Beefing up my brochure with new items, ideas??

[Das Boot]

Hi all,

Have you ever had a client want to try different techniques?? If you list all the modalities you do, they want to try them out one by one.

Currently, I list my services as minutes, 30, 60, 90, or 120. I do not charge more for deep tissue work. I also have foot and facial services, but I want to expand.

Some ideas that I have are to expand on my foot treatments. Here in Wisconsin, MT's cannot cross over and do wraps, scrubs, or other spa type techniques, so please dont suggest anything that might be such.

I was very inspired by this site, http://www.soakportland.com/default.asp which was mentioned on another post about foot baths. I really love the big bowls with the stones on the bottom they use.

How do these sound??

My current foot treatment is 45 minutes long and cost $35. I soak their feet for about 20 minutes and massage for 25. I soak both feet, dry them off, and then massage each one.

Glycerine and rose water foot soak - Veggie glycerine, rose water, and rose petals added to hot water. Followed by a massage with rose scented oil or creame

Fizzy zesty citrus foot soak - Zest of lemon, orange and lime as well as esencial oils added to hot water. I was also thinking of adding a bath fizzie to this. Followed by a massage with citrus scented oil or creame

Mint Julep foot soak - (maybe a seasonal thing??) fresh (when available) mint leaves steeped in hot water. followed by a refreshing mint scented oil or creame

Lavender and chamomile foot soak - fresh (when available) lavender and/or chamomile and essencial oils of lavender and chamomile. Followed by a massage with lavender and chamomile scented oil or creame


Maybe I would add a fizzie to all of them???

I am also thinking of offering tea to drink.

I am thinking the time would remain the same, 45 minutes, or should I increase it to 60 minutes?? Longer soak and longer massage?? Then I could just make the price the same as a 60 minute massage. The price may have to go up... the ingredients for the soaks would be a little pricy. My foot soak idea would be unique in my area. Nobody offers anything even close to this.

Picture this, you are sitting in a comfy chair with your feet soaking in a large ceramic basin. The aroma of your chosen foot soak wafting in the air as you sip a cup of tea. You play with the smooth stones on the bottom of of the basin. As you sit the water cools, so hot water is added from a tea kettle. While one of your feet are massaged, the other is still soaking.

What I especially like about the foot soak sancuary is that the chairs are up high. This puts the client at a height that is great for the therapist. And those HUGE BOWLS!! They are beautiful. They put them on rolling carts. Look at this picture. http://www.soakportland.com/Spapic2.html Do you see those half circle things in the bottom right corner?? I am guessing they place that over the bowl so the client can soak one foot while the other is resting on the platform getting massaged. What a great idea!! Because the chairs are up high, they have platforms for clients to help the shorties like me get up on them.

I can picture it now... my future office, one room for foot soaks, two plush chairs sitting next to each other for friends to come and chat while getting a relaxing soak. So many people are afraid to get a massage, what a great way to introduce them to massage!!

As I sit here typing, I dont know how well this would work in my current set up. Ah... but it would work so well in my dream office!!

Christine (who is saving her pennies for a loan for my dream office!!)

 

[Succeeding Failure]

Hey Christine - I have been to Soak Portland! A nice experience overall. The half-moons are some type of resin or laminate, and yes they are used to support the foot being worked on. The basins are enormous - they are wheeled around on carts and dumped into a low sink in a closed prep room. If you have the space and access to a very nearby sink/tub I would say go for it! It's a lot of work and they had five MTs and two helpers on staff to handle eight people in the soaking room. It took them several minutes to fill the bowls, then at least ten more minutes to return to start the foot scrub and lower leg massage I scheduled. Poor things, they were running around the entire time cleaning the bowls, wheeling them in and out of that tiny prep room and scurrying up and down the stairs for tea refills and such.

If you have any specific questions regarding the experience don't hesitate to holler. I was there this year so it's still fairly fresh in my mind.

 

[Top Cat]

man, that website is so yummy!

i have one of those huge bowls that i use as an outdoor fountain. i added a bamboo thingy to it and MAN it IS HEAVY!

fyi.. i ordered risers for my chair in my office. i got the 6" but you can also get them in 12" height. they were about $20 for the set. they're black and although at first they kind of looked strange,i've noticed that NO ONE has noticed them! and the 6" makes a huge difference so i would think that the 12 would be big enough to roll a foot bath under.

i can get the website from my grandpa if you'd like. might save you some money! they could be covered with fabric or something to hide them.

i think your menu ideas sound great!
amanda

 

[school]

I keep needing more room to store stuff!!It never ends!! I dont know if I have enough room to store a riser for the chair (I wouldnt need it all the time), basin cart, let alone the basin!! Well, actually, there is room under my table, but the cart and riser would have to be able to fold up!! My table is low because I am short. I still have th sheet I used as a skirt in my old room upstairs. I put it away when I moved down here because I had so much storage space in my new rooms. Lordy lordy!! If I have to start storing stuff under my table again!! I dont know what I will do!! lol It never fails, get a bigger space and I will fill it up!!

Dragonflies, how tall are those risers, how tall are the basin carts and just how deep and big around are those huge basins?? I dont have a low sink... but I could wheel the cart out to the elevator, upstairs to the bathroom, and dump it in the shower!!

Christine

 

[Dusk]

Christine, there is a place here in Portland, OR, that specializes in feet.

http://www.thebarefootsage.com/default.htm

their website may have a few more ideas for you, for timing, treatment, and prices.

I don't know too much about their set up. I have stuck my head in, and they have a huge long, long bench around too sides for clients to sit on, and the therapist sits on a regular cushioned stool.

Noel

 

[cristelle R]

Thank you very much!! They have some great foot treatments at this place!! It is packed with ideas!!

Christine

 

[Chariot]

Dragonflies, how tall are those risers, how tall are the basin carts and just how deep and big around are those huge basins?? I dont have a low sink... but I could wheel the cart out to the elevator, upstairs to the bathroom, and dump it in the shower!!

The risers used to be two cinder blocks high but are now custom-made. The seat of the sofa/loveseat was a good 3-1/2 to 4 feet off the ground. The carts are probably 30"-32" high. Hmm, the basins looked like they could hold 18-20 gallons of water (or more) and are a good 3' wide and 18"-20" deep. Most of the lower leg is submerged in the bowl, if filled to the rim the knee would be mostly under water.