On this page you will find a very valuable massage website interview that I had with Brandy Wiles-Credeur.

The first time I visited Brandy's website I quickly realized it was one of the best massage web sites I have seen. And she does it all herself. It is a deceptively simple looking site (that she once felt was not beautiful enough). But in terms of content, in how she supports her clients and how the site works for marketing her services, it is worth a lot of your careful study and emulation.

So let's jump into the interview questions that I asked her through email. I hope you learn lots.

What software do you use to design your site www.karmassage.com

Dreamweaver.

Do you do it all yourself or get help?

I did it all myself, though, I did use a template that I tweaked a bit. I have designed my own in the past, but I am not really a web-designer (though I do have a limited knowledge of HTML code).

How much time did it take to create your site, and how hard is it to make changes?

I'd say, for this particular site, it took me about 60 hours. It is extremely easy to make changes. With Dreamweaver, if I want to add something new to each page, I simply do a “find and replace” for the entire site. It takes less than a minute.

About the Constant Contact company, how do you like their service? I assume you use them to host and send your emailed newsletter service?

I LOVE Constant Contact. Prior to using them I was designing my newsletters in HTML and sending them out. Initially, this was time consuming, but once I did the first template I only had to change content. What I like about Constant Contact is that they tell me exactly WHO opens the email, and which links they click on. I pay $15/month to send newsletters, announcements, etc. to 500 clients (the fee goes up a bit for more subscribers).

How do you feel your newsletter works? Do you get more appointments from it? Does it keep people more regular? How often do you mail it?

I email my newsletter monthly and send out periodic announcements as needed. I don't want to bombard my clients with spam, but I do want to remind them that I am around and that massage is a necessity, not a luxury. I find that the periodic email reminds clients to take care of themselves. I also find an increase in appointments immediately following the newsletter being sent.

Are you using any site statistics that tell you how many people are visiting your site and where they came from?

My host, www.vervehosting.com, has tools available for site statistics. I review it every so often to see where people are coming from, how they found me and what they look at while visiting.

In a later email Brandy followed up with this insight.

I recently looked at my web stats for the last 2 years and realized that I have been getting more visits since I started doing the newsletters (about 200 more per month). This is great!

Are you getting much new traffic from search engines for massage in your area? How are people finding your site now?

I get quite a few hits from Google - mostly from people searching for therapists who live in Austin and specialize in Deep Tissue Massage. Though, I am not highly ranked on Google… these people are finding me through an ad on Craigslist, which happens to show up 2nd on Google.

I like the idea of the monthly drawing form. Do you get any new clients this way? If someone enters the drawing that you don't know, do you have any follow up communication that you do?

Actually, this has been very beneficial. I have received a few repeat clients from the drawing as well as having winners buy gift certificates for loved ones after coming in. I also add the email addresses to my mailing list. I haven't had anyone request to be removed, yet. I don't follow up, but after reading this question, I think I might start offering a discount to those who don't win.

How big of an impact has the on-line scheduling made for you?

The impact has been HUGE. No more phone-tag. Everyone loves the fact that it is easy to use. I’d say 90% of my appointments are scheduled on-line. Plus, it has eliminated the need to make confirmation calls, as it sends an email reminder the day before the appointment. This gives me more time to focus on better serving my clients.

I notice you use a Paypal checkout for online gift certificate sales. Do you find that many people have Paypal accounts? Do you get many gift certificates sales from your site?

The beauty of Paypal is that people can purchase the gift certificates without setting up an account. I sell a few gift certificates on-line (more around the holidays). The client pays no fees, and my fees for each transaction are fairly reasonable.

(Brandy currently uses the Spaboom instant massage gift certificate sysem.)

What do you see the primary function of your website being? Example: Bringing in new customers, supporting your existing clients, saving you time, etc?

The primary function of my website is for supporting existing clients. I have made it easy for clients to schedule with me through the on-line scheduler, which has eliminated playing phone tag. It also allows clients to seek alternative therapies with colleagues I find to be highly skilled and customer oriented.

What has your website done for your business?

The website continues to shape me as a complete professional in the eyes of current and potential clients.

Where have you learned most of your marketing ideas that you are applying on your site?

A lot of these ideas have come from trying to figure out how to better serve my clients. I wanted to give them a reason to keep visiting the website and to continue to take care of themselves when not on the table. Over the years I have read several marketing books (both massage related and general business). I have incorporated some of those books into my website as well as my practice. While having a functional and user-friendly website is important, I feel it is also imperative to go above and beyond with each client. The website is an extension of my dedication to customer service.

How do you promote your site?

