So, you want to start reading for others and possibly selling your readings? Well you came to the right place. This post piggy backs off a google class I created on my discord pages, and today I will be going over tips and tricks for success and how to start making a side hustle out of divination! This is going to be a very tarot forward post, however this can be integrated into really any form of divination, the interview process for example is not reserved for only tarot and oracle cards!
Big note: Make sure you are aware of your countries, state, and county laws revolving around divination. In some places its still illegal and criminalized and there is no point going to jail over this. Instead its best to raise awareness and talk to your local representatives about the issue.
The slides we will be using today
Part One: Knowing
The first section is all about getting started, and most great readers I can think of have 3 key things they recommened
Know your deck - What this means is actually taking the time to interview your deck and get to know its strengths, limitations, and how it will connect to your readings. When you understand your tarot cards voice, you are better able to apply messages for other people.
How do I interview my deck?
To design an interview you need to create a spread that answers a few questions like "what are your strengths and weaknesses", "How do you prefer to speak to me?" and "How can I best listen and apply your advice?" Optionally it is always good to add sections asking the deck if it can read for other people, if it can read on the divine, and if it can process information that is changing.
My personal favorite is the one I am listing below.
2. Knowing your skills - This section is all about identifying your own strengths and weaknesses. Do you not really dabble in spirit work so you cant do spirit ID's? do you work with a trickster god so your decks often go missing? Do you simply just hate doing love readings and they bring you agony? All of these things are really valid, and its good to be honest with yourself. Start by picking out types of readings you enjoy, readings you maybe don't love or aren't skilled at yet, and then readings you just wont do. The ones in the middle category can always be worked on and expanded you may find you love them, but the ones that you just hate doing don't have to come at a cost just be honest and not offer them as a service. Another major aspect is personal associations to cards, Its important that as your using divination to make notes of personal associations you have to things, or how you interpret art on the card. This can help you better connect readings to your skills and give a more unique experience
3. Knowing your client - this is important simply for a marketing standpoint. If you are really good at deity readings it may be better to advertise your work on deity related servers rather than just spiritual ones. If you are a jack of all trades that may be vice versa. When you nail down the readings you love and hate doing you start to learn where you can successfully advertise to attract people who love the readings you do
Some important things and tips I can give as a tarot reader is to trust your intuition, and understand your skill level. When it comes to intuition some of the biggest blocks I see people have is "Well the reading isn't resonating with my spirit like usual" and its actually a really common thing! When people are transitioning to read for other people we become so used to getting that intuitive feeling that the cards just 'fit' but because the reading isn't *for* us we get an uncomfortable empty feeling or second guess ourselves. Have faith that your intuition is still working, just not on your behalf. Relax! If the client lets you know that it didn't resonate that's ok! Its a learning opportunity, it just means you have to re-look at the cards to find details you may have missed. With that also said, sometimes you are going to get a gut feeling that something is just not right, it will be different than that empty feeling or the little nagging self doubt voice. It usually comes as a whisper, a hand tremble, or sharpness in your spine that lets you know to redraw the card.
Another big thing that follows up with the third point is about your own skill level. The reason why there is so much emphasis on it is because your level will determine what readings you do, how much you charge for them, and how long it will take you to preform the reading. Its important that you are charging appropriately for practices, disclosing when you are new to something, or when you just aren't comfortable doing a type of reading for someone yet. It is always ok to say 'no' especially when a reading is out of your skill range.
Another really big thing to this is Practice, like I mentioned about finding your skill level so that leads me to another point:
Where can I go to find people to practice on?
In most cases, if you are a person of the internet you have a ton of options! There are dozens of discord servers and forums where you can practice your skills with people willing to trade or looking for free readings. Its best to avoid places like Instagram, tic tok, or amino for the time being because those places are more for building up a business rather than seeking out people to practice with. This is mainly because you will likely get overwhelmed with people trying to get free readings out of you, and servers usually have moderators that can help protect the peace while you are still learning.
