Issue link: http://cp.revolio.com/i/142672
A blog is a weblog—a diary, if you will— where you write about subjects or express opinions that are of interest to your audience. limited to those who are invited by an existing member. A social networking site created just for the massage and bodywork community is www.massageprofessionals.com. If you're entrepreneurial and technically savvy, you can create your own using any number of Internet applications. In addition to the networks, there are thousands of places where you can place free classified ads for your massage therapy practice. Gloria Coppola is a continuing education provider who uses a number of sites to post her classes. "Word of mouth has always been the best advertising," Coppola says, "and this seems to be the new word of mouth. I also get to see all the great events others are offering and attending." Coppola markets her classes for free on Backpage (www.backpage.com), Craigslist (www.craigslist.org), and EventBrite (www.eventbrite.com). While posting and searching for classes, meetings, and other events on EventBrite is free, for a reasonable fee they will also handle all your class and meeting registrations. As Coppola points out, so many people spend hours on the Internet nowadays, often to the point that print mediums such as newspapers and other traditional means of advertising are left by the wayside. Blogging is another way to keep yourself in that "top-of-mind awareness," a term I've borrowed from mentor Felicia Brown, who owns the training and consulting company Spalutions! She uses her blog to keep in touch with clients and colleagues. My blog, Massage Collage, is directed at others in the massage therapy community. However, you could just as easily write a blog targeting your clientele. A blog is a weblog—a diary, if you will—where you write about subjects or express opinions that are of interest to your audience, whether that's clients, business contacts, or other groups. Blogs allow dialogue by means of people responding to your posts, although you do have the option of checking each response and deciding whether or not to allow it on the blog. That deters spamming and inappropriate comments. Most networks mentioned in this article will allow you to feed your existing blog into the network, or use one of their applications to create one. Wordpress (www.wordpress.com) is a free and user-friendly application for creating your own blog. These resources are valuable, no-cost ways to market yourself. Taking advantage of these opportunities can save you a fortune in advertising costs, raise your profile, and make the number of useful contacts you get virtually limitless. Networking on the Internet truly allows us to create a worldwide community, a family of hands. See you on the web! SPH Laura Allen is the author of Plain & Simple Guide to Therapeutic Massage and Bodywork Examinations and One Year to a Successful Massage Therapy Practice. She is the owner of THERA-SSAGE, an alternative wellness clinic of over a dozen practitioners of different disciplines, and continuing education facility, in Rutherfordton, North Carolina.