Issue link: http://cp.revolio.com/i/142672
chair massage etc. It will always be easier to sell these kinds of contracts. The value of chair Minimize Your Risks massage for the I have seen countless practitioners rent booths at trade shows. A typical trade show booth at a two- or three-day consumer trade show costs $1,000. For someone doing chair massage, that's outrageously expensive. Even at $20 per massage, you'd have to do more than 16 hours of massage just to cover your booth expense. Now suppose you were to approach the event organizer and make a proposal like this: "Hi, Miss Event Organizer. I have an incredibly novel way to add value to your show, to make it an experience that will have attendees telling all their friends about the event and that will keep people fresh and on the floor for longer periods of time interacting and buying from the vendors who have paid you so much to be here. "The service is chair massage … [describe your particular service and the benefits]. Normally I charge organizations like yours $60 per hour to massage their attendees or vendors, but I think there is a good fit here and there could be some spinoff business for me. So I would be willing to forgo my fee, which would normally be $1,440 for the weekend, and massage your attendees if you would be willing to let me use a small five foot square space in a high traffic area. I only ask that you allow me to charge individual attendees a nominal fee for my service." public, for your practice, and for the industry is something that the massage profession as a whole hasn't quite caught onto. Personally, I wouldn't take this approach. I'd sell her on the idea of hiring me at an hourly rate for the event so that I was guaranteed income through the weekend. The point is, instead of paying $1,000 that I may not even recover, I have made arrangements to have a rentfree space at one of the highest traffic locations in the show. There are an unlimited number of opportunities for these kinds of arrangements, from senior residences to hair salons. In most cases, you will have to sell to the person that owns the "real estate." It could be an airport authority, senior residence management, company HR, event organizer, or a nail shop owner. The important thing to remember in setting up these arrangements is that everyone must benefit—the organization, the individual user, and you. With my trade show example, I'm not the only one to benefit from the arrangement. The attendees and vendors will have an accessible massage service to help them get through the show and perhaps even make it a pleasurable experience. The event organizer has a unique service that will delight the attendees, get them talking up the show and sticking around longer to shop. And, of course, I have a rentfree space to do my massage and the opportunity to make some money. The value of chair massage for the public, for your practice, and for the industry is something that the massage profession as a whole hasn't quite caught onto. It presents an opportunity just waiting for you to take advantage of. For more information on marketing your chair massage business, check out the Marketing Chair Massage 101 ecourse at www.bodyworkbiz.com. SPH Eric Brown, MT, has been a massage therapist for more than two decades and has pioneered the development of chair massage in Canada. He is the cofounder of the World Massage Conference.