Going "public" - advice needed

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 29 Mar 2005, and now archived in the Forum Library.

Dave's Angel	29 Mar 2005
Hi Everyone! I've been reading Tarot for myself and personal friends for about 8 years now, and I'm considering advertising myself as a reader in places like the free ads papers and so on. I'm not looking to make a living from it, probably only charge about £5 a reading for the time as much as anything, and I'd also be doing it postally or by email (because I don't do too well with the person actually there with me). Something that has occurred to me though is as with everything there will be pitfalls and I'd like your advice on what to expect / prepare for. As far as I know, in the UK there isn't any sort of accreditation, at least not anything you MUST have in order to read Tarot for the general public. Can anyone out there, especially in the UK if that has any relevance, give me any hints / tips / warnings? Thanks in advance!

Gwynne	30 Mar 2005
There's a book by Christine Jette called Professional Tarot. I highly recommend it. She covers a lot of different things, from "Are you ready?" to teaching classes, to bookkeeping, advertising, problem clients and more. It's an excellent resource for anyone considering going public, even if just part time.

Grizabella	30 Mar 2005
I've got the book and had it listed for a trade, just for the record. Nobody has seemed interested, but the offer still stands.

Earthly Virgo	30 Mar 2005
Hi there Daves Angel Good on you for getting out there! One thing I think you have to remember is that often you will feel you "just dont get it" and that maybe because you are just arent meant "to get it" ie it is not in the best interest of the person to have a reading. When I first started doing readings I would feel like a total dork if I couldnt get a good reading..one that felt right. Sometimes the cards would fall like gobbledygook....it took a long time before I finally realised that it was exactly how it was meant to be. So I would say....just Trust yourself and know that you are being given the information as you are meant to be given it. If you are doing it by mail or email you have the time to leave the cards out and just ponder them for a time. Good luck and go for it!

Free Flight	31 Mar 2005
Hi there Dave Good on you for getting out there. I think it is great! I have the same problem with live readings. Have you thought about starting off by joining some kind of thing that has already been established. Maybe a psychic hotline or something. I was thinking when I am at your stage (for me that would be 5 years) I would start somewhere like this at an already established thing where I could get practice on phone readings until I could find a way to do written readings..No idea how to do this apart from via the web. When you figure it out please share it with me and I will plagarise your ideas! :)

Dave's Angel	31 Mar 2005
Hi, thanks for your advice. I have the "I don't get it" thing every so often - in fact when I read my cards I always ask (whoever's out there) that if I'm not supposed to know something and the cards go correspondingly fuzzy, that I have the good sense to catch on to that and not force a reading that isn't there. Gwynne, what do you mean by "problem clients"? (I should stress again that I am thinking of working by post or email only so that I have time to think about the reading - on the couple of occasions I've read with the person with me, it has been DREADFUL, and when I read it usually takes me the best part of an hour. So telephone work doesn't interest me, it's not the line I'm thinking of going into.)

Gwynne	31 Mar 2005
Dave's Angel wrote: Hi, thanks for your advice. I have the "I don't get it" thing every so often - in fact when I read my cards I always ask (whoever's out there) that if I'm not supposed to know something and the cards go correspondingly fuzzy, that I have the good sense to catch on to that and not force a reading that isn't there. Gwynne, what do you mean by "problem clients"? (I should stress again that I am thinking of working by post or email only so that I have time to think about the reading - on the couple of occasions I've read with the person with me, it has been DREADFUL, and when I read it usually takes me the best part of an hour. So telephone work doesn't interest me, it's not the line I'm thinking of going into.) I read live and on the phone and occasionally by email. I've never had a problem client by email, and only had one on the phone. The service I use for phone readings allows me to block customers, so that was an easy fix... But doing live readings you run into all sorts of people from skeptics ("I'm only here because so and so said you were good.... I don't even believe in this crap....") to the co-dependents (who will call every day for every decision...) Various people call them problem clients, trouble-makers, etc.... They make reading difficult.... if you don't know how to deal with them, and even if you have an idea of how to deal with them they can make reading difficult. Sometimes you just have to say "I'm sorry, but I just don't think I can read for you today..."

