Issue link: https://www.massageandbodyworkdigital.com/i/77424
MARKET YOUR PROMOTIONS IN STYLE THANKS TO ABMP'S NEW WEBSITE BUILDER. ENJOY DOZENS OF DESIGNS AND UNLIMITED PAGES. TO ACCESS, LOG IN TO YOUR MEMBER ACCOUNT ON ABMP.COM. David Turner, a therapist in Charlotte, North Carolina, had such a massive response to his Groupon offer that it facilitated moving into a bigger office and hiring another therapist to help him. getting something special, but you have to balance that with what you can realistically afford to give up money- wise, also taking into account that you may need to work longer hours in order to make up the difference. If your break-even point (the amount of massage you have to perform in a month in order to pay your bills—the rest is profit) is 50 massages, based on charging $60 an hour, and you're offering a 20 percent discount, that means you'll need to do 10 additional massages during the month in order to break even. Are you able to handle that? Like Turner, your discounting could bring in enough business that you find it necessary to expand your business, or it could turn into a less-than-pleasant experience if you don't plan properly. If you're in business and you haven't figured your break-even point, do so before you decide what type of discount you're going to offer and factor in the extra massages you'll need to do in order to make up the difference so you can avoid wearing yourself out, yet still meet your expenses. SUSTAINABLE PROMOTIONS The best sustainable promotion is offering package deals: getting people to pay in advance for a certain number of sessions in order to receive one free. Although it does cut the price of each massage (good for the client), it also guarantees that you're going to get him or her in the door X number of times (good for you). I also allow people with package deals to share with friends and family. That has always worked well; it brings in a variety of people, and often the person the package was shared with ends up purchasing one as well, or at least rebooking. Another good sustainable promotion is to publicize the fact that you offer discounted services to a certain population on an ongoing basis, such as "10 percent off every day to public servants" (police, firefighters, emergency medical personnel) or veterans, employees at a nearby factory, or whatever group you decide you'd like to cultivate as clients. This isn't a budget-buster, and when you're targeting a certain group, remember those people sometimes travel in packs—get one factory worker or one fire fighter in with the discount, and they'll tell their coworkers. If you've attended a continuing education class and learned a new technique, you can promote that with a discount: "Try a lomilomi massage for $80." If you've added other services to your menu, consider a seasonal promotion: "Get rid of winter-time dry skin with a moisturizing mud treatment," or "Get ready for bathing- suit weather with our peppermint salt scrub," and offer it at an introductory price for the first treatment, or like massage, as a package deal. SOCIAL MEDIA AND THE INTERNET Chances are you're hooked up to the Internet. You should be maximizing the use of that to the advantage of your business. If you're not using social media yet, what are you waiting for? It's free! Your only investment is the time it takes to type an announcement. Fan pages are a Facebook feature for businesses. Include the fact that you have a fan page for your business on your other advertising and watch your list of fans grow. Many therapists, including me, have conducted promotions along the lines of "Book your appointment today and mention that you saw it on Facebook; you'll get $10 off the price of your massage." There are a lot of other companies besides Groupon that offer targeted email marketing. These companies collect data on consumer habits and compile mailing lists based on the data, which they'll then sell for a price or handle the mailing for you. They can earn CE hours at your convenience: abmp's online education center, www.abmp.com 25