Podcast

Weekly Roundup

• 2 books by Alyssa Mastromonaco, Who Thought This Was a Good Idea & So Here’s the Thing 
• Insurance executive says death rates among working-age people up 40 percent

Discussion Topic

• I'm Very Active on Social Media – Do I Still Need a Website?

Quick Tips

• If you find yourself doing anything more than once, make a process or a template for it.

Sponsors

• ABMP 
• The Original Jojoba Company 
• Marketing with Personality 

Transcript: 

Sponsor message: 

This episode is sponsored by the original Jojoba company. I firmly believe that massage therapists should only be using the highest quality products because our clients deserve it. And our own bodies deserve it. I have been using Jojoba for years, and here's why. Jojoba is non-allergenic. I can use it on any client and every, without fear of an allergic reaction, it is also non-comedogenic. So, it won't clog pores. So, if you've got clients prone to acne breakouts, Jojoba is a good choice for them. It does not go rancid. There're no triglycerides, so it can sit on your shelf for a year plus and not be a problem. And that's what also makes Jojoba but a wonderful carrier for your essential oils as well. It won't stain in your a hundred percent cotton sheets. So, your linens are going to last longer. The original Jojoba company is the only company in the world that carries 100% pure first press quality Jojoba and we are delighted to be their partner. You, my friends can get 20% off the price of the product when you shop through our link, massagebusinessblueprint.com/jojoba.

Allissa Haines:

Hello, everyone. Welcome to the Massage Business Blueprint podcast, where we help you attract more clients, make more money and improve your quality of life. And we are not messing around with that. I am Allissa Haines.

Michael Reynolds:

And I'm Michael Reynolds.

Allissa Haines:

And we are your host today, and I am popped up on coffee, Michael, how are you?

Michael Reynolds:

Doing alright. Really, I'm not messing around.

Allissa Haines:

Fabulous. We even started like a few minutes early today.

Michael Reynolds:

Yeah, we did.

Allissa Haines:

Yeah, not messing around again. What do you read Michael?

Michael Reynolds:

About death. I might as well get this out of the way. So, I'm reading an article from WFYI, the local NPR station in my area, and they're doing a report on an insurance company, local to my area as well. And this particular insurance executive is with one America as the company. And he says that death rates among working age people are up 40%. And-

Allissa Haines:

I can't imagine why.

Michael Reynolds:

Can't imagine why. So, I bring this up for two reasons though. For the article going to goes through some statistics and what's going on. And talking about raising premium rates as to be expected. And obviously, COVID. And so I bring this up for two reasons. One is just an aside, if there's anybody in our lives that is still not taking COVID very seriously. If anyone's in the business of tracking, death into usability rates, it's insurance companies, because that affects their money they make and their bottom line. So, love them or hate them insurance companies pretty much know what they're talking about when it comes to rates of death and disability among our population. So, here's an insurance company saying, we're seeing this, we're tracking this. This is really happening.

Michael Reynolds:

So, maybe it's one more source that can help... And people understand that this is a pretty serious pandemic. That's killing people and disabling people. And the other reason I bring it up is just an FYI. If you haven't gotten around to getting life insurance or disability insurance in place, and it's been on your radar for a while and just keep putting it off, rates are going up. So, it might be worth getting this done if it's not too late, already getting it done before rates continue to increase due to this pandemic. So, just a couple reasons I bring that up for our listeners. So, that's what I'm reading.

Allissa Haines:

Thank you for that. That depressing, but yet important news.

Michael Reynolds:

You're welcome.

Allissa Haines:

I have been reading. I recently read two books by Alyssa Mastromonaco and she is a really interesting woman. Part of why I love her is that she's pretty much exactly my age within like six months. I listened to her on her podcast hysteria, which I know I have mentioned before. She was an assistant to the president and deputy chief of staff to president Barack Obama for several years of his presidency. And she has two books. The first one is, Who Thought This Was a Good Idea. And Other Questions You Should have Answers to When You Work at the White House. And she's just so funny. And the book was really great. It was really interesting. It was interesting to learn about... It's not like you could read this book, even if you don't like President Barrack Obama or you don't like politics.

