E-newsletter exchange

[roar_y {~[GCH]~}]

I'm having a harder & harder time coming up with ideas for my newsletter each month! I found myself wishing I could read a bunch of other MT's emails to spark my brain, which led to this idea. Would any of you who send out email newsletters like to trade with me? I promise I won't steal your words......but I'd love to exchange ideas.

 

[julietpro60]

Hi RoS

I cheat; I "make" mind from ABMP's newsletter generator, so everything is done for you. They have some good articles, though... here are some (all headlines paraphrased, as I don't remember the exact wording, except where headlines are in quotes):

* all about tea (some basics)
* the importance of communication
* all about Hot Stone (or any other modality, you could do Ashiatsu, Thai, reflexology, etc)
* the importance of sunblock
* beating the winter blues
* should your teenager get massage?
* the importance of drinking water
* all about walking &/or other exercise
etc

I also thought of a few... (dunno if they're covered on ABMP's site or not, but these are things I've thought about writing about)...
* Fibromyalgia
* other autoimmune disorders
* what's a trigger point?
* how can chiropractic help?
* what happens in a car wreck? (physiologically, biomechanically, etc)
* all about thoracic outlet syndrome
* the scoop about body wraps
* toxins in our environment
* the difference between Swedish & Deep Tissue (I've had a lot of ppl ask this)
* massage & ADD/ADHD
* what is biofeedback?
* all about your first massage--what to expect, etc.
* how to calm stress levels
* all about yoga & pilates
* introducing: different natural modalities (such as herbs, nutrition, acupuncture, chiropractic, osteopathic, etc)... I don't think this would interfere with our scope of practice as "giving advice" as long as we get our information from reputable sources and paraphrase what they have to say, or perhaps simply tell a success story about your OWN experience. No law prevents you from doing that, as you're not inciting them to do anything except possibly their own independent research
etc.

You could also do a Q&A... answering questions from your clients... "Ask Your Therapist"
* how often should I get massage?
* how can massage benefit kids?
* "I'm scared of chiropractors/medical doctors/etc!"
* "my mother won't get a massage because she's convinced it's going to hurt!"
* how much clothing should I remove?
* or dispel myths, such as "no pain, no gain", etc and offer the truth followed by a logical explanation.
* the importance of REGULAR massage--don't wait till you're in pain!
etc.

You could share new happenings in your business...
* changes in your policies
* new programs or specials or packages
* new modalities you now offer
* gift certificates (list events to get clients' minds flowing)
* gentle/friendly reminders
* change in location
* miscellaneous, such as "we now do housecalls!" "we now accept credit cards!" or new other healthcare professionals that you now network with or whatnot.

I had a friend who did her own newsletters and she talked about different things--one I remember very well was titled, "a word about body image..." because she had so many self-conscious ppl come to her and they were embarrassed about one "imperfect" physical feature or another, so she wrote a nice article to address that. Things like how MTs are typically nonjudgmental and see way past the "imperfection" and how we encouter all types of bodies, etc.

Hopefully this'll get the creative brain juices flowing

Good luck!
~Jyoti

 

[BilligCialis]

I'd love to see some more ideas about what to put in client email newsletters. I have some appropriate articles that I can provide links to if anyone wants to exchange ideas. :grin:

 

[misha]

I take mine from AMTA, I have also done an introduction on my therapists, had a little fun for our 2nd anniv. and figured out how many sheets I've washed and how much lotion we've gone thru in 2 yrs.

 

[Tinkerbell XD]

i get ideas from the article resources at http://www.massagetherapy. com

an exchange is a great idea though! how do we get started?
amanda

 

[Devin]

Have you checked out Success Beyond Work? You can buy newsletters individually or as a package. They are totally customizable however, you can't save any changes that you make to them. They also offer an e-newsletter service for $25 a month with tracking. You can send to 1 or 1000 people for the same fee. I haven't tried the e-newsletter yet but I am interested in trying it. It seems that it would act like Constant Contact in the respect of tracking and what not. Any one used this yet?

