Marketing A Massage Therapy Practice In The Caribbean

Read A Marketing Strategy That May Work For You

To be honest, awhile back I had come to the point of discontinuing my pursuit of this niche.  But as I delved deeper into the market, online and offline, I realized the Massage Therapists severely lacked marketing skills to grow their business offline or online.  

Most, and this can be validated by a quick Google search for Massage Therapists in Trinidad and Tobago or the Caribbean, are totally unaware of how to use the Internet to attract new clients. Only a small percentage has a web site, blog or social network page.  

Massage Therapist in the Caribbean need marketing guidance.  The potential for the massage therapy market is huge, therapist just need to come up with a strategy that will have clients calling them instead of they looking for clients.  

As a quick example, we all know that almost every island in the Caribbean is a tourist resort.  Massage Therapists can make contractual 

arrangements with hotels to service their guests.  Presented properly no hotelier will resist the opportunity to add another service to their menu of services and offered to guests.    

This simple strategy will have clients calling instead of the therapist searching every nook and cranny for a client.

That is exactly how it is for most new licensed Massage Therapists in the Caribbean.

The fact is that the term “Massage” in the Caribbean a few years ago conjured up scenes of what should rightly be known as “Sex Massage Parlors”.  Therapeutic massage in these places were not offered or wanted.  The word was used as a euphemism for prostitution.   It was tainted and some people still believe that’s all it is.  It puts professional therapists on the defensive of having to explain that a therapeutic massage has nothing to do with sex. 

Then there are the “village massagers”, individuals in various parts of Trinidad and maybe in other Caribbean countries, who make a living from snapping back dislocated joints, attending to muscle pains and administering potions to ease pain.   These individuals are not licensed therapists; in fact they would probably laugh at anyone who tried to check on their formal credentials.  They have built striving businesses with word of mouth advertising.  

  

Today, in the Caribbean, professional massage therapy is trending but in a peculiar sort of way.   For example, it Trinidad there is an established school that I mentioned in my last post Massage Therapy Niche in Trinidad and Tobago.   

That school is accredited to issue at least a hundred Massage Therapy certificates a year.  There are also a number of individuals who have become accredited to issue certificates.   As such, the trend is for Massage Therapists to train other individuals providing them with the basics art or massage. 

As a consequence, the market may soon reach the point to saturation with a number of non-practicing, licensed massage therapists.  Not one of the schools or Massage Therapy courses prepared them for the challenge of marketing their services.  

Only a small percentage of the general population knows the benefits of regular therapeutic massages.  

To educate the population is a very expensive marketing challenge.  The massage therapy industry has not evolved sufficiently where practitioners are able to form an association.  It therefore falls on the individual therapist to market his/her services in what ever way they could. 

Awareness brings growth and demand for particular services. Differentiate yourself, develop and adopt a strategy and go forward; the market is ripe for the picking.  

I have not kept a promise to you to share my experience offline with other massage therapist.  I will I just felt like sharing this post with you before.  And you know what?  I just did. 

Thanks for reading and stay blessed.

The Massage Therapy Niche In Trinidad & Tobago

How To Establish Your Massage Therapy Practice

This blog is a result of a decision I made a couple of months ago to target a specific niche.  I chose the Massage Therapy niche because of personal reasons which I rather not share here.   

What I would like to share is my experience so far with in the niche.  Hopefully as a therapist you will learn something from my experience. 

My research had indicated that the niche was small, maybe a bit too small but I also saw signs of growth and since I had already made the decision I decided to follow it through.   A quick search on the net came up with a school run by a therapist in Marabella. Madam Professor Emeritus Pearl Gopaul.  The website described the school as;

.

 “A…private, non-profit, professional tertiary level institution, educating and training massage therapists for top level careers in these professions.

 Established in 1997 by Pearl Gopaul at her residence, #19 Cedar Drive, Marabella, the school outgrew its space after two years and now occupies 11,500sq.ft. of land at #68 Market Street, the building has an area of 5,400sq.ft”.

 After skimming the site my impression was that this it was a well established organization. 

