chair massage at wellness fair, they want free chair massage

[SweetCountryLily]

Hi all,

I have browsed the board for this type thing.... but thought a new thread was in order.

My friend called me today. She works in a local factory and the company is having a wellness fair for their employees. Last year the biggest salon in town sent two girls over to do chair massage. This year they are not.

They are not charging anything to be in the wellness fair. There are about 300 employees there. I asked if anyone else was giving a service away for free. She didnt think so.

I told her that I would rather sit there with my pamphlets, freebies, pass out coupons, and possibly sell discounted certificates since the fair is a couple weeks before moms day. I told her I can get in touch with more people if I can talk to everyone. I cant talk to as many people if I am giving away chair massage.

I could even have a fish bowl and have a drawing.

I hope they dont turn me away because I wont do the free chair massage.

Do you think I am handing this the right way?

Christine

 

[rabbithorsegirl]

Depends on how good an opportunity this is, and how much you need the business.

If you really want the exposure, (marketing,) and you might not get the gig if you don't give it away, consider doing "demos" instead of "chair massages." That way you can still talk to customers who walk up. Streamline your display. Put together little "packages" that people can take that have your biz card, brochure and coupon all together. Put up your drawing fishbowl and tell people that you will have a drawing every hour for a 1/2 price (or whatever discount) massage, and at the end of the event for one FREE massage.

Sell gift certificates at $x off for the duration of the health fair only. If they only have to wait a couple of minutes for the demo to be over, anyone who is really interested will do so, especially if you are talking.

Then while the demos are going on, you can be explaining what it is you do, and why you do it. "this is to warm up the muscles, this is to find little knots of fibrous tissue that cause pain, this move will stretch these muscles that can cause pain in these areas..." etc.

Have a little note pad and make a check mark for each "marketing demo." If your intention is to market, you can write off your fee as an advertising expense. Services given as charity are not tax-deductible, but services given as advertising are.

This may not work for you, maybe you don't need to expand your practice that much, but if it were my opportunity, this is how I would do it. Last time I used this method, it got more results than either just talking or just massaging.

Stacey

 

[Belinda Gemmet]

Have a little note pad and make a check mark for each "marketing demo." If your intention is to market, you can write off your fee as an advertising expense. Services given as charity are not tax-deductible, but services given as advertising are.
Stacey

HUH??? Stacey.... how can I claim the amount of chair massage I do as a marketing expence?? I am not getting anything for it. I thought I could in 04, but my account said no. I was swaping radio ads. Actually.... I could have done it, but it would have been a wash.

Christine

 

[Uk MonkeyFinger]

You just have to keep track of the amount you would have made, (ex: 15 x 5mins x $5/each) and rather than "donating" that amount, you expense it. It's a completely legal advertising expense that many LMTs do not take advaneforum.xxxe of, (mainly because their accountants tell them they can't.)

Barters are different, in fact the IRS will red-flag a "barter," though they have no issue for "trading goods or services." And even though it is a wash, the documentation will still get you something, especially if you earn enough money to turn your private practice into an S-Corp so you can take advaneforum.xxxe of other tax breaks.

 

[Ascendancy]

AWESOME!! I had no idea. I will have to bring this up with my accountant. I did some free chair massage a few weeks ago. I will have to think back about how many I did again... wasnt to many. This could change things... a little bit at least.

Christine

 

[taken by the best..]

The TIME cannot be deducted, the MARKETING can. If you have an accountant who knows the ins and outs of small service businesses they will tell you how to do it legally.

I was instructed in tax class that each client is charged the fee, then adjusted to zero. You record both the charge and the adjustment, (which you take on either line 2 OR line 27 as an "other adjustment" (which you should also be doing for things like student discounts, health professional discounts and package discounts.)

What this means to your bottom line is a "wash." However, the documentation means more to you in terms of good loan prospects, or when you are ready to incorporate. Once you hit a certain income figure you can pay yourself differently, and avoid a certain amount of FICA taxes.

But without the documentation and adjustments, (tax deduction,) you cannot avail yourself of these opportunities. To clarify: deducting services as a marketing expense will not reduce your bottom line, because to do it legally, you must first report the income, then adjust it to zero.

