Social Networking

Using Pinterest to market your massage practice

Kelli Wise · Jun 4, 2012 ·

During a recent #massagechat, we were talking about using social media (Facebook, Twitter, etc) to market our massage therapy practices and someone brought up the topic of using Pinterest. Now, I’ll admit that I have a Pinterest page, but I haven’t pinned anything yet and I’m not exactly sure how to use it to promote my business.

One of the participants, Sonia Hazard, is using Pinterest. She shared a link to her page, so I immediately surfed over there to take a look. Boy, was I impressed! So impressed, that I contacted her and asked if she would write a blog post about how she uses Pinterest. She was kind enough to agree.

So we have a guest post by Sonia Hazard, who you’ll find on Twitter as @NiaMassage.

Do I really need Pinterest?

So you want to start a Pinterest Board, but you don’t know what or better yet HOW to pin? The bigger question is – “Why should I even start a Pinterest Board for my business?!”

Well, first of all, it’s the new way people spend a lot of their time. Many people are on Facebook, but people are SPENDING their time on Pinterest. 87% of women and 13% of men median age 25-54 (with median incomes of $50 -79,000 per year) spend their time there. Many Social Media experts will tell you that you should ‘be’ where your Target Market is. Now, if your Target Market isn’t even online, then this post isn’t for you. (But isn’t a portion of all our Target Markets online, these days?)

Second: It can drive traffic and eyes to your own website. You can link your blog, your services, and add your presence on your boards. Show what you do at work – pictures and video can be added to your board. If a picture is worth a thousand words, how much would a video be worth to your potential client? You can also add a “Pin It” Button to your website, and others can pin your site to their page.

(It’s OK to toot your horn, but if others do it, then even better!)

If someone likes what they see, they can ‘Like’ it, or better yet, they may re-pin it to their own board, sharing YOUR site with their friends.

If you have an Etsy site, pin your products on the ‘Products You Love’ board, and if someone is interested, they can go right to your page, and buy it.

Does it have to be just your content? No, you can always re-pin posts that you see, but please do not take other’s content as your own work. I re-pin lots of posts that I see, but I don’t re-pin everything. That’s what the ‘Like’ button is for!

Third: I get a little inspiration from what’s being posted on the boards. You can check out what other Massage Therapists are doing, gain inspiration from countless posts from Architecture to Wedding & Events, or even create a Vision Board for all your goals that you have for you and your business. It always helps to get inspiration, when and wherever you can get it!

Finally, it is a great way to share your brand as more than just a Massage Therapist or Bodyworker. You can share your favorite tips, relaxing vistas, healthy recipes, positive quotes – the possibilities are endless. Just remember – this is a reflection of the business, so be aware what you pin to your boards!

This barely scratches the surface of what goes on in Pinterest. Look into the website to see if it is a good fit for you, but if you want to join, you have to either request an invite, or ask one of your friends for an invite. (I’m sure that some of your friends are already there!) They’ll be happy to share some of the madness.

Personally, it’s a lot of great fun for me, and it’s a great way to share my business with more people.

I encourage you to check out Sonia’s Pinterest page. Let us know what you think and if you have any questions.

Sonia Hazard, LMT, NCMT is a Positive Attitude Adjuster, otherwise known as a Licensed Massage Therapist. Working in several settings for the past 10 years helped her hone and create the company that she’s created in January, 2011, NiaMassage, LLC. ‘Nia’ is Swahili for ‘Purpose’, one of the seven principles of Kwanzaa.

Her Pinterest page is filled with her love of massage, self-care, as well as all kinds of cool things!

Reaching out when you’re an introvert

Kelli Wise · Jul 11, 2011 ·

I’ve mentioned before that I’m an introvert. Based on my informal polling, I’m betting that you are an introvert, too. It seems to be pretty common amongst the massage therapy crowd and it’s not a bad personality trait given that our jobs are somewhat isolated and silent.

Introversion has it’s downsides in business

For me, I’m very comfortable with a large audience. I can get on a stage in front of 500 people and keep them entertained and informed for an hour. Easy peasy. But put me in a small group or one to one? Not so much. I get very shy. I’m not comfortable emailing strangers or walking up to someone I don’t know and introducing myself. I’m getting better at the latter, but still, emailing someone I don’t know? It’s like cold calling, to me.

