If you want a lot of clients, you will have to promote your massage business.
Nobody else will do it for you. It is easier than you think to do it.

The first thing you will need to promote your massage business is a stack of professionally printed business cards.

Unless you are an expert, don't attempt to design them and print them out yourself. They will look cheap. Cheap is not how you want people to think of your work.

Go to the local print shop and choose a nice style with colors you like. Remember that dark print on light-colored paper is easiest on the eyes. Do not choose fancy, hard-to-read print.
The card should include your name and the name of your business if you use something other than your name. It should also have your title such as LMT, etc., along with your business phone number. If you have an office, include its physical address.

List all of your services. If you do just about everything a massage therapist can do, list the main services and put "and more" on the card. If you have a business e-mail, put that on the card. If you have a business website, list it. Always carry a big stack of the cards with you and hand them out frequently.

A second way to promote your massage business is to do a lot of chair massage.

A massage chair can be set up virtually anywhere. It takes very little space and clients remain fully clothed so they do not need a special room to change in for a massage.

The fact that clients remain dressed opens up massage to a whole new world of clients who would never get a table massage. Why wouldn't they? Three reasons--undressing, time, and money.

With table massage, clothes need to be off, it takes about an hour, and it costs anywhere between $40 and $75. Chair massage is usually $1 a minute for about 15 minutes and the client stays dressed. Fast and inexpensive, just the way Americans like a lot of things!

You can take your chair to sporting events, the mall, the health food store, the airport, fairs, conventions, and church and school functions and you will have a long line of people waiting. Be sure to hand out business cards to each client and to everyone who stops by. Let them know you give great table massages too.

A third way to promote your business is to give discounts to your current clients for referring new clients to you. You can decide on the discount. Some therapists will give a free 30 minute table or chair massage for every 2 or 3 clients they refer.

Others will say 20% or 30% off of a table massage for every 3 referrals. A referral would be a new client who books and shows up for a table massage. The new client would need to name the client who referred him or her to the therapist. You can ask this on the client intake form that a new client fills out on the first visit to you.

A fourth way to promote your massage business is to do some pro bono work. This is massage you do for free, for charity purposes. You can volunteer at a hospice, or a local sporting event. Hand out business cards and send a press release to your local newspaper letting them know about it. Free publicity will bring you clients because you are a giving and caring therapist. See if you can do a bit on a local TV talk show and talk radio about your pro bono work also.

Another way to promote your massage business is to buy t-shirts, caps, and scrubs with your name, title, and logo if you have one. If not, put some sort of massage slogan on the shirt, maybe with some hands, to catch people's attention. They will come up to you and ask about the slogan on your top. You then whip out a business card.

You can promote your massage business by putting a sign on your vehicle, especially if you do outcalls.

This can be a magnetic sign or you can have letters painted on your vehicle to advertise your business. Be sure to include your business name and phone number, along with your e-mail and website url.

A seventh way is to print up massage gift certificates and sell them.

The how to of marketing chair massage is something I get asked about a lot. There are many ways. All you need is a little creativity.

Of course, there are the usual expensive ways to advertise such as television, radio, and newspaper ads. But most beginning massage therapists do not have an unlimited budget for media advertisements.

A beginning massage therapist's best and most effective way for marketing is by word of mouth. This means you have to do your very best work on your first clients. To clarify, you should be giving your best each time you work on a client, but go above and beyond for your first clients. Make them want to tell their friends about the whole massage experience you gave them. Smile. Be extra kind to each client. Greet each one by name with a firm handshake. Show genuine interest in each client as you go through the intake interview. Give the client your undivided attention. Give a little extra time to problem areas on the client's body. Give the client a few minutes of extra massage without charge for it. Hand the client a small bottle of water and a business card at the end of the session. This is truly marketing chair massage.

Marketing chair massage also means working at sporting events, fairs, and conventions either pro bono (free) or at a discounted rate. Have a large supply of business cards on hand to give to everyone who stops by your chair.

Have a large vinyl sign printed that you can hang up above your chair with your business name, phone number, and website.

Advertising at these events is made a little easier by wearing a baseball cap and a t-shirt with your business name and logo.

Go the extra mile and have sticker labels printed up with your business name, address, phone number, website, and e-mail address. Go to a warehouse store like Sam's or Costco and buy large quantities of small bottles of water. Put your label on top of the water bottle label and hand one out to each client you see at the pro bono event.

The client will have your contact information on the water bottle and on your business card. Clients will appreciate this especially if the event is outdoors in the heat. The water will say that you care about your clients.

Another way for marketing chair massage cheaply is to have attractive refrigerator magnets created with your name, logo, and contact information. Hand these out along with the business card and water. Your business card may go in the trash, but if you have a good-looking refrigerator magnet, chances are it will go on the fridge, holding important notices of school events, calendars, and childrens' artwork.