After months of waiting, the wait is over! We received our Inada Sogno PLUS and i2A massage chairs this morning. It took us most of the morning to assemble the Sogno chair. It was quite a task to put it together. The foot rest and the sides have to be assembled. The chair came in two large boxes, but assembles it weighed 250 pounds, 40 lbs. less than the HT-1650. The assembling instructions are pretty straight forward, but the time it took to assemble was quite a while. Fortunately for all Songo buyers, the chair comes with White Glove Service…in other words, the shippers will assemble the chair in your home and/or business.

We got the creme colored Sogno PLUS massage chair. Now, I have been calling it the Dream Weaver PLUS chair in previous blog posts, but it is actually the Dream WAVE PLUS chair. I was messed up with the name for a time, but now we have straightened ourselves out. I sat in the chair this afternoon for the first time and it was quite a ride! I actually fell asleep while Steffanie was explaining the chair functions to me.

We also set up our Inada i2A massage chair this morning and took it for a test drive too. A very nice massage. I am embarrassed to say but this was the first time I had ever sat in an Inada massage chair. Human Touch used to carry the i2A, but called it the RMS-10, years ago when I first began selling massage chairs, but I had never actually sat in one. It is a very nice massage chair…you can tell that this company’s chairs are built with quality, just with the look and feel of the chairs. I also noticed that the Sogno massage chair is made in Japan, while the i2A is made in China.

Steffanie and I both are taking notes about the chairs and will provide a more in-depth review of the chairs in future blog posts. But, for now, we are really enjoying them. Comments from the showroom visitors today share our feeling that these are very nice massage chairs. Here are a couple of pics of me on the new Sogno massage chair.

Dr. Alan Weidner
www.massage-chair-relief.com

I got off the phone yesterday with Cliff Levin, President of the FIUS, the US Distributor for Family Inada massage chairs, after telling me that the shipment of Inada Sogno Dreamweaver PLUS massage chairs that was to have reached folks by the third week of July is completely SOLD OUT already! Fortunately we had some orders that were filled with this shipment, but I have plenty of other folks that are waiting till the last minute to place their order with us.

This is all I have to say…if you want a Sogno Dreamweaver PLUS massage chair (and I rarely get calls about the standard Sogno model, by the way) you better get ordering today, because these chairs are so “hot” that they are pre-sold before the shipment even comes in and if you don’t have your stake in one, you will have to wait…and wait…and wait…

The next shipment is coming in the first week of August and Cliff tells me that their are only a few chairs unspoken for at this point…but they will be taken very soon. So, if you are considering getting one of these revolutionary new massage chairs, don’t sit on your butt. Get on the phone and call us right now to assure that you get your chair before anyone else does.

Since ordering these chairs online is a “no-no”, you must call us to place your order. You can all us toll-free at 1-888-259-5380 or you can call our showroom’s local Utah number at 1-801-417-8240 and speak to Steffanie about placing your order for you.

We are finally getting our new Sogno Dreamweaver PLUS massage chair next week and, I’ve got to tell you, we are so excited about it. I’ll give you a full report on this blog once I get the chair tested and evaluated.

Did I also mention that the Sogno PLUS is only sold through select health care providers. I am your man (or doctor)!!

Have a super day…and don’t delay.

Dr. Alan Weidner
www.massage-chair-relief.com

I have been invited to become a member of the  Human Touch Wellness Council, upon the recommendation of Human Touch. In case you are wondering what this means, here is a copy of their mission statement:

Mission Statement:

Human Touch’s Wellness Council is committed to educating professionals, sports-enthusiasts, back pain sufferers and consumers alike on the importance and benefits of taking control of their daily lives, maintaining a healthy balance of mind, body and spirit, and maximizing the overall health and wellness lifestyle by incorporating regular massage into their “wellness” routine through the use of personal massage products.  Human Touch has brought together influential persons with a variety of wellness lifestyle experience as members of the Wellness Council to educate and from their own experience and practice of integrating massage into their everyday routine.

Human Touch recognizes its social responsibility and is proud to help individuals achieve wellness in their everyday lives, and by offering massage in affordable, accessible and stylish products, it empowers people to bring themselves one step closer to improving their overall quality of life.

Each Human Touch Wellness Council Member serves as an ambassador for everyday massage, communicating their key wellness messages through online and offline media, community events and public forums.
So, the long and short of it is,  as a chiropractor of 16 years, and as the top retailer for the Health Care Division of the Human Touch company, I have been invited to be an “ambassador” of sorts for the company and for the wellness concept. I actually am quite flattered by this invitation and look forward to being an active participant in the wellness community of which I have been invited to participate. I do know that they ask me to add a monthly blog entry to their website which will launch August 1st, 2008. I will let you know when this is available if you would like to participate in any wellness discussions on that site. Other folks who are also members of this Wellness Council include PGA golfer Tim Clark,  Jeff Galloway, Sarah Harding, Iona MacKenzie, Dr. Michael Nathanson, and  Ted Tryba.

