Brigit:  You’re listening to the Biddy Tarot Podcast, and this is Episode 48: What Every Tarot Reader Should Know About Certification.

Voice-Over

Welcome to the Biddy Tarot podcast, where you will learn how to connect more deeply with your intuition and live an empowered and enlightened life with the Tarot cards as your guide.

Listen as Brigit and her guests share their very best tips and strategies to help you read Tarot with confidence. And now, here is your host Brigit Esselmont.

Introduction

Brigit:  Hello and welcome back to the Biddy Tarot Podcast I am so excited to have you here as always.

If you’re an aspiring Tarot reader and want to build your confidence, develop your Tarot reading skills, and stand out from the crowd as a Tarot reader, then listen up.

Becoming a certified Tarot reader has HUGE advantages, from increasing your self-confidence, building your reputation as a credible Tarot reader and growing your Tarot reading business.

But, not all certification is created equal. In fact, some Tarot certification programs aren’t even worth the paper they’re printed on.

So today, I’m going to be talking about what every Tarot reader should know about certification so that you can avoid some of the pitfalls of certification and instead invest in a program that’s right for you and your Tarot reading career.

Let’s get straight into it.

What is Tarot Certification?

It’s a recognition that you have undertaken the necessary study to read the Tarot, and that you also meet a certain standard for being able to interpret and read the Tarot cards.

Some certification simply requires that you submit an exam or a practice reading and that’s that. Whereas other certification is much more robust and requires you to complete a comprehensive training program and perhaps even gaining real life experience reading the Tarot cards. Maybe you need to pass a series of quizzes and also submit an application with sample readings, code of ethics and other elements that are essential to reading Tarot professionally.

Ultimately, Tarot certification is designed to give you more credibility as a Tarot reader, both professionally and also personally. It’s a huge confidence boost especially when you need that little bit extra validation and confirmation that you ARE a great Tarot reader.

And if you want to go on to read Tarot for others, whether it’s for fun or professionally, it’s going to be the thing that helps you attract more clients and builds your reputation as an ethical and professional Tarot reader.

And at a really high level, certification – when it’s done in the right way – has the potential to really raise the bar for Tarot readers and really positively influence the way Tarot is seen in the general public.

You think about other career paths, such as lawyers. Of course, you need to be certified to be a practising lawyer. To be a doctor, you need to be certified. Even as I think of hypnosis, you need to have certification in order to practice as a hypnotherapist.

I think that having a solid robust Tarot certification program can be really positive for the Tarot industry as a whole and, again, it can really just raise the bar and improve the perception of Tarot readers in general.

Wouldn’t you love to be a part of that movement and really change the face of Tarot?

So let’s dive into why you might want to become a certified Tarot reader.

Why should you get certified?

A very sort of base level, but very important, you may want to become a certified Tarot reader because you want the learning. You want that educational base to make sure that you’ve got everything that you need in order to read Tarot confidently.

A good certification program shouldn’t just be about printing off a certificate, taking your money and then sending that certificate and boom away you go. In my opinion, I think a good certification program should include training and education alongside the certification.

It’s not just a one-off Tarot topic, a master class and then suddenly, boom, you’re certified, or even a basic beginner course and then say, “Yup, you’re done.” This is about investing in a full training program that takes you from pretty much day one of when you get your first Tarot cards through to that point where you know how to interpret the individual Tarot cards, you know how to do a Tarot reading and you’ve had the opportunity to also practice with real life people and to start getting that feedback before you even get certified.

Being part of a certification program like that will really give you such a solid base, where you feel like, “Yes, I’ve really learnt the fundamentals of Tarot.” Now, of course, the learning journey never stops, and there’s never a point at which you go, “Yup, I’m done. I know everything I need to know.” But at least with a really solid certification program, you’ll have that base-level knowledge around Tarot and how to deliver really solid Tarot readings.

It’s also your opportunity to learn from the best who have a really solid reputation in the market as well.

And often times, if you’re choosing the right certification program, you’re taking part in training that is fully accredited. I’m going to talk about this a bit later on, but that’s what you really want to look out for.

You have a certification program, but it’s another thing to have it accredited from a third party organisation. That just gives it that real extra credibility and reputation, particularly in a place like Tarot where things are a little bit more fluid. It just really is good to know that another body or another organisation has said, “Yes, this organisation is delivering high-quality training.” Really important.

Another reason why you might want to become a certified Tarot reader is because it offers you this personal validation. It’s also a signal that you are really committed to your Tarot practice.

We go through and we learn Tarot, but there’s always this sort of self-doubt and fear and worry that plays in the background of how do I know if I’m ready. How do I know if I’ve got everything I need so that I can start reading Tarot for others?

Something like a certification can often be that little green light that says, “You know what? You’ve done it. You’re good. You’re good to go. Go for it!”

Now, of course, certification alone, that doesn’t have to be the only answer, but it certainly can give you that real confidence boost to say, “You know what, I’ve got the certification. I’ve passed the test. I can do it now.” That might just be the one thing that you need in order to take you career or your Tarot reading practice that next step and really blossom as a Tarot reader.

The other aspect of this is it’s kind of this signal to yourself that you take Tarot seriously and it’s not just some fun thing. Well, I shouldn’t say it’s not just this fun thing because I think Tarot is fun and it should be fun. Let me go back on that a little.

It’s more this sign to yourself that you are committed to Tarot and that Tarot has a place in your life and that you also recognise the benefits that Tarot has for you and how fully integrated it is in your own life.

I just think of Tarot for my life and how integrated it is for me. I plan my business with my Tarot cards. I use Tarot cards to help me focus each day. I use Tarot cards to help me navigate relationships, big decisions, those kinds of things. It’s just such a part of my life.

Something like a certification program may be that thing that tells you, “Yeah, this is for real. I’m doing this for real.” Again, it’s your choice if you want to go on to read Tarot professionally, but even being a certified Tarot reader and then reading Tarot for yourself and your friends, that’s an awesome thing as well.

Don’t feel like you have to become a professional Tarot reader to benefit from something like certification because often it’s just that sign to yourself that I can do this. I’ve got it. Also, you know that you’re willing to invest in yourself and you’re willing to take care of yourself and live an intuitively led life. Really important

The third reason why you might want to get certified is that sense of pride.

When I first started reading Tarot, I kind of found it tricky because I’d come from an academic background. When you focused at school and university, it’s very much about you get a grade. You get marked on your essays. You get grades. You get your degree. You can get your honour’s degree, you’re master’s degree. All kinds of things. It’s all these very tangible things that say you’ve put in the time and effort to learn this thing and this is the acknowledgement of all of your work and personal investment.

But with Tarot, in some ways there’s not a lot to show for it, apart from your readings of course. I mean, the readings, kind of like proof is in the pudding. But I know that for some people it can be really motivating to have a certificate that can go on your wall, that you can display proudly to yourself, your friends, your clients. You can say, “Look, I’ve put in the hard work to become the Tarot reader that I am today.” That certificate is one way of demonstrating that amount of hard work that you’ve put in.

Likewise, you might have a badge for your website or a logo to say that you are a certified reader. It might be something that you can include in your bio particularly when you’re attracting new clients. Again, it’s just that ability to be able to say, “I am proud of being a certified Tarot reader.” That’s an awesome feeling.

The fourth reason is to build your credibility.

As I was talking about before, lawyers, doctors, hypnotherapists, psychologists, all sorts of different careers or occupations will have some form of certification. It’s to ensure that the standard of that occupation is met. In Tarot, we just don’t have it as a common thing. Not every single Tarot reader has to be certified.

But I think going that extra step and taking action to become a certified Tarot reader, that’s what really gives legitimacy to your work as a Tarot reader. It shows that you’re serious about your profession.

It also gives a really strong message that you are committed to being an ethical Tarot reader and a competent and skilful Tarot reader. You’re not just setting up a little sandwich board sign on your front corner and going, “Hey, I’ll read your cards for five dollars. Come on over!” It’s more like I have invested in myself and I take Tarot seriously and I take you as my client seriously. It sends a really strong message in that way.

Then finally, if you are thinking about going on to become a professional Tarot reader or you already are a professional Tarot reader, then becoming a certified Tarot reader can help you get more clients.

If you’ve started a business, you know how hard it is to get your first few clients through the door and continue to grow your business. Certification adds to your credibility and your reputation. I think it can really add value to what you offer.

If you can say, “You know what, I’m a certified Tarot reader. I’ve done the work and I’ve shown I have the knowledge here,” then I think you’ve got more ability to charge a little bit more than perhaps the person next to you that hasn’t got certification.

It just really builds up your brand and your reputation with potential clients. That might be sort of the distinguishing factor between a client choosing you or somebody else. Maybe the client needs that kind of validation. “How do I know if this person is actually legitimate and are they going to do what they say they’re going to do?”

If you were evaluating one reader without certification, the other one with certification, I know which one I would probably choose. If there’s nothing else really separating them, I would go for the certified Tarot reader because that would be an indication to me that this person is invested in themselves and they’re going to offer me more value as a reader.

Case Studies

Now I wanted to share just a couple of case studies with you of Tarot readers who have gone on to become certified because obviously, with Biddy Tarot, we have a certification program. We’ve been running this for a little while now.

We have quite a few certified Biddy Tarot readers who have gone ahead, done the training, got the practice, applied and have been successful in their applications. I just wanted to share a couple of the stories from those certified Tarot readers.

One is Sharon Struga. Now if you’ve ever been to Biddy Tarot and you’ve gone ahead and requested a Tarot reading, you’ll notice that Sharon’s in our list of endorsed Tarot readers.

Now, of course, she wasn’t always there. Sharon started with our program, Master the Tarot Card Meanings. Then she went on to take Read the Tarot with Confidence. These are two six-week programs with quite intensive training and with quizzes. You need to pass the quiz in order to complete the course.

Then she went on to practice her readings with different people. Then submitted her certification.

Now as part of the Biddy Tarot Certification, you do need to submit a log of your Tarot readings plus a number of sample readings. You also need to submit your code of ethics. You need to show that you’ve done the work in the training programs, so you submit a completed workbook. You also submit some things around how you see Tarot and how you see yourself as a Tarot reader. It’s a really comprehensive certification, right?

Sharon did all of this and she was successful. She passed and she got her certificate as a Tarot reader, as a certified Tarot reader.

She went on to read Tarot on what was then the Biddy Tarot Network and is now the Free Tarot Readings platform. She’s also started her on website.

She contacted me probably it would have been about six months ago and said, “Hey, Brigit, I’d love to read on your endorsed reader’s page.”

Just the fact that she was a certified Tarot reader through us, through Biddy Tarot, that just gave her so much more credibility. I knew that she had trained with me and I knew that she had trained in an accredited program that was very comprehensive.

Of course, I said, “Yes, come and join us on the endorsed reader’s list.” We literally have just four or five people. I hand-pick these people. I’m not just taking anyone that comes and says, “Hey, can I read for you?” Sorry.

Sharon’s a wonderful success story about how she’s taken her certification and she’s now reading for Biddy Tarot and doing such a great job with her clients.

Another story I just wanted to share was from Rae. Rae also took our programs and went to become a successful certified Biddy Tarot reader.

Recently, Rae posted in Facebook and she talked a lot about the boost to her confidence that certification gave her. I’m going to read out exactly what she wrote.

She said, “By completing the tasks and tests to become certified I gained so much more confidence in my abilities then just continuing reading randomly hoping for some vague feedback. It proved to ME that I could do it and knowing that others recognised this too is empowering and satisfying on a personal level… and the certificate hangs proudly on my wall”

That just sums up so much of that persona pride that comes from becoming a certified Tarot reader. Often times, it’s just that one thing that you need so that you can then go on and do amazing things with your Tarot practice.

Potential pitfalls of Getting Certified

As I said at the start of this podcast, not all certification is created equal. Unfortunately, there can be some downsides to certification. I wanted to make sure that you know about some of these potential pitfalls of becoming certified, but I also want to give you some advice about how you can avoid these pitfalls as well when you’re becoming a certified Tarot reader.

Something that often comes up when we talk about certification, particularly within the existing Tarot community, is some resistance around how do you decide if something in Tarot is right or wrong, because Tarot is so subjective. It’s very hard to sort of how do you pass someone, or not pass them because it’s such a fluid process.

I completely take on that feedback, I so understand. When I was designing the Biddy Tarot Certification Program, I knew we had to really just nip that one in the bud straight away.

We need flexibility because I like to embrace people’s different reading styles and ways of interpreting the cards, particularly since I teach people to read intuitively and not to always rely on the book meanings. But what’s really important is once you allow for fluidity, there also needs to be some quite clear criteria for certification and you want to make sure those criteria are clearly stated when you are applying to become a certified reader and you know what’s expected of you to pass.

For example, make sure that what are you being evaluated on when the certifying organisation, when they’re reading a sample reading, what are they looking for and does that kind of resonate with you. The things that they’re judging you on, is that quite right.

Now I remember a certification organisation a little while back and for one of their levels, they wanted you to write deck reviews, like five different Tarot deck reviews to certify you as I think it was maybe as an instructor or something like that.

When I looked at that because I was looking at getting certified at this point and I thought, “No, that’s not—If I can write a deck review, is that the thing that’s going to make me a good reader? No.” So for me, that was a no.

But other times I’ve looked at the certification and it’s been things like can you construct a meaningful story in the Tarot reading. Well, yeah, I can and I think that’s going to be important for my Tarot readings. Or able to go beyond just describing the card and instead, go to relating that card back to the client and the question asked. Well, again, that’s something I resonate with as a Tarot reader.

That is certification that I want to get. But writing a deck review? Uh-uh. That’s not for me. That’s not testing the right skills.

So make sure you’re looking at those criteria and you’re also connecting with what’s being measured and that that’s going to be meaningful for you. Because if it’s not meaningful for you, then it might not be the right certification program for you.

You also need to make sure that there’s going to be some acknowledgement between book meanings and intuitive meanings. If your intuition is telling you three of cups means online dating and nobody can find that in the book, are you going to be penalised for that? Or are you actually going to be supported in that more intuitive meaning?

Things like that you’ve got to make sure is there some room for this creativity.

The other thing that you need to watch out for with certification programs, different Tarot readers will have different styles of reading and will the certification process favour some styles of reading and not others.

To sort of overcome this you really need to make sure that there’s an acknowledgement of different styles of reading and that you’re not going to be penalised for adopting one style over another.

For example, in the Biddy Tarot Certification when we’re looking through the applications, we’re so aware that some readers are going to be more coaching styles, some readers are going to be more predictive and their language is going to be different.

I acknowledge and respect all styles of reading. Sure, I’ve got personal preferences, but to be a good examiner or certifying body, then we need to be able to accept and embrace differences. So that’s a really important part of the way that we review different certification applications.

Just make sure that different styles of reading is going to be acknowledged in the certification program.

Another big thing that comes up whenever we talk about certification in Tarot circles is this big resistance about well anybody can print a certificate and say that you’re certified. Hey, why don’t you give me 100 bucks and I’ll whiz up a little certificate for you and there you go. You’re a certified Tarot reader. Good on you.

Well, unfortunately, that is true, you could just make up your own certificate. The sad thing is that really devalues a lot of other certification programs.

However, you need to be really mindful in your choice of certification programs. There are hundreds online, so you could go down a bit of a rabbit hole and find the cheapest certification program that all you have to do is write your name on a form and then you get a certificate. But that’s not going to do what you want it to do. You want the training. You want to get the experience. You want to have the backing of a reputable organisation.

In order to avoid just getting a worthless certificate, choose a reputable organisation for certification. Choose an organisation that is accredited by a third-party. Choose an organisation that has a strong position in the market, that’s well known, where you feel like you’re actually getting a brand endorsement as well as certification. Because just having a backing of a well-known brand can be really important.

You can say like, Apple. If you’re an IT technician and to be able to say, “Yeah, I’m certified by Apple.” That’s pretty good. That makes you like this guy or girl knows what they’re talking about.

It’s the same in Tarot, make sure you get backing from a solid organisation.

Finally, choose an organisation that you respect and that you would be proud of if they were to certify you.

If it’s certified by the Grand Poobah of the Purple Hat Fifth Order of blah, blahs then maybe that might not feel so good with you. But if you’re getting certified by an organisation that you know, that you’ve studied with, then yeah. Spot on.

Finally, there have been some organisations in the past who have done Tarot certification and there’s still organisations now that don’t have the best reputation and maybe they’ve done a little bit of a disservice, I think, to the Tarot industry because they haven’t been able to follow through with their commitments.

I really want to remind you that not all certification is created equal and just because there are some organisations that haven’t followed through on their promises in the past, doesn’t mean that every organisation is going to be like that. Again, you just got to evaluate each organisation as you see it.

Do your research. Make sure that you resonate with their teaching methods and their philosophy. Make sure that they’re reputable and so on.

How to get certified

I think you’ve got the idea, right? Let’s move on to how you can actually get certified.

There are a number of different certification programs available. So how do you decide which one is going to be right for you?

Find an organisation that is accredited, reputable and well known in the Tarot space.

Find a teacher who you resonate with, who nurtures different styles of reading and who will support your growth as a Tarot reader.

And look for a certification program that offers not just a certificate, but an end-to-end experience. Things like comprehensive training and development, opportunities to practice reading Tarot in a safe learning environment and a robust certification process.

Now, of course, I want to be able to bring all of these things together and I can and I have. I’ve created the Biddy Tarot Certification Program.

The good news is that you can now enroll at BiddyTarot.com/certification.

I’ve designed the Biddy Tarot Certification program for aspiring Tarot readers who want to build their confidence and reputation, become better readers and ultimately get more clients.

It’s a six-month program and it’s starting in November. It’s going to have training, practice opportunities, and of course, certification.

As part of the Certification Program, you’ll get access to really solid, comprehensive training which includes:

• The Master the Tarot Card Meanings program and the Read Tarot with Confidence program. Our Biddy Tarot training programs they are fully accredited by the International Institute of Complementary Therapists. Over 1,000 students have taken part so far and this number continues to grow every single day.
• We’re going to have group coaching calls with me every month for 6 months so that you can jump on the call and ask me any questions that you want live and I’ll be able to respond to you directly. You’ll be able to get your questions answered and get real-time support and mentoring with me.
• Now you also get access to the Biddy Tarot Community, which opens up a huge number of possibilities for you. You’ll get to read on The Free Tarot Readings platform where you can gain valuable experience reading Tarot for free and in exchange for feedback and experience. It’s pretty much you take the training and the courses and then you get to apply what you’ve learned.

We do a lot of learning in the training, in the webinars and so on, but it’s when you come in to actually practising how to read Tarot and practising with real people who’ve got real questions and real problems and all sorts of things.

That is where the learning really starts to happen because you start to figure out, “Oh my goodness, somebody’s asking me what’s the first letter of my husband’s name. Oh my gosh, what do I do.” So you start to really learn how to set your boundaries, how to respond.

You get such a good confidence boost, too. Often it’s just a couple of readings and I’ve seen most readers confidence just go through the roof. It’s so beautiful to watch.

• You also get community support and mentoring inside the Biddy Tarot Community. Again, if you have a question you can usually get several answers in 24 hours. It’s such a beautiful community. There are already over 500 people in there who are ready to support you.
• You get the opportunity to apply for certification and become a Certified Biddy Tarot Reader.
• You get a listing on our Certified Biddy Tarot Reader Directory for 12 months so that is on the BiddyTarot.com website. Even just from a search engine perspective, that sends so much good juju to your website. If you’re trying to build a business, that can be so helpful.
• Finally, we’ll send you a beautiful certificate in the mail so you can proudly display it at home or in your Tarot reading office. I’ve seen some gorgeous photos of our certified Tarot readers proudly holding up their certificate. It’s so, so lovely to watch.

Of course, there’s so much more in this certification program that I can’t possibly share everything with you right now. But if you want to find out more about it, head on over to BiddyTarot.com/certification and you can see everything that is included.

By the end of this internationally recognised Certification Program, you’ll be ready to stand out from the crowd and establish yourself as a highly credible and professional Tarot reader.

This is not one of those fly-by-night certification programs that you might have found on Google. This is a highly reputable, internationally accredited program that will not only certify you but will also ensure that you have all the skills and experience to be successful as a Tarot reader.

I take this program so seriously and I want to make sure you have everything you need to be the Tarot reader you’ve always dreamed of becoming.

Again, if you want to learn more about the program go to BiddyTarot.com/certification

The enrolment is open now but be quick because the doors do close on November 1, 2016. Now we are planning on opening it again in about 6 months time, but I can’t make any guarantees because it’s often around our travel schedule. If you want to do the certification program, now is the time.

Now, of course, if you’re listening to this after the 1^st of November, go over to BiddyTarot.com/certification and there will most likely be a wait-list there so that you can put your name down for the next enrolment period.

This is your chance to truly shine as a Tarot reader and go on to earn an income doing something that you love.

All you need to do is go to BiddyTarot.com/certification to get all of the details.

Wrap-Up

All right, well it has been an absolute joy as always to talk to you about certification and what every Tarot reader should know about certification.

I hope you have an awesome week and I can’t wait to connect with you again next time. Bye for now.

Brigit: You’re listening to the Biddy Tarot Podcast, and this is Episode 50: How to Ask for Helpful Feedback.

Voice-Over

Welcome to the Biddy Tarot podcast, where you will learn how to connect more deeply with your intuition and live an empowered and enlightened life with the Tarot cards as your guide.

Listen as Brigit and her guests share their very best tips and strategies to help you read Tarot with confidence.

And now, here is your host Brigit Esselmont.

ASKING FOR FEEDBACK

Brigit: Hello and welcome back to the Biddy Tarot Podcast. As always, it’s such a pleasure to be talking Tarot with you today.

If you want to become a confident and sought-after Tarot reader, then one thing is sure – you need happy clients.

It doesn’t matter whether you’re reading for friends and family or paying clients — you want to know if your Tarot reading clients are getting the results they want and need from your readings. And the way to do that is to ask for feedback.

It may be as simple as asking, “How did I do?” But if you want to really hone your Tarot reading skills and grow your client base, then you also need to hone how and when you ask for feedback.

In today’s podcast, I’ll show you how to ask for helpful feedback to improve your Tarot reading skills, dazzle your clients, and create powerful testimonials.

CELEBRATING YOUR REVIEWS

Brigit: Before I get into it, I want to say a huge thank-you to everyone who has sent a review and shared their feedback and comments about this podcast. I want to celebrate two such reviews that have been given very recently.

Superj155 from the U.S. writes, “Inspiring and helpful. These podcasts are short, fun lessons that make tarot reading less like trying to solve a math problem and more like reading a graphic novel. Fantastic!“

Thank you so much. That’s awesome. I really appreciate it.

This second review is from deliriumsfrogs, also from the U.S. They say, “Little Lessons that Go a Long Way. I’m a newbie to Tarot, only recently plunging into the oftentimes overwhelming world of these 78 cards. Along with all my favourite Tarot books, Brigit’s podcast has become an indispensable resource for my Tarot study. I print out her PDF files and add them to my Tarot binder, and I even had her in my ears walking me through the Celtic Cross the first time I did it. I felt very lucky to be living in this time of such technological advancement, in that I can have Brigit as a Tarot tutor. How great is that?! I highly recommend this podcast and can’t thank Brigit enough for all she’s given me towards this hobby that has come to mean so much personally.”

Oh, absolutely gorgeous. Thank you so much to deliriumsfrogs for leaving such a beautiful review. Again, it’s my honour and pleasure to be in your ear buds, talking you through Tarot, and helping you learn this beautiful, beautiful tool that we have at our disposal.

Thank you so much for those reviews. Remember you can leave a review over on iTunes and you can also leave a star rating. Five stars is always very, very nice.

Alright, let’s get into the juicy content for today’s podcast.

WHY FEEDBACK IS IMPORTANT

Brigit: Why is feedback important? Well, hopefully you already know, but let’s just do a quick check in.

Feedback is really important because it helps to validate your intuition. You know how you have those sort of little intuitive hits in the reading? Sometimes you’re thinking, “Oh, I don’t know if it’s right. Do I say it or I don’t say it?” Just asking for feedback will give you some information about whether your intuition is on track or not.

Then you can also say, “Okay, I kind of felt like this when I had a good intuitive hit, but I felt like this other way when I didn’t have a good intuitive hit.” So you’re getting that feedback and you’re getting a better sense of when to pay attention to your intuition.

Feedback is also important because it helps you improve as a Tarot reader. Any kind of feedback will give you an idea about what are you doing really well and when might you improve as well. Definitely think about feedback in terms of how it’s helping you improve as a Tarot reader.

Feedback is important because it shows a level of care for the person you’re reading for.

At hotels, the first thing staff asks at checkout is “How was your stay? Did you enjoy your stay here?” I think, “Yeah, I did.” That gives me an opportunity to share feedback at that point.

But other hotels where, maybe I have not had such a great experience, sometimes don’t even ask about my stay. I feel that they just check me out, charge my credit card and that’s it. It doesn’t feel like there’s a great amount of care for me as one of their guests.

So think about it when you’re doing a Tarot reading. If the Tarot reader asks you what you thought of the reading, the client will feel like you really do care and they’ll know that you want to make sure they got the experience they looked for.

Finally, getting feedback can be really wonderful for creating testimonials. Particularly if you are focused on growing a Tarot business, having those testimonials will be super helpful to attract new clients.

GET CLEAR ON YOUR GOALS

Before you ask for feedback, it’s important that you’re clear on your goals. What do I mean by this? On one hand, you want to know what experience you want to create as a Tarot reader to focus your feedback questions properly. It’s also going to be a really helpful filter for the feedback you receive because, to be honest, not all feedback is helpful and not all feedback needs to be acted on.

For example, I want to create more of a coaching experience for my Tarot readings. I want the client to walk away from a reading with some clear actions that they can do in order to manifest the outcome that they most desire.

Now, if I get feedback that says, “Oh, you didn’t tell me my future,” being clear about what I want the experience to be like allows me to to say “Ok, I think we’re misaligned here anyway.” I didn’t want to create that experience, so I’m not going to take that feedback on. Or maybe I will and revisit my marketing copy to make sure that it’s clear to clients that I don’t provide fortune-telling sessions; I provide coaching session with Tarot cards.

That’s one example. But also, if you’re focused on creating a coaching style of reading, then the question that you ask as part of the feedback will be more focused on coaching. That is, “did you feel that you were effectively heard? Did you feel that I listened to you? Did you feel that you walked away with a clear set of actions? Do you feel like you can control your future?”

Being clear on your goals allows you to shape specific questions that you can ask your clients and to get more direct feedback.

The second thing that you want to be clear about before asking for feedback is what you want do with that feedback. For example, is feedback simply for personal improvement? Is it because you want to understand your strengths or your weaknesses? Think about that because the questions will be quite different.

I personally like to work with strengths rather than weaknesses. Sometimes it’s nice to know what haven’t you done well or what can you improve on. but sometimes that can be a bit of a downer. So check in with what feels right for you. I like to focus on the things that I want to create versus the things that I don’t want to create. Just check in on what feels good for you.

You might also want to create testimonials with your feedback. I’m going to share with you some ideas for asking testimonial-style questions for feedback.

Finally, you might want to be using this feedback more for customer care, in which case, it’s very focused on them and whether they’ve enjoyed the experience.

HOW AND WHEN TO ASK FOR FEEDBACK

We know now why feedback is important and we also know that there are a few things you need to be clear about before you start asking for feedback.

Now I want to walk you through how and when to ask for feedback because there are quite a few different points in time where it makes sense to ask. Now of course, you might not want to ask for feedback during all of these different points in time. You might find it a bit too much, or you might actually find a really nice natural organic way of asking at these different times.

A great time to ask feedback is during the reading. This is particularly useful for face-to-face readings, but you can still also do it in one-directional readings like an email reading or an audio/video reading.

Quite simply during the reading, you might ask, “How is this resonating for you? How does this sit for you? Is this connecting with you?” This is a really good way of just checking that your client is on board with the reading, checking that they’re not feeling confused, that they have clarity, that they understand what you’re saying, and that you’re also helping them with the situation at hand.

And if you’re doing an email reading, you can just type it in. “How is this resonating with you?” Of course, then you move on to the next paragraph. You’re not going to send that off via email and wait for the email response and then continue with the reading. But even just having those little questions in an email reading can be incredibly helpful. And, again, it’s just giving that sense to the client that they’re being heard and they’re important in this process.

The second time when you can ask for feedback is directly after the reading. You lay out the cards, do your reading, sweep up the cards ask for feedback before the client leaves.

Generally, I find it’s better to keep it quite general at this point, particularly if you’re in a face-to-face situation. The client will still be processing a lot of the information and I think it takes at least a few days for a reading to fully settle in and integrate and for that client, and to see how it fits in with their current circumstances.

More specific questions are great a little while after the reading, but directly after the reading, you might just ask quite simply, “Was this reading helpful to you?” Or if you’re more of a coaching style of reader, “Are you clear on what steps you need to take to resolve this situation?”

This is a check-in point to determine if the client is satisfied with the reading and if there is anything you can clarify.

Of course, it’s also a good opportunity to say, “This is just the beginning of the changes that may occur for you. Expect that over the next few days, this reading will settle in for you, and you may start to find that new insights begin to emerge.”

Of course, you can tell them at this point that you’ll check in about a week to get more specific feedback from the reading. Ask, “Are you okay if I contact you?”