 

[Umair]

one of the easiest ways of coming up with content, is tracking the hits on your website. On my website, I track the hits each week, where they are coming from (google, links elsewhere, etc), and what key words people are searching for and getting to my website from. I take those key words and write something about them as that seems to be what people are interested in hearing about.

Patrick

 

[Beach Blondie]

I go on the Real Age website (with Dr. Oz) and look at the subjects he covers, as well as Dr. Mercola's site. They both post on a wide variety of subjects.

Of course women's & family health issues are of interest to me, as are subjects relating to water intake/dehydration, seasonal skincare & informing people about how the products they consider using is important, preferably organic, paraben & fragrance free.

I love the list from ABMP! Also it's easy to look over a whole shelf of magazines related to health issues & pickout the ones I feel are relevant for our client base.

 

[Pompal 09.]

What kinds of feedback do you get on your newsletters? Do your clients actually read them? I don't really read any of the newsletters I sign up for. Is it just me?

 

[Pompal 09.]

I'm with Josh, I don't usually read the articles, either. The ones on ABMP are a little long, I think. I'm just this week embarking on the newsletter creating thing, and am making my articles short, and pertinent to the recent changes in my practice, a new method I'm using, etc. And Valentine's offer for gift certificates. I want to keep it simple. Sometimes when there is just too much text in a newsletter, I feel overwhelmed and delete, so I'm keeping that in mind.

Also, I don't know if any of you are part of byRegion.net, an online networking of sorts, but included in their membership is a free MyNewsletter Builder where you can produce and distribute 250 newsletters per month at no charge. I'm comparing it side by side with Constant Contact's 60-day free trial for ease of use, etc. So far I really like it. There is also an option for pre-loaded newsletter for a nominal fee and all you have to do is edit your personal information.
Other thing about byRegion is that it's only $75 for 18 months, you get a web page through them that can link to your personal site. And I have gotten a number of clients via their site. The search words always bring my byregion page up fairly high on Google. It's been well worth the money, and I finally decided to do their newsletter thing, and that's a real bonus.

http://www.byregion.net
http://www.mynewsletmassageplanet.netuilder.com

(Byregion's server is under maintenance when I just now checked, which I haven't seen before)

 

[Pure Jersey]

I'm almost thinking that a newsletter of photos with lolcaptions on them would get more traction/readership ;-)

 

[Yeaa boiii]

I'm almost thinking that a newsletter of photos with lolcaptions on them would get more traction/readership ;-)

ROFLMAO! I love those pictures! The misspellings add to the hilarity for me :

 

[Not So Ordinary Girl]

Iz not misspelling, is lolspeak! See http://speaklolspeak.com

Oh hai. I'z in ur thread, hijackin ur topic! lolsorry

 

[Pooky]

I go on the Real Age website (with Dr. Oz) and look at the subjects he covers, as well as Dr. Mercola's site. They both post on a wide variety of subjects.

I would not use material from either site. Though amusing to read, many of their articles have little/nothing to do with massage/bodywork, and you don't want your newsletter readers to get too far off-track. The point of a newsletter is to keep readers engaged in what your business is providing, so make sure all material integrates well with what you do.

Be particularly wary of including material that espouses a political or religious agenda. Though you may agree with it personally, respect the fact that many clients may not. What you include in your newsletter should be an extension of the consideration you show in your treatment room(s).

 

[Janet W]

Jason,
Both of the sites I mentioned have a plenty of subjects I would never choose to use, so I pick & choose what is appropriate for my client base, & my practice.

My purpose is to provide both interesting & valuable information for health & wellbeing. I've also found it best to keep the text on the shorter side - as others have mentioned, or people simply won't bother to read it.

I especially like the list by jyoti, as it covers a great many areas which pertain to daily life, and also has many subjects which relate directly to what we do.

 

[Chloepop]

Okay, here's a link to my very first newsletter ever, feelin' like a big girl now!
http://www.mynewsletmassageplanet.netuilder.com/tools/view_newsletter.php?newsletter_id=1409832013

This is done with the free service offered with a ByRegion membership that I mentioned in an earlier post.