Starting out as a massage therapist

[guglu hacker]

Recently I put an ad in the local paper which simply said qualified massage therapist iihht certified call + mobile number for an appointment. My concern is that all my calls have been from men! Mostly the questions about treatments have been ok however I have had a few not so good questions. The ad appeared in the health and beauty section of the paper. Can anyone suggest why I have not received any calls from women?

I am going to do a leaflet drop in the New Year when my youngest child starts full time school in January. Until then it is possible for me to go to people's houses I have a portable couch but so far they have preferred to come to my house.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated
Pam

 

[pinkybunny9]

Hi,
I have not long been doing massage treatments mobile myself, and i did get some unwelcoming calls from men, infact most of the calls have been from men, in this short space of time I have learnt not to except men coming to my house, as it seems its because they dont want there wives to know and they are after extras. I had an incident where a male client arrived for massage and half way through said his previous massage therapist gave him extras, and would I be interested, I was so disgusted and felt quite sick by this. I would be very careful how you word your advertising, try to mention about healthy benefits and howmassage helps certain conditions, and the words qualified, professional memberships etc, or you could put professional massageONLY! genuine callers need only reply!
But I hope i havent put you off as obviously there are some genuine men out there too. I try now to find out as much as I can when they call, so I get an idea excactly what it is they are after. Hope this helps. And very best of luck!!

Jillx.

 

[P A]

Sorry Pam! I forgot to mention that if youwant to attractfemale clients just to feel more safe, howabout making your advertising material look feminine, using colours like lilacs and pinks and maybe some flowers in it, and say something like "Have a Girls night in, pamper party", anyway,just a thought!.

Jill x.

 

[Arripantift]

Pam,

It happens to male therapists too! And despite putting holistic massage, health benefits etc on a leaflet drop in one (fairly affluent) area not too long ago, I still only got the sort of calls you refer to.

I decided not to advertise holistic massage in papers or card ads as my primary therapy anymore, but then I'm fortunate in that I've other treatments I can use as the 'attention grabber'.

Have you considered targetting your advertising efforts to a female clientele by putting leaflet and business cards around any local hairdressing salons that don't offer massage etc on their premises (so you are not taking custom away). Offer freebies or half-price to the salon staff, that way you will get talked about during the general chatter and might pick up custom that way.

derekw

 

[Andrea Christopher]

many thanks for your suggestions and will definitely try some of these out. Feel happier in the knowledge that it has happened to others. Have had some genuine callers but currently are few and far between will take alot to put me off though!!

 

[The Captain]

rather than stating 'professional massage' why not state that you are a holistic or complementary therapist. You could also state that you accept Female clients only as that deters the unsavoury phone calls.

It happens to me a lot and I've got a free line in the yellow pages that states my name and that I do baby massage. you wouldn't believe how many dirty calls I've had from that!!!

I had a call 2 weeks ago asking to come to the clinic I work at. He asked me to list all of my types of massage which I did. Then he told me that during a 5 aside football match he had got an injury and was interested in getting his bum, groin and thighs massaged. I told him that I didn't do sports massage and that it sounded like he was after a prostitute. He hasn't rung me back since.

 

[Pompal 09.]

I'm so glad I found this thread because I, too, am just starting out as a Beauty/Complementary Therapist in a home based treatment room. Although I haven't advertised in papers etc. as yet I have still had a couple of calls/emails from men who have found my details on the Embody website. Although they may be perfectly genuine I am really really nervous about allowing strange men into my home when there's only me and my young son there (also my husband is very unhappy about it!).

Part of me thinks I just won't do treatments for men, but then my "business" head is telling me that there are a lot of potential male clients out there who could make all the difference to me carrying on my business part-time alongside my office job, and going full time doing something I really love.

What to do!![sm=banghead.gif]

 

[Roocky Rooxtar]

reply to nightbird

I've put another ad in the local paper which came out on Thursday and once again all my phone calls have come from men. I changed the wording but makes no difference. I've had to take the risk and allow these male clients into my home. I have also explained to neighbours that I am working as a massage therapist so they don't gossip about lots of strange men coming to my home. I cannot understand why females are not interested perhaps they prefer to go to salons, spas etc. Anyway what have you decided to do?

best wishes and good luck
Pam

 

[regvnnss]

hi Pam it really sounds like you aren't feeling comfortable about having men for a treatment. Have any of them been yet and have they been okay or do they think you are offering something else? Have you tried the other suggestions of putting up leaflets in shop windows and hairdressers etc? What about giving out leaflets to all the mums at school or any playgroups etc that you may attend? I have never advertised in the paper but have managed to drum up business (slowly) via leaflets in windows, door drops, word of mouth, women's events etc. I also haven't ever used a mobile telephone number as I did wonder whether that would perhaps make men (expecting more) think that I was offering more if you see what I mean. So up to now I have just been using my home phone number and haven't as yet had any bad phone calls. I am planning though on including my home and mobile number on future leaflets.

Like jdholistic said there are genuine men out there - my most long term, regular client is a man and he is a fab guy - but I think I would be concerned if all my calls were from men. Don't do anything that you don't feel comfortable with and maybe try some of the other suggestions?? Good luck.

 

[Twfvrbagtd]

At the risk of repeating what was discussed on the earlier thread [link=http://www.healthypages.net/forum/tm.asp?m=255093]Attracting new clients[/link], I think that advertising in newspapers is unlikely to be a worthwhile way of attracting genuine clients (of either sex). My impression is that most women who advertise ‘massage’ in local newspapers are actually offering sexual services. And most potential clients (of either sex) who want a genuine massage are unlikely to look in the local newspapers for a therapist: they are more likely to rely on ‘word of mouth’, or look for massage in reputable environments such as hotel spas (if they’re rich enough !); physiotherapy clinics, or (for women) beauty salons.
Obviously it takes time to build up a client base by ‘word of mouth’, but there are quite a lot of qualified therapists around, and a new therapist will have to accept that building a client base takes time. To attract a predominantly female client base, I would suggest trying to make contact with female-only groups whose members might have a need for massage (eg a women-only running group; a women-only yoga class, etc.) Personally I have quite a few clients from a women-only running group, but this was basically through ‘word of mouth’ rather than through advertising.

Alan

 

[xxcutekittyxx]

Hi Pam,

I have been a therapist for a couple of years and have mainly built my business up through word of mouth, leaflet drops and friends. I have treated men but these have been by recommendation, I work in a sports centre and always tell reception I have a male client. But mainly I have women. I must admit I prefer to treat women and from experience I would not advertise in the health and Beauty column in a local paper as it does attract the wrong sort of clients. I had a job for 1 day in a salon that had advertised in the paper and as I said I only worked there 1 day! Too many blokes calling for extra's even had one ran off after I went through his client consultation, he realised I was a proffesional, it made me feel horrible and I have decided now I will stick to treating people I know or men who have been recomended. Im just thinking of my safety.

Good luck with the advertising and hope you get lots of nice clients

B x