The third time period where you can ask for feedback is about five to seven days after the reading.

This is the point at which your readings have had the chance to settle in. It’s particularly important if there were difficult messages in the Tarot reading or if you noticed there was a little bit of resistance. Maybe the client was only listening for what they want to hear. So giving them some time to process will help them come into a more constructive space. Even if there are some emotional responses, usually those pass after a few days.

FEEDBACK SURVEYS

This is when it’s a good time to send a more specific or more detailed feedback survey to your client. Here are a couple of ideas of what you could include in that feedback survey.

If you’re focused on personal improvement and perhaps understanding what your strengths are, then you might ask what aspects of the reading were most helpful or what aspects of the reading provided the most insight.

Perhaps you want to improve your intuitive abilities, in which case you might ask, “To what extent did you feel that this reading was an intuitive reading?” Or you might even be really specific and say, “How would you rate my intuitive abilities?” This makes it a little bit more about you as the reader if you want to get feedback for your personal improvement.

If you want to get an idea of some of your weaknesses, then you might ask, “How can I improve as a Tarot reader?”

You can also ask,

• “Was the reading provided in a good amount of time?”
• “Did you feel that I listened to you?”
• “Did you feel that I understood your question?”
• “Did you feel that the answer provided gave you the insight that you needed?”

Just notice the words that I’m using here are very much “I” words. When we’re using “I”, that makes these questions about you as the Tarot reader. That helps with the personal improvement side of things.

Now if you want to do more of a customer care style of feedback survey, you’ll be using more language around “you”. For example, “Were you satisfied with the reading?”

Actually, let me just pause on that question. Because sometimes that can pat you on the bum a little bit, because someone might say, “No, I hated the reading because it told me something I didn’t want to have happen or I didn’t want to know.” It doesn’t mean that they’re saying that your reading, itself, was really bad. It’s them saying, “I didn’t like the message of the reading.” Sometimes you can get kind of a confused message when you ask this type of question.

Another question you might want to include is based on something called a ‘net promoter score’. The question is, “How likely is it that you would recommend me to a friend?” You ask them to score between one, which is not likely at all, and ten, which is very likely.

If you’re scoring eight to ten, then you’re doing really, really well. If you’re scoring six or a seven, this person is a little bit on the fence. If you’re scoring a five or below, then you’ve got some issues that you need to address with that particular client because they’re not willing to recommend you. That’s a problem.

If you’re asking questions for a testimonial, here are four questions that are really, really powerful.

• “How did you feel about the situation before your reading with me?”
• “How do you feel about the situation now?”
• “What has changed for you as a result of the reading?”
• “What have you been able to create or achieve as a result of the reading?”

These questions are great because they start to form is a basic ‘before and after’ story; a success story about the client.

For example, the client might have had a problem with a relationship and they’d write, “Before the Tarot reading, I felt so unclear about the relationship, I blamed it all on my partner and I just couldn’t see a way forward. But after the Tarot reading, I now feel like I have a way of communicating with him and we can clear the air and get things back on track.”

For the question, “What has changed for you?” the answer could be “Well, my mindset has really changed.”

For “What have you been able to create or achieve?” the answer could be “We had a great conversation last night. We put our concerns on the table and we’re actively working together to make some positive change in the relationship.”

Imagine telling that story as your testimonial, as a case study to prospective clients. It’s a really, really powerful way of getting a great story with your clients.

Now, of course, if you do want to use a testimonial like that, you need to make sure you ask for permission to publish the testimonial and be very clear about whether you’re publishing first name or full name. Also, be clear whether you’re including a photo or not and make sure that the client has fully agreed to sharing that information.

If you edit the testimonial at all, make sure you show the client the fully edited version to get their consent.

If you do a feedback survey for your clients, I recommend sending a personal thank you note to the people who respond.

If you’re getting not so great feedback, then you definitely need to respond and address that feedback. If some of that feedback is not helpful, then you can just simply thank the client for their feedback.

If you get really positive feedback, again, make sure you acknowledge that feedback and say thank you for it. Reinforce the experience for them as well.

The final period in which you can ask for feedback is usually about one to three months after the reading. This is great for customer care because it shows that you’re thinking about your clients and it shows that you care about what’s going on for them.

A couple of questions that you can ask are quite simply, “How are things going since our reading together?” Or you can be a little bit more specific. So from that example before, “How is it going with communicating with your partner? Are you moving things forward?”

You might also want to ask what has changed or what new information has emerged from the Tarot reading. Remember that things evolve and what you might see in a Tarot reading today might take on a whole different.

FOUR FEEDBACK PERIODS

A quick recap: There are four main time periods for asking for feedback.

1. During the reading. This is just a basic “How is it resonating for you?”
2. Directly after the reading. This is a general question, “Was this helpful for you?”
3. About a week after the reading – send a feedback survey with some specific questions focused on your feedback goals and what kind of experience you want to create for your clients.
4. One to three months after the reading. Check in on how things are going.

That final check in, if you’re reading Tarot professionally, it’s a great way of staying in touch with your clients and potentially getting return customers. They might think, “Oh, you know what, we are communicating, but now we want to find out how to make the most of our relationship together,” or, “Now we’re planning on moving house together and we want some insight about what to do next.”

There you have it. That’s how you can ask for helpful feedback, whether it’s for personal improvement, customer care or getting more clients and awesome testimonials.

GROW YOUR TAROT BUSINESS

If you’re trying to grow your Tarot business online, I highly recommend our business program specifically designed for Tarot readers just like you.

In six comprehensive modules, you’ll learn everything there is to know about setting up a successful and thriving business. Not only a financially successful business, but also spiritually rewarding business as well.

The course teaches things like:

• Working out your ideal client
• How you find that ideal client
• Setting up a website/blog/newsletter/social media
• How to price your offerings
• How you can start to create some products
• Hiring a team
• And more!

You can find out more information about the Grow Your Tarot Business Online program at Biddytarot.com.

We’ve got full transcription for today’s podcast and all of our show notes at BiddyTarot.com/50, that’s 5 – 0. And you’ll get all the show notes and you can sign up to get the transcription for today.

Awesome. Well, I hope today has been really helpful for you! Remember, it doesn’t really matter if you’ve got paying clients or you’re simply reading for friends and family. Getting helpful feedback is super important. Not just for you as a Tarot reader, but also for the people that you read for.

Enjoy those Tarot readings and I look forward to connecting with you again very, very soon.

Thank you and bye for now.

Brigit: You’re listening to the Biddy Tarot Podcast, and this is Episode 42: Five Simple Ways to Deliver a Tarot Reading Online.

Voice-Over

Welcome to the Biddy Tarot podcast, where you will learn how to connect more deeply with your intuition and live an empowered and enlightened life with the Tarot cards as your guide.

Listen as Brigit and her guests share their very best tips and strategies to help you read Tarot with confidence. And now, here is your host Brigit Esselmont.

Introduction

Brigit: Hello and welcome back to the Biddy Tarot podcast. I am so excited to have you here as always.

Now when I first started doing Tarot readings online, I started by offering email Tarot readings. It was the perfect fit for me, I was young and fresh faced and I really didn’t want to be judged about not looking old enough or wise enough to read Tarot. And I was also studying at University so I really had to have a flexible schedule for doing client readings to fit around all my essay writing and going to class and so on. And as time went on, I started working full time and eventually had two beautiful girls and in both of these cases, email Tarot readings continued to be the perfect fit for me as I needed a way to read for other’s professionally but really in my own time and with that possibility of being interrupted every now and then.

But I want you to know that email Tarot readings aren’t the only way to do a Tarot reading online and they are not always everyone’s cup of tea. So, today I am going to share with you five different ways that you can do a Tarot reading online. Plus, I am going to outline the pros and cons of each method and also what kind of reader it suits best and how you can get started. And that way, you can listen to these different ways to do an online Tarot reading and you can choose the one that fits you best. This is going to be a bumper podcast especially if you’re thinking about becoming a professional Tarot reader online or you’ve recently started your Tarot business. I’ve also made a very special PDF download for you, which you can find over at www.biddytarot.com/42. You might be out and about doing a walk, putting shopping away, whatever it might be and you might not be able to write down all of these different methods. So, I’ve put it together into a PDF which again you can download that at www.biddytarot.com/42 and I’ll outline the five methods that I’ll talk about today. You can also get access to the transcript for this call and show notes and all the Biddy Tarot goodness over at www.biddytarot.com/42.

Brigit: All right, so let’s get started. Now, as I said before, I’m going to show you these five different ways of doing an online Tarot reading, but I’m also going to show you a little about how you can get started, what the pros and cons of each are and who this kind of method is best suited to.

So, let’s start with my personal favorite, which is the email Tarot reading. So what is it? Well, an email Tarot reading is basically where you would have someone online, they buy a reading with you and they send you a contact form or an email that says: “Hey, here’s my name, my date of birth and this is my question, all right go and do a Tarot reading for me.” And as the reader, you can do that Tarot reading at any time really as long as it’s in the time that you said that you would deliver that reading and you can type out the reading in say a word document or even a Google Docs, some readers like to do the reading and then take a photo of the actual card layout and attach that into the reading as well. And then you can easily PDF the reading and send it to your client via email. And what I typically like to do, because it’s kind of like very one-way interaction, is I like to give my clients the opportunity to ask questions after the reading. Of course, if it means drawing another card then that is another reading, but I certainly encourage my clients to say: “Ok, I didn’t quite understand this card, what does that mean?” or “Here’s a little bit more information, would that, does that sort of add a different angle to the reading?”

I think with the email Tarot readings it’s also really important to engage with your client up front and make sure that you’re on the same page with the reading. So, for example, if someone asked me: “When will I meet my future husband?” that’s not necessarily a question I feel confident answering purely because I do not believe in exact timing of events in the future, I think it has a lot to do with free will and the actions that you take. So, in that sense, talking with, emailing with your client before you do the reading to make sure that you’re on the same page, it’s really important. And I’m also often asking the client things like: “What’s your desired out come here, what is it that your really want to have happen?” Because that’s how we are gonna sort of frame the reading as if how you can achieve that desired outcome. And I just like to also get a photo as well along side the reading, just so I can get a sense of who this person is and get that kind of energetic connection.

Let’s talk about the pros of doing an email Tarot reading. Well, definitely the most obvious thing here is that you can do the reading whenever it suits you as the reader. You’re not committed to turning up at a specific time, and it’s not ideal, but if you do get interrupted midway through doing the reading, then you can come back at a later time. It’s that sort of flexibility, certainly if you got young kids then or a demanding schedule then that can certainly be a benefit.

Of course, even when I was doing email Tarot readings I would still make sure that I had the time and space to really give it my full attention. There are a couple of times when I might have done it, I was doing it on the train, going into work and sort of half of it at the start of the day and then half on the way home. Not ideal, I wasn’t able to give it my best attention, even though you have that freedom and flexibility with doing the reading when it suits you, you also want to make sure that you are giving it the right attention as well.

The other pro with doing an email Tarot reading is that the client actually has a written record of the reading and I think this is really, really important because something, when I’ve been a client and I’ve gone to see a reader, particularly in a face to face, reading I know that I’ve got these filters on, and I’m often only hearing the information that makes sense to me at that point in time. But if I do take a recording of the reading and listen to it later, I start to realize like: “Oh, here’s all this other information that didn’t make sense to me then but it does now.” And so if you think of an email Tarot reading, it’s very clear about what the message is in that reading, because as a reader you’ve outlined it very clearly in writing. And so then your client can refer back to that reading at any time and I think that can be really helpful. Yeah, it’s definitely very helpful.

I guess sometimes the only down side to having that written record to that reading is that sometimes clients can read into that in particular ways and you do have to be mindful of the words that you’re choosing. Sometimes you might use a word that is sort of more lighthearted for you, not really thinking about it you just write a word, and that could actually be a trigger word for the client. So you just have to be wary of how you’re using your language, make sure that things are clear and, not sort of gray area kind of writing.

The final pro of an email Tarot reading, is that you can kind of protect your identity, if that’s important to you. Certainly when I was starting to read Tarot, I was literally about 20, 21 and I did not look like your average Tarot reader, especially being so young, and so for me because I was sort of had a bit of doubt or I was a little bit anxious about people maybe judging me, I decided that I could just could be online but no one would have to see me and that would be a good thing. So, that might be relevant for you if perhaps you’re working a corporate job and you don’t want people to see who you are. It’s not that you are doing anything dodgy, it’s just that you want to keep your identity separate. So, doing email Tarot readings can help that.

Ok, so let’s talk about the cons, the sort of not so good parts of doing email Tarot readings. You really need to be able to trust your intuition. So, you don’t have that advantage, that I think that you get in a face to face reading where you can see the client’s responses and you can see if their engaged or not, you don’t have that opportunity to ask questions as you go. “Did that resonate with you? Oh, good it did, ok, well let’s keep going into this.” You really, really have to trust your intuition and work that intuitive muscle to make sure that you’re delivering a great reading. I’ve often been in a position where I’m like: “Whoa, this reading is going down like one very specific track,” and I’m thinking: “What if I’m wrong? No, I’m feeling it so let’s just keep going.” So, I’ve had to really, really trust my intuition with email readings.

Also there are some limitations on how you can connect with the client. So for me I do love doing co-creative kind of readings, where it’s me and the client creating this reading together and I’m really holding space for the client to make some personal explorations about a situation, not just me saying this is what’s going to happen. So, there are some limitations in an email Tarot reading because it is kind of one-way communication at any point in time but there’s some ways to get around that. So, when I’m writing out an email Tarot reading, I’ll make sure that I’m asking questions throughout that reading, and it might also be like adding in a few journaling prompts or things that you want the client to reflect on a little bit more. You could even set an activity or a bit of homework, some spiritual homework to do after your reading. And that way your getting a little bit more engagement with your client versus just saying here’s the reading, there we go, all done.

And finally, you do need to be quite a fast typist, I’ve known some folks who’ve given email Tarot readings a go but their like one-fingered typists and their like: “But it’s taking me two hours to do a three card reading.” Oh, goodness maybe this is not for you, so if you are a fast typist then email readings might be just right. I can certainly whiz over the keyboard and bash out two thousand words in under an hour in a reading, so for me it works really, really well. But if you’re a little bit slower on the keyboard, you might get some speed typing lessons or you might look at some different ways of doing readings

So given those pros and cons, let’s have a quick chat about who the email Tarot readings are best suited for. So, I think that it really suits folks or readers who have kids or other commitments in their life. Where they do need that flexibility in their schedule and who may potentially be interrupted, of course you don’t want that to impact your engagement with the client. So, email readings are the best if you’re at risk of being interrupted.

I also think email readings are great for readers who can type fast, of course these practical things really do matter. And who are very good written communicators, so for me language and communicating through writing works very well and I feel very confident in that way, but maybe, let’s say if you were a reader who had English as a second language, you might communicate better by speaking than writing or typing. Or maybe, I don’t know, maybe it might just be a personal preference that writing isn’t really your thing but speaking might be much easier. So just be aware of that.

And then, finally, it really does suit intuitive readers who feel confident about their intuition. It is like, intuition is a muscle so you do have to keep working on it and building it up over time so you might start your email Tarot readings with a little bit of anxiousness about your intuition but over time you’ll notice that it just gets better and better and again these kinds of readings are perfect for developing your intuition. So, that’s it for the email Tarot readings, you might be listening to that and going: “Yeah, I could probably do that, that sounds right up my alley.” Or you might be thinking: “Not really my thing, what else do you got?”

So, let’s move on to the second way of delivering a Tarot reading online, and that is to do an audio reading. So, what is this? Well, it’s a reading where you simply record it, just the audio, so not a video, but just the audio of you speaking your way through a reading. It’s also another, like more of a one-way interaction so it’s almost like what I’m doing right now, which is just talking into a microphone, quite simply and you might have your cards laid out in front of you and you just speak your way through that reading. You can easily record a reading on your mobile device, for example, like on your iPhone, it’s really easy to make a recording on your iPhone. And you could also use some free software like Audacity, which you can just download online and in fact that’s exactly what I’m using right now for this podcast. You can then, I mean, it’s pretty easy, you record it, you can then save it as an mp3, you can reduce the file size if you need to, whatever it takes. Then just upload that audio reading to Google Drive or Drop Box and then you can share the link to the reading via an email to your client. And same kind of thing, you would have your client pay online and then maybe send you an email with their information. You know maybe if you’re really going along with the audio theme, you might have an opportunity of the client to record their voice as well when their sending in their request for the reading, that could be kind of fun. So a few different options there.

So, let’s talk about the pros of an audio reading. Same kind of thing as it is for an email reading, you can do the reading whenever it suits you, but in this case, you don’t really want to be interrupted. Sure you can probably edit it out, you could stop halfway and then come back to it but it’s going to be a little bit more obvious to the client that you’ve had a little bit of a break in between your reading. Ideally you want to have that time and space where you can do a reading where you’re not going to have your kids screaming in the background, that’s kind of hard in this house, because that’s happening most of the time, except during school hours. Which is obviously is how I’m doing this podcast there is some time where it’s quiet here. But you just have to make sure that you’ve got that time available to you.

I think also with the audio readings, when you’re speaking, it can actually be a lot easier and faster to verbalize a reading to speak a reading out and I’ve noticed this with out Tarot students as well. It’s one thing to sort of write down the reading but when students start to say a reading out loud, something shifts a little bit more and I think interpreting the cards can often be a lot easier when you speak through them. So again, you do need to be quite confident with your speaking and if we’re thinking of English as a second language, it may be where you are, you have a strength, or it could also be where you feel that maybe it’s not your strength. Maybe you’re still working through English as a spoken language and so you might actually not do an audio reading, completely up to you of course.

Again, you can protect your identity so you’re not having to show your face in an audio reading and that might be important to you if your managing a corporate career or something else where you don’t want to have other people recognize you as a Tarot reader. And then finally the client has a recording of the reading, and if you really like you could do a bit of value-add in your service, you could do the audio reading and then hire a transcriptionist to transcribe the reading into a word document. And that way they could also have a written record of the reading.

Ok, so what is some of the down sides to doing audio Tarot readings, well you do need to trust your intuition, again, so similar to what we talked about with email Tarot readings because you’re not getting that instant feedback from your client. Again, there’s some limitations on how you can connect with the client, although I kind of find that one thing is to write but then when you’re actually listening to someone, if you think of it from the client’s prospective, they may feel more connected to you as they are hearing your voice and their hearing your intonation, your tone of voice, your volume, all those kind of things, might actually make it feel more of a connected reading then say and email Tarot reading, that’s something important to think about.

You also need to have a mic and reasonably good sound quality, thought I find it’s ok using the built in mic and the same with your laptop but it does pay just to get, I think you can pay like $50.00 on, I use an, what is it, 802020 mic, could have that wrong, I’m just trying to see if there is anything on the mic that’s telling me what it is, no. And also with the iPhone you can use a Rode Lapel mic, which is really handy, you can just pop that on to your shirt or your top and it records straight into the phone and then you get a much better quality sound. So it can be worth investing in, and of course if you’re doing this professionally that can be a tax deduction as well.

Ok, so who is this good for? Well definitely readers who are good verbal communicators. If you feel confident talking and as I think actually, it’s all personal style, but I think if you can remain relatively succinct as you’re talking, that’s a good thing. I know that some folks find if they’re feeling a little nervous they might use a lot of words to describe one concept but you might look at how can you be a little more succinct with your reading and the message that you want to convey. And of course, you might already feel comfortable in that space in which case this is perfect for you. It’s also well suited to intuitive readers, again because you’re not getting that immediate feedback.

All right, let’s move on to our third method, which is doing a reading via video. And I’m not talking about a live video, like Skype, that will be our fourth method, I’m talking more about just recording yourself, doing the reading with a webcam or a video camera of some sort and the audio obviously. Most laptops and computers do have a webcam built in, I’m on a Mac, so I just use Photo Booth to shoot a video. You can get free software online to shoot videos, you can shoot a video on your phone again and have a lapel mic or just do it straight into the phone. If you do use a phone I suggest getting a tripod or putting your phone somewhere it’s not in your hand, because that can make people feel a little bit sick with all the movement. And so you can shoot the, you can record the reading, and it might be you just sitting there going: “Ok, well this is your question here is me shuffling the cards.”

And then they can see that and then you might lay out the cards, maybe use the video to show the cards that were laid out and then you can go through that reading. And I think the really nice thing about this is, it’s a lot more personable, they get to see you as well as hear your voice and so on, so it’s kind of like a live reading but you’ve got the advantage, again, that you can do the reading when it suits you in your own time, you’re not dedicated or committed to a specific time to meet.

Of course you don’t want to be interrupted during a video reading, yes, you can edit it out but it doesn’t, you know it’s a little bit patchy not as easy as the email reading. Oh, and once you do finish your video again, you can use software to reduce the size and then upload to Google Drive or Dropbox and share that link to your client via email. Nice and easy. You do want to make sure that you don’t share it on YouTube, don’t think: “Oh, I’ll just post it on YouTube.” Even in the private version I think it’s a little bit dodgy. Especially when your dealing with sensitive information in a Tarot reading, so I suggest using something more like Dropbox or Google Drive just to help with the security.

Ok, so back into the pros, we talked about you can do the reading when it suits you, providing you won’t be interrupted, it can also be faster and easier to verbalize a reading so same with the audio reading, you create a more personal connection with your client and again the client has a recording of the reading and if you wanted to create a written version, you totally could, just by hiring a transcriptionist. I reckon it might cost you, well ok, it all depends what your pricing is for your readings but it might cost you about $20.00 to have somebody to write up that reading for you.

Ok, so the downsides of a video reading again you do need to be able to trust your intuition, it’s not really a downside but just something to be aware of. You do need equipment, so in this case you need a good mic and a webcam. Most of that is pretty much built into your devices already so I wouldn’t stress out too much about, oh I need to get this new thing. You don’t, you can usually just use what you have. And of course you do need to be comfortable on video. Some people feel a little bit awkward when they’re on video, in which case that might not be for you but I often suggest, like with video, it’s that first video that makes you feel like: “Oh, what am I doing, I look like a doofus.” But you just get that first one done and then you feel much better afterwards. It’s been the same for me with Facebook Live, it was just like, just get on that Facebook Live just once, get that out of the way and then you will be fine, and now I can’t really get off the thing. I enjoy it so much.

Who is the video reading for? Well, certainly for readers who are good verbal communicators and who are comfortable on video and of course you do need to be quite intuitive and confident with your intuition.

All right, let’s move on now to our fourth method which is a Skype reading. As you know, Skype enables you to do a live call with somebody anywhere in the world, for free, which is amazing, and you can be on video and audio and it’s quite simple. All you need to do is install Skype and you can also use a recording software like e-cam or just google Skype, record Skype call. There’s many different ways that you can record the call and that way, again, your client has a record of the call as well afterwards and that’s a great value-add for your Tarot reading offers. You can also use a scheduler like Time Trade or I think it’s Calendly as well, a lot of different schedulers out there because with a Skype reading you obviously do need to agree to meet at a certain time and I tell you what, there’s nothing worse than having to organize via email. “Oh, are you available here? Oh, what time zone is that?” It’s like all this crazy stuff, just invest in getting an online scheduler, it will just save you so much time and just a hassle and be way, way, way better. And I think Time Trade is like literally about $50.00 a year, so yeah, it’s pretty minimal and it will save you a lot of time and it will also mean happy clients. And then of course, once you’ve finished your reading you can upload that recording again via Google Drive or Dropbox and share the link in the email.

The good things about Skype readings are that you can co-create your reading with your client. This is where it can be a lot more engaging because you can ask questions as you go. You can have more of a coaching style of reading. I think it can be really exciting when you do have that live interaction with your client. And again, you can connect real time ,which is really nice. And if you are recording the call then obviously your client has a recording which could be helpful for later on.

Now the downsides of Skype readings, you do need to schedule the appointment and you need to be able to commit to it. Now for me that’s not great because I might have some family commitments and for me generally I’m not great, I just don’t, I don’t know what it is, I don’t really like having to have appointments at set times. I quite enjoy just having that, with a reading particularly, I like to do it when I feel inspired, not when the clock says I need to turn up somewhere. But again, we’re all different, right? So don’t let that interfere with how you want to read the Tarot cards.

Also with a Skype reading you may be put on the spot and need to respond, so you might be in the middle of a reading and you might draw a bit of a blank and you’re like: “Oh, I don’t know what this is.” You don’t have that luxury of just pushing that pause button or anything like that, so you do need to be ready with some strategies of what to do if you do kind of draw a blank and you’re not sure about what a card means, so just be ready for that.

One thing with Skype calls is that the technical issues can be so disruptive, like I love Skype so much, I think it is such an enabler but when there are tech issues, oh my goodness it’s the worst. So you might be in the middle of the reading and then you’re like: “Can you hear me, you’re frozen, you’re stuck.” And then everything sort of breaks down and your flow, your energy can really be interrupted in the reading. So, you might just have some standard requirements that you communicate to your client before the reading and that might be make sure you turn everything else off so you get a really strong internet connection, make sure you’ve go the latest version of Skype, and so on.

And actually, just coming back to scheduling calls, your client might just not show up, that’s the other sort of downside and that can be quite a time waster or maybe they show up 10 minutes late, 20 minutes late, can be quite frustrating. So, make sure that you set some clear expectations before the scheduled call to say, ok, anything up to five minutes, that’s fine, anything beyond five minutes then we need to reschedule the call or there might be a rescheduling fee. You might have a cancelation fee, so if they cancel within 24 hours of the committed time then maybe there’s no refund, something like that. You need to figure out where your boundaries are, but please make sure that’s clear with your clients. Be careful about running over time and if their turning up 20 minutes late, doesn’t mean you have to stay on for another 20 minutes. You might be quite clear that: “Well, this was an hour reading, so we are going to go through to the hour.” Even then if that means you’ve only got 40 minutes together. That’s up to the client, they should’ve showed up on time. And then finally you do need some equipment, a mic and a webcam.

Ok, so who is the Skype reading for? Typically, it’s for readers who are confident on video and confident being in front of the client. It’s great for readers who have a more coaching style of reading versus a more one-way. That’s said, like I consider myself more of a coaching style Tarot reader and I still get a lot out of email Tarot readings. And then finally really sort of practical element, this is for readers and clients who have reliable internet connections. So you know if maybe you’re in the Philippines it might not be the best way to connect to your clients, but if you’re in an area where you do have much better internet then absolutely this would be an option for you. And of course, I’m not just picking on the Philippines, I’m only thinking of that because when I was traveling there earlier this year, it’s like so intermittent, the connection there.

All right our last, last method for delivering a Tarot reading online is to do it via Social media. What do I mean? Well, you could do a public reading via Facebook Live or maybe YouTube and this could work in a couple of different ways. Maybe you offer a free reading to one, like to someone in your community and on the proviso that you can publicize that reading. It’s a good opportunity for potential clients to say: “Ok, well this is their style of reading, does that match him with what I’m looking for?” and so on. The alternative is that you could just do a generic reading, so for example I do the Tarot card for the week and I will publicize that via Social media. It’s a very different model, right? So, before this is very much one-on-one when were doing email, audio, video, Skype readings, but this is more of a sort of a reading that’s available to many people.

The advantages, potential clients can get a taste of your reading style and you can attract new potential clients by creating content from the readings. And what I mean by content is this could be part of your Social media strategy to do an example reading every week, so that you’ve got something there that people can refer to.

The downside is that the client that you’re working with must be willing to have their reading made public. You need to make sure that that is very, very clear and that you have their expressed permission to do so. And generally for public reading like that, you wouldn’t really charge for it so that can be a downside. I mentioned it before but I’ll do it again, using say YouTube for a one to one reading, I think you’ve got to be really mindful, it’s set up as a public forum and even though you can choose private, it can be a little bit, there are other ways of sharing readings more privately.

Who’s the Social media reading for? Well, readers who are really wanting to establish their business, might be you if your just early on in your online Tarot reading career. You might want to do a couple of those Facebook Live readings to build up your business. And of course it’s great for readers who are confident on video and if you’re not confident, just get on there, give it a go a couple of times and you will probably be confident by the end of it.

There you have it; we’ve got our Five Different Ways of Delivering a Tarot Reading Online. We can do it via email, we can do audio readings, we can do video readings, Skype readings and Social media.

I hope that it’s been really helpful for you, again whether you’re just starting out with doing online Tarot readings or maybe you’ve been doing readings for quite a while and you might think: ” Oh, I haven’t thought of doing a say video reading.” Give it a go, see what happens and head on over to www.biddytarot.com/42 and you can leave comments there. So I’d love to hear if you’ve tried out a video reading what was it like? Or tell me a little bit about which method you prefer using for your online Tarot readings. And of course if you jump over to www.biddytarot.com/42 you can also download the free PDF handout with each of these five methods and you can have that as a quick reference guide if you’re setting up your business or expanding your Tarot reading business.

Now if you’re thinking about reading Tarot online or becoming a professional Tarot reader then make sure you check out my online training courses at www.biddytarot.com/courses. I’m going to show you How to Master the Tarot Card Meanings and Read Tarot with Confidence, so that you can become the Tarot reader that everybody raves about. Head on over to www.biddytarot.com/courses to find out more. And the best news is that you can also become a Certified Tarot Reader which is awesome for building up your reputation as the Tarot reader. It is all possible.

