Why Your New Tarot Business Might Fail (And How to Make It Work)

Why Your New Tarot Business Might Fail

(And How to Make It Work)

As my friend Jenna Matlin says, tarot is having a moment. Psychism, of course, has been popular throughout history. There have always been seers, oracles and diviners. I often joke that if prostitution was the first profession, psychic reading was the second. (Although my midwife friends insist that the second profession was midwifery.)

Tarot, and cartomancy in general, are newer tools of the psychic trade. Long before we had cardboard and printing presses, we had stones, beans and bones. Perhaps tarot’s current popularity is borne simply of its modern accessibility.

Whatever the reason, I am thrilled that there are now more tarot decks, tarot classes, tarot groups and tarot readers than ever before in history. Yet, there is another trend that I see that is a bit more concerning. That is the trend of enthusiastic new tarot professionals leaving the industry as quickly as they came in.

Jenna and I discussed this in our last informal Tarot Biz Chat. Her take is that pro tarot readers can burn out quickly, and that many new tarotists don’t know how to protect themselves from burnout.

She has a point. I have seen burned out readers retire with drama and fanfare, although usually after several decades of successful practice, not several months or years.

Job burnout is a risk in any profession, of course. It’s also statistically true that any new business, in the first five years, has an equal chance of failure or success.

I believe there are a multitude of reasons talented new tarot pros often quickly throw in the towel, and some of those reasons don’t include burnout. Here are some of the problems I have seen in the ventures of my students and colleagues over the past twenty-five years, along with some advice on what to do differently.

You Started Pro Reading Before You Were Ready

This is an easy trap. Tarot teachers and business coaches will encourage you to be brave and get out there without evaluating whether you are truly ready. Psychic fair operators will push to get your butt in a chair as quickly as possible because they are under-staffed.

It might be that you felt encouraged because you did a few practice readings that went really well. Perhaps you had an immediate financial problem and felt tarot could be a source of much-needed revenue.

The solution here isn’t to quit, but to back off and brush up. Sometimes a tarot reading flows smoothly. All the cards make sense in their positions and appear to answer questions succinctly and definitively. It’s those readings that fool us into believing tarot reading is easy. When the cards don’t make sense at first, or the client communicates in a challenging way, we need to rely on our studied knowledge and the experience we gained from countless hours of practice.

You Aren’t Practicing Good Psychic Hygiene

This is where I think Jenna’s theory about burnout really applies. If you feel drained after a reading, or if you are having a hard time receiving intuition on demand, or if there are days you just don’t feel like doing a reading, it’s possible you aren’t doing the energy work that is necessary for professional tarot.

The trick to fix this is fairly simple. Make sure you do strong energy work to create sacred space for each reading. Connect yourself to both earth and heaven, and become a straw, or a conduit, for energy.

Give nothing of yourself to your client and take no energy from them. Serve them with the limitless supply of energy that you pull, as a conduit, from earth and heaven.

After the reading, shake your energy off, and consciously release your client.

You should emerge from a long day of readings feeling energized, not drained. If that is not what is happening, meditate, breathe, work with your energy and be a better straw.

You Aren’t Attracting Enough Business

Very often when I hear this complaint it is followed by a list of reasons excuses explaining why it just isn’t possible to gain new clients. Those excuses often include geography. That is, the belief that people where you live just aren’t into tarot, or don’t like getting readings, or believe that this stuff is evil.

I will be the first to tell you that every geographic area is different, and some are easier to work than others. However, the difference is not that people in some areas enjoy what we do and people in other areas don’t. The difference is that in some areas, people are more closeted about it, and therefore you have to work harder to identify and serve them.

On the flip side, if you are in a mystic-friendly location, you might feel the market is choked and there is no room for you. That’s an excuse, too. If you are a good reader, there will always be people who want to see you.

Another reason readers don’t attract business is they don’t present themselves with confidence. Clients will only be as confident in you as you are in yourself.

Another problem is you might be marketing to the wrong demographic. It’s amazing how often I see tarot readers marketing to other tarot readers. While we do sometimes read for each other, your tarot friends and students will not always be your best source of clients. The vast majority of your clients will be people who want answers and insight and don’t give two pents about tarot, metaphysics, spirituality or how you derive your information.