Internet Friends

I started this blog in May of 2010. A month later, Allissa Haines started Writing a Blue Streak. I found her blog, included one of her posts in my weekly wrap-up. This link sent a “Ping Back” to Allissa, who read my blog. Back and forth we went, reading one another’s posts. I thought she was funny and smart and I enjoyed her writing. I said so.

But I never sent Allissa a private email. Why? Because sending an unsolicited email feels like cold calling and I HATE cold calling. So, I just sat back and kept reading.

If Allissa Haines hadn’t emailed me after I linked to one of her blog articles, I would never have contacted her on my own. Since then, we’ve watched one another’s blogs grow up. It’s felt a bit like two mothers at the playground watching their kids play and exchanging stories about how to get spaghetti sauce out of the carpet or which toys get the most use, provided encouragement when it gets overwhelming, and had a few laughs.

Why am I writing this?

Well, I don’t want you to think that I’m snubbing you if I haven’t added you as a friend on Facebook. I don’t want to be a pest and I don’t want to invade your space. But, if you reach out to me, I’ll accept your friend invitation. On Twitter, I automatically follow everyone who isn’t a spammy business or a hot chick with 10,000 followers and no tweets (linkbait, anyone?). Send me an email, there’s a contact form for that. (I found that my spam filters were catching the occasional email from people, so I set up the contact form).

Reach out to someone else

This buddy system is great. We all need someone to talk to and having a fellow therapist who isn’t in your market is a great way to exchange marketing ideas. You’re not competing for the same business, so you don’t have to worry about whether to share that great idea or complain about a local business owner.

But it has to start with one person taking the risk and sticking out their hand to say hello.

Your task for this week:

I want each of you that doesn’t currently have an internet buddy to reach out to someone. It doesn’t have to be one of the more famous people in the industry. In fact, it would be better if it were just one of the other therapists you know from Facebook who sounds like their practice is similar to yours. This isn’t a search for a new bff, I just want you to send a short email or message to them that says “Hi there. My name is ……., and I just wanted to say hello/what a great comment you made on that thread/I love your website” or something along those lines.

I know this will be very hard for some of us, including me, to do. I still think it will be worth the discomfort. After you’ve done this, leave me a comment and let me know how it felt to send that email. Were your hands shaking? Was it easy? Was it worth it?

Finding Support in a Solo Profession

Kelli Wise · Jan 27, 2011 ·

Massage is a solitary profession. Most of you work alone and many of you are solo practitioners. This gives you freedom and flexibility but can leave you feeling lost and lonely at times. What if there was a way to fix the loneliness without giving up your autonomy?

Massage Networking Groups

What if you could spend an hour with other massage therapists talking shop? A time where you could talk about the local market, problems you’re having, good resources to fill a need?

You can by starting your own massage therapy networking group. My friend Shari Aldrich did this a couple of months ago. The meetings are open to anyone and there is no charge. She usually hosts it in the late morning so that attendees can bring a sack lunch and be done for afternoon clients.

She usually has a main topic of discussion, but the conversations do meander a bit. If you find that you need a CPA, someone in the room is going to have a suggestion, or 2. Impacted by changes to zoning or licensing laws? So is everyone else. Why not discuss possible solutions and work arounds?

Share ideas

I can’t act on every product or service idea I get in a week, let alone a month. Why not share them with someone who could? In our last meeting, we discussed ways of diversifying our income and helped brainstorm ideas for one another. One of the MTs in the group used to work in a local lumber mill and has a lot of millworkers as clients. She knows the work environment, the physical requirements and likely injuries of the job. She now has an idea for a service product that will help the mill owners reduce their injury rate, reduce pain and suffering amongst the millworkers, and help increase her income.

That was one example. Everyone in the room came away with at least one new idea. That’s a lot of new revenue streams and positive impact on the community and profession for just one hour.

How to get started

The best way to get started is decide on a time and a place for the first meeting, at least 4 weeks in advance. Announce it on Facebook and invite all of your local MT friends.

Don’t worry about how many people show up for the first year. The initial meeting size will swing wildly from 25 to 2, but as word gets out, attendance will become more predictable.

Your turn

I’d love to see all of you reach out and start a networking group in your area. Here’s your first topic, if you need it: Getting clients to re-book. Let us all know if there is a networking group in your area already or if you’d like to start one. Maybe we can help you make connections and increase attendance.