What Would You Do with $3000.00?

[morbidlybeautiful]

So here's the deal.

I'm a brand new massage therapist struggling to get my business off the ground. Yesterday I received an unexpected $3000.00 check in the mail from a family member who wanted to support me in my endeavor. Needless to say I almost passed out in the driveway and scared my husband half to death.

I don't want to spend it all. In fact my first instinct is to hoard it for a rainy day! However, it's already pretty rainy. I was lucky to make office rent last month. So, I know I should use at least some of it for marketing. I need clients!

I have run an ad in my local paper (all text, in the free section since I'm doing a benefit next week). Two people have come to see me at my chair massage gig because of it. Made a whopping $10.00. Eh, so-so I guess.

I am sponsoring a local game show and so get a little 15-second blurb on TV with my little graphic ad in the background. That ran tonight for the first time (I think. I missed watching it because a friend of mine was on "Who Wants to be a Millionaire" which ran at the same time tonight and I wasn't going to miss that!). We'll see if I get any calls from that.

I pass out business cards and the occasional flier at my weekly chair massage gig.

That is about the extent of my marketing.

So, my question is, do I invest in a full-page, full-color ad in the paper? Spend it on education so I can talk myself up more? Print fliers, do mailings, or what?

I'd love some advice about now.

Emily

 

[maggiebridget09]

Pay per click? Are there any local web companies like City Search?

I say a big NO to the full page advertising, unless you're the only game in town, and if you can get it there before the Xmas buying is over.

If you want to get more chair massage, you might consider a nice presentation folder/packet of advertising.

Chamber of Commerce or business network? (If you could do the meetings.)

Um, I can't find your site on Google Local. Haven't checked yahoo local. Have you submitted directly to both of them?

Logo shirts for your chair massage gigs. Passive advertising works.

Just a few off the top of my head.


OOOh yeah, and education. If you have an area where you lack confidence, or want to be a "specialist," go for that.

 

[Pompal 09.]

What Would You Do with $3000.00?

So, my question is, do I invest in a full-page, full-color ad in the paper? Spend it on education so I can talk myself up more? Print fliers, do mailings, or what?

I'd love some advice about now.

Emily

Full page full color in paper -- NO.

Education. -- NO. Not right now.

Fliers, mailings -- possibly.

However, if you can get a little out of debt (if you are in it), I'd use some of it to pay off a debt balance if possible. (I think this is really important.)

Then what you have left, I'd consider putting it into blankets, sheets, face cradle covers and 2 gallons of lotion. (This is because it gets very draining only working with 6 sets of sheets once you get busy. You have the opportunity to do it now, and you'll be really happy you did once you get busy in the office. And trust me, having too many sheets can't come too quickly -- I learned that the hard way! -- minimum 12 sets)

Next I'd finish up the web presence. I think you have already done that though.

Then, if you can use a company to target your flyers instead of just mailing them off to everyone and their dog, I think you'll get more bang for your buck.

One other thing that would be a good investment, I think, would be to pay your phone bill about 6 months in advance, then if it gets really lean, you still have a way for people to contact you.

That's my two cents. It may not be in line with anyone elses, but I think it makes sense.

 

[Tango & Amber]

No and no to the newspaper ad and/or TV ad. In order for the ads to be effective you have to run them over and over. One time ads did not work for me. I don't think I even made my money back.

I would pay off the debt a little bit, pay rent or phone in advance like previous posters suggested.

I would also join a networking group with this money. BNI worked beautifully for me. But invest wisely, go to different groups and make sure that you "click" with the other people in the group. BNI lets you visit every group twice for free. Yes, you have to go every week but it's worth it. I like to tell other people this story. 2 years ago, I walked out of a BNI meeting with $800 in my pocket. Yes, that's $800 in 1 1/2 hour. People were buying gift certificates. So it more than paid for my membership.

One other thing - I buy my own insurance and I have a health savings account so I would probably max it out if I got $3,000.

 

[Platinum Knight]

Well to answer your specific question, *I* would pay off some debt, to free up cash flow. You may not be in that situation.

I would also invest in an small ongoing ad in a particular local pub I have my eye on.

But I've arrived at looking at this course of action after two years of trial and error experimenting with a nearly non-existent marketing budget. I've been very resistant to spending much money on marketing, and while I'm looking at beginning to change that some, I'm glad I made my mistakes for free (or cheap).

The thing I've learned is that everyone's situation is unique, and the marketing that works for one person in one area may not work for a different person in a different area.

So perhaps in your situation I might want to use that money as a cushion to allow me to experiment with cheap/free marketing so that I could learn about my area and how to position myself within it. Perhaps also spending some of it on regular coaching. I imagine you are still in the very early seforum.xxxes of a learning process.

