The World of Web

My task this week has been to work on writing the text for a website for my massage practice. I am incredibly fortunate to have a boyfriend who created a beautiful site for me, and it is now my responsibility to fill it in with articulate, interesting information about myself and massage therapy. Humph. This is the hard part.
The truth is, Justin created the basis of this site for me ages ago and I just haven’t been ready to tackle it. So I’ve spent the past couple of weeks mustering up the energy, mental capacity and focus to get it done. This seems to be how things work for me. I put things off, stress about them, hem and haw about how I wish I didn’t have to do them (even if it’s something I technically want to do) until finally one day I just feel like doing it. And somehow, magically, it all flows and happens somewhat easily. (My new lesson needs to be how to let go and STOP stressing about these things since I know I’m not going to do them until it feels right anyway…)

So last night I hunkered down on my cozy gray polka dot couch with my sweet black dog at my feet and wrote and wrote and wrote. I’m not completely finished but I only have one or two more pages to write, a little tweeking to do and I feel quite accomplished. The major road block was having to write about myself, which is never easy to do. As well as solidifying how I want things to be done. It’s a lot of commitment for someone who isn’t so good with that to write down a complete business model, figure out what needs to be included, what I feel good about, make it interesting, appealing, professional and clear. Somehow last night, I was finally able to see myself as someone else would see me, a new therapeutic professional establishing a business and trying to get the word out. Instead of the slightly terrified small child who is trying desperately to be convincing as an accomplished adult… which is how I feel much of the time.
This is all very new to me and I am still trying to solidify my identity as a massage therapist, but as most things do in life, it will constantly evolve over time. I am in the beginning stages of something very exciting that in time will feel natural and so much easier. Being a massage therapist is the easy part… running a business is rather intimidating!
My site is small and temporary at the moment but hopefully will be up in full swing very soon. Visit me at www.massageforholistichealth.com and feel free to spread the word! Thank you!

Social Media Breakfast

This past week I took a big step forward for my massage practice and attended Social Media Breakfast Maine. SMB Maine is a monthly event put on by Amanda O’Brien and Kyle Pouliot of Hall Web Services to facilitate networking, communication, sharing and learning around the social media sphere. This month’s topic was about Blogging for Business, which I thought might be useful for me in starting my massage practice! Plus, Amanda is one of my oldest friends in the world and I wanted to get in on this work life of hers that I know nothing about! (This is also Justin’s world as well, so I’ve been wanting to understand a bit more about all this computer/web stuff that is so foreign to me!)
The moment I walked in the room I knew it was the right place to be… I forgot how much I love community, networking, learning events! (In fact much of my interests involve education and community in a variety of ways.) I am quite a shy, quiet person but I do love meeting new people and deepening connection in the community on a personal and professional level. The atmosphere was very relaxed but professional and although it was scary, it felt good to be sitting at a table and talking to people about who I am and why I was there. Introducing myself as a Massage Therapist and talking about newly starting a business gave me a boost and made it all more real and concrete for me. So far I have been stuck on my couch thinking about business cards and panicking about how to actually take action and find clients. This event helped me move into action and feel more prepared!
Three speakers addressed several different aspects of blogging and gave me some great tools and perspective about starting a blog for a business. The last speaker was local Portland business owner Chantal, who by sharing her experience helped make all of the advice and information more accessible and real. The entire experience made me feel prepared with a few new tools to start my own business. I have more than business cards now; I have ideas, motivation and some confidence that I can do this. Better yet, I’m not doing it alone. Resources exist everywhere and I have many at my disposal within my network of friends and family, and countless more out in the community.
I believe that things happen in their own time. It has taken me two years to feel ready and truly interested in starting my own massage practice, for many reasons, but it finally feels like the right time. As scary as it can be to put yourself out there, whenever I do I get good things in return which encourages me on. So I will continue to stumble forward in hopes that this is the right thing in this moment. Thank you all for your support. Stay tuned for information on my upcoming website!