Have a super day!

Dr. Alan Weidner
www.massage-chair-relief.com

I am writing this blog entry from beautiful Pinedale, Wyoming…home to the Green River Mountain Man Rendezvous. We were invited to attend this event and bring our massage chairs along. So, my wife, Mona, our Commercial Sales Manager, Steffanie, and myself left for the Rendezvous on Wednesday of this week. The weather has been great and the folks so down to earth and kind. Pinedale is a quiet little town at the base of the Wind River Mountains and is home to much of the Wyoming gas and oil industry. You can see a picture of me and BK, also known as Black Kettle, a mountain man original. Although he has only had electricity in his home for 3 years now, he sat on the HT-1650 everyday…at least twice. You see…a massage chair even works wonders for Mountain Men!!

As usual, our massage chairs are a novelty, and folks are always attracted to sitting on them. Here is a photo I took with my cell phone showing our chairs at the Rendezvous with Mona and Steffanie in the background.

Other than the Rendezvous, I just wanted to say that we are working on a new home page redesign for Massage-Chair-Relief.com. It is something I’ve wanted to do for a while and it will include, among other things, a method to searching for chair models based on various features, a special of the month section, more testimonials on the home page, and some live video of yours truly to introduce folks to the site. I’ll keep you posted.

Dr. Alan Weidner
www.massage-chair-relief.com

Our chairs were featured at the annual Rivalry Cup at Thanksgiving Point in Lehi, Utah. It is a local event sponsored by Real Golf Radio and their hosts, Bob Casper and Brian Taylor. Real Golf Radio is a nationally syndicated golf radio program that broadcasts from the clubhouse at Thanksgiving Point. The course is beautiful and the the Rivalry Cup is a golf tournament that pits BYU alumni against Utah alumni. For those of you who don’t know, BYU and the U are rivals and love to beat each other up…particularly in college football games. Being from Alberta, Canada I liken it unto the fabulous Calgary/Edmonton rivalries over the years in hockey (hockey <—> golf…very similar, i.e. Happy Gilmore!)

They invited us to bring our massage chairs for the golfers to use before and after competing. It was a wonderful day and we got to meet some fantastic people, like legendary Hall-of-Fame golfer, Billy Casper. Steffanie took a couple of shots of him on the HT-1650 massage chair (everyone seems to enjoy that one!). Chad Lewis former tight end for the Philadephia Eagles, among others, also enjoyed our massage chairs. By the way, BYU won! (Utah won last year…the first inaugural tournament). I should also mention that everyone loved the chairs. Lots of oohs and aahs.

We’d like to thank Bob and Brian for inviting us out to the golf course and treating us like royalty while we were there. These are two awesome fellows. We had a great time and saw some awesome golf.

Fore!!

Dr. Alan Weidner
www.massage-chair-relief.com

Apparently, from here on out, Sanyo is selling their zero-gravity Sanyo 7700 massage chair exclusively through Relax The Back stores. So, they have provided another model, almost identical to the 7700 called the Sanyo 6700 massage chair. What are the differences, you ask? Well, there are only 3 and here they are:

1. The Sanyo 6700 massage chair has one zero-gravity position, whereas the Sanyo 7700 has two.

2. The Sanyo 6700 has a Quick Course (a short pre-programmed auto program in addition to the regular automatic programs), which the Sanyo 7700 does not have, but the Sanyo 7700 has an “Air Only” course of massage which the 6700 does not have.

3. The Sanyo 7700 has 2 seat airbags and 2 upper bag airbags, which the Sanyo 6700 does not have. Of course, both chairs have the regular upper back rollers…the 6700 just doesn’t have the air bags in the upper back. The 7700 has two more airbags in the leg airbags than does the 6700 (20 vs. 18).

4. The Sanyo 7700 massage chair has an adjustable leg length extension. The Sanyo 6700 does not require that feature because it has the same ottoman design as the Sanyo 5000 which extends the foot rest to accommodate the longer leg of some users. The Sanyo 7700 has a ottoman similar in design to the HT-1650 which is one piece without a movable footrest. No big deal.

And that, my friends, is about it as far as differences between the two chairs. Oh yeah, and the price of the Sanyo 6700 is $500 less than the 7700! So, it’s regular retail price is $4499. So, from here on out, we will only be selling the Sanyo 6700 model on our website and in our showrooms.