A big thing I see is also about how to source tools for divination, lets say your in the broom closet and want to practice giving tarot readings but cant use physical cards, you can offer up readings using a digital deck (just make sure to disclose that) and get your practice in that way.
Part Two: Planning
Lets look at the aspects of giving a reading, We need to remember that for a lot of people divination is not only just an aspect of their spirituality but also a business for a lot of people. Some of the best readers I know actually aren't spiritual at all, but give such quality readings because they chose the study the psychology behind giving a reading. On the flip side, some of the best readings I have ever received was when the person was in tune with me spiritually, and got to know my beliefs as a client. It is a fine line for most people, and what makes these groups one in the same is they both took the time to really break in their practice, and see divination like an art form.
What are some things to note on the spiritual side?
Spiritually, we as readers are taking the time to use our tools to connect to the other side. Whether you believe tarot reads on paths, futures, or simply psychology, it can be a spiritual experience overall. I want it to be known even a complete atheist can still enjoy giving and practicing with divination, because at the end of the day you don't have to be any "type" of spiritual to practice.
Divination can be used to help other people through problems by offering another perspective, and as a reader that is a really fulfilling thing! Its nice when we can help others to see things they cant yet. Its also exciting to engage with the different questions a human can be faced with about life. As a reader there are so many beautiful solutions to problems, and divination can help with that!
Most commonly sold methods: Tarot, Oracle, and Runes
Most common services (as of 2022): Love readings, Yes/No questions, Deity and spirit questions
Ethical considerations and quirks are an important thing to cultivate as a reader. Its important to figure out where your ethics lie. Are you comfortable reading on a third party? Are you comfortable doing blind readings? What sort of things can you offer that would make you unique? As a general rule of thumb, its good to plan this out while you practice to see if anything is invoked in you. As you research different styles of readings you may find preset ethical takes online, some you will vibe with, others you will not. Take the information and evaluate it as you practice. Another big thing is confidentiality, if a reading begins to expose a deeper thing its best to talk to your client or leave it be if it isn't an immediate cause for concern.
Note: sometimes you get some seriously sick people asking for readings, confidentiality is great, however if someone is breaking the law or confessing a crime to you it is a good idea to stay calm, and report it to law enforcement if you can. It gets really difficult if the person is in another country and you are just reading online, but you can still pass it on to law enforcement who can possibly notify that countries police system. Above all else: If someone is making you feel uncomfortable you have every right to say no, block them, and move on. If it is someone physically with you like at a school or workplace setting who is making you uncomfortable, you have every right to deny service and seek out someone higher up who can help create distance between you and the other person. safety comes first.
What are some things to note on the business side?
On the business side, not only are we assisting other people, however we are also assisting ourselves. It is amazing when we can take something that brings us so much joy and use it to help turn a profit. When you begin actually selling your readings, you will come to find that a lot of math and marketing is involved like calculating where you want to be, how much to charge per card, how much to charge for other practices, how to market yourself to the world, its all things we have to factor when we are trying to make a side hustle out of this. Above all else, take care of you first! Make sure that you are keeping your energy and mental health in mind as you go through this journey
Average Pricings: $1-2 per card when first starting, averaging $3-4 a card, and on the high end some readers charge up to $17 per card. Usually pricings for spreads start at $5 per 3 cards, $10 per 10 cards, and $20 upcharges for voice chat or in person sessions. The average in person tarot reader will charge $70 per 45 min session
Average market: Highest money comes from tic tok, facebook, and instagram
Average Demographic: Usually within the ages of 23-35, mainly metropolitan areas
I have compiled survey results, researched many industry papers and graphics to answer these questions and provide a clear overview for you
What are some things that makes a reader unique?