Allissa Haines:

It's really an interesting story about a woman in her career. And it's very real and some of it is hilarious and some of it is a little bit gross. And just the openness with which she discusses things is really great. And then she has a second book. So, here's the thing Notes on Growing Up, Getting Older, and Trusting Your Gut. And it's very woman career oriented in some ways. So, it was really neat and she, and again, very funny, very readable did not take me a long time, was not bored. I am really loving memoir types of books, especially from women. And she has a co-author who's a legit author. So, it's not someone who can't write a book, slap together some thoughts, it's very well written. It's very funny. It's very honest and real. I got them both free from my library, Kindle downloads, and I will have the link. That's what I've been reading.

Michael Reynolds:

Okay. Sounds lovely.

Allissa Haines:

Michael, are you prepared to do our first sponsor message?

Michael Reynolds:

Probably not, but I will anyway.

Allissa Haines:

Okay. I'm going to just give you a second to get prepared. Our first sponsor is brought to you by, Massage Business Blueprint and our marketing with personality eBook.

Michael Reynolds:

It is indeed. So, if you haven't checked it out yet, I encourage you to go to massagebusinessblueprint.com/personality and download our new guide on marketing this personality. So, Allissa put this together based on lots of experience and other resources we've had in the past. And it's really a great comprehensive resource into injecting some new life into your marketing, honestly. I think a lot of us these days are probably pretty feeling stale and feeling just really spent when it comes to marketing. And we're like, what do we do next? And I just feel like because it's just a drudging thing we're doing.

Michael Reynolds:

So, this is meant to give you some fresh ideas, some ways to look at your marketing with a different lens, to bring your personality and your genuine, just essence of who you are into your marketing and liven it up and bring it back to life and build on your strengths to really grow your clientele. So, it's a beautiful guide. It's only about 16 pages. It's not very long, it's a really easy read and we're pretty sure it's going to help your marketing get to the next level or at least a recent new life, dear marketing. So again, you can get that@massagebusinessblueprint.com/personality. And if I didn't mention this already, it is free.

Allissa Haines:

It's totally free. And even if you're like, I hate eBooks, go get it anyway and get on our email list because I had a really amazing question from a listener the other day, which I will probably cover in a follow up podcast in a couple of months. But I'm thinking of using the topic as content for one of my Sunday emails every other Sunday, you'll get our email list, gets a message from Michael or I that's something more, whatever introspective and thoughtful. I was just going to say thoughtful about business in general or marketing. And I got a really... I'm totally going to do a teaser here.

Allissa Haines:

I got a really neat question about someone who is on a personal level involved in some queer, kink and polyamory community and about marketing within those communities and outside of those communities without being mistaken for providing some other service.

Allissa Haines:

And it was a beautifully closed question. And frankly, I sent off my email response and thought, this is some of my best work and it's going to be a topic that we discuss in varying places. But you want to get on the email list because I think you're going to want to hear that a little bit about that story and what my thoughts were on that. And also... I'm not even going to also, I'm just going to say that. Get on our email list, go to massage business, blueprint.com/personality and get the book, enjoy the pretty pictures. And you'll get some follow up from me on that too.

Michael Reynolds:

And there's a cat on the cover. So, if nothing else...

Allissa Haines:

There's a cat in sunglasses. You might know this if you've been listening for a while, but Mic hael's superpower is picking out fantastic stock photos and he really nailed it with the cat and the sunglasses on this one.

Michael Reynolds:

It's true.

Allissa Haines:

Yeah. Michael is doing the heavy lifting this week. You all know how I love that. Take it away, Michael.

Michael Reynolds:

Alright, will do. So, this came from a question from a member of our blueprint Mastermind community, which by the way, go check out if a member. So, in our blueprint, Mastermind community people ask questions. They can post in the open forum. They can come to office hours, they can directly message Allissa and me, lots of ways to get help. And one of our new members asked this question, I'm paraphrasing a little bit. His question was a little... Had a few variations, but the essence of it was, "I'm very active on social media, do I still need a website?" And this particular member was telling me how he was on Instagram specifically, and really building up his profile on Instagram. He's like, "Do I still need a website?" And so, I thought that was a great question because I'm sure more than one person has asked this before in the history of humans.

Michael Reynolds:

So, let's start with first, Just I want to frame the conversation with the concept that technically you don't need any particular low tactic. So, I know it's really easy to say, do I need a website or do I need this? So, keep in mind, you don't need to do anything. You could run a massage practice with zero marketing, zero website, zero social media, whatever. And there are ways you can still run a very successful practice. So, it's more about what fits within your personality, your energy level, the way your business is structured, the things you're interested in, the things you're good at the clientele you're serving. All these things will affect the tactics and the strategy that will be best for you or perhaps ideal or effective for you. But again, if you just don't want a website and the points we go through might help you decide, then you don't need one necessarily or any particular thing.

