professional taroist

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 27 Jan 2005, and now archived in the Forum Library.

ivyrita	27 Jan 2005
my skills are still in development, though i'm almost confident that i could read publicly for pay. ideally, i would rent a small office downtown.. office rentals aren't very expensive where i live.. i have some questions for those of you who do read professionally do you have an office, or do you rent a table at a local spa/bookstore/coffeeshop? how long did you study tarot before you decided to go pro? i know of someone who charges 15 dollars per 15 minutes.what do you charge per reading? are you in the usa? do you have an alternate source of income(second job)?

similia	27 Jan 2005
Hello ivyrita, I'm in a similar situation to you, in that I'm just starting to read for others professionally. I have a small office set up at the front of my home, which is also my other business (natural therapist). Rent is expensive here, and also you need to think about other costs (phone, electricity, internet, insurance, public liability etc.) I've been using tarot for about 10 years, but usually only for myself and very occasionally. I've been seriously using/studying for around 1 year. The $ is different, but the cost would work out similar. I charge less for a longer appointment however (in scale with a health related consultation) e.g. $15, 15 minutes; $45 hour. (Which helps fill up appointments, and mean less time doing nothing) Also I'm looking at local fairs/markets as a way to build things up more. A local church asked me and a friend to donate a day at one of their fundraisers, so I'm hoping things like this will help gather clients as well as make me more comfortable with doing many frequent readings. Good luck. :)

Phaedra	27 Jan 2005
You will almost certainly need a second source of income until you build up a clientele. Building a practice is the hardest thing for any practioner, whether one is a card reader or independent health practioner such as a massage therapist. I would strongly recommend against renting space until you are reasonably certain you will generate sufficient income to cover all your overhead. The spa/bookstore/coffeehouse thing works well, because there is a flow of people through them. Psychic fairs can also introduce you to new people. If you are serious about your business, you cannot be passive about building clientele. You will need to promote yourself through every means you can think of, flyers, business cards, etc. Word of mouth is critical; always ask clients to recommend you to their friends. Seek out venues where you can give talks or a few free readings; that'll help build your reputation. Check local ordinances regarding fortune-telling; you don't want to run afoul of the law. If all of this business and marketing stuff doesn't appeal to you, think long and hard about going pro.The hassle of building a business has sunk many an artisan or consultant. Not everyone has skills in both areas, and business managers are expensive to feed and maintain. Good luck.

tarotbear	27 Jan 2005
Pheadra said it very well - Build up a client base before you make any investment of your own money, design a new building, or have tarot decks with you address printed on the backs to hand out. Build up slowly. doing them out of a room in your house or doing weekly readings at a bookstore - don;t rent a space and sit there alone for days on end because 'rent is cheap.' Just because you put an ad in the phone book, do not expect the phone to ring off the hook when it comes out. A friend started a balloon delivery/singing telegram service and it was almost a year before she could see a maximum of one delivery a day - but had to have a stock of helium, ribbons, balloons, etc sitting there the whole time. The business did establish itself ... eventually. She ran it from her house for 4 years before she could get a storefront. Ask yourself this question and answer it truthfully - are you ready to do readings 5-6 hours a day if it came to that? Burn-out is a big factor. Talk to people who work psychic telephone lines and ask them how tired they are at the end of a session.

Gwynne	27 Jan 2005
tarotbear wrote: Ask yourself this question and answer it truthfully - are you ready to do readings 5-6 hours a day if it came to that? Burn-out is a big factor. Talk to people who work psychic telephone lines and ask them how tired they are at the end of a session. VERY tired. My husband would love it if I could log on 10 hours a day. Sure the money would be good, but after a few "is he cheating on me", or "will he come back to me" or the classic "who's my baby's daddy..." in a row you just want to pull your hair out... I'm lucky in that I don't work for one of the big psychic lines, I run my business through a website that has no quotas and I set my own rates. I can log off after a really tough call and not have to worry about a supervisor asking why my minutes are low or some other such thing.... As a reader, especially in the professional realm, you'll encounter fruitcakes. You'll get co-dependants, people who want you to run their lives, who can't even go to the bathroom without calling to check if it's ok with the cards (I have a friend who had a client that actually got to that point...) You'll also get extremists determine to save your soul and they are sometimes not very nice about it. Sure, it sounds good to be able to do something you love and make money at it. But it's not as easy as people would like to think. I love what I do, I really wouldn't want to do anything else (not that there are a lot of job options around here...) But it's not easy, and I really can only handle about an hour or two at a time before I have to take a break. I log on for a total of about 6 to 8 hours a day, but that's 2 hours at a time 3 to 4 times a day.

The professional taroist thread was originally posted on 27 Jan 2005 in the Using Tarot Cards board, and is now archived in the Forum Library. Read the active threads in Using Tarot Cards, or read more archived threads.