Podcast

Weekly Roundup

• Our Missing Hearts, Celeste Ng

Discussion Topic

• What Kind of Business Owner Are You?

Quick Tips

• If you’ve ever been asked a question three times, document your answer as a blog post, podcast episode, ebook, etc.

Sponsors

• ABMP 
• The Original Jojoba Company 
• How to Get New Clients 

Transcript: 

Sponsor message:

This episode is sponsored by us at massagebusinessblueprint.com. Have you ever wondered how do I get new clients? Well, I'll tell you what, we've got an ebook for that. When you ask these questions out in the world, you get a lot of responses and some of them are good and some of them are absolutely terrible. So we weeded through and created clear effective steps that you can take to bring new clients into your massage office, to fill your schedule and fill your bank account. You can get our free ebook at massagebusinessblueprint.com/clients. Check it out.

Michael Reynolds:

Hey everyone. Welcome to the Massage Business Blueprint podcast, where we help you attract more clients, make more money, and improve your quality of life. I'm Michael Reynolds.

Allissa Haines:

I'm Allissa Haines.

Michael Reynolds:

And we are your hosts. Fun fact, for me today, every time I do a podcast recording of any type, I have to pick up a pen and have it in my hand. It's kind of like my safety blanket. It makes me feel very official and prepared. I don't do anything with the pen. I never write anything with it. I just have the pen. So if you see me pick up the pen, if you're looking at the video, oh, same. You do the same thing?

Allissa Haines:

I'm holding up a pen as well. Do you fidget with it and break off the little pen handle? Because I do that a lot.

Michael Reynolds:

No, I don't break the pen handle, but I do fidget with it. I kind of like just have it in my hand. So look at that. We are twinsies. I knew it, so.

Allissa Haines:

You've heard me throw a pen accidentally while I gesticulate.

Michael Reynolds:

Yes, that is true. Yeah. So now that we've shared that level of unasked for transparency, what you're reading?

Allissa Haines:

So I just started a book. So I'm about a third of the way in and it's called Our Missing Hearts by Celeste Ng. And she's actually kind of like a local-ish author to me. She lives in Cambridge and the book actually takes place in Cambridge. But it takes place in a time where there has been some weird stuff going on in the world. And the government has, let's say, I'm going to read this because I want to get it right, "To keep the peace and restore prosperity, the authorities are now allowed to relocate children of dissidents, especially those of Asian origin. And libraries have been forced to remove books seen as unpatriotic."

So it's the United States, but it has fallen into a habit or regime of massive censorship in order to encourage patriotism and discourage dissidents. And it's good timing on this novel. And it's very interesting and it's kind of told from the perspective of a 12 year old boy whose mom was a poet and was removed from the family and it's very interesting. So Celeste Ng, Our Missing Hearts. I know I'm the third of the way through, but I love her other books too. So I feel like I can confidently say this is a fantastic novel.

Michael Reynolds:

Oh, sounds lovely and dystopian.

Allissa Haines:

It is dystopian.

Michael Reynolds:

Thanks for sharing.

Allissa Haines:

What are you reading, anything?

Michael Reynolds:

I got nothing today, so we'll just stick with yours today. So you always read the most interesting stuff, so we'll leave it at that, so.

Allissa Haines:

I try. All right, so since you're not reading anything, why don't you tell me who our next sponsor is?

Michael Reynolds:

Our friends at ABMP.

Allissa Haines:

Yay. Let's talk about the ABMP Education Center. You can learn more about the ABMP Education Center at abmp.com/learn. More than 600 hours of continuing education courses that are included with your ABMP membership or available at a ridiculously reasonable price for non-members. All kinds of topics, hands on ethics, self-care, cultural competency, and new courses for massage educators themselves, which I think is wonderful. ABMP members get free CE for all courses included with their level of membership. And it's a great way to meet CE requirements to try out new presenters and to save your CE budget for in-person courses if you so desire. Again, you can learn more at abmp.com/learn.

Michael Reynolds:

I just love ABMP. They're just so good.

Allissa Haines:

They don't stink. I like them a lot.

Michael Reynolds:

They don't stink it all. All right. Hey Allissa, I'm loving your topic. I'm going to kick it off with a question. It's always fun when I can do that. What kind of business owner are you?

