Social Networking is the latest craze as many of you are well aware of.  Figuring out what is the best use of your time is important when considering participating in these networks.  How will you find the best opportunities to get new and repeat clients?

Twitter is one of the easiest to use and get results with.   If you don’t know what twitter is yet, it is an online network that you sign up with for free.  Create a twitter account to just be used with your business.  Twitter is unique in that it only allows you a few sentences of space to use to communicate with people.   But who are you communicating with?   People can sign up to ‘follow’ your postings.  But where do you get people?   The best place is to put a twitter feed on your website.  You can get the code to put a twitter badge on your website by going to the Settings page.  In about the middle of that section there is a place for you to put your website address but right under that is a link that says:

(You can also add Twitter to your site here)

Click on that and click on the other tab (or one of the others if you are using one of those systems for your website.)  Click to create a badge.  You can add what you want it to say on the top or whether or not you want to create a flash badge or a html badge.  The flash badge will be interactive and show people’s reply ( I think!) So just copy and paste the code into your webpage where you want it.  I have mine on my homepage above the fold (near the top) where it is the highest profile and also on my services pages.  I also just created a twitter page that people can go to directly.  You can see how I am using it at www.massageseattle.net  I actually just started using it last week and have already gotten 3 new clients.  I also have quite a few visitors to my website and it already gets me a lot of calls but I think it will help even more by making this info of my schedule availability more public.  I am also sending a series of posts based using “you know you need a massage when you ….” and then will do a top ten reasons for getting a massage or something like that and see how that goes.

Facebook – Facebook is fairly time consuming.  It is really important to set up a business only listing.  What facebook is better for is finding your old high school buddies and long lost loves.  You are supposedly not allowed to set up more than one facebook profile.  They do have a way to make a business page and have it connected to your personal page but to me it is not private enough.  I personally don’t mix clients and friends.  You can use facebook to create more messages and even use it like a mini website if you don’t already have your own.  You can search facebook members to find businesses and doctors or other people who you want in your referral network and ask them to be your friend.  You can write a small newsletter like posts.  People can post on your wall or you can opt to not allow people to do that.  The thing I don’t like about Facebook is that people who become your friends will also have access to see each others profiles which may not be a good thing for your clients who want their privacy.  I did find a facebook group for my office building when they were having an open house that I could become a fan of and post my message about being the massage therapist in the building.

Linkedin in works sort of the same way as facebook but it doesn’t connect you with all of your old friends.  Linkedin is more of a professional networking site.  They also have a section where people ask questions like yahooanswers but it is much more professional than answers is.  You may possibly find someone looking for a massage but it is more like looking for a needle in the haystack.

I am not a big fan of social networking because of the time it takes to put into it all.  I would rather be writing a new article for my website to educate people who are already interested in getting a massage.  My website is found for the keywords that I have chosen – downtown seattle massage and it comes up first on Google and most of the other major search engines so writing there is more targeted advertising.  Also writing more content and educating people about massage and muscles and how the body and massage work together is a way of building trust with people.  When they read a website full of information and research they will get the feeling that you know what you are doing and trust you enough to make the call.

So if you are using one of these or other social networking sites successfully I would love to know what you are doing!

When walking or running try activating the ipsilateral gluteus maximus muscle on heel strike. Squeeze it hard with each step!

This simple muscle activation tip will do wonders for restoring foot, lower limb and pelvic balance.

Try it first for a week (works best at first barefooted or with non-suported shoes). What do you feel happening in the rest of your body as a result of this simple muscle activation cue? What are your knees doing? Do you feel a change in positioning of your pelvis in the sagittal plane as you walk?  Erik

INTERNET VISIBILITY and MASSAGE

Welcome to my blog!  This is my first entry and my intention is to share my business and massage experience in a way that will be helpful to my fellow therapists! 

My background:   I have been practicing massage therapy since 2000.  I opened a retail massage studio in 2002 and another in 2005 (both in Colorado).  I currently employ over 30 massage therapists. In 2006 Fitness Together Franchise Corporation began franchising my business model.  We currently have 80 franchises sold in the United States, Costa Rica, Ireland and England.

My advice:  I have noticed over the past 8 years in business that customers don?t look at yellow pages that much anymore, they use the internet.  One way you can increase your business visibility on the internet is to put a free listing on ?google?.  To do this, go to www.google.com/local/add.   Sign up for a free ?google? account if you do not have one and then add your business listing, it is FREE!  Good Luck!