Your Goals Aren’t Clear, or Your Expectations Aren’t Realistic

Perhaps you attended a tarot party and watched a mediocre reader make a thousand dollars in an evening. Perhaps you believed a shyster tarot business coach when they told you that it’s easy to make a six-figure income with tarot. Perhaps you believe that memorizing seventy-eight key words is all it takes to give a meaningful tarot reading.

I have met many aspiring tarot pros with unrealistic expectations of both the earning potential of a tarot reader and the ease with which they could do the work and make the money.

Legitimate tarot reading can be moderately lucrative, but only if you are patient and work hard. If your goal is to make a lot of money, there are hundreds of better jobs to choose.

It’s important to be clear about your goals. Professional tarot offers so many different types of opportunities. You can entertain at parties, work on the phone or webcam, work in shops and psychic fairs, or find your own venues. A college student can often make more money and have more fun working psychic fairs than hustling fast food. You can read tarot as a side hustle or a full-time job. Just be sure about where and how you want your tarot business to fit in your life, now and in the future. Don’t expect a full-time income from a part-time effort, and don’t expect a full-time income when you first start out.

Most importantly, only choose to be a tarot professional if you love reading for strangers. You may love tarot and may enjoy tarot books, classes, art and friends. That’s a beautiful thing. Perhaps the best, most important use of divinatory tarot is for one’s own enjoyment and enlightenment. None of that, however, means that you will be delighted to have your job be reading tarot for clients. But, if reading for others does delight you, I promise there is no greater joy than having that be your livelihood.

If you are interested in taking the next step in growing your business, make sure you get a copy of my book, Fortune Stellar.

If you would like to work one-on-one with me to grow your skills and business, contact me about a custom mentorship program.

I hope you can catch Jenna Matlin and me as we present our Professional Development Day as an extension of the Northwest Tarot Symposium.

This week in tarot: smart, provocative blog posts

In most any professional field, blogging is a way to share ideas with colleagues and clients. Blogging adds to the body of knowledge in a dynamic way that couldn’t have been accomplished before the age of social media.

I’m sure every field has its share of bloggers who need grammar lessons, or who don’t bring anything new to the table. Consistent posting can equal internet cred, whether or not the posts are original or informative.

Nowadays, it is de rigueur that serious tarot enthusiasts, whether professional or hobbyist, blog about tarot. I expect that, within the course of any week, there will be some new stories, techniques or commentary to read about my favorite topic.

With so much tarot talk flying around, and with more than two decades of my own full-time professional tarot journey under my belt, very few tarot posts stand out to me as remarkable or significant. That is, until this week when two unrelated tarot bloggers published really provocative, important pieces.

I saw Benebell Wen’s piece first. I immediately wanted to write a post to promote her piece, share my angle, and to continue the conversation she had begun.

Then, I saw Ste McCabe’s piece on Biddytarot.com. What is going on astrologically that has inspired all this tarot brilliance in just a few days? At a time when I bemoan the dumbing down of modern society almost daily, these genius tarot posts are a breath of fresh air, earth, fire and water!

I feel like I want to write a book about both of the topics these tarotists treated in their recent blog posts. What I have time to do is a few short paragraphs about each, with the hope that you will follow the links and read these important contributions to the body of knowledge that is tarot.

One might think that Benebell Wen and The Tarot Cat, Ste McCabe, don’t have much in common beyond tarot. One is a corporate attorney, the other a punk musician.  One has published a groundbreaking book on tarot, the other has dedicated their tarot practice to helping members of the LBGTQ community. To me, this a testament of the diversity of talented people who count tarot amongst their tools. You will see that they both honor tarot as a sacred tool, and that they both have a high standard of tarot ethics.

Please take the time to follow the links and read their posts, and to read my thoughts on each. Most importantly, please spend some time deciding what your thoughts are on both important topics.

I’ll address the posts in the order I saw them, so first up is Benebell Wen’s post, “Tarot and Social Inductive Reasoning”.

In this post, Benebell Wen discusses “cold reading”. Often, we readers are accused of using “cold-reading” tricks to make ourselves appear more psychic.  Wen’s concern is that perhaps even the most ethical readers might do this accidently, without the intent to mislead.

She compares “cold reading” with Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP), a technique that is often heralded by New Age practitioners, including tarotists.

Benebell Wen’s understandable concern is this. To her, tarot, divination and the intuitive process are sacred things. In her own tarot practice, she wants not even a hint of the flimflammery of which we are so often accused.