 

[CanineTruth]

I did free chair massage demos at a health fair for a local company about 7 years ago. It was fun and I had a line to the door almost the whole day. Just quick 5 min. massages, but enough for them to get a sense of my touch and the idea of being touched.

I have since been doing chair for this company every other week, received numerous table clients from it and many referrals from others that work in the company.

For me it was well worth an afternoon of free chair massage. They provided lunch. I also set out my marketing information.

There was another woman there who was doing body fat analysis for free, but everyone else was just sitting with their information. We were the two that were talked to the most.

I doubt they will turn you down if you don't do free massage, but you might want to offer it anyway so people can feel how you work and try it out. IMO, it makes a difference.

 

[ds40959redft]

Write-ffs / deductions are of marginal value

The only true value in a business deduction for advertising is if you pay much in taxes.

For Illustration ONLY

Your taxable income = $10,000
Tax Rate = 20%
Tax Liability = $2,000

If you did some Wellness fairs for free and racked up $1,000 in advertising time (which at $1 per minute means 17 hours, plus travel time)

New Taxable Income = $9,000
Tax Rate = 20%
Tax Liability = $1,800

Is 17 hours of doing chair massage worth $200 in tax savings? Not in my book.

The true value in doing promotional work is if truly promotes your business. I have yet to see chair massage turn into regular table massage to the extent it pays for the effort in the freebie work.

Hell, even when we do massive employee appreciation events where the employer pays us to be there, it is rare we get one table appointment out of the 50 + employees who get a free chair massage.

Giving away chips and salsa does not sell steak entrees. Chair massage is too often for people who can't afford table sessions. That is not a knock on them, but a fact of life.

Take chair massage for what it is, but don't expect to build your practice from referrals.

 

[Prianka]

On the other hand, I have been doing a regular chair massage day at a large international sportswear company. I have yet to see a single chair massage client turn into an office call. However, I have picked up a few clients who know I'm doing the chair massage.

If they don't know or have a massage therapist, who do you think they call? (No, not Ghostbusters. ) They call "that chair massage lady."

So for me, it has been well-worth doing the chair events. I have found similar results from doing chair massage at fundraising races and health fairs. I've never had a chair massage client turn into an office visit, but others who have seen and talked with me have turned into clients.

Granted, it's not a spectacular return on my time, and I wouldn't cut regular paying customers to do a chair massage promotion, but if I'm not full-time yet, and can fit it in with no loss, it is a low-cost/no-cost way to be recognized.

Here's a better example of $$:

Total income = $30,000 (congratulations, you filed as an S-Corp)
Adjustments = $7000 (this includes promos, chair massage as advertising, and student discounts.)
Expenses = $5000
Taxable income = $18,000
Pay yourself 10000, pay tax rate of 35% (Includes FICA) = $3500.
S-Corp gives you a $8000 corporate distribution, not subject to FICA of 16%, you pay 19% on this $1000 = $1520.

Total tax burden = $5020


Second business:

Total income = $23,000 (exact same amount of work, no discounts, recorded actual money that passed through her hands.)
Expenses = $5000
Taxable income = $18,000
Tax rate 35%

Total tax burden = $6300.

Congratulations, you saved yourself $1280, simply by recording things fully and taking advaneforum.xxxe of allowable expenses.

Now, Business #1 and Busines #2 both want to expand. They go to the bank and apply for a loan. Business #1 reports Income pre-adjustments of $30k. Business #2 reports income of $23k. Which business gets the better loan?

There are other advaneforum.xxxes to recording your activity in full. The cons are, of course, that you must document more heavily. But it may be worth doing.

If you are a parent, with children under 18, there are a few little-known advaneforum.xxxes to staying sole-prop. (Including being able to pay your children up to $5000 a year, (each,) deductible from you (higher tax rate) and low enough to not trip certain taxes that minors may be exempt from if at a low enough income level. This is especially helpful for single parents for whom an extra few hundred a year in your pocket can make a tremendous difference.


edited for mistakes.

 

[swayyde12]

The true value in doing promotional work is if truly promotes your business. I have yet to see chair massage turn into regular table massage to the extent it pays for the effort in the freebie work.

Hell, even when we do massive employee appreciation events where the employer pays us to be there, it is rare we get one table appointment out of the 50 + employees who get a free chair massage.

