Happy New Year! Every year, I like to take this time to set my goals for the coming year. This year, I thought it would be fun to find out what a few other talented massage professionals are planning for the new year. Not only did this take some of the pressure off me having to write my blog this week, it gave me and a lot of hope for our profession. Enjoy!
My goals for 2012 is to branch into different professions like yoga, personal training, chiropractic and more. I already have video shoots set-up for early next year. I still plan on shooting massage videos, but I’ve noticed massage is just a portion of what massage therapists do. I want to be well rounded and tap into other markets and see what can come of it. I’ve already purchased many domains to go along with my new venture and I hope the massage community will adapt to my new format.
I also want to get more therapists interested in video, because videos are constantly showing up in search engines and it’s a great way to market themselves, because so many people are more visual.
Allissa Haines – Writing A Blue Streak
2012 is fast approaching and I’m a bit behind in establishing my goals and creating (evil) plans for the New Year.
I’ve got 2 businesses going, so I’ve got 2 sets of goals to brainstorm. I like to keep things simple and fun. Because if it’s not fun, why bother?
For my massage practice, the keywords are Refine and Condense
I want to get more aggressive about enforcing a tight, strict schedule that accommodates only my long-time and ideal clients. It’s tough to turn away a potential new client (and their cash), just because they need an evening appointment in my already-packed schedule. It’s tough to turn away a client who is in pain. But I’ve built a great referral network and it’s time to fall back on that, rather than late nights an early mornings at the office a little too often.
For my Blue Streak project (aka: YOU!), the keywords are Useful and Fun.
I want to deliver really great tools to help you blog for your business, make your website stand out and fill your appointment books and bank accounts. I want us to continue to enjoy learning from each other, being silly and having the brilliant conversations that keep me up at night trying to get smarter.
And that’s it. I’m keeping it simple and flexible. Let’s see how that works out!
After traveling more than 10,000 miles circling the US and Canada, and making global stops in Thailand, Japan and Vietnam, the Liddle Kidz Foundation continues their innovative and certainly most auspicious Liddle Kidz Educational “Touch Tour” – the first infant and pediatric massage tour in the nation. The “Touch Tour” began in 2008 and continues to be an inclusive and engaging series of events for families and professionals. In a continued effort to make the 2012 Liddle Kidz “Touch Tour” the most inclusive and engaging in history, Liddle Kidz Foundation has rolled out a series of official events on the Liddle Kidz Foundation website: www.LiddleKidz.com
2012 will be another busy year for the Liddle Kidz Foundation! Currently, I am consulting with a number of pediatric healthcare settings to develop pediatric massage programs. So, in 2012 we will see the opportunities for children, families and pediatric massage therapist grow immensely.
This year I have plans to lecture and present workshops at a number of international conferences including:
Infant Massage: A Nurturing Intervention for Optimal Child Development at the Early Years Conference in Vancouver, BC
Introduction to Pediatric Massage (1 hour free session), Pediatric Massage: Highlighting Autism, ADD & ADHD and Pediatric Massage: Highlighting Childhood Cancer at the American Massage Conference in San Diego, CA
How to Include Pediatric Clients and Infant Massage | Grow Your Practice & You’re your Body at Florida State Massage Therapy Association Conference (FSMTA) in Orlando.
On the Liddle Kidz Foundation website, you can find a number of workshops listed, with more dates being added for 2012. Liddle Kidz Foundation continues to offer the most cutting edge and up-to-date, evidence based infant massage teacher certification (CIMT) and pediatric massage certification (CPMT), along with advanced courses in infant and pediatric massage therapy. This year look for us to offer Touch Therapy for infants in the NICU (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit), Pediatric Massage for Autism Spectrum Disorders, Pediatric Massage for Cerebral Palsy, Pediatric Massage for Cancer and more. In addition to full courses, there are opportunities to do introductory sessions.
Classes, lectures and workshops will be held throughout the United States, Canada and Japan in addition to a few surprise international locations soon-to-be announced.
And, as we do every year, we are planning an international children’s outreach to serve vulnerable infants and children living in orphanage and care settings in other parts of the world.
Liddle Kidz Foundation uses the power of touch to reach the world’s most vulnerable children with experiences of appropriate nurturing touch that they often lack. With nurturing, compassion and touch therapy, children will develop and reach their full potential. We strive to address their critical tactile needs by working directly with their families and healthcare providers in pediatric hospitals, hospices, and orphanages to provide comprehensive nurturing services, consultation, education, program development and support. We are committed to furthering the development of touch therapy services for vulnerable and underserved populations internationally. Through education and support we work to create replicable and sustainable change.
Children are our greatest gift and should be treated with extraordinary care!
