Isn't Once Enough?

Imagine.....

You have a new neighbor. They invite you over for a cook-out. They ask if there's anything you won't/can't eat. You don't want to be a bother so you don't mention how much you hate tomatoes.

You arrive for the cook-out. You see that there's a large platter of lovely fresh-from-the garden....sliced tomatoes. Clearly, they are your neighbor's pride and joy and they can't wait to see the look of delight on your face when you taste one. Do you say anything?

Imagine.....

You need a shed. Your cousin is a carpenter, you aren't. He offers to build your shed. You're watching him work and you're not sure he's laying down the foundation correctly or to the specs you gave him. But, again, he's a carpenter and you aren't. Do you say anything?

Imagine.....

You've got a 4-week old baby at home. You're exhausted. Your mother-in-law comes over to help. She offers to feed and bathe the baby while you get a desperately needed nap. You notice she's not bathing the baby the way you like it done, though it's not technically "wrong". You are soooooo tired. Do you say anything?

Imagine......

You've been having problems with your low back for a long time and have finally gone to see a physical therapist. You're a little embarrassed about your weight and general fitness level. You fear the PT is going to blame all your back pain on your weight and exercise routine.

The PT has you do a set of exercises. Some of them are difficult for you and kind of painful. But you sure don't want to seem like a whiner or a weakling. Do you say anything?

Imagine......

You've had a long hard month. Your shoulders are one big knot. You're also emotionally drained -- you learned your baby brother has testicular cancer. Your whole family is in shock. They expect you to take the lead on finding out what kind of help he needs and getting them all scheduled to provide that help (because you're good at that sort of thing). You need your shoulders un-knotted but you also desperately need a quiet space where you can let go of your worries and anxiety and responsibilities.

You're trying a new massage therapist. As he begins, he mentions that you should let him know if it hurts. He starts working on your back and -- holy cow! -- does it hurt! But he's the professional and you're not. Those shoulders probably need to be worked that hard to get them un-knotted, right? Plus, you really just want to let go and let someone else be in charge for an hour. Do you say anything?


There are a host of situations in life where we are invited to speak up when we don't like something. And there are a host of situations where we don't speak up. Maybe because we don't want to be inhospitable, or challenge a professional, or question someone's competency. Or maybe we perceive speaking up as "conflict" and we hate conflict. Or maybe we're shy. Heck, maybe we're just tired.

All of those things happen on our massage tables too. Yet we blithely expect the client to chime in if something doesn't feel good. After all, we uttered the magic sentence "please let me know if anything hurts".

I think we're naïve to expect that to work. We are not taking into consideration all the forces that keep people from speaking up. When they don't speak up, it doesn't mean they have a "problem" it just means they are like a lot of people, cautious to speak up and risk insulting or angering someone.

YET we can't always tell how our work feels in their body. We really do need their feedback. What are we supposed to do??

I think the key is not relying on the One Sentence.

I think our intakes need to be more like a conversation, not simply a quick set of rote questions.

I think we need to talk about what we mean by "pain" (and, please, no more 'on a scale of 1-10').

I think we need to work to establish the kind of rapport that helps them hear us when we say we need them.

I think we need to pay attention to the little signs of distress, like clinched hands or fluttering toes, rather than just focusing on that locked up trapezius.

I think we need to be the ones on the table with a stranger more often! We need to re-experience what that's like.

I think we need to ask how our work feels on the inside, not just say "does that hurt?" or "is that too much?"

 How do we do that? I'll answer that question in tomorrow's blog.

Doesn't Anybody Stay Around Any More?

Got a new client yesterday. He explained that he was in the market for an MT because his old MT had moved out of the area. He said he understood that happens a lot. We're so transient. After all, we have to follow our boyfriends/partners wherever they need to go for their career.

Ahem.

My feminist hackles rose and I was about to say something ... until I remembered that I closed my practice from 2010 - 2011 so my husband and I could live in Australia for a year, compliments of his job.

Ahem.

We are a transient bunch, aren't we? The "mobility" of our profession can be part of the draw. After all, we "can work anywhere".

Another aspect of this is that some MTs panic if a setting (gym, spa, group practice, etc.) isn't keeping their schedule full. We jump to another setting where it looks like we'll have a fuller schedule.

Here's some little factoids about our transient nature, based on my experience in (ahem) a lot of different settings in the last 13 years.

You lose clients every time you move. At least one, if not more. Maybe the new location isn't as convenient. Maybe they don't do change well. Maybe they were weren't all that attached to you and this is a chance to step away or try someone new. A new location has to bring new clients into your practice or you'll have a net loss of work.

You may need to re-apply for a license. Sure, you can "work anywhere" but lots of states do not simply let you transfer in from another state. You may need to go back to school if the new state has different educational requirements. You may need to get a NCBTMB certification again. You may have to take a certification exam again. No two states have the same regs.

