I wrote a blog posting on the “Top 7 Must Have Massage Equipment for Massage Therapist” recently, one of the items that I included in the list was a table heater for your massage table. This is a follow up to that blog post.

If you are a massage therapist and you are not using a heating pad for your massage table, you are missing out on making a huge impact with your massage clients. I cannot tell you how often our clients expressed how wonderfully delighted they were once they were lying on the massage table. The price of this massage heating pad is more than pays for itself after a few sessions. Utilizing a heating pad on your massage table is not only is a great perking for you clients, but it does offer many functional massage benefits as well. I am going to share with some of them here with you now, but please tell me if I missed one, thank you.

Stretching:

Let’s say for instance that you have a massage client that you have seen before and know that they have very tight hamstrings, glutes or low back muscles, what I like to do for these clients is to turn up the temperature on the heating pad prior to them coming in. Once they come in and if you do any stretching for your clients, let the table heater warm up their muscles either by working the neck and arms first or allow them to lay on the heat for about 5 minutes before you walk into the room and then go into stretching the hamstrings, glutes and low back muscles. By doing this my goal is to allow the heat to warm up their muscles to get a better stretch and to minimize the risk of causing injury, due to the increased blood flow in the area.

Chronically tight back muscles:

You can also use the massage heating pad to warm up the back muscles, starting face up first. Work the front side, once you have finished, request your clients to turn over and you find that their back muscles are more relaxed. This makes massaging tight or chronically tight back muscles much easier to work on and less physical effort on your part..

Getting clients relaxed prior to their massage

If you have a client that just came in early or just got out of traffic or had a very hard day at work and is stressed out, put them on heat for a few minutes prior to working on them, let them relax a bit with some heat on their back first. This will give your clients a chance to relax and ease them into their massage before getting started.

I’m sorry

If you are running late because you are going over on your time with another client and if you have multiple rooms, instead of having your client wait in the lobby, stick them in a room with some heat on the table. I am sure, once they feel the warmth of the table; they will forgive you, for being late.

Hot flashes

You may find that some of your female clients suffer from hot flashes, if this is the case you definitely do not want to use the table heater then. If there is one downside to having a table heater this would be it, you could let your clients know that you have a table heater and that it is on, this way if they suffer from hot flashes, they will let you know. But if you would like to keep the table heater as a surprise, just put the heat on a low setting, it can always be turned up later during the massage.

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Every massage therapist that is thinking about getting into this business needs to have the right massage equipment in order to perform their best and be successful in this business. While many massage therapists will prefer not to acquire the extra cost of acquiring all what that is needed, especially when starting out. But I can tell you from experience it dose pay off in the long run, I would not suggest to cut too many corners if you want to successful and look professional.

Many people benefit from massage therapy. It is not just used to relax people anymore. When we think of massage, we often imagine luxury spas where people are pampered and spoiled. This is no longer the case massage therapy is now used to improve performance in athletes and help people with chronic pain, injuries and even for anxiety and other emotional disorders

Massage Table & Massage Chair

A massage therapist just beginning in practice may benefit from being available at moment’s notice often visiting homes of those who are in need of a massage. So the first essential item, a portable lightweight massage table. And I would also considering purchasing a portable massage chair for marketing purposes and corporate accounts. This is huge we at RPM-Therapy bring in aprox. 50% of my clientele just by using the chair alone, the chair offers many advantages that a massage table will not.

Business cards and a website

You must have a way for your potential clients to contact you, get more information and learn about your massage techniques that you specialize in. A website allows for this potential client to gain valuable information about your services without you having to stay by a phone great when you are with another client. Today websites can now book clients with an online scheduler, and send a text message with that confirmed appointment to your cell-phone without you ever taking a call.

Your massage therapy business cards should have all the general information on it name, phone number, services offered and a call to action. Your call to action can be something very simple like, come in this month and save $20 off your next massage. Or get 30 minutes free when you buy 30 minutes, but be sure to have an expiration date ending in a week or two, you can always extend it.

Your website need not to be anything real expensive or fancy due to the reason that you will probably be making a lot of changes on it as you grow your business. You do need to make sure that it has an email optin box, this is for building your network of clients. If you have their email address, then at anytime you move or have a special offer or special event that you would like your clients to know about, letting them know is just a few keystrokes away. Your website once your busy, have an online scheduling system, this way your clients can book right from their computer plus you can set it up to capture a physical address, phone number, birthdays and get informed of any special considerations that the client may have prior to them coming in. This alone can make a huge impact on your business, our clients love it. Consider offering gift certificates that can purchased online through a merchant account or paypal, it is not too difficult to set up.

A Blog

I just recently added this one to the list, my reasons for having a blog is this, it is very easy to set up and it’s built on a platform that builds relationships with your clients, patients and customers. Plus it is SEO friendly right out of the box, add a few bells and whistles (usually called a plugin) and your blog can generate a ton of website traffic to your business and services.

Another huge aspect to the blog is this, if you are good at what you do, write several articles pertaining to your expertise and post it to your blog and article directories and you will soon be perceived as an expert in your industry. It will also allow you to educate your clients and potential customers about what to expect from your bodywork, give out tips and advice that will help your clients and they will keep coming back to your blog to get more information.

Massage Equipment (physical location)

For those who wish to set up an office practice, it is necessary to have all the necessary equipment such as proper stationary, tables, mats, chairs and other misc. items. But if want to make a winning impression, get a good lotion, I prefer Biotone Dual Purpose. Do not buy some cheap oils they will only make oil stains on your clothes, carpets and sheets that are not easy to wash out or get cleaned. And if you do not have a shower available; chances are pretty good that your client will get oil stains on their clothing as well and leave your facility feeling oily.

Table heater/pad

Last key equipment would be a table heater or a heating pad for your massage table, have it on a medium to low heat prior to your client coming in and adjust it accordingly for your clients. Your clients will love you for it