Again, thank you so much for listening today, it’s my absolute pleasure to be in your earbuds and talking with you about Tarot. Now, next week I have a very special guest on our podcast, she is like this modern day Spiritual Guru, fashionista, amazing chick and she is talking to us about how she uses Tarot in her everyday life. You’re going to love it, I’m not going to tell you who it is just yet but I know it’s going to be super, super fun. Alright, so I hope to, well, I was going to say I hope to hear from you then but that’s not really what I mean. I can’t wait to connect wit you again soon and have an awesome week. Bye.

Brigit:  You’re listening to the Biddy Tarot Podcast, and this is Episode 46: 5 Ways to Build Your Reputation as a Tarot Reader.

Voice-Over

Welcome to the Biddy Tarot podcast, where you will learn how to connect more deeply with your intuition and live an empowered and enlightened life with the Tarot cards as your guide.

Listen as Brigit and her guests share their very best tips and strategies to help you read Tarot with confidence. And now, here is your host Brigit Esselmont.

Introduction

Brigit: Hello and welcome back to the Biddy Tarot podcast.  I am so excited to have you here.

If you jump onto Fiverr or Etsy, it seems like every man, or woman, and his dog will read your Tarot cards for five dollars.

Or walk down the streets of Manhattan and on every corner you’ll find a Psychic Tarot Reader with a bright neon sign out the front.

In fact, it’s becoming more and more difficult to truly stand out from the crowd as a reputable Tarot Reader that your clients can trust.

So how do you do it?

How do you stand out as a credible Tarot Reader?

How do you build and create that solid reputation?

In this podcast episode I’m going to walk you through the five ways that you can build your reputation as a Tarot Reader.

And, of course, I’ve created a special PDF just for you with these different five ways for building your reputation – and you can get those over at biddytarot.com/46  – download the free PDF, and also access the show notes.

So, let’s get into it with our very first way for you to really stand out as a reputable Tarot Reader, and that is to act like a professional.  So what do I really mean by this?

If we’re going to call ourselves professional Tarot Readers, then we need to be professional.  And that means being consistent.

When I say consistent, that’s like if you’re going to have a blog as part of your shop front, or a newsletter, then please, please don’t write that newsletter that says:  I’m so sorry I’ve been away.  I haven’t been doing this for long and I’ve been on holiday. I know I haven’t been talking to you for a while…

This just really gives a kind of negative perception of you as a business owner, and as a professional.

It’s really important – if you say you’re going to do a weekly newsletter, do a weekly newsletter.  If you say you’re going to do a weekly blog, then do a weekly blog.

All of this is sending a really strong message to your prospective clients about:

• Can I trust this person?
• And are they going to do what they said they were going to do?

Because if someone wants to have a Tarot reading with you, and yet you’re sort of in and out in terms of connecting with them with newsletters, or being on your blog or on social media, they’re just going to be like:  I’m not sure if this Reader really is legit, because she’s not turning up when she says she’s going to turn up.  And how do I know that she’s actually going to turn up for my Tarot reading?

So, really important, be consistent.

And talking about turning up, make sure you turn up on time, and deliver as promised.

If you’re going to say to your clients, “Yeah, I will do an instant Tarot reading, and you’ll get it in two hours,” – have a think about that, because I don’t know about you, but I sleep eight hours and there’s no way I would be waking up in the middle of the night to do a Tarot reading in two hours.

Or even making the promise of 48-hour delivery – that’s awesome if you can actually do it.  For me, I can’t because I have other commitments in my life and it’s just not possible for me to follow through on a 48-hour turn-around.

So think about what you’re promising to your Tarot reading clients, and make sure you stick to it. And if you say that you’re going to meet your client at 9am on Monday morning, make sure that you are there at 9am.

So a little bit more about how do you act as a professional: have a clear Code of Ethics.

If you think about professionals in other Industries, most of them will have that clear Code of Ethics and clear policies about how they operate. You expect a Doctor to prescribe to a certain Code of Ethics that’s part of a Medical Association.  A Lawyer certainly has a very clear Code of Ethics.

So as professional Tarot Readers we also need to have that clear Code of Ethics; and, again, Policies, and Terms and Conditions about:  What can you expect from you as a Reader?

And finally, treat your Tarot business like a business. Again, if you want to be professional, then be professional.

This is all about how you can build your reputation as a Tarot Reader. Take it seriously – it might be a fun hobby that’s for sure, but if you want to really build up your reputation, it’s so important that you really give it the attention it deserves and you do act like a professional.

So, Number 2:  Create a professional looking website or a shop front.

Maybe 10, 15 years ago you could have gotten away with a dodgy looking website, as long as it had the right content on it.  These days it is so easy to create a beautiful looking website just using a free theme and adding a little bit of content to it.

I don’t think that there are any excuses these days for having a dodgy looking site.

When you do have a more modern or professional looking website then, again, it sends a clear message to your clients that you care about your work, and that they can trust you.  They are sharing a lot of deep personal information with you, and so they want to know that you will treat them with respect and you are not just going to take their money and run and all those horrible things– because we know that’s not who you are, and we know that you want to do a great, great job.

So having something like a professional looking website or shop front can be really beneficial.

All you need to do if you want to have a nice website is select a clean, modern website theme, and I highly recommend using WordPress.

It’s also important to have your own domain or URL – and so what I mean by that is have like biddytarot.com…..obviously don’t have biddytarot.com, that one’s taken!  But, as an example, have biddytarot.com and not like biddytarot.wordpress.com

Very important you have your own domain.  They cost like 10 dollars a year from Go Daddy.  It’s a very minimal investment.

And, please, don’t set up your business on Facebook as the only place that you’re doing business.  Facebook can take away your account at any time, so imagine if you’d built up your whole business on Facebook and they took away your page and said you can’t access it anymore.

So please set up your own website if you want to be operating online, and have your own domain and URL.

Now, of course, if you’re not so much an on-line Reader but you love reading in your local community, then make sure you have a really nice shop front.

There’s a place down the road here, near where I live in Melbourne, and it’s a Beauty Therapist place. And they have their sign out the front, and it’s obviously where someone lives.  It’s part of a house, and it’s just sort of attached to the house. But in the front yard there’s a broken cubby-house; there’s broken glass out the front of this house; the fence is in disrepair. It just looks shabby. And I tell you what, I do not want to go to a Beauty Therapist that has things like broken glass out the front, because I am worried about: Are they actually caring for their clients? And if they’re giving me a facial, what are they using in that facial? And how do I know that I’m not going to end up with a rash, or something like that?

So it’s the same for us as Tarot Readers – we want to make sure that our shop front, or our website, looks really nice and professional, and conveys that trustworthiness.

So make sure you have a nice clean and tidy shop front; that you have clear signage, that signage wasn’t made by your 14-year old daughter, unless she’s like a super-star Graphic Designer.  That it just looks nice.

It’s also really easy to create a bit of a brand for yourself too.

Now, of course, you can go down one path, which is the path that I’ve taken, and invested in a huge amount of money and time in getting a brand, but you do not have to do that.

It’s easy to think about:

• What do I want my main two colours to be?
• And what font do I want to use?
• And do I want to have a logo, or should I just use my name as the logo?

…and then just stick with that, and have that branding on your shop front or your website.

And really that’s all that you need.  You don’t have to go overboard with this.  You just want to make sure that when someone is thinking about engaging with you as a Tarot Reader, they have somewhere that really resonates with them, and has just a nice look and feel to it.

So that’s it:  Create a professional looking website or shop front.

So Number 3 for building reputation as a Tarot Reader:  Publish Testimonials and Case Studies from your best clients.

Now Step 1 to this is, go reach out to your clients that you’ve worked with already, and ask them if they could write you a testimonial.

Now many people – your clients – will probably write a gorgeous Testimonial to say:  It was amazing.  The reading was amazing.

That’s cool, that’s good – that’s kind of like Step 1.

But if you’re going to ask for a Testimonial, I suggest asking a couple of specific questions that they could respond to.  And that might be:

• What was life like before you had a Tarot reading with me?
• And then what was life like for you after the Tarot reading?

Your kind of digging around for a bit of story that says:  So maybe my Tarot reading was about a job that I didn’t really enjoy. So before the Tarot reading I felt really unclear about my job and if I could stay in it; and what are my other options?  And then after the Tarot reading, I felt immensely clear – I had a clear action plan. I had understood what the thing was that was underlying the issues to begin with.  And once I knew that thing, then I felt amazing and everything just started to move after that.

So just having those two simple questions for your clients:

• What was life like before the reading?
• And what was life like now after the reading?

And even:  What’s been possible for you since the Tarot reading with me?

That will give you much better testimonials and responses that you can use on your website or promotional materials.

If you want to take it even a little bit further than that, then you could try out doing a Case Study.

Now Case Studies are a little bit different to a Testimonials.  Testimonials are like that little writing that you have on your website, it’s in your nice little quotations, it says:  Jane says this….

It might have a photo as well – it’s really good if you can have a photo with that Testimonial.

But the Case Study takes it that little step further, and it tells a story about what happened for the client as a result of the Tarot reading.

So you might even, again with your client’s permission of course, create a video with your client and have your client talking on that video about how life changing that Tarot reading was.  Or if they’ve had many readings with you, how many things have changed as a result of being connected with you as a Reader.

You could get it done professionally, or you could just do it yourself. Make sure you’ve got a tripod and nice lighting, and all that kind of stuff, and then just edit it down into a short one-minute Case Study.

Then other people can come onto your website and see:  Oh, wow, this person actually had some really amazing outcomes as a result of the Tarot reading.

So that is way beyond, “Yeah it was really good – 5 stars!”

That’s great, but telling the story around what was different, or what changed, for your client is way, way better.

Of course if you’re ever going to be publishing Testimonials or Case Studies, make sure you have permission to publish from your client.  And you want to have that in writing.  And also I think it’s a good idea to say – to be clear about where these things will be published.  Particularly for Tarot, and people sharing information about themselves, there may be that concern:  I don’t really want you to share it on social media.  I don’t mind you sharing it here. Or I don’t want to you to share my full name –  just my first name; or photo or not photo; whatever it might be,

You just want to make sure that your client is 100 per cent comfortable with how you’re using their Testimonials. Very, very important.

Now, just a quick not about star ratings.  You can also have star ratings on, say, your Facebook Business Page, or in Yelp, or in other on-line review websites.  Star ratings are great because it’s sort of a quantifiable measure of your success as a Tarot Reader, or, more accurately, how people are perceiving your Tarot readings, but you do need to be prepared if you do get one-star ratings; or if someone has a secret vendetta against you and wants to put in these fake one-star ratings –  I hope that doesn’t happen to you – because that kind of negative feedback will also display.

So just be aware of that.

I think it’s nice just presenting Testimonials and Case Studies, because you do have a little bit more control over which stories you can share with your prospective clients.

Wonderful.

Okay, so Number 4 in terms of how do you build your reputation as a Tarot Reader:  Take part in an accredited training program, particularly for Tarot, or Counselling, or Life Coaching; whatever it might be.

It’s really important that you train with a teacher that you trust, and who really inspires you.

You want to find out, particularly with, say, a Tarot teacher:  Is the way that they read with the Tarot similar to the way that you read with the Tarot, or want to read with the Tarot?

And make sure that it aligns with your personal values and the way that you kind of see the world.

If you’re more of a coaching style of Reader and you start training with a teacher who is all about predicting the future, and timing, and things like that, you might feel some misalignment there and not a great connection.  But maybe that teacher’s a little bit more fluid and flexible, and more into the intuitive side of things, and that’s good fit.

If you’re selecting a teacher, then also think about:  Is this person well known and respected in the Tarot world?

The thing with the Internet these days – I think the Internet is such a good enabler, but what it has meant is that almost anyone can jump on-line and go, “Hey, I’m a Tarot teacher.  I’m going to teach you how to read Tarot.”

And, in fact, sometimes you can see those websites where it’s like:  Read Tarot – Make Money!!!

It’s kind of a little bit off-centre I think.  Of course you can make money reading Tarot, I fundamentally believe that, but it’s how you go about it; versus, “Do this and you’ll be making a thousand dollars a day in six weeks.” It’s crazy.

So just make sure that you’re training with a Tarot teacher who you respect, and who is known within the Tarot world as well.  And make sure that they are reputable – that you’ve heard good things about that person.

Just do a little bit of research.   Facebook’s great these days because you can always jump onto a Facebook forum and say:  Has anyone else trained with so-and-so? How did you experience it?  Was it good?

You also want to think about for, say, a Tarot training program:  has it been accredited by a third party?

So, again, it’s very easy to get a Tarot course up on-line, and start teaching Tarot, but it’s another thing to have a Tarot course that has been accredited by another reputable organization.

So, for example, with Biddy Tarot, all of our training programs have been accredited by the International Institute for Complementary Therapists.

Now we needed to submit a whole bunch of information from our Course Schedules, to how we make sure that our students are learning along the way, and it’s reviewed by the organization.  And not everyone gets accreditation who applies for it, but we did, so we’re very fortunate in that respect.

But it shows that the Biddy Tarot Training Programs are very solid and reputable.

So, as you’re thinking about, ‘How do you improve as a Tarot Reader?’ think about, ‘How do I find a training program that is accredited and run by reputable Tarot teachers?’ so that you can start to emulate a little bit of that success as well.

And just remember that there are a lot of free Tarot training programs on-line.  Some are really valuable, and some, well, they might give you some good insight into one particular area of Tarot, but they’re not necessarily going to give you an end-to-end experience.  So look for those Tarot training programs that are going to take you from:  Here’s your new deck of Tarot cards, to, wow, you are now reading for yourself and others, and feeling awesome about it.

Think about also:  Is there an opportunity to practice Tarot in a supported environment?

It’s one thing to learn how to read the cards, but getting the practice is incredibly important in terms of becoming a reputable Tarot Reader.  You need that experience so that you can get that Feedback and Testimonials, and so you can feel really confident, no matter what the situation.

And maybe is there an opportunity to be paired up with a Mentor or a Study Buddy?

Again, having that one-to-one contact with somebody as you’re learning to read Tarot can be incredibly helpful to really build up your skills.

So, for example, in the Biddy Tarot Community you can get access to our Free Tarot Readings Platform, which is where you practice free readings until your heart is content; and we have it set up so that you get feedback from your clients as well.

And we also have a Study Buddy inside the Community, so you can connect with any one of the 500 members inside the Community and really grow and develop your Tarot skills; plus, we’ve got a forum for the extra support.

So overall think about taking part in an accredited training program, where you do get that extra experience; you get one-to-one support; you know that you’re training with the Tarot Reader or teacher that you trust and respect; and, even better, if it’s been accredited by a third party organization to say, yes, this is a legitimate training program and it will achieve results.

And then finally to build your reputation as a Tarot Reader, consider becoming a certified Tarot Reader.

Typically to get certified as a Tarot Reader, you often go through a training program, and then through an application process or an exam or a test of some kind, and that ensures:  Does this person know what the Eight of Sword means?  And can they put together a Tarot reading?…and so on.

So, for example, with becoming a certified Biddy Tarot Reader you need to complete our two signature training programs which is Master the Tarot Card Meanings, and also Read Tarot with Confidence.

We have a series of quizzes for each of those programs to make sure you know your tracking learning the material – so you need to pass those quizzes.  And then at the end there’s like an exam – it’s not really because Tarot’s never an exam, it’s too fun – but, basically, you submit a number of different Tarot readings so that we can assess:

• Does this person know what the cards mean?
• Are they able to pull together a story?
• Can they create a coherent and succinct message in the cards?
• And can they create that engagement and connection with the client?

And that is actually assess by me personally, and then we have feedback given back to the person who’s applied.

And the thing, particularly with us, with a Certified Biddy Tarot Reader, is not everybody passes.

Of course we want everyone to pass, but if you don’t make the cut, I’m not going to certify somebody who I think is just not quite there yet, because it’s not right.  I want this to be a reputable program.  It’s not right to send someone out who hasn’t quite made the cut.

So that’s why I always provide personal feedback, and the opportunity to re-submit as well.  Just go back over the class materials, come back, re-submit, and hopefully the experience level has just gone up that little extra notch.

Now there is some debate about getting certified.  And if you posed a question in the Tarot community about getting certified, you always are going to get a bunch of people who go:  Ugh, certification… it’s absolute rubbish.  Who needs to be certified?

And even: Who’s got the power to certify someone?

Particularly with Tarot – it is quite subjective that’s for sure, and, as Tarot readers, we each have different styles and reading methods.  So it’s pretty hard to say, “Yes, you’re either 100 per cent right or 100 per cent wrong.”

There is definitely a gray area, but that’s something that I’ve found as I’ve certified Tarot Readers, I’ve always been respectful that we each have a different reading style.  And I do have clear criteria about what it is that I’m looking for in a reading, and then there’s a little bit of room around that to be who you are as a Tarot Reader.

I get it, I get why people think, ‘Who are you to certify somebody?’ and, ‘How are you going to certify someone?’ but these things can be easily addressed when setting up a good certification program.

So ultimately becoming a certified Tarot Reader, it is a personal choice, but it does give you a stronger reputation with your clients.  Imagine if you could have Certified Tarot Reader as something that you could share with potential clients.  I think that gives them a sense that: You know what? This person has invested in their training; they are taking their business seriously; they have a Code of Ethics in place, those kinds of things.  And that’s what can really, really build your reputation as a Tarot Reader.

Now in Episode 48, which is coming up soon, I’m going to go into a lot more detail about certification as a Tarot Reader, because there is a lot to think about in terms of certification, and if it’s the right fit for you.  But, for now, I want you to know it is a possibility, and it does help to build up your reputation.

It can be really personally satisfying and rewarding as well, and it sort of acknowledges again all of that commitment and investment that you’ve had with Tarot, and how much you’re going to invest in your clients as well.

So there you have it – those are the five ways to build your reputation as a Tarot Reader:

1. Act like a professional
2. Create a professional website or shop front
3. Publish Testimonials and Case Studies from your best clients
4. Take part in accredited Tarot training programs
5. Become a certified Tarot Reader

I hope that’s been helpful for you.  Again it doesn’t really matter if you’re going yet full-time into your Tarot reading career, or if you’re just thinking about:  How can I be a reputable Tarot Reader even if I’m not reading for other people for payment just yet?

This is all really helpful advice to set you up to be that reputable, ethical, and competent Tarot Reader that I know you can be.

Wrap-Up

Now if you want to build your reputation as a Tarot Reader, and become a certified Tarot Reader, then make sure that you check out the Biddy Tarot certification program.

I am so thrilled to be able to offer this to the Biddy Tarot Community, and really raise the level of professionalism in the Tarot community and in the street.

So in the Biddy Tarot Certification Program I’ll teach you how to master the Tarot card meanings, and read Tarot with confidence, via my signature accredited training programs.  And while you’re learning you’ll be able to connect with a Tarot Study Buddy, and get Community support within our private forums in the Biddy Tarot Community.

Plus, you’ll be able to put your skills into practice by offering free Tarot readings to the public in exchange for feedback.  This part of the program is so valuable – just being able to practice your Tarot readings in that safe learning environment just sends people’s confidence through the roof.  It is absolutely amazing.

And the best part is you can also become a Biddy Tarot Certified Reader, and get listed on our website.  Becoming a certified Tarot Reader is so helpful for building your reputation, and really showing your prospective clients that you’ve taken the time to learn Tarot, to invest in yourself and invest in, what I really believe is a profession.

So for more information, head on over to biddytarot.com/certification, and you’ll be able to get all the details about our Biddy Tarot Certification Program. I can’t wait to share it with you.

Now, thank you again for listening today – it’s my absolute pleasure to be in your earbuds talking about Tarot, and I can’t wait to chat next time as I bring on a really special guest next week.  And I reckon she must be one of the most popular authors in Tarot.  She’s written so many different little white books for Tarot decks, and she’s going to be talking about Tarot Made Easy.

Now I’m not going to give away who it is, so you’ll have to check in next week.  But make sure you do because it’s bound to be a bumper podcast episode.

Alright have a great week and we’ll connect soon.

Bye.

Brigit:  You’re listening to the Biddy Tarot Podcast, and this is Episode 48: What Every Tarot Reader Should Know About Certification.

Voice-Over

Welcome to the Biddy Tarot podcast, where you will learn how to connect more deeply with your intuition and live an empowered and enlightened life with the Tarot cards as your guide.

Listen as Brigit and her guests share their very best tips and strategies to help you read Tarot with confidence. And now, here is your host Brigit Esselmont.

Introduction

Brigit:  Hello and welcome back to the Biddy Tarot Podcast I am so excited to have you here as always.

If you’re an aspiring Tarot reader and want to build your confidence, develop your Tarot reading skills, and stand out from the crowd as a Tarot reader, then listen up.

Becoming a certified Tarot reader has HUGE advantages, from increasing your self-confidence, building your reputation as a credible Tarot reader and growing your Tarot reading business.

But, not all certification is created equal. In fact, some Tarot certification programs aren’t even worth the paper they’re printed on.

So today, I’m going to be talking about what every Tarot reader should know about certification so that you can avoid some of the pitfalls of certification and instead invest in a program that’s right for you and your Tarot reading career.

Let’s get straight into it.

What is Tarot Certification?

It’s a recognition that you have undertaken the necessary study to read the Tarot, and that you also meet a certain standard for being able to interpret and read the Tarot cards.

Some certification simply requires that you submit an exam or a practice reading and that’s that. Whereas other certification is much more robust and requires you to complete a comprehensive training program and perhaps even gaining real life experience reading the Tarot cards. Maybe you need to pass a series of quizzes and also submit an application with sample readings, code of ethics and other elements that are essential to reading Tarot professionally.

Ultimately, Tarot certification is designed to give you more credibility as a Tarot reader, both professionally and also personally. It’s a huge confidence boost especially when you need that little bit extra validation and confirmation that you ARE a great Tarot reader.

And if you want to go on to read Tarot for others, whether it’s for fun or professionally, it’s going to be the thing that helps you attract more clients and builds your reputation as an ethical and professional Tarot reader.

And at a really high level, certification – when it’s done in the right way – has the potential to really raise the bar for Tarot readers and really positively influence the way Tarot is seen in the general public.

You think about other career paths, such as lawyers. Of course, you need to be certified to be a practising lawyer. To be a doctor, you need to be certified. Even as I think of hypnosis, you need to have certification in order to practice as a hypnotherapist.

I think that having a solid robust Tarot certification program can be really positive for the Tarot industry as a whole and, again, it can really just raise the bar and improve the perception of Tarot readers in general.

Wouldn’t you love to be a part of that movement and really change the face of Tarot?

So let’s dive into why you might want to become a certified Tarot reader.

Why should you get certified?

A very sort of base level, but very important, you may want to become a certified Tarot reader because you want the learning. You want that educational base to make sure that you’ve got everything that you need in order to read Tarot confidently.

A good certification program shouldn’t just be about printing off a certificate, taking your money and then sending that certificate and boom away you go. In my opinion, I think a good certification program should include training and education alongside the certification.

It’s not just a one-off Tarot topic, a master class and then suddenly, boom, you’re certified, or even a basic beginner course and then say, “Yup, you’re done.” This is about investing in a full training program that takes you from pretty much day one of when you get your first Tarot cards through to that point where you know how to interpret the individual Tarot cards, you know how to do a Tarot reading and you’ve had the opportunity to also practice with real life people and to start getting that feedback before you even get certified.

Being part of a certification program like that will really give you such a solid base, where you feel like, “Yes, I’ve really learnt the fundamentals of Tarot.” Now, of course, the learning journey never stops, and there’s never a point at which you go, “Yup, I’m done. I know everything I need to know.” But at least with a really solid certification program, you’ll have that base-level knowledge around Tarot and how to deliver really solid Tarot readings.

It’s also your opportunity to learn from the best who have a really solid reputation in the market as well.

And often times, if you’re choosing the right certification program, you’re taking part in training that is fully accredited. I’m going to talk about this a bit later on, but that’s what you really want to look out for.

You have a certification program, but it’s another thing to have it accredited from a third party organisation. That just gives it that real extra credibility and reputation, particularly in a place like Tarot where things are a little bit more fluid. It just really is good to know that another body or another organisation has said, “Yes, this organisation is delivering high-quality training.” Really important.

Another reason why you might want to become a certified Tarot reader is because it offers you this personal validation. It’s also a signal that you are really committed to your Tarot practice.

We go through and we learn Tarot, but there’s always this sort of self-doubt and fear and worry that plays in the background of how do I know if I’m ready. How do I know if I’ve got everything I need so that I can start reading Tarot for others?

Something like a certification can often be that little green light that says, “You know what? You’ve done it. You’re good. You’re good to go. Go for it!”

Now, of course, certification alone, that doesn’t have to be the only answer, but it certainly can give you that real confidence boost to say, “You know what, I’ve got the certification. I’ve passed the test. I can do it now.” That might just be the one thing that you need in order to take you career or your Tarot reading practice that next step and really blossom as a Tarot reader.

The other aspect of this is it’s kind of this signal to yourself that you take Tarot seriously and it’s not just some fun thing. Well, I shouldn’t say it’s not just this fun thing because I think Tarot is fun and it should be fun. Let me go back on that a little.

It’s more this sign to yourself that you are committed to Tarot and that Tarot has a place in your life and that you also recognise the benefits that Tarot has for you and how fully integrated it is in your own life.

I just think of Tarot for my life and how integrated it is for me. I plan my business with my Tarot cards. I use Tarot cards to help me focus each day. I use Tarot cards to help me navigate relationships, big decisions, those kinds of things. It’s just such a part of my life.

Something like a certification program may be that thing that tells you, “Yeah, this is for real. I’m doing this for real.” Again, it’s your choice if you want to go on to read Tarot professionally, but even being a certified Tarot reader and then reading Tarot for yourself and your friends, that’s an awesome thing as well.

Don’t feel like you have to become a professional Tarot reader to benefit from something like certification because often it’s just that sign to yourself that I can do this. I’ve got it. Also, you know that you’re willing to invest in yourself and you’re willing to take care of yourself and live an intuitively led life. Really important

The third reason why you might want to get certified is that sense of pride.

When I first started reading Tarot, I kind of found it tricky because I’d come from an academic background. When you focused at school and university, it’s very much about you get a grade. You get marked on your essays. You get grades. You get your degree. You can get your honour’s degree, you’re master’s degree. All kinds of things. It’s all these very tangible things that say you’ve put in the time and effort to learn this thing and this is the acknowledgement of all of your work and personal investment.

But with Tarot, in some ways there’s not a lot to show for it, apart from your readings of course. I mean, the readings, kind of like proof is in the pudding. But I know that for some people it can be really motivating to have a certificate that can go on your wall, that you can display proudly to yourself, your friends, your clients. You can say, “Look, I’ve put in the hard work to become the Tarot reader that I am today.” That certificate is one way of demonstrating that amount of hard work that you’ve put in.

Likewise, you might have a badge for your website or a logo to say that you are a certified reader. It might be something that you can include in your bio particularly when you’re attracting new clients. Again, it’s just that ability to be able to say, “I am proud of being a certified Tarot reader.” That’s an awesome feeling.

The fourth reason is to build your credibility.

As I was talking about before, lawyers, doctors, hypnotherapists, psychologists, all sorts of different careers or occupations will have some form of certification. It’s to ensure that the standard of that occupation is met. In Tarot, we just don’t have it as a common thing. Not every single Tarot reader has to be certified.

But I think going that extra step and taking action to become a certified Tarot reader, that’s what really gives legitimacy to your work as a Tarot reader. It shows that you’re serious about your profession.

It also gives a really strong message that you are committed to being an ethical Tarot reader and a competent and skilful Tarot reader. You’re not just setting up a little sandwich board sign on your front corner and going, “Hey, I’ll read your cards for five dollars. Come on over!” It’s more like I have invested in myself and I take Tarot seriously and I take you as my client seriously. It sends a really strong message in that way.

Then finally, if you are thinking about going on to become a professional Tarot reader or you already are a professional Tarot reader, then becoming a certified Tarot reader can help you get more clients.

If you’ve started a business, you know how hard it is to get your first few clients through the door and continue to grow your business. Certification adds to your credibility and your reputation. I think it can really add value to what you offer.

If you can say, “You know what, I’m a certified Tarot reader. I’ve done the work and I’ve shown I have the knowledge here,” then I think you’ve got more ability to charge a little bit more than perhaps the person next to you that hasn’t got certification.

It just really builds up your brand and your reputation with potential clients. That might be sort of the distinguishing factor between a client choosing you or somebody else. Maybe the client needs that kind of validation. “How do I know if this person is actually legitimate and are they going to do what they say they’re going to do?”

If you were evaluating one reader without certification, the other one with certification, I know which one I would probably choose. If there’s nothing else really separating them, I would go for the certified Tarot reader because that would be an indication to me that this person is invested in themselves and they’re going to offer me more value as a reader.

Case Studies

Now I wanted to share just a couple of case studies with you of Tarot readers who have gone on to become certified because obviously, with Biddy Tarot, we have a certification program. We’ve been running this for a little while now.

We have quite a few certified Biddy Tarot readers who have gone ahead, done the training, got the practice, applied and have been successful in their applications. I just wanted to share a couple of the stories from those certified Tarot readers.

One is Sharon Struga. Now if you’ve ever been to Biddy Tarot and you’ve gone ahead and requested a Tarot reading, you’ll notice that Sharon’s in our list of endorsed Tarot readers.

