How To Make Money With Alternative Therapy
I will share lots of information here about a good selection of therapies (further down the page). Plus I will show you how to make money from home with therapies based on my own experience. I recommend you then do further research about all of them and see which alternative therapy inspires you. Then go and have a treatment yourself. Experience how your clients will feel when you give them this treatment.
I was a Graphic Designer at the time working very long hours. I wanted a change of direction. I bought a book about Reflexology and was so inspired by the results the author had seen on her clients that I was compelled to try it. I loved the treatment and then decided to qualify as I was looking for home work that would fit around my job. The course ran for a year on weekends. I was therefore able to fit this around my other commitments, so I'm sure you could do the same. I don't remember now how many weekends it was a month, (a couple I think) but I do know there was quite a lot of home study to do. I recommend you check out exactly what is involved in the alternative therapy course you choose so you know it is achievable for you.
Some courses may be available as a home study alternative therapy course which may suit you. I did a Feng Shui course at home and received a professional qualification. You need to be self-motivated particularly for a home study course.
How to make a successful business from your chosen alternative therapyThe main problem most therapists have is finding enough clients. I think that people do a course without researching the demand and supply for that therapy and assume that the clients will simply appear. I know many therapists who have never got their business off the ground because they didn’t know how to market themselves. It doesn't matter how good a therapist you are if you can't get any clients... Here is a useful guide about starting up a successful business in alternative therapy. The reason it's worth getting is because qualifying as a therapist is the easy bit! Making it a successful business requires a whole new set of skills. Most therapists I know don't know how to do the 'business' side. Don't be like that! Click here for "How to set up an alternative therapy practice"
What I did was to approach local health spas and clubs and asked them if their customers would be interested in the treatments I was offering. In some cases I was offered a room to rent for a fixed daily rate. In others I paid them a percentage from each treatment I did. They made the appointments which solved the problem of how to get clients. However, that was 15 years ago when complimentary therapies were relatively new in the UK. Perhaps that is the case in your country too?
My top tip for getting clientsEither way what I would do now if I was still in alternative therapy would be to create a website using SBI. (Don't worry, you don't need any previous experience and it's great fun!) That's how I built this site, and my names site. This is because there is so much more competition now as many people have qualified as therapists. It can get VERY expensive to advertise on a regular basis so a website that WORKS (which it will if you follow the SBI system) can be a very cost effective way to build a regular client base. My names website built with SBI It will attract all the clients you will ever need without you having to ever spend a penny or cent on advertising. That is what I would do if I was going into the therapy business now. I have written a whole section about how to build a website this way which has case studies and videos to tell you more:
build a website.
You may also want to consider having a relevant product range to sell to your clients. It provides them with an added service and gives you more income. Here are the products I use: My products You can have a website just like the shop part of that site for just £10 a month (completely ready-made for you!) so do contact me if you'd like to have one. Contact me. It also means that people will get to hear that you sell a particular range of products and will come to you for them - you can then show them the treatments you do, so gaining another client. Each business helps the other. Another very important reason to also have a product line is that if you injure yourself (repetitive strain injury is very common in alternative therapy) you will still have the income from your products to fall back on. I developed RSS injury and could no longer do any therapies. Thankfully I earned a full time income from my products so it wasn't disastrous.
The downside is that it can be tiring and draining. Also, you only get paid if you are doing a treatment - if you are ill or on holiday, no pay! However, my product income comes in now whether I'm working or playing so contact me via the product site if you want to know more. I wish you all the best with your therapy business!
Which Therapy?
Bear in mind that an alternative therapy will vary according to the therapist giving the treatment. I have had clients who were almost put off Reflexology because of a treatment they had with another therapist. (For instance in Asia especially a lot of pressure is applied in their Reflexology which can be very painful, although no doubt effective!). They came to me and loved the gentler technique.
