Money, Charity and Mothers Day

So here I am, mid April already and my work schedule… growing exceedingly slim. This week, starting from Monday, I have made a total of $0. No I didn’t miss a key stroke that really does say Zero Dollars. As I’ve mentioned before Oakville has been slow, a client i was supposed to have Wednesday night cancelled last minute and said she would reschedule for Friday (today). Surprise Surprise she has not. Mississauga keeps me busy but only on weekends. My own personal venture, my clinic space in Burlington, has been lagging.

I take 100% blame for that. In February I had my first good month in clinic. Making enough to pay the rent AND deposit some into my bank account. I thought I had finally started on my way. And although it was a good experience and it felt as though the fruits of my labor were finally paying off, I am right back to where I was in December and January. That is without clients and without money. Totally my fault. In February the things i had done previously were paying off so my push to gain more slowed down. This wasn’t conscious and was not a sudden stop just a slow decline that I didn’t really notice.

March started off fine, I was away the first week but when I came back I had two clients finally redeeming gift certificates they had obtained. Again, I felt like I was keeping the ball rolling so to speak. I didn’t notice that I was still not doing anything to further promote myself. April… I have done very very little business. Short of a rush of people storming through the clinic doors demanding my business it will be a short month in the clinic. And an almost non-existent month from Oakville.

Being that April has been slow and I’ve been spending lots of time sitting around I finally noticed “SHIT! I’m not promoting!”. There it is my realization that I am failing my business, sheer laziness for no other reason than I got caught up with trying to look busy. I could be busier. I want to be busier. So I’ve started up the marketing wheel again. I went out to an Average Joe’s sports night. I felt that the setup wasn’t exactly professional. So i set up a small table and left my cards and my newsletter and dropped 3 gift certificates to get peoples attention. Then I left and came back at the end to collect my things. Not ideal but at least the gift certificates were gone and probably a few cards and newsletters as well. The following day I went with the clinic to a School Board trade show. It seemed promising, I was happy with the results. Now its just a matter of waiting for something to come of it.

But here is what may be my best idea, and I jacked it from somebody else so I won’t even try to claim it as my own. Mothers Day is fast approaching and who wouldn’t want to give their mother a relaxing massage or help with a bad back, sore feet or a chronic problem. What a perfect time to market my massage and sell some gift certificates. So I’m going to be sending out an ad-email to contacts of the clinic to spur some business. But the added selling point, the idea I got from a massage marketing email I receive regularly, is to incorporate a worthy cause. By announcing that I will be donating a portion of the proceeds to a charity people are getting a two for one good feel. They get to give the gift of healing massage to a loved one as well as the satisfaction of knowing you are also helping a worthy cause.

I feel like this approach will be positive in terms of bringing in clients and it also gives me a personal satisfaction aside from the monetary benefits I could see. I get a feeling of accomplishment in knowing I am building my business. But more than that I get to feel righteous in my endeavors that I will be doing something to give back to a community and a deserving organization. I emailed the humane society of Burlington to see if they are interested in my endeavor. Now I just wait for the okay. I’m happy to be making money and know that minus all of my short comings I am still a very lucky person. So I feel like it is a responsibility to provide the same opportunity to others, animals included.

Hopefully this all works out and I can boast later how my clinic is thriving and I am continuously able to help others outside of the walls of a healing massage by giving back to the global community. If you would like to give the gift of massage as well as donate to the Humane Society and help some some-times helpless animals, you can buy a gift certificate through me personally or through the clinic. 905-633-9409 Spine, Body and Sole Healthy Center 3455 Harvester Road, Burlington, Ont.