Monthly Massage Marketing Tip
By Michael Humphreys, N.C.T.M.B.

This month's massage marketing tip is inspired by several email requests from subscribers that are currently doing mobile massage businesses. This tip is a different than anything else I have written in the past 3 years because it's one marketing tactic that I have not used personally in my own massage practice to date.

However, it's one that is rising in popularity among massage therapists and a good friend of mine has used to market his mobile computer repair business.

That's an important idea to remember: many times you can discover unique ways to promote your business by seeing how businesses in other industries are marketing themselves.

I like to refer to this month's marketing tip as the mobile billboard method.

According to a recent study, as many as 33% of massage clients prefer to receive massage in the comfort of their home. For the massage therapist that doesn't have their own massage office or want to work from their own home, doing housecalls can be a lucrative avenue.

One powerful way that the mobile massage therapist can promote their business is by placing some type of sign on their car. The most popular method is to use a magnetic sign that will safely attach to the car door without damaging the paint.

My computer repair friend, who I'll call Greg to protect his privacy, discovered this method of marketing purely by accident. Greg is a hard working business owner who has one major hobby that he's very passionate about: racing cars. A few years ago, Greg bought a used Porsche and joined a Porsche racing club. The club would hold races through out the mid-Atlantic area for all of its members.

The club required every car to have either a number or visible sign on the car, so that they could easily identify all of the members cars while they were on the track.

Greg wasn't about to paint a number on the side of his newly purchased car. So as a compromise, he had a local printing company make up a magnetic sign that had his business's name and contact information on it.

Greg could just drive his car around town without the signs on it during the week, and on race day, he would put the magnetic signs on the driver and passenger side doors while he was on the race track.

Greg picked up the signs and headed to the next racing event. He put the magnetic signs on his car before the race and afterwards, an amazing thing happened. Three other club members who he had never met before, came up to him to ask him if he could help them with their computers.

That was over 2 years ago. Greg has developed over 20 loyal clients from that racing club. In fact, he is able to write off this expensive hobby as a business expense because every time he goes to a race, he is either repairing a club member's computer or networking to gain new business.

Locally, Greg has started to put the magnetic signs on his car to promote his business and he's never been busier. And he's not alone. Geek Squad, a mobile computer repair company that is owned by retail giant Best Buy, takes this idea even further and use uniquely painted cars that promote the Geek Squad business everytime they are driven anywhere.

The next time you driving around your hometown, take notice how many cars and trucks have their own mobile billboard promoting their business. Check your local phone book and call a few sign making companies and get some quotes on removable magnetic signs.

During your normal work hours, you can place the magnetic signs on your car. And when your work day is done, you can simply remove the magnetic signs and you are officially "off-duty"!

That’s all for this month. On behalf of Eric, we'll look forward to talking with you next month.

Seize The Day,

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