Now, of course, she wasn’t always there. Sharon started with our program, Master the Tarot Card Meanings. Then she went on to take Read the Tarot with Confidence. These are two six-week programs with quite intensive training and with quizzes. You need to pass the quiz in order to complete the course.

Then she went on to practice her readings with different people. Then submitted her certification.

Now as part of the Biddy Tarot Certification, you do need to submit a log of your Tarot readings plus a number of sample readings. You also need to submit your code of ethics. You need to show that you’ve done the work in the training programs, so you submit a completed workbook. You also submit some things around how you see Tarot and how you see yourself as a Tarot reader. It’s a really comprehensive certification, right?

Sharon did all of this and she was successful. She passed and she got her certificate as a Tarot reader, as a certified Tarot reader.

She went on to read Tarot on what was then the Biddy Tarot Network and is now the Free Tarot Readings platform. She’s also started her on website.

She contacted me probably it would have been about six months ago and said, “Hey, Brigit, I’d love to read on your endorsed reader’s page.”

Just the fact that she was a certified Tarot reader through us, through Biddy Tarot, that just gave her so much more credibility. I knew that she had trained with me and I knew that she had trained in an accredited program that was very comprehensive.

Of course, I said, “Yes, come and join us on the endorsed reader’s list.” We literally have just four or five people. I hand-pick these people. I’m not just taking anyone that comes and says, “Hey, can I read for you?” Sorry.

Sharon’s a wonderful success story about how she’s taken her certification and she’s now reading for Biddy Tarot and doing such a great job with her clients.

Another story I just wanted to share was from Rae. Rae also took our programs and went to become a successful certified Biddy Tarot reader.

Recently, Rae posted in Facebook and she talked a lot about the boost to her confidence that certification gave her. I’m going to read out exactly what she wrote.

She said, “By completing the tasks and tests to become certified I gained so much more confidence in my abilities then just continuing reading randomly hoping for some vague feedback. It proved to ME that I could do it and knowing that others recognised this too is empowering and satisfying on a personal level… and the certificate hangs proudly on my wall”

That just sums up so much of that persona pride that comes from becoming a certified Tarot reader. Often times, it’s just that one thing that you need so that you can then go on and do amazing things with your Tarot practice.

Potential pitfalls of Getting Certified

As I said at the start of this podcast, not all certification is created equal. Unfortunately, there can be some downsides to certification. I wanted to make sure that you know about some of these potential pitfalls of becoming certified, but I also want to give you some advice about how you can avoid these pitfalls as well when you’re becoming a certified Tarot reader.

Something that often comes up when we talk about certification, particularly within the existing Tarot community, is some resistance around how do you decide if something in Tarot is right or wrong, because Tarot is so subjective. It’s very hard to sort of how do you pass someone, or not pass them because it’s such a fluid process.

I completely take on that feedback, I so understand. When I was designing the Biddy Tarot Certification Program, I knew we had to really just nip that one in the bud straight away.

We need flexibility because I like to embrace people’s different reading styles and ways of interpreting the cards, particularly since I teach people to read intuitively and not to always rely on the book meanings. But what’s really important is once you allow for fluidity, there also needs to be some quite clear criteria for certification and you want to make sure those criteria are clearly stated when you are applying to become a certified reader and you know what’s expected of you to pass.

For example, make sure that what are you being evaluated on when the certifying organisation, when they’re reading a sample reading, what are they looking for and does that kind of resonate with you. The things that they’re judging you on, is that quite right.

Now I remember a certification organisation a little while back and for one of their levels, they wanted you to write deck reviews, like five different Tarot deck reviews to certify you as I think it was maybe as an instructor or something like that.

When I looked at that because I was looking at getting certified at this point and I thought, “No, that’s not—If I can write a deck review, is that the thing that’s going to make me a good reader? No.” So for me, that was a no.

But other times I’ve looked at the certification and it’s been things like can you construct a meaningful story in the Tarot reading. Well, yeah, I can and I think that’s going to be important for my Tarot readings. Or able to go beyond just describing the card and instead, go to relating that card back to the client and the question asked. Well, again, that’s something I resonate with as a Tarot reader.

That is certification that I want to get. But writing a deck review? Uh-uh. That’s not for me. That’s not testing the right skills.

So make sure you’re looking at those criteria and you’re also connecting with what’s being measured and that that’s going to be meaningful for you. Because if it’s not meaningful for you, then it might not be the right certification program for you.

You also need to make sure that there’s going to be some acknowledgement between book meanings and intuitive meanings. If your intuition is telling you three of cups means online dating and nobody can find that in the book, are you going to be penalised for that? Or are you actually going to be supported in that more intuitive meaning?

Things like that you’ve got to make sure is there some room for this creativity.

The other thing that you need to watch out for with certification programs, different Tarot readers will have different styles of reading and will the certification process favour some styles of reading and not others.

To sort of overcome this you really need to make sure that there’s an acknowledgement of different styles of reading and that you’re not going to be penalised for adopting one style over another.

For example, in the Biddy Tarot Certification when we’re looking through the applications, we’re so aware that some readers are going to be more coaching styles, some readers are going to be more predictive and their language is going to be different.

I acknowledge and respect all styles of reading. Sure, I’ve got personal preferences, but to be a good examiner or certifying body, then we need to be able to accept and embrace differences. So that’s a really important part of the way that we review different certification applications.

Just make sure that different styles of reading is going to be acknowledged in the certification program.

Another big thing that comes up whenever we talk about certification in Tarot circles is this big resistance about well anybody can print a certificate and say that you’re certified. Hey, why don’t you give me 100 bucks and I’ll whiz up a little certificate for you and there you go. You’re a certified Tarot reader. Good on you.

Well, unfortunately, that is true, you could just make up your own certificate. The sad thing is that really devalues a lot of other certification programs.

However, you need to be really mindful in your choice of certification programs. There are hundreds online, so you could go down a bit of a rabbit hole and find the cheapest certification program that all you have to do is write your name on a form and then you get a certificate. But that’s not going to do what you want it to do. You want the training. You want to get the experience. You want to have the backing of a reputable organisation.

In order to avoid just getting a worthless certificate, choose a reputable organisation for certification. Choose an organisation that is accredited by a third-party. Choose an organisation that has a strong position in the market, that’s well known, where you feel like you’re actually getting a brand endorsement as well as certification. Because just having a backing of a well-known brand can be really important.

You can say like, Apple. If you’re an IT technician and to be able to say, “Yeah, I’m certified by Apple.” That’s pretty good. That makes you like this guy or girl knows what they’re talking about.

It’s the same in Tarot, make sure you get backing from a solid organisation.

Finally, choose an organisation that you respect and that you would be proud of if they were to certify you.

If it’s certified by the Grand Poobah of the Purple Hat Fifth Order of blah, blahs then maybe that might not feel so good with you. But if you’re getting certified by an organisation that you know, that you’ve studied with, then yeah. Spot on.

Finally, there have been some organisations in the past who have done Tarot certification and there’s still organisations now that don’t have the best reputation and maybe they’ve done a little bit of a disservice, I think, to the Tarot industry because they haven’t been able to follow through with their commitments.

I really want to remind you that not all certification is created equal and just because there are some organisations that haven’t followed through on their promises in the past, doesn’t mean that every organisation is going to be like that. Again, you just got to evaluate each organisation as you see it.

Do your research. Make sure that you resonate with their teaching methods and their philosophy. Make sure that they’re reputable and so on.

How to get certified

I think you’ve got the idea, right? Let’s move on to how you can actually get certified.

There are a number of different certification programs available. So how do you decide which one is going to be right for you?

Find an organisation that is accredited, reputable and well known in the Tarot space.

Find a teacher who you resonate with, who nurtures different styles of reading and who will support your growth as a Tarot reader.

And look for a certification program that offers not just a certificate, but an end-to-end experience. Things like comprehensive training and development, opportunities to practice reading Tarot in a safe learning environment and a robust certification process.

Now, of course, I want to be able to bring all of these things together and I can and I have. I’ve created the Biddy Tarot Certification Program.

The good news is that you can now enroll at BiddyTarot.com/certification.

I’ve designed the Biddy Tarot Certification program for aspiring Tarot readers who want to build their confidence and reputation, become better readers and ultimately get more clients.

It’s a six-month program and it’s starting in November. It’s going to have training, practice opportunities, and of course, certification.

As part of the Certification Program, you’ll get access to really solid, comprehensive training which includes:

• The Master the Tarot Card Meanings program and the Read Tarot with Confidence program. Our Biddy Tarot training programs they are fully accredited by the International Institute of Complementary Therapists. Over 1,000 students have taken part so far and this number continues to grow every single day.
• We’re going to have group coaching calls with me every month for 6 months so that you can jump on the call and ask me any questions that you want live and I’ll be able to respond to you directly. You’ll be able to get your questions answered and get real-time support and mentoring with me.
• Now you also get access to the Biddy Tarot Community, which opens up a huge number of possibilities for you. You’ll get to read on The Free Tarot Readings platform where you can gain valuable experience reading Tarot for free and in exchange for feedback and experience. It’s pretty much you take the training and the courses and then you get to apply what you’ve learned.

We do a lot of learning in the training, in the webinars and so on, but it’s when you come in to actually practising how to read Tarot and practising with real people who’ve got real questions and real problems and all sorts of things.

That is where the learning really starts to happen because you start to figure out, “Oh my goodness, somebody’s asking me what’s the first letter of my husband’s name. Oh my gosh, what do I do.” So you start to really learn how to set your boundaries, how to respond.

You get such a good confidence boost, too. Often it’s just a couple of readings and I’ve seen most readers confidence just go through the roof. It’s so beautiful to watch.

• You also get community support and mentoring inside the Biddy Tarot Community. Again, if you have a question you can usually get several answers in 24 hours. It’s such a beautiful community. There are already over 500 people in there who are ready to support you.
• You get the opportunity to apply for certification and become a Certified Biddy Tarot Reader.
• You get a listing on our Certified Biddy Tarot Reader Directory for 12 months so that is on the BiddyTarot.com website. Even just from a search engine perspective, that sends so much good juju to your website. If you’re trying to build a business, that can be so helpful.
• Finally, we’ll send you a beautiful certificate in the mail so you can proudly display it at home or in your Tarot reading office. I’ve seen some gorgeous photos of our certified Tarot readers proudly holding up their certificate. It’s so, so lovely to watch.

Of course, there’s so much more in this certification program that I can’t possibly share everything with you right now. But if you want to find out more about it, head on over to BiddyTarot.com/certification and you can see everything that is included.

By the end of this internationally recognised Certification Program, you’ll be ready to stand out from the crowd and establish yourself as a highly credible and professional Tarot reader.

This is not one of those fly-by-night certification programs that you might have found on Google. This is a highly reputable, internationally accredited program that will not only certify you but will also ensure that you have all the skills and experience to be successful as a Tarot reader.

I take this program so seriously and I want to make sure you have everything you need to be the Tarot reader you’ve always dreamed of becoming.

Again, if you want to learn more about the program go to BiddyTarot.com/certification

The enrolment is open now but be quick because the doors do close on November 1, 2016. Now we are planning on opening it again in about 6 months time, but I can’t make any guarantees because it’s often around our travel schedule. If you want to do the certification program, now is the time.

Now, of course, if you’re listening to this after the 1^st of November, go over to BiddyTarot.com/certification and there will most likely be a wait-list there so that you can put your name down for the next enrolment period.

This is your chance to truly shine as a Tarot reader and go on to earn an income doing something that you love.

All you need to do is go to BiddyTarot.com/certification to get all of the details.

Wrap-Up

All right, well it has been an absolute joy as always to talk to you about certification and what every Tarot reader should know about certification.

I hope you have an awesome week and I can’t wait to connect with you again next time. Bye for now.

Brigit: You’re listening to the Biddy Tarot Podcast, and this is Episode 50: How to Ask for Helpful Feedback.

Voice-Over

Welcome to the Biddy Tarot podcast, where you will learn how to connect more deeply with your intuition and live an empowered and enlightened life with the Tarot cards as your guide.

Listen as Brigit and her guests share their very best tips and strategies to help you read Tarot with confidence.

And now, here is your host Brigit Esselmont.

ASKING FOR FEEDBACK

Brigit: Hello and welcome back to the Biddy Tarot Podcast. As always, it’s such a pleasure to be talking Tarot with you today.

If you want to become a confident and sought-after Tarot reader, then one thing is sure – you need happy clients.

It doesn’t matter whether you’re reading for friends and family or paying clients — you want to know if your Tarot reading clients are getting the results they want and need from your readings. And the way to do that is to ask for feedback.

It may be as simple as asking, “How did I do?” But if you want to really hone your Tarot reading skills and grow your client base, then you also need to hone how and when you ask for feedback.

In today’s podcast, I’ll show you how to ask for helpful feedback to improve your Tarot reading skills, dazzle your clients, and create powerful testimonials.

CELEBRATING YOUR REVIEWS

Brigit: Before I get into it, I want to say a huge thank-you to everyone who has sent a review and shared their feedback and comments about this podcast. I want to celebrate two such reviews that have been given very recently.

Superj155 from the U.S. writes, “Inspiring and helpful. These podcasts are short, fun lessons that make tarot reading less like trying to solve a math problem and more like reading a graphic novel. Fantastic!“

Thank you so much. That’s awesome. I really appreciate it.

This second review is from deliriumsfrogs, also from the U.S. They say, “Little Lessons that Go a Long Way. I’m a newbie to Tarot, only recently plunging into the oftentimes overwhelming world of these 78 cards. Along with all my favourite Tarot books, Brigit’s podcast has become an indispensable resource for my Tarot study. I print out her PDF files and add them to my Tarot binder, and I even had her in my ears walking me through the Celtic Cross the first time I did it. I felt very lucky to be living in this time of such technological advancement, in that I can have Brigit as a Tarot tutor. How great is that?! I highly recommend this podcast and can’t thank Brigit enough for all she’s given me towards this hobby that has come to mean so much personally.”

Oh, absolutely gorgeous. Thank you so much to deliriumsfrogs for leaving such a beautiful review. Again, it’s my honour and pleasure to be in your ear buds, talking you through Tarot, and helping you learn this beautiful, beautiful tool that we have at our disposal.

Thank you so much for those reviews. Remember you can leave a review over on iTunes and you can also leave a star rating. Five stars is always very, very nice.

Alright, let’s get into the juicy content for today’s podcast.

WHY FEEDBACK IS IMPORTANT

Brigit: Why is feedback important? Well, hopefully you already know, but let’s just do a quick check in.

Feedback is really important because it helps to validate your intuition. You know how you have those sort of little intuitive hits in the reading? Sometimes you’re thinking, “Oh, I don’t know if it’s right. Do I say it or I don’t say it?” Just asking for feedback will give you some information about whether your intuition is on track or not.

Then you can also say, “Okay, I kind of felt like this when I had a good intuitive hit, but I felt like this other way when I didn’t have a good intuitive hit.” So you’re getting that feedback and you’re getting a better sense of when to pay attention to your intuition.

Feedback is also important because it helps you improve as a Tarot reader. Any kind of feedback will give you an idea about what are you doing really well and when might you improve as well. Definitely think about feedback in terms of how it’s helping you improve as a Tarot reader.

Feedback is important because it shows a level of care for the person you’re reading for.

At hotels, the first thing staff asks at checkout is “How was your stay? Did you enjoy your stay here?” I think, “Yeah, I did.” That gives me an opportunity to share feedback at that point.

But other hotels where, maybe I have not had such a great experience, sometimes don’t even ask about my stay. I feel that they just check me out, charge my credit card and that’s it. It doesn’t feel like there’s a great amount of care for me as one of their guests.

So think about it when you’re doing a Tarot reading. If the Tarot reader asks you what you thought of the reading, the client will feel like you really do care and they’ll know that you want to make sure they got the experience they looked for.

Finally, getting feedback can be really wonderful for creating testimonials. Particularly if you are focused on growing a Tarot business, having those testimonials will be super helpful to attract new clients.

GET CLEAR ON YOUR GOALS

Before you ask for feedback, it’s important that you’re clear on your goals. What do I mean by this? On one hand, you want to know what experience you want to create as a Tarot reader to focus your feedback questions properly. It’s also going to be a really helpful filter for the feedback you receive because, to be honest, not all feedback is helpful and not all feedback needs to be acted on.

For example, I want to create more of a coaching experience for my Tarot readings. I want the client to walk away from a reading with some clear actions that they can do in order to manifest the outcome that they most desire.

Now, if I get feedback that says, “Oh, you didn’t tell me my future,” being clear about what I want the experience to be like allows me to to say “Ok, I think we’re misaligned here anyway.” I didn’t want to create that experience, so I’m not going to take that feedback on. Or maybe I will and revisit my marketing copy to make sure that it’s clear to clients that I don’t provide fortune-telling sessions; I provide coaching session with Tarot cards.

That’s one example. But also, if you’re focused on creating a coaching style of reading, then the question that you ask as part of the feedback will be more focused on coaching. That is, “did you feel that you were effectively heard? Did you feel that I listened to you? Did you feel that you walked away with a clear set of actions? Do you feel like you can control your future?”

Being clear on your goals allows you to shape specific questions that you can ask your clients and to get more direct feedback.

The second thing that you want to be clear about before asking for feedback is what you want do with that feedback. For example, is feedback simply for personal improvement? Is it because you want to understand your strengths or your weaknesses? Think about that because the questions will be quite different.

I personally like to work with strengths rather than weaknesses. Sometimes it’s nice to know what haven’t you done well or what can you improve on. but sometimes that can be a bit of a downer. So check in with what feels right for you. I like to focus on the things that I want to create versus the things that I don’t want to create. Just check in on what feels good for you.

You might also want to create testimonials with your feedback. I’m going to share with you some ideas for asking testimonial-style questions for feedback.

Finally, you might want to be using this feedback more for customer care, in which case, it’s very focused on them and whether they’ve enjoyed the experience.

HOW AND WHEN TO ASK FOR FEEDBACK

We know now why feedback is important and we also know that there are a few things you need to be clear about before you start asking for feedback.

Now I want to walk you through how and when to ask for feedback because there are quite a few different points in time where it makes sense to ask. Now of course, you might not want to ask for feedback during all of these different points in time. You might find it a bit too much, or you might actually find a really nice natural organic way of asking at these different times.

A great time to ask feedback is during the reading. This is particularly useful for face-to-face readings, but you can still also do it in one-directional readings like an email reading or an audio/video reading.

Quite simply during the reading, you might ask, “How is this resonating for you? How does this sit for you? Is this connecting with you?” This is a really good way of just checking that your client is on board with the reading, checking that they’re not feeling confused, that they have clarity, that they understand what you’re saying, and that you’re also helping them with the situation at hand.

And if you’re doing an email reading, you can just type it in. “How is this resonating with you?” Of course, then you move on to the next paragraph. You’re not going to send that off via email and wait for the email response and then continue with the reading. But even just having those little questions in an email reading can be incredibly helpful. And, again, it’s just giving that sense to the client that they’re being heard and they’re important in this process.

The second time when you can ask for feedback is directly after the reading. You lay out the cards, do your reading, sweep up the cards ask for feedback before the client leaves.

Generally, I find it’s better to keep it quite general at this point, particularly if you’re in a face-to-face situation. The client will still be processing a lot of the information and I think it takes at least a few days for a reading to fully settle in and integrate and for that client, and to see how it fits in with their current circumstances.

More specific questions are great a little while after the reading, but directly after the reading, you might just ask quite simply, “Was this reading helpful to you?” Or if you’re more of a coaching style of reader, “Are you clear on what steps you need to take to resolve this situation?”

This is a check-in point to determine if the client is satisfied with the reading and if there is anything you can clarify.

Of course, it’s also a good opportunity to say, “This is just the beginning of the changes that may occur for you. Expect that over the next few days, this reading will settle in for you, and you may start to find that new insights begin to emerge.”

Of course, you can tell them at this point that you’ll check in about a week to get more specific feedback from the reading. Ask, “Are you okay if I contact you?”

The third time period where you can ask for feedback is about five to seven days after the reading.

This is the point at which your readings have had the chance to settle in. It’s particularly important if there were difficult messages in the Tarot reading or if you noticed there was a little bit of resistance. Maybe the client was only listening for what they want to hear. So giving them some time to process will help them come into a more constructive space. Even if there are some emotional responses, usually those pass after a few days.

FEEDBACK SURVEYS

This is when it’s a good time to send a more specific or more detailed feedback survey to your client. Here are a couple of ideas of what you could include in that feedback survey.

If you’re focused on personal improvement and perhaps understanding what your strengths are, then you might ask what aspects of the reading were most helpful or what aspects of the reading provided the most insight.

Perhaps you want to improve your intuitive abilities, in which case you might ask, “To what extent did you feel that this reading was an intuitive reading?” Or you might even be really specific and say, “How would you rate my intuitive abilities?” This makes it a little bit more about you as the reader if you want to get feedback for your personal improvement.

If you want to get an idea of some of your weaknesses, then you might ask, “How can I improve as a Tarot reader?”

You can also ask,

• “Was the reading provided in a good amount of time?”
• “Did you feel that I listened to you?”
• “Did you feel that I understood your question?”
• “Did you feel that the answer provided gave you the insight that you needed?”

Just notice the words that I’m using here are very much “I” words. When we’re using “I”, that makes these questions about you as the Tarot reader. That helps with the personal improvement side of things.

Now if you want to do more of a customer care style of feedback survey, you’ll be using more language around “you”. For example, “Were you satisfied with the reading?”

Actually, let me just pause on that question. Because sometimes that can pat you on the bum a little bit, because someone might say, “No, I hated the reading because it told me something I didn’t want to have happen or I didn’t want to know.” It doesn’t mean that they’re saying that your reading, itself, was really bad. It’s them saying, “I didn’t like the message of the reading.” Sometimes you can get kind of a confused message when you ask this type of question.

Another question you might want to include is based on something called a ‘net promoter score’. The question is, “How likely is it that you would recommend me to a friend?” You ask them to score between one, which is not likely at all, and ten, which is very likely.

If you’re scoring eight to ten, then you’re doing really, really well. If you’re scoring six or a seven, this person is a little bit on the fence. If you’re scoring a five or below, then you’ve got some issues that you need to address with that particular client because they’re not willing to recommend you. That’s a problem.

If you’re asking questions for a testimonial, here are four questions that are really, really powerful.

• “How did you feel about the situation before your reading with me?”
• “How do you feel about the situation now?”
• “What has changed for you as a result of the reading?”
• “What have you been able to create or achieve as a result of the reading?”

These questions are great because they start to form is a basic ‘before and after’ story; a success story about the client.

For example, the client might have had a problem with a relationship and they’d write, “Before the Tarot reading, I felt so unclear about the relationship, I blamed it all on my partner and I just couldn’t see a way forward. But after the Tarot reading, I now feel like I have a way of communicating with him and we can clear the air and get things back on track.”

For the question, “What has changed for you?” the answer could be “Well, my mindset has really changed.”

For “What have you been able to create or achieve?” the answer could be “We had a great conversation last night. We put our concerns on the table and we’re actively working together to make some positive change in the relationship.”

Imagine telling that story as your testimonial, as a case study to prospective clients. It’s a really, really powerful way of getting a great story with your clients.

Now, of course, if you do want to use a testimonial like that, you need to make sure you ask for permission to publish the testimonial and be very clear about whether you’re publishing first name or full name. Also, be clear whether you’re including a photo or not and make sure that the client has fully agreed to sharing that information.

If you edit the testimonial at all, make sure you show the client the fully edited version to get their consent.

If you do a feedback survey for your clients, I recommend sending a personal thank you note to the people who respond.

If you’re getting not so great feedback, then you definitely need to respond and address that feedback. If some of that feedback is not helpful, then you can just simply thank the client for their feedback.

If you get really positive feedback, again, make sure you acknowledge that feedback and say thank you for it. Reinforce the experience for them as well.

The final period in which you can ask for feedback is usually about one to three months after the reading. This is great for customer care because it shows that you’re thinking about your clients and it shows that you care about what’s going on for them.

A couple of questions that you can ask are quite simply, “How are things going since our reading together?” Or you can be a little bit more specific. So from that example before, “How is it going with communicating with your partner? Are you moving things forward?”

You might also want to ask what has changed or what new information has emerged from the Tarot reading. Remember that things evolve and what you might see in a Tarot reading today might take on a whole different.

FOUR FEEDBACK PERIODS

A quick recap: There are four main time periods for asking for feedback.

1. During the reading. This is just a basic “How is it resonating for you?”
2. Directly after the reading. This is a general question, “Was this helpful for you?”
3. About a week after the reading – send a feedback survey with some specific questions focused on your feedback goals and what kind of experience you want to create for your clients.
4. One to three months after the reading. Check in on how things are going.

That final check in, if you’re reading Tarot professionally, it’s a great way of staying in touch with your clients and potentially getting return customers. They might think, “Oh, you know what, we are communicating, but now we want to find out how to make the most of our relationship together,” or, “Now we’re planning on moving house together and we want some insight about what to do next.”

There you have it. That’s how you can ask for helpful feedback, whether it’s for personal improvement, customer care or getting more clients and awesome testimonials.

GROW YOUR TAROT BUSINESS

If you’re trying to grow your Tarot business online, I highly recommend our business program specifically designed for Tarot readers just like you.

In six comprehensive modules, you’ll learn everything there is to know about setting up a successful and thriving business. Not only a financially successful business, but also spiritually rewarding business as well.

The course teaches things like:

• Working out your ideal client
• How you find that ideal client
• Setting up a website/blog/newsletter/social media
• How to price your offerings
• How you can start to create some products
• Hiring a team
• And more!

You can find out more information about the Grow Your Tarot Business Online program at Biddytarot.com.

We’ve got full transcription for today’s podcast and all of our show notes at BiddyTarot.com/50, that’s 5 – 0. And you’ll get all the show notes and you can sign up to get the transcription for today.

Awesome. Well, I hope today has been really helpful for you! Remember, it doesn’t really matter if you’ve got paying clients or you’re simply reading for friends and family. Getting helpful feedback is super important. Not just for you as a Tarot reader, but also for the people that you read for.

Enjoy those Tarot readings and I look forward to connecting with you again very, very soon.

Thank you and bye for now.

Brigit: You’re listening to the Biddy Tarot Podcast, and this is Episode 52: Ask Brigit: Going Pro as a Tarot Reader

Voice-Over

Welcome to the Biddy Tarot podcast, where you will learn how to connect more deeply with your intuition and live an empowered and enlightened life with the Tarot cards as your guide.

Listen as Brigit and her guests share their very best tips and strategies to help you read Tarot with confidence.

And now, here is your host Brigit Esselmont.

GOING PRO AS A TAROT READER

Hello and welcome! Every month we get over 200 questions just through our Welcome Survey alone from people, just like you, who are learning Tarot or perhaps starting to grow their Tarot business.

I’ve gone back into the archives to find the most popular questions so I can answer them for you. That’s what Ask Brigit is all about. And today we’re going to focus on going pro as a Tarot reader.

I found some of these great questions. I’m just going to get straight in and answer them.

Maybe you’ve started learning the Tarot or you’ve got quite a good understanding of the Tarot and you’re starting to think about doing it as a job. If that sounds like you, then listen up. Even if you’re already doing professional Tarot readings and you’re thinking how to get to that next level, make sure you listen to this episode.

ANSWERING YOUR QUESTIONS

Here’s the first question and it’s from Debbie who says, “How do I know when I’m ready to go pro?”

It’s a good question and there are no hard and fast rules about doing X, Y and Z before you can go pro.

There’s even no hard and fast timing for it either. Some people will feel ready within literally a few months of first picking up the Tarot cards and for others, it might take several years to be in a place where they’re ready to go pro.  Just know that ultimately you’ve got to tune into what’s right for you.

But here are a couple of pointers that I think might be helpful.

Number one, how do you know when you’re ready to go pro? Well, you know the Tarot card meanings and can be confident in interpreting them intuitively in all kinds of readings.

It’s one thing to memorize the keywords, but it’s another to be able to read the cards intuitively and apply those meanings in all sorts of readings on all sorts of topics. It’s important that you’re looking up the meanings in a book, or if you do find yourself stuck, that you’ve got a couple of strategies to quickly get your intuition back into gear for reading and interpreting those cards.

It’s really important that you have a good knowledge of the Tarot card meanings, plus to know how to interpret them intuitively.

Number two – You also need to have a number of different Tarot spreads under your belt.

You can’t totally keep this simple. Maybe you just have a few three-card Tarot spreads that you use, or a couple of different techniques that help you draw cards from the deck and tell a story with those cards.

Or you might even learn how to design your own Tarot spreads, that way you don’t need to remember all the positions of the Celtic Cross or all the positions of whatever spread there is. Instead, you’re dynamically creating these Tarot spreads as you work with your new clients.

Just make sure you’ve got a couple of spreads under your belt and you know how to choose the right spread.

Number three is that you’ve read for strangers.

It’s one thing to read for yourself. It’s another thing to also read for your friends and family, who are probably going to be very nice. You also have that little bit of extra information about them anyway, so you can always bring that into your readings.

But it’s really another thing to read Tarot for people you don’t know at all and who really have no investment in pleasing you. They’re going to give you really constructive, but truthful, feedback in your readings.

What’s more, if you’re reading for strangers, you’re getting exposure to all sorts of people with all sorts of questions, with all sorts of perspectives. Reading for strangers is so important because it helps you define your boundaries, it defines who you are as a Tarot reader, and how you want to work with your clients.

