A professional Tarot reader earns an income doing Tarot readings, right? But if you want to leave your 9-to-5 job and earn a full-time income from your Tarot work, chances are you won’t be doing just Tarot readings.
Can you picture yourself doing Tarot reading after Tarot reading, 6+ hours a day, 5 days a week? (Sounds like being back in a 9-to-5’er.) Or charging a ridiculous amount for your Tarot readings (plus trying to find customers who are willing to pay that amount), so that you can meet your desired income?
If you’re serious about quitting your job and creating a successful Tarot business, you’ll need to think beyond simply offering Tarot readings.
Create Value and You’ll Create an Income
Let’s take a step back to “Business 101″. You make money in a business by delivering something (typically a product or a service) that people value. Customers are willing to pay you for what you have to offer because you add value to their lives in some way. The more value you add, the more income you earn.
There are a number of different ways you can add value to your customers. For example:
- Solve a problem
- Fulfil a need or a desire
- Make things simple and easy
- Provide step-by-step instructions on how to do something
- Synthesise information
These are all legitimate, authentic ways of adding value. And yes, you can continue to do this with a topic you love – Tarot!
Most Tarot enthusiasts start out by offering professional Tarot readings as a way to add value to customers and generate an income. But there are only so many hours in the day and only so many Tarot readings you can do without getting burnt out.
So, the key is to find other ways to add value to your online customers.
Even better, find ways to generate value that don’t rely on your time.
When we think services (such as reading Tarot), we are effectively being paid per hour. But when we think products, we may need to invest a certain amount of time creating the product, but once it is up and running on auto, the sales continue but the work does not. This is what is known as ‘passive income’. And passive income is what will help to grow your business without growing your hours long-term.
Beyond Tarot Readings. Online Tarot Products
So how do you branch out beyond Tarot readings? How do you leverage your love and passion for Tarot into something that will make a solid income for yourself, whilst also delivering quality and value to your customers?
The answer is in online Tarot products that can be automatically delivered to your customers. Here are a number of ideas of how you can take a step in a new direction and expand your Tarot business.
Tarot eBooks & Guides
Know something about the Tarot that’s worth sharing with others and that people would be willing to pay for? Perhaps you’re the master of Tarot spreads and you’ve got so many spreads you could write a book about it. Or, perhaps you’ve discovered a super easy way to read Tarot that doesn’t require years and years of study. Maybe you’ve spent years collecting and writing study notes about the Tarot cards, and now you’ve got a book’s worth of Tarot card meanings? (That’s how I got started, with what is now the Ultimate Guide to Tarot Card Meanings.)
eBooks are the easiest way to share your Tarot knowledge with a niche audience who have a desire to learn the Tarot. You’re adding value by solving a problem (e.g. how to read reversed Tarot cards), fulfilling a desire (to learn Tarot), making things simple and easy (e.g. 31 Days to Read Tarot with Confidence), providing step-by-step instructions (e.g. 5 Steps to a More Accurate Tarot Reading), and synthesising information (e.g. keyword charts).
To write your Tarot eBook, you might use existing material (e.g. your own study notes or blog posts) or something entirely new. Publishing is easy – simply save into PDF (and formats for Kindle and other devices) and use a service like eJunkie to automaticallydistribute your digital eBook. Once it’s up and running, you’ll have a steady stream of income that runs automatically!
This is how I ‘cut my teeth’ and began to branch out from Tarot readings. I started selling my first eBook in 2007. Now I have 3 Tarot eBooks which continue to sell very well.
Online Tarot Classes
There are now many free teleseminar and webinar services (and many premium ones) that you can use to run Tarot classes and workshops. You might experiment and build up your confidence first by offering a free class. Then, start charging a fee for attendance.
To turn this into a passive source of income, don’t forget to hit the ‘record’ button and then you can continue selling your recorded class and materials after the live event.
You don’t need to be a Tarot Grandmaster or someone with 40+ years’ experience reading Tarot, either. If you’ve got something of value to share, then people will be willing to listen. Perhaps you just started your Tarot business 12 months’ ago and now you know first-hand about the pitfalls and the keys to success for starting your own business. Or perhaps you have done so many fairs and large events in the last 2 years that you could run a class on how to do this successfully.
I ran my first webinar in 2012, alongside the launch of my eBook, “Tarot Foundations“. I had so much fun with over 200 participants that I decided to start monthly Tarot Masterclasses via webinar which are doing incredibly well.
