It is all in a massage business name

Choosing a Massage business name requires careful thought and planning. Your name will carry with you for a long time even if you decide to change it.  I share an office space with someone who used to have the name -Swedish, Sports and Therapeutic Massage which she started in 1984.  Her business name has actually changed a few times but I still get calls from people asking about that name.  It is found in directories and often confused with a local hospital called Swedish Hospital, which is fine but the story just shows how a name will be with you forever.

It will also portray an image to your potential clients.  The name you choose to represent yourself will be a big part of the first impression to clients. Choosing a massage business name is about choosing an image.

So many people try to find some catchy name but they end up confusing the client more. There is already so much confusion about what massage is or isn’t that a catchy name can add to the image of the individual therapist and the whole profession.  In my opinion words like ‘knotty’ and ‘knead’ are way over used in the massage profession.   Most people don’t even get the innuendo.  It is really an inside the profession ‘joke’.

What do you want potential clients to know about you and your business?

Your name can easily tell people exactly what you want people to know.

Often that can determine whether or not they will make the call to schedule an appointment. Your massage business name will be on all your marketing materials: business cards, brochures, fliers, business checks and office signs.

Massage Therapists often just use their own name to register their business for tax purposes. While this is fine, it often does not tell much about what you are doing if you plan to do advertising.

Since Massage is still in it’s formative years and still associated with prostitution and may bring up a sexual image to people, the name you choose can assist you in building professionalism.

Some names that often create a negative image are:

• Magic Touch
• The Finishing Touch
• “Massage by Sandy” (or whoever – just using a first name)
• Happy Acres
• Tingling Touch
• Heavenly Touch
• Healing Touch
• Helping Hands
• Shangrala
• Hands On
• Mojo
• Happy Fingers
• Atlantis
• Full Body Massage
• Enticing
• The Right Touch
• Rubs
• Release—never ever use this!
• Go with the flow!
• Take a load off massage.
• In and out massage
• Cherry Blossom massage
• Above and Beyond
• Head to toe massage
• Let it go massage

Your massage business name should represent you and the profession. It should incorporate your philosophy and be associated with health, healing and massage. Getting too cute often is risky as it may bring up those exact images in peoples mind that you don’t want.

Unfortunately, it is a good exercise to put yourself in a perverts place and see if the name of your massage business could conjure up something else!!!!

Be More Professional

A more professional looking name will be something that people can understand and relate to.  It will mean something to the potential client.  Many people often name their massage business more for themselves.   Of course many other businesses have done something like that:  Calvin Klein,  Newman’s Own, Kate Spade…you get the idea.   If you have the time and money to invest into getting behind your own name or other generic brand name, then go for it.

But then there is of course Massage Envy – and everyone says the only thing they can think of when someone says the word Envy is “P *n*s” Envy so why the heck did they name the business that we don’t really know.  Do people envy a massage?

Words such as these can usually be worked into the name:

• Therapeutic
• Massage Therapy
• Sports
• Treatment
• Clinic
• Pain
• Medical

Including a street name or a nickname for the section in the town that you are located is also helpful as it directs people to the location and people searching in your neighborhood can find the place easily.

• 3rd and Union Massage Clinic
• San Antonio Massage Therapy
• Main Street Massage

While these names may seem boring, the idea is to let people know what you do and where you do it very quickly and easily so there is no confusion.

When choosing a name, keep in mind that you may want to have a website to represent your business. The way a search engine finds a website it through the main URL (www.whatever.com) and the keywords used in the site. You can also use keywords to brainstorm and choose a name for your business.

Your domain name may have to be different from your business name to get the best results online because many of the top level domains are taken.

You want your business name and domain name to tell people what it is that you do –

• What solution do you provide?
• What is it that you do differently than everyone else that sets you apart from others?
• Why would someone want to choose you?

The best domain names are ones that include the city or town that your business is in because that is what keyword people will most likely be using to search for you. (austin massage, seattle massage) and will also include a descriptive word that describes what you do.  The best domains are about 12 letters or less so that makes it really tough to get a good domain these days.  There are other things that you can do to get your website found.  See my Ebook – Get More Clients with a Website that Works.

Beginning your business with a name that represents you and the profession can go a long way in creating business opportunities.

Legally, you will want to register your name with the appropriate authorities such as your Secretary of State or state business licensing department. They will do a name check to see if it is already in use. Don’t skip this step, thinking it is too technical. I had a friend who was sued over the name of her clinic and it wasn’t pretty. The other person had never registered the name either, but had been using the name longer. The other person claimed that my friend was getting phone calls that should have been for her and hence her business was jeopardized.

If you have a logo and specific technique, you may want to consider registering a trademark with the US Patent Office. www.uspto.gov. You will also want to do a name search with the Corporation Commission or Your Secretary of State. It is important to register the name so that others will not use it.

Don’t confuse people anymore than you have to!

Bodywork is also another word that is very confusing for people – they thing I am getting my car fixed!   Professionally bodywork has come to mean massage that is more transformative – or so the people who use it think.  All massage is transformative and can change the body – even basic Swedish Massage.   Will people understand what Bodywork is?

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