I apologize for such a delay... I haven't been on in quite a while. Float groups... I haven't continued with these, but would like to. Basically, it's a "class" format, like a yoga class. Open with a meditation in the water after getting everyone set up to float. Then, do some work on those who have consented during the 45-60 min. session in the water. And perhaps herbal tea/snack after to help ground & connect before leaving. A great way to get people in the water... the major stress reduction, softening of muscles, and a less expensive intro to aquatic work, and community building, too.
Hi Mary,
You must think me terribly rude not to have answered your question, way back in January, but to be honest, I've neglected checking into the ARN website for longer than I'd realized. When I worked in Portland, Oregon, my clientele grew from word-of-mouth and having pool patrons seeing me work in the community therapy-pool program. I really did very little marketing, except to make presentations at support-group meetings for people with various conditions: stroke, SCI, PD, etc, and the practice grew like Topsy. Look for release, later this year, of Becker's & Cole's "Comprehensive Aquatic Therapy, Vol III," which has a chapter I wrote on Marketing an Aquatic Therapy Practice, based on my background in advertising/marketing/public relations, before getting into bodywork. Again, apologies for the late answer - if any other questions, please contact me at aquadoug@usa.net, which gets checked at least 5x/day. :-)
Very good website Mary! I love the clean green. Smiled when I saw you placed aquatic therapy at the top of your list of services - of course :). Also liked the clear description you gave of the treatment. And the network profile badge - helps to spread the word. I think you're going to do very well. It just takes time to build a reputation and you've started with a very firm and clear message. S
Very nice article Mary, something to post or quote from on your new website. Will get back to you re your other questions next week. Sounds like you're in the flow!
Hi Mary,
yes is fantastic this experience in swimin witch dolfing.
My friends live in México and work wicth dolfin in terapy and a go to in this place one or too times for year and is possible swimin wicth Recho, this dolfin have 25 year and sav in sea very sick some years and now work witch childrens and shows too. is fantastic. It is very special for me and may friends Claudia.
Thanks Mary.....I am happy to share my knowledge with your colleagues.....and look forward to more persons interested. Other CEC courses you folks might like for me to develop?
Hey Mare, It took me a while to get things going, sorry about that. I've been checking out a few of the members and I feel blessed to know this beautiful work. I have my first client next week and I am very excited about this.. Its about time!!! Thank you agian and again,,,
Mary,
I am just starting again after five years of not doing aquatic bodywork. I don't have a good practice going right now. I am mostly trading or giving away sessions. My primary job is as an artist and designer. Good luck!
Mary...the short answer: I've taught swimming since getting my WSI in 1949 and went back to work in 1975 at the YMCA...Adapted Aquatics took me to Fitness and then therapy/rehab related work. I now work part time at Conway Regional Health Systems (Fitness Center) where I teach classes and do personal training in the pool. It is here I can provide Watsu(R) when requested. I still travel to give workshops and will be at the Intl. Post Polio Conference at Warm Springs GA and in Dallas at Baylor Rehab for ATRI this spring. see my web site...www.maryessert.com for more.
Step by step sounds good Mary. Having a rented pool to work in with a few good slots to fill will keep you in the water and you'll be able to explore different ways of marketing it.
Since you are an RN, have done a clinically oriented course, and have insurance coverage, it sounds like you're going to do well in the medical arena so getting doctors referrals would be good.
You might invite friendly doctors and chiropractors etc. to experience the work for free or donation or just what would cover your rent. It could be really great to build those kind of relationships first.
Keep blogging about your progress here on your page!
Hi Mary,I had some clientele in Laguna Beach,When Sara and I started AquaEst she did the promoting,now we are divorced and I dont work the retreat much...it has become more of my home.thanks for asking...Ralph
Hi Mary - it's great that you are getting some discussion going here. We did start one a while back in the Spas Plus Group which you can see by following this link. I'm going to reference the conversation here, there to that others can find it later.
One thing I've noticed is that what you do must fit your setting. There are guidelines but you have to adopt them to suit local conditions, and also to suit your skills. There is no question that you have to do something.
When Ralph Pitt and I started our retreat in a remote part of Missouri we knew nothing about the area and had done no market research. We just loved the spot and our aquatic work. That was naive but actually it paid off and got us through many initial challenges.
We did our marketing on two levels: local and non-local. The non-local happened through my internet efforts - website, articles, and lots of cross-linking, the kind of thing we are doing here. This cost very little once I had identified some good places to pay for profiles.
The local effort happened by simple getting involved in things and letting people know, just enough to get them curious about what we did but not pushy. We did virtually no formal local advertizing since the broader community would likely not have understood what we were about at all.
By the time Ralph and I separated at the five year business mark I was able to demonstrate to a small business advisor that we were on a good track (by the way SB folk can be very helpful). I had just managed to get us profiled by two journalists in regional magazines and that was a fantastic boost. They came for free sessions/retreats.
Unfortunately, the business depended on our marriage partnership and the complimentary roles we played. We're both therapists and that is what we really love to do. I have writing, marketing and management background, while Ralph was able to see to all our buildings, construction, design and maintanance needs.
Wearing all hats and living and working on site was wonderful and very challenging. Sadly our partnership ended partly as a result of those stresses. Now I'm attempting to create some guidelines for others who want to do the same. Your questions and those of others in this network are helping me to formulate that, and to see what is needed.