Michael Reynolds:

In fact, if we've had plenty of massage therapists that have a really successful practice without a website or social media... I think it was maybe somewhat recently, Allissa and I were doing a consultation with a massage therapist and she's like, "I'm as full as I want to be. I maybe take one or two more clients this year, but I'm pretty full. What should I do? Do I really need to put a website together?" And we're like, no, don't do anything different. Just do what you do have fun, enjoy your business. And she's like, cool, I'm just going to keep doing it. And so that can happen. So, think about, what's aligning with your current business objective. So, if you're super busy and you're getting referrals and you don't need to really grow, then maybe don't worry about it, then do what you want to do and, and don't overthink it.

Michael Reynolds:

However, do you want to grow? I would say the norm or more likely we talk to massage therapists who do want to grow. They do want to get more clients. They do want to raise their raise. They do want to develop more demand for their services. So, if that's you then it's probably a really good idea to have a website.

Michael Reynolds:

And here's why. So, here are things a website does for you. First of all, it tells people about you and your massage practice, pretty obvious. But when you think about it, the richness of the information you can convey on a website is much higher than the richness on a social platform. So, if you're on Instagram, for example. You can put a bio there, you can link to a link tree thing with a few things. You can, you can have some information there, but it's very limited.

Michael Reynolds:

You've got a tiny amount of space. Facebook, same way. You could put your about, your bio, profile and stuff like that. But it's still very limited. And a lot of people aren't even going to see that because the attention span on social media is so prone to distraction and not really paying attention to deep reading. So, the website will give you a much richer platform to tell, [inaudible 00:12:33] but you'll have a page about your, bio, your background, your credentials, the services you provide, even your story, testimonials, all things can be put in one nice place that is a richer experience and less prone to the distractions on social media. So, that's one thing that's going to help you do is really tell your story and get your message out a little bit in a richer format.

Michael Reynolds:

It also gives you a home base for getting found on search engines. Social networks do get indexed by search engines, but not in the same way and not as prominently, typically as a website. And so if someone's searching for massage therapist in my area or whatever, if you don't have a website, you're going to be at a disadvantage when people are searching for massage therapists. So, it's a very important tool for getting found on search engines. So, that's what it's going to do for you as well. Next, it's a property that you own, unlike social networks, which you do not own. So, a website is completely under your control. You can do what you want with it. You can make the content, whatever you want it, you're playing by your own rules. On Facebook, Facebook has been known to change how they do things on a whim.

Michael Reynolds:

Well, looks like us on a whim, but they've had probably years of research in it. But, advertising has changed. It used to be, you could run ads at a certain rate and it would reach people. And now advertising is completely different. Used to be something you could post something on Facebook, organically without advertising or reach a bunch of people. And now it doesn't reach anybody. And so things change all the time. And Facebook is in control of those changes. Instagram is in control of those changes, Twitter, LinkedIn, they own their networks. So, you are at the mercy of whatever they want to do with their networks. So, keep in mind that if you want to build a presence on social media and not on your website, you are playing in someone else's world by their rules. So, that may be seen as good or bad or pro or con, but just be aware of it.

Michael Reynolds:

A website also helps you control the methods of contact that you accept. So, if you don't have a website, people are going to probably message you via Facebook and Instagram messenger and DMU on Twitter and TikTok, whatever else. And you're just at the mercy of all these different ways of messaging you, and it could get overwhelming. So, on your website, you can say, the way to contact me is on my website through an online form or online scheduling or email or whatever you want. And you can make that the norm and make it easier to find your preferred method of contact. Next, it gives you a centralized place to store content. So, your website is a great place to host all of your blog articles, podcast, episodes, your videos, webinars you've done courses you build, everything, that you do that is content is one central place to store it on your website.

Michael Reynolds:

Yes, you can host these things elsewhere. Obviously, our podcast is going to be on apple podcasts and Spotify and these places, your blog can be posted on LinkedIn and Facebook does have articles and things, but generally they're scattered and it's not going to be as nicely centralized. So, definitely use those other places. But if you want one place, that's your body of work, your website's going to be the place for that. And it's going to make it much easier for people to get a sense of what your body of work is when it comes to producing content.