One of my favorite aspects of this post is the way she describes her feeling about the possibility that she and other well-intentioned tarotists might be fooling people as we try to enlighten them. It makes her feel “icky”. That icky feeling is something I’ll bet most ethical tarotists know well, but few dare to speak about. The word I use to describe that feeling is “smarmy”.

In typical Wen style, she researched NLP extensively, and created a free download comparing social inductive reasoning to tarot reading. Her hope is that we will come to understand social inductive reasoning, and learn to use this tool properly without fooling people into thinking we are more psychic than we are.

This is the first time I have ever known a tarotist to publically discuss this topic in this candid way. Brava, brave Benebell!

Wen frames her concern this way. She feels that, in truth, “cold reading” or “social inductive reasoning” is somewhat akin to the intuitive process. That kinship is what makes her ethical concern so pressing.

Is it possible that none of us is actually “psychic”, that, in fact, we are all just really good at reading people in this mundane fashion? That is what our critics would like you to believe.

Wen is clear to point out that, even when certain personality traits are communicated through mundane observation versus sacred intuition, those same traits will be revealed in the cards, and through astrology.  I concur.

Her concern is that we not fool people into thinking we are being psychic, when really we are just being smart and observant.

One of her suggestions to avoid this is something I always do in readings, and had never before heard another reader discuss. If we receive information from some mundane source, she advises us to be quick about confirming why we are saying what we are saying. That is, revealing where the information came from.

I will often say, “This isn’t psychically derived, it’s just an observation” as a way of separating information derived through reason versus information derived through pure intuition. It pleased me that Wen was able to quantify this technique, and teach it.

Wen also brings up my first line of defense when someone suggests my career is based on “cold reading”.  That is, cold reading can’t be any kind of factor when performing distance reading.

Wen does lots of email readings these days. I do much of my work over the phone, reading for people I have never met in person, nor seen in a photo.

Clearly, if we can do accurate, comprehensive, insightful readings for people we have literally never seen, the cold reading argument becomes null and void, doesn’t it?

Wen relates that social inductive reasoning involves noticing things about people, and interpreting those things. In her download, she includes accepted interpretations for body postures and clothing choices.

These, I am sure, are valid and accepted techniques, and helpful in many life situations. Wen suggests that using these techniques in our in-person readings could be helpful, as long as we do not use these techniques to make people think we are super-psychic, or to trick people to buy in to what we are saying.

I can agree to this in theory, but I have another angle to share, in the form of three specific points.

First, I agree that cold reading and intuition are often very similar. We need to be clear about separating the two when appropriate. However, I suspect that sometimes those mentalists who insist they are cold reading are actually truly using their intuition. Yes, the problem could exist in reverse.

Both cold reading and intuitive reading are things we all may do innately. So our very detractors could be, themselves, a lot more intuitive than they realize.

Second, in my book “Fortune Stellar” I share techniques that I developed through trial and error in my own practice. One thing I learned early on is this. In an in-person reading, I try never make observations based on a person’s physical appearance.

That’s right. Although cold reading suggests that a person’s appearance is the whole of where we get our information from, I have learned to disregard what I see with my eyes, for two reasons.

First, many people like to try to fool the psychic. They take off their wedding rings, they wear clothes to the reading that they wouldn’t normally wear, to see if that influences what I say. It doesn’t, I promise you, because I make certain not to notice the physical when I am working with the intuitive.

Secondly, sometimes it’s inadvertent. The construction worker may be dressed in a suit because he’s on his way to a funeral. If I looked at his attire, I might not visualize his career correctly. If I look at him instead of his attire, I will know more true things about his life.

Finally, there is basic practicality. In some professional tarot settings, people need showmanship. There can be an appropriate theatrical, performance aspect to what we do. At a party, we are hired to entertain. That I can perform real psychic work and give real insight in that entertaining environment makes me feel like an under-cover agent for real personal change. Sometimes we need to appear a little larger than life to get our message heard.

Here, the difference between performance and fraud is exactly as Wen advised earlier. I think it is fine to use a few techniques to help people invest in the process, relax and have fun, as long as we are not using those techniques to actually fool or defraud people.