 

[Lith]

Great advice all around. I would pay off debt or pay my phone bill in advance as was suggested. And buy up tons of business cards. The best marketing for me was walking into businesses downtown with about 15 cards per business (in case they throw them away when you leave lol)...I introduced myself to the front office, and asked if they would mind if I left a few cards on their counter. Also, when eating lunch, go to different places in town and as you are leaving, introduce yourself to a few of the diners around you, handing them a card. Trust your instincts on who you feel will be receptive to this and the more confident you are , the more receptive they will be. It's a very good way to market without the big cost. And it works...at least it does in this area.

 

[the man 505]

Remember press releases are your friend -

I found newspaper ADS extremely uneffective - not worth the money AT ALL.
The one newspaper article I had run brought me four new clients.
The most effective advertising campaign was when I did a teacher back-to-school special with free 10 minute foot and hand salt scrub with the purchase of a massage. I printed them on my computer and took them to the school - that was my busiest week since opening the new shop 5 months ago.

At this point - if I had $3000 to spend on my business I would probably go hog wild with the CEU's. But that's just me.

You should pay up on some business stuff for sure. Paying debt will be an automatic 18% return on your investment (average credit card rates are 18% now!!!) which is a great return. Not including compounding interest over several months you would be paying otherwise. :-D

What is your current marketing strategy?

Angela

 

[Kirjava]

My advice is based on living in a small town myself, and what worked for me:

1. Get some brochures printed & put them on display in the health food stores. They get a lot more visibility than business cards.

2. I know someone who lives in your town, and they said that everyone uses raysweather.com as their home page. That website has inexpensive text-box advertising, with rates low enough, you can do it for a full year easily, and still have most of the $3000 left over to spend elsewhere. This sounds like great visibility, as well as a chance to direct people to your beautiful website.

3. In small towns, advertising in the local free community newspaper can be very effective. But you don't need a full-page ad. Instead, you need a cumulative ad, and it doesn't need to be very big. 1/8 page ad is also called a business card-sized ad. Run it weekly or every-other-week for a full year, with your business logo, contact information, and a simple slogan. Keep the ad the same every week, for best effect.

I agree with the others who say it's too soon to invest in more education. Right now, hands-on experience is what will serve you best (both for improving skills & building clientele.)

What a wonderful gift! Good luck!

 

[BAMF]

Can you pre-pay your rent for a few months? That would be something you don't have to worry about for a while!

 

[golly_gina]

WOW! Thanks, everyone. I'm so glad I asked. Lots of suggestions I wouldn't have thought of.

I'm looking into joining the Chamber of Commerce, but I'm just not sure at this point. $209.00 is a little more than a month's rent for me right now, and I'd have to pay it again next year! But I'm certainly considering it.

I just went in and submitted my info to Google and Yahoo Local. And I made a logo shirt for my chair massage gig. I've gotten compliments, but no clients from it so far.

You're right about linens. Mine need an upgrade. They're not shabby, but they're the same ones I used as a student and they're starting to show their age a little. Thank goodness for dim lighting in massage rooms. . Website... well... Let's just say I'm still not completely happy with it and leave it at that. But it's functioning, and pretty nice so I'll take it for now.

I was reluctant to do the TV ad for sure, but my husband is the sound man for this little local game show - http://www.scrambledsquares.biz and the man in charge gave me a nice deal (aka BIG DISCOUNT!). I donate a prize and pay him a monthly fee. He gives my ad 15 seconds of air time per show, lists me in the credits and on the web site, and does a little blurb when someone chooses the number with my prize behind it. The show is taped once a week, and is re-run every day the next week on our local TV station. Tomorrow night, I'll be doing seated massage on camera in the background during the game show, and Buzz will ask me questions and such from time to time. YIKES!!

I will call and order business cards on Friday. That's a great idea. I'm still printing them at home. And guess what? I'm shopping this weekend! Great time to hand out those business cards!

Blisss, Ray's weather is something I've been considering for some time. This time of year he gets TONS of hits due to snow storms and such. I might really have to do that! I just emailed them to find out their rates.

Thanks again, everyone, for your suggestions. While I was working on them, I got a call from a client who received my postcard in the mail. Yay! He's booked for Sunday, right after 2 other clients! YAY! More (table) clients in a day than I've had in the past 3 weeks! Even though they're all using promotions and getting about 50% off, I'm still thrilled!

