Frequently Asked Questions

How do I join?
Click the "register" link in the upper right corner of your screen and follow the menus. All accounts are free but therapists and spas will need to include a photo to register, regular users do not.

Can I list a business like a day spa or massage clinic?
Yes, any business that offers legitimate massage therapy can set up a spa/business account. After the main spa profile is created, therapists can then be added to the "staff" section.

What is the difference between a therapist profile and spa or business profile?
A therapist profile is a personal page for one massage therapist only, whereas a spa profile provides a general overview of the spa, including a staff section with links to the therapists they employ.

Do I need to be licensed to have a therapist profile?
No, but we require that you state this in the Details section of your profile. If you are currently unlicensed, but in training, we encourage you to explain that in your About section. Please remember that Myssage is strictly for professional massage therapy and we expect any unlicensed therapists to conduct themselves appropriately.

You don't have a representative in my city, can I still join?
Yes. We encourage therapists to join from all over the world, but you will not have a Myssage representative which means support for rating disputes, Featured Therapist listings, advertising and such will be limited. If your area does not have a representative and you think it sounds interesting, feel free to contact us or pass the opportunity on to a friend.

Why would I sign up for an account if I'm not a massage therapist?
Registered Myssage users can schedule appointments online, post reviews and comments, email therapists, receive special offers and announcements from their favorite therapists, post in our forums, and sign up to barter services for massage. You will also be eligible for our regular massage giveaways!

Massage Profiles

Why do you require that all therapist profiles include a photo?
Our goal is to help users find exactly what they want and then feel comfortable enough to contact a therapist and make an appointment. We firmly believe that users are more likely to employ a stranger for bodywork if they have a good idea of what to expect, which includes photos of the therapist and massage location, independent user reviews, the therapist's massage philosophy, certifications, experience, etc. Remember that photos are not about winning a beauty contest, they're about looking professional, presentable, and being yourself.

We are also adamant about keeping any services besides legitimate therapeutic massage off of Myssage. To do this, we want all therapists seen looking very professional to deter users from making inappropriate contacts. Photos also help Myssage staff recognize potentially problem individuals and either monitor them or restrict their access to the site.

What are Clients?
Clients are generally users that have previously met or received massage from a therapist and are actively engaged with that person. They enjoy more access to a therapist's contact information and schedule, and are automatically notified when the therapist posts specials, announcements, or blog updates.

What is a special?
Specials are temporary deals that therapists offer to Myssage users. For example, a therapist may want a little extra money for a trip, car repair, or whatever so they put together a special that says "I'm looking to get some extra work this weekend so I'm offering $10 off massages Saturday and Sunday!". Or, if they're new to town and need to build their client base they may post something like "Great therapist just moved to town, offering massages at 1/2 price this week for all new clients". Specials appear at the bottom of a search page if they fall within the requested search radius. Remember that specials are not permanent deals like a standard 10% off for new clients, that information should go in the Prices section of therapist profiles.

My rating isn't very good, how do I improve it?
If you generally provide a good massage experience but your average is being dragged down by one or two mediocre ratings then tell your regular clients to join Myssage and give you a more accurate one. And while they're here, have them become clients so they can keep up-to-date on your schedule and specials.

A user gave me an unfair rating, how do I get it erased?
Remember that users are encouraged to provide honest reviews of the services they receive. If you have a legitimate gripe with a rating you can contact your local Myssage.com representative and they will try to arbitrate the dispute.

Why can't I list a web address without a backlink?
Myssage is happy to let you advertise your site on ours but it's only fair that you return the favor and add our link to your site as well. Remember, the more links we share between our sites, the higher both of them will appear in the search engine rankings, so link away!

If you do add Myssage.com to your site, be sure to use the following format:
<a href="http://www.Myssage.com">Find a Massage Therapist on Myssage</a>
The best way to find local massage therapists with online descriptions, calendars, photos, pricing, and more!

Feel free to change the standard www.Myssage.com to link directly to your profile by pulling up your page in Myssage and copying the text in the location field at the top of the browser.

Spas and other Massage Businesses

How do I add therapists to my spa or business entry?
Therapists must have an existing profile before they can be added to the staff section on your profile. Click the "add" link at the top of the staff area and enter the therapist's username in the text box. An email request will be sent to the therapist and they will be added immediately upon approval.

How do I remove a therapist from the Staff section of my spa or business profile?
Select the "show all" link to bring up the Staff Gallery view. If you are logged in as the spa account owner, each therapist in your gallery will have a "remove" link below their photo.

How do I remove myself from the Staff section of a spa or business profile?
From the spa or business profile, select the Show All link to bring up the Staff Gallery view. If you are logged into the site, a "remove me" link will appear under your photo in the gallery view.

Calendar

How do I set up my calendar?
Profile owners can access their calendar by clicking anywhere on the weekly grid. This will bring up the Calendar Preferences where you can set your general availability to give massage, who can schedule appointments, and the times people are allowed to call you.

