Franklin D Roosevelt: "A smooth sea never made a skilled sailor"
The last few weeks have been, to say the least, 'intense' for all of us. Hopefully, you have already found a moment to let it sink in because it seems that this will become the 'new normal' for the time being.
As a masseur or massage therapist, your entire career is based on caring for others, and you may not have immediately included times of crisis like this in your business plan... At the time of writing this blog, unfortunately, it is not possible to give massages with the new rule of maintaining 1.5 meters distance.
This probably brings up many questions. How are you going to pay for groceries/rent/mortgage now? How will you ensure that existing clients return to you after this crisis? And what are some alternatives to still generate some income/cash flow during these times?
At Zengrowth, we are happy to think along with you. For us, it’s quite simple: if you don’t have business, neither do we. So it is also in our interest that you get back on your feet as quickly as possible during these times and come out of this situation stronger than you went in!
With these 6 ideas, we hope to inspire you to generate a new stream of income yourself!
Table of Contents
- Online consult
- Online course
- Vouchers
- Your own webshop
- Affiliate marketing
- Look for alternatives
1. Online consult
Before you start giving an online consult, it is important to first ask yourself the following: why did clients come to my massage practice in the first place? Was it to reduce stress or pain complaints? Or perhaps people visited you because they wanted to live healthier and more vital lives in general.
Once you have identified your target audience, you can determine what type of online consult you could offer. After all, your clients came to you to solve or reduce a problem, and it is not as if this problem has magically disappeared with the corona crisis. In fact, the average stress level will likely be even higher now. Try to think about how you can still solve that problem under the current circumstances.
Here are a few creative ideas we’ve seen from other masseurs:
Online self-massage
Do you want to help your clients relax? Then give an online workshop or consult on self-massage. The video below from practice Ener-Qi gives you an example:
Of course, many of these self-massage videos can already be found for free on YouTube. You can do this yourself to build some brand awareness or customer loyalty.
However, you could also make such a video much more personal for one of your clients, for which you might even charge a fee. For example, does a client have severe lower back pain? Then create a video specifically for this client on how he or she can massage or relieve the lower back pain themselves.
You could also choose to do it live together via Zoom or Skype, where you can give your client direct feedback!
Online advice on health and supplements
In times like these, everyone wants one thing: to stay healthy. As a masseur, you are an expert in health, and you can use this to your advantage.
For example, you could host a webinar offering advice on how to boost your immune system. Or how about a consult via Skype or Zoom, where you give someone personalized advice on supplements suitable for their situation? Or perhaps an online yoga or meditation workshop?
Online advice on ergonomic sitting
Are you a chair masseur and do you often provide corporate massages? Then you might consider offering an online webinar to a company on how to sit ergonomically at home. This is, of course, also in the company’s interest, as it helps to increase overall workplace productivity.
Online advice on preventing sports injuries
Are you a sports masseur? Perhaps you could offer online advice to clients on how to prevent sports injuries. Many people currently cannot practice their usual sport and are starting to train at home or go running.
During home workouts or running, people may use different muscle groups than they do with their usual sport, which can increase the risk of injury. Your advice as a sports masseur could be very valuable here!
2. Online course
Would you like to take it a step further and look at how you can create an extra source of income for the long term? Then it might be a good idea to document all the knowledge you’ve gained as a therapist about nutrition, health, massage, supplements, self-awareness, etc., in an online course! It would be a shame for all that knowledge to be lost!
Now, I can already hear you thinking: I am a masseur/therapist, not a programmer. If I wanted to sit behind a computer all day coding an online course, I would have chosen a different career.
Fortunately, many initiatives and companies are eager to support you in this! For a small monthly fee, you can offer an online course to your clients without any technical knowledge.
For example, the team at learnspot.online is happy to help you set up an online training. They not only take care of the technical part of setting up your online training, but they also help you with administration and selling your course online.
ControlPlus can also assist you with this. They support entrepreneurs with subscription management, invoicing, a webshop, and administration.
3. Vouchers/gift cards
This is an idea that is currently being used a lot in the hospitality industry. You can sell a gift card or voucher for your service to your regular clients. To make it even more attractive, you could offer a 10% discount on it.
However, keep in mind: this is, of course, a way to generate income now, but you will have to provide the massage in the future without getting paid at that moment when the voucher is redeemed.
That said, it is still a good way to build customer loyalty and create some cash flow in the short term. It could even help you gain new customers because people want to care for each other in times like these. Frame your promotion as a “pamper voucher” where people can show someone they care about them. Here’s an example:
In these crisis times, we all know someone who is working extremely hard. Whether it’s in healthcare, the supermarket, the agricultural sector, or elsewhere. Especially now, it’s wonderful to surprise someone with something that shows you truly care about them.
At [BUSINESS NAME], we only want to promote this during these times, which is why we are giving a 10% discount on our pamper vouchers. This is a voucher that can be redeemed for a massage as soon as our massage practice reopens!
4. Own webshop
An own webshop—doesn’t that sound like a lot of hassle, and don’t you have to be super technical for that? Nowadays, that is no longer necessary! With Shopify Lite, you can add a plugin to your website for just $9 per month.
Don’t have a website? You can easily turn your Facebook page into a webshop with Shopify Lite! Customers can then pay easily via iDeal, Bancontact, or credit card.
Would you like to take it a bit more professionally and renew your entire website at once? Then choose the basic Shopify package. You can set up your website without any programming knowledge! Zengrowth.nl also still runs on Shopify.
Hairdressers have started offering DIY hair dye kits, and restaurants have started delivery services. What can you, as a masseur and health expert, offer your clients? Take a look around your massage practice! Perhaps you have hand cream, soap, or (essential) oil that you can offer your clients during these times.
I already saw many such initiatives in various Facebook groups:
5. Affiliate marketing
What is affiliate marketing? The image below explains it:
Many large websites (such as bol.com) use affiliate marketing. At Zengrowth.nl, we recently launched a partner program where you receive 7.5% commission if someone orders something through your affiliate link.
For example, do you already give advice on supplements or nutrition to your clients? Or is one of your clients looking for massage oil to massage themselves at home? Then you could simply ask your clients to place their orders via your affiliate link to support a local entrepreneur.
Ordering through an affiliate link does not cost anything extra for the buyer.
6. Look for alternatives
This is probably something you would rather not think about, but sometimes there really is no other option. What did you do before you started massaging? If you worked in healthcare, for example, they could use your help now more than ever!
But there is also plenty of work available in other sectors, such as agriculture. Many Eastern European seasonal workers are currently unable to leave their countries, causing many farmers to struggle with their work. They could really use your help during these times!
At Zengrowth, we would love to support you during these times. That is why we have set up a dedicated Facebook group to explore where opportunities currently lie for you as a masseur. You can join completely free of charge!