Allissa Haines:

I'm the great kind. That's what I am.

Michael Reynolds:

Oh, I agree.

Allissa Haines:

So I'm the successful kind, hopefully. I don't know. So yeah, I've been thinking about this and how we kind of coach and consult with people about how to keep up on business practices. And there are so many people, so many massage therapists that start seeking out resources on how to run a massage business, how to start a massage business, how to make a massage business successful and sustainable. And then they get stuck. They simply don't have or they can't manage, they don't have the wherewithal to build the structure that's necessary into their massage practices. And by massage, by business practices, I'm sorry, business practices is what I meant to say. By that I mean marketing, money management, all the nuts and bolts, staying compliant with permits and all that kinds of stuff. The nuts and bolts, the core, the structure, the foundation of your massage practice.

We see it all the time like even with our new clients' ebook. People ask how to get new clients, we give them an ebook with tangible steps. They might even read it and then they just don't follow through, they don't do the steps. And then six months later they show up in a Facebook group and I recognize your names people, and they say, how do I get new clients? And I think to myself, legit, just gave you a book on it. Now let me say this, I'm not throwing stones here because this was me and often is me in many parts of running my business. And it's part of why we created Massage Business Blueprint. This is normal. It's hard. It's hard to stay focused and motivated on a intangible thing that might not bring you lots of income for a few months or years if you're really procrastinating this stuff.

It is for many people easier to say, Nope, I can't do this and I'm going to go work for somebody else. Which is a legitimate decision and wonderful, good for you. But I think that I see so many massage therapists kind of just ease away, just disappear into the twilight because they could not own one way or another what kind of business owner they are. Are you a really hardcore, able to motivate yourself or able to put the structure in place to motivate yourself, DIY kind of business owner? Or are you someone that is not going to be able to build that structure and follow those routines on your own? And if you are the latter, that's okay. Own it. Please know that you can hire that crap out. There are plenty of virtual assistance with skills in light marketing and light business running stuff. And I'm talking maybe like bookkeeping and just organization and structure.

There are plenty of virtual assistants that can do that kind of thing. However, at the beginning of your business, you are often time rich and cash poor. So if you're in that position where you have the time to do the things and yet you cannot motivate yourself to do them, but you don't have the money to hire them out, you're going to have to get creative. And again, especially when you're just starting up. So maybe you need to go work for someone else or get another job or go work in a bookstore or whatever in order to come up with the funds to pay a virtual assistant to do some of these things for you to move you forward. And yeah, it kind of sucks to go work for somebody else when you are also trying to work for yourself. But if the alternative is your business is going to crash and burn and you're going to be out a couple of grand and several months of trying to run this business, I mean, what sucks more and what sucks less?

Does working somewhere else to pay a virtual assistant to get your massage business going, does it suck more or less than doing all that stuff yourself or just completely being unsuccessful? I was trying to avoid the word failure, but we need to embrace failure because some people try to start a business and they fail and that's okay. So if you need to find another income stream to hire some of this out to get a boot in your rear, then do it. Do whatever it takes, man. That's an option. I also want to note that this is a point where a lot of people, especially early on in their businesses start trading. I have really mixed feelings about trading time with professionals to do things for your business. I don't love it. I'd prefer, I like a simple easy money exchange, but that's not always what people want or people do.

So I will tell you, if you decide to trade, you should absolutely go listen to one of our podcast episodes about really structured trades so that you know what to think about and ask and agree upon ahead of time so that you are not getting yourself in an uncomfortable trade situation. Other alternatives, okay, if you really don't want to go work at a bakery or bookstore or a massage chain to make money to pay someone to do some of the business practice work stuff in your massage business, what are your other alternatives? Maybe you can find a business buddy to do this with you, either in person or virtual. If you have someone else who is running their own business, massage or otherwise, or trying to start their own business and you guys are going through some of the same things or just having the same motivation issues, find a buddy, meet to co-work and make the whole process less tedious and you can meet virtually or in person or and or trade tasks to spend, trade tasks, pardon me, depending on your skill.

