A great deal of trepidation...

So, I've decided to turn professional. Hey, I'm pretty handy with a deck of Tarot cards, I've been disabled for two years, and I figured this would be a good way for me to feel useful again after not having worked for so long, as well as supplementing my disability income.

The first company I applied with, I totally blew the test reading. Nerves, I think. I had probably too much advance notice and wanted it to be perfect. All my card interpretations were correct, but I think my intuition wasn't working very well because I was so determined to do it right. I even dressed nice, even though the reading was to be done over the phone.

The second company, I had no advance notice of the test reading. I called to discuss the contract, and the lady asked me to do a reading for her, and it went swimmingly. The first night I logged on, there was trouble. Even though I had a listing at Keen, (the company handled that, and all the promotion, I got paid a commission), it seemed that the people had no clue that they were getting a Tarot reading, and wanted me to answer their questions quickly. One lady kept firing off random questions after I had laid out the cards, I was desperately pulling cards from the deck, and she wanted answers way more specific than the cards could give (she asked if I saw an engagement ring, I pulled the Four of Wands, using DM, and said I saw a newly married couple going into their new home. She kept asking if I saw an engagement ring). One lady was downright hostile and hung up on me not even a third of the way into the reading. She wanted to know if she and her boyfriend would be moving in together, as if this is something that just happens to someone instead of it being a deliberate decision two people make together. Ten of Swords, Deviant Moon. I said there seemed to be a problem she was hiding from, and that was causing more pain than if she faced up to it. Her very angry reply (and she was mad at me before I picked up the phone it seemed) was "I face my problems". I didn't even get to the next card before I heard the click. Then there was the lady who asked me, "Are you getting this psychically, or are you reading cards?" "I'm reading cards," I told her. "I thought I was going to be talking to a psychic". "My listing says very clearly that I'm a Tarot card reader," I said. Turns out, she hadn't chosen me from my listing, she had dialed a number and pressed 2 for psychic and gotten pot luck. Now, mind you, every time I picked up the phone, I heard a recorded message telling me that the call had come through my listing on Keen, but this conversation made everything clear- the reason so many callers seemed so impatient with the process of shuffling, laying out and interpreting the cards was because they did not know they were calling a Tarot reader. And of course, the reason I wasn't explaining to them what I was doing was because I was being led to believe that they were choosing my listing which clearly said I was a Tarot reader. To make things even more fun, all of the calls were pre-paid, which meant that I might have four minutes, or less, to do a reading. That's barely enough time to say hello, shuffle and lay out the cards (I also suspect that they were paying for hold time, I got messages saying they had one minute left when I wasn't even a minute into the reading).

I called my manager, and suggested maybe we should rewrite my listing to make it more clear that I was doing Tarot card readings- I wanted to see if she if she would tell me that people were not necessarily choosing to call me based on my listing. She avoided the whole issue, obviously she didn't want to tell me what was really going on. She pulled my calls and found out I had a four-minute average call length, and that was bad. She said that people got three free minutes, and I wasn't converting the calls to paid calls. She had never told me this when I was first hired. I told her the calls didn't seem to be open ended, one customer had even told me she had bought ten dollars worth of minutes, and that calls were cutting off automatically. She insisted the calls were open ended, even though I had told her about being told by a client that the minutes were pre-paid. Upshot of all of this, she terminated my contract. I caught her in a lie, and she fired me, plain and simple.

So, now I have a test reading coming up Monday with the Psychic Powers Network. I've been in communication by e-mail with one of their former readers, and she said they were a good company to work for, but frankly I'm scared. What if I can't keep people on the line for the twenty minutes they want? What if people hang up on me when they find they've got a Tarot reader when they were expecting a clairvoyant? I will have a listing on a website, but the company does a lot of advertising in places other than the internet, so I know the callers won't necessarily know up front what they're getting.