Giving away chips and salsa does not sell steak entrees. Chair massage is too often for people who can't afford table sessions. That is not a knock on them, but a fact of life.

Take chair massage for what it is, but don't expect to build your practice from referrals.

I do not do a lot of chair massage. I have done only two talks about chair massage. One was the health fair that I mentioned in the above post and the other was at a weekly lunch meeting for a different company. I mainly did the talks to spread the word about massage and I was hopeful to get a few clients from them.

I have received a regular chair massage job from both jobs (one for 7 years and one for 2 years and counting), along with many referrals, gift certificate purchases and at least 10 regular table clients from the businesses. It was worth it to me to do the two events. Most of my regular table clients also will still get the chair massage when I am at the business also.

Doing free chair demos has benefited me very well.
It may not work the same for others but, it has for me.

 

[Bigz]

I haven't done chair massage at any fairs or corporate events as of yet. Am considering it though. Right now, I offer free 10 minute chair massages to all of the shop owners clients that come in for their hair or facial or whatever appointments. Even for having only been there a short time, about 3 weeks, I've pulled a couple of table clients that way. So am I better off just promoting myself from within the shop with her clients and new clients than doing fairs or events?

Nice info on the tax thing too. Thanks! But, did I understand correctly that I can use those free chair massages as a deduction right along with my other advertising? Taxes are NOT my thing and gives me brain freeze like nothing else. Which will probably bite in my arse eventually. My X instructor is also a CPA and does taxes for Bloc. The woman actually loves numbers. :roll: Will have to drill her on all of this.

If I totally missed the point of this post..sorry...that brain freeze I was talking about hit me about the time I read "Here's a better example of $$: Total income = $30,000 (congratulations, you filed as an S-Corp)" t043

 

[Hayley-May]

S Corp distributions

In theory...but the IRS watches for unusually large (relative) distributions by S-Corps to their shareholdes and will tax them as regular income, plus hit you with a late filing fee and penalty plus interest for not doing it right the first time.

In fact, your form 1120-S instructions have a warning to this effect.

What you can, and should do, is set up an SEP-IRA. The S-Corp then contributes up to 25% of your income on a tax free basis toward your retirement.

 

[GarmRO]

True and good point. The distribution thing is best applied if you make more than the average person in your field for your area. Some people get the idea that they can pay an exceptionally low salary and use distributions to make up the difference. Not so, and exactly the kind of thing that will get you audited. It would be more realistic in the above scenario to take a salary of $15k, and a distribution of $3k, which is not likely to raise any audit flags. You would then still experience a savings of nearly $500 in taxes.

The SEP-IRA is a great plan, I use this and it has been a real help, both with tax burden and for retirement savings.

Twylight, yes, and no. You can use the chair massages as a marketing deduction, but first you must report the "income," then adjust it to your marketing budget. Essentially, as far as tax liability, it becomes a wash, but it improves your business profile, as well as lowering your audit flag potential. More gross income reported means less eyebrows raised at certain expense threshholds.

 

[raiders_fan479]

Chair massage write offs

Ihave been doing tax season chair massage at several local CPA firms for over seven years. After reading about the idea of deducting marketing/advertising costs from "free chair massage" I asked the head CPA and he told me that you can't add the time and then deduct it. I hope I understood Breathe's post correctly. This seems like a red flag for the IRS.
Second, I find that most chair massage users don't transition to table clients. Maybe one in 20. After realizing that when I get a chair massage I don't want the practitioner selling me, I ask them to focus on the massage and leave the marketing aside.
Kind regards,
rubmyster

 

[Loretta]

Personally, I don't believe in giving it away.

IMO/E, chair massage doesn't generate table clients in large numbers. I agree with Rubmyster's 1 in 20 estimate and honestly, no one ever got on my table because I gave them a FREE chair massage. The chair massage clients who became table clients all came thru paid chair events/gigs.

That has been my experience, too.

 

[TimTimTimma]

UPDATE

My friend who works at this place spoke with one of the woman putting the wellness fair together.

They want someone there doing free chair massage. My friend spoke up and told them that other professionals were not giving away their services. The thing was, another massage biz did it last year, and the committee wants it the same last year.