You may have to start all over from scratch. If you shut your practice down for more than about 6 months, even if you've been in practice for years and years, clients won't wait forever. Particularly if you've done a really good job of making massage therapy an important part of their lives! (Ironic, isn't it?)

You will have to start all over from scratch. If you move to a completely new city/state/country, you've got to start all over from zero. It takes 2-5 years to build a sustaining private practice.

It can take up to six months to be fully integrated into an existing practice. If a new setting doesn't have a full schedule for you in the first month, don't be surprised.  It takes a while for clients to get a chance to work with you, especially if they were very devoted to someone else who left. Lots of people don't do change well. Patience, grasshopper, patience.

Even as an independent contractor you need to market yourself. If want your schedule to be more full get busy with your own marketing. Got your own business card? How about a website? Listed on "find a therapist" sites like AMTA and ABMP maintain? How about Yelp? Do you volunteer (strategically) in your community? Have you spent time figuring out the kind of client you'd like to attract? The price of your independence (as a contractor) is that you have some of the responsibility for attracting your own clients!

Yes, I get the irony of a website called "Have Hands, Will Travel" warning you about the challenges of pulling up stakes (even locally). In this case, it just means I really know what I'm talking about!

Do Business Owners Take Vacations?

If you're a business owner, do you take vacations?

Yes and no.

I'm in Key West this week (and, yes, it's as lovely as you think it is!). It's a much needed vacation after 3 months of surgery recovery, Mom-relocation, and frenzied class preparation (which I taught last weekend in Orlando and it went great!). I need this vacation.

But I'm also online daily checking to see if anyone wants to schedule a massage next week (really need to get that online scheduling set up!).

I also started accepting credit cards last week so I've been checking my bank account daily to see how long it really takes the payments to get in there, when the fees show up, what they are, etc. Last Thursday's payments hadn't shown up and they should have.

So I spent about 30 minutes working with Intuit to figure out what was wrong. They were very helpful and we figured out, um, it was my fault. I'd run those two transactions incorrectly.

Then it was on to email to contact both clients. Would they let me call them and run the transactions again online? They graciously said yes so I also made two phone calls this morning to (successfully) re-run those transactions.

I've also had a chance to swim laps (yes, that's me swimming laps in the hotel pool) and we're about to get on a tour bus and we plan to see Hemingway's house this afternoon.

So, yes, I'm on vacation (and enjoying it). But, no, I don't ever leave my business entirely behind.

But Is It Juicy?

While I was in Australia, I met a fascinating woman, Ingrid Arna. She helps people "lose weight, attract love, create miracles and get deliciously happy". As you can imagine, she is a lively enthusiastic woman.

She posted something on her FB page last year that really struck me; so much so that I printed it out and taped it to my desk:

Practice doing less, focusing on what you want and choosing relationships and business partnership that are joyous, easy, rich, electric and love based = pure affluence and juicy energy that creates miracles, that builds fortunes and most importantly makes us feel incredibly alive, supported and healthy.

The idea of "juicy" energy intrigues me. The idea that business partnerships should be "joyous, easy, rich, electric and love based" gives me a thrill. When was the last time you heard that kind of business advice?

At my annual business retreat in January, I decided I wanted to raise the visibility of my home-based practice, focusing on people within 4 miles of my home. One of the ways I've chosen to do that is to volunteer with organizations I like, providing seated massage to help them with their fundraising.

I made a list of organizations and have, over the last 3 months, settled on two of them. Why those two? Because they feel "juicy". They are "joyous, easy, rich, electric, and love based".

They don't necessarily expose me to the greatest number of people but they put in settings where I enjoy the work and believe in the mission. I do my best massage when I'm happy and inspired. Happy inspired massage is what we all want to receive. These people are seeing me at my best, which is the right way to market my practice.

This past Saturday I did seated massage for the DC Rollergirls, the local women's flat-track roller derby. They are actively raising money to rent their own warehouse space in which to practice.

The event was loud, over-stimulating, and a bit overwhelming. I raised $100 for their warehouse fund and I loved it! Love the crowd, love the enthusiasm, love the racing. It was simply fun (even though this introvert had to spend the rest of the evening gazing numbly at the TV to recover).

I met some great people. Not many people knew I was going to be there but lots of people noticed me. I suspect the next time I go I'll get even more people on the chair. Handed out some business cards (I'm only 6 blocks away). I can't wait to go back.

Because it was juicy and that feels like the right way and the right place to be.

Be bold. Don't just look for business partnerships that are potentially profitable. Look for partnerships that make you feel alive, excited, and (yes) juicy.