I don't want to give up on the idea just yet, but after this last bad experience, I'm wondering if I should even have applied for another job this soon. I don't want to back out now, but I'm really worried about how things are going to go.

If you want to go pro, why not do it outside the constraints of a company or organization? Hate to say this, but many companies that do Tarot readings by phone are scammy and quite frankly not very morally upright. Just my experience, take that for whatever its worth. Sounds to me like you'd be better off offering readings by email and advertising on your own, creating your own client base and fee schedule, your own code of ethics and deciding what you are and are not comfortable reading on, instead of being told by someone else what you are and are not expected to do. That works for some things, but Tarot just isn't one of those things, at least in my opinion.

If you're absolutely dead-set on being involved in one of these phone systems, do a little research online; see what other people have to say about them. Try to find opinions from both former employees and people who have used the service. Make sure you're educated about how the company is organized, what their expectations are, how much lateral motion they give their readers, etc. If they seem "fly by night", they probably are, and it's best to just bow out of the interview gracefully. If you do go to the interview, go in empowered by the knowledge your research has led you to, and ask plenty of questions. Learn from your last bad experience and ask tons of questions so you can try to avoid the same thing happening again.

Keep your head up!

Oh, I intend to ask a lot of questions during the interview. Probably so many that they won't want to hire me, at least not if they're a shady operation.

I'm also thinking of downloading the full version of Skype and becoming a Skype advisor- I may do that if this gig doesn't work out.

If I decided to go the e-mail route, well, I'd have to build a website, and having absolutely no experience with that, I find the idea a little intimidating.

I actually have done phone readings in the past, for a few weeks (long story, quit the job due to spiritual conflicts, but I'm all better now) and it went quite well. I would start each call by explaining that I'm not clairvoyant, I'm a Tarot card reader, and people seemed to be pretty cool with that, and the company didn't expect you to have a high call-length average right off the bat, (my average was increasing when I quit).

I'm going to be asking if I they give suggestions on how to keep people on the line (I actually think twenty minutes is about right for a Tarot reading, but if you've got a client who isn't talking on the other end, they tend to be shorter).

I think my biggest problem with the last gig was the misrepresentation. I had been led to believe that the people on the other end were choosing me based on a listing, and therefore wanted a Tarot reading, and that wasn't the case. If I had known that the clients didn't know what they were getting when they called, I would have explained a little about what I do. Of course, that wouldn't have solved the pre-paid time issue and hey, or the manager lying to me and saying the calls were open-ended when I knew they weren't issue...

Anyway, if the gig turns out to not be all that, then at least I can use it to gain some professional experience so that I can move on to a better company.

Hi,

Sorry to hear about your stuggle with these companies. I registered on Keen directly and had two clients, who seemed very uncertain of themselves. It was in no way timed, but i lacked confidence as either a tarot reader and although i've done clairvoyant readings before, i was totally stressed out and panicking and couldn't make anything work. I just ended up sounding like a total wreck on the phone.

I think the main thing is that you sound as if you are at the stage where you can actually do readings successfully if the client was aware of your procedures. I think the suggestion above from Promise is the best thing you could do- setup a website, put a keen button on there then advertise in other ways, -i.e in shop windows, newspapers, or mention that you do readings to friends etc.

I had a friend who did group readings at her house- she got her first clients from advertising in shop windows and held parties. These went well and she has new bookings. I prefer being on the phone as would be nervous face to face, but if you have the ability to do this, perhaps this would be an idea if you want to go pro.

Good luck with everything xx

Well, actually, it was in my contract that I can't work through Keen for a year after termination with the company I worked for, so Keen isn't an option.

I have only lived here in Massachusetts for a year, so I don't have much of a social circle. And I live in a small apartment that I share with my mother, so doing readings at home isn't an option, although if I could generate some interest around the building, I suppose I could go to their apartments.

Also, we don't really have the sort of shops here in Lynn that I could put signs in for Tarot readings. Actually, right now, I'm thinking I'm on fairly good terms with the owners of a Vietnamese restaurant, maybe I could talk to them about occupying a table...

