requesting assistance with verbiage on gift certificates

[The Bear]

Hi, I am new to the forum - I think it's the greatest thing!

I am a new LMT just starting my business. I don't have any clients yet, so I purchased the 101 marketing ideas from Bodyworkbiz. Eric has some great ideas! One that I've decided to start right away is giving away as many free half hour massages as I can and ofer to upgrade them to an hour for only $30. This will be a good way to give a sample of my massage.

Here is where I am requesting a little assistance. I am a female therapist and have chosen to work with only women. I became certified in Pre & Perinatal masssage therapy last month and will be doing therapeutic relaxation massages, too. What verbiage can I add to the gift certificates to indicate that they are for only women?

Thanks so much for your help!

Lanie

 

[ally_girl22]

Hi Lanie, I too am "new" to this forum and I'm looking forward to any answers you get on this question. My wife is the LMT in the family, I work on our websites so my main interest is "what can and can't you say?" There may be a problem with limiting your service to females only ?

Times they are a changing and not always for the good, it seems now-a-days you really have to watch out for who you may offend. I think you should have the right to say who you work on and who you won't, but again I'm interested in what others have to say on this matter.
Michael

 

[Amber S]

I think that there may be a potential for legal action, getting sued for refusing service based on gender. Of course that would take someone with the time, money and willingness to do so. I'm not saying don't do what makes you comfortable, just be prepared if someone does slap a suit on you. Even if they don't win, it's going to cost you. Your insurance may not cover you for this. It's ironic that the client can refuse a therapist based on gender without fear of legal repercussions.
I would contact the attorney general's office in your state for a definitive answer.

 

[John Doe 1st]

Lanie,
The best bet to get only female clients without setting yourself up for lawsuits and such would be to very specific about advertising your services for women during and after child birth. Unfortunately you will probably have to turn more people away if you don't focus your ad's on pregnant women and mothers only. Although many men I know of wouldn't have an issue with a woman choosing to work only on women. The men who I have mentioned it, say something like, "Oh yeah, I bet that's safer" or other such comment. I've had male clients say that they heard of a good therapist but found out she only accepted women clients and none of them seemed to bothered by it either.

I'm not really of help on wording, but you should be able to get it across that you provide massage for pregnant women and mothers only, without sounding exclusive but in a way that attracts those types of clients.

It is your choice who you want to work on, say something like: "nurturing care/touch for pregnant women and mothers to provide a reprieve from daily stress" or something along those lines.

When you give out these 1/2 hour certificates, know who you are giving them out to and that should solve that problem. You could also print them with logo or other photos that show a pregnant woman to make it obvious. Also, you can make them light pink or some other very feminine touch. Make your advert materials in such a way that anyone, man or woman looks at it and thinks, "oh, that's for pregnant women"

I know of a few therapists who only work on women and although I personally don't agree with it, they seem to be doing quite well. As long as you don't make your info sound biased most men probably won't notice that they are being excluded.

 

[Orphen]

http://www.daydreamsmassagetherapy.com/
I really like this therapists site, for women only. I can't imagine that you could be sued for limiting your practice. Good luck!

 

[Adan T]

Could a Women's Health Clinic get sued for dealing only with women? I think things have gotten flat SILLY these days, personally....

Hoewver, OP, I do think it is a good idea to market *specifically* pre- and post-natal massage for a while, if this is the direction you are wanting to go anyway. You can always expand from your original plan later, and ask your clients for referrals when you're ready.

I think that if you make the certificates say "pre or post natal massage", it'll be clear enough. Also, as a pp said, be careful how you give them out. Why not approach some women's clinics/midwives/doulas/etc to ask about giving them some of your gc's to give their clients? I bet they'll be happy to help out!

 

[Cato]

Making your GCs feminine will certainly help. I don't know what the GCs look like so I'm not sure what kind of verbiage you have room for. But something like "Focusing on mothers and mothers-to-be" or "Guiding women on a healthy path" or whatever. If you really want to make things painfully clear, spell women "womyn." Anyway, something like that should get through to all but the dullest.

I think if you make your text brief and mention "women/mothers" clearly, you should be all right. Maybe you can have one GCs for mom-types and a general one for women.

