Using Chair Massage At Public Events To Build Your Massage Therapy Business

Back when I started my massage therapy practice I was stumped at ways to build my clientel. I used to think that the only way to get massage clients was to put an expensive advertisement in the local paper and cross my fingers, hold my breath and pray like I’ve never prayed before. I was really pleading with the Universe.

Then one evening I got a call from my massage therapy association. They needed massage therapists at the National Tai Kwan Do Championships in my city. It wasn’t paid work but it might be a good opportunity to build my massage business and get more clients this way.

The massage association supplied a chair for me (I only had a massage table, not a massage chair) and set up my chair backstage. It was a very exciting day as far as massage therapy went. I was inundated with karate champions with sore shoulders, swollen ankles, elbow and arm pain and the list went on. I gave around 40 massage therapy treatments that day.

I was really tired at the end of the day, even though the massage treatments I gave were only about 10-15 minutes at a time. I was tired but exhilarated. I gave out many business cards and a small brochure on how regular massage therapy improved your ability to do your sport.

The outcome from that was I had two calls. Now you may think that two massage therapy treatments from an event such as that is pretty poor. It may be, but I didn’t see it that way. You see what happened is that those two massage treatments I did for those people as a result of the event was a seed.

Over the following weeks those two massage clients told their other karate team members about my massage treatments and how much it had helped them with their flexibility and improvement in movement. As a result, those two new clients turned into another 10 people over the next 6 months.

At the time I was charging $50 per hour massage. After a few months I’d make about $500 from the treatments and it actually added a few thousand dollars to my income for that year of trading as a single operator massage therapist.

And what did I do? I simply invested a day doing what I loved most. And the most important thing is that I always advised them of the benefits of regular massage therapy for their particular sport. I explained how much better they would feel and how much better they would perform at events such as that one.

You do not have to associate getting more massage clients via expensive newspaper advertising. It’s not the only way. Just a few hours or your time, offering massage treatment to the right market can really work wonders. You might not see the results straight away, but then again you might. But think of this donation of your time as an investment, not a loss of your time.

Make sure thought that if you do use this strategy, that you are massaging people who want to be massaged. Don’t go and set up someone or at an event where it’s unrelated. Make sure people are interested in massage therapy first. For example you may offer your services to a corporate event where you know the attendees are sitting, listening to a guest speaker for a weekend with very long hours. People may really appreciate a massage after four hours of sitting and feeling cramped. Always check it out first with the event coordinators first as to whether they feel your massage will be a good advantage for the day.

Just remember this key point- marketing your massage therapy service can come in more ways than an investment of money. It’s your time and skills with your hands.

Amy Roberts