If you don’t have that foundation, can you imagine your first paying client asking you these crazy, wacky questions and you think, “Oh, my mom never asked me that. What do I do?” So I recommend having at least 50 readings done for strangers.

Usually you can do them for free, so you can join the Biddy Tarot Community and read Tarot for free in exchange for feedback and experience. Or you could set up in a café and do free readings that way.

Number four – You’re getting great feedback and people are asking you if you’ll read for payment. I certainly noticed this when I had been doing hundreds of Tarot readings for free, I started getting more and more people saying, “Wow, that reading really changed my life. Can I pay for a reading with you?” I took that as my sign maybe it’s my time to go pro.

If you’re hearing a lot of positive feedback like, “Whoa, you should really be charging for this,” then you should really be charging for it. Absolutely.

Now another indicator that you’re ready to go pro is that you feel 90% confident. Now you might be thinking, why aren’t you saying 100%, Brigit? Well, you’re always going to have that little seed of doubt no matter whether it’s your first day being professional Tarot reader or it’s your tenth year or your 50^th year. There’s always a little seed of doubt, like “Oh, am I good enough and so on.”

I just want you to be 90% confident. Close enough. You’re never going to be 100% ready, so just know when to go for it and push your comfort zone a little bit more.

Now I also want you to be clear on your beliefs about Tarot and how it works, because no doubt you’re going to find yourself with a skeptic. Or you’re going to find some of your ethical boundaries challenged at various times, so knowing what you believe can be very, very helpful for that.

One last thing, this is ideal, but not essential – Consider getting training. Go through a reputable course so you can get basic Tarot skills down pat and know you’ve got all the bases covered.

Another optional consideration is that you may want to become a certified Tarot reader before you go pro. That gives you a little bit of extra confidence and credibility as a Tarot reader.

Debbie, I hope that has been helpful for you.

Katherine asks, “How much study and practice should I have completed before I go pro as a Tarot reader?”

Well, I mentioned the ‘when’ before. You can study for years and still not feel ready to be a professional Tarot reader. Or you can pick up those cards straight away and feel like you found your old friend and connect with the cards quickly.

How much study and practice do you need? I think it’s definitely worthwhile investing in getting the bases covered when it comes to studying the Tarot, learning the techniques, and having a number of spreads under your belt. It’s also important to have a few different strategies for conducting a reading and how to deal with difficult clients.

For practice, again, it’s very important to get exposure to lots of different people and lots of different questions.

I think practice is incredibly important, but you need to set some limits with yourself and say, “Once I’ve done 50 practice readings, I’m good to go. Or “Once I’ve studied this book or I’ve done this course, I’m good to go.” Because I know for some of you, you might be thinking, “Oh, but I’m still not quite sure. I’m not sure it’s right right now.”

You’ll never really feel sure unless you have those firm benchmarks in place. I hope that helps Katherine.

Joanna asks, “How can I get more experience reading Tarot for people I don’t know?”

As I said before, we often start reading Tarot for ourselves and then we read for our families and friends first.

But there comes a point where we’ve got to start reaching out to people we don’t know at all so we can get our intuition flowing, and so we can get constructive feedback to really help us learn how to deal with different clients.

Here are a couple of ideas. I mentioned the Biddy Tarot Community before. You can check that out over at Community.BiddyTarot.com/join.

Inside the Biddy Tarot Community, you can become a free Tarot reader where you can choose how many Tarot readings you want to do a day or a week and then we hook you up with people from the general public who would love a free reading and who also know that you’re learning.

I think that’s really important because if there’s an expectation that this is going to be the best Tarot reading ever, you might start to feel a bit of pressure and not be at your best.

The people who are requesting free readings on the platform, know that you’re learning and they know that they need to give you constructive feedback to help you learn and grow as a Tarot reader.

That’s an awesome place to get more experience reading for people you don’t know. Now, that may not be an possible for you or you may want to explore some other options.

Another idea is to set up at a local café, at the library, at the hairdresser, wherever – and just let people that you’re practicing Tarot readings.

And if you want to get used to the idea of charging for your readings, but without that pressure, you could say, “If you find value in this reading, I take donations. Bring it on.” Or you could do it completely free just to get that extra experience.

Sterling asks, “How do I get started with going pro?”

This is a ginormous question! I’ll give you some easy ways to get things rolling, and then I’ll give options in terms of what to do after that.

Here’s what I think is really important: The best place to start when thinking about going pro is to envision what you want your business to look like now and in 12 months’ time.

What I want you to do is set it up for yourself to say, “Look, if failure was not an option and if I had all of the tools and resources I need, what would my Tarot reading business look like? I’m going to zoom forward 12 months. What do I want out to look like?”

Close your eyes and bring that picture into your head. Start thinking about who you want to work with. Who do you see across the table from you as you’re laying out the Tarot cards? What kind of person are they? What kind of questions do they have? How do they view the world? What do they do after a Tarot reading with you? What kind of impact are you having on them?

Think about where are you doing the Tarot reading. Are you doing a face-to-face reading? Are you reading online via email or Skype or preparing audio readings for your clients?

If you’re doing face-to face, are you doing it in a shop or in your home or if it’s online, are you setting up your own website or are you reading through a platform like Oranum or a different kind of psychic service online?

You might be thinking, “Oh, I don’t know. I don’t know which one it is.” Just rotate each of those options and think about which one feels in alignment with what you really want from this experience. It’s also a good idea to experiment with a couple of different methods for reading as well.

As you’re envisioning your business in the next 12 months, think about how you want to feel when you’re doing a Tarot reading. How is it that you want to feel? How do you want your client to feel? How do you want that whole interaction to feel?

In between readings, do you want to feel busy? Do you want to feel like you’ve got client lining up out of the door or would you prefer to be like, “Hey, when I’ve got time I can do a reading and I’ll integrate it with other things in my life.” How do you want Tarot to play a role in your life?

What’s going to make it a success for you? How do you know that you’ve been successful as a Tarot professional? Does it mean that you’re making enough money that you can leave your day job or is it just that your clients are really happy with the reading and you’re creating change and transformation for them – or both?. Really envisage what success is for you as a professional reader.

After the podcast episode, sit and reflect on that. Take some time to really explore it on a deeper visual level.

If you’ve got your Tarot cards, you can always draw some cards to ask, “Tarot, what’s this whole thing going to look like?”

And really make it real for you. See it as a big picture. Hear the sounds. Feel the air on your skin as you’re doing a reading. What does it really feel like to be in that place? Take note. Write down what do you experience when you envision that business in the next 12 months.

The reason why I’m starting here is because often, we need to get connected to the ‘why’ before we get wound up in the how.

Sometimes you start doing thinking, “Oh my gosh, what do I need to do? I need to set up website. Oh, I need to do tax. I need to have policies in place.”

Yes, all of these things are really important, but if you’re doing all of that without having that vision in place first, then you could be going off in the wrong direction that’s not in alignment with what you truly desire.

Envision what you want your business to look like and then start to set up the infrastructure. Again, where are you going to read? Is it on your website? Is it face-to-face? Is it on a third party site and so on?

Think about what you want your Tarot readings to be. Are you offering three-card spreads or full hour-long readings? How are you going to structure those Tarot readings?

Think about the price. I’m going to talk a little about price in another question.

Set up your schedule. Have your templates ready. Put in place some systems so that when you do get the flood of clients through the door, you know what to do with them and how to keep track.

Develop policies, boundaries, ethics and make sure you know what your business, legal, and tax obligations are as well. Then you’re ready to open for business.

Now of course this is just the beginning. And just getting yourself set up and ready to read Tarot professionally is one step. Then the real work to attract and keep the right clients.

That’s when it’s really important to get business coaching, particularly if that’s not your strength. Also, learn how to grow a business.

That’s where a program like Grow Your Tarot Business Online can be really helpful. And particularly in that case, I’ve designed that program for Tarot readers specifically to be able to grow their business online. Of course, you can also get one-on-one coaching with me to support you.

Rick asks, “How do I know when to commit to this full-time and leave my day job?”

Good question. I know a few people are super courageous and they think, “You know what, I just want to be a Tarot reader.” Then they immediately quit their job and desperately try to set up a business. That’s okay, but I prefer to take a bit more of a conservative and planned approach.

First, set an income goal. Think about a minimum monthly income that you need in order to sustain your lifestyle. Once you know that income goal, then think about how many Tarot readings you need to do a month to get to that goal. And is that reasonable?

You might realize that maybe you can get halfway to your goal, but you’re going to need something to supplement your income, at least for a period of time while you build up your Tarot business.

Then you might actually going part time in your current job. Or maybe picking up some casual work that at least will give you that consistent income to pay the bills.

I personally prefer that approach. I think it gives you a lot more space so you don’t feel pressured to be able to earn income straight away, because realistically, it does take time to earn money in a new business, no matter what that business is. It takes time and it takes a lot of effort to get things moving in the right direction.

Philippa asks, “Will I ever be able to earn an income with Tarot?”

Absolutely. I’m living proof of that. There are hundreds and thousands of Tarot readers who are doing really well and they are also excellent proof that you can earn an income with Tarot.

However, just by saying you’re a professional Tarot reader doesn’t mean that you’re going to be a millionaire. In fact, you’ve really got to treat you Tarot business as a business if you want to earn good income from it.

That means not just becoming a really great Tarot reader, but also becoming a really great business owner and entrepreneur. I personally think that has been the key to my success. I’ve placed an equal, if not slightly more, importance on building a business as well as building my Tarot skills.

The other thing to consider is that there will be some limitations if you remain a service based business.

For example, if the only way that you’re earning your income is through doing Tarot readings, you’ll reach an upper limit where you kind of run out of hours in the day and you can no longer charge any higher rate. And that will be your income limit.

The only way to get past that is to productize your business and think about how you can create some products or how you can leverage the one-to-many model. Now of course, that’s a whole different topic itself, but I just wanted to bring that up.

We’ve got two more questions here, so stick with me. Marlena says, “How much should I start charging?”

Well, ultimately it depends on what feels good to you.

A lot of people approach charging as, “Oh, well I’m going to invest this amount of time and I want this alley rate, or I’ve studied this amount and therefore I should get this.” It’s very one-sided.

Instead, we need to think about the value that we’re offering to our clients because it’s an exchange of energy and exchange of value.

So when you’re reading the Tarot for somebody, you’re creating a transformation for them. You’re helping them change their career path. You’re helping them improve their relationship. You might be helping them avoid a very expensive divorce. Now what is the value of that?

Keep that in mind when you’re thinking about how much to charge.

Finally, don’t compare yourself to others. Everybody has their own story around pricing and there’s often a lot of confidence issues or self-doubt that gets woven into people’s pricing. Don’t get caught up in other people’s limitations around pricing and trying to undercut or compete with the lowest price.

Instead, think about the value you offer and how can you add even more value in your interactions with your clients. That’s how you’re going to be able to increase your prices.

The final question is from Govina. She asks, “Is it appropriate to charge for Tarot readings? Isn’t this a spiritual gift?”

Some of you might think this is an irritating question, but it’s actually asked quite a lot. I want to fully respect and honor the question. It’s a good question. But here’s my point of view.

We all have gifts. Tarot readers have gifts, but so do surgeons, lawyers, hairdressers, doctors, teachers and so on. Do we ever expect that they should work for free just because they’re gifted? No way. So for me, this is all about charging a dollar amount for the value that we offer to our clients.

On top of that, I think about how invested someone is. If something is offered for free, are they really invested in that interaction and will they take action afterwards?

If you get a free reading versus one that you just paid 500 dollars for, which one are you going to pay attention to? You’re going to pay attention to that one where you laid down all that hard earned cash, and you’re going to make changes from that reading. Whereas when it’s a free reading, you’re going to take it or leave it.

As Tarot readers, I actually think that we have a responsibility to our clients to charge a decent amount for readings because that’s what will help people make a commitment to it and to change as a result of the reading.

That’s my point of view. I know that they’ll be others who disagree and I totally respect your opinions. If you make the decision charging for Tarot readings is not right for you, then by all means donate your readings. Do them for free. It’s perfectly okay.

If you’re on the fence and if it’s more about self-doubt, I encourage you to think about the value that you’re offering and the dollar value of that value.

GROW YOUR TAROT BUSINESS ONLINE

I hope I’ve been a help, not just the folks who have asked these questions, but you as you’re listening to this. Perhaps you’re on the fence about whether it’s time to go pro or you’ve just recently gone pro and thinking what to do next. What comes next?

I highly recommend my business program Grow Your Tarot Business Online. You’ll find that over at BiddyTarot.com under the Soul-Powered Business.

It’s a really robust, comprehensive program that leads you through connecting with your ideal client, how to attract your ideal client, How do you set up your blog, social media, newsletter, and more. It also teaches you how to make products in addition to your services, how do you start charging, and even growing a team so that you can increase your business.

It covers all of the bases. It’s just a wonderful program that really gets results and helps you focus on the right things instead of flailing around going, “Oh my gosh, what do I do next? Where do I begin?”

Of course, if you’re a little bit more developed or established in your business, I highly recommend one-on-one coaching with me. That’s a great idea if you’re already earning an income in your business and you want to take it to the next level.

If you’re just interested in business and thinking that you’re ready to become a professional Tarot reader and crate an online business, I would suggest checking out my free business videos at BiddyTarot.com/Tarot-business-videos.

Hopefully today I’ve been able to support you or I can support you also in the future. I really, really want you to succeed. Nothing pleases me more than seeing awesome Tarot readers going out there, creating amazing businesses and spreading that Tarot gift through the world.

That’s it for today. I’m so, so glad you’ve been here and as always, I’m super excited to be talking Tarot and business with you as part of the Biddy Tarot Podcast.

Remember you can get show notes plus the transcription over at BiddyTarot.com/52.

While you’re over there, make sure you also sign up for the free business videos to find out how to expand your business or even just get started on the right foot.

I hope you have a great week and I can’t wait to connect with you again very, very soon. Bye.

Brigit: You’re listening to the Biddy Tarot Podcast, and this is Episode 54: 3 Ways to Connect with your Ideal Tarot Reading Client.

VOICE OVER

Welcome to the Biddy Tarot Podcast, where you’ll learn to connect more deeply with your intuition and live an empowered and enlightened life with the Tarot cards as your guide.

Listen as Brigit and her guests share their very best tips and strategies to help you read Tarot with confidence.

And now here’s your host, Brigit Esselmont.

CONNECT WITH YOUR IDEAL TAROT CLIENTS

Brigit: Hello, and welcome back to the Biddy Tarot Podcast, as always it’s an absolute pleasure to be talking with you about Tarot.

Let’s say you’re a Tarot reader – and you’d love to read for everyone right? Well, that’s great but I do have one question for you. How exactly are you going to reach everyone? You see it takes time, it takes money and it takes energy to find just one Tarot reading client let alone everyone. And more importantly, do you really want to read Tarot for everyone? I mean, do you really want to read Tarot for that lady who says she’s interested in a reading but she doesn’t actually believe in all that airy, fairy, mumbo jumbo? Or that young guy who just wants to know if he’s going to hook up over the weekend? I didn’t think so. That’s why knowing your Ideal Tarot client is so important. It saves you time, money, and energy finding clients. And it ensures that you’re working with the right client and not just anyone – doing your absolute best work within your zone of genius.

So, how do you figure out who your ideal client is? Well, that’s what we are talking about today, I’m going to share with you three ways that you can connect with your ideal Tarot client. Now, if you’re listening to this and you’re thinking: “Aww, Brigit, I don’t have clients, I’m not a professional Tarot reader just yet,” I actually recommend listening to this episode as well. Because this is important not just for paying clients, but even just friends and family. Having an idea of who your ideal client is, and how you can best serve them, will help you decide when it’s a good idea to read for somebody and when it’s not. ‘m sure you’ve probably read for a friend and felt: “I just don’t feel like this is quite the right fit.” You go ahead and do the reading anyway and think: “That did not feel good.” So whilst I’m talking about ideal Tarot reading clients, which implies paid clients, this can also apply to anyone that you read Tarot with. It’s getting clear about who it is that you can serve the best, and who you really gel with when reading Tarot.

STEP ONE: INTERVIEW IDEAL CLIENTS

The first way is to have a conversation with your favorite clients. I want you to think about three clients you’ve absolutely loved working with. Maybe they’re super loyal clients you’ve worked with for years. Or, maybe they’re clients that totally energize you. Maybe they’re your highest valued clients, like the people who spend the most money with you.

Select those three dream clients right now, and write down why you picked them. What makes them so amazing to work with? What do you know about their demographics – their age, gender, occupation, where they live? What do you know about their beliefs, their values, their mindsets? Are there any common themes across these superstar clients? Really get into who they are as people, their stories, and the common threads between all three.

Now here comes the fun bit. Set up a time to have a 15-30 minute conversations with each of these three clients. You might meet them for a coffee or a glass of wine, if they are in your local area. Or maybe just jump on Skype or the phone with them. Maybe you could offer them a quick reading as a way of saying thank you.

The whole idea of this conversation is to get to know your ideal client. Really find out about their hopes and dreams. What are their biggest challenges in life? Why did they choose to work with you and not somebody else? How can you continue to support them? You want to open up this conversation and just get to know them. Find out what makes them tick. How and where does Tarot come into their life and how are they using it to help support them in making good decisions, navigate their challenges, or manifest their dreams?

When you are having these conversations, make sure you take lots of notes. Or better yet, ask for permission to record the conversation. That way, you’re going to build up a rich profile of your ideal client. You’ll get an idea of their demographics but also how they think, what their biggest problems are, and how you can best serve them.

For bonus points you can probably discover what their leverage points are for having a reading with you. What’s that decision they make where they think: “I need to have a reading with this person.”

Maybe you can ask one of your clients, “Remember the last reading we had? What was it that made you think ‘I’ve got to have this reading?’” What was that “thing” just before they clicked the buy now button, or picked up the phone? That’s an awesome leverage point that you can then use with future prospective clients as well.

The best thing out of all this is, if these are really your dream clients, they’re just going to love having this opportunity to chat with you outside of a formal Tarot reading. I think they’re going to really appreciate that you care about them and want to get to know them more. So think of it as a way as building loyalty and creating connections with your clients.

Of course, don’t treat it as one off. Do this every six or 12 months to stay connected with your great clients and how can you continue supporting them.

STEP TWO: SURVEY YOUR TRIBE

The second way for connecting with your ideal Tarot reading clients is to run survey with your tribe. If you’ve got a large tribe and you want to understand the common themes amongst this group quickly and easily, a survey can be a great way to do it.

For example, you might have a couple of hundred people on your email list, or even better, a couple of thousand. Or you might even have a couple hundred people on your Facebook page, whatever it might be. As long as you’ve got a good group of people who support you and love your work, and they’re gathering around you, it’s great to reach out to them and ask for their ideas and their thoughts.

Here’s exactly what you can do. Create a survey using something simple and free like Google Surveys. Then ask your community a series of questions about themselves. Similar to what you might ask if you’re having a one-on-one conversation, but with some more quantitative responses.

For example, you might ask: “What keeps you up at night?” And then you could checkbox relationships, work, finance, and personal development. You can also include a few general free text questions like: “In what kinds of situations do you turn to the Tarot cards for insight?” Or “If we’re on the phone together, what would be the number one question you would ask me?” Or maybe even “What is that thing that would help you decide you want to have a reading? When you last had a reading, how did you know you needed that reading?” The answers can be very interesting. You might also want to ask about demographics as well. And “What impact does Tarot have in your life?” Try to understand who they are and how they see the world.

If you’ve already got an idea of your ideal client types, you can actually ask your tribe to self-select which type they most identify with. For example, at Biddy Tarot we have three main categories: Tarot beginners, aspiring readers, and professional Tarot readers. When we’re doing surveys, we often ask folks to self-select one of those three categories. That way, we can split up the results and understand each. What’s really on the minds of our Tarot beginners? What’s special about our Tarot professionals? Try that if you’ve got a good idea of your audience segments and you’ll get even more rich data that you can then work with and use to attract the right people into your space.

STEP THREE: CONNECT ENERGETICALLY WITH YOUR IDEAL CLIENT

The third way to connect with your ideal Tarot reading clients is perhaps a little bit more “out there” but I know you guys, and I know you will think it’s fun.

Here it is: connect energetically with your ideal client. This is very powerful and works incredibly well for Tarot readers in particular, thanks to our honed intuition.

Here’s what you can do. Just close your eyes, take a few deep breaths, and take a moment to notice how relaxed and at peace you feel. Now imagine a time when you working in your zone of genius with a client. Perhaps you were doing a Tarot reading or even teaching Tarot or something completely different. That time when you felt like: “Wow, I’m giving so much value here and maybe this is really changing this person’s life.” Just picture that time and take note of what makes this situation really special and unique. What are you creating with the client? What’s happening here? What energy do you feel? Just breathe in that scene as you’re doing this reading perhaps for your favorite client. See what’s happening.

Then think about what you know about this person. Who are they? How old are they? What do they do for work? Are they wealthy or do they just have enough to get by? What else do you know about them? And think about that specific person you’re working with. Look into their eyes, feel your heart connect deeply with their heart, connect with their energy and their inner essence. What do they believe about the world? What’s important to them? What are their goals and aspirations? What do they struggle with? What do they fear? Why have they come to you? How can you best help and support them? What makes them different from every other person you have worked with?

Now, just say “thank you” to this person for sharing their energy with you, and when you’re ready, you can open your eyes.

Of course, I’ve gone a little bit fast through that one, but you might want to do it in your own time and really take time to truly experience what it feels like to have that ideal client sitting across from you. But also, take in their energy and connect with them energetically and intuitively. They might not be a specific real person, but there’s someone in front of you as you’re reading the Tarot cards and feeling amazing about it. Just drink it in and just see what comes to you, particularly on the intuitive level. Remember you’re a highly intuitive person so I know that you can do this.

Then write down everything you’ve learned about your ideal client during this visualization and think about what new information has come to you. If you’ve done the first and the second steps, you’ve certainly looked at things at a more rational level. But this is your opportunity to get more into the intuitive space and to dive deep into your subconscious and see what comes up that way. This is often when the most powerful insights come.

I actually lead this my Grow Your Tarot Business Online students through this meditation and it’s amazing to see what new information that they get from it. Even that act of visualizing your ideal client sitting there right in front of you can be incredibly powerful in creating that space for that to come into fruition and become real for you.
To recap, the three steps are:

• Have a conversation with your favorite clients,
• Run a survey with your tribe, and
• Connect energetically with your ideal client.

Now that you know who your ideal client is, what do you do? It’s time to integrate that new knowledge into your website, your marketing materials, your blog posts, newsletter, and social media updates. Really speak to the heart of your ideal client through your various platforms and engage with them on an authentic level.

Go where your client, or your ideal clients hang out, and really be useful. Because you already now know what they need and where you can step in and support them. Go out and be really, really useful. And make strategic choices about where you spend your time and who you choose to connect with. For example, if you want to help women going through relationship struggles, don’t spend your time in a Facebook group full of young men who are interested in cars. Think about how you are going to spend your time in those places where your ideal clients are. At the end of the day, if you’re trying to reach everyone, you’ll end up engaging with no one. But if you reach out to the people who value your services and with whom you do your best work, that’s how you’ll create magic.

I hope you’ve enjoyed today. It’s my absolute pleasure, as always, to be talking about Tarot and business. If you want to find out how to start growing your Tarot business online, then I invite you to watch my free business videos. You’ll find them at biddytarot.com/tarot-business-videos. They’ll also be in the show notes at biddytarot.com/54.

As part of these free videos, you’ll learn:

• Why having an online presence is essential to boosting your business success
• Three simple steps to kick start your Tarot business online today
• The six pillars to building a spiritually and financially abundant business online
• How you can grow your Tarot business online with my signature training program, Grow Your Tarot Business Online.

You can catch those at biddytarot/tarot-business-videos or go to biddytarot.com/54 and you’ll get all of the links.

I hope you have a wonderful week ahead and now you’ve got some fun activities to find your ideal clients. I hope that you can truly create magic with them and really enjoy reading Tarot for the people that you can help the most.

Bye for now.

Brigit: You’re listening to the Biddy Tarot Podcast, and this is Episode 58: The Benefits of Operating Your Tarot Business Online.

VOICE OVER

Welcome to the Biddy Tarot podcast, where you will learn how to connect more deeply with your intuition and live an empowered and enlightened life with the Tarot cards as your guide.

Listen as Brigit and her guests share their very best tips and strategies to help you read Tarot with confidence.

And now, here is your host Brigit Esselmont.

BENEFITS OF OPERATING YOUR TAROT BUSINESS ONLINE

Hello and welcome back to the Biddy Tarot Podcast. As always, it’s an absolute pleasure to have you here listening to this podcast and also being able to talk about my two favourite topics: Tarot and business.

I am a huge advocate of online business. It’s certainly where I’ve invested a lot of my time and energy.

It all started for me way back in the late 1990s. Yes, when the internet was just starting. I started off with a free website on Yahoo.

I was learning how to read Tarot at that time and I thought it would be cool if I just shared what I’m learning as I go. That was really the birth of Biddy Tarot.

Now fast forward to recent years and this is a half a million dollar business. We’re reaching people all around the world, so three and a half million people a year. That just blows my mind.

Because of this online business, we’ve, as a family, been able to travel to Spain and different parts of the world while we’ve also run the business.

We’ve created a global team, so we’ve got 12 people on our staff. And we’ve created multiple streams of income through this online business.

For me, having an online business is so incredibly important and enabling. It’s just enabled us to do so much, both as a business and as a family.

Really it’s all been possible because Biddy Tarot is an online business. Had I only focused on local business, I wouldn’t have been able to do what I’ve done in these last few years.

Today I want to open up your mind to the possibilities of an online business, especially as a Tarot reader. It really doesn’t matter if you just want a few extra dollars each week or you want to create a really healthy, six- or even seven-figure business. There are just so many different opportunities for you when you focus your efforts online.

Let’s get into some of the reasons why creating an online business is amazing. Of course I’m completely biased. Again, I just think having an online business is just a huge enabler of so many things. But today, I’m going to walk you through six reasons why you want to get your business online.

DEMAND

Let’s start with the first. There is a huge demand online for Tarot readings. It’s no secret that the internet is continuing to grow at a rapid rate. Over three-quarters of North Americans use the internet regularly. The average user spends 66 hours a month online and that isn’t including work time. Think about it. That is like two hours a day.

While people are online, they are spending big. In fact in 2013 alone, Americans spent 1,233 billion dollars or roughly around 4,000 dollars each online.

You might be thinking, “Okay, that’s great – 4,000 dollars, good for them, but what does that mean for us as aspiring Tarot professionals?”

Between 2007 and 2012 the psychic service industry generated 2.1 billion dollars in revenue and that’s according to industry research firm, IBISWorld. Two billion dollars. I’m not kidding.

Imagine if you could tap into just a tiny fraction of that. But the question is, “Is there a demand for online Tarot readings?” We know that there’s certainly the demand for psychic readings, but what about online Tarot readings?

Well, according to Pew Research Center, 15% of Americans have visited a psychic for advice in the past year. Also, people in the U.S. are more likely to seek psychic advice online rather than offline. This is great news for online Tarot readers because it means that people want and need your Tarot services online.

I know that as heart-centred, spiritual entrepreneurs, it’s not all about the money all of the time. It’s also about the impact that we have when we follow our true calling and serve the people who we’re here to serve.

REACH A WORLDWIDE AUDIENCE

That brings me to the second benefit of growing your Tarot business online. That is, you can reach people worldwide.

If you were running a local store, people might travel 10 kilometres, 20 kilometres, maybe even 50 kilometres if you’re lucky to come and visit you. But depending on where you live, that might only be a very small population.

If you’re in the country, it might only be 100,000 people within your local area or maybe even five million people if you’re in a city. But imagine if you could reach nearly three billion people. That is how many people are online across the world as of this year.

Here’s the thing. When you’re online, you’re not limited to serving only the people in your local area. You have the potential to reach people from all around the world and that means having a greater impact on even more people’s lives. Who doesn’t want that, right?

Even when you’re online and you’re reaching people worldwide, it also means that you can use automated marketing tools like email marketing, so ActiveCampaign, Ontraport, Infusionsoft and so on, or even Facebook Live. These tools make it easy to connect with thousands, tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of people all at the same time.

IT’s COST EFFECTIVE

Reason number three for why you want to get your Tarot business online is that starting a business online is almost free.

Think about if you were setting up a local shop, think about what you might need and the kind of investment that you would need to make upfront.

You might need to rent a room and depending on that rental contract, oftentimes you’re having to pay a set fee every week regardless of whether you have clients or not, so it’s this set amount going out every single week.

You might need to buy furniture or equipment. You need to make your little Tarot reading space look gorgeous, particularly since you’ve got people coming in and seeing that.

You might need to set up a way of taking payments, getting a credit card machine or a merchant account with your local bank.

You need to think about getting insurance and public liability, so, for example, if somebody hurts themselves while they’re in your office, you need to do something about that and have insurance.

You might even need staff, so if you have a store of your own you’re going to need someone to take care of that store.

Even a marketing budget – you’ll need to have printing. You might need to print fliers. You might need to get paid ads to your store and so on.