Reiki 1 will enable you to do healing on yourself and family. Reiki 2 is required to do Reiki on the public and charge for treatments. It cost several hundred for each part when I trained about 10 years ago. Having a Reiki treatment is a very relaxing experience. The therapist places their hands on you in particular places, starting at the head and working down to the feet. The client is usually lying down (and fully clothed) although they can be sitting if need be. With a good therapist you will feel very deeply relaxed afterwards which is wonderful. It can help with just about any problem. Many people have qualified in Reiki as it doesn’t require any particular skills and is so quick to learn, so it can be challenging to find enough clients - although no doubt this varies across the world. Perhaps in your area it has not become so popular yet? I found that the other treatments I did as a therapist were enhanced after I qualified in Reiki. This is because the healing channels in the hands are opened up with the Reiki course. All my clients started commenting on the heat from my hands during their treatments. Indian Head Massage I found it to be very popular and clients came back regularly. It is very relaxing, as most therapies are, and can be especially beneficial for anyone who gets headaches, neck or shoulder tension. It is superb for the hair as all the massaging stimulates the scalp. I qualified in one weekend for this, although I already had a qualification in anatomy and physiology which helped. Because you don’t need a treatment couch for this therapy it is easy to go to people’s homes, or into offices and treat people there. What a great stress beater to offer to people at work in their break. A treatment usually takes 20-30 minutes. I didn’t use oils in my treatments as is so messy for the client and impractical if they are at work.
A treatment takes about 45-60 minutes and the client usually lies down. You may not like your feet being touched. Don’t be put off though as a treatment is not ticklish and is actually very relaxing (depending on the therapist!). A treatment ends with a foot massage which feels fantastic. You need to learn anatomy and physiology as part of the training, so lots of studying is involved. I got excellent results and feedback from my clients, helping many problems ranging from Irritable Bowel Syndrome to sinus problems and neck pain.
It is a tiring treatment for the therapist as it is so physical so bear that in mind. It is very popular, as is regular massage so you should be able to keep busy. It also means that people will get to hear that you sell a particular range of products and will come to you for them - you can then show them the treatments you do, so gaining another client. Each business helps the other. Bowen. The client lies down fully clothed while the bowen therapist gives ‘light cross-fibre maneuvering of a muscle, tendon or ligament’ to quote the official explanation! After each maneuver the therapist leaves the room for a few minutes. The treatment is incredibly relaxing and effective, even on long standing problems. It is still relatively new in many countries compared to other therapies so you should be able to get clients quite easily. However this is a catch 22 situation because not many people have heard of it, so you will need to spread awareness about it more than you would, say, as a reiki healer or massage therapist. I have found that bowen has helped me when other treatments have not, on certain problems. I highly recommend it. It is not tiring for the therapist which is a big plus.
I was surprised how relaxing it was, and although there was some pain it was only slight and fleeting. I didn’t even see the needles as I was lying down. It took about 5 minutes for the needles to be positioned and I was then left to relax for about 30 minutes. I nearly fell asleep and my head just went blank. (Perhaps because of a needle inserted into the top of my head!). I was then prescribed the most disgusting tasting Chinese herbs and told to come cabk for another 5 treatments. Well, the cough went and I aim to go back every few months as a preventative measure and for the stress relief aspect of the treatment. I am not trained in acupuncture so I am recommending an excellent site that will tell you more about what is involved if you want to train in this alternative therapy.www.acupuncture-school-ireland.com
I learned how to do the treatment on myself from a book: Emotional healing in minutes by Valerie and Paul Lynch. It involves acupressure techniques that can help with fears, phobias and negative emotions. I wanted to learn it because I got claustrophobic in some situations. I wanted to fulfill a long-held wish to fly to Canada (about 10 hours from my home in the UK) and my fear of being shut in the plane for that long was stopping my trip! The technique worked, I even enjoyed the flight, and had a fantastic holiday. So many people are held back in life because of various problems. You could help them with this wonderful, simple treatment. The book has some really interesting case studies about the clients the author has helped which will I’m sure inspire you. Here is their website: www.the-heart-centre.com if you want to know more.
Shiatsu is not that well known even now in the West but is gaining in popularity gradually. A treatment takes about an hour. The client remains fully clothed and the shiatsu takes place on a mat on the floor. The therapist applies pressure to different parts of the client using a variety of techniques. As with most therapies, it is relaxing and can help a wide variety of problems by enabling the body to come back into balance. I don’t think you would be inundated with clients so it’s worth learning Shiatsu as an extra therapy, not as the only one you can offer.
Click here to find out How to build your own website with SBI
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