I called the number on the site.  After explaining who I was and asking to speak to Madam Gopaul, the person who answered advised that I send M. Gopaul an email explaining myself to her.  “No problem”, I said. I left a message with my phone number and got the email address.   

Email sent; no response, no call.

Forgive them Lord… this is a common occurrence in Trinidad so I intentionally leave the barest of information when I leave a message.   

IMHO two forms of message the Madame must have gotten one.  

   

Next I did a search online and located about 3 local therapist.  The first one I contacted went by the single name Rinalda.  She operated in the Port of Spain area and according to her “not originally from Trinidad”.

  After a couple of phone calls back and forth she explained that she could not assist but she offered a few suggestions which I gladly noted.  She also asked to add my email address to her list.  She apparently had built an email list of people she contacted or massaged. 

“Of course”,  I said and have not regretted it yet.   

In fact, I liked them so much that offered to set up a blog for her ; free of charge.  She declined, she was “not that organized”  to consistently maintain a blog.  A short time later she sent me a link to a blog.  It was nicely done but I think she know herself well because don’t think she ever maintained it.   The emails started coming again without any reference to the blog. 

The next therapist I contacted was a totally different experience.  I'll share that with you in another post.  Just want to keep this short.  Feel free to make a comment or just jump off and return some other time.  

Stay blessed. 

Detox Massage: Manual Lymphatic Drainage

Understanding How It's Done 

Article by Randa Khalil & Lina Baker

Visit their site at Pure Inside Out

Manual Lymphatic Drainage is a form of massage that stimulates the lymphatic system with gentle massaging strokes. The light rhythmical massage encourages the lymphatic system to eliminate metabolic waste products, excess fluid and bacteria. The technique was invented by massage therapists Dr Emil and Mrs. Estrid Vodder in the early 1930s.

 
The effects of Manual Lymph Drainage are numerous and include general benefits to the nervous and muscular systems. MLD is a great addition to other detox measures, as it encourages fluid flow in the connective tissues.

The lymphatic system is composed of lymph vessels, lymph nodes, and organs. Part of the body’s defense system, the lymph nodes remove microorganisms and other foreign substances. They act as a filtration system that keeps particulate matter, such as bacteria, from entering the bloodstream.
Stimulating the lymphatic system through manual lymphatic drainage will activate all of the above functions as well as encourage fluid circulation and cell regeneration. Both actions promote detoxification, facilitate healing and support the immune system.

“The lymphatic system has a vital role in the body by regulating the immune system, which protects the body against infection. It transports nutrients to cells and eliminates metabolic wastes, toxins and excess fluids from the body. Manual lymphatic drainage is also a very effective way of detoxing the body plus stimulating vital immune defenses. This is a powerful, deep cleansing treatment.” Explains David Goddard, ND

Manual Lymphatic Drainage benefits are numerous and include:

• Clearing areas of congestion such as swollen ankles, puffy eyes and swollen legs
• Promotion of scar tissue healing, torn ligaments and sprains.
• Post-operative healing
• Swelling relief following plastic surgery
• Treatment of lymphedema and other conditions arising from venous insufficiency
• Improving chronic conditions such as sinusitis, arthritis, acne and other skin conditions
• Deep relaxation

Lymphatic drainage is a very specific technique of manual body massage and is regarded by many as off-limits for any manipulation technique, so choose your therapist carefully.

Do it yourself: Simple Lymphatic Drainage

• Gently place your fingers, relaxed, on either side of your neck right under your ears
• Gently move the skin in a downward motion towards the back of your neck
• Repeat 10 times by gradually positioning your fingers lower and further down from your ear.
• Place fingers at the top of your shoulders on either side of the neck
• Gently massage by bringing the skin closer to the collarbone
• Repeat 5 times

Like Manual Lymphatic Drainage, the Detox Bath is an effective detox technique that you can practice in the comfort of your home. Based on an ancestral detox technique created by Louis Kuhne of Leipzig, the father of detox, in the 1880's, it is proven to encourage toxin, waste and fat elimination. The Detox Bath's working principle is to refresh the core area of the body (groin) during 10 minutes daily. This effective detox technique uses only water to enhance the body’s healing capacity as well as improve body tone and skin radiance.