Style - Having a style or theme when it comes to how you present your readings is a wonderful thing. It not only makes you more recognizable, but it also draws clients in who are curious
Presentation - How you actually present your readings is important. If you are physically speaking to someone laying your cards so its facing the client adds a special touch, if you are trying to layer paragraphs online making sure they look cohesive with correct grammar and paragraph indentation is amazing
Timing - How long you can produce readings and with how much information can be used to set you apart from other readers. Plenty of readers upcharge for 'same day' readings, or charge more for blind readings because more intuition is being used
Extras - If you are willing to provide extras, online you can create custom spreads, crystal grid photos that represent the readings, or physically offer candy or for the client to pick their own deck
Personality - Having good customer service can apply to readings too, establishing your unique personality to a client is wonderful. Whether your setting up a 'no-nonsense' vibe or are smiling ear to ear, you can connect it to the deck the client vibes the most with.
Options - Providing options and some sort of consultation phase is a great way to start a dialogue between you and your client, giving plenty of room to ask questions and be honest about what's going on sets a really good mood for both of yall.
Examples:
Part Three: Doing
In this section we will be going over the most important things to remember while we are practicing, growing, and learning.
Always remember:
Your boundaries - The things you are willing and not willing to read on
Trends - What readings are the most profitable right now, why? Do you want to partake in them or not?
Clients - What types of clients do you tend to get? Do they tend to prefer a specific reading or style? Do you tend to get returning business or mainly one-off readings?
Where you promote - Where you promote is what you attract, so keep surveying the data analytics for what is most popular. For example: Psychics in Vegas tend to get the most skeptic readings, Beverly hills gets the most amount of pet readings, and Instagram pages tend to offer love readings the most
A big tip I have for new readers are on 3 things, time, spirits, and progress. When it comes to time make sure you are picking ways to charge for everything whether its VC, text, or in house, make sure you aren't running your clock and have methods to lead a conversation if a client is taking up a lot of time with stories that don't exactly apply. Next when it comes to spirits and deities it is important that you wait on those types of readings until you have protections and adequate research on different types of deities and spirits as to not possibly bring danger to yourself, clients, and are giving accurate information that preserves the cultures these being originate from. Finally when it comes to progress I recognize that it can be hard learning to say no, developing a back bone, and wanting to do more with your readings, just ride the wave as it comes! This takes time and I promise the more you work on your skills the more likely you are to succeed. Just make sure you are always honest with your clients and with yourself when you need to take a break.
What are some bad habits people should avoid?
Over cleansing - Sometimes we create this idea that you need to be triple cleansing in between each and every client, but in actuality this can create fatigue on our decks. Its kind of like showers: Some people shower daily just to get the gunk off, but they might not wash their hair or use a scrub every single shower because it strips the good oils from our hair and skin. Tarot can be the same, over cleansing it can strip it of energy. Its best to talk to your cards, have a charging station at the ready, and keep tabs on how they are feeling
overbooking - If you are currently enrolled in school full time, or have a full time job, it isn't realistic to take every single client at all hours of the day, that is the fastest way to divination burn out. Stager out clients between your real world schedule and set up a system that gives you time to transition.
Overdoing - Don't offer more than you can put out. Don't promise to do a 15 card spread in 30 min if you know your readings take longer. Don't offer freebies willy nilly because then it becomes an expectation. Make sure that you are properly valuing your work based off how long it takes you to create that product. At the end of the day you are offering a service, treat it like such!
Final Words
The divination community is an incredibly vast one that features all sorts of people, businesses, and more. Relax! This journey is a rewarding one, don't take it so serious that you start to fall apart. Have faith in your ability to research and practice, and as you grow don't hesitate to start finding communities that can help you grow as a reader.
Another big thing to watch out for is the rampant scam community. often times we see 'readers' come along who either make up some story about an ancestor leading them to you, someone cursing you for no reason, etc and making you foot the bill for their services. Or you get people who pretend to be tarot mentors and instead will copy paste things from biddy tarot while you pay 100 bucks a month. Be aware of people who are looking to take advantage of you, if it looks to good to be true it probably is. Be careful out there!
With all that said, I hope you all enjoyed this post, if you have any questions or comments feel free to drop them below. Thank you! Fair winds travelers
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