There are more and more people starting up their own private practices, which is wonderful. The thing is that it is risky, costly and it does take more than the passion for the work (though it can't happen without that!). Two main Ms - marketing and maintenance.
For me it has been a slow process. I encourge watsu clients to do share of their water experiences. I participate in health fairs where I do seated massage and run a video demonstration of Watsu. I had the video produced when I first built the pool.I have a yellow pages ad, I have a brochure I leave on bulliten boards, in hotels, doctors and chiro offices. I share with my massage clients the benefits of aquatic therapy.I send a positive vibe of abundance, that I am aviable to those who are in need of my skills.
These are some of the marketing things I do
Welcome Mary! I work at a hot springs retreat center (Harbin) so I have an instant clientele. Who is it that teaches Aquatic Massage Therapy? Great that you can bill for insurance!
I have known of persons who sponsored and taught caregivers and those being given care to share Watsu(R)
It provides a sense of sharing and giving back for the caregiver to receive....
Other thought: to provide another opportunity nearby for the car…
This group is for discussions about the practice and promotion of aquatic bodywork in spas, other leisure settings, and private venues. A place to share some of the issues faced and support each other.
For pediatric aquatic therapists/instructors who work with children on the autism spectrum. We will be sharing our coolest treatment ideas and creating a mock protocol for the infant, toddler, and school aged child demonstrating autism traits.
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You must think me terribly rude not to have answered your question, way back in January, but to be honest, I've neglected checking into the ARN website for longer than I'd realized. When I worked in Portland, Oregon, my clientele grew from word-of-mouth and having pool patrons seeing me work in the community therapy-pool program. I really did very little marketing, except to make presentations at support-group meetings for people with various conditions: stroke, SCI, PD, etc, and the practice grew like Topsy. Look for release, later this year, of Becker's & Cole's "Comprehensive Aquatic Therapy, Vol III," which has a chapter I wrote on Marketing an Aquatic Therapy Practice, based on my background in advertising/marketing/public relations, before getting into bodywork. Again, apologies for the late answer - if any other questions, please contact me at aquadoug@usa.net, which gets checked at least 5x/day. :-)
i am happy because one person in the world understand my english. realy i an happy.
This Work, Aquadinamic I and some friends developement here in Brasil, Costa Rica, Argentina and México.
In this web site have more information. is possible change the site for english in the top in right side.
http://www.aquabrasil.info
thanks
marcelo
yes is fantastic this experience in swimin witch dolfing.
My friends live in México and work wicth dolfin in terapy and a go to in this place one or too times for year and is possible swimin wicth Recho, this dolfin have 25 year and sav in sea very sick some years and now work witch childrens and shows too. is fantastic. It is very special for me and may friends Claudia.
exscuseme the bad english, I am study
Aquatic hope for you.
Marcelo
I'd like to add that to my file.
I am just starting again after five years of not doing aquatic bodywork. I don't have a good practice going right now. I am mostly trading or giving away sessions. My primary job is as an artist and designer. Good luck!
If you go to someone's profile page and they are online (even if not doing anything) you'll see a red online notice in the top left of their page.
There is not other way to know as far as I know.
Hope that helps, S
Since you are an RN, have done a clinically oriented course, and have insurance coverage, it sounds like you're going to do well in the medical arena so getting doctors referrals would be good.
You might invite friendly doctors and chiropractors etc. to experience the work for free or donation or just what would cover your rent. It could be really great to build those kind of relationships first.
Keep blogging about your progress here on your page!
One thing I've noticed is that what you do must fit your setting. There are guidelines but you have to adopt them to suit local conditions, and also to suit your skills. There is no question that you have to do something.
When Ralph Pitt and I started our retreat in a remote part of Missouri we knew nothing about the area and had done no market research. We just loved the spot and our aquatic work. That was naive but actually it paid off and got us through many initial challenges.
We did our marketing on two levels: local and non-local. The non-local happened through my internet efforts - website, articles, and lots of cross-linking, the kind of thing we are doing here. This cost very little once I had identified some good places to pay for profiles.
The local effort happened by simple getting involved in things and letting people know, just enough to get them curious about what we did but not pushy. We did virtually no formal local advertizing since the broader community would likely not have understood what we were about at all.
By the time Ralph and I separated at the five year business mark I was able to demonstrate to a small business advisor that we were on a good track (by the way SB folk can be very helpful). I had just managed to get us profiled by two journalists in regional magazines and that was a fantastic boost. They came for free sessions/retreats.
Unfortunately, the business depended on our marriage partnership and the complimentary roles we played. We're both therapists and that is what we really love to do. I have writing, marketing and management background, while Ralph was able to see to all our buildings, construction, design and maintanance needs.
Wearing all hats and living and working on site was wonderful and very challenging. Sadly our partnership ended partly as a result of those stresses. Now I'm attempting to create some guidelines for others who want to do the same. Your questions and those of others in this network are helping me to formulate that, and to see what is needed.
There are more and more people starting up their own private practices, which is wonderful. The thing is that it is risky, costly and it does take more than the passion for the work (though it can't happen without that!). Two main Ms - marketing and maintenance.
Thanks Mary!
These are some of the marketing things I do
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