As you tune into updated news reports during these unprecedented times, it can feel like nothing is within your control. But that is simply not true. Though we may not have control over everyone’s health and wellness or the economy’s ups and downs, there is plenty that we can do to reset our massage and bodywork practices to put us in the optimal position for relaunching business when it’s safe to do so.

That’s why we’ve created this COVID-19 survival guide for massage and bodywork professionals. It’s packed with projects to help keep you winning over the next few weeks while practicing social distancing at this crucial time for our world. If you want to dive into some of these tasks, we welcome you to celebrate your small wins with us on Instagram. Tag us @massagebook and we will feature some of our favorite snaps!

Before we begin, let’s take a moment to pause and reframe any fear we might be experiencing.

Most of us have been moving at a breakneck pace for years. Though this pause is causing a massive amount of stress for small business owners and solopreneurs, there’s also a massive opportunity to focus inward and get to those things we’ve been putting off. Whenever you need encouragement, take a moment and try to return to this thought. There is always much to be learned.

Now let’s get on to the projects!

Deep Clean Your Massage Equipment and Workspace

As massage and bodywork professionals, we know that cleanliness has always been a key component to our success. However, there might be some deep cleaning projects you can take on now that you have been given the gift of time.

Here is a list of suggestions:

• Deep clean your massage tables and chairs

• Check bolts and tighten as necessary

• Apply oil to any hardware that causes squeaking

• Use color-safe bleach to wash all linens

• Steam clean floors

• Scrub baseboards with non-abrasive soap and water

• Scrub air vents

• Bleach bathroom surfaces

• Scrub cleaning tools like mops and buckets

• Power wash the walkway outside your building

• Prune any trees or bushes

• Pull weeds from concrete cracks or flower beds

• Wash windows inside and out

• Replace all air filters

• Remove dirt from outdoor signage

• Replace light bulbs

• Install dimmer switches in therapy rooms

• Clean out the office kitchen: fridge, microwave, blender, sink, etc.

• Clean product shelves and product

• Use a Q-tip to clean computer keyboard and mouse

• Declutter all drawers

If you provide outcall services or drive to work, consider deep cleaning the inside of your car as well. It can start your day on a great note to get in to a clean, clutter-free vehicle. Toss receipts and discarded trash, scrub the surfaces, use a leather or upholstery cleaner for the seats, and wash floor mats.

Want to save a copy of the list to your phone or tablet for easy reference? Here is part 1 and part 2.

Convert From Paper to Electronic Massage SOAP Notes and Client Intake Forms

Now that you have an insanely clean workspace, it’s time to ditch the paper clutter and go digital. If you’re working with an old filing system, this may take some time. But don’t worry, MassageBook’s SOAP Note and Client Intake Form software is your partner in streamlining the management of your massage practice.

For most massage therapists and bodyworkers, SOAP notes and intake forms are the bulk of their paperwork load. They usually encourage a client to fill out a form before an appointment and then file it away. But this means more wasted time for you having to pull the file and review, as well as more time away from the table for the client.

Moving over to MassageBook’s SOAP Note and Client Intake Form software will put all key client information right at your fingertips. Imagine having a single tablet that allows you to look up your client’s profile in a few taps so that you can refresh your memory about their particular injuries, medications, preferences, issues discussed at the last appointment, and follow-up items. Now imagine supplying an emailed intake form before the appointment—in conjunction with an appointment confirmation—so that you can greet your client and immediately escort them back to the treatment room. It’s efficiency at its finest!

When you utilize MassageBook for your electronic SOAP notes, you will instantly better organize your day. Do you have trouble remembering to fill out your notes between appointments? Our software keeps track of those and reminds you to create them so that they don’t pile up.

Writing notes manually can be trying too, so that’s why we have a Premium version of SOAP notes that practically write themselves. You can choose a part of the anatomy and select choices from a short form. This will convert your shorthand into complete sentences, making sure that the note is crystal clear. You can even draw your findings directly on the anatomy chart!

If you’re ready to convert to electronic SOAP notes and intake forms, we recommend starting with your regular clientele and moving backward to less frequent visitors. Working with new clients is easy too. You can send them an intake form and start creating SOAP notes as soon as you add them to your MassageBook business. The payoff cannot be overstated—but find your comfort level and adjust when necessary.

To learn more about how to work with our SOAP Note and Client Intake Form software, take a look at these help resources.

Organize Your Email List and Play With Segmentation for Better Massage Marketing Ideas

Perhaps you’ve already gone digital and are looking for ways to ramp up your marketing strategy. If that’s where you’re at now, it’s important that you stay top of mind with the audiences who need and interact with you most.