Free Flight	01 Apr 2005
Hi Dave I have been thinking about this a lot and it may or not be relevant to you. In our papers in Australia there are a LOT of ads for tarot readings on the phone but none offered by mail. I would assume that if you put an ad in the papers which stated that you were a good and fair reader and offered the pricing you mentioned, then people could be interested in this. It would be something different. I know this reply is not exactly along the lines of the question you asked, it is just as I mentioned before this is something I am thinking of for my self to do in some years time especially as I have problems with live readings. I envisage getting a PO box and having the luxury (if there were any replies) to take my time doing readings...perhaps this would then lead to a reputation which the psychic hotlines do not have (as they only have the reputation of charging exorbitant prices and being not fake) I guess it would be worth a try to see what came of it. I would be very interested to hear how you go with this. Wishing you the best of luck Kind Regards Ainsley

Kiama	02 Apr 2005
Hi Dave's Angel, I'm not addressing the entire question, just the part that struck me as something I could talk about. :D When I was 16 I had spent quite a few years reading for myself, my friends, and a couple of family members. But I had the same problem as you - I wasn't as good at reading with people in front of me. I got nervous; I panicked; I worried what they'd think, etc. So, I spent a couple of years reading in pubs - just going down to my local, buying a drink, and sitting and shuffling the cards. Sometimes nobody would bite. Sometimes they would - and hey presto, I was reading for complete strangers. The beauty of this was that I wasn't charging anything (except maybe a drink if they offered!) and it was in a pub, so there wasn't too much pressure on me to 'get it right' or be 'little miss perfect Tarot reader.' And that's how I became better at face-to-face readings, to the point where now I can sit down in front of any client and read. Even the fact that I charge for appointments now doesn't make me feel nervous, whereas previously it would have. I still read for nothing down the pub and for my friends - it pays to keep up practice. So, if you ever want to get over the face-to-face difficulties you have, I suggest the tried-and-tested Pub Method. :D You can even make it fun - go down the pub with a group of mates, do a reading for one of them and you're bound to get noticed. Then, after you've read for strangers, you can go back and drink with your mates. :D Blessings, Kiama

Phoenix Rising	02 Apr 2005
Good on You Dave's Angel For giving it a go, only thing mate is just "face the fear" and do it anyway! I don't like doing face to face readings either, so I've signed myself up for a "psychic fair" only way to get over that little problem. Getting known and people coming to see you is the hardest part. You got business cards, give them to everyone, in the shops, in waiting rooms where people have to wait they read magazines so staple your card to it, and make sure your cards are in big bold letters[font=Algerian]Tarot Readings [/font]So it's noticeable. But Goodluck and have fun! I'm just testing out my new coding skills, so I think I'm pretty smart..hehehe

Dave's Angel	04 Apr 2005
Freeflight, you are exactly on my wavelength by the sound of it, putting adverts in the local papers is what I intend to do IF I do go ahead with this. And Phoenix Rising, I think that's a great idea about the business cards / flyers and I'm going to look into that if I do go ahead (perhaps place a few in pubs, Kiama! :) ). The only thing is that I have made up my mind I am not doing telephone or face-to-face readings, this was never on the - er - cards. :P As for what it's actually going to say, well.... I intend to explain that I'll provide a detailed written answer (about a page and a half typed) to any question, by post or by email, confidentiality assured. In the past when I've done written readings for people it's gone like this.... <1> Brief intro, explaining what (not) to expect, and that what comes up in the cards isn't doomed to happen, it depends on our efforts to live up to something good being foretold or to listen to advance warnings, etc. (Reading for strangers, that could be a pretty good "disclaimer" - some people get funny I imagine!) <2> A list of the cards that actually came up in the reading. <3> The reading itself. <4> A JPEG or printed page with the cards laid out as they would have appeared to me at the end of the reading. It adds a bit of colour and interest and involves the client I imagine, and stops it all looking like a dry report.

The Going "public" - advice needed thread was originally posted on 29 Mar 2005 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.