I remember being a 'green' massage therapist. (This was what our teachers called those newly graduated therapists that just sprouted into the world of massage.) Excited to start my new career, I was eager for clients. So eager that I took anyone I could get. In hindsight I made a few mistakes and learned some great tips along the way that I want to share here with any fellow 'green' massage therapists.
Tip #1: Be careful where you post your services!
Check out the profiles of other LMTs on the sites you're posting on and see what they are advertising. If it looks raunchy who ever is 'shopping' on those sites will expect your services to be the same. I decided to make my own website so I would present as more professional than say a craigslist ad. Having a presence on google, yelp and facebook also makes you look more like a legitimate business.
Mistake #1: I made a profile on "www.massageanywhere.com"
Now this is how naive I was... I believed "Massage Anywhere" meant traveling business people looking for massage therapists 'anywhere.' But I think most people using this site think it means 'massage anywhere on the body'.
Tip #2: Be honest during your phone interview
Even if they reached out over social media or email, you want to hear this person's voice and make sure they at least sound like the right gender/ age you are expecting. This is also the best opportunity to prepare for your session by asking all of your intake questions like medical history, expectations for the session and where you have to travel to see them if you are mobile. Here is where I weed out most of the 'creeper' clients now that I know better. Whenever I have a new male client that is not a referral I will say during our phone interview exactly this: "Just to be clear, this is a full body massage but I am not touching your penis." Respectable men will usually have a little chuckle at how blunt I am and continue to book their session with no issue. Now men who want a happy ending will usually tell me they have to call me back.
Mistake #2: Not asking the right questions during the first communication
I was 1 month out of massage school and had a prospective male client call me for a sports massage session. He told me during our phone interview that he played soccer a lot so his adductors were tight. Naive new therapist me didn't think much more of this than he is a serious athlete and could be a potential regular client. Fast forward to our session and he is asking me to massage the origin of the adductors (inner groin) and i'm still 'green' and thinking its okay, he's an athlete. This guy got h*rd within 10 seconds and told me "Come on, just do it". I stepped back and told him "The session is over, please get dressed and pay me in full." While he might have really been a soccer player, he was also a pervert.
Tip #3: Find your niche and refer out!
My preferred modality is a medium pressure Swedish massage with a smidge of trigger point work. I do not like to do sports massage or full body deep tissue but I do have a few colleagues that I refer out for deep tissue. For me, a deep tissue client will hurt me more than help me and I would rather save my hands. Network in your area and find therapists that specializes in other modalities that you don't.
Mistake #3: Catering to the 'Deep Tissue' clients (Unless you want to! I don't like it)
Have you met those clients that say things like "You can't hurt me" or "You can go as deep as you want" or "I like the pain" ? In the first few years of my career I considered myself a deep tissue therapist to get more clients and heard these phrases time and time again. I would give my all during their session and by the end I was exhausted, spiritually exhausted and my hands were in so much pain.
Tip #4: Utilize an intake form ahead of time
Before I see a new client, I have them fill out my intake form on my website. As part of this intake form I have a few boxes they have to check, one of them talks about parking and that the client must pay any valet or meters for the parking during their session. Another box about making sure the area where the table will be set up is clean and free of animal hair.
Mistake #4: Not asking a client about parking before the session
One time I had a client who I had seen before but she had moved to a new apartment recently. When I pulled up to her building my parking options were $14 valet parking or free parking half a mile down the road. Now a massage table is pretty heavy so you know I valeted, foolishly expecting my client to offer to pay. Which she did not, nor did she tip. So to me that was a $14 discount on the service that I was not OK with.
I hope you can laugh at and learn from my mistakes and that some of these tips can be of use to you!
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