I checked with my husband and his office mates about whether they would feel slighted by someone making it clear they prefer to work with women. Personally, they all thought it was not a problem as they certainly wouldn't want to go to someone who was uncomfortable with them. They are all lawyers, by the way (using their powers only for good). Whether or not there is a legal issue "depends" (A lawyer word I've come to loathe).

Perhaps you can get some names of MTs you would recommend if you do get a fellow calling. That way you are still helping and you're not having to give an outright "No" which can hurt feelings and lead to thoughts of litigation.

And I'm sure you'll be handing these GCs out to the sort of people and places who also focus on women like the previous suggestion of midwives, etc. Some other suggestions: diaper services, house cleaning services and other services who may be gifted at baby showers. Out here that would include good pedicure places and mehndi artists.

Also, you might want to consider working through any female tax accountants or women in that type of business. Always, always look ahead 3-4 months at what will be happening (Valentine's, tax season, Mothers' Day) so you have time to be creative.

I would very much like to hear how the free 1/2 hour plan goes. I have heard many people say it works (with a lot of folks buying the 1 hour upgrade) and a few people ... well ... not so great. I think it has to do with personality.

Don't forget to ask for rebookings at the end of the sessions!

 

[vvrc]

requesting assistance with verbiage on gift certificates

I am a female therapist and have chosen to work with only women. I became certified in Pre & Perinatal masssage therapy last month and will be doing therapeutic relaxation massages, too. What verbiage can I add to the gift certificates to indicate that they are for only women?

Thanks so much for your help!

Lanie

I'm doing an hour GC here, just for ease. You can re-vamp it to the free thirty mins. as you would prefer, but it will give you an idea as to what I am thinking. Also, I think it makes a lot of sense to get in touch with MT's in the area and let them know you offer these services. For example - we don't take anyone who is pregnant, but refer those clients out. Knowing someone like you would be a benefit to my office. I would have your cards and then when someone called on the phone I would refer them in your direction & offer to mail them one of your cards as well.

Here's the GC idea. I'd say that you can just make up gift certificates that say:

Ladies Massage Gift Certificate (or similar: A Gift)

This gift certificate entitles you to a
1 hour massage
at Nurturing Touch, LLC.

Your customized therapeutic relaxation massage can also include
prenatal or perinatal work. Please let us know in advance what
services you will be needing.

Nurturing Touch, LLC
Address
City, State, Zip

Phone
Website

*Expires: __________________________
(age 18 & up)

*if allowed in your state -- if not, you could address in small letters:

(This certificate is good for ladies age 18 & up) -- this way you are not saying you don't work on men, just that this particular gift certificate is good for women.


~~~~~~~~~~~

Vistaprint has some nice female / flowery looking vertical certificates nowdays & you can put a lot of the extra comments on the back about your office (which is what we do).

 

[the hackmaster2013]

Hi Lanie,

I too have built my practice around women. What I do on my cards and website is say things such as, catering to the health needs of women, stuff like that. I don't say I only take women, but everything in my marketing states I cater to women. I also try to send out my materials to places where women only tend to frequent, OB/GYN, women's only fitness centers, etc. I haven't had any problems whatsoever and in fact have had a man or two in the year that I've been doing this. (They were referred by women I knew.)

Like some of the others I would suggest marketing to those women only businesses and having your eforum.xxx line specific to women.

Please let us know how it goes. I too have heard mixed reviews about offering the 30 minutes free with an upgrade and would love to hear how you do.

 

[Dotty]

Thank you so much to all who replied to my question! It's all valuable information and I will be using much of it. I hope I can assist each of you as my practice grows.

this is the best site for us LMTs!

Again, many thanks.
~LM

 

[Goethe]

Oh just one more thing.... Do you experienced LMTs (or anyone else) recommend that I include envelopes with each GC that I hand out?

Example:
I give 50 GCs to a midwife to give to her clients.. should I give her 50 envelopes too? I'm just not sure what is overkill and what is expected.

Thanks,
~Lane

 

[moving on]

I always provide envelopes with full blown (1 hour) GC's.

But, I think when you are giving 50 to one person, you would be ok to just give the GC's w/o the envelopes.

 

[Andrew]

thanks so much!!