How Groupon Can Build (Or Destroy) Your Massage Business (Part 1)

If you are a massage therapist looking for new clients, you should be aware: most people in your city have heard of Groupon.

And most Groupon users know that they can always find a great deal on a massage by visiting Groupon’s website.

If you are a massage therapist, beware, and be aware:

Groupon and $25 student massage is your new competition for getting new clients. This is going to be the case for some time into the future.

One massage therapist who has lost clients because of Groupon was recently quoted as saying, “Groupon sucks!”

Well, that’s one way to look at it. But it’s not a very productive thing to say, and it certainly won’t help your business. The fact is, Groupon can actually become your greatest ally in contacting and creating relationships with new clients.

Groupon gives you a way to get clients in the door. Before Groupon, that was difficult.

After Groupon, you no longer have to work as hard at getting clients.

Want new clients? Run a cheap massage offer on Groupon.

Done!

Groupon is the new deal for all massage therapists, but if you don’t do it right, Groupon can also eat up all your time, completely exhaust you (while you work for pennies), and can even destroy any desire you have to build your massage business.

So here’s how you can use Groupon to build your massage therapy business.

Following these basic guidelines will make sure you are getting the maximum benefit from offering really cheap massage appointments.

  1. Get your mind right. Think of Groupon as the equivalent of giving chair massage for free (at the mall or on the street at a fair) in the hopes you’ll get new clients. In the case of Groupon, you’re getting paid (minimally), but think of it as ‘free chair massage (with tips)’ and you’ll be better off.
  2. Once you’ve got the right mindset, run a Groupon promotion for your massage business as soon as you can.
  3. Make your deal as good as you possibly can. (Depending on where you are in the world, this will mean that you are offering massage from $20-$40/hour. After Groupon’s fees, you will earn just $8-$25/hour from the initial appointment.)
  4. During the session, treat each new client as if they had paid you $250/hour for this session.

The advantage is that if your offer is good ($15-$40/hour), you will get a huge number of new clients coming to you.

The disadvantage is that you will earn a really poor rate from those clients.

However, once those new people walk through the door, your job is to convert them into clients, and then convert them into people who love everything you do.

Here’s your goal – names, emails, addresses, and new clients.

Read Part 2 for specifics about what to do with your new clients during the session, and how to follow up with them to be sure they come back time and time again, and willing to pay you full price.

2 thoughts on “How Groupon Can Build (Or Destroy) Your Massage Business (Part 1)”

  1. I would like to speak from our experience with offering a LivingSocial special. We offered a Hot Stones treatment and sold over 100 treatments. LivingSocial had a survey that was filled out after each treatment and we got wonderful reviews with many folks saying they would be back. NOT ONE OF THE OVER 100 PEOPLE WE SERVED CAME BACK! We have emailed different offers and specials to them since then and none have ever returned. I do not believe this kind of marketing helps create business or loyal customers for therapists. Instead companies like Group On and LivingSocial help create a community of people that just wait for the next discount to be offered somewhere else.

    1. Thank you for sharing your experience. We have experienced a lot of people saying the same. What do you think of the suggestions we’ve offered in this article? Several other therapists have told us that the tips were helpful for them, but I’d be interested in hearing if you have tried these suggestions…

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