Working locally, you often need quite a lot of initial investment to get yourself set up. There’s not really much room to breathe because while you’re trying to build up your client base, you’ve still got this huge fixed cost going out where you might not be having the revenue coming in.

I find the local store set up can often put a lot of extra pressure particularly when you’re in the starting phases of your business.

Now, online? It’s not 100% free, but I tell you what, you can set up an online business close to free.

You can setup your business page on Facebook, which I don’t recommend, although it is free. What I do recommend instead is that you just simply buy a domain name, like about 15 dollars for the year, and get website hosting.

Again, you can get it for five or six dollars a month with something like Bluehost or GoDaddy. You can get a free website with a free theme and have that website up and running in a weekend.

You can get a free PayPal account so that you can start taking credit card payments. While PayPal does take quite a significant proportion of each transaction, the benefit of PayPal is that you’re not having to pay a monthly fee or a fixed fee, whereas if you approach your local bank to get a merchant account, often you have to pay quite a significant fixed fee every month. Again, when you’re just starting out, it’s a huge suck on your resources.

When you’re working online, the other advantage is that you don’t necessarily need staff because there are so many automated tools online that you can use. You can also tap into the virtual assistants who operate all around the world. Of course hiring a virtual assistant in a place like the Philippines is a lot cheaper than hiring someone locally.

If you’ve got a good recruitment process in place, you can find some amazing people in the Philippines who have very strong English and can do a great job. They can take care of things like booking appointments, making sure that people turn up on time, dealing with customer inquiries and so on. That frees you up to focus on growing your business and doing Tarot readings, which is what it’s all about, right?

Online, it’s usually a smaller marketing budget. You can use tools like social media to start promoting your site. There really is no cost involved apart from your time.

I do always suggest getting an email provider from the get-go. It might be MailChimp to start off with or AWeber so that you can start building up an email list. That does have a minimal cost associated with it, but it is a really important part of keeping your marketing budget on the lower end when you’re collecting people’s emails.

When you’re comparing what it takes to start up an online business versus a local business, I truly believe that these start-up costs with online are much, much lower.

Of course as you start to grow your business your budget may start to get a little bit higher. I look at our budget for Biddy Tarot and it’s crazy, but I do want you to know that you can start on a very low budget, which is great because that’s the point at which you’re just starting to build up your client base and you may not necessarily have all that cash flowing in, so you don’t want the expenses flowing out too much.

FREEDOM

Reason number four – this is a favourite. When you’re online, you can live or travel anywhere. I know you’ve probably seen those speeches on the internet of like, live or work anywhere. Then someone’s lying in a hammock with their laptop or they’re sitting on a beach.

I tell you, I have done that a few times; it’s not as blissful as it looks. Everything gets a bit hot and sweaty and you know what I mean. I think more realistically though, having an online business means that your work can travel with you wherever you go and you’re not wedded to a particular place.

Think about it. If you had a local shop, then you need to turn up to that shop in order to do business or in order to make an income. When you go on holiday or travel somewhere, ultimately your business has to stop because you’re not in the area anymore.

Sure, you could hire somebody to run your business, but there may be some limitations, particularly if you’re a purely service-based business and you’re the one providing that service.

Compare it to online, if you are operating through a website and even if it’s still a service, you can be taking your laptop and your Tarot cards with you when you’re travelling. I’ve done it many times.

We’ve been in Spain twice for six months and then another time for three months. I certainly wasn’t working full time. I would be working a couple hours a day. Often, when my kids were a little bit younger, it was when they were having their sleep, so it wasn’t disruptive to our family trip at all.

But it meant that I could really work anywhere and I could work as we travel as a family, and the business could continue to grow and generate an income. I didn’t have to be in a certain location. I really could be anywhere so long as I had pretty decent internet. That’s always the thing that gets you – making sure that you do have the internet.

But here’s the other thing, you can live anywhere as well. I know a lot of people live in a developing country where the living costs are much lower and they can continue on their business, but in developed countries, so obviously charging at sort of a higher rate, but having lower living costs. That’s something to think about.

Even for us, right now we’re looking at moving to Queensland. It really doesn’t matter where we live. We can go and live in the bush, again, so long as there’s internet, because we don’t have to be near a big city or we don’t need to be near a population in order to continue our business.

EARN MONEY WHILE YOU SLEEP

Reason number five is that you can be open 24 hours/7 days a week without losing sleep. Think about if you have a local business. You can only be open during waking hours and you’ve only got limited hours. Even if you’re open five day a week for eight hours at a time, you’ve got forty hours that you can be selling to your customers.

If you’re online, you’re open 24/7. That’s a lot of hours during a week. What is that? 168 hours a week. Is that right? It could be slightly off. 154 maybe.

Anyway, basically anybody can buy from you at any time when you’re online. That’s particularly advantageous if you’re selling products because you know the old adage that you can earn money while you sleep. It’s totally true. Obviously there’s work that goes into that, but you can be earning money at any time.

Even if you’re running a service-based business online, so perhaps offering Tarot readings online, you can set your own hours.

Again, I found this really beneficial when I had young kids because it meant that I could work around their sleep times and I could also work late at night and early in the morning. I didn’t have to be thinking about what are kind of decent hours, the nine to five, which I would need to be thinking about if I had a local shop.

The other advantage with the online business, in terms of being open 24/7, is you can really set up your business in a way that takes care of sales in a very automated way.

As an example, when I first started selling e-books online – well, actually the very first time when I started selling e-books online, I wasn’t very clued into how you do all of this. I would get the order and I would individually email the PDF for that e-book to that individual customer.

It was fine when I might get one or two orders a day and it would take about 24 hours, maybe 48 hours to send it off, but when the volume started to increase quite a bit, then I definitely needed a different way of doing it.

At that point I set up with E-junkie and it took care of the whole process, so someone buys the e-book and then it gets automatically emailed to the customer and they have it straight away. Now we have a slightly different setup, but basically it all just gets taken care of.

That’s the advantage of being online. You can sell at any time of the day. If you’ve got those automatic systems set up, it takes care of itself.

Basically, that means that you can then focus on doing the work that you love to do, which is reading Tarot, talking Tarot, everything Tarot. Then all of the sales process is being taken care of in the background.

CONVENIENCE AND PRIVACY

The final reason for going online is that you can offer convenience and even privacy to your clients.

Think about in a local shop, for you to see a client you need to travel to that shop, but also the client needs to travel to the shop. Great, if they’re five minutes away, that’s not too bothersome, but what if they’re like an hour away.

They might not even be bothered to come in if it’s a whole hour’s drive. If it is an hour and they’re willing to come in, it may be much more difficult for them to schedule that time.

Also, if you think about it online, if you’re doing a Skype reading, all you’ve got to do is turn on your laptop. You don’t have any inconvenience. The client doesn’t have any inconvenience. It’s super, super easy.

If you’re doing an email Tarot reading, there’s also the added benefit of privacy, so the client doesn’t have to show their face. If it’s important to them to be anonymous in some way, then they can easily have that reading without you seeing them.

I just think it’s so much easier as a customer to be able to get something online. It’s on demand. It’s I’ll get it when I want it versus I have to match up my schedule with somebody else’s schedule and we both need to be available at the same time. It’s just so much easier when it’s online.

There you have it. Those are the six reasons why I believe starting your Tarot business online is the way to go. Let’s just do a quick recap.

1. There is a huge demand online for Tarot readers.
2. You can reach so many more people when you’re online. Nearly three billion people are on the internet and that is just huge, just to be able to reach so many people and to have such an impact with so many people is really important.
3. Starting a business online can be almost free versus having to invest a lot of capital if you’re setting up a local shop or even renting a local room.
4. You can live or travel anywhere. You are location independent when you’re online. You can take those longer family holidays if you can negotiate just a little bit of working time as you go.
5. You can be open 24/7 without having to lose sleep, which is great because that means you can make sales at any time.
6. You can offer that convenience to your clients. They don’t have to travel to come and see you.

There you have it. If you’ve been thinking about setting up your Tarot business or maybe you’ve already set yourself up, but in a more local setting, then I hope that today’s episode has got you thinking about the benefits of growing your business online.

It’s really a great way to grow your business and do it in a way that honours you and your family and your personal commitments.

Again, for us as a family, having this online business has changed so much. It means I’m at home with the family. I can see them throughout the day. I can see them in the evenings and we have that absolute freedom and flexibility to travel and live anywhere. I’m incredibly grateful for what we have created.

GROW YOUR TAROT BUSINESS ONLINE

If you’re considering creating your Tarot business online, then I’ve got some really great news for you. Our signature business program, Grow Your Tarot Business Online, is now open for enrolments.

In this program, you’re going to discover how to create a thriving Tarot business online that is both financially and spiritually rewarding. Because, again, as heart-centred, spiritual entrepreneurs we know it’s not just about the money, but it’s also about aligning with our soul’s purpose.

Ultimately, I want to help you be able to the work that you are intended to do and I also want you to do really well on a financial perspective.

I think often times we get this balance a little bit wrong. We can maybe move forward on the spiritual side, but we don’t move forward on the financials or we move forward on financials, but we lose our soul connection as well.

This program, the Grow Your Tarot Business Online program, is about giving you the skills to set up a business online and reach the audience that you’re meant to reach, increase your revenue and ultimately your profits, but at the same time be doing the work that you are called to do and to do it in a way that serves you, your family, your community in so many different ways.

In this program I’m going to be showing you how to align with your vision, attract your dream clients, connect with your tribe, market your business authentically, expand your offerings, and build a sustainable future.

If you’re interested in this program, please check it out. Go to BiddyTarot.com/business. And as I mentioned, we are now open for enrolments.

We have just an amazing group who have already been through this program, who have already seen results and it would just be wonderful to be able to welcome you into this program as well and support you on this journey.

It’s really one of my soul’s calling to show, I guess, healers and spiritual people about how to create that spiritual and financial success, particularly as it comes to business online

Again, find out more at BiddyTarot.com/business.

All right, that is it for today. I am so glad you are here and listening and I really do hope that I’ve inspired you to consider growing your business online – definitely the way to go.

I will be chatting with you again very, very soon. For now, have a great week and we’ll connect again next week. Bye for now.

Brigit:  You’re listening to the Biddy Tarot Podcast, and this is Episode 48: What Every Tarot Reader Should Know About Certification.

Voice-Over

Welcome to the Biddy Tarot podcast, where you will learn how to connect more deeply with your intuition and live an empowered and enlightened life with the Tarot cards as your guide.

Listen as Brigit and her guests share their very best tips and strategies to help you read Tarot with confidence. And now, here is your host Brigit Esselmont.

Introduction

Brigit:  Hello and welcome back to the Biddy Tarot Podcast I am so excited to have you here as always.

If you’re an aspiring Tarot reader and want to build your confidence, develop your Tarot reading skills, and stand out from the crowd as a Tarot reader, then listen up.

Becoming a certified Tarot reader has HUGE advantages, from increasing your self-confidence, building your reputation as a credible Tarot reader and growing your Tarot reading business.

But, not all certification is created equal. In fact, some Tarot certification programs aren’t even worth the paper they’re printed on.

So today, I’m going to be talking about what every Tarot reader should know about certification so that you can avoid some of the pitfalls of certification and instead invest in a program that’s right for you and your Tarot reading career.

Let’s get straight into it.

What is Tarot Certification?

It’s a recognition that you have undertaken the necessary study to read the Tarot, and that you also meet a certain standard for being able to interpret and read the Tarot cards.

Some certification simply requires that you submit an exam or a practice reading and that’s that. Whereas other certification is much more robust and requires you to complete a comprehensive training program and perhaps even gaining real life experience reading the Tarot cards. Maybe you need to pass a series of quizzes and also submit an application with sample readings, code of ethics and other elements that are essential to reading Tarot professionally.

Ultimately, Tarot certification is designed to give you more credibility as a Tarot reader, both professionally and also personally. It’s a huge confidence boost especially when you need that little bit extra validation and confirmation that you ARE a great Tarot reader.

And if you want to go on to read Tarot for others, whether it’s for fun or professionally, it’s going to be the thing that helps you attract more clients and builds your reputation as an ethical and professional Tarot reader.

And at a really high level, certification – when it’s done in the right way – has the potential to really raise the bar for Tarot readers and really positively influence the way Tarot is seen in the general public.

You think about other career paths, such as lawyers. Of course, you need to be certified to be a practising lawyer. To be a doctor, you need to be certified. Even as I think of hypnosis, you need to have certification in order to practice as a hypnotherapist.

I think that having a solid robust Tarot certification program can be really positive for the Tarot industry as a whole and, again, it can really just raise the bar and improve the perception of Tarot readers in general.

Wouldn’t you love to be a part of that movement and really change the face of Tarot?

So let’s dive into why you might want to become a certified Tarot reader.

Why should you get certified?

A very sort of base level, but very important, you may want to become a certified Tarot reader because you want the learning. You want that educational base to make sure that you’ve got everything that you need in order to read Tarot confidently.

A good certification program shouldn’t just be about printing off a certificate, taking your money and then sending that certificate and boom away you go. In my opinion, I think a good certification program should include training and education alongside the certification.

It’s not just a one-off Tarot topic, a master class and then suddenly, boom, you’re certified, or even a basic beginner course and then say, “Yup, you’re done.” This is about investing in a full training program that takes you from pretty much day one of when you get your first Tarot cards through to that point where you know how to interpret the individual Tarot cards, you know how to do a Tarot reading and you’ve had the opportunity to also practice with real life people and to start getting that feedback before you even get certified.

Being part of a certification program like that will really give you such a solid base, where you feel like, “Yes, I’ve really learnt the fundamentals of Tarot.” Now, of course, the learning journey never stops, and there’s never a point at which you go, “Yup, I’m done. I know everything I need to know.” But at least with a really solid certification program, you’ll have that base-level knowledge around Tarot and how to deliver really solid Tarot readings.

It’s also your opportunity to learn from the best who have a really solid reputation in the market as well.

And often times, if you’re choosing the right certification program, you’re taking part in training that is fully accredited. I’m going to talk about this a bit later on, but that’s what you really want to look out for.

You have a certification program, but it’s another thing to have it accredited from a third party organisation. That just gives it that real extra credibility and reputation, particularly in a place like Tarot where things are a little bit more fluid. It just really is good to know that another body or another organisation has said, “Yes, this organisation is delivering high-quality training.” Really important.

Another reason why you might want to become a certified Tarot reader is because it offers you this personal validation. It’s also a signal that you are really committed to your Tarot practice.

We go through and we learn Tarot, but there’s always this sort of self-doubt and fear and worry that plays in the background of how do I know if I’m ready. How do I know if I’ve got everything I need so that I can start reading Tarot for others?

Something like a certification can often be that little green light that says, “You know what? You’ve done it. You’re good. You’re good to go. Go for it!”

Now, of course, certification alone, that doesn’t have to be the only answer, but it certainly can give you that real confidence boost to say, “You know what, I’ve got the certification. I’ve passed the test. I can do it now.” That might just be the one thing that you need in order to take you career or your Tarot reading practice that next step and really blossom as a Tarot reader.

The other aspect of this is it’s kind of this signal to yourself that you take Tarot seriously and it’s not just some fun thing. Well, I shouldn’t say it’s not just this fun thing because I think Tarot is fun and it should be fun. Let me go back on that a little.

It’s more this sign to yourself that you are committed to Tarot and that Tarot has a place in your life and that you also recognise the benefits that Tarot has for you and how fully integrated it is in your own life.

I just think of Tarot for my life and how integrated it is for me. I plan my business with my Tarot cards. I use Tarot cards to help me focus each day. I use Tarot cards to help me navigate relationships, big decisions, those kinds of things. It’s just such a part of my life.

Something like a certification program may be that thing that tells you, “Yeah, this is for real. I’m doing this for real.” Again, it’s your choice if you want to go on to read Tarot professionally, but even being a certified Tarot reader and then reading Tarot for yourself and your friends, that’s an awesome thing as well.

Don’t feel like you have to become a professional Tarot reader to benefit from something like certification because often it’s just that sign to yourself that I can do this. I’ve got it. Also, you know that you’re willing to invest in yourself and you’re willing to take care of yourself and live an intuitively led life. Really important

The third reason why you might want to get certified is that sense of pride.

When I first started reading Tarot, I kind of found it tricky because I’d come from an academic background. When you focused at school and university, it’s very much about you get a grade. You get marked on your essays. You get grades. You get your degree. You can get your honour’s degree, you’re master’s degree. All kinds of things. It’s all these very tangible things that say you’ve put in the time and effort to learn this thing and this is the acknowledgement of all of your work and personal investment.

But with Tarot, in some ways there’s not a lot to show for it, apart from your readings of course. I mean, the readings, kind of like proof is in the pudding. But I know that for some people it can be really motivating to have a certificate that can go on your wall, that you can display proudly to yourself, your friends, your clients. You can say, “Look, I’ve put in the hard work to become the Tarot reader that I am today.” That certificate is one way of demonstrating that amount of hard work that you’ve put in.

Likewise, you might have a badge for your website or a logo to say that you are a certified reader. It might be something that you can include in your bio particularly when you’re attracting new clients. Again, it’s just that ability to be able to say, “I am proud of being a certified Tarot reader.” That’s an awesome feeling.

The fourth reason is to build your credibility.

As I was talking about before, lawyers, doctors, hypnotherapists, psychologists, all sorts of different careers or occupations will have some form of certification. It’s to ensure that the standard of that occupation is met. In Tarot, we just don’t have it as a common thing. Not every single Tarot reader has to be certified.

But I think going that extra step and taking action to become a certified Tarot reader, that’s what really gives legitimacy to your work as a Tarot reader. It shows that you’re serious about your profession.

It also gives a really strong message that you are committed to being an ethical Tarot reader and a competent and skilful Tarot reader. You’re not just setting up a little sandwich board sign on your front corner and going, “Hey, I’ll read your cards for five dollars. Come on over!” It’s more like I have invested in myself and I take Tarot seriously and I take you as my client seriously. It sends a really strong message in that way.

Then finally, if you are thinking about going on to become a professional Tarot reader or you already are a professional Tarot reader, then becoming a certified Tarot reader can help you get more clients.

If you’ve started a business, you know how hard it is to get your first few clients through the door and continue to grow your business. Certification adds to your credibility and your reputation. I think it can really add value to what you offer.

If you can say, “You know what, I’m a certified Tarot reader. I’ve done the work and I’ve shown I have the knowledge here,” then I think you’ve got more ability to charge a little bit more than perhaps the person next to you that hasn’t got certification.

It just really builds up your brand and your reputation with potential clients. That might be sort of the distinguishing factor between a client choosing you or somebody else. Maybe the client needs that kind of validation. “How do I know if this person is actually legitimate and are they going to do what they say they’re going to do?”

If you were evaluating one reader without certification, the other one with certification, I know which one I would probably choose. If there’s nothing else really separating them, I would go for the certified Tarot reader because that would be an indication to me that this person is invested in themselves and they’re going to offer me more value as a reader.

Case Studies

Now I wanted to share just a couple of case studies with you of Tarot readers who have gone on to become certified because obviously, with Biddy Tarot, we have a certification program. We’ve been running this for a little while now.

We have quite a few certified Biddy Tarot readers who have gone ahead, done the training, got the practice, applied and have been successful in their applications. I just wanted to share a couple of the stories from those certified Tarot readers.

One is Sharon Struga. Now if you’ve ever been to Biddy Tarot and you’ve gone ahead and requested a Tarot reading, you’ll notice that Sharon’s in our list of endorsed Tarot readers.

Now, of course, she wasn’t always there. Sharon started with our program, Master the Tarot Card Meanings. Then she went on to take Read the Tarot with Confidence. These are two six-week programs with quite intensive training and with quizzes. You need to pass the quiz in order to complete the course.

Then she went on to practice her readings with different people. Then submitted her certification.

Now as part of the Biddy Tarot Certification, you do need to submit a log of your Tarot readings plus a number of sample readings. You also need to submit your code of ethics. You need to show that you’ve done the work in the training programs, so you submit a completed workbook. You also submit some things around how you see Tarot and how you see yourself as a Tarot reader. It’s a really comprehensive certification, right?

Sharon did all of this and she was successful. She passed and she got her certificate as a Tarot reader, as a certified Tarot reader.

She went on to read Tarot on what was then the Biddy Tarot Network and is now the Free Tarot Readings platform. She’s also started her on website.

She contacted me probably it would have been about six months ago and said, “Hey, Brigit, I’d love to read on your endorsed reader’s page.”

Just the fact that she was a certified Tarot reader through us, through Biddy Tarot, that just gave her so much more credibility. I knew that she had trained with me and I knew that she had trained in an accredited program that was very comprehensive.

Of course, I said, “Yes, come and join us on the endorsed reader’s list.” We literally have just four or five people. I hand-pick these people. I’m not just taking anyone that comes and says, “Hey, can I read for you?” Sorry.

Sharon’s a wonderful success story about how she’s taken her certification and she’s now reading for Biddy Tarot and doing such a great job with her clients.

Another story I just wanted to share was from Rae. Rae also took our programs and went to become a successful certified Biddy Tarot reader.

Recently, Rae posted in Facebook and she talked a lot about the boost to her confidence that certification gave her. I’m going to read out exactly what she wrote.

She said, “By completing the tasks and tests to become certified I gained so much more confidence in my abilities then just continuing reading randomly hoping for some vague feedback. It proved to ME that I could do it and knowing that others recognised this too is empowering and satisfying on a personal level… and the certificate hangs proudly on my wall”

That just sums up so much of that persona pride that comes from becoming a certified Tarot reader. Often times, it’s just that one thing that you need so that you can then go on and do amazing things with your Tarot practice.

Potential pitfalls of Getting Certified

As I said at the start of this podcast, not all certification is created equal. Unfortunately, there can be some downsides to certification. I wanted to make sure that you know about some of these potential pitfalls of becoming certified, but I also want to give you some advice about how you can avoid these pitfalls as well when you’re becoming a certified Tarot reader.

Something that often comes up when we talk about certification, particularly within the existing Tarot community, is some resistance around how do you decide if something in Tarot is right or wrong, because Tarot is so subjective. It’s very hard to sort of how do you pass someone, or not pass them because it’s such a fluid process.

I completely take on that feedback, I so understand. When I was designing the Biddy Tarot Certification Program, I knew we had to really just nip that one in the bud straight away.

We need flexibility because I like to embrace people’s different reading styles and ways of interpreting the cards, particularly since I teach people to read intuitively and not to always rely on the book meanings. But what’s really important is once you allow for fluidity, there also needs to be some quite clear criteria for certification and you want to make sure those criteria are clearly stated when you are applying to become a certified reader and you know what’s expected of you to pass.

For example, make sure that what are you being evaluated on when the certifying organisation, when they’re reading a sample reading, what are they looking for and does that kind of resonate with you. The things that they’re judging you on, is that quite right.

Now I remember a certification organisation a little while back and for one of their levels, they wanted you to write deck reviews, like five different Tarot deck reviews to certify you as I think it was maybe as an instructor or something like that.

When I looked at that because I was looking at getting certified at this point and I thought, “No, that’s not—If I can write a deck review, is that the thing that’s going to make me a good reader? No.” So for me, that was a no.

But other times I’ve looked at the certification and it’s been things like can you construct a meaningful story in the Tarot reading. Well, yeah, I can and I think that’s going to be important for my Tarot readings. Or able to go beyond just describing the card and instead, go to relating that card back to the client and the question asked. Well, again, that’s something I resonate with as a Tarot reader.

That is certification that I want to get. But writing a deck review? Uh-uh. That’s not for me. That’s not testing the right skills.

So make sure you’re looking at those criteria and you’re also connecting with what’s being measured and that that’s going to be meaningful for you. Because if it’s not meaningful for you, then it might not be the right certification program for you.

You also need to make sure that there’s going to be some acknowledgement between book meanings and intuitive meanings. If your intuition is telling you three of cups means online dating and nobody can find that in the book, are you going to be penalised for that? Or are you actually going to be supported in that more intuitive meaning?

Things like that you’ve got to make sure is there some room for this creativity.

The other thing that you need to watch out for with certification programs, different Tarot readers will have different styles of reading and will the certification process favour some styles of reading and not others.

To sort of overcome this you really need to make sure that there’s an acknowledgement of different styles of reading and that you’re not going to be penalised for adopting one style over another.

For example, in the Biddy Tarot Certification when we’re looking through the applications, we’re so aware that some readers are going to be more coaching styles, some readers are going to be more predictive and their language is going to be different.

I acknowledge and respect all styles of reading. Sure, I’ve got personal preferences, but to be a good examiner or certifying body, then we need to be able to accept and embrace differences. So that’s a really important part of the way that we review different certification applications.

Just make sure that different styles of reading is going to be acknowledged in the certification program.

Another big thing that comes up whenever we talk about certification in Tarot circles is this big resistance about well anybody can print a certificate and say that you’re certified. Hey, why don’t you give me 100 bucks and I’ll whiz up a little certificate for you and there you go. You’re a certified Tarot reader. Good on you.

Well, unfortunately, that is true, you could just make up your own certificate. The sad thing is that really devalues a lot of other certification programs.

However, you need to be really mindful in your choice of certification programs. There are hundreds online, so you could go down a bit of a rabbit hole and find the cheapest certification program that all you have to do is write your name on a form and then you get a certificate. But that’s not going to do what you want it to do. You want the training. You want to get the experience. You want to have the backing of a reputable organisation.

In order to avoid just getting a worthless certificate, choose a reputable organisation for certification. Choose an organisation that is accredited by a third-party. Choose an organisation that has a strong position in the market, that’s well known, where you feel like you’re actually getting a brand endorsement as well as certification. Because just having a backing of a well-known brand can be really important.

You can say like, Apple. If you’re an IT technician and to be able to say, “Yeah, I’m certified by Apple.” That’s pretty good. That makes you like this guy or girl knows what they’re talking about.

It’s the same in Tarot, make sure you get backing from a solid organisation.

Finally, choose an organisation that you respect and that you would be proud of if they were to certify you.

If it’s certified by the Grand Poobah of the Purple Hat Fifth Order of blah, blahs then maybe that might not feel so good with you. But if you’re getting certified by an organisation that you know, that you’ve studied with, then yeah. Spot on.

Finally, there have been some organisations in the past who have done Tarot certification and there’s still organisations now that don’t have the best reputation and maybe they’ve done a little bit of a disservice, I think, to the Tarot industry because they haven’t been able to follow through with their commitments.

I really want to remind you that not all certification is created equal and just because there are some organisations that haven’t followed through on their promises in the past, doesn’t mean that every organisation is going to be like that. Again, you just got to evaluate each organisation as you see it.

Do your research. Make sure that you resonate with their teaching methods and their philosophy. Make sure that they’re reputable and so on.

How to get certified

I think you’ve got the idea, right? Let’s move on to how you can actually get certified.

There are a number of different certification programs available. So how do you decide which one is going to be right for you?

Find an organisation that is accredited, reputable and well known in the Tarot space.

Find a teacher who you resonate with, who nurtures different styles of reading and who will support your growth as a Tarot reader.

And look for a certification program that offers not just a certificate, but an end-to-end experience. Things like comprehensive training and development, opportunities to practice reading Tarot in a safe learning environment and a robust certification process.

Now, of course, I want to be able to bring all of these things together and I can and I have. I’ve created the Biddy Tarot Certification Program.

The good news is that you can now enroll at BiddyTarot.com/certification.

I’ve designed the Biddy Tarot Certification program for aspiring Tarot readers who want to build their confidence and reputation, become better readers and ultimately get more clients.

It’s a six-month program and it’s starting in November. It’s going to have training, practice opportunities, and of course, certification.

As part of the Certification Program, you’ll get access to really solid, comprehensive training which includes:

• The Master the Tarot Card Meanings program and the Read Tarot with Confidence program. Our Biddy Tarot training programs they are fully accredited by the International Institute of Complementary Therapists. Over 1,000 students have taken part so far and this number continues to grow every single day.
• We’re going to have group coaching calls with me every month for 6 months so that you can jump on the call and ask me any questions that you want live and I’ll be able to respond to you directly. You’ll be able to get your questions answered and get real-time support and mentoring with me.
• Now you also get access to the Biddy Tarot Community, which opens up a huge number of possibilities for you. You’ll get to read on The Free Tarot Readings platform where you can gain valuable experience reading Tarot for free and in exchange for feedback and experience. It’s pretty much you take the training and the courses and then you get to apply what you’ve learned.

We do a lot of learning in the training, in the webinars and so on, but it’s when you come in to actually practising how to read Tarot and practising with real people who’ve got real questions and real problems and all sorts of things.

That is where the learning really starts to happen because you start to figure out, “Oh my goodness, somebody’s asking me what’s the first letter of my husband’s name. Oh my gosh, what do I do.” So you start to really learn how to set your boundaries, how to respond.

You get such a good confidence boost, too. Often it’s just a couple of readings and I’ve seen most readers confidence just go through the roof. It’s so beautiful to watch.

• You also get community support and mentoring inside the Biddy Tarot Community. Again, if you have a question you can usually get several answers in 24 hours. It’s such a beautiful community. There are already over 500 people in there who are ready to support you.
• You get the opportunity to apply for certification and become a Certified Biddy Tarot Reader.
• You get a listing on our Certified Biddy Tarot Reader Directory for 12 months so that is on the BiddyTarot.com website. Even just from a search engine perspective, that sends so much good juju to your website. If you’re trying to build a business, that can be so helpful.
• Finally, we’ll send you a beautiful certificate in the mail so you can proudly display it at home or in your Tarot reading office. I’ve seen some gorgeous photos of our certified Tarot readers proudly holding up their certificate. It’s so, so lovely to watch.