Craigslist, Google Ads (I temporarily suspended this), search engine submission, flyers, business cards, various massage finder sites, car magnet.

What would you do differently if you had to start all over again?

You know, before receiving your original email, I thought my site was too… business like… not “massage-y” enough. I'd seen a lot of sites that were beautiful to look at, with less content, and wondered if I needed to make mine more aesthetically pleasing. However, thanks to your email and the feedback from clients, I don't think there is anything I would do differently. I'm pretty happy with it.

What other things do you plan on adding to your site?

I'm a hardcore crafter, and plan on adding massage/spa gift baskets and other goodies in the near future. I will also add a page with exercises, for clients to download. I am also thinking of adding Gift Cards rather than gift certificates.

What are the expenses associated with your site/email newsletter, scheduling, etc?

Website: $5/month
Scheduler: $32/month
Newsletter: $15/month
Domain: $15/yr

Do you feel like you are getting a good return on your investment of money and time from your site?

I do. Of course, there's always room for improvement.

What do your clients say about your site?

They love the scheduler and the tell-a-friend link. (Brandy removed the tell-a-friend link because of problems with pop-up blockers. It is a Constant Contact feature.) They love how user friendly it is (it's easy to navigate).

What other forms of marketing do you do for your business? What works the best?

Craigslist. Referrals (using your reasons why a client should refer). Flyers. Word of mouth. Word of mouth. Word of mouth. I don't use traditional forms of marketing (i.e. advertisements), because I don’t feel they work. I feel it is a huge waste of money. Word of mouth has been, by far, the best marketing tool available. I also offer discounts to current clientele… in order to thank them for their business. And I run specials on top of regularly priced sessions (i.e. free facials, hot stones, etc.).

That was the end of the interview questions that I had emailed to Brandy. In exchange for sharing this information on my site I offered to review Brandy’s site and give some suggestion on how I thought she could improve it a little. To both suggestions she responded positively.

Yes, I would enjoy the feedback very much! Yes, please share this with other therapists. I hope we can all help each other grow!

I gave her my insights and Brandy took my suggestions to heart and went right to work. She reworked her site within about three days! I would like to shamelessly share the feedback I got from her afterwards.

Galen has been incredibly inspiring when it comes to marketing massage - especially web marketing. He took a good website and helped make it a great website. I've really enjoyed the way he puts everything together in order to make the website flow so potential clients can find exactly what they need in order to schedule an appointment with me. He amazes me with his attention to detail – constantly coming up with ideas I hadn't thought of. It was a lot of work, but well worth it. Galen - thank you for all of your care and hard work!

A short while later Brandy emailed me with these very valuable insights.

I wanted to relay a comment that was made to me about the website. Two weeks ago I had a husband and wife book an appointment with me on a Saturday. They somehow found me on the Internet (I'm not sure exactly how… I am not very high on Google). However, they both kept commenting on how much they loved the website. Yesterday, the husband came in again. He kept on complimenting the website, and more specifically the appointment scheduler… saying how wonderful it all was (he's a programmer). We started talking about various computer companies, and Craigslist came up. I asked if that was how he and his wife found me, and he said it wasn't… that they did a Google search and found several other massage therapists websites, but when they came to mine they decided to book with me because I seemed like I “had it together.” He said, because it felt like I was extremely organized, they decided to book with me. “Most massage therapists are there one minute, and gone the next. They're good massage therapists, but some of them can be flaky. You seemed very organized, very professional.”

I wanted to share this with you, because I think it's important for people to consider this professionalism when doing a website and massage. I hear it all too often… the term “flaky massage therapist.”

His wife had told me they didn't have a regular massage therapist, that they've always tried out different ones… but the husband came in again within 2 weeks. I'm sure my skills as a massage therapist had something to do with this, but I also feel it was the professionalism of both the website and me, that helped in his decision.

And about a month later Brandy added this:

WOW! I couldn’t figure out why I got 4 new client appointments in one day (they chose me based on the website). However, I did a google search using the term they used (Austin deep tissue massage) and I am on the first page!!! Thank you so much for all of your help.

Brandy has made some very good points, and the quality of work she has done on her website is paying off. What is important to recognize is that her clients were carefully evaluating what therapist to schedule with based on their websites. People are always looking for reasons to make a decision. In this case, they figured that Brandy was who they wanted to see because her website expressed her professionalism for her. Her contact energy was doing a good job, and then her professional massage skills supported her professionalism as well. That is massage marketing success!

If you would like to learn more about why I think Brandy's site is excellent, from a marketing standpoint, you can find it in my September 2005 New Tips Newsletter. You can access all the past newsletters by subscribing for free here: New Tips Newsletter