For example, when the Christopher Reeve Superman movies came out, their trailer tagline was “You’ll really believe a man can fly!” We all knew that Christopher Reeve couldn’t fly, but that didn’t make us think he was less of an actor. (I realize this example just dated me big-time.)

As long as we are honest in our intent, and make sure that we do not mislead people about our actual process and abilities, using select techniques to increase the value of a performance isn’t a problem, in my opinion.

Of course, not every reader does “performance tarot” or “tarot entertainment”, so this won’t apply to everyone. We also must remember that sometimes needy people will put too much faith in us, and not enough faith in themselves. We need to be careful not to engender that, nor capitalize on it if it happens.

Psychic fraud is a real and dangerous thing. I would not want to conflate the showmanship of a dynamic presentation with convincing a bereaved parent to trade family heirloom jewelry to keep their son from doing drugs in heaven. (Yes, this really happens in 2015 in the western world.)

I applaud Wen for starting a deeper conversation on one of my favorite topics, tarot ethics. I hope this reminds each of us to tune in to our inner smarm meter and make sure that we are taking steps to be truly within our integrity.

There’s a payoff for that, too. The clearer we feel, the clearer our intuition will be.

The fact is, tarot reading and fortune telling have always existed in the shadows. I often call psychic work the “second profession,” that is, second after the first profession, which is prostitution.

A new generation of tarotists is working to bring tarot out of the shadows. I believe I am a part of this movement. However, not every tarotist is thrilled with the idea of shining that bright a light on tarot.

That brings me to Ste McCabe’s article on Biddytarot.com, “Tarot in the Mainstream? Thanks, but No Thanks”.

In this post, McCabe imagines a world where the mainstream embraces tarot to the point that tarot becomes a dishwater-dull dumbed-down version of itself. He cites a few of the many examples of what happens when the (m)asses discover something cool.

McCabe is a musician. Like him, many of the examples I can think of to back up his point are musical. We all know what can happen when the general public discovers your favorite previously-obscure band.

I have always been an advocate of making tarot more accessible and acceptable. In fact, at TarotCon (Florida) 2015, Jenna Matlin and I led a Trance Dance Tarot magickal spell for exactly that purpose. Our stated magickal intent was to make tarot more accessible and acceptable.

McCabe’s article caught my attention specifically because of this. The day after our Tarot Trance Dance, a colleague suggested we had done magick to make tarot “more mainstream”, and that she didn’t think it was a good idea. Clearly, she would appreciate McCabe’s point here.

I was kind of shocked that she conflated being “more mainstream” with being “accessible and acceptable”. To me, those are two entirely different things.

As a full-time professional tarot reader for more than two decades, I have dealt with my share of harassment and discrimination. I would like my career to be as acceptable as my friends’, the yoga teacher and the massage therapist.

I know that there are people who are hungry for the wisdom that tarot brings, but have no access. For example, I was a popular teacher in adult education programs for many years. My tarot classes always filled. One year, my classes had no sign-ups at all! What had happened, I wondered?  It turns out, a new employee at the adult ed program had a personal prejudice against tarot, and refused to let anyone register for the class.

Because of this person’s prejudice, people in our small town who wanted access to tarot were denied it. In the days before the World Wide Web, that was kind of a big deal.

While the web gives us access we did not have before, access to tarot is still limited to those who know to look for it.

McCabe’s concern is that if tarot were to be mainstream, it would be essentially changed, and not for the better. We’ve all seen that happen to many beloved cultural icons.

One of the examples he gives of a potential change is that Major Arcana Thirteen, Death, would be removed. Honestly, that’s already happened. Doreen Virtue’s Angel Tarot Cards are to me the grossest example of this, but there are plenty.

The lovely Chrysalis Tarot made me sad because they demoted the Hierophant to “Divine Child”.

The thing is, while I find these sorts of decks silly and disrespectful, and, like McCabe, I would hate to see a world full of them, I know two things to be true.

First, these dumbed-down decks bring wisdom to people, and bring people to divination who wouldn’t otherwise be there. When people develop an appreciation for tarot through these channels, they become more accepting and open in general. To me, that’s helpful.

Second, that these hairy-fairy decks exist does not cause deeper, more traditional decks to cease to exist.

I am not sure that tarot could ever become mainstream in the popular culture as McCabe fears. It’s very nature may prohibit that. However, there are certainly “psychic fads” that I’ve observed and, frankly, profited from. When psychics are popular because of a movie or TV show, I work more. That’s not a problem for me.