Hi there,

If you are reading my blog you are probably an advocate for quality of life of those at the end of life.  The doors for massage therapy in hospice have been opening the past few years, but proposed Medicare funding cuts for hospice could close those doors once again.  I have recieved the following information today from a colleague at the Suncoast Institute in Florida and want to pass it along to you so you can evaluate the situation for yourself and act if you feel so moved.

Hospice Needs Your Help

Over the past few months Hospice advocates from around the country have written, faxed, called and visited members of Congress urging them to help stop the Hospice rate cuts scheduled for October. Our efforts have paid off so far, as over 200 Representatives and Senators have signed a letter requesting President Obama to prevent the cuts from occurring. We must keep up the pressure as the President has not yet acted.

As tough as these cuts will be, the stakes may have just been raised even higher. This past week a new report detailed across the board Medicare spending cuts being considered in health care reform legislation. We are ready to do our share, but the combination of the rate cuts already proposed and these new Medicare cuts will be devastating to all hospices nationwide: we estimate a 6.4% decline in revenues if these cuts are enacted. We must work hard to prevent this from occurring.

You can continue to make a big difference. On Wednesday, we will participate in a national ?Virtual Advocacy Day? to urge the President to preserve hospice care and prevent these cuts. Please stand by as more information on how you can help will be sent tomorrow. In the meantime, here are a few things you can do today to fight these cuts:

• Write a letter to the editor of your newspaper )
• Send an email to the White House:
  http://www.whitehouse.gov/CONTACT/
   
• Send a letter to the President urging him to stop the cuts:
  The White House
  1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
  Washington, DC 20500
  (Please include your e-mail address)
   
• Call the White House Comment Line:
  202-456-1111

 Visit:  http://www.capwiz.com/nhpco/home/ and our advocacy website http://www.thehospice.org/help/voice/stop_cuts.aspx  for more information

Many massage therapists have worked long and hard to pioneer our valuable place in hospice care. I think we all would hate to see our steps forward pushed back.  We have so much to contribute to hospice and palliative care and I, for one, want to see that continue to grow!

With kind regards,

Ann

As a massage therapist we are forced to make decisions every day. Really, as human beings we make decisions every day. Ranging from what to make for dinner, to who you should hire to fill a new position, the consequences of our decisions can be long lasting. Making decisions feels very permanent with far reaching effects which causes us to over-think, rather than make the right decision.

This is why many people hesitate and second guess themselves when the time comes to make a decision. When it comes to making the decision they start to think about how they will implement their decision and what could happen if they make a particular decision.

Before they decide, they run through their head how they will implement their decision, what it?s going to cost them, what will happen if they fail?.all the reasons they shouldn?t make a decision.

I would like to suggest a different process to use when making a decision. I was taught this technique from David Neagle and it works very well.  

First make the decision. Put the ?how am I going to make this happen? aside. Don?t think about what others are going to say or think ? put your energy into making the right decision for you. If you need $20,000 to invest in your business, but you have terrible credit and nothing in your accounts receivables, you may start thinking about why you can?t get $20,000.

What I am asking you to do, before you think about how or why, is to make the decision to move your business forward. Make the decision that you are going to manifest $20,000. Just make the decision you are going to do it and nothing else.

Once you?ve made the decision (whatever it is) write it down on a piece of paper. Draw a line down the center of the paper. On the left column write down these words ?Why I can?t?. On the right column write down ?How I can?. Cross off ?Why I can?t? with a big X. You are done with that column. Why I can?t is no longer an option for you. You?ve made the decision to manifest $20,000. The Universe will bring it to you once you make the decision.

Now write down every single thing you can think of for ?How I can?. EVERYTHING; even if it seems crazy and impossible. Once you?ve written everything down, methodically exhaust every item on the list. Somewhere on that list is the solution to making your decision a reality.

It may be that one of the items you wrote down leads you to something else, which makes your decision a reality. The answer is somewhere on that list.

The key is to make the decision without thinking about the how. The universe will make the how happen. Your job is to go through that list tirelessly until you find what you are looking for. In this case it?s raise $20,000.

Here?s an example:

Decision:    raise    $20,000  

      Why I can?t      How I can

                                    Loan from bank
                                    Money from mom
                                    Sell 30 ebooks
                                    Gain 25 new clients
                                    Ask friends
                                    Have a sale
                                    Partner with Marathon
                                    Etc.

