If you have zero dollars to grow your massage business, don’t sweat it. There is one surefire way that you can bring in clients and get your massage business rolling: Demo massages.

Demo Massage to Build Your Massage Business

Demo massage are done for free.

After you get done choking on your gum I’m going to explain why free is not bad–and actually good.

Oh, still not done?…take your time…I know this seems like very choke-worthy-stuff here…okay, you’re starting to breathe again…good…so, here’s my argument for doing demo massages.

One, it’s the absolute cheapest way to advertise.

Anyone trying to build a massage business, even coming fresh out of massage school with debt, can afford to demo massages.

Hell, you don’t even need to buy face cradle covers and disinfectant wipes. You can simply use paper towels and a spray disinfectant from home.

Also, if you’re thinking you need to have a massage chair, think again. I do my demo massages using my massage table.

Two, you’ll be selling massage using your best marketing tool: Your hands.

But, Mark, what about lowering the value of my service?

I promise you that you’ll never devalue your massage if you follow these 3 rules.

Rule #1: Not Free For Everybody

Only offer free demo massage to strategic business allies and their clients. A strategic business ally is someone who can refer clients to you, like a hospital, MD, chiropractor, PT, personal trainer, hotel, or retirement community.

Rule #2: It’s Free! (for 15 minutes)

Limit the length of the massage to 15 or 30 minutes. Typically, I’ll offer a business ally (e.g. chiropractor) a free 30 minute massage. And I’ll offer her patients 15 minute massages.

I give the extra time to the chiropractor because I want to demonstrate that I’m a good fit with her practice. For her patients, 15 minutes is the perfect amount of time to find and treat pain/problem areas.

Rule #3: Limit the Time of the Offer

Offer free massages for 3 months (12 weeks). For the first 6 weeks, do demo massage once a week. For the next 6 weeks, do demo massages once every 2 weeks. At the end of 3 months, reevaluate and decide if periodic demo massages in the future are important to keep you connected to your business ally and her clients.

How to Pitch Demo Massages

Dr. Bernie Stern is a chiropractor and one of my business allies. I built a great business relationship with him through demo massages. One day I asked him how a massage therapist should pitch demo massages to a chiropractor.

He said it’s important to emphasize that demo massages add value to a chiropractor’s practice. Patients get a free massage and the chiropractor doesn’t have to pay for anything. He even has a special name for a demo massage day: Patient Appreciation Day. You can watch my interview with Dr. Stern here: How to Pitch Your Massage to a Chiropractor.

What You Need

If you’re really tight on money, just take the bare necessities to your demo massage–a table, face cradle covers (paper towels), whatever you use to clean your table and business cards.

If you don’t have business cards, that’s okay. Have a sign-up sheet where a client can write his email address and/or cell phone number.

How you look, how you talk and how you use your hands are what’s going to sell you.

Probably not a good idea to dress like this:

Easy to Follow Demo Script

If you’re not good selling yourself—that can be a selling point. In other words, people appreciate not being sold. Here’s my non-selling sales approach.

1. After the massage, I tell the person what I found (e.g., tight right levator scapulae) using an anatomy chart.
2. Then I tell and show them what I did to address that area.
3. I then make my recommendations (e.g., use a self-massage tool, like a tennis ball in a sock and lean against the wall to massage the levator scapulae attachment).

Nine out of ten times the client will ask for my card. If she doesn’t, I have the option to offer her one.

Follow Up After the Demo

I always thank my business ally after I do demo massages. And I look for ways to reciprocate. If I think a client might benefit from my business ally’s service, I will refer her to my business ally. Sometimes I’ll introduce a business ally to my client base via an email blast. Other times I may run a free massage drawing for my business ally’s customers.

My goal is to establish a relationship that flows in both directions. I refer to her. She refers to me. And our mutual clients are happy.

If You Wait to Start/Grow your Massage Business, It Only Gets Worse

The longer you wait to start demo massages, the longer you will be stuck with a massage business is going nowhere or never gets started at all.

If you’re still a little unsure about putting yourself out there with demo massages, check out How to Sell a Lot of Massage with Your Hands.

Once you commit to demo massages, do a Google search for businesses that might be good allies. Call and set up your demo massages. Remember to:

1. Offer the demo massages to the business ally and her customers only,
2. Limit the length of the massage to 30 minutes for your business ally and 15 minutes for her customers,
3. Limit the offer to 3 months, then reevaluate to see if you want to continue on a periodic basis.

That’s it. And once you get your first demo under your belt, the next one will be easier.

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