As for marketing strategy, it was pounded into me in massage school that you should not pay for marketing. You should rely on word of mouth. Well, word of mouth wasn't cutting it for me, even with doing a weekly chair massage gig at the local health food store. I don't have that much patience! My day job is rapidly failing (they fired my boss last night, out of the blue), and if it fails, I'd like to be able to rely on my massage business.

You guys rock!

Emily

 

[Rorschach]

As for marketing strategy, it was pounded into me in massage school that you should not pay for marketing. You should rely on word of mouth. Well, word of mouth wasn't cutting it for me, even with doing a weekly chair massage gig at the local health food store. I don't have that much patience!

A sad truth is that many massage schools aren't willing to pay their instructors very well, & therefore successful massage therapists won't take the job. Instead, the schools end up hiring MT's who aren't successful at massage (and therefore have the time & need the money) to teach. Sadly, these aren't the best people to listen to for business advice.

I'm not saying this is always true. There are quality schools out there, and some successful MT's love to teach enough that they are willing to do it for pennies. However, I remember your posts from your student days, and I'm thinking the first scenario was probably true for your school. I'm glad you posted here, for a wider range of advice.

The TV show sounds like an amazing opportunity for you. Keep us posted on how that goes!

 

[Dogshowfreak]

How about spending some money on signage?

 

[joanne342]

Linens: while you should have nice linens, I firmly believe (if you do your own laundry at home, big caveat, I know) you should not have more linens than the number of massages you are willing to do a day. You can do several loads of laundry during the evening at home. I do.

Especially if you don't have extra cash for extra linens. My max per day is 6 hours. Which usually turns out into 5 massages (one or more is a 90 min massage) so that's how many sheets I have. If you buy 100% cotton and wash well, they will last a long time. Yes, if you are doing 5 massages a day EVERY DAY, they won't last so long. But I think where you're at 5 will last you at least a year, probably much more. If someone else is doing your laundry, or if you are going to a laundry mat, you may need at least 2 or 3 times as much.

MY next big suggestion is BULLETIN BOARDS. You can post flyers, or what I do is print Rack Cards on heavy stock paper. I staple a little paper pocket on the bottom and I put a whole bunch of my cards in there, with a sweet little sign with a smiley face that says "Please take one." On the top part of the rack card I put the essentials: my services and prices, some statement about me, or my mission, or summary about my style. I got several clients from leaving those at the post office (small town) and I got most of my clients from REFERRALS from those clients.

My two main pieces of advice: Do free advertising. Research on how to make your website "Optimized." (that's included in free advertising) and number two is: BE totally present for every client. Each client may refer you if they like you. Really focus on doing the best work you can. Which you can already do. Mostly, CEUS will help your skills, but not your presence, which is what is most important.

You can even say to your clients "I'm trying to build my practice. Here are some cards, if you feel inspired, please give them to people who you feel could use my work."

If people like your work, they will be more than happy to keep you in business. It's in their own best interest.

Good luck and please update us!

Edit to add: Oh yeah! What to do with that $3000!? Save it for a "rainy" day. Maybe you will get a client who is large/pregnant and a Cushion would be a good investment. Maybe you will get a woman client with a bunch of friends who wants body wraps or other "product intensive" treaments. Then spend it on product. Pay your bills so you can sustain with the few clients you have. I really believe that praying/affirmations/creative visualization (whatever you want to call it!) works. So do that in the meantime. Ask for what you want. You will get it.

I have bought expensive large ads in local papers (not just newspapers, but also free papers, and other papers) and got NO response. Word of mouth IS the best. But first you have to the find the client with the best mouth who also loves your work. haha.

Oh, and use hot towels on their feet EVERY TIME. It is a great seller.

 

[windy gurl]

Congratulations on your expanding business! Your website looks great and you are obviously doing all sorts of things to let people know about your work.

Way back when, I learned (somewhere) that a client has to see your advertising at least 3 times for it to stick. It helps if they see it 3 different ways. So...

1. Make sure your clients always have a few business cards of yours to hand out, and MORE IMPORTANTLY, remind them! Every few months ask all your clients if they need a few more cards. If they haven't given the first ones out, this will remind them. If they have given them out, give them more.

2. Nice brochures are not all that expensive. Trade a massage or two for someone to design them for you, or use part of the gift you were given. I use brochures that are 1/3 of an 8.5 by 11, professionally printed. Properly designed they can really grab attention. I particularly like your logo, very distinctive!

3. Learn to talk to people. If you find this uncomfortable, this is an opportunity to be trained in this all important life skill. If the idea of a class of this kind terrifies you, then just force yourself to practice. Start off small, just saying good morning to every stranger you pass. Smile. Move on. Baby steps.