To learn more and register for courses, please visit: www.LiddleKIdz.com
To learn more and apply to volunteer, please visit: www.LiddleKidz.org
To read Liddle Kidz Foundation most recent newsletter, please visit: http://www.liddlekidz.com/newsletter-archive.html
To view Liddle Kidz Foundation videos, please visit: http://www.youtube.com/liddlekidz
As for me, Ivy Hultquist, Massage and Bloggyworker…
My Massage Practice
This year I was lucky enough to add another little girl to my family. Having two girls at home has kept me from my massage practice. Some days I really miss my busy pre-motherhood practice, but the slimmed down version fits my family and my life right now. My practice is in its 12th year, and is where I will see the most noticeable change in the coming year.
Friday, After 42 years in practice, my dad retired and sold his chiropractic practice. I absolutely loved working with my dad. There were days where I thought retirement may also be a good cue for me to hang up my feet and hands and concentrate on Advanced Massage Techniques. After a lot of thought, I knew I would miss the work and my clients too much. I would also possibly be cheating myself out of a great experience of working with new clients and other health care providers. I am staying put and excited about a new experience. I am going in to this year with an open mind, a conviction to keep clear boundaries, and a desire to serve others. This year for my massage practice, my goals are to:
- Establish new hours
- Set new fee schedule effective January 15th.
Massage & Bloggywork
Also, as of January 1st, my husband is left his job at a Fortune 500 company to come home and work with me on Advanced Massage Techniques and this blog. Yes, it is about to get “real” at our house. Aaron is very, very talented in marketing and SEO department. I am very lucky. I am sure you will hear from him for guest blogs in the near future. I know he can show you how to make your website rank well and attract more clients. I am very excited about a new direction for this blog. This year, my goals for this blog are to:
- Rank #1 on Google for “massage blog”. Watch out happyendingz blog; I am taking #1. Currently I am sitting at #4 (I started the year on page four). It would be good for our profession to have a professional massage blog at number one instead of weekly tales from a brothel; wouldn’t it?
- Add website tutorials and social media information soon. I want other massage therapists to have professional websites that attract their ideal clients.
Advanced Massage Techniques
I had my best year yet for Advanced Massage Techniques. Through the charity campaign, I was able to send in $1000 to each of the charities we support through the continuing education purchases of colleagues- The Massage Therapy Foundation and Smile Train. This week, I plan on uploading the recent updates I made to every course. My goals for Advanced Massage Techniques are to:
- Increase giving from Advanced Massage Techniques. This means selling more classes. Lots, lots more.
- Add online exams
- Launch new course by March 1st. Stay tuned for more details in the near future.
Now for YOUR GOALS
I love setting goals! Goals give me direction, focus, and drive – especially when there is a great deal of change coming in my life. Now it is time for you to set your goals. Remember, goals should be “SMART”.
- Specific
- Measurable
- Attainable
- Realistic
- Timely
So, what are your goals for 2012? What changes are in store for you? Please leave your goals in the comments below.
Oh, I received my Florida massage license in the mail this month. Now, I just need to visit Florida. Add that to my goals.
Ivy Hultquist LMT, MA66325
Thank you Ryan, Allissa, and Tina for your contributions to this blog! I cannot wait to see what you all have in store for our profession!
I also want to get more therapists interested in video, because videos are constantly showing up in great way to market themselves, because so many people are more visual.
Dear Ivy,
Congratulations on your new daughter! My own 2 children have been a delight and an asset to my practice. Many of my older clients enjoy watching/speaking with them when I bring them to the office. I’m also very fortunate to have an office where I can bring my kids if I need to when they are off school. Enjoy the time you have with them as they grow so darn quick.
I’ve just finished my first full year working as an independant LLC. As someone who never even dreamed of owning her own business, it’s been an amazingly good year.
My goal for this year is to become more efficient, and learn to use the technology I’ve been so darn intimidated by so far.
So after trying several methods for scheduling, book keeping, music variety, I’ve invested in 2 iPads (1 for each office). After seeing what my husband could do with one in his work (and playing with it myself at home), I found the device perfectly suited for all the different needs of a small, but growing business. I’ve just started using Fullslate for our scheduling, so we don’t double book between offices. My clients love that i can call up any kind of music they ask for and personalize a state for them with Pandora. This past holiday I learned how to use the Numbers program, and now all my records are safe and easily read on a spread sheet. (I was an Art major.. Never learned to use spread sheets). It’s especially reassuring as I just discovered that many of the earlier receipts from my swipe machine have faded to nearly blank! Finally just yesterday I received my Square in the mail, and can now take credit payments from my iPad, which emails or texts my clients a receipt, and means I can get rid of the evil bank swipe machine!
I’m still looking to get our client files online so we can track them better, and communicate more efficiently between the 2 offices. But I think I’m off to a good start so far.
Looking forward to hearing more about your online courses…
Happy New Year!
Annie Standish LMBT 10547
Stanwin Bodywork
I also recently bought my first iPad(a second one is also in the works ;). Now, I just need to go find all the people who I called “Mac snobs” and apologize. Macs are awesome!
I have heard a lot of good things about Full Slate and only rave reviews about the Square tool. So far technology has been pretty good for the massage profession in my opinion.
Hopefully someone on here can suggest something for you client files. The only one I really know about is SOAP vault.
Thank you for sharing, I hope this year is better than the last for you!