Try it. See if it works for you.

About the author

Founder of A Marketing Connection and The Copywriting Institute, Kelly Robbins, MA, is an award winning author, copywriter and healthcare marketing coach/consultant. Kelly is a blogger for both ChiroEco and MassageMagazine and is the author of Marketing 101: Why Successful Alternative Healthcare Practitioners Specialize as well as co-author of The Practice Evolution Success Kit. She also publishes The Healthcare Marketing Connection, a free e-zine on healthcare marketing tips. Contact Kelly to receive her free report, ?5 Critical Mistakes Healthcare Marketers Make that Lose Sales and Plummet Profits? at www.AMarketingConnection.com or 303-460-0285.

Are you living and working green?

Green is not just about the car you drive, reusing your shopping bags or deciding whether or not to buy organic food.  Green is about the products you use, what goes into making them and the well being of those who produce what you use.

What is green when it comes to the products you use?

So, how green are the essential oils you use?  Are they free of chemical pollutants? Are they produced in such a way that the earth and environment are honored in the production process?  Are they direct from nature or manipulated to mimic nature? Does the company who grows, distills, bottles, and sells the oils give their employees, whether they are in the field or the corporate office, a working wage, decent working conditions, and respect?

Do not be afraid to ask these questions to any company whose products you use.  You have a right to know…and the company has an obligation to tell you.

I would appreciate your feedback on the answers you have received from the companies you use….I don’t want to hear from the company spokesperson….I would love to hear from some therapists and see the response you have received.

Here’s to living and working green. The essential oils I use pass the test. Do yours?

Maria

Abbreviations:
CoS = Confluence of Sinuses
CST = CranioSacral Therapy
DMM = Dura Mater Membrane
EOP = External Occipital Protuberance
VSS = Venous Sinus System

A toxic and harmful brain environment can develop when normal flow of blood and cerebrospinal fluid leaving the brain is reduced. This can cause a backup of the fluid that is trying to cleanse the brain. If the backup persists then waste and toxic elements can collect, congest, irritate and ensnarl delicate brain cells. Harmful pressure can also arise within the matrix of the brain. Furthermore, the flow of fresh arterial blood and cerebrospinal fluid carrying vital nutrients and oxygen to brain cells can be reduced.

In response brain tissue may undergo abnormal change leading to brain challenge or brain dysfunction. The spectrum of brain change can vary from mild to severe leading to a wide range of issues from occasionally having difficulty concentrating or sleeping, to Parkinson?s disease or Epilepsy.

The tubes through which venous blood and cerebrospinal fluid leave the brain are formed by one of the membrane sheets covering the brain and spinal cord, called the dura mater membrane (DMM). These tubes, referred to as the venous sinus system (VSS), are not veins but rather cavities formed within membrane. These cavities do not have muscular walls like veins, so their shape is dependant upon the form of the DMM.

The DMM is interconnected with the body?s fascial system, therefore fascial strain patterns anywhere in the body can alter VSS shape. Any change in form of the VSS, even very small, can reduce fluid outflow, like a crimp in a garden hose reduces the flow of water traveling through it.

Optimizing VSS structure can aid our clients’ specific issues and general well-being. Therefore it is a good idea to routinely focus directly upon improving VSS shape in order to enhance normal VSS fluid outflow. The following sequence of steps, or a comparable protocol, is designed to do just that.

Client position: supine.

I. Check to be sure there are no contraindications to CST, if so do not apply the following sequence.

II. The following four steps are intended to decrease fascial strain in preparation for VSS mobilization.
A. Mobilize and balance primary fascial strain in the body (VSS can be caused by fascial stress
anywhere in the body).

B. Mobilize and balance the thoracic inlet (This helps to open the channels through which fluid flows to the heart).

C. Mobilize and balance the hyoid (this reinforces steps A and B above).

D. Mobilize and balance the Occipital Cranial Base. This helps to decease strain in the area of the jugular foramina through which pass the internal jugular veins that carry blood and cerebrospinal fluid out of the brain. This can also decreae strain of the sigmoid sinus.

