like the same ones but for cheaper than the link above..... http://www.metrobeauty.com/showitem.cfm ... emnum=2049

[maestra]

Staggnant,

Like Terab I went hunting for a few URLs for you. LOL

I think we both have the same type of Parafin bath:

A Remington Parafin Foot Spa
(You can use it for both hands and feet - up to women's size 10) I have seen quite a wide variety of prices on them too! From $15 all the way up to $99!  There may be a few differences... mine was about $60 as I remember and was purchased at Sam's Club about 4 years ago.

Remington Spa on E-bay:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 5544474817

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 5544012394

Remington Lavender/Chamomile wax refill:

http://www.ohwowshopping.com/kitchen/re ... 5B703.html

http://www.fedderhead.com/remparspa.html

Remington Parafin Refill: Currently Out of Stock:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/de ... c&v=glance

Replacement Booties and Mitts (Terry Cloth)

http://marketplace.spaelegance.com/brow ... 2C134.html

http://www.ekosmet.com/ah350.htm

Anyway, hope that helps make your search a little easier, or as I mentioned on another thread... Jenny N from the site might consider making some for you... I think ones made out of fleece would be even warmer than those from Terry Cloth. *shrugs* Something to consider!

BTW, the salon were I worked charged $10 to dip your feet OR hands or $5 to do them if you received another service at the same time. I, however, don't keep mine always plugged in and usually only do it every once in awhile as a Special Treat for my clients and I don't charge  extra for it.

[terab]

Masthera, that's what I guess I do as well.  Every once-in-a-while as a special treat for my good clients.  It's really nice to offer something like that.  Always come back in the tip anyhow.  I really like doing stuff like that.  

[blissfulbalance]

To keep the paraffin wax clean (since the temp. isn't high enough to kill everything nasty), I use the sanex strips that they put around your neck for a haircut and dip those in the wax one at a time and apply them to the area.  They stick and hold the temp when covered by the plastic and mitts/booties.  You don't want to reuse the wax especially after feet have been dipped and to dump it is more expensive than this method.  Also, I have the Conair paraffin wax warmer (similar to those you have mentioned) and it says not to run it constantly like in a professional type use.  So I don't use it as much as I'd like to and might look into getting a "professional one".    

[Staggnant]

Wow, thanks for the links! Maestra, yes, the one I was given is the Remmington. I had a lady call me today and was asking about my prices, and asked about the parafin dip. I had to think of a price quick, so I said $15. She said that sounded great and is coming in to buy gift certificates for parafin dips and hot stone.

[superspagirl]

So Jeff, is that $15 for both feet and hands? IS it a seperate service or an add on? I am putting together a "Spa Menu" for the New Year and need all the help I can get.

[Staggnant]

Actually, I'm charging $15 for hands and $15 for feet, as a seperate service. I called around and others charge $10 for hands and $10 for feet, so I'm just sticking to $15 for each. i try to stay a step above the others if not the same price. The only thing I've really discounted are gift certificates and the time I stupidly hosted relaxation massage for $30/hr. I've already slapped myself a few times for not listening to everyone here on that one.

[Katykangaroo8]

I've incorporated YogaLMT's idea of putting my CD cover on a small easel so my clients can see what they're listening to!<br><br>Another one I thought of while cleaning out my "work bag" - <br><br>How many times have you done outcalls and gone to wash hands and the client doesn't have soap?  I dunno how they live without soap, but...<br><br>To save space and make sure I have soap, I have a little packet of lavender scented soap paper flakes and my own hand-towel for out calls.  I keep the hand-towel on my lotion belt anyway because on my very first outcall I tried to open the door after the massage, and my hands were too slippery!  I had to use my shirt to get a grip on it.  It was embarrassing.  :P<br><br>Katykangaroo

[Texas-gal]

lavender scented soap paper flakes

<br><br>Can you elaborate on these?  :)

[IsHisBiz]

Jen, and Everbody,<br>Recently I have discovered that the Public Library, depending on location, has CD's of music you can try out for free to see if you'd like to buy a copy.<br>The music is best listened to before you play it for clients<br>because some of it has skips or scratches in it.<br>Usually if it is downloaded to a computer, I have found it to skip less on replay.<br>I'm still searching for albums I think I would buy, only having tried out about ten of them so far.<br>I usually find the albums in what I think they call new Age albums, or maybe even also Ambient Music. It depends on local dialects(SP?) and most commonly used words.<br>

[Staggnant]

Heh, well, what I've done in the past is open up good ol' Winamp, go to the internet radio, and find a good station that plays ambient music or 'new age' music. Then I get my trusty ol' audio ripper open, and copy the songs to my computer. They're all royalty-free songs, so they don't care if you use them, just be courtious about it and don't sell the music (technically legal, but not really ethical). I've gotten a lot of ambient music, and (goes without saying) hard house techno off of Winamp's internet radio.