Wrong Place, Wrong Time

I spent Sunday afternoon at the Pathways Expo in Rockville. Pathways is a monthly local magazine of all things alternative, including massage therapy. They host a very popular bi-annual expo.

I was there with my friend Kitty Southworth. In addition to being a full-time massage therapist and co-owner of our training company, The Healing Core, she is also the US representative for Life Essences (and yes, I wonder when she sleeps sometimes myself). Life Essences is an Australian company started by our friend, Ben Risby-Jones. It carries products “designed to awaken awareness and invite change in your life and your spirit.” 

Kitty's had a booth at the Pathways Expo for several years now. She also had a booth a few times at the AMTA national convention. The thing is, the Life Essences are an unusual product not easily explained. It makes it difficult to sell to the person wandering by in a large expo/marketplace environment. People aren't looking for it, have never heard of it, and are in a “wander and see what's here” frame of mind.

Yesterday was no exception. We didn't even break even in sales. She did add about 20 people to her mailing list – always a valuable thing – and got people interested in hearing Ben speak when he's here in DC in October. But, financially, not a great day.

We'll be sitting down next week to talk about Life Essences, the Pathway Expo, and where she wants to go in the next year or two. One of the things I want to talk about is whether it makes sense to continue to rent a booth at the Expo.

It's a lively vibrant energy-rich environment (all the woo-woo you can imagine and then some!) but I'm not sure it's the right place to sell this product. It's a product that sells better one-on-one, when we already have a connection or relationship with someone.

We think everyone can benefit from the Life Essences. It turns out, though, that our belief and enthusiasm isn't enough. The consumers of the world have recognize that it can solve a problem for them and decide that they need it.

Massage therapy is like that. I've had more than one student answer the question “who is your target market” with “I'll massage anyone!” or “Everyone can benefit from massage!”. While technically true, it's not a helpful answer.

The truth is, we need to market massage to people who also know they need it, who also recognize that it can solve a problem for them. It doesn't matter if we believe in the gift of massage therapy with all our heart, mind, and soul. If the individual consumer doesn't see the value of it for themselves, they are not going to purchase it.

Part of our marketing can (and should) help educate the marketplace about how massage can be beneficial. But we can't talk people into getting a massage if it's not something they've identified as valuable. We can't make people see its value. You'll make yourself crazy trying to. You can only show them that it could be valuable to them. They get to decide whether they believe that or not.

 

The trick is recognizing the person who also sees the benefit and helping them find you. That's marketing. That's where you need to put your time and energy.

What He Said: The 3 Parts to a Small Business Vision for Practical, Hands-on People

There's a few other business bloggers I follow. Two of my favorites are Mark Silver and Todd Hargrave.  They both speak of business through the heart but with a practical feet-on-the-ground understanding of the need to support yourself through your work; just the sort of things we massage therapists are often looking for.

Mark recently wrote a great blog about developing a robust and beautiful vision for your practice. I've asked (and received) permission to reprint it here.

Enjoy!

*

The 3 Parts to a Small Business Vision for Practical, Hands-on People

by Mark Silver
March 13, 2013

I was at tea with a friend of mine the other day who is also a business owner. He had had some struggles recently, and we were both agreeing that he needed a clear vision for his business.

He stopped and looked at me, "My partner wouldn't agree with you. She would ask, 'What do you *mean* by a vision?'"

I stopped, silent. I'm not a naturally visionary person. I have trouble thinking further than six months out and I don't dream great big dreams of world domination. My natural tendency is to tunnel into details and get'r'done.

However, the last five years of building a team and stepping into leadership has convinced me how important a vision is. It's also helped me come to my own understanding of what a vision is, especially for practical, hands-on type people that don't live with their heads at cloud level.

So I proceeded to tell my friend the three parts of a practical, actionable, profitable yet high-flying vision for a small business.

Why Is A Vision Important?

When I first approached the topic of "vision" I was really resistant to it. The two models I had seen, big, corporate visions of being "first" in some world-domination plan, or dreamy, idealistic views of complete transformation and ushering in a new age left me doubtful.

As a small business owner, there was zero chance of, let alone any interest in, any kind of "world domination." Similarly, the only way to complete large, lasting change as a small business was to count on thousands, millions of other people also doing good work. No matter how successful Heart of Business became, it was only ever going to be a small business. Yet cumulatively our work can make a tremendous impact.

I had written some early insights about vision before that had come from my studies of globally-recognized spiritual leaders. Great, useful insights, but it was missing some practical pieces about what makes the business profitable and sustainable as a business.

You can have vision, but if you're in business, you also want a business vision, one that serves your business as a business.

Without a vision it becomes really hard to make strategic decisions. It also becomes hard for anyone else to work with you as a teammate, because they don't know where you are going. They are stuck constantly asking you for direction or decision-making.

