Using Chair Massage At Public Events To Build Your Massage Therapy Business

By Amy Roberts

Back when I started my massage therapy practice I was stumped at ways to build my clientele. I used to think that the only way to get massage clients was to put an expensive advertisement in the local paper and cross my fingers, hold my breath and pray like I’ve never prayed before. I was really pleading with the Universe.

Then one evening I got a call from my massage therapy association. They needed massage therapists at the National Tai Kwan Do Championships in my city. It wasn’t paid work but it might be a good opportunity to build my massage business and get more clients this way.

The massage association supplied a wooden portable massage chair for me (I only had a massage table, not a portable massage chair) and set up my space backstage to do seated chair massage. It was a very exciting day as far sharing the benefits of chair massage. I was inundated with karate champions with sore shoulders, swollen ankles, elbow and arm pain and the list went on. I gave around 40 seated chair massage treatments that day.

I was really tired at the end of the day, even though the therapeutic treatments I gave were only about 10-15 minutes at a time. I was tired but exhilarated. I gave out many business cards and a small brochure on how regular massage therapy improved your ability to do your sport.

The outcome from this experience and the sharing of my cards and brochures lead to two calls. Now you may think that two massage therapy treatments from a full day event is pretty poor. It may be, but I didn’t see it that way. Those two massage treatments I booked planted a seed.

Over the following weeks those two massage clients told their other karate team members about my therapeutic massage sessions and how much it helped them with their flexibility and improvement in movement. As a result, those two new clients turned into another ten clients over the next 6 months.

At the time I was charging $50 per hour massage. After a few months this added up to about $500 from the treatments that were directly related to this event. Overall, the seeds I planted that day actually added a few thousand dollars to my income for that year.

And what did I do? I simply invested a day doing what I loved most by sharing the benefits of chair massage. I also planted seeds by sharing the benefits of having regular massage treatments to help my clients with their particular sport. I explained how much better they would feel and how much better they would perform at their events.

You do not have to limit your marketing for more massage clients via expensive newspaper advertising. It’s not the only way. Just a few hours or your time, offering massage treatment to the right market can really work wonders. You might not see the results straight away, but then again you might. But think of this donation of your time as an investment, not a loss of your time. Shairing chair massage techniques is a wonderful at events like this to gain exposure.

Make sure thought that if you do use this strategy, that you are massaging people who want to be massaged. Don’t go and set up at an event that is totally unrelated to health or wellness needs. Make sure people are interested in massage therapy first. For example you may offer your services to a corporate event where you know the attendees are sitting, listening to a guest speaker for a weekend with very long hours. People may really appreciate a massage after four hours of sitting and feeling cramped. Always check it out first with the event coordinators first as to whether they feel your massage will be a good advantage for the day.

Just remember this key point – marketing your massage therapy service can come in more ways than an investment of money. It’s your time and skills with your hands and providing seated chair massage sessions may be a wonderful way to help you build your business.

To learn more about Amy’s ebooks, visit > Ignite Your Massage Therapy Practice.