Make a living from reading?

I wanted to ask some of the people who read professionally how viable it is to make a decent income through reading tarot. Im not taslking about becoming a millionaire or anything, just an average income. The reason I ask is because I was talking to someone recently who pretty much said this is only possible for a very few....Id love to hear peoples thoughts on this...Bel

Depends very much on the community you live in. Where I live, just reading will supplement my income but won't make me financially independent, no matter how good I am. I'm also looking at getting courses I teach into the college system which will help a little (private classes, again, supplement my income but do not pay the bills), but even if I do get a series of courses accepted into the adult education system, I'd have to work about sixty hours a week to make a living (assessment and class preparation time is unpaid), and I wouldn't necessarily be offered enough classroom-time in any teaching venue to make it pay anyway - it's not always up to you how much you can do.

In a good venue with a good reputation, I can kick out up to about eight readings a day a couple of days a week - at the moment my exposure is less than that. Considering that my rent for my home alone is worth about sixteen or seventeen readings, it's not a path to instant riches.

If anyone is hanging around here believing that Tarot will one day make you rich, you're looking in the wrong place, even if a single reading you may have had seems expensive. After all, it probably took that person twenty years of study to achieve their level of skill, all of which has to be divided into the price of the reading, in most places they will have overheads (rent or a percentage for the house), transport, wear and tear on decks, cloths, candles, incense etc, even lunch.

This is something you really need to do because you love it, or you will face disappointment and disillusion full in the face.

yes, that makes sense...so I guess if one loves it enough to want to make it their lifes work, they really need to be in a position of financial independence....where not having a day job is not going to cause hardship...

<smile>
Pretty much, I'm afraid.

I think it can work well.

There are lots of online companies looking for telephone readers
Tarot reading parties like body shop parties etc
Face to face readings in your home or your clients home.

I eventually want to do all of these when i have the confidence.
X

mysticmanth said:

I think it can work well.

There are lots of online companies looking for telephone readers
Tarot reading parties like body shop parties etc
Face to face readings in your home or your clients home.

I eventually want to do all of these when i have the confidence.
X

Click to expand...

Maybe if you wanted to combine all these and do them all, working day and night, you might make your living at it. I'd never quit my day job for it, if I were you. Just use it to supplement your regular income. That works the best.

mysticmanth said:

I think it can work well.

There are lots of online companies looking for telephone readers
Tarot reading parties like body shop parties etc
Face to face readings in your home or your clients home.

I eventually want to do all of these when i have the confidence.
X

Click to expand...

The reason so many places are looking for telephone readers is because so many discover that you can't make much doing that, and that the start-up is expensive if you have to put in a dedicated telephone line, and working hours are often no-money return unless you start getting good referrals, and a lot of them. It's more like doing phone sales (shudder) than anything else. Lots of people here have tried that and been very disappointed.
With parties, shops etc., you have to get your foot in the door which means they have to have heard of you or be willing trust your references. Metaphysical shops in busy places with a big clientelle are hip-deep in wanna-be pro readers, hoping for an empty slot. Once you get in, should you get lucky, then you have a limited period of time to prove yourself, and you are probably in the worst time slot they have. In new shops business is slow, and you'd better have an alternate income for a long time.

No matter where you read, you have to build a good clientelle, or you go under.That takes time, dedication, and money. You need to advertise, which is expensive. You have to present yourself in an professional manner, you need references, you need to stand out from the herd of other readers. Table fees at big Psychic Fairs are high, and everywhere you go, the competition is wicked.
It's not at all like the Tarot Fairy Godmother whacks you with her wand and *bingo*, you're a busy reader making good money overnight. It's a long slow climb, like any sort of art and very few get to the top.
You can go to a Metaphysical shop or Psychic fair and look at a busy reader and say to yourself, "I can do what she does--I can read as well as her" and maybe that's true. But can you do what she had to do get where she is? That's the Big Question.

It all depends on how many readings you do. We get paid per reading, right? So, how many clients do you have and how often do they come to you?

I have a great side job at a night club. I work when/if I want to. But I don't think I could pay my bills doing it. I suppose, if I had to pay the bills that way, it could be done but it would be a lot of work.

Great question, bellathebrave123! I am working toward doing just that myself.

I believe that you can be a successful reader and make enough money to support yourself, but there are some things that you have to keep in mind.

You have to believe that you can do it.
Many people all over the world have found ways to make a living doing what they love... why not us?

You have to get over the money issue.
As a reader, you will be running a business. You need to charge fair value for the service you are providing and be comfortable with it. If you don't think you can charge what your time is actually worth, or think that reading is only suitable for "donations" then reading may be no more than a hobby that you enjoy.

You have to invest in your business.
As a reader, you will be running a business. You need to invest in advertising, spend time networking, and making the connections that you will need to make to get your name out in the public so they know they can hire you and you are legitimate, just like any other business.

I used to have a successful home-based computer consulting business when I lived in Maryland. In 3 years, I was nearly able to quit my day job and just do that full time, but got the opportunity to move to the Pacific NW and took it. The above things I mention (and they are not the only things by far) are true for any small/home business. One of the main reasons they fail in the first year is because people under value or feel guilty about charging for the time they are actually worth and end up running the business at a loss. I actually didn't advertise the business at all but got all my work through word of mouth and networking... actually, I got my work leads through word of mouth and networking... I got the work because I treated customers the way I wanted to be treated. The business grew 3000% over a 3 year period. If someone balked at a cost, they didn't have to hire me... and I didn't take jobs that cost me money (unless I wanted to for charity, etc.).

Building a business isn't easy and frequently putting yourself out there to get gigs (sales) is uncomfortable. I'm the first to admit that the idea of working without a regular paycheck signed by someone else is scary. But if you really want to do it, you can. I know of someone personally who has been successful enough as a phone reader that she was able to quit her day job.

My plan is to be able to do the same within the next year, and so far I am on track to do just that.

Sheri

mysticmanth said:

I think it can work well.

There are lots of online companies looking for telephone readers
Tarot reading parties like body shop parties etc
Face to face readings in your home or your clients home.

I eventually want to do all of these when i have the confidence.
X

Click to expand...

Sex lines make most of the phone money in Australia.

I'm getting to be known and I only get the occasional party, the culture isn't big here. It works better if you're friendly with a tupperware or Avon or jewellery rep, and work as a team with them, providing the so-called entertainment in one room whilst they sell in another, but I no longer have appropriate contacts <sigh>.

And I get more readings being in a recognised venue (a new age shop or a cafe) where the house gets a percentage of the take than I do at home (where I am reluctant to read, nothing puts a damper on a reading in a very, very small, dingy house faster than a teenager tracking other teenagers through the middle of the room and asking what's for dinner. (Not many of us have spare rooms).

I was making my home-rent when I was working out of a new-age shop with about five to eight readings a shift, which was very helpful and enabled us not to resemble church-mice so much, but that came to a natural and appropriate end <smile>.