It's also really hard to diagnose what might be going wrong in your business. It's all too easy to get blown around by the latest fad, someone's crazy suggestions, or just how you're feeling on a bad day.

If you take on the work of identifying for yourself these three elements of a small business vision, it will make business-building in the coming years much easier for you.

The 3 Elements of a Small Business Vision

First: Who You Serve and What Problem You Solve

One of my earliest insights into business remains at the heart of almost everything. A business is defined not by what you do, which is a mistake many fall into. Rather, a business is defined by who you serve and what problem you are helping them solve.

Currently our Alumni Community is working on exactly this as the monthly focus, which I call your One Compelling Sentence. People struggle without this for years sometimes, but once it's identified, you can finally start to get some momentum in your business.

It's one of the key ingredients that our star practitioners Jason and Yollanause to help their individual clients double their revenue.

Second: Why It's Important to Serve Those People

Why do you care about these people and the problem they are struggling with? How do you see it contributing to a better, more vibrant world?

When you know your why, it helps you keep from getting too caught in just chasing money. It helps keep your heart buoyed when you are working on projects that are tedious but necessary. It helps you make decisions about who to work with.

It also inspires clients and team members. People can band around a larger "why." It helps your business contribute to a mission in the world.

For us here at Heart of Business, I know that if small businesses with heart can flourish, it means that the economy is being redirected, at least in part, away from businesses that aren't serving life. It means that more people are getting the healing they need. It means that more healing of the damage caused by business over the last few centuries is happening.

I talk about the three reasons for love in business in the video on this page, and it contains our why.

Third: Your Revenue Model

Simply said, a revenue model is how your business brings in money most effectively and sustainably while still serving the first two parts of your mission.

Many business owners have not worked out their revenue model beyond, "Well, I work with clients and they pay me. Sometimes I do a workshop."

A revenue model directly supports the rest of your vision. One business owner I know has a belief in herself as a catalyst. Consequently her business model does not include long-term support of clients, but more in-depth, intense, shorter offers like one-day workshops, or books.

Here at Heart of Business we have a real commitment to see people heal as well as be more effective. We take real joy in supporting people as they go through the process of both learning and healing.

Consequently our services include one-on-one individual work over months, a year-long in-depth group program, and an Alumni Community with many spiritual resources. We do offer short duration workshops and books and courses because they serve people, too, in tremendous ways.

But we make sure that we aren't leaving people in the lurch who need more support so we can truly serve our mission. We structure our profitability around that mission.

It's Taken Awhile

When I look back over the more than a decade that I've been at this, I can see how the kernels of all three elements were present, but it took me awhile to identify them and consciously develop and focus on them.

In fact, a miss-step in not identifying the third element for us caused a nearly disastrous decision that took months to recover from.

Having all three of these in place means that we've been humming along, picking up steam, and having fun. Team members can function without a lot of direction (read: interference) from me, and we're growing and developing.

Mark Silver is the founder and heads the team at Heart of Business, where they've been helping thousands of business owners since 2001 who want to make a difference and need to make a profit. Mark is a recognized Master Sufi Teacher in his spiritual lineage, as well as an acclaimed business healer and consultant. Find out more at www.heartofbusiness.com.

Whooooooooo Are You?

Is the path to a successful massage practice the same for everyone?

What are the odds that all of us even define "success" the same way?

What are the odds that all of us have access to the same resources (time, energy, money, education, space, etc.)?

What are the odds that all massage therapists have the same temperament (introvert / extrovert, planner / spontaneous, risk-comfortable / risk-averse, etc.)?

What are the odds that all of us enjoy the different aspects of business the same way (financial analysis, marketing, writing, speaking, organizing, etc.)?

We talk about a "path" to success. So let's imagine it, literally, as an array of paths all of which lead to a place called "success":

• the Appalachian Trail
• the beach at Nags Head, NC
• the National Mall from the Lincoln Memorial to the Capitol
• the stairway taking you to the top of the Statue of Liberty

All paths. All taking you somewhere beautiful, fun, or interesting. None of them alike. None of them requiring the same set of skills or endurance. Not all of them equally accessible or equally attractive to those of you reading this blog.

The "path" to a successful massage practice is not the same for everyone. You can't simply follow someone else's path just because it worked for them. You have to know yourself well enough to design your own path.

For example, I love to write so blogging and newsletters are a good way for me to promote my practice. My friend Kitty doesn't like to write so blogging and newsletters are not a good way to promote her practice.

On the other hand, she's an extrovert and loves to talk to new people so having a booth at an alternative health expo where she meets new people all day makes sense for her. I'm an introvert. I'd last about an hour.

Play to your strengths. Respect your weaknesses. Embrace the unique combination of stuff that is you. Build your own path to your own definition of success.