InTouch

The Season for Giving is well under way. You may have noticed all those Black Friday and Cyber Monday opportunities in your inbox! Many massage businesses miss out on the holiday shopping craze, when they should be cashing in. It is a shame because there is no better time to encourage clients to refer their friends, family and workmates...

I happened to catch one of episodes of Frasier the other night. That’s not hard to do considering how much they rerun the old sitcoms. Frasier was always a favorite of mine because the characters were kooky and the writing was very clever. This particular episode was one the earliest about Frasier’s dad moving into his apartment and bringing his chair along, as well as his dog Eddie. The old unattractive chair was a real fixture in the series and a thorn in Frasier’s side for the entire run of the show’s 11 years...

If you’ve been a reader of our InTouch blog for some time, you may be asking yourself “is blogging something I should do.” After all, what better way to share your knowledge and experience with your customers and get feedback than blogging? If you’ve been on the fence about starting your own blog, here are some good reasons why you might want to take the leap...

One of the more overlooked areas for cutting costs is product usage. Profitable product usage is not about buying the least expensive products. It involves three things:

• Avoid waste by monitoring usage and pre measuring products
• Research and compare the cost effectiveness of products
• Evaluate how much product is needed for each client based on the service

September may seem a little early to be thinking about Thanksgiving, unless you are a retailer or you are going to use it as an opportunity to “dance with the ones that brought you”... In other words, to show appreciation to those who have provided support and patronage. I know that a lot of business use Christmas for this purpose. But I asked myself a long time ago why should I present my tribute to people at a time when it will end up competing with their insurance agents, hairdressers etc. It has always made the most sense to me to use the holiday that we all celebrate, to express what that holiday is all about...

In about a month the holidays will be upon on. Not literally, of course, but from a marketing standpoint, they will. As soon as the Halloween candy begins to appear on store shelves, promotions for Thanksgiving and Christmas soon will follow. So it’s definitely not too early to think about what you can do to boost your visibility during this period...

Here are three current consumer trends that should be foremost in your business building radar:

• Clients in the current economic climate are more interested than ever in value.
• Baby boomers are not only planning on not dying, they want to look and feel good not doing it.
• People prefer treatments that are an investment in prevention and health.

In an ideal world, every client values your service, praises your skills, shows up on time and pays promptly. But we don’t live in an ideal world, and there always will be clients who either test your patience or diplomatic skills. You know those clients. They are the ones you dread because they complain too much, are always late and even worse don’t pay at the end of the session. How many times have you heard, “I must have left my checkbook or credit card at home?” With these clients, the chemistry is just off.

“You've got to accentuate the positive, eliminate the negative, latch on to the affirmative and don't mess with mister in-between.”That song may not be familiar to all of you, but this old song is a favorite of mine because that’s how I view running my business. In fact, most successful business owners I’ve met share this view. Running your business is not a 9 to 5 commitment...

Do you like Coca Cola or Pepsi? Are you a Mac user or do you have a Dell PC? Do you prefer Holiday Inn to Marriott? Every day we make decisions about the products and services that we incorporate into our lives. A large part of that decision making has to do with our personal connection to the offering...

As I've said many times even in this blog, I really enjoy attending the industry trade shows. Apart from the obvious goal to showcase our products, trade shows provide me with a great opportunity to talk to you about your business, your concerns and how you see the market evolving...

I just got back from my week long training with Eric Dalton in Costa Rica and all I can say is wow! I am so glad I got the chance to study with this genius. I already utilized joint mobilization as a tool in my treatment room. Now I know that I was only playing with it. After his class I see so many more applications and my effectiveness have already showed marked improvement. Expanding my knowledge base has once again helped me to fine tune my skills...