III. The following steps focus upon releasing restrictions of the VSS.

A. Locate your client?s external occipital protuberance (EOP), the small bony ?bump? on the back of their head. Some people do not have a prominent EPO, therefore imagine a horizontal line along the back of their head connecting the top of their ears. Then imagine a vertical line in the center back part of their head. Where the two lines intersect is the area of the EOP. This is an important landmark because on the inner surface of the EOP is the confluence of sinuses (CoS), a flowing together of three of sinuses: the superior sagittal sinus, the straight sinus, and the transverse sinuses.

B. Cradle the occiput in your hands so that your palm side knuckles are in line with the top of your client?s ears. This will place the EOP between your fifth knuckles.

1. Focus your intention and wait to feel softening midline from the CoS to the foramen magnum that addresses the occipital sinus.

2. Then focus your intention and wait to feel softening laterally/sideways at inferior/lower occiput to address the marginal sinuses.

C. Change your hand position so your hands cradle the skull with your fingers spanning the distance from occiput to sphenoid. Imagine a line drawn from the confluence of sinuses laterally/sideways and then anteriorly/front-wise to mid-orbit/middle eye area. This line will travel along the occiput, temporal bone and greater wing of sphenoid.

1. Focus your intention to feel softening of the occiput from the CoS laterally/sideways to address the transverse sinuses.

2. Focus your intention in a lateral/sideways and anterior/front-wise direction, along the temporal bones while projecting your intention inward along the petrous portion of the temporal bones. Wait to feel softening which address the superior and inferior petrosal sinuses.

3. Project your intention inward at the greater wings of the sphenoid and wait to feel softening which addresses the cavernous and circular sinuses.

D. Cradle the occiput midline in one hand with the EOP in your palm and your fingers pointing towards the client?s feet. The other hand contacts the parietal bones midline. Bring your parietal hand one-third the distance from the EOP to the bridge of the nose.

1. Focus the intention of your parietal hand towards the foramen magnum to engage the anterior/front part of the straight sinus. Your occipital hand engages the posterior/back part of the straight sinus, which is the CoS. Wait to perceive softening of the straight sinus.

E. Place finger tips along either side of the sagittal suture beginning at the CoS to address the superior and inferior sagittal sinuses. Wait to feel a response of softening under your finger tips then move your hands in an anterior/front-wise direction a little at a time, waiting for softening each time your move your hands, until reaching the bridge of the nose.

IV. End with CV-4 stillpoint induction to help the body integrate corrections that have occurred in response to treatment.

Helping the brain efficiently drain waste and toxic elements by directly working with our client?s VSS can optimize their brain?s performance and increase their overall vitality and health.

Do you notice a difference in your client?s response to CranioSacral Therapy sessions when you incorporate a regular VSS sequence into their sessions?

One of my most favorite quotes about massage therapists beliefs about money comes from one of my favorite books written by Steve Capellini called “Making the Switch to Being Rich”.   I don’t think that many have heard of or read this book but it is very interesting in many ways.  First it is a story of how Steve was a member of the “Moonies” in the early 70’s I think it was.  They were a cult basically.  Steve’s father had him taken away and deprogrammed by a specialist.   He equates the process of deprogramming of brainwashing from his experience with what massage therapists need to do to snap out of it – it being the moneyless bubble where massage therapists gather and live in.

In it he says this about massage therapists:

If there is an entire group of people who are almost all inside the moneyless bubble, it’s massage therapists.  We want to help people and heal them.  We want to ease their aching muscles and soothe their unquiet souls.  We want meaningful interactions with our clients.  We do not, for the most part want to focus on the monetary aspects of our jobs.

Why do massage therapists equate making money with doing something evil?  Why do massage therapists so easily give of their time and sacrifice making money in order to help people?  Why do they think that it is more “noble” to live in poverty or without and help others?  Why do they think that making money for doing something so loving and caring is not right?

Money is just money.  It really isn’t worth anything anymore.  There is no gold in the banks backing up the money.  Our money is just currency – something to trade for products and services.  How we get so many hangups about money comes from the beliefs we adopt at an early age without having the opportunity to question those beliefs.

Some common beliefs about money are:

• Money is the root of all evil
• People with money must have  sold their soul to get it
• People with money must be doing something illegal to get it
• I get enough in the form of being appreciated by clients
• Living simply is a better way of life because you don’t need much
• If you are rich you are focused on materialist things and not caring and helping people.
• You can’t care and make money too.
• You are not in this for the money
• You can’t make money doing something that you love

The thing is that most of these beliefs about money just are not true.  As Steve also says in his book people become massage therapists to further prove their beliefs about money.  It is sort of a self serving prophesy.