Tarot Courses and Programs
If you’ve tried teaching a Tarot class and had great success, your next step might be to run a full Tarot course. You can do this as a live course (e.g. 5 weeks of live webinars) or pre-record videos and/or audio. It’s a good idea to include written materials as well, such as transcripts and workbooks.
If you’re running a live Tarot course, again don’t forget to hit ‘record’ and you can sell the recordings at a later stage – another great source of passive income!
I ran my first live Tarot Foundations course in February 2013. I still have people wanting to sign up, even though it is now well and truly complete! I plan to run the course again, first live and then, after I have perfected it, as a recorded program.
Email Courses
Does being in front of a camera freak you out? Why not try creating an email course?
Sign yourself up with an email list manager such as Aweber or Mailchimp and build an automatic email course on a topic you love. It might be 22 lessons about the Major Arcana or a spread for every day of the year… all delivered via email.
Once you’ve set up your email course and have a ‘buy now’ button, everything will run without you having to touch a thing!
This isn’t a path I have tried yet, but because of its simplicity and ease, I am very tempted. Watch this space!
Advertising
Advertising works very well when you have a large audience or high levels of traffic. I’m talking 10,000+ subscribers or 100,000+ unique visitors per month. Companies and small businesses are willing to pay in order to reach high numbers of people in a niche market.
If you’ve just fallen off your seat looking at those figures, don’t worry! There are other ways to experiment with advertising whilst your following grows (and it will grow – we all start somewhere!). Google Adsense is the most popular as it is relatively easy to use and can earn a small income on the side. Don’t cover your website in ads, though – it looks tacky and will put people off.
While I started with Adsense, I’ve had much more success though with affiliate programs such as the psychic webcam services for Oranum and Spiritum where I earn a 50-70% commission. It works well because I offer free Tarot card meanings which generate a high amount of traffic, and some of those visitors will then go on to click on the ads and generate sales. It’s a win-win because I can continue to offer high quality and free Tarot information, yet still be compensated for this indirectly.
Advertising isn’t for everyone, though. Many websites prefer to maintain their own voice or advertise their own products which is a smart strategy. I choose to advertise only on certain sections of my site and not on others for this exact reason.
Over to You
Get inspired! What one Tarot product could you start working on now to boost your income in the long-term? Leave your comments and ideas below, including what you have already tried and what has worked for you.
P.S. Are You Ready to Take Your Tarot Business to the Next Level?
If you’re looking to grow your Tarot business and your income, I can help. I now offer Tarot business coaching to those who are serious about creating a successful and heart-centered business in the Tarot industry. Together, we can explore the possibilities of writing your own eBook, creating your own Tarot course or building a compelling email course.
Schedule a free 15-minute coaching consultation with me right here.
PSST... Do you want to create a personal and intuitive connection with each and every Tarot card and ultimately become a better Tarot reader? Later this month, I'll be opening the doors to my signature program, TF1: Master the Tarot Card Meanings, and you're invited!
>> Click here to find out more about TF1 LIVE and get on the wait list!
{ 19 comments… read them below or add one }
Hi Brigit,
I am really impressed on how you put such effort into helping others with starting their own Tarot business and or writing an ebook. Believe me I am tempted at times to write an ebook but I really do not have formal training in writing skills. You have inspired me to look into it though so for that and your vast Tarot and marketing skills, I thank you for sharing.
You and your family are blessed and some of that is from you being generous and giving back to what made you who you are. Blessings to you.
Peter.
Thanks Peter – I really do get a kick out of inspiring others to build their businesses doing something they love.
Oh, just do it. Just write the eBook and see where it takes you! It might not be perfect from the get-go, but at least you are giving yourself an opportunity to try! And the more you write, the better you’ll become.
A great, free resource for writing and publishing an eBook is at Pat Flynn’s blog – http://www.smartpassiveincome.com/ebooks-the-smart-way/.
Thanks again, I will look into the link you sent me now. Peace, blessings and love always.
Peter
Peter,
Don’t let your writing abilities stop you from sharing your knowledge with others! The technical side of writing doesn’t really matter – you can always find an editor to polish up the wording, and even find a graphic designer to work on the presentation. There are plenty of ways to source this kind of help. There are plenty of inexpensive ways to outsource.
Good luck!
Emma
Dear Emma,
Thanks for the positive words of encouragement. I will move forward.
Peace and blessings.
Hi Brigit,
I advertise your book on my Site already!
Thank you for this article, I have been thinking along these lines for a while as I have a great deal of Tarot/Intuition experience which I could share with others and have been wondering just how to do it. You have some great ideas here, it is generous of you to share them. Thank you again.
