1. Upgrade to ABMP Certified Membership
Associated Bodywork & Massage Professionals (ABMP) is the largest association in the profession. More than 80,000 massage and bodywork practitioners get successful practice resources at their fingertips and peace of mind knowing we’ve got you covered.
While Professional membership only costs $199 per year and brings more than 50 benefits, from liability insurance to product discounts, it really makes sense to upgrade to Certified level if you’re serious about getting the best value.
Why? The added benefits include bigger discounts from some of the profession’s key vendors; a quarterly music download; eBooks with free CE hours; and highlighted listings on the Massagetherapy.com referral service, where clients search for therapists. Certified membership costs just $30 more per year. Check out the benefits at www.abmp.com/go/certifiedcentral.
2. Take Advantage of Marketing Materials
Like the looks of this page? Did it draw you in and invite you to start reading? That’s what having a good, professional designer working for you can do.
Good designers work for every ABMP member. Members have free access to a range of attractive, customizable, eye-catching ads, brochures, newsletters, and other marketing materials. They come as predesigned templates into which you insert your own contact information. Add your own copy or use ours. Then, print your marketing piece yourself or take it to a printer, and it’s ready to send to clients or distribute around town to promote your business—letting you focus on massage, not copy editing or layout.
3. Enjoy a Free Website
If you don’t have a dynamic website, you’re losing business. If the prospect of designing your own website—or paying thousands of dollars for someone else to design it and hundreds more to host it—leaves you cold, ABMP can help. Next amazing membership benefit: free use of the ABMP Website Builder.
“We have the best website builder in the profession,” says Lara Evans Bracciante, director of information services for ABMP. “Members can choose from dozens of templates and color schemes. It has unlimited pages and free hosting. We have suggested content. We call it ‘choose and use’ content. We can populate the pages for you and make suggestions about what to put on those pages. You can use it however you see fit and change the look and content of your site whenever you like.”
So far, nearly 20,000 ABMP members use the service and frequently rave about it, Bracciante says.
4. Adopt Affordable Scheduling Software
ABMP members can subtract up to 40 percent off the cost of Full Slate’s appointment scheduling software—the perfect tool to drop into your new website so clients can book their appointments online. When you sign up for a free 10-appointment trial, a live coach will walk you through the setup process. After that, the service normally costs $29.95 a month—but just $17.97 through ABMP. “There are lots of ABMP members using Full Slate, and we love them!” says Chris Korol, cofounder of Full Slate.
5. Cash In on Gift Cards
Don’t let another holiday season go by without making it as simple as possible for clients to put your services under the tree. TheGiftCardCafe.com lets you offer instant printable gift certificates online or special daily deal certificates similar to Groupon or Living Social. The company offers two flexible pricing plans. ABMP members receive 50 percent off all setup fees and advertising solutions, and also get half off Café Credits, which can be used to pay for phone order gift certificates. “Our system has generated millions in additional revenue for ABMP members via online gift certificate and special deal sales,” says founder Gregg Gottschling.
6. Retain Legal Assistance
If you are setting up a new business, signing a commercial lease, pursuing a trademark, or drafting a contract, you need a lawyer. Several firms provide ABMP member discounts. Simplicity Law, for example, specializes in helping small businesses, usually over the phone. They charge flat rates, not hourly fees, with basic services starting as low as $100. ABMP members can knock 10 percent or more off that. “To review a lease, I would normally charge $350. For you guys, I offer it for $300,” says Mary Weston, an attorney in the firm’s Boulder, Colorado, office. “It’s because I enjoy working with massage therapists. They’re entrepreneurs, and this is their opportunity to own their own business.”
7. Go Mobile with Credit Card Processing
No need to buy expensive credit card processing machines. With CellCharge Inc., massage therapists can use their smartphones to either key in a customer’s credit card information or, with the Phone Swipe option and the free credit card reader that comes with it, just swipe the card. There are no setup fees and no monthly fees. “Through the years, we’ve had thousands of ABMP members use our service,” said Dave Garboski, president of CellCharge. “People always say they don’t want to take credit cards because they don’t want to pay a percentage of the transaction amount. But if you get one extra customer a day because of the fact you take credit cards, it offsets that.”
8. Cut Your Cell Phone Bill
Both T-Mobile and Verizon go out of their way to attract ABMP members. T-Mobile offers members a 10 percent discount on monthly recurring charges, as well as providing free or discounted prices on a rotating list of phone accessories. Right now, for example, ABMP members can get a free Sony Speaker Ball (valued at $69.99) with the purchase of a Sony Xperia Z phone. Verizon offers up to a 15 percent discount on phone or data plan charges, as well as discounts on phones and accessories. “Any way you look at it, it’s a better deal than what you’d get in a store,” says Phillip Madigan of Verizon.
9. Save Big on Computers and Electronic Products
Dell wants massage therapists to run their businesses on Dell products, so the company offers a best price guarantee to ABMP members, which means more than 30 percent off select PCs and tablets, 10 percent off select electronics and accessories, and something off virtually everything. “Dell partners with ABMP because of our strong corporate relationship with you guys,” says Monica Bloemen, a manager with Dell’s Member Purchase Program. “Because of that relationship, members and their families are eligible for discounts on all Dell products.”
10. Take the Inside Track on Tax Preparation
ABMP members can download a coupon to get a $15 discount on tax preparation services at any of the 11,000 H&R Block offices nationwide, says Kevin Leek, director of business development for the company. Those doing their own returns using H&R Block At Home software can get as much as a 35 percent discount on the filing charges.
Rebecca Jones is a tenured Massage & Bodywork freelance writer. She lives and writes in Denver, Colorado. Contact her at killarneyrose@comcast.net.
Additional Business Needs
Support “Buy Local” initiatives by offering your gift card services with LocalGiftCards.com. To learn more, go to www.localgiftcards.com or call 888-494-9760. Watch the success story of one small business entrepreneur and how she grew her sales in her spa on LocalGiftCard’s success story page.
Need to manage your client records, office expenses, and general record keeping? MindBodyOnline and Bodywork Buddy provide complete business software packages. To learn more, go to www.mindbodyonline.com, or call 877-755-4279, or visit www.bodyworkbuddy.com.
Make it easy for clients to pay you by accepting credit cards.
In addition to ABMP’s discount with CellCharge, these companies also offer great services. Compare and see which program is best for you.
Intuit—http://payments.intuit.com/mobile-credit-card-processing
Pay Simple—www.paysimple.com
Square—https://squareup.com
To read this article in our digital issue, click here.