There are a few ways to start looking at what your beliefs about money are.  You can just start thinking about what you think or say when you see people with money or driving a fancy car.  Are you jealous?  Angry even?  ( I had a client who once owned a Bently and he sold it back to the dealer because so many people were keying it because they were one of those things – jealous and/or angry) .  What do you think about the idea of being able to charge $100 a session for a massage?  Do you think it is impossible?  That no one would pay it?  That it would be impossible to stay in business or even get clients at that rate?

Beliefs are just the perspective or filter that you see things through.  Everyone has them and lives their lives through them.  Some see the glass half empty and others the glass half full.  We think something is true because we think it is true.

Understanding and becoming aware of the belief systems that you have about money and success is a process that takes time and learning more about how beliefs are formed and how they impact your every decision.  It is a process of learning to take responsibility for the outcomes of your actions that are based on these old beliefs.  It isn’t about blaming yourself for where you are.  It is just being willing to accept what happens when you make decisions and then change that response to get a different outcome.

Once you are more aware of these unconscious beliefs that drive your actions you can then begin to change your actions to get better results.  Instead of blaming your lack of success in your business or in the massage job market  you can start seeing that it is a result of your actions or lack of actions.  There was a particular online forum recently just wanting to blame everything on the economy.  Is it the economy or lack of financial preparation and planning?  Lack of marketing or not figuring out the right marketing method that works?

The reason I keep writing about this is yes I was once in the moneyless bubble mindset.  Until I started my websites and started making money online, I always just made just enough to live on.  I didn’t care for the most part either.  Now I know better.  A career in massage is not a license to live in poverty or even simply.  You can have whatever you want if you are willing to start thinking and challenging your beliefs about money.   While Meagan Holub’s book the Magic Touch: How to make $100,000 as a massage therapist is being released – what is the next level even that this could go to? Could a massage therapist make $250,000 ??  $500,000?   or become multi-millionaires like Bonnie Brown former massage therapist at Google.

Owen Dodge // Aug 31st 2009 at 12:11 pm

Hi Owen,

        Myofascial Release can be very helpful for menopausal symptoms. 

     From the Myofascial perspective, “Menopause” is a label for unrecognized and improperly treated myofascial restrictions.  “Menopause” is an effect, a symptomatic complex created by fascial restrictions in the fascia’s extracellular matrix(ECM). 

     Recent research has shown that aberrations in the fascia’s extracellular matrix can change the shape of the cell, which can then alter the production and balance of the biochemical and hormonal aspect of a woman’s physiology. 

     For more in depth information, go to www.massagemag.com and scroll down to the technique box.  Then click on my Therapeutic Insight article titled, “Female Problems.”

     Thanks for your interest, Owen.

John

Recently Sheila Walker posted the following thread on hydration and posed this question to me:

“Dear John,
It seems we?ve become a society obsessed with the notion of hydration, as witnessed by the blooming bottled water industry. Seems as though, everywhere you go, you can see people with their water bottles in tow. Could you please share your thoughts on how relevant our fascial system correlates with cellular hydration and therefore how to improve the effectiveness of keeping ourselves truly hydrated?”

      As Sheila has observed, everyone is walking around with their cute little water bottles, guzzling copious amounts of water.  This is about as effective as pouring water over a stone.  The surface becomes wet, but the water never penetrates to the interior. 

     The “stones” I am referring to are the collagenous restrictions of the fascial system that do not show up in any of the standard testing now being done.  The “ground substance” of the fascial system, the environment of every cell of our body, should be a gelatinous to a fluid state.  When we undergo trauma or a “thwarted” inflammatory  process, the ground substance dehydrates.  As the cellular environment, the fascial system, hardens it produces crushing pressure on the cells and blocks the flow of water, nutrition, oxygen, hormones, and/or medicine into the cell’s interior.  These fascial restrictions also block the excretion of toxins from the cell. 

     So, unfortunately no matter how much water you take in, in the presence of fascial restrictions, it doesn’t get to where your body needs it the most.  This is why I say, without Myofascial Release, the intention of drinking plenty of water is good, but it is as effective as pouring water over a stone!  Myofascial Release enhances cellular function and the effectiveness of good massage, bodywork, and energy techniques.

John