Michael Reynolds:

Also, and last on my list here is, it's a marker of credibility and trust. So, just from a good old fashioned credibility standpoint, if I'm searching for a massage therapist in my area, and I find one... I stumble cross one on Instagram, maybe they've got a Twitter profile or something and no website. And the other two massage therapists, I find have websites that are full of this rich information we just talked about. Instantly I'm whether it's fair or not, I'm less interested in the one without a website. I'm like, well, the other two that have websites are probably running pretty solid businesses and I'm going to gravitate toward them. So, whether they think it's fair or not, that's just how a lot of people are going to think a website is a marker of trust. It's a marker of credibility for your business.

Michael Reynolds:

So, keep that in mind. Alright. So, let's say, you've said, "Okay Michael, I've heard your list, whatever. I still I'm making an intentional choice with good reason to not have a website." Here's some things you can do to leverage your social properties without a website. One is build out your social media profile or profiles with as much information as possible. So, let's say you don't want to have a website make use of all of the information you can have in your social profiles to fill out. So, if it's Facebook, fill out everything it's got. All the bio information, description, photos, everything. Excuse me. Next, make sure your social properties have clear calls to action. So, if you schedule online, which I think most of us do these days, make sure there's a clear button on your social profiles that says, to book an appointment, click here, schedule online.

Michael Reynolds:

Facebook gives you buttons. You can put on there. Instagram has, you can go to the bio and you have a link tree, or you can have a link directly to your scheduler there. So, make sure your call to action is very clear. If you don't have online scheduling, put the email or phone number or whatever method you want to use and make it consistent across all those platforms. If you're okay with people just using the platform messaging system, then say that in the whatever descriptions you can put say, message me on this platform to book an appointment. It's probably not too common. I think most of us are going to want schedule online, but just be aware that you want to tell people exactly what to do, be consistent. If you're going to be on social media and not a website, be very consistent, social networks are not designed to be static.

Michael Reynolds:

They're designed to be very active. So, be sure that you are posting on a regular basis producing new content on a regular basis and your newsfeed or your content stream is very active. That's going to make sure that that property is being used as intended. Also, you might consider getting at least a domain name and redirecting it to a landing page that has links to your social networks or social profiles, or just direct it to your primary social property. And the reason for this is if you're at a networking event, telling people how to find you, you don't want to say, "You can find me on facebook.com/blah or twitter.com/blah or Instagram. You're giving them extra work. It's like, go to Instagram. And then remember the username. And it's just a pain. So, if you can rattle off a website like, my website is blah, blah, blah.com.

Michael Reynolds:

And that'll redirect you to my Instagram profile. It's an easier thing to say. And it's also easier to put on business cards. So, if you have your website address or your domain name listed on your website and having it redirect to the primary social profile that you're on, it's just going to be easier for people to find you and just get to you. That way they're not typing in facebook.com/and then some big thing after it, they'll make it easier.

Michael Reynolds:

And then finally use Google My Business or now it's called Google Business Profile. Sorry, it used to be called Google my business. So, if you're not going to have a website, at least have a Google Business Profile, this is going to help you in search engines. It's a great local tool it's designed to be local. So, that's going to help you develop a local presence with... You can actually post content there. You can have hours of operation links to scheduling testimonials and reviews. So, you can use Google business as a miniature, not really website, but a local profile. That's going to be very helpful to you. So, bottom line, you don't necessarily need a website. If you want more clients, it's pretty important as a tool. That's my TDR summary. So, Allissa what have I missed? Anything you have to add?

Allissa Haines:

No, you haven't missed anything. I would add. It's super cheap to get a domain name. It's like 12, $15 a year tops. And if you haven't created a website because you think it's expensive, there's also some free ways to do it. Freeish ways to do it. If you have a domain name, you can like there's DIY website builders, where they have a free level of service, like Weebley has a free level. And you can just route your domain name to the domain that Weebley gives you with the free website. So, you don't have to pay for the custom domain upgrade. So, there's lots of free or absurdly cheap ways to do it. So, if it's the cost factor, that's might not be a good enough free to, if you're really actively recruiting new clients, a website's really going to help you.

Allissa Haines:

And if you need help, figuring out the free to do that, just drop us an email podcast@massagebusinessblueprint.com. And I will explain that a little more clearly. But, I think this is really great. This is a really good... And you know how I feel so strongly? I feel like everyone really should be... Should have their own website. It's a home base. It's important. It establishes credibility. It allows you to grow, but do what you got to do, folks.

