I've taken the plunge and had my palm crossed with silver!

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 03 Aug 2004, and now archived in the Forum Library.

Anna	03 Aug 2004
Needs must when the devil drives! And the devil, in the form of my bank manager, is definatly driving :D I have to pay off a debt by the end of the month or be thrown to the debt collectors.....so, I've done the grown up self aware person thing and turned this into an opportunity to do what I've been threatening to do for the last 12 months, and read for money! I've spread the word ammongst friends and family, and on sunday afternoon I had my first client! (Acctually it was my aunt, but I don't know very much about her life, and she was paying, so it counts! lol). I learned loads! Firstly, I'd taken 6 (yes 6! just count them!) decks with me because I wasn't sure which one she'd like. She said she didn't mind which deck I used and looked rather baffled that I'd suggested choosing one- so; clients are probably not going to care about the decks I use and are far more intrested in hearing the advice I've got to offer. I had a whole load of spreads at my fingertips, and having listened to the questions that my client had, I chose to use two spreads; one to answer a specific question, and one to do a general reading. What acctually happened was that both spreads said virtually the same thing, and a few of the same cards came up the second time. Doing two spreads in depth meant that I had spent an hour doing the reading, and some of that time just repeating myself. An hour is probably too long, and I probably just ended up diluting the message. I think one good spread would be better. If necesary, I could do a quick 3 card reading after that to answer any specific questions the client had that I had not addressed yet. I'd wanted to proove myself as a reader by showing that I had a good knowledge of different ways of reading the cards, the client is more concerned with how accurate the reading is. I had been going to take a tape recorder with me, but I'd worried that it might be a distraction...but, I think a client might relax more if they knew that they didn't have to work at remembering everything that was said. Next time I will take it with me and offer it at the beggining of the reading. One thing that worked realy well was spending the first few minutes talking about my approach to reading; that I focus on guidance and advice rather than predictions and also that I believe we all have free will and the future is what we make of it, things like that. I think it helped my client have some idea of what was going to happen and she looked a little more relaxed after this. Overall though, she was very pleased. She felt it had been accurate and said that she would be very happy to recomend me to others. This was a bit of a landmark for me, just wanted to share it :) I've another 2 clients at the end of the week (1 of them is someone I've never met, so that will be a whole new level of scary to look forward too!). I'd also welcome some tips and advice!

Imagemaker	03 Aug 2004
Pixie, what a great experience! Congratulations on going pro! I think you did everything just right. How nice to have tarot come to your financial aid. I think running a tape for a longer reading is a very good idea, and you, of course, add $5 (3 pounds? sorry, my keyboard is too American! doesn't have a pound key!) to your charge for the tape itself. Just make sure you have a decent recorder so the sound is clear. Onward!

allibee	03 Aug 2004
"1 of them is someone I've never met" Just think of it as a friend you don't yet know well. Actually I find it so much easier for people I have never met - do all my readings through the net - as you don't have to be sucked into anything subjective or project what both of you want it to mean. Well done, and you never stop learning :)

Satori	03 Aug 2004
WoooHooooo!!! **elf standing up on chair clapping and flapping arms** go pixie, go pixie, it's your birthday, go pixie... Let me say it again, WoooooHooooo, Pixie is OFFICIAL!!! Congratulations Girl!!! MmmmmmHmmmmm. You are Tarotfied! LOL. Way to go Charming Pixie. I am so very glad that you really, really, really believe in yourself enough to accept money for your talent. My tip: never forget where you came from and make sure that whenever anyone sits in your chair you think to yourself: they are just like me...radiant, spiritual beings on a spiritual path, looking for answers and wanting someone to help them remember how very special they are. You go girl!

Oni	03 Aug 2004
i think u r a good reader and if u care about what u r doing then the money will flow well. wish u much luck!

Majecot	03 Aug 2004
Pixie Congratulations!!!! Sounds like it was a terrific experience for you. (I see that debt being paid off in no time flat!)

Ace	03 Aug 2004
Congratulations CharmingPixie! You go girl! You have learned a lot already, you are great! Good luck in the future! One thing I do is tape all 30 minute readings, it is an added value feature (you might raise your price if you feel you need to cover cost separate.) I make a tape label with the WordPerfect word processing program and blank tape labels I bought at the office supply store designed for ink jet printers. They are expensive but I use them very slowly. I tell the computer to print one label space on a sheet, starting at the bottom. Since it is an ink jet, it doesn't get hot, and I can use the sheet over and over, one pair of labels at a time from the bottom. I put my name at the top and at the bottom, Reading for (their name) on (date) and on the back, my name and at the bottom my phone. It looks so professional that way!

Ruby Red Slippers	03 Aug 2004
Well Done!! May the Tarot Guides be with you! Just set your intention that the Universe will send you those you need to pay off your debt and it WILL BE DONE! RRS

Chronata	03 Aug 2004
Congratulations, oh Charming one! I am really pleased that your first paid experience went so well for you! Now you will have the confidence for many many more! And It's great that you learned a lot of details right away from the get-go! Some of those things took me much trial and error in public to learn! Good luck in your future professional reading endeavors! :D

Shalott	04 Aug 2004
Cool! Congrats on taking the plunge! (I'm still too scared!) May your story be an inspiration to some of us who are, like me, still too timid!

Sulis	04 Aug 2004
Well done you. I think you may find it easier reading for someone you've never met - I find when giving reflexology treatments that I'm more relaxed working with clients I don't know - I feel as though I'm prying a bit or just invading the privacy of those I know a little. Love Sulis xx

Anna	04 Aug 2004
Thanks everyone :D :D :D

blackroseivy	04 Aug 2004
I remember years ago when I first got paid a few pounds in Ireland to do a bunch of women at the hostel I was staying at... Real neat to make money at it! With the 1 & only deck I had at the time... My old college Aquarian Tarot! It was a good deck for a novice-to-journeyman... I'm a "mistress" now, thank you! (Or *close*, anyway!) I hope to get *eventually* going with a long-promised (by my sister) website - that's something you may consider! Have fun making money! :D

anjocoxo	04 Aug 2004
I'm actually thinking about doing the same. I was sacked from my job last week, and, even though I'm starting again in September, this one will be a part-time, so I was thinking about using my free-time to do readings, here where I live... and maybe if it worked, opening my own metaphisical shop (going too high, now). I really prefer reading for people I don't know, it's like a blank sheet of paper, you just see everything in the cards and don't have any bias, while with people I know sometimes it's more difficult, either because they're facing trouble (and it's hard for me saying this to a friend), or because I get "stuck", my intuition doesn't work as well... Maybe I'll start doing readings myself (I already do them through internet, but not enough to pay bills, of course). I just hope I'm good enough for it, LOL anjo

The I've taken the plunge and had my palm crossed with silver! thread was originally posted on 03 Aug 2004 in the Talking Tarot board, and is now archived in the Forum Library. Read the active threads in Talking Tarot, or read more archived threads.