I told my friend there probably was a reason why the place that did it last year didnt want to do it again. Last year two therapists from the biggest salon in town did it. If the biggest salon in town doesnt want to do free chair massage.... I figure there must be a good reason for it. Namely, because it didnt draw clients to their salon for table massage. My friend even told them this.

She was told, if I didnt want to do it, they had someone else in mind. So, I told my friend to just forget it, let them get the other therapist. I dont need the hassle. I am doing some other marketing things going on and dont need this gig.

Of course, I told her to let me know who is doing it.

Christine

 

[veelalynne]

Rubmyster, I guess I am not explaining myself here very clearly.

Your CPA is correct that you cannot deduct time as marketing. However that is only part of the story.

Here's how it works:

I do 5 "demonstration" chair massages. They cost $15. I made $75. But I am using them for marketing purposes only. The cost of marketing for this event is $15 per demonstration, leaving me with a net of $0, but a better looking bottom line.

It works the same for "trades." You go to the massage therapist, you "pay" her $60 for your session. Two days later she comes to you and "pays" you $60 for her session. No money has changed hands, but you record the sale and the expense. Better for your business prospective when applying for a SBA loan because it boosts your "repayment ability." And better for your business when/if you wish to incorporate.

If you never intend to do either of those things, personally I wouldn't bother to do that level of documentation for a simple net income wash.

I hope that's clearer. If it's not, ask your accountant. If they tell you it absolutely cannot be done, find a new accountant. I know people who have done it this way for years. I even know people who have had a random audit, and this gave them no issues. It's all in the documentation.

And as far as the chair massage and 1/20 thing, I agree, in theory. But I have over $700 in office-visit revenue from the first of the year that came 100% from having an out-call chair massage contract. These clients are referrals from people who have been in my chair that I otherwise never would have reached, and who never saw me for chair massage, just came straight to my office on someone's recommendation.

Stacey

 

[Person]

good job turning this down christine....you don't need that job. how about if we asked those people to do their job free for a day? they'd probably laugh you out of their office!

i only do chair massage gig's if it pays. even then i don't really care for it. i'd rather work with people on the table. and as others here have stated....chair business doesn't turn into table business. it just doesn't.

 

[forgiven490]

In 8 years of providing both chair and table massage, I've only had One paying chair massage client turn into a Regular table massage client.
I've had a couple other clients (Tourists) who received chair massage and decided to schedule a table massage with me for the next day though.
Honestly I live only about an hour away from Christine and can honestly say that people around here will definitely be right there forming a line all day long if you're giving away Free chair massage. And I too have been asked a few times to provide chair massage free for different functions around my city.
The first time I was asked by a store owner to provide chair massage to her customers all day in the back yard, had to provide my own shade (a tent that would go over a picnic table - cost $12)... no income from the tourists and locals who found their way to my chair that day. She'd originally been offering to pay someone to do a few hours of chair massage but by the time I heard it and called her about doing it (within 2 days), she'd spent the money on a 3 piece musical group. I, then, was supposed to do the chair massage for free as it was "good advertising." (I'd only been out of school a year or so at that point.) I started at 9 AM and was able to break for lunch briefly at 3 PM, and continued providing massage until nearly 5 PM.) However, I think the most "telling" point about how they viewed me was learning who did the massage the following year for the same "annual" event. A hair stylist from a hair salon I would later work for, oh, and then suddenly the hair stylist could charge $1/minute and be paid by the customer in the chair!!!
Only once out of all those times I have been asked to provide Free chair massage did I ever earn anything from it... that was the last time, at a health food store and I made a total of $12. However, I was there 10 AM to 5 PM, and the chair was hardly ever empty. But, if you're not even making minimum wage per hour... how profitable a day was it, really?

 

[mahadi]

the exception to the rule

Masthera is the exception to the rule.

Problem is, we can't all be the exception.

Whether it is giving a GC to a charity auction, free chair massage or whatever, free is free. Do it out of the goodness of your heart, but don't bank you business on the value of free.

You get what you pay for. Our Paid Placement on Google brings in the clients. The free listings we get for having the right key words - not so much. I would rather pay $500 per month in pay per click to get $5000 in business than to get $1,000 in business from having good key words.