How do I schedule an appointment?
Registered users can schedule appointments by clicking on any time a therapist has listed as available (green) and filling out the form on the following page. This will send a request to the therapist which, if approved, will add your appointment to their schedule.

Who can schedule appointments?
The default setting allows all registered users to schedule appointments, but therapists can modify this in their Calendar Preferences so that only clients can schedule, or they can set it so that no one can.

How do I change the date or time of an appointment?
Only therapists can edit an existing appointment. If you're a user, your options are to email the therapist and ask her/him to make the changes, or cancel the appointment and schedule a new one.

How do I cancel an appointment?
The Appointment Details page has a link in the upper right corner that allows either the therapist or client to cancel a massage appointment. Users can find a link to this page in the massage approval email. Therapists can pull it up through their calendar.

How do I change my availability for time off and vacations?
Therapists can modify their calendar on a weekly basis by clicking anywhere on the calendar. This will bring up either your Calendar Preferences or Daily Appointments. On these pages you will see a link in the upper right hand corner that reads Manage Weekly Calendar. Deselect all check boxes that correspond to the times you want removed from your general availability.

Privacy

I'm worried about my address and/or phone number being listed. How do I protect my privacy?
Personal information can be hidden from ALL users, even your client list, if you select the "hidden" radio button next to the "address" and "phone #" fields on the edit profile page. These can be found by clicking the "edit profile" link under your photograph on the profile page. Select the "clients" button if you want this information to be viewable by the members of your client list.

Featured Massage Therapists

What is a Featured Massage Therapist?
A Featured Therapist is someone who a Myssage representative has personally evaluated and can recommend to our users as a high-quality massage experience. Featured Therapists are displayed on the home page for their particular region and will be included in local Myssage marketing materials.

How do I become a Featured Massage Therapist?
Featured Therapist applicants will need to first schedule a complimentary massage with their local Myssage.com representative. If your representative is happy with the massage they will add you to the queue and let you know when you will be featured. Massages will not be scheduled unless the therapist has a realistic chance of being featured within the next 2-3 months.

Why would I want to be a Featured Massage Therapist?
Being featured on the home page means that the therapist will be the first one users see when they visit Myssage.com. A Myssage recommendation will also encourage existing users to give the therapist's a try. In addition, Featured Therapists may be included in local advertisements free of charge, increasing traffic to their Myssage.com profile.

How often does the Featured Massage Therapist change?
Myssage will try to feature a new massage therapist every month.

Announcements

How do I let my clients know that I'll be out of town for a while?
After typing out the announcement on your profile page, select the "tell clients" radio button and click "submit". This will automatically email the announcement to your client list only. This announcement will be displayed at the top of your profile for all visitors until it expires or is deleted by you. We recommend that therapists who offer incall at a private residence edit their profile to hide address information from ALL users when out of town.

How do I add a special?
After typing the special into the announcement box on your profile page, select the "add to specials" radio button and click "submit". This will automatically add your announcement to the Specials page. All specials will be deleted within 1 week of placement, regardless of the chosen "delete in" setting.

Bartering Massage

How does bartering work?
Users with certain skill sets (i.e. handyman, photographer, dance teacher, other masseuse, etc) can place an ad to exchange their services for massage therapy. Say youâ€™re a therapist and want some professional photos taken for your Myssage profile, marketing materials, or just fun ones of you and your dog for a Christmas card. You can search for photographers on the barter page to find one who seems good and has an acceptable barter price, and then contact them to work out the details. If you have friends that like massage and have valuable services to offer, please tell them to sign up and create an ad. It's easy, quick and free!

What is a barter price?
A barter price is basically the exchange rate of different services for massage therapy, and is set by the user offering a service. Not all services are priced the same so barters aren't necessarily traded 1 hour for 1 hour. For example, if you're bartering for plumbing services you may have to trade a 1 1/2 hour massage for an hour or less of the plumber's time, excluding parts. On the other hand, you may be able to trade a single 1 or 1 1/2 hour massage for two personal training sessions. Don't forget to take other considerations into account either, a photographer may only shoot pictures for an hour or less but they will generally need to digitally retouch and correct the photos and then send out a DVD or prints. This means you may have to trade two 1-hour massages for a 1-hour photo shoot. Feel free to ask for better terms if you think the price is unfair.

How do I find a barter partner?
Select the "Barter" link in the top navigation menu and search for one the same way a user would find a massage therapist.

Misc

How can I become a regional representative?
Myssage.com is looking for proactive massage enthusiasts who are interested in earning a little extra money while helping the site grow.

How can I help Myssage grow?
We would appreciate any Myssage.com links our users post on their personal web sites or myspace, facebook, yelp, and any other social networking pages. Thanks!

My Myssage emails are being routed to my yahoo or google junk folder, how do I fix it?
Yahoo: open the message in your junk mail folder and click the Not Spam button.
Hotmail: click Options, then Mail, Junk E-mail Protection, and finally Safe List. Type Myssage.com and click Add.
Gmail: never send it to spam instructions.

How do I make a suggestion about the site?
Make a suggestion about Myssage here.