I think right now my best bet is as a phone psychic. I would have to do some research on how to build my own website if I decided to go that route, I'm really not terribly savvy in that area. Skype is a definite possibility, maybe I could set up a website and use that to funnel people to me via the Skype Advisor service.

Mostly, I just want to get my feet wet as a professional. I think that if people know what to expect from me up front, I shouldn't have any problems outside of the fact that some people are just idiots, and some of those idiots call phone psychics, and that's just part of life.

I was in a contract with my previous employer and continued to setup my business even though i was breaching this. The most they can do is ask you to stop working on the business until your contract is up. I had the police come to me on this and it wasn't pursued any further.

Is there anyway they could find out about it if you posted under a different alias? You don't have to use your real name- they can't really stop you working on keen i wouldn't think. Perhaps i'm missing something though.

Yes the restaurant sounds like a nice idea. I think if you got hooked up with a hosting company- alot offer the ability to create websites very easily with no knowledge, they offer support also, you can then add a skype button. The hosting would be around £10 a month, but it's just an idea. This is what i pay my hosting company at the moment.

My experience of skype is that the call quality is bad. I hope that you have better luck with this. Unless you are diverting it to your housephone for example, which you shouldn't have any problems in quality then. I'm not really sure what else to suggest- hope someone else can come up with some ideas for you

What about creating a blog for that purpose, instead of a website? Ambiance, you seem much more knowledgeable than me regarding this, but I've been thinking of doing it myself. Adding a PayPal button. Would this work do you think? Blogs are easier, IMO, to create than a website, plus you don't have to pay for hosting.

AM, I feel for you.

If you're already finding yourself in a "what if" frame of mind, that is going to tend to manifest the problems you want it to avoid.

Why not keep away from phone readings for a while? Approach a cafe or somewhere, about occupying a table in a corner and paying them a quarter of your take. Make a nice sign if they say yes, and bring a nice tablecloth. I don't know what kind of disability you're dealing with, but if you need help moving around in the world, there are friends and carers. And if you're in a chair, that can work for you: ("no physical life, must be concentrating on the mystical life").

If this won't work for you, perhaps you can invest some of the pay from the phone line into a newspaper ad in the personal columns, and do readings from home?

Actually, right now, in the frame of mind I'm in, I think I'm going to tell the company I'm no longer interested.

I'm lying awake crying right now, and I need to get some sleep because I have church and am teaching catechism in the morning.

My confidence in my abilities as a reader took a major hit this past week. I really wasn't reading well because I was getting rattled by the impatience of my clients. I just don't feel right now that I could handle a busy phone line or any potential difficult clients. I'm terrified at the prospect of having to field the calls.

When they call Monday, I think I'm going to say, "Thanks, but no thanks".

And really, there are no cafes here in Lynn that would be the type of place I could sit and do readings, except maybe the Vietnamese restaurant, and that's not a really busy place.

I think this is just going to have to stay a hobby for me.

Oh and my disability is mental. I am bipolar, and suffer from an anxiety disorder. Which means that it wouldn't take much to put me in a frame of mind in which I would be completely unable to read.

Probably best to stick to the Reading Exchange here at AT if I want to do readings for others.

What?! Don't retreat. "Disabled" or not - don't you enjoy doing it? Don't you enjoy helping others? Maybe you didn't find the place for you, but if you want to make some extra cash, why not keep looking for something that suits you better? You're not going to give up on every place, because one place was a complete disgrace are you? If you believe in angels or guides, ask for help. Ask for people who could truly benefit from your service to be placed in your path. Try a 3 strikes rule. You try doing it 3 different times and if it doesn't work out, forget about it, but until then, keep trying. I'd say, give this other place a shot at least, you never know, it might not be a dud like the first one... it could completely suit you, but you won't know unless you try.