Michael Reynolds:

Cool. Thanks.

Allissa Haines:

That's what I think. Our next sponsor is ABMP. Yay. And I think today I'm going to focus on ABMP Five-Minute Muscles and the ABMP Pocket Pathology apps. They are such helpful resources. You can go to abmp.com/apps, to learn more. They're super useful, quick reference guides to help you efficiently find information you might need. So, if you have a client walk in and they're like, I've been newly diagnosed with peripheral neuropathy in my left foot. You can look that up in the pocket pathology app and very quickly and easily know what you need to be concerned about how you might need to adapt your massage.

Allissa Haines:

Ditto that for the Five-Minute Muscles app, I had someone come in the other day with a new headache for them. It was definitely like some occipital and suboccipital stuff. And I didn't necessarily need to look up the information for me, but it was really helpful after the session I opened up the app and I said, when I was in the massage, I said, no, I'm pushing on the back of the skull. I'm like, these are called occipital and suboccipital muscles. They can really contribute to the headache that you're have having let's do some work here. And then after the massage, when I wanted to teach the clients, some self-care, it was so helpful to be able to open the app and show the picture of the muscles. And that gave them a much better idea of how to apply the self-care I was suggesting.

Allissa Haines:

Because, they really had a better visual of where they needed to work. So, super progressive web app technology takes up less space on your device. These apps are included with ABMP membership, but if you're still not sold, you can go to abmp.com/apps and look at a demo of each to make sure it's something that you feel is worth your effort. But I absolutely we do. We adore ABMP check it out. Abmp.com/apps.

Michael Reynolds:

ABMP, never disappoints.

Allissa Haines:

I have some other things to say about ABMP that are so wonderful because I have been doing a bunch of research into just certain factors of various massage organizations and leadership stuff. And I'm saving it for another episode though. I really, the more I know, the more I come to appreciate APMP. Quick tips, Michael, what do you got?

Michael Reynolds:

So, my quick tip is this. If you find yourself doing anything more than once, that's a good sign. You need to make a process or a template for it. And by that, it could be as simple as just a little checklist you put in your to-do app or a Google doc or whatever.

Michael Reynolds:

But, I notice this all the time, myself too. I'm doing this thing and this thing again next week. I just same thing again. I'm like crap. I'm reinventing the wheel every time. If I were to put this recurring task on my to-do list and then create this templated email that I have to send, I can just copy and paste that template every time. And I don't have to reinvent the wheel every time. So, I found myself doing a lot with emails lately where it's like, I'm sending this similar email more once I may as well just make a template for it. I could just copy and paste or use text expander or something. So, if it's something in your office, maybe you... Every day you do this thing and sometimes you miss a step here and there, or there's a weekly thing or whatever. If you're doing it more than once, make a process, make a template for it, document it and it's going to unload your brain. So, you're not thinking about as much, it's going to lower stress.

Allissa Haines:

Right. And it's such a productivity hack too. Because, once you do that, you're going to save so much time. Like every time you have to do that task and I find, I dread certain little admin tasks, a lot less now that I have protocols to make them faster. So [crosstalk 00:25:22] That's a good tip. I don't really have a quick tip this week except... Good job, Michael. I agree with yours. And I have... That is a thing you taught me years ago. That has been extremely helpful.

Michael Reynolds:

Thanks.

Allissa Haines:

So, folks, if you have a question you would like for us to answer on the podcast or pretty much anywhere you can let us know. You can email us @podcastmassagebusinessblueprint.com. Michael did make reference to our private community, our blueprint master mind community as well, which is just a lovely and thoughtful group of massage therapists from all over the country, nay all over the world. Who in just a beautiful peer mentoring manner, help each other with business obstacles and ideas. And also we have just to a really fun time, you can check that out @massagebusinessblueprint.com slash Mastermind. Is that right? Michael?

Michael Reynolds:

What? I'm not sure if we do a short link, let's find out

Allissa Haines:

I know If its community or Mastermind. But if you go to the website, you'll see the little menu option for Mastermind.

Michael Reynolds:

It is slash Mastermind.

Allissa Haines:

Good job. Updating that. Michael. There we go. So, check that out. If you think you're interested, we think it's a pretty useful tool and I adore our community so deeply. I don't want to start gushing about it because I'll cry, but everyone, thanks for listening and have a really good day.

Michael Reynolds:

Thanks everyone.

Speaker 3:

Bye.