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...

The winter is upon us and throughout my clientele you can hear the refrain “the stones are back, the stones are back”! This is a yearly ritual that we look forward to as soon as the fall has been with us long enough to forget the scorching heat of summer. As soon as everyone starts being nostalgic for the heat I start my transition...

You can imagine any experience that has to do with massage, spas and skin care, my friends are anxious to share with me and more often than not, get my advice or input. The other day a friend told me a story that reminded how stressful a first time massage can be. In this case, a friend of my friend – a woman in her 40s – went for her first massage, which was a gift from her children...

Last week’s AMTA National Convention in Portland, Oregon was as eventful as promised. It is always great to meet all the massage therapists who come from far and wide to network and learn new skills. If you were in attendance you may have seen a few of the massage demos I offered at the BIOTONE booth including Joint Mobilization, Tools Assisted Therapy, Fascial Matrix and Wraps for Chronic Pain Clients...

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...

After 20 years as a massage therapist I am still reminded on a regular basis that there is always something new to learn and discover. As a form and function therapist, you can imagine how many hours I have studied anatomy and kinesiology. I am happy to report that I am still having my premises challenged and refined. I recently had a concrete lesson in energetic Kinesiology and I want to share it with you...

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

In a few weeks hundreds of massage therapists will flock to Portland, Oregon for this year’s American Massage Therapy Association’s (AMTA) National Convention. I am so excited to be joining BIOTONE at the convention where participants will have more options than they have time...

October is Breast Cancer Awareness month. For many years, BIOTONE has actively supported efforts to find a cure for this devastating disease. We’ve sponsored important research about the value of massage in boosting the immune system to fight cancer cells and raised money through annual sales promotions to support Susan G. Komen for the Cure...

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...