10 Marketing Tips for Male Therapists

By Robert Chute

Saddle up, men! Here are ten tips to get your practice where you want it to be. Faster.

1. Cash that reality check. New therapists burst with missionary zeal. Everyone should experience your healing touch. Back here in reality, “everyone” doesn’t feel that way. Some potential clients have really good reasons, like the power differential: they’re naked on a table except for a sheet; while you, a strange man, loom above them in a darkened room. According to the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network, one in six women and one in thirty-three men has been sexually abused.

“But I’m not one of the bad guys!” you say. Many people aren’t comfortable receiving massage from a man because they perceive a threat, whether there is one or not. People who don’t know you, don’t owe you. Since they don’t know you, you can be sure it’s not personal when they reject you. Some folks might never come around to getting treatment from you, so why waste your time going to the drugstore for coconuts? Do they have coconuts at the drugstore? No, so don’t insist they should. When we stop confusing an ought with an is, we can increase our effectiveness. Bitterness is not a marketing strategy.

2. Consider specializing in techniques that are more user-friendly and therefore less user-fearful. Any technique that leaves the client clothed while undergoing treatment instantly eliminates a huge barrier to success for male therapists. Craniosacral therapy, Trager, and seated massage all spring to mind. A more clinical atmosphere may be the place your light will shine brighter. Do you have to? No. Could you? That’s up to you.

3. The most important word in marketing is next. You are going to hear the word no a lot, so get your message out to somebody, and then move on briskly to the next somebody. The more shots on goal, the more you’re going to score. It’s essential you think in terms of volume. Get that phone book ad together or redouble your networking efforts. Do whatever gets you in front of more people, exhibiting your enthusiasm for what it’s all about: helping people solve their problems. Focus on that goal. Maybe it’s getting range of motion back into a frozen shoulder or relaxing someone who’s tied in a knot over her blood pressure. Focus on the benefit to her rather than just the means of getting her to that new and better place.

4. Don’t think simply about educating prospective clients into getting massage. People don’t need mere data. They need reassurance. They aren’t just getting a massage. They’re entering into a therapeutic relationship with you, and there’s only one you. Therefore, get involved in your community. Allow people to see you outside the context of your work as a stand-up guy, playing soccer or volunteering, for instance, and they’ll let you help them. Once you get them on your table, your work will quickly make them forget the fears that kept them away in the first place.

5. Listen. Sure, everything here could apply to female therapists, but men need to be good therapists, only more so. You’d expect all therapists to be polite, but when you’re overcoming prejudices, you’ve got to be impeccable. Excellence in technical skill is your sword, but the rapport you establish with your clients is your shield against miscommunication. Use that shield to guard your reputation.

Over time, misunderstandings are bound to happen. For instance, while waiting for a female client to get dressed after a treatment, I was outside the screen in my clinic. Some time passed and I thought she must be dressed. “Just let me know when you’re ready,” I said. “Okay,” she said, so I opened the screen and there she stood in her underwear. Whoops! Slam! She meant, “Okay I’ll let you know when I’m dressed,” not “Okay I’m ready.” See how easy it is to screw up?

If you’ve already got a strong therapeutic relationship before mishaps occur, you’ll keep the client and they’ll forgive and forget. You establish that rapport by letting them know you care. You let them know you care by listening. Remember, it may be routine for you, but massage is not routine for them.

6. See your practice through your clients’ eyes. Most people’s fears are allayed simply by filling out the initial health history form. A bit of orthopedic testing—even relaxation-only clients can benefit from a quick range-of-motion check on their necks—can satisfy skeptics that you’re serious about what you do and your intentions are in good-guy territory.

Take another look at your treatment room. Are there mirrors in any locations that expose a client when they turn over on the table? If so, no matter what the feng shui might be, you must move them.

Consider your table orientation. Psychologically, it is off putting for the client to be approached from behind. We’re still mammals with survival instincts, so if the face cradle is pointed away from the door, that’s suboptimum. The client should be able to see you come in. The table should not be square with the door, either. Sounds picky, huh? However, if the table is pointed straight at the door and your client looks up as you enter, you’re going to be looking straight down a tunnel of cleavage. Similarly, when you ask the client to move down from the face cradle and you remove it, you should be standing at the client’s side and facing the head of the table so the client is assured there’s no peeking going on.

Avoid stimulating the cremasteric reflex as you work on a man’s thigh. It’s uncomfortable when a testicle pulls north trying to get out of the way of a careless hand poking around for a trigger point. In general, stick closer to the knee attachments and be clear in your intention.

With this sort of attention to detail, your clients can relax and be assured, perhaps even subliminally, that they have made a wise choice in consulting your practice. The fine details may not register with your clients, but the general sense of security will.

7. Is your draping tight? If not, get some practice so that it is. Also, when your client turns over on the table, lift the far end of the sheet an inch or two to give the client just enough room to make the turn to supine. Forget about the so-called professional turn where you lift the cover sheet right off the client and hold the sheet in front of your face as they turn. Sure, you can’t see anything, but the client feels naked and vulnerable in the middle of the room like it’s Fat Guys’ Buffet Night and they’re the roast beef.

Draping is for the client’s warmth and security, as well as your sense of propriety. (You’re part of this equation, too!) However, are your sheets getting thin from wear? Low thread count sheets can become translucent with repeated washing, so when it’s time to turn them to rags, do so without delay. Where I work, the climate is cold enough that I always use a blanket as well.

8. Set boundaries and communicate clearly. You get informed consent to each treatment and record it, sure. But do you go through your spiel describing your planned treatment slowly enough so they catch all they are agreeing to? Get a signed consent for more sensitive areas if your treatment includes the buttocks, inner thighs, or chest wall.

I have had arguments from colleagues who believe such waivers won’t help you in court, if it comes to that. My response is that it can’t hurt, and more importantly, it’s another way for your clients to see and understand your treatment plan so they are more engaged in the process. A waiver informs, if nothing else, and all the consent you get should be informed. In my studio, all new clients hear the plan for the session, read the plan, and their understanding of the plan is confirmed before they unbutton.

You’re touchy! You’re feely! Of course, you’re a massage therapist. However, never initiate a hug. I receive a hug from a grateful client occasionally—to not return it would be graceless. However, as much as they appreciate the work, it’s not a daily thing. I’ve worked with one particular client since I was a student many long years ago. We hug once a year. At Christmas. Is this rigidity going to make you look like a stiff sometimes? Possibly, but it’s a safer approach than any other.

9. Treat all clients with the same respect: man or woman. When you have a man on the table, do you drape his chest with the same care you would with a female client? If you want that guy to refer his girlfriend, his fiancee, or his wife, you need to spread the consideration and sensitivity around evenly. Word of mouth will blossom.

10. Transcend. Maybe you aren’t so disadvantaged after all. If you have a slow build, the practice you have in the end will be stronger because you’ll have a dependable clientele committed to your practice. You may even be able to turn a perceived deficit to your advantage by being the go-to guy for a particular niche or selling yourself as a unique property: the capable man who is skilled, sensitive, and nurturing in his conscientious and careful work. There’s always room at the top. (That’s a cliche because it’s true.)

Robert Chute is a massage therapist and writer living in London, Ontario.

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