Of course, there’s so much more in this certification program that I can’t possibly share everything with you right now. But if you want to find out more about it, head on over to BiddyTarot.com/certification and you can see everything that is included.

By the end of this internationally recognised Certification Program, you’ll be ready to stand out from the crowd and establish yourself as a highly credible and professional Tarot reader.

This is not one of those fly-by-night certification programs that you might have found on Google. This is a highly reputable, internationally accredited program that will not only certify you but will also ensure that you have all the skills and experience to be successful as a Tarot reader.

I take this program so seriously and I want to make sure you have everything you need to be the Tarot reader you’ve always dreamed of becoming.

Again, if you want to learn more about the program go to BiddyTarot.com/certification

The enrolment is open now but be quick because the doors do close on November 1, 2016. Now we are planning on opening it again in about 6 months time, but I can’t make any guarantees because it’s often around our travel schedule. If you want to do the certification program, now is the time.

Now, of course, if you’re listening to this after the 1^st of November, go over to BiddyTarot.com/certification and there will most likely be a wait-list there so that you can put your name down for the next enrolment period.

This is your chance to truly shine as a Tarot reader and go on to earn an income doing something that you love.

All you need to do is go to BiddyTarot.com/certification to get all of the details.

Wrap-Up

All right, well it has been an absolute joy as always to talk to you about certification and what every Tarot reader should know about certification.

I hope you have an awesome week and I can’t wait to connect with you again next time. Bye for now.

Brigit: You’re listening to the Biddy Tarot Podcast, and this is Episode 50: How to Ask for Helpful Feedback.

Voice-Over

Welcome to the Biddy Tarot podcast, where you will learn how to connect more deeply with your intuition and live an empowered and enlightened life with the Tarot cards as your guide.

Listen as Brigit and her guests share their very best tips and strategies to help you read Tarot with confidence.

And now, here is your host Brigit Esselmont.

ASKING FOR FEEDBACK

Brigit: Hello and welcome back to the Biddy Tarot Podcast. As always, it’s such a pleasure to be talking Tarot with you today.

If you want to become a confident and sought-after Tarot reader, then one thing is sure – you need happy clients.

It doesn’t matter whether you’re reading for friends and family or paying clients — you want to know if your Tarot reading clients are getting the results they want and need from your readings. And the way to do that is to ask for feedback.

It may be as simple as asking, “How did I do?” But if you want to really hone your Tarot reading skills and grow your client base, then you also need to hone how and when you ask for feedback.

In today’s podcast, I’ll show you how to ask for helpful feedback to improve your Tarot reading skills, dazzle your clients, and create powerful testimonials.

CELEBRATING YOUR REVIEWS

Brigit: Before I get into it, I want to say a huge thank-you to everyone who has sent a review and shared their feedback and comments about this podcast. I want to celebrate two such reviews that have been given very recently.

Superj155 from the U.S. writes, “Inspiring and helpful. These podcasts are short, fun lessons that make tarot reading less like trying to solve a math problem and more like reading a graphic novel. Fantastic!“

Thank you so much. That’s awesome. I really appreciate it.

This second review is from deliriumsfrogs, also from the U.S. They say, “Little Lessons that Go a Long Way. I’m a newbie to Tarot, only recently plunging into the oftentimes overwhelming world of these 78 cards. Along with all my favourite Tarot books, Brigit’s podcast has become an indispensable resource for my Tarot study. I print out her PDF files and add them to my Tarot binder, and I even had her in my ears walking me through the Celtic Cross the first time I did it. I felt very lucky to be living in this time of such technological advancement, in that I can have Brigit as a Tarot tutor. How great is that?! I highly recommend this podcast and can’t thank Brigit enough for all she’s given me towards this hobby that has come to mean so much personally.”

Oh, absolutely gorgeous. Thank you so much to deliriumsfrogs for leaving such a beautiful review. Again, it’s my honour and pleasure to be in your ear buds, talking you through Tarot, and helping you learn this beautiful, beautiful tool that we have at our disposal.

Thank you so much for those reviews. Remember you can leave a review over on iTunes and you can also leave a star rating. Five stars is always very, very nice.

Alright, let’s get into the juicy content for today’s podcast.

WHY FEEDBACK IS IMPORTANT

Brigit: Why is feedback important? Well, hopefully you already know, but let’s just do a quick check in.

Feedback is really important because it helps to validate your intuition. You know how you have those sort of little intuitive hits in the reading? Sometimes you’re thinking, “Oh, I don’t know if it’s right. Do I say it or I don’t say it?” Just asking for feedback will give you some information about whether your intuition is on track or not.

Then you can also say, “Okay, I kind of felt like this when I had a good intuitive hit, but I felt like this other way when I didn’t have a good intuitive hit.” So you’re getting that feedback and you’re getting a better sense of when to pay attention to your intuition.

Feedback is also important because it helps you improve as a Tarot reader. Any kind of feedback will give you an idea about what are you doing really well and when might you improve as well. Definitely think about feedback in terms of how it’s helping you improve as a Tarot reader.

Feedback is important because it shows a level of care for the person you’re reading for.

At hotels, the first thing staff asks at checkout is “How was your stay? Did you enjoy your stay here?” I think, “Yeah, I did.” That gives me an opportunity to share feedback at that point.

But other hotels where, maybe I have not had such a great experience, sometimes don’t even ask about my stay. I feel that they just check me out, charge my credit card and that’s it. It doesn’t feel like there’s a great amount of care for me as one of their guests.

So think about it when you’re doing a Tarot reading. If the Tarot reader asks you what you thought of the reading, the client will feel like you really do care and they’ll know that you want to make sure they got the experience they looked for.

Finally, getting feedback can be really wonderful for creating testimonials. Particularly if you are focused on growing a Tarot business, having those testimonials will be super helpful to attract new clients.

GET CLEAR ON YOUR GOALS

Before you ask for feedback, it’s important that you’re clear on your goals. What do I mean by this? On one hand, you want to know what experience you want to create as a Tarot reader to focus your feedback questions properly. It’s also going to be a really helpful filter for the feedback you receive because, to be honest, not all feedback is helpful and not all feedback needs to be acted on.

For example, I want to create more of a coaching experience for my Tarot readings. I want the client to walk away from a reading with some clear actions that they can do in order to manifest the outcome that they most desire.

Now, if I get feedback that says, “Oh, you didn’t tell me my future,” being clear about what I want the experience to be like allows me to to say “Ok, I think we’re misaligned here anyway.” I didn’t want to create that experience, so I’m not going to take that feedback on. Or maybe I will and revisit my marketing copy to make sure that it’s clear to clients that I don’t provide fortune-telling sessions; I provide coaching session with Tarot cards.

That’s one example. But also, if you’re focused on creating a coaching style of reading, then the question that you ask as part of the feedback will be more focused on coaching. That is, “did you feel that you were effectively heard? Did you feel that I listened to you? Did you feel that you walked away with a clear set of actions? Do you feel like you can control your future?”

Being clear on your goals allows you to shape specific questions that you can ask your clients and to get more direct feedback.

The second thing that you want to be clear about before asking for feedback is what you want do with that feedback. For example, is feedback simply for personal improvement? Is it because you want to understand your strengths or your weaknesses? Think about that because the questions will be quite different.

I personally like to work with strengths rather than weaknesses. Sometimes it’s nice to know what haven’t you done well or what can you improve on. but sometimes that can be a bit of a downer. So check in with what feels right for you. I like to focus on the things that I want to create versus the things that I don’t want to create. Just check in on what feels good for you.

You might also want to create testimonials with your feedback. I’m going to share with you some ideas for asking testimonial-style questions for feedback.

Finally, you might want to be using this feedback more for customer care, in which case, it’s very focused on them and whether they’ve enjoyed the experience.

HOW AND WHEN TO ASK FOR FEEDBACK

We know now why feedback is important and we also know that there are a few things you need to be clear about before you start asking for feedback.

Now I want to walk you through how and when to ask for feedback because there are quite a few different points in time where it makes sense to ask. Now of course, you might not want to ask for feedback during all of these different points in time. You might find it a bit too much, or you might actually find a really nice natural organic way of asking at these different times.

A great time to ask feedback is during the reading. This is particularly useful for face-to-face readings, but you can still also do it in one-directional readings like an email reading or an audio/video reading.

Quite simply during the reading, you might ask, “How is this resonating for you? How does this sit for you? Is this connecting with you?” This is a really good way of just checking that your client is on board with the reading, checking that they’re not feeling confused, that they have clarity, that they understand what you’re saying, and that you’re also helping them with the situation at hand.

And if you’re doing an email reading, you can just type it in. “How is this resonating with you?” Of course, then you move on to the next paragraph. You’re not going to send that off via email and wait for the email response and then continue with the reading. But even just having those little questions in an email reading can be incredibly helpful. And, again, it’s just giving that sense to the client that they’re being heard and they’re important in this process.

The second time when you can ask for feedback is directly after the reading. You lay out the cards, do your reading, sweep up the cards ask for feedback before the client leaves.

Generally, I find it’s better to keep it quite general at this point, particularly if you’re in a face-to-face situation. The client will still be processing a lot of the information and I think it takes at least a few days for a reading to fully settle in and integrate and for that client, and to see how it fits in with their current circumstances.

More specific questions are great a little while after the reading, but directly after the reading, you might just ask quite simply, “Was this reading helpful to you?” Or if you’re more of a coaching style of reader, “Are you clear on what steps you need to take to resolve this situation?”

This is a check-in point to determine if the client is satisfied with the reading and if there is anything you can clarify.

Of course, it’s also a good opportunity to say, “This is just the beginning of the changes that may occur for you. Expect that over the next few days, this reading will settle in for you, and you may start to find that new insights begin to emerge.”

Of course, you can tell them at this point that you’ll check in about a week to get more specific feedback from the reading. Ask, “Are you okay if I contact you?”

The third time period where you can ask for feedback is about five to seven days after the reading.

This is the point at which your readings have had the chance to settle in. It’s particularly important if there were difficult messages in the Tarot reading or if you noticed there was a little bit of resistance. Maybe the client was only listening for what they want to hear. So giving them some time to process will help them come into a more constructive space. Even if there are some emotional responses, usually those pass after a few days.

FEEDBACK SURVEYS

This is when it’s a good time to send a more specific or more detailed feedback survey to your client. Here are a couple of ideas of what you could include in that feedback survey.

If you’re focused on personal improvement and perhaps understanding what your strengths are, then you might ask what aspects of the reading were most helpful or what aspects of the reading provided the most insight.

Perhaps you want to improve your intuitive abilities, in which case you might ask, “To what extent did you feel that this reading was an intuitive reading?” Or you might even be really specific and say, “How would you rate my intuitive abilities?” This makes it a little bit more about you as the reader if you want to get feedback for your personal improvement.

If you want to get an idea of some of your weaknesses, then you might ask, “How can I improve as a Tarot reader?”

You can also ask,

• “Was the reading provided in a good amount of time?”
• “Did you feel that I listened to you?”
• “Did you feel that I understood your question?”
• “Did you feel that the answer provided gave you the insight that you needed?”

Just notice the words that I’m using here are very much “I” words. When we’re using “I”, that makes these questions about you as the Tarot reader. That helps with the personal improvement side of things.

Now if you want to do more of a customer care style of feedback survey, you’ll be using more language around “you”. For example, “Were you satisfied with the reading?”

Actually, let me just pause on that question. Because sometimes that can pat you on the bum a little bit, because someone might say, “No, I hated the reading because it told me something I didn’t want to have happen or I didn’t want to know.” It doesn’t mean that they’re saying that your reading, itself, was really bad. It’s them saying, “I didn’t like the message of the reading.” Sometimes you can get kind of a confused message when you ask this type of question.

Another question you might want to include is based on something called a ‘net promoter score’. The question is, “How likely is it that you would recommend me to a friend?” You ask them to score between one, which is not likely at all, and ten, which is very likely.

If you’re scoring eight to ten, then you’re doing really, really well. If you’re scoring six or a seven, this person is a little bit on the fence. If you’re scoring a five or below, then you’ve got some issues that you need to address with that particular client because they’re not willing to recommend you. That’s a problem.

If you’re asking questions for a testimonial, here are four questions that are really, really powerful.

• “How did you feel about the situation before your reading with me?”
• “How do you feel about the situation now?”
• “What has changed for you as a result of the reading?”
• “What have you been able to create or achieve as a result of the reading?”

These questions are great because they start to form is a basic ‘before and after’ story; a success story about the client.

For example, the client might have had a problem with a relationship and they’d write, “Before the Tarot reading, I felt so unclear about the relationship, I blamed it all on my partner and I just couldn’t see a way forward. But after the Tarot reading, I now feel like I have a way of communicating with him and we can clear the air and get things back on track.”

For the question, “What has changed for you?” the answer could be “Well, my mindset has really changed.”

For “What have you been able to create or achieve?” the answer could be “We had a great conversation last night. We put our concerns on the table and we’re actively working together to make some positive change in the relationship.”

Imagine telling that story as your testimonial, as a case study to prospective clients. It’s a really, really powerful way of getting a great story with your clients.

Now, of course, if you do want to use a testimonial like that, you need to make sure you ask for permission to publish the testimonial and be very clear about whether you’re publishing first name or full name. Also, be clear whether you’re including a photo or not and make sure that the client has fully agreed to sharing that information.

If you edit the testimonial at all, make sure you show the client the fully edited version to get their consent.

If you do a feedback survey for your clients, I recommend sending a personal thank you note to the people who respond.

If you’re getting not so great feedback, then you definitely need to respond and address that feedback. If some of that feedback is not helpful, then you can just simply thank the client for their feedback.

If you get really positive feedback, again, make sure you acknowledge that feedback and say thank you for it. Reinforce the experience for them as well.

The final period in which you can ask for feedback is usually about one to three months after the reading. This is great for customer care because it shows that you’re thinking about your clients and it shows that you care about what’s going on for them.

A couple of questions that you can ask are quite simply, “How are things going since our reading together?” Or you can be a little bit more specific. So from that example before, “How is it going with communicating with your partner? Are you moving things forward?”

You might also want to ask what has changed or what new information has emerged from the Tarot reading. Remember that things evolve and what you might see in a Tarot reading today might take on a whole different.

FOUR FEEDBACK PERIODS

A quick recap: There are four main time periods for asking for feedback.

1. During the reading. This is just a basic “How is it resonating for you?”
2. Directly after the reading. This is a general question, “Was this helpful for you?”
3. About a week after the reading – send a feedback survey with some specific questions focused on your feedback goals and what kind of experience you want to create for your clients.
4. One to three months after the reading. Check in on how things are going.

That final check in, if you’re reading Tarot professionally, it’s a great way of staying in touch with your clients and potentially getting return customers. They might think, “Oh, you know what, we are communicating, but now we want to find out how to make the most of our relationship together,” or, “Now we’re planning on moving house together and we want some insight about what to do next.”

There you have it. That’s how you can ask for helpful feedback, whether it’s for personal improvement, customer care or getting more clients and awesome testimonials.

GROW YOUR TAROT BUSINESS

If you’re trying to grow your Tarot business online, I highly recommend our business program specifically designed for Tarot readers just like you.

In six comprehensive modules, you’ll learn everything there is to know about setting up a successful and thriving business. Not only a financially successful business, but also spiritually rewarding business as well.

The course teaches things like:

• Working out your ideal client
• How you find that ideal client
• Setting up a website/blog/newsletter/social media
• How to price your offerings
• How you can start to create some products
• Hiring a team
• And more!

You can find out more information about the Grow Your Tarot Business Online program at Biddytarot.com.

We’ve got full transcription for today’s podcast and all of our show notes at BiddyTarot.com/50, that’s 5 – 0. And you’ll get all the show notes and you can sign up to get the transcription for today.

Awesome. Well, I hope today has been really helpful for you! Remember, it doesn’t really matter if you’ve got paying clients or you’re simply reading for friends and family. Getting helpful feedback is super important. Not just for you as a Tarot reader, but also for the people that you read for.

Enjoy those Tarot readings and I look forward to connecting with you again very, very soon.

Thank you and bye for now.

Brigit: You’re listening to the Biddy Tarot Podcast, and this is Episode 52: Ask Brigit: Going Pro as a Tarot Reader

Voice-Over

Welcome to the Biddy Tarot podcast, where you will learn how to connect more deeply with your intuition and live an empowered and enlightened life with the Tarot cards as your guide.

Listen as Brigit and her guests share their very best tips and strategies to help you read Tarot with confidence.

And now, here is your host Brigit Esselmont.

GOING PRO AS A TAROT READER

Hello and welcome! Every month we get over 200 questions just through our Welcome Survey alone from people, just like you, who are learning Tarot or perhaps starting to grow their Tarot business.

I’ve gone back into the archives to find the most popular questions so I can answer them for you. That’s what Ask Brigit is all about. And today we’re going to focus on going pro as a Tarot reader.

I found some of these great questions. I’m just going to get straight in and answer them.

Maybe you’ve started learning the Tarot or you’ve got quite a good understanding of the Tarot and you’re starting to think about doing it as a job. If that sounds like you, then listen up. Even if you’re already doing professional Tarot readings and you’re thinking how to get to that next level, make sure you listen to this episode.

ANSWERING YOUR QUESTIONS

Here’s the first question and it’s from Debbie who says, “How do I know when I’m ready to go pro?”

It’s a good question and there are no hard and fast rules about doing X, Y and Z before you can go pro.

There’s even no hard and fast timing for it either. Some people will feel ready within literally a few months of first picking up the Tarot cards and for others, it might take several years to be in a place where they’re ready to go pro.  Just know that ultimately you’ve got to tune into what’s right for you.

But here are a couple of pointers that I think might be helpful.

Number one, how do you know when you’re ready to go pro? Well, you know the Tarot card meanings and can be confident in interpreting them intuitively in all kinds of readings.

It’s one thing to memorize the keywords, but it’s another to be able to read the cards intuitively and apply those meanings in all sorts of readings on all sorts of topics. It’s important that you’re looking up the meanings in a book, or if you do find yourself stuck, that you’ve got a couple of strategies to quickly get your intuition back into gear for reading and interpreting those cards.

It’s really important that you have a good knowledge of the Tarot card meanings, plus to know how to interpret them intuitively.

Number two – You also need to have a number of different Tarot spreads under your belt.

You can’t totally keep this simple. Maybe you just have a few three-card Tarot spreads that you use, or a couple of different techniques that help you draw cards from the deck and tell a story with those cards.

Or you might even learn how to design your own Tarot spreads, that way you don’t need to remember all the positions of the Celtic Cross or all the positions of whatever spread there is. Instead, you’re dynamically creating these Tarot spreads as you work with your new clients.

Just make sure you’ve got a couple of spreads under your belt and you know how to choose the right spread.

Number three is that you’ve read for strangers.

It’s one thing to read for yourself. It’s another thing to also read for your friends and family, who are probably going to be very nice. You also have that little bit of extra information about them anyway, so you can always bring that into your readings.

But it’s really another thing to read Tarot for people you don’t know at all and who really have no investment in pleasing you. They’re going to give you really constructive, but truthful, feedback in your readings.

What’s more, if you’re reading for strangers, you’re getting exposure to all sorts of people with all sorts of questions, with all sorts of perspectives. Reading for strangers is so important because it helps you define your boundaries, it defines who you are as a Tarot reader, and how you want to work with your clients.

If you don’t have that foundation, can you imagine your first paying client asking you these crazy, wacky questions and you think, “Oh, my mom never asked me that. What do I do?” So I recommend having at least 50 readings done for strangers.

Usually you can do them for free, so you can join the Biddy Tarot Community and read Tarot for free in exchange for feedback and experience. Or you could set up in a café and do free readings that way.

Number four – You’re getting great feedback and people are asking you if you’ll read for payment. I certainly noticed this when I had been doing hundreds of Tarot readings for free, I started getting more and more people saying, “Wow, that reading really changed my life. Can I pay for a reading with you?” I took that as my sign maybe it’s my time to go pro.

If you’re hearing a lot of positive feedback like, “Whoa, you should really be charging for this,” then you should really be charging for it. Absolutely.

Now another indicator that you’re ready to go pro is that you feel 90% confident. Now you might be thinking, why aren’t you saying 100%, Brigit? Well, you’re always going to have that little seed of doubt no matter whether it’s your first day being professional Tarot reader or it’s your tenth year or your 50^th year. There’s always a little seed of doubt, like “Oh, am I good enough and so on.”

I just want you to be 90% confident. Close enough. You’re never going to be 100% ready, so just know when to go for it and push your comfort zone a little bit more.

Now I also want you to be clear on your beliefs about Tarot and how it works, because no doubt you’re going to find yourself with a skeptic. Or you’re going to find some of your ethical boundaries challenged at various times, so knowing what you believe can be very, very helpful for that.

One last thing, this is ideal, but not essential – Consider getting training. Go through a reputable course so you can get basic Tarot skills down pat and know you’ve got all the bases covered.

Another optional consideration is that you may want to become a certified Tarot reader before you go pro. That gives you a little bit of extra confidence and credibility as a Tarot reader.

Debbie, I hope that has been helpful for you.

Katherine asks, “How much study and practice should I have completed before I go pro as a Tarot reader?”

Well, I mentioned the ‘when’ before. You can study for years and still not feel ready to be a professional Tarot reader. Or you can pick up those cards straight away and feel like you found your old friend and connect with the cards quickly.

How much study and practice do you need? I think it’s definitely worthwhile investing in getting the bases covered when it comes to studying the Tarot, learning the techniques, and having a number of spreads under your belt. It’s also important to have a few different strategies for conducting a reading and how to deal with difficult clients.

For practice, again, it’s very important to get exposure to lots of different people and lots of different questions.

I think practice is incredibly important, but you need to set some limits with yourself and say, “Once I’ve done 50 practice readings, I’m good to go. Or “Once I’ve studied this book or I’ve done this course, I’m good to go.” Because I know for some of you, you might be thinking, “Oh, but I’m still not quite sure. I’m not sure it’s right right now.”

You’ll never really feel sure unless you have those firm benchmarks in place. I hope that helps Katherine.

Joanna asks, “How can I get more experience reading Tarot for people I don’t know?”

As I said before, we often start reading Tarot for ourselves and then we read for our families and friends first.

But there comes a point where we’ve got to start reaching out to people we don’t know at all so we can get our intuition flowing, and so we can get constructive feedback to really help us learn how to deal with different clients.

Here are a couple of ideas. I mentioned the Biddy Tarot Community before. You can check that out over at Community.BiddyTarot.com/join.

Inside the Biddy Tarot Community, you can become a free Tarot reader where you can choose how many Tarot readings you want to do a day or a week and then we hook you up with people from the general public who would love a free reading and who also know that you’re learning.

I think that’s really important because if there’s an expectation that this is going to be the best Tarot reading ever, you might start to feel a bit of pressure and not be at your best.

The people who are requesting free readings on the platform, know that you’re learning and they know that they need to give you constructive feedback to help you learn and grow as a Tarot reader.

That’s an awesome place to get more experience reading for people you don’t know. Now, that may not be an possible for you or you may want to explore some other options.

Another idea is to set up at a local café, at the library, at the hairdresser, wherever – and just let people that you’re practicing Tarot readings.

And if you want to get used to the idea of charging for your readings, but without that pressure, you could say, “If you find value in this reading, I take donations. Bring it on.” Or you could do it completely free just to get that extra experience.

Sterling asks, “How do I get started with going pro?”

This is a ginormous question! I’ll give you some easy ways to get things rolling, and then I’ll give options in terms of what to do after that.

Here’s what I think is really important: The best place to start when thinking about going pro is to envision what you want your business to look like now and in 12 months’ time.

What I want you to do is set it up for yourself to say, “Look, if failure was not an option and if I had all of the tools and resources I need, what would my Tarot reading business look like? I’m going to zoom forward 12 months. What do I want out to look like?”

Close your eyes and bring that picture into your head. Start thinking about who you want to work with. Who do you see across the table from you as you’re laying out the Tarot cards? What kind of person are they? What kind of questions do they have? How do they view the world? What do they do after a Tarot reading with you? What kind of impact are you having on them?

Think about where are you doing the Tarot reading. Are you doing a face-to-face reading? Are you reading online via email or Skype or preparing audio readings for your clients?

If you’re doing face-to face, are you doing it in a shop or in your home or if it’s online, are you setting up your own website or are you reading through a platform like Oranum or a different kind of psychic service online?

You might be thinking, “Oh, I don’t know. I don’t know which one it is.” Just rotate each of those options and think about which one feels in alignment with what you really want from this experience. It’s also a good idea to experiment with a couple of different methods for reading as well.

As you’re envisioning your business in the next 12 months, think about how you want to feel when you’re doing a Tarot reading. How is it that you want to feel? How do you want your client to feel? How do you want that whole interaction to feel?

In between readings, do you want to feel busy? Do you want to feel like you’ve got client lining up out of the door or would you prefer to be like, “Hey, when I’ve got time I can do a reading and I’ll integrate it with other things in my life.” How do you want Tarot to play a role in your life?

What’s going to make it a success for you? How do you know that you’ve been successful as a Tarot professional? Does it mean that you’re making enough money that you can leave your day job or is it just that your clients are really happy with the reading and you’re creating change and transformation for them – or both?. Really envisage what success is for you as a professional reader.

After the podcast episode, sit and reflect on that. Take some time to really explore it on a deeper visual level.

If you’ve got your Tarot cards, you can always draw some cards to ask, “Tarot, what’s this whole thing going to look like?”

And really make it real for you. See it as a big picture. Hear the sounds. Feel the air on your skin as you’re doing a reading. What does it really feel like to be in that place? Take note. Write down what do you experience when you envision that business in the next 12 months.

The reason why I’m starting here is because often, we need to get connected to the ‘why’ before we get wound up in the how.

Sometimes you start doing thinking, “Oh my gosh, what do I need to do? I need to set up website. Oh, I need to do tax. I need to have policies in place.”

Yes, all of these things are really important, but if you’re doing all of that without having that vision in place first, then you could be going off in the wrong direction that’s not in alignment with what you truly desire.

Envision what you want your business to look like and then start to set up the infrastructure. Again, where are you going to read? Is it on your website? Is it face-to-face? Is it on a third party site and so on?

Think about what you want your Tarot readings to be. Are you offering three-card spreads or full hour-long readings? How are you going to structure those Tarot readings?

Think about the price. I’m going to talk a little about price in another question.

Set up your schedule. Have your templates ready. Put in place some systems so that when you do get the flood of clients through the door, you know what to do with them and how to keep track.

Develop policies, boundaries, ethics and make sure you know what your business, legal, and tax obligations are as well. Then you’re ready to open for business.

Now of course this is just the beginning. And just getting yourself set up and ready to read Tarot professionally is one step. Then the real work to attract and keep the right clients.

That’s when it’s really important to get business coaching, particularly if that’s not your strength. Also, learn how to grow a business.

That’s where a program like Grow Your Tarot Business Online can be really helpful. And particularly in that case, I’ve designed that program for Tarot readers specifically to be able to grow their business online. Of course, you can also get one-on-one coaching with me to support you.

Rick asks, “How do I know when to commit to this full-time and leave my day job?”

Good question. I know a few people are super courageous and they think, “You know what, I just want to be a Tarot reader.” Then they immediately quit their job and desperately try to set up a business. That’s okay, but I prefer to take a bit more of a conservative and planned approach.

First, set an income goal. Think about a minimum monthly income that you need in order to sustain your lifestyle. Once you know that income goal, then think about how many Tarot readings you need to do a month to get to that goal. And is that reasonable?

You might realize that maybe you can get halfway to your goal, but you’re going to need something to supplement your income, at least for a period of time while you build up your Tarot business.

Then you might actually going part time in your current job. Or maybe picking up some casual work that at least will give you that consistent income to pay the bills.

I personally prefer that approach. I think it gives you a lot more space so you don’t feel pressured to be able to earn income straight away, because realistically, it does take time to earn money in a new business, no matter what that business is. It takes time and it takes a lot of effort to get things moving in the right direction.

Philippa asks, “Will I ever be able to earn an income with Tarot?”

Absolutely. I’m living proof of that. There are hundreds and thousands of Tarot readers who are doing really well and they are also excellent proof that you can earn an income with Tarot.

However, just by saying you’re a professional Tarot reader doesn’t mean that you’re going to be a millionaire. In fact, you’ve really got to treat you Tarot business as a business if you want to earn good income from it.

That means not just becoming a really great Tarot reader, but also becoming a really great business owner and entrepreneur. I personally think that has been the key to my success. I’ve placed an equal, if not slightly more, importance on building a business as well as building my Tarot skills.

The other thing to consider is that there will be some limitations if you remain a service based business.

For example, if the only way that you’re earning your income is through doing Tarot readings, you’ll reach an upper limit where you kind of run out of hours in the day and you can no longer charge any higher rate. And that will be your income limit.

The only way to get past that is to productize your business and think about how you can create some products or how you can leverage the one-to-many model. Now of course, that’s a whole different topic itself, but I just wanted to bring that up.

We’ve got two more questions here, so stick with me. Marlena says, “How much should I start charging?”

