what are your special techniques that have proved successful?
I start in the pelvic area right away, no sense wasting any time. J/K
You have to work along the lines that the muscle naturally follows, it helps to understand a little bit about anatomy of the muscoskeletal system. The back has a group of muscles that run along each side of the spine. The shoulders have a unique 'triangular' muscle pattern, so you work along the sides of that triangle.
Try to avoid rubbing directly over bony points because that can be uncomfortable (read painful). A good massage relies on a certain amount of resistance, otherwise it would be like pushing a sack of Jello around. There is a special technique for thick and 'squishy' muscular areas which have no definite 'lines' such as buttocks, but if I told you, I'd have to kill you (as someone else mentioned). Don't forget the neck, arms, thighs, calves, and the FEET! Foot massages can be pretty damned erotic, its one area that is often neglected. I'm telling ya, if you get the foot massage right, you can screw everything else up. ;-)
It takes a bit of practice, at first you have to get input from the person(s) you're massaging, so you know what you're doing 'good' and what you're not. You learn a person's 'spots', and how they like you to massage them. After you have some experience, you can find them on your own with little or no direction.