Most people like to talk about themselves. If you find someone who has the time to chat, engage them. Ask them a few general questions about themselves and really listen to their answer. Their answer will lead you to a next logical question if you are interested in continuing the conversation. Eventually you'll find someone who will reciprocate and ask you about yourself.

4. Have an elevator speech. Work on expressing briefly and concisely what you do in a way that conveys your passion. Sit down and spend some time on this. Write it out.

I agree that word of mouth is your best advertising. The best part about it is that the "mouth" can belong to your clients or to you! I also agree that newspaper and radio generally are not the best ways to advertise unless you are financially prepared to run the ad very repetitively for an extended period of time. A small ad in the Sunday paper 3 weeks in a row will do nothing but waste your resources.

5. Value your work! I see by your website that you charge $55 per hour for a Swedish massage and that you are currently promoting new clients with $25 off. This will bring you clients who want $30 massages. Getting them to come back and pay $55 will not be easy. I am a HUGE fan of promoting by adding value rather than discounting. So... add extra time to the massage for free, or add a small service to the massage, like free aromatherapy. A large discount such as the one you are promoting tells the client you that today you are willing to do a massage for $30, and it will stick in their heads that your massage is worth $30, so why should they pay $55 tomorrow?

6. Advertising gets them IN the door, your abilities must bring them back. In addition to giving them the best massage in you, each and every time, do something to make your style distinctive. Hot towels, a choice of aromatherapies, foot wipes before and after massage, loads of ideas here on this board. Give them something to talk about in addition to what a great massage you gave them.

These suggestions will obviously work for anyone, with or without $3,000.

I'm off to do laundry and get some food in my house. Gotta remember to fuel the body! Hope you found this helpful.

Sally
Barefoot in Cozumel

 

[MsFruhauf]

Linens: while you should have nice linens, I firmly believe (if you do your own laundry at home, big caveat, I know) you should not have more linens than the number of massages you are willing to do a day. You can do several loads of laundry during the evening at home. I do.

I do my laundry at home, but I'm lucky to get in 2 loads per night. It depends on when you get off work, how early you go to bed, and how thick your sheets are. I use flannel, so I can only do one set per load. For that reason, like Pueppi, I need 12 sets of sheets.

You can even say to your clients "I'm trying to build my practice. Here are some cards, if you feel inspired, please give them to people who you feel could use my work." If people like your work, they will be more than happy to keep you in business. It's in their own best interest.

This is great advice, and I love your wording! Simple, sincere & eloquent.

 

[LoveSong]

... or what I do is print Rack Cards on heavy stock paper. I staple a little paper pocket on the bottom and I put a whole bunch of my cards in there, with a sweet little sign with a smiley face that says "Please take one." On the top part of the rack card I put the essentials: my services and prices, some statement about me, or my mission, or summary about my style.

I am clueless as to what a rack card is, even though you have described it.

Do you by chance have a picture/pictures, or can you break it down a bit more for me?

This does sound like an interesting concept.

 

[KeithOtron]

Pueppi,

Rack cards are the colorful card stock cards the size of a long envelope which are often placed in hotel lobbies, restaurant entrances, etc...

I usually associate them with the tourist industry as a lot of touristy type business use them to attract tourists.

 

[Go Yankees!]

What would I do with such a windfall?

I'd stick it in the bank while taking at least a month to decide what to do with it, and spend the first 10 bucks on a REALLY nice thank-you card... :

 

[Ramon]

I've been thinking about this for days! I think I would put a good portion of it towards paying off the student loan, but because it was a gift to help launch the business, the other good chunk really should be spent on helping to launch the business! I would be pretty conservative with spending on advertising, still. Definitely have brochures and business cards printed. Nice letterhead is very good to have, to. I think I would put a lot in the bank as a back up for keeping rent and utilities paid, but in an interest bearing account, rather than paying ahead. It would be nice to have it paid, but why let someone else earn the interest? It's not much.....but it will buy some candles at the end of a year, if you manage to not need much of it. It's there for a rainy day, and it is there if you find you need equipment or a great opportunity for advertising (or a CEU) comes up.

The tv show sounds like a great opportunity!! I want to hear how that goes!

 

[Olive Crayon]

Pre-paying rent - DON"T EVEN THINK ABOUT THIS

Once you give the landlord the money, you can't get it back. THis is a major cash flow mistake. If you pay off a CC, you can always run the tab back up if you need to - that is cash flow neutral.

If you always have the threat of rent hanging over your head, you just might work harder.

I would save two months rent (interest on debt is a business expense, so you get a tax benefit, making the effective interest rate 1-Your Tax Rate) and put the rest toward promotion.

Brochures or rack cards (http://www.printingforless.com has the best rates we have found).