End of 2016 News!

• 2016 was a GREAT YEAR!

This year has been a year of growth for Tony Schwartz Bodywork and a year of long term changes that will allow it to grow even more without loosing that personal attention and professionalism you have come to expect. I have decided to make a twice a year newsletter to keep everyone on the same page. This will be the longest newsletter but I promise it is really worth the read!

• Thank You for Staying with Me During My Hospitalization

I wanted to extend my greatest thanks to all my clients who stayed with my during my sudden hospitalization back in April and where so flexible during my recovery. This is a tough business for independent therapists to survive in and so many of you showed such kindness and flexibility when I needed it and it will not be forgotten. Thank you again all of you very much.

• I’ve Made Changes to Improve Your Sessions

In the rest of this newsletter you're going to find out a little bit about what is coming in 2017. Some of these changes have been tailor-made for particular types of clients that I see whether they are athletes looking to train, people going to rehabilitation, or those who simply come in occasionally to relax.

Coming in 2017

•   Fee Changes

After looking over the expenses for the following year I've had to make a very difficult decision of increasing the price of my services by $10 per session. These changes come in light of increasing personal healthcare costs for insurance and also the costs of doing business in the city of Minneapolis. These prices (hopefully) be locked in until at least the end of 2019. Also, I made some modifications to my no call no show policy from a $20 standard charge for any session time to a 50% charge based on the cost of the session. This change is a reflection of the need to impose this fee, this change now more closely reflects the industry standard (100% charge). 

• Policy Changes (Disability Outcall and Review Policy)

For those individuals who may have a very difficult time getting up the stairs to my office I have better defined my outcall policy. In the past this policy has been on a need to know basis but starting in 2017 the details of this policy can be found on my website. For individuals with disabilities who cannot physically make it up the stairs I will (at no extra charge) come to them provided that there is physical space to do so within a location they can provide me and it must also be within a reasonable radius of my office given enough period of time to schedule them. 

The second policy change for 2017 is in the area of reviews. As many of you already know I almost exclusively use passive advertising methods.  In the past customers could receive $10 for a review that could be used on a furniture visit. Starting in 2017 clients can write reviews in several locations and review $20 per review. I use reviews for advertising and internet indexing purposes (search results). This is not an incentive to write a good review it is an incentive to provide a review. I encourage people to be fair and honest with their reviews. Thank you to all of you have done them in the past and I hope that more will consider doing it in the future. Please consider using: Google (for those with a Gmail account), FaceBook, BBB, endorse my skills on Linkedin, or like some of my videos on my YouTube channel, even consider sending an e-mail through my website with your review to be posted on my home page. If you have any questions please let me know.

• PrePay 

Prepay is a new feature for 2017 for many of my clients. This allows individuals to prepay for services and have an in-store credit to draw from for all of their future services. Instead of packages and the many restrictions they impose on myself and all of you in terms of time the timeframe they can be used and other legal restrictions I decided to go to prepay policy which guarantees you a $10 discount per session no matter the length of the session or the amount of time between sessions. This discount does not expire or change it just means you get the convenience of paying in advance. The details of this offer are available on my website and should you have any particular questions please feel free to contact me.

• Ask the Therapist

Many of my reviews have indicated that I seem to provide people with a genuinely easy to understand and concise education about what it is I'm doing on the table and when it is I'm seeing on the table in peoples bodies. To further that idea I've decided to employ and ask a therapist portal included on several pages within my website that will allow you as an individual or those who have not had a session with me to ask basic questions about services I offer or aches and pains are suffering and what I could do to help them. If you know someone who suffering with aches and pains or plans to do some major surgery in the future or compete in a major events this is their opportunity to anonymously get information on their terms.

• Dalton

As some of you may already know I looking at my social media platforms I have embarked on a journey to enhance my practice through furthering my education. The method I chose to further educate myself on is called Myoskelital Alignment Therapy (MAT). This program is considered one of the most challenging in the industry and also some of the most comprehensive in the industry in the area of manual therapy. It took me five years for feel comfortable with my experience and knowledge level to even attempt taking these courses. I believe the greatest benefit to all of my clients will be the fact that many of the most common things people come in for I will soon be able to do more faster and more accurately meaning significantly less is needed achieve the same results. When you view my social media profiles you'll find occasionally some documentation or video from the Dalton Institute which will be what you'll see on the table very soon I hope that it will further create value for all of you. Work that once took me 90 minutes to diagnostically palpate then start to correct can take a little as 30 minutes. I am working to create more value for you! 

• Better to Text than Call

Because of the nature of my work and the number of ringtones it takes to leave a voicemail on my cell phone I have found that many clients have said they prefer to text me rather than voice call me. I would agree with that given the nature of that I will sometimes be out of reach of my phone for up to six hours during daytime hours it makes good sense that I can quickly read your information and get back to you rather than playing phone tag. If it's more of a technical question regarding your particular circumstances you can always leave me a text to have me call you back or you were always welcome to write me an email through my website and I'll get back to you as quickly as I can.

• Hands for Heroes

Hans for Heroes is a program that I joined several years ago whose mission is to provide 1 million free service hours to our veterans. This is a nationwide group of massage therapist who appreciate the work of our military service members active and retired. In 2016 I saw a 50% decrease in the number of donated hours requested by my current clients and by random customers coming in for a first session. I set aside a number of hours each month just for these services and they do not seem to be utilized very often. I would greatly appreciate your assistance in getting the word out about this program! Instead of offering huge discount programs and many other gimmicks to keep my regular customers in the door I elected to spend some of my time giving back with the skills I have to good people. So please let people you know find out about my program. Business cards located in my office have all of the relevant information printed on them for you to take at any time. The nationwide website (printed on the card) can help anymore from anywhere is the U.S. find a service provider. At a time veterans are committing suicide at very high rates we all must consider doing something. This is but one very small piece of the puzzle I believe I can do to help better this problem. I hope all of you will take the time to spread the word and provide the information to others.

• Bodywork Blog

Some of you may already be familiar with the bodywork blog. It is an avenue for me to share with all of you some of my thoughts about massage as well as some information about common aches pains and injury recovery techniques that might shed some light on how you interact with your health. Every month it is the most popular content of people visit on my website as well as through search engine inquiries about various topics. They are published every month with an occasional bonus item every six months.

Thank you all for your time with me on the table this year! Every dollar you spend helps to improve your sessions and allows me to take care of my family. 

Tony Schwartz

Owner 

Tony Schwartz Bodywork