Well, ultimately it depends on what feels good to you.

A lot of people approach charging as, “Oh, well I’m going to invest this amount of time and I want this alley rate, or I’ve studied this amount and therefore I should get this.” It’s very one-sided.

Instead, we need to think about the value that we’re offering to our clients because it’s an exchange of energy and exchange of value.

So when you’re reading the Tarot for somebody, you’re creating a transformation for them. You’re helping them change their career path. You’re helping them improve their relationship. You might be helping them avoid a very expensive divorce. Now what is the value of that?

Keep that in mind when you’re thinking about how much to charge.

Finally, don’t compare yourself to others. Everybody has their own story around pricing and there’s often a lot of confidence issues or self-doubt that gets woven into people’s pricing. Don’t get caught up in other people’s limitations around pricing and trying to undercut or compete with the lowest price.

Instead, think about the value you offer and how can you add even more value in your interactions with your clients. That’s how you’re going to be able to increase your prices.

The final question is from Govina. She asks, “Is it appropriate to charge for Tarot readings? Isn’t this a spiritual gift?”

Some of you might think this is an irritating question, but it’s actually asked quite a lot. I want to fully respect and honor the question. It’s a good question. But here’s my point of view.

We all have gifts. Tarot readers have gifts, but so do surgeons, lawyers, hairdressers, doctors, teachers and so on. Do we ever expect that they should work for free just because they’re gifted? No way. So for me, this is all about charging a dollar amount for the value that we offer to our clients.

On top of that, I think about how invested someone is. If something is offered for free, are they really invested in that interaction and will they take action afterwards?

If you get a free reading versus one that you just paid 500 dollars for, which one are you going to pay attention to? You’re going to pay attention to that one where you laid down all that hard earned cash, and you’re going to make changes from that reading. Whereas when it’s a free reading, you’re going to take it or leave it.

As Tarot readers, I actually think that we have a responsibility to our clients to charge a decent amount for readings because that’s what will help people make a commitment to it and to change as a result of the reading.

That’s my point of view. I know that they’ll be others who disagree and I totally respect your opinions. If you make the decision charging for Tarot readings is not right for you, then by all means donate your readings. Do them for free. It’s perfectly okay.

If you’re on the fence and if it’s more about self-doubt, I encourage you to think about the value that you’re offering and the dollar value of that value.

GROW YOUR TAROT BUSINESS ONLINE

I hope I’ve been a help, not just the folks who have asked these questions, but you as you’re listening to this. Perhaps you’re on the fence about whether it’s time to go pro or you’ve just recently gone pro and thinking what to do next. What comes next?

I highly recommend my business program Grow Your Tarot Business Online. You’ll find that over at BiddyTarot.com under the Soul-Powered Business.

It’s a really robust, comprehensive program that leads you through connecting with your ideal client, how to attract your ideal client, How do you set up your blog, social media, newsletter, and more. It also teaches you how to make products in addition to your services, how do you start charging, and even growing a team so that you can increase your business.

It covers all of the bases. It’s just a wonderful program that really gets results and helps you focus on the right things instead of flailing around going, “Oh my gosh, what do I do next? Where do I begin?”

Of course, if you’re a little bit more developed or established in your business, I highly recommend one-on-one coaching with me. That’s a great idea if you’re already earning an income in your business and you want to take it to the next level.

If you’re just interested in business and thinking that you’re ready to become a professional Tarot reader and crate an online business, I would suggest checking out my free business videos at BiddyTarot.com/Tarot-business-videos.

Hopefully today I’ve been able to support you or I can support you also in the future. I really, really want you to succeed. Nothing pleases me more than seeing awesome Tarot readers going out there, creating amazing businesses and spreading that Tarot gift through the world.

That’s it for today. I’m so, so glad you’ve been here and as always, I’m super excited to be talking Tarot and business with you as part of the Biddy Tarot Podcast.

Remember you can get show notes plus the transcription over at BiddyTarot.com/52.

While you’re over there, make sure you also sign up for the free business videos to find out how to expand your business or even just get started on the right foot.

I hope you have a great week and I can’t wait to connect with you again very, very soon. Bye.

Brigit: You’re listening to the Biddy Tarot Podcast, and this is Episode 54: 3 Ways to Connect with your Ideal Tarot Reading Client.

VOICE OVER

Welcome to the Biddy Tarot Podcast, where you’ll learn to connect more deeply with your intuition and live an empowered and enlightened life with the Tarot cards as your guide.

Listen as Brigit and her guests share their very best tips and strategies to help you read Tarot with confidence.

And now here’s your host, Brigit Esselmont.

CONNECT WITH YOUR IDEAL TAROT CLIENTS

Brigit: Hello, and welcome back to the Biddy Tarot Podcast, as always it’s an absolute pleasure to be talking with you about Tarot.

Let’s say you’re a Tarot reader – and you’d love to read for everyone right? Well, that’s great but I do have one question for you. How exactly are you going to reach everyone? You see it takes time, it takes money and it takes energy to find just one Tarot reading client let alone everyone. And more importantly, do you really want to read Tarot for everyone? I mean, do you really want to read Tarot for that lady who says she’s interested in a reading but she doesn’t actually believe in all that airy, fairy, mumbo jumbo? Or that young guy who just wants to know if he’s going to hook up over the weekend? I didn’t think so. That’s why knowing your Ideal Tarot client is so important. It saves you time, money, and energy finding clients. And it ensures that you’re working with the right client and not just anyone – doing your absolute best work within your zone of genius.

So, how do you figure out who your ideal client is? Well, that’s what we are talking about today, I’m going to share with you three ways that you can connect with your ideal Tarot client. Now, if you’re listening to this and you’re thinking: “Aww, Brigit, I don’t have clients, I’m not a professional Tarot reader just yet,” I actually recommend listening to this episode as well. Because this is important not just for paying clients, but even just friends and family. Having an idea of who your ideal client is, and how you can best serve them, will help you decide when it’s a good idea to read for somebody and when it’s not. ‘m sure you’ve probably read for a friend and felt: “I just don’t feel like this is quite the right fit.” You go ahead and do the reading anyway and think: “That did not feel good.” So whilst I’m talking about ideal Tarot reading clients, which implies paid clients, this can also apply to anyone that you read Tarot with. It’s getting clear about who it is that you can serve the best, and who you really gel with when reading Tarot.

STEP ONE: INTERVIEW IDEAL CLIENTS

The first way is to have a conversation with your favorite clients. I want you to think about three clients you’ve absolutely loved working with. Maybe they’re super loyal clients you’ve worked with for years. Or, maybe they’re clients that totally energize you. Maybe they’re your highest valued clients, like the people who spend the most money with you.

Select those three dream clients right now, and write down why you picked them. What makes them so amazing to work with? What do you know about their demographics – their age, gender, occupation, where they live? What do you know about their beliefs, their values, their mindsets? Are there any common themes across these superstar clients? Really get into who they are as people, their stories, and the common threads between all three.

Now here comes the fun bit. Set up a time to have a 15-30 minute conversations with each of these three clients. You might meet them for a coffee or a glass of wine, if they are in your local area. Or maybe just jump on Skype or the phone with them. Maybe you could offer them a quick reading as a way of saying thank you.

The whole idea of this conversation is to get to know your ideal client. Really find out about their hopes and dreams. What are their biggest challenges in life? Why did they choose to work with you and not somebody else? How can you continue to support them? You want to open up this conversation and just get to know them. Find out what makes them tick. How and where does Tarot come into their life and how are they using it to help support them in making good decisions, navigate their challenges, or manifest their dreams?

When you are having these conversations, make sure you take lots of notes. Or better yet, ask for permission to record the conversation. That way, you’re going to build up a rich profile of your ideal client. You’ll get an idea of their demographics but also how they think, what their biggest problems are, and how you can best serve them.

For bonus points you can probably discover what their leverage points are for having a reading with you. What’s that decision they make where they think: “I need to have a reading with this person.”

Maybe you can ask one of your clients, “Remember the last reading we had? What was it that made you think ‘I’ve got to have this reading?’” What was that “thing” just before they clicked the buy now button, or picked up the phone? That’s an awesome leverage point that you can then use with future prospective clients as well.

The best thing out of all this is, if these are really your dream clients, they’re just going to love having this opportunity to chat with you outside of a formal Tarot reading. I think they’re going to really appreciate that you care about them and want to get to know them more. So think of it as a way as building loyalty and creating connections with your clients.

Of course, don’t treat it as one off. Do this every six or 12 months to stay connected with your great clients and how can you continue supporting them.

STEP TWO: SURVEY YOUR TRIBE

The second way for connecting with your ideal Tarot reading clients is to run survey with your tribe. If you’ve got a large tribe and you want to understand the common themes amongst this group quickly and easily, a survey can be a great way to do it.

For example, you might have a couple of hundred people on your email list, or even better, a couple of thousand. Or you might even have a couple hundred people on your Facebook page, whatever it might be. As long as you’ve got a good group of people who support you and love your work, and they’re gathering around you, it’s great to reach out to them and ask for their ideas and their thoughts.

Here’s exactly what you can do. Create a survey using something simple and free like Google Surveys. Then ask your community a series of questions about themselves. Similar to what you might ask if you’re having a one-on-one conversation, but with some more quantitative responses.

For example, you might ask: “What keeps you up at night?” And then you could checkbox relationships, work, finance, and personal development. You can also include a few general free text questions like: “In what kinds of situations do you turn to the Tarot cards for insight?” Or “If we’re on the phone together, what would be the number one question you would ask me?” Or maybe even “What is that thing that would help you decide you want to have a reading? When you last had a reading, how did you know you needed that reading?” The answers can be very interesting. You might also want to ask about demographics as well. And “What impact does Tarot have in your life?” Try to understand who they are and how they see the world.

If you’ve already got an idea of your ideal client types, you can actually ask your tribe to self-select which type they most identify with. For example, at Biddy Tarot we have three main categories: Tarot beginners, aspiring readers, and professional Tarot readers. When we’re doing surveys, we often ask folks to self-select one of those three categories. That way, we can split up the results and understand each. What’s really on the minds of our Tarot beginners? What’s special about our Tarot professionals? Try that if you’ve got a good idea of your audience segments and you’ll get even more rich data that you can then work with and use to attract the right people into your space.

STEP THREE: CONNECT ENERGETICALLY WITH YOUR IDEAL CLIENT

The third way to connect with your ideal Tarot reading clients is perhaps a little bit more “out there” but I know you guys, and I know you will think it’s fun.

Here it is: connect energetically with your ideal client. This is very powerful and works incredibly well for Tarot readers in particular, thanks to our honed intuition.

Here’s what you can do. Just close your eyes, take a few deep breaths, and take a moment to notice how relaxed and at peace you feel. Now imagine a time when you working in your zone of genius with a client. Perhaps you were doing a Tarot reading or even teaching Tarot or something completely different. That time when you felt like: “Wow, I’m giving so much value here and maybe this is really changing this person’s life.” Just picture that time and take note of what makes this situation really special and unique. What are you creating with the client? What’s happening here? What energy do you feel? Just breathe in that scene as you’re doing this reading perhaps for your favorite client. See what’s happening.

Then think about what you know about this person. Who are they? How old are they? What do they do for work? Are they wealthy or do they just have enough to get by? What else do you know about them? And think about that specific person you’re working with. Look into their eyes, feel your heart connect deeply with their heart, connect with their energy and their inner essence. What do they believe about the world? What’s important to them? What are their goals and aspirations? What do they struggle with? What do they fear? Why have they come to you? How can you best help and support them? What makes them different from every other person you have worked with?

Now, just say “thank you” to this person for sharing their energy with you, and when you’re ready, you can open your eyes.

Of course, I’ve gone a little bit fast through that one, but you might want to do it in your own time and really take time to truly experience what it feels like to have that ideal client sitting across from you. But also, take in their energy and connect with them energetically and intuitively. They might not be a specific real person, but there’s someone in front of you as you’re reading the Tarot cards and feeling amazing about it. Just drink it in and just see what comes to you, particularly on the intuitive level. Remember you’re a highly intuitive person so I know that you can do this.

Then write down everything you’ve learned about your ideal client during this visualization and think about what new information has come to you. If you’ve done the first and the second steps, you’ve certainly looked at things at a more rational level. But this is your opportunity to get more into the intuitive space and to dive deep into your subconscious and see what comes up that way. This is often when the most powerful insights come.

I actually lead this my Grow Your Tarot Business Online students through this meditation and it’s amazing to see what new information that they get from it. Even that act of visualizing your ideal client sitting there right in front of you can be incredibly powerful in creating that space for that to come into fruition and become real for you.
To recap, the three steps are:

• Have a conversation with your favorite clients,
• Run a survey with your tribe, and
• Connect energetically with your ideal client.

Now that you know who your ideal client is, what do you do? It’s time to integrate that new knowledge into your website, your marketing materials, your blog posts, newsletter, and social media updates. Really speak to the heart of your ideal client through your various platforms and engage with them on an authentic level.

Go where your client, or your ideal clients hang out, and really be useful. Because you already now know what they need and where you can step in and support them. Go out and be really, really useful. And make strategic choices about where you spend your time and who you choose to connect with. For example, if you want to help women going through relationship struggles, don’t spend your time in a Facebook group full of young men who are interested in cars. Think about how you are going to spend your time in those places where your ideal clients are. At the end of the day, if you’re trying to reach everyone, you’ll end up engaging with no one. But if you reach out to the people who value your services and with whom you do your best work, that’s how you’ll create magic.

I hope you’ve enjoyed today. It’s my absolute pleasure, as always, to be talking about Tarot and business. If you want to find out how to start growing your Tarot business online, then I invite you to watch my free business videos. You’ll find them at biddytarot.com/tarot-business-videos. They’ll also be in the show notes at biddytarot.com/54.

As part of these free videos, you’ll learn:

• Why having an online presence is essential to boosting your business success
• Three simple steps to kick start your Tarot business online today
• The six pillars to building a spiritually and financially abundant business online
• How you can grow your Tarot business online with my signature training program, Grow Your Tarot Business Online.

You can catch those at biddytarot/tarot-business-videos or go to biddytarot.com/54 and you’ll get all of the links.

I hope you have a wonderful week ahead and now you’ve got some fun activities to find your ideal clients. I hope that you can truly create magic with them and really enjoy reading Tarot for the people that you can help the most.

Bye for now.

Brigit: You’re listening to the Biddy Tarot Podcast, and this is Episode 58: The Benefits of Operating Your Tarot Business Online.

VOICE OVER

Welcome to the Biddy Tarot podcast, where you will learn how to connect more deeply with your intuition and live an empowered and enlightened life with the Tarot cards as your guide.

Listen as Brigit and her guests share their very best tips and strategies to help you read Tarot with confidence.

And now, here is your host Brigit Esselmont.

BENEFITS OF OPERATING YOUR TAROT BUSINESS ONLINE

Hello and welcome back to the Biddy Tarot Podcast. As always, it’s an absolute pleasure to have you here listening to this podcast and also being able to talk about my two favourite topics: Tarot and business.

I am a huge advocate of online business. It’s certainly where I’ve invested a lot of my time and energy.

It all started for me way back in the late 1990s. Yes, when the internet was just starting. I started off with a free website on Yahoo.

I was learning how to read Tarot at that time and I thought it would be cool if I just shared what I’m learning as I go. That was really the birth of Biddy Tarot.

Now fast forward to recent years and this is a half a million dollar business. We’re reaching people all around the world, so three and a half million people a year. That just blows my mind.

Because of this online business, we’ve, as a family, been able to travel to Spain and different parts of the world while we’ve also run the business.

We’ve created a global team, so we’ve got 12 people on our staff. And we’ve created multiple streams of income through this online business.

For me, having an online business is so incredibly important and enabling. It’s just enabled us to do so much, both as a business and as a family.

Really it’s all been possible because Biddy Tarot is an online business. Had I only focused on local business, I wouldn’t have been able to do what I’ve done in these last few years.

Today I want to open up your mind to the possibilities of an online business, especially as a Tarot reader. It really doesn’t matter if you just want a few extra dollars each week or you want to create a really healthy, six- or even seven-figure business. There are just so many different opportunities for you when you focus your efforts online.

Let’s get into some of the reasons why creating an online business is amazing. Of course I’m completely biased. Again, I just think having an online business is just a huge enabler of so many things. But today, I’m going to walk you through six reasons why you want to get your business online.

DEMAND

Let’s start with the first. There is a huge demand online for Tarot readings. It’s no secret that the internet is continuing to grow at a rapid rate. Over three-quarters of North Americans use the internet regularly. The average user spends 66 hours a month online and that isn’t including work time. Think about it. That is like two hours a day.

While people are online, they are spending big. In fact in 2013 alone, Americans spent 1,233 billion dollars or roughly around 4,000 dollars each online.

You might be thinking, “Okay, that’s great – 4,000 dollars, good for them, but what does that mean for us as aspiring Tarot professionals?”

Between 2007 and 2012 the psychic service industry generated 2.1 billion dollars in revenue and that’s according to industry research firm, IBISWorld. Two billion dollars. I’m not kidding.

Imagine if you could tap into just a tiny fraction of that. But the question is, “Is there a demand for online Tarot readings?” We know that there’s certainly the demand for psychic readings, but what about online Tarot readings?

Well, according to Pew Research Center, 15% of Americans have visited a psychic for advice in the past year. Also, people in the U.S. are more likely to seek psychic advice online rather than offline. This is great news for online Tarot readers because it means that people want and need your Tarot services online.

I know that as heart-centred, spiritual entrepreneurs, it’s not all about the money all of the time. It’s also about the impact that we have when we follow our true calling and serve the people who we’re here to serve.

REACH A WORLDWIDE AUDIENCE

That brings me to the second benefit of growing your Tarot business online. That is, you can reach people worldwide.

If you were running a local store, people might travel 10 kilometres, 20 kilometres, maybe even 50 kilometres if you’re lucky to come and visit you. But depending on where you live, that might only be a very small population.

If you’re in the country, it might only be 100,000 people within your local area or maybe even five million people if you’re in a city. But imagine if you could reach nearly three billion people. That is how many people are online across the world as of this year.

Here’s the thing. When you’re online, you’re not limited to serving only the people in your local area. You have the potential to reach people from all around the world and that means having a greater impact on even more people’s lives. Who doesn’t want that, right?

Even when you’re online and you’re reaching people worldwide, it also means that you can use automated marketing tools like email marketing, so ActiveCampaign, Ontraport, Infusionsoft and so on, or even Facebook Live. These tools make it easy to connect with thousands, tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of people all at the same time.

IT’s COST EFFECTIVE

Reason number three for why you want to get your Tarot business online is that starting a business online is almost free.

Think about if you were setting up a local shop, think about what you might need and the kind of investment that you would need to make upfront.

You might need to rent a room and depending on that rental contract, oftentimes you’re having to pay a set fee every week regardless of whether you have clients or not, so it’s this set amount going out every single week.

You might need to buy furniture or equipment. You need to make your little Tarot reading space look gorgeous, particularly since you’ve got people coming in and seeing that.

You might need to set up a way of taking payments, getting a credit card machine or a merchant account with your local bank.

You need to think about getting insurance and public liability, so, for example, if somebody hurts themselves while they’re in your office, you need to do something about that and have insurance.

You might even need staff, so if you have a store of your own you’re going to need someone to take care of that store.

Even a marketing budget – you’ll need to have printing. You might need to print fliers. You might need to get paid ads to your store and so on.

Working locally, you often need quite a lot of initial investment to get yourself set up. There’s not really much room to breathe because while you’re trying to build up your client base, you’ve still got this huge fixed cost going out where you might not be having the revenue coming in.

I find the local store set up can often put a lot of extra pressure particularly when you’re in the starting phases of your business.

Now, online? It’s not 100% free, but I tell you what, you can set up an online business close to free.

You can setup your business page on Facebook, which I don’t recommend, although it is free. What I do recommend instead is that you just simply buy a domain name, like about 15 dollars for the year, and get website hosting.

Again, you can get it for five or six dollars a month with something like Bluehost or GoDaddy. You can get a free website with a free theme and have that website up and running in a weekend.

You can get a free PayPal account so that you can start taking credit card payments. While PayPal does take quite a significant proportion of each transaction, the benefit of PayPal is that you’re not having to pay a monthly fee or a fixed fee, whereas if you approach your local bank to get a merchant account, often you have to pay quite a significant fixed fee every month. Again, when you’re just starting out, it’s a huge suck on your resources.

When you’re working online, the other advantage is that you don’t necessarily need staff because there are so many automated tools online that you can use. You can also tap into the virtual assistants who operate all around the world. Of course hiring a virtual assistant in a place like the Philippines is a lot cheaper than hiring someone locally.

If you’ve got a good recruitment process in place, you can find some amazing people in the Philippines who have very strong English and can do a great job. They can take care of things like booking appointments, making sure that people turn up on time, dealing with customer inquiries and so on. That frees you up to focus on growing your business and doing Tarot readings, which is what it’s all about, right?

Online, it’s usually a smaller marketing budget. You can use tools like social media to start promoting your site. There really is no cost involved apart from your time.

I do always suggest getting an email provider from the get-go. It might be MailChimp to start off with or AWeber so that you can start building up an email list. That does have a minimal cost associated with it, but it is a really important part of keeping your marketing budget on the lower end when you’re collecting people’s emails.

When you’re comparing what it takes to start up an online business versus a local business, I truly believe that these start-up costs with online are much, much lower.

Of course as you start to grow your business your budget may start to get a little bit higher. I look at our budget for Biddy Tarot and it’s crazy, but I do want you to know that you can start on a very low budget, which is great because that’s the point at which you’re just starting to build up your client base and you may not necessarily have all that cash flowing in, so you don’t want the expenses flowing out too much.

FREEDOM

Reason number four – this is a favourite. When you’re online, you can live or travel anywhere. I know you’ve probably seen those speeches on the internet of like, live or work anywhere. Then someone’s lying in a hammock with their laptop or they’re sitting on a beach.

I tell you, I have done that a few times; it’s not as blissful as it looks. Everything gets a bit hot and sweaty and you know what I mean. I think more realistically though, having an online business means that your work can travel with you wherever you go and you’re not wedded to a particular place.

Think about it. If you had a local shop, then you need to turn up to that shop in order to do business or in order to make an income. When you go on holiday or travel somewhere, ultimately your business has to stop because you’re not in the area anymore.

Sure, you could hire somebody to run your business, but there may be some limitations, particularly if you’re a purely service-based business and you’re the one providing that service.

Compare it to online, if you are operating through a website and even if it’s still a service, you can be taking your laptop and your Tarot cards with you when you’re travelling. I’ve done it many times.

We’ve been in Spain twice for six months and then another time for three months. I certainly wasn’t working full time. I would be working a couple hours a day. Often, when my kids were a little bit younger, it was when they were having their sleep, so it wasn’t disruptive to our family trip at all.

But it meant that I could really work anywhere and I could work as we travel as a family, and the business could continue to grow and generate an income. I didn’t have to be in a certain location. I really could be anywhere so long as I had pretty decent internet. That’s always the thing that gets you – making sure that you do have the internet.

But here’s the other thing, you can live anywhere as well. I know a lot of people live in a developing country where the living costs are much lower and they can continue on their business, but in developed countries, so obviously charging at sort of a higher rate, but having lower living costs. That’s something to think about.

Even for us, right now we’re looking at moving to Queensland. It really doesn’t matter where we live. We can go and live in the bush, again, so long as there’s internet, because we don’t have to be near a big city or we don’t need to be near a population in order to continue our business.

EARN MONEY WHILE YOU SLEEP

Reason number five is that you can be open 24 hours/7 days a week without losing sleep. Think about if you have a local business. You can only be open during waking hours and you’ve only got limited hours. Even if you’re open five day a week for eight hours at a time, you’ve got forty hours that you can be selling to your customers.

If you’re online, you’re open 24/7. That’s a lot of hours during a week. What is that? 168 hours a week. Is that right? It could be slightly off. 154 maybe.

Anyway, basically anybody can buy from you at any time when you’re online. That’s particularly advantageous if you’re selling products because you know the old adage that you can earn money while you sleep. It’s totally true. Obviously there’s work that goes into that, but you can be earning money at any time.

Even if you’re running a service-based business online, so perhaps offering Tarot readings online, you can set your own hours.

Again, I found this really beneficial when I had young kids because it meant that I could work around their sleep times and I could also work late at night and early in the morning. I didn’t have to be thinking about what are kind of decent hours, the nine to five, which I would need to be thinking about if I had a local shop.

The other advantage with the online business, in terms of being open 24/7, is you can really set up your business in a way that takes care of sales in a very automated way.

As an example, when I first started selling e-books online – well, actually the very first time when I started selling e-books online, I wasn’t very clued into how you do all of this. I would get the order and I would individually email the PDF for that e-book to that individual customer.

It was fine when I might get one or two orders a day and it would take about 24 hours, maybe 48 hours to send it off, but when the volume started to increase quite a bit, then I definitely needed a different way of doing it.

At that point I set up with E-junkie and it took care of the whole process, so someone buys the e-book and then it gets automatically emailed to the customer and they have it straight away. Now we have a slightly different setup, but basically it all just gets taken care of.

That’s the advantage of being online. You can sell at any time of the day. If you’ve got those automatic systems set up, it takes care of itself.

Basically, that means that you can then focus on doing the work that you love to do, which is reading Tarot, talking Tarot, everything Tarot. Then all of the sales process is being taken care of in the background.

CONVENIENCE AND PRIVACY

The final reason for going online is that you can offer convenience and even privacy to your clients.

Think about in a local shop, for you to see a client you need to travel to that shop, but also the client needs to travel to the shop. Great, if they’re five minutes away, that’s not too bothersome, but what if they’re like an hour away.

They might not even be bothered to come in if it’s a whole hour’s drive. If it is an hour and they’re willing to come in, it may be much more difficult for them to schedule that time.

Also, if you think about it online, if you’re doing a Skype reading, all you’ve got to do is turn on your laptop. You don’t have any inconvenience. The client doesn’t have any inconvenience. It’s super, super easy.

If you’re doing an email Tarot reading, there’s also the added benefit of privacy, so the client doesn’t have to show their face. If it’s important to them to be anonymous in some way, then they can easily have that reading without you seeing them.

I just think it’s so much easier as a customer to be able to get something online. It’s on demand. It’s I’ll get it when I want it versus I have to match up my schedule with somebody else’s schedule and we both need to be available at the same time. It’s just so much easier when it’s online.

There you have it. Those are the six reasons why I believe starting your Tarot business online is the way to go. Let’s just do a quick recap.

1. There is a huge demand online for Tarot readers.
2. You can reach so many more people when you’re online. Nearly three billion people are on the internet and that is just huge, just to be able to reach so many people and to have such an impact with so many people is really important.
3. Starting a business online can be almost free versus having to invest a lot of capital if you’re setting up a local shop or even renting a local room.
4. You can live or travel anywhere. You are location independent when you’re online. You can take those longer family holidays if you can negotiate just a little bit of working time as you go.
5. You can be open 24/7 without having to lose sleep, which is great because that means you can make sales at any time.
6. You can offer that convenience to your clients. They don’t have to travel to come and see you.

There you have it. If you’ve been thinking about setting up your Tarot business or maybe you’ve already set yourself up, but in a more local setting, then I hope that today’s episode has got you thinking about the benefits of growing your business online.

It’s really a great way to grow your business and do it in a way that honours you and your family and your personal commitments.

Again, for us as a family, having this online business has changed so much. It means I’m at home with the family. I can see them throughout the day. I can see them in the evenings and we have that absolute freedom and flexibility to travel and live anywhere. I’m incredibly grateful for what we have created.

GROW YOUR TAROT BUSINESS ONLINE

If you’re considering creating your Tarot business online, then I’ve got some really great news for you. Our signature business program, Grow Your Tarot Business Online, is now open for enrolments.

In this program, you’re going to discover how to create a thriving Tarot business online that is both financially and spiritually rewarding. Because, again, as heart-centred, spiritual entrepreneurs we know it’s not just about the money, but it’s also about aligning with our soul’s purpose.

Ultimately, I want to help you be able to the work that you are intended to do and I also want you to do really well on a financial perspective.

I think often times we get this balance a little bit wrong. We can maybe move forward on the spiritual side, but we don’t move forward on the financials or we move forward on financials, but we lose our soul connection as well.

This program, the Grow Your Tarot Business Online program, is about giving you the skills to set up a business online and reach the audience that you’re meant to reach, increase your revenue and ultimately your profits, but at the same time be doing the work that you are called to do and to do it in a way that serves you, your family, your community in so many different ways.

In this program I’m going to be showing you how to align with your vision, attract your dream clients, connect with your tribe, market your business authentically, expand your offerings, and build a sustainable future.

If you’re interested in this program, please check it out. Go to BiddyTarot.com/business. And as I mentioned, we are now open for enrolments.

We have just an amazing group who have already been through this program, who have already seen results and it would just be wonderful to be able to welcome you into this program as well and support you on this journey.

It’s really one of my soul’s calling to show, I guess, healers and spiritual people about how to create that spiritual and financial success, particularly as it comes to business online

Again, find out more at BiddyTarot.com/business.

All right, that is it for today. I am so glad you are here and listening and I really do hope that I’ve inspired you to consider growing your business online – definitely the way to go.

I will be chatting with you again very, very soon. For now, have a great week and we’ll connect again next week. Bye for now.