Email marketing is a great way to start conversations and keep your clients updated about what’s new at your business—but if you are simply leaving everyone in the same list—you could be squandering opportunities to take a more personalized and proactive approach.

MassageBook’s easy-to-use massage marketing software lets you quickly create beautifully designed Email Campaigns and segment your client list into groups with specific needs or differentiators based on data you collect in MassageBook.

When you are selecting the recipients of your Email Campaign, you simply choose “Selected Clients” and then “+Add Criteria” to start segmenting your list. You can pick from different criteria such as how long ago was the client’s last visit, the source of how the client found out about your business, the client’s number of appointments, and more.

You can also add your own personalized tags to any and all clients and send to just those people. Tags are labels you create to help organize your client list. Look for commonalities, both large and small, that could help you better structure your audience. This all depends on the type of business you operate, but some examples could include athletes, parents, and office workers.

In the screenshot below, we are segmenting this email for people who have not visited for an appointment in over 35 days:

When you have your options exactly as you want them, you can experiment with creating emails that feel more personalized. For example, if someone hasn’t been to visit in awhile, you might consider a subject line like “We Miss You! See Inside for a Special Discount On Your Next Visit” or “It’s Been Awhile. Stress Relief Is Here!”

This segmentation allows you to become a skilled email marketer and quickly generate marketing ideas for your own massage Promotions. So stop sending out the same emails to everyone and comb your list for opportunities!

To learn more about how to use email segmentation in our massage marketing software, read this help article on how to send a targeted Email Campaign.

Need a visual how-to? Watch these videos to learn how to create massage promotions and share them using email marketing.

Create a Social Media Marketing Calendar for Your Massage Business

One of the biggest struggles we hear about from our MassageBook members is that they simply don’t have enough time to create the content they want. We try to help as much as possible with marketing ideas about massage promotions, holiday content, and shareable posts. However, now’s a great opportunity to backlog some evergreen content that can be launched when the time is right.

First, we recommend coming up with a few categories for content. We refer to these as content pillars. Content pillar examples can include Education, Testimonials, Promotions, and Fun. Working within these categories, you can plan posts to be published and generate a variety of posts to engage your audience.

Here are some massage marketing ideas you can pull from right now:

Educational post ideas:

• Benefits of specific types of massage and bodywork

• Techniques you use and why

• The history of your massage practice and journey

• Stress relief tips

• Introduce pressure points or chakras

Testimonial post ideas:

• Create an image with a testimonial quote

• Quote 5-star reviews from MassageBook

• Create a video of a few image quotes

• Ask for video testimonials from clients

Side note: if your clients have extra downtime during this period too, consider kindly asking them to review you on Google. Check out this post to learn how MassageBook makes it easy!

Promotional post ideas:

• Create images around each holiday and your planned discounts

• Offer promotions for reviewing your practice on Google or Facebook

• Create a few posts about gift certificates

• Create a few giveaway posts to be deployed throughout the year

Fun post ideas:

• Share/repost a meme or humorous cartoon

• Share interesting facts about yourself or staff

• History of massage therapy

• Famous quotes about massage

• Light-hearted jokes related to holidays or holiday stressors

• Share your professional or personal mantra(s)

• Meditation or relaxation tips

• Tips for better sleeping

Keep on Learning New Massage Skills and Techniques

Lastly, this is a great time for continuing your massage and bodywork education. Our work as professionals in this field is never complete and ever-changing. Staying indoors is a great time to virtually take on new subjects, especially if there’s an aspect you’ve been meaning to explore but haven’t.

You can download resources and research about new techniques, or you can simply get inspired by watching YouTube videos of professionals you admire. Use this time to take notes and think about obstacles you face daily. With enough contemplation and research, we are sure you can come up with solutions that fit your wants and needs.

Need somewhere to start your search?

Both members and non-members of AMTA ( American Massage Therapy Association) can explore free and paid courses that cover a range of categories, including Research, Massage General Courses, and Self-Care.

Members of ABMP (Associated Bodywork and Massage Professionals) have access to exclusive content where they can learn new modalities, study up on ethics, gain insight into current trends, and more.

Whatever it is you’re undertaking, always do your best to learn, grow, and uncover your potential!

Complete Your Next Win Today

COVID-19 has truly changed the world overnight. While much of the impact remains to be seen, we are here to help you use this time to streamline, pivot, and emerge stronger than ever.

We hope that these projects and tips help keep your business moving along in a positive direction, and we look forward to seeing the many ways in which you continue to succeed!

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We get by with a little help from our friends around here—so if you know a friend or two in the industry could use some inspiration these days—we’d appreciate it if you shared these projects with them too.