I would be delighted to spend an hour straightening up someone's bookkeeping if they would spend an hour and schedule my social posts. I would love that. So think about who you know, who you can co-work with either someone around you local or somebody online, a massage therapist you've met in some online community or something and do that. Or if you don't want to do this kind of work in your massage business and you don't want to get some other income stream to pay a virtual assistant and you are not interested in co-working with someone or trading a massage therapist or finding some kind of buddy to keep you accountable, it is perfectly acceptable to acknowledge that you don't want to work for yourself. That is legit and it's okay. And it doesn't make you less of a massage therapist or even less of a business person.

It makes you someone who knows what you are capable of and want to do and what does and doesn't make you miserable every day. And if you are happier strolling on into some place where you're an employee and given a couple massages and throw in the laundry in a hamper and walking home, that's great. That's fantastic. Be that person, own it. Put your effort into finding a wonderful place to work. Shed the guilt. There's nothing wrong with hiring this stuff out and there's nothing superior about being a DIY business owner. Use whatever resources are available to you to create a work situation that makes your business sustainable and satisfying. And that is the end of my lecture for today. Know yourself, know what kind of business owner you are and roll with that.

Michael Reynolds:

I love it.

Allissa Haines:

I thought you would.

Michael Reynolds:

Thank you. Well, that is wonderful stuff and a great segue into our next sponsor who is also wonderful.

Allissa Haines:

Our next sponsor is indeed wonderful. We are sponsored by The Original Jojoba Company. You know how I feel about them. They're the only company in the world that carries 100% pure first press quality jojoba. We are delighted to partner with them. It doesn't go rancid, so you can leave it on your shelf for several years. I know this from experience and you can put it in your car that gets hot and cold and hot and cold and it ain't going to wreck it. It doesn't contain triglycerides like lots of products do. So it's not going to go bad. And it's a really good carrier for essential oils as well. So now you know, you should totally try some jojoba. You can get 20% off the price of the product when you shop through our link massagebusinessblueprint.com/jojoba.

Michael Reynolds:

All right, I've got a quick tip today.

Allissa Haines:

Bring it.

Michael Reynolds:

Want to hear it? All right.

Allissa Haines:

Yes. More than anything.

Michael Reynolds:

We need more exciting lives. So,

Allissa Haines:

I really do.

Michael Reynolds:

My quick tip today is if you've ever been asked a question three times, document your answer as a blog post, podcast episode, ebook, something, because that means you are reinventing the wheel every time. And it's something that people want to know. So if clients ask you questions, Hey, is there a good stretch for this? Or What do you think about this? Or how can I blah, blah blah, whatever it might be. Whether it's a client asking you directly or request on social media or prospective client inquiries, whatever it is. If you get asked more than a couple times, that's a really good candidate for something to turn into an article for your website, a video to make, something where you can provide one answer to this repeated question. And that's a great way to run your content marketing overall, is listen for questions you get asked or topics that get brought up multiple times. So that's a really easy way to start creating great content for marketing as well, but also gives you something to send to people and point to when people ask you the same question over and over.

Allissa Haines:

I'm going to add onto this quick tip by doing a rapid fire of frequently asked questions for massage therapists. So here we go. Where did you go to massage school? Is massage good for my frozen shoulder? What kind of oil do you use? How do you pick out the music that you use? What hours do you work? Is massage good for my aunts sore low back? By the way, she's in chemotherapy. All of these questions, all of these things people ask you when they're like a new client on the table and they're nervous so they start chatting or just things, is massage good for my headache, all of these things. Boom, write it down or record yourself answering it and then you'll have it on file and you can use it for, like Michael said, all kinds of content.

Michael Reynolds:

Indeed.

Allissa Haines:

That's it.

Michael Reynolds:

All right.

Allissa Haines:

I just wanted to rapid fire that because I was thinking of them while you were saying it.

Michael Reynolds:

Love it. As I pick up my pen, I will wrap up our episode today. So, with that,

Allissa Haines:

This is an efficient episode.

Michael Reynolds:

I know.

Allissa Haines:

I'm very proud of us.

Michael Reynolds:

Look at that under 15 minutes. Hey everyone, thanks for joining us today. We appreciate you being a listener. As always, you can find us on the web at massagebusinessblueprint.com. The email address to reach us that goes to both of us is podcast@massagebusinessblueprint.com. We will receive it with love, we will respond to it. We read all of it and we appreciate your feedback. Thanks for joining us today. Have a great day. We will see you next time.

Allissa Haines:

Bye.