[Gaspen]

Stagg - thanks but no thanks on the downloading stuff. About a year ago I tried to download something off of Grokster and all I ended up getting was a monster spyware/adware piece of crap that took over my computer and eventually froze it (this Christmas day @ 5:20 pm). I've just recently reformatted my harddrive but lost all of my files (and there were plenty). 'Did that take care of my woes', you ask. No, not a chance. Even though my computer is wiped, the server of those vile and disgusting excuses for humans is still trying to contact my computer whenever I go online (must be my IP address?).<br><br>So, thanks - but...

[greezygirl]

Just a few hints...<br>I have a towel warmer near my table, one of the oil filled standing ones.  I throw a towel on it before the massage and lay the towel on my client when I'm done the massage.  It always gets an Ahhhhhh!<br>This may sound mean...but I have a bowl of mints and/or altoids on the table near my clothes rack...(hint,hint...)

[maestra]

greezygirl, I've got a bowl of individually wrapped lifesavers peppermints too. Not just for "coffee breath" or whatever... but also for clients whose sinuses may be draining or have a "tickle in their throat", etc. <br><br>Like Stagg, I've Downloaded free full length songs to burn to a CD. But mine come from Amazon.com.  ;D<br>There are many good artists I've discovered there. Some with enough songs to create a whole CD of just them... others I combine to create one 60 minutes in length.  When I worked at the salon they wanted 1/2 hr massage on their menu... and that's what most people took the first time. *sigh* So, I would burn CDs to be about 32 -33 minutes in length as well.  The other thing I did on days when I knew we'd have in large groups... all 30 minute masages - is Burn CDs with 30 minutes of massage music. Then 15 minutes of slightly faster music (perhaps world music or something with words as usually I don't massage to music with words)... that was a lovely but still relaxing way to spend the tiny "break" between clients I might get. The next client would arrive when the slightly faster music was on... and when it was time for me to get "hands on" with the client a new slower massage CD would be ready to go.  With my 5 CD changer which I took to the salon... I could load it up and not have to touch it again all day.<br>

[greezygirl]

Ak!  Maestra just reminded me of another hint...<br>If you buy a 5 disc cd player, find out what it sounds like while it's changing discs before you make the purchase.  I bought a Panasonic and it makes this god-awful loud Ka-chank...ka-chank....ka-chank...ka-chank..ka-chank...(yes, five times) noice every time it changes.  Oh, so relaxing!

[Staggnant]

Gaspen, with Winamp's internet radio, you can't get any spy/ad/malware from it. You're not actually downloading a file, you're using an audio ripper to grab the song. An audio ripper will record whatever sound is playing at the time and save it as a file, such as .mp3. Besides, with ad/mal/spyware, if you use Mozilla Firefox instead of Internet Explorer, you won't get those... hehehe.

http://www.mozilla.org

[Texas-gal]

Right now, Wal-Mart has a 6 CD changer/radio/tape player/ with two speakers and a "surround sound" as well as a "bass amplifier" that makes enough change in sound quality for $50.  The "changer" is not loud at all, just a little more lengthy than some I have heard in the past.

If you are looking for an inexpensive unit, this may well be the way to go.  I purchased one over Christmas and it is a good buy for the money.  Not as good as a Sony of course, but we are talking a little less expensive.

Thumbs up - smart purchase.

http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product. ... id=2197589  (It shows out of stock, but you may be able to find it at a store)

[Costa]

Great ideas! I give a bottled water to everyone after their massage, that way I know they've had at least one! I sell prepaid massage packages. Buy 4 get the 5 one free. I do them in 30 min. and 60 min. Believe it or not I have about 15 clients, who continue to purchase these each month. It also worked really well during the holidays as a gift. I haven't counted yet how many more I've added. Hopefully they will become full timers as well.<br>Pam