Why is massage so expensive? If you're not self employed, it's hard to understand why someone can appear to earn such a high hourly rate. Here are some reasons for the price for many massage therapists:

~If we don't work, we don't get paid. There's no such thing as a paid vacation, sick day or holiday.
~Being self employed, there are no 401K plans, dental, vision or health insurance included.
~Rent, utilities, phone, website, internet access, online booking, gift certificates, business cards and brochures are regular expenses that come out of our wages.
~An electric massage table costs about $1500 or more, a good quality portable is at least $400 (my original massage table purchased in 1997 was over $600).
~For me, every 3 clients = 1 load of laundry, which requires detergent, water, electricity and of course a washer and dryer.
~ An inexpensive gallon of massage cream currently runs $48. Oil is often more. Don't forget the cost of sheets, towels, paper goods, CD/ipod player and music.
~Any responsible LMT will have liability insurance, which costs several hundred dollars per year.
~Continuing education is required--many professional memberships or licensing boards require 48 hours every 4 years, most of which is very pricey. (Not to mention that we often have travel expenses included).
~Licensing fees are paid to licensing boards, typically every 2 years.
~Any advertising done is paid out of pocket by the massage therapist.
~Full time for a massage therapist is considered 20+ hour of hands on due to paperwork, laundry, time in between clients, etc. So although we may have 20 hours of clients, it's more like 35-40 with all the other stuff involved. (Unless you work for someone else, then you get paid less but work less too).
~And then there are taxes...

I'm sure I've not remembered everything, but there's a good start. As you can see, this ends up being not a very high hourly rate after all!

And as a tangent, Groupon takes 50% of your 50% off deal, giving you 25% of your original price minus 3% for credit card fees. Living Social is slightly better, taking only 40% or so. If you use one of those deals for massage, tip your therapist and return to him or her. That's the whole point of a vendor doing a big deal.

 

Still have some space available in my February Ashiatsu barefoot basics class where you learn all the strokes on the posterior (back) side of the body. Register online and learn how to save your massage career!

 

Turns out I somehow inadvertently got rid of my 2012 dates that you can pay for on the website for the Bamboo-fusion classes! I've gotten it fixed now, so you're all set to go for this coming year. The next class is in a couple weeks and has space available!

*OFFICE RATES: Prices changing on February 1 for the first time since 2008. New prices are listed.

• $42 per 30 minutes
• $72 per 60 minutes
• $85 per 75 minutes
• $97 per 90 minutes
• $125 per 120 minutes
• Deluxe Massage with foot scrub:
  $110 for approximately 90 minutes

Because of the rising costs of running my business, I need to raise my prices for the first time since 2008. If you would like to receive the older prices, I'd recommend buying a gift certificate for yourself! Prices go up on February 1, 2012.

Gift certificate sale coming up next week on Friday and Saturday! For those 2 days, you can buy a one hour massage for only $55!

They'll only be availabe on those two days, so you can purchase a gift for Aunt Suzie or Uncle Ed on the cheap, and they'll love you forever!

I posted my continuing education class schedule for 2012 today. You need to have attended a massage school and be licensed to do massage therapy in the state where you work.

 Your success as a massage therapist depends largely upon you, of course. But the massage therapy school you attend has a huge impact as well. When looking for massage therapy schools, make you you check into their history.

For instance, what is their graduation rate? Success rate after graduating from massage school on their massage therapy board exam? Do they teach you business and ethics as well as anatomy/physiology/massage theory and practice?

How many hours is the program? Are you able to work full time while attending the program? How many hours are you expected to put into studying in the massage therapy course?

Just because a massage therapy training school has opened up around the corner doesn't mean that it's necessarily the course for you!

Here are a few photos from our Advanced Ashiatsu barefoot massage training class this past weekend in Cincinnati.

         

    

My teaching massage schedule is slowing down, so I thought I'd get back on track with doing a blog here and there about my Cincinnati massage studio.

In my opinion, Ashiatsu Oriental Bar Therapy, otherwise known as "AOBT" or "ashi", is one of the best ways to deliver an amazing deep tissue massage. I've been doing ashi in Cincinnati since 2002, longer than most other therapists in the area. AOBT comprises about 80% of my practice, with warm Bamboo-fusion massage coming in 2nd.

I no longer do deep tissue massage with my hands because of the strain on my wrists and elbows. In fact, I have tendonitis (tennis elbow) as a direct result of doing hands on massage. If you are a massage therapist, you can certainly understand that!

From a client standpoint, ashiatsu is superior than traditional deep tissue massage by hand for a variety of reasons:

•  With barefoot massage, the therapist can easily work deeply because gravity is on his/her side. It's much easier to sink down with weight to give pressure than it is to "muscle" it.
• The ball and heel of the foot is more comfortable than pointy elbows, thumbs and fingers, making deep tissue massage much more bearable.
• Ashiatsu strokes are done at a slow pace, enabling the client to really relax into the strokes.
• Anterior (on the front of the body) work on the quads is much more comfortable than when the therapist uses her hands/forearm because the arch of the foot comfortable nestles the muscles.

These are the top benefits just off the top of my head. I've been on a mad teaching streak for 5 weeks now, ending tomorrow with the completion of Advanced Ashiatsu, so forgive me if I ramble!

You can schedule a massage through Bookfresh on my website www.affinitymassages.com. There's a tab at the top of the site as well as a button to the right of each page.