You’re approaching the end of massage school. Now what?! Where do you start? How do you spend your time prior to starting your fabulous, successful massage practice? It can feel daunting, for sure. Once your logistical concerns are taken care of (like choosing a space to practice, acquiring your massage & business licenses), you might still be feeling some overwhelm about being a ‘beginner.’
Putting yourself out there can be daunting for many massage therapists. Oftentimes new therapists distract themselves with the logistics, i.e. I can’t start seeing clients until I have X, Y, Z. Sometimes the most important part is not the website, the business cards, etc. Sometimes the most important part is to just start.
Here’s an easy way to start and get over the inertia of that initial period: Set up your massage room and just start working on clients. Don’t worry about income for that first month (but make sure that you are covered financially!). View that first month as an extension of your education and invite anybody and everybody you can to come and receive massage. Ask for feedback. Thank them for the opportunity to work with them. Practice setting up treatment plans and communicating with clients for return visits & referrals.
After you have done twenty or thirty sessions in that first month, you will start to develop confidence as the techniques that you learned in school begin to get refined with real-world client communication & feedback. Then, you will not only be ready for the next stage of growth, but you will also feel ready to start promoting & embodying your practice.
I am appalled that you would suggest that graduates who are not yet licensed begin to practice without their license. That is ILLEGAL! Regardless if they receive money or not once they graduate legally they may NOT practice massage on anyone other than immediate family members until they receive their license! Please reference RCW 18.108.030 and 18.108.050!
I don’t think they were suggesting that at all. In the first paragraph, it states AFTER the new therapists have gotten the logistics taken care of, like a state license and a business license, THEN start massaging people.
Great points! I have spent the majority of my practice worried about “x,y, and z”. Massage school wasn’t effective in modeling the massage as a career.
What points? This article is so ignorant. Like a graduate is going to just begin massaging 30 clients and where do they get these clients fresh out of school? It takes time to build a clientele. You don’t come fresh out of school and magically you have 30 clients in your first month.
This article is a joke!
This article shows how it is great and effective to lead with confidence. That is how you will get clients to return and be able to pick up on necessary info. Instead of being distracted by nerves and not paying attention. I will say, who can find that many people to work on? I have been working for myself in the Spokane Valley for a few years now. And, the issue I find is that people don’t even know I am there! I am trying to market. But, this town just seems to be “word of mouth” for the most part. I have put out ads and not gotten. Even one response. Please let me know where these flocks of clients may come from. I’m trying to bring massage awareness to the valley! I will be at the Fairfield flag day festival this Saturday, June 9th, 2018 doing seated massage. I should be the only massage therapist there! After graduating in 2008 and being an employee at many different places. Going out on my own has been amazing since 2013. I have hit a lot of road blocks from the places I rent from. I am in a great place now! I would love to hear how others have been able to acquire soooo many clients in so little time. Because, I am still only half booked! Thanks!
Great Tips! Thanks for this article