Here is a link to the product brochure of the Sanyo 6700 massage chair: Sanyo 6700 massage chair brochure.

You can click on this link to take a look at a comparison chart of the 2 models: Sanyo 6700 and Sanyo 7700 comparison chart.

Dr. Alan Weidner
www.massage-chair-relief.com

 I’d like to report to you that our Grand Opening of our Massage Chair Relief showroom was fantastic! We had GaryMichaels from Arrow 103.5 broadcast from the showroom and we had plenty of opportunity to talk about our new store showroom, products, and website on the air with Gary. He was very gracious to give us lots of air time.

Many people came by to visit and “test drive” our chairs. Everyone loves them. The highlight of the day was a visit from Suzette Willcox, the Sales Manager of the Health Care Division of Human Touch! She traveled from Long Beach early in the morning to be here on our special day. We so appreciate the support of Human Touch at our Grand Opening. Suzie brought a beautiful Human    Touch banner/sign as a showroom-warming gift. It is awesome and sits at the front of the showroom in the main window.

I’ve put up some pictures of the event so that you can see what was going on.

I also put up a link to an mp3 file of one of the on-air conversations we had with Gary Michaels, the DJ from Arrow 103.5. Enjoy:

Arrow 103.5 Air Check

Thanks to everyone who came out to the Grand Opening and to everyone who has supported us through the years, bringing us to this point and time in our business! We are so grateful.

Dr. Alan Weidner
www.massage-chair-relief.com

I conducted a 10 question survey over the last two weeks and the results were somewhat surprising. What I did was create a small, 10 question survey that covered some of the topics that I always wondered about that were going on in the minds of the visitors to my website. I sent out the survey to everyone who had subscribed to my special report “5 Things You Absolutely Must Know Before You Even Consider Investing In A High Quality, Robotic Massage Chair”. Here are a couple of insights that I gleaned from that survey:

1. 78.3% of massage chair buyers were male.
2. 67% of massage chair shoppers were looking for pain relief in a massage chair.
3. 56% of buyers fell within an income range below $100,000 (massage chairs are not just for the rich and famous!).
4. I also learned that only 11% of my subscribers cared about getting the bonus gifts with a purchase (hhmmm…may have to reconsider that one, eh?)
5. back massage intensity adjustment was the most important thing for shoppers of massage chairs (81.1% of folks were looking for this feature in a chair).
6. 97.2% of our shoppers found our website, www.massage-chair-relief.com, very easy to navigate around.

I would love it if you would take our survey too. I appreciate all the input I can get to make my site and business as wonderful as it can be. And, with your assistance, I can do it!

Here is the link:

www.massage-chair-relief.com/survey

There are two pages…each one with 5 questions. It will take you  less than 5 minutes to take the survey and your input will have an effect on how we manage our site and business.

Thank you so much for your input. It is very much appreciated.

Dr. Alan Weidner
www.massage-chair-relief.com

I mentioned last week that I had a telephone interview with Cliff Levin, president of the US Distribution arm of Family Inada massage chairs. I said I would post a link to the interview once I had it edited and ready to go. Well, it is ready to go. Below is the link to that interview. It is about 50 minutes long and we discuss a number of things, from the new and exciting Sogno massage chair to the other Inada models to some of the industry issues at the current time. I hope you enjoy it.

http://www.massage-chair-relief.com/Cliff_Levin

The Sogno massage chair is available right now to order. The Sogno Dreamweaver Plus will not be available until the third week in June. You must call our showroom or our toll free number if you wish to order a new Sogno massage chair. Online shopping cart sales are not part of the retail agreement with Inada. So, give us a call at either 1-888-259-5380 or 801-417-8240.

Have a great day!

Dr. Alan Weidner
www.massage-chair-relief.com

We were invited to bring one of our massage chairs down to KSL, which is the local NBC affiliate, to demonstrate it on the noon hour TV show, Studio 5. So, I went down with my black HT-1650 massage chair and showed it to the great citizens of Utah. Below is a link. I am certainly not TV personality material, but I sure appreciated the chance to show our cool chair to the public. The host,  Darren, seemed to really enjoy it, don’t you think?

Here is the link to the segment:

http://studio5.ksl.com/?nid=56&sid=3615841

My wife and I were over at the showroom last night putting some finishing touches on the showroom preparatory to our Grand Opening on Saturday. We are pretty excited about it. I will post some pictures of the event over the weekend so you can see what was going on.

Did I also mention that we will begin carrying the two of the iJoy models, the iJoy 300 and the HT-2720, as well as the Perfect Chair, all by Human Touch? These chairs should be on the website and the showroom this next month.

Dr. Alan Weidner
www.massage-chair-relief.com