When the fad is over, my work continues. The shallow interest falls away, but a few people who were brought in by the fad stick around and become lifers like me.

In truth, I was brought in to tarot by the New Age fad of the 1980s. I don’t regret that.

One of the things I appreciated most about McCabe’s post is this. He tapped into a significant question about tarot; one that has been debated in prior centuries.

Long before we had social media or used words like “mainstream”, early tarotists debated whether tarot was “esoteric” or “exoteric”.  Was tarot a tool to be used in secret, only by adept masters, or was tarot a tool for everyone?

Tarot is certainly about everyone. But truly, the very word “arcana” means “secrets”. Clearly, there are points to be made on both sides.

The assumption that anyone can find value in tarot is a modern one, credited to tarot author Eden Gray. We’ve embraced that idea firmly as a community over the past thirty years. It may be time for some young voices in our community to cry out to protect tarot’s esoteric nature.

Although many tarot enthusiasts are tarot businesspeople, we must resist the urge to monetize tarot to the point that it become meaningless. This, I think, is McCabe’s essential point.

So there you have it. Two smart posts from two modern tarot bloggers. Our tarot world is in good hands, I think.

If you have tarot thoughts to share, you may share them here, on my Tarot Community Blog.

Seven Ways to Know it’s Time to go Pro

My book Fortune Stellar offers helpful advice to tarot readers and metaphysical practitioners who are ready to hang their shingle, or already have. But how do you know when it’s time to set up shop?

Today, many people make the transition to professional reading by working for an online service like Oranum, Keen or Spiritum. At some point, though, many professionals want to build a local business. Some read from their homes, others find cafes and restaurants, salons or executive office centers.  There are many ways to build a great local business, you just have find the courage and the inspiration to get started.

Recently I’ve seen some of my peers react to new psychic businesses in their area, and respond to new readers considering starting a business. The conclusion I’ve drawn is this. As a community we are all over the chart when it comes to deciding when the time is right to go pro.

I have seen tarot teachers and community leaders push students whom I am sure simply aren’t ready with statements like “Give it a try, you’ll be great!”

I’ve also seen tarot professional bristle when they discover someone who doesn’t have a lot of knowledge or experience has hung a shingle.

I’ve seen a wide range of reactions in students as well. Some students love tarot and are great readers but have no desire to be professional. That’s terrific – tarot is a wonderful tool for personal use.

Some students long to go pro, are talented and knowledgeable enough to do it, but are afraid to move forward. Sometimes they fear negative reactions from friends and neighbors. Sometimes they fear the business aspect of being a professional. Sometimes they fear they aren’t good enough.

I’ve also had students take beginner tarot classes with the specific idea that in a few weeks they will be able to make some extra money with their cards. These are the ones that worry me the most.

I don’t think any great reader becomes a reader because they think it’s a smart way to make some money. Great readers become readers because they feel called to it.

To the tarot pros who encourage students to take the plunge too soon, I say this. Provide your students with opportunities to read for the public. Teach your students and encourage them. But if you get them out in the professional setting too quickly they will become discouraged and disillusioned.

To the pros who are concerned about the market being saturated with lousy readers, don’t worry about it.  Lousy readers never last, and they give your clients the opportunity to see just how good you are in comparison.

To the great readers with stage fright, try to push out of your comfort zone and share your gifts with the world!

Now, as promised, here are seven ways to know you are ready to go pro.

1. People seek you out for readings. At work, at parties and at dinner people casually ask you if you happen to have your cards with you.

2. The friends for whom you do free readings offer recompense without being asked – they bake you cookies, buy you dinner or bring you a beer.

3. When you read for people, you feel alive, energized and connected.

4. You are excited to market your business.

5. When people ask you, you are comfortable saying “I am a tarot reader!”

6. You know and love your cards without question.

7. When you lay out the cards you can see stories forming in them.

If these seven statements ring true for you, you are probably ready to get started as a tarot professional. If they don’t ring true and you really do want to read professionally, don’t worry. Spend more time studying and practicing. Tarot has been around for 500 years – it will wait for you.

And, if you need extra money and already have the chops, tarot reading can create a decent income. If you need extra money and just started studying tarot hoping to make a few quick bucks, you may be studying tarot for the wrong reasons.