Firstly, thanks for supporting the My Tarot Club guides! Much appreciated. I should have included that as an option in the post!
Second, I’m so glad this post has helped you to start thinking about how else you can generate an income by sharing your knowledge and experience.
Thanks Brigit for this well-written and generous list of tips and ideas. I really appreciate it and will probably print it out and do some brainstorming around it. It’s comforting for an overachiever like me to know that you didn’t have your tremendous success overnight. Seeing where you’re at now makes it seem like it’s always been this way for you, but reading that you did your first e-book back in 2007 reminds me that quality takes a solid investment of time in order to build results.
To answer your question, although this isn’t necessarily a product: one practice that I found very useful when I ran my former business that grew mainly through online and word of mouth recommendations (tourist lodging) was that I actively sought out sites that had content that complimented my own (not necessarily direct competitors), and I formed collaborative partnerships with those business owners or bloggers. Guest blogging on others’ blogs is a lovely way to share resources and information. Also, I found that actively trading links was a useful way to gain more exposure, as well as meet more like-minded people online! Some people are quite receptive to exchanging links on their blog rolls or resource pages. But above all just being a generous and courteous contributor to your colleagues online (like you do) is always a great way to build positive support around your work.
Hi Shelley,
That’s the thing – everyone starts at zero. Zero dollars, zero subscribers, zero visitors. Little by little those numbers increase and we get ourselves out there. The key is to never give up and to keep the skin in the game! Experiment and give it a go, even if you don’t feel 100% confident. “Just do it” is certainly my mantra!!
Thanks for sharing the ways in which you built your own business – super helpful! I think if you put the right energy out there, it will nearly always come back to in that way.
Brigit
Hi Brigit,
Great post! I’ve been putting together some work to get my own business started (not in tarot exactly, but still in a “helping people” field). I’ve been thinking about doing some online courses at some point like you’ve been doing and I’m wondering: What program do you use for this? What’s the fee to subscribe to use it?
Thanks!
There are so many different paths that you can take when it comes to offering an online course. I think the easiest is to run a series of teleseminars (which can be done for free – just google free teleseminars) or webinars (I use the premium service with Instant Presenter but you could try out Google Hangouts. Fees depend on the number of attendees you have at the live session for Instant Presenter. Google Hangouts is free (I haven’t tried it yet though).
Go for something low-cost and easy to implement at the start so you can make sure you have an audience and you enjoy the classes. If it works well, think about investing in some more premium services. For example, I use Wishlist Member so that students can access a private area and get course material there (incl. class recordings) and I use another plugin WP Courseware to allow me to set up the structure of the classes (students tick off each completed module as they go). This isn’t super necessary, but if you think you’re doing to do more online teaching, it’s worth the small investment.
Hi Brigit,
Thanks for another relevant article – and not only for tarot readers! In my ‘day job’ as a graphic designer I’m always frustrated with the limitations of ‘time = money’. It’s a reminder to me that there are other ways to use our talents and expertise and generate a healthier work-life balance, if we just put in that initial effort.
That’s right… it can apply to anything! It’s all about turning what you know and love into something of value for your customers… and being smart about it with developing products, not just services.
Hi Brigit,
(I hope you have a sparkling summer in Spain. My oldest daughter is spending the whole summer there together with her Spanish boyfriend and their little cutestintheworld son, must visit the Sp grandparents and relatives, too. Så my thoughts and heart are lingering in Spain you see. )
Thanks for lovely , generous and inspiring words again! I do not know if you realize how marvellous and gorgeous you are, and how uplifted your readers become by the words and advices you offer! You have a very special and sweet spirit. You talk with both great authoroty (?) and lovely young-women sweetness.
Peronally I am very new to the tarot, thanks to you I created my own Tarot blog (and found out to my great suprise that I really really love writing, and the blog is a energy- booster for me). I also started a fb page where I randomly, quite often in fact, offers free tarot readings to a small group of very nice and remarkable women, who gladly let me practise on them.
If I ever take this hobby to another extend, I realize that the Scandinavian market is something. There are limitless amounts of English books, blogs and webs, but very hard to find something enjoyable in my own tounge. Therfore I try to create what I missed searching night and day on the net.
Conclusion: you are the very best Brigit! I carefully listen to your advices.
Love from the land where the sun is very busy at the moment, day and night. Bless, Sigrun
Thank-you so much, Sigrun. Your comments mean a lot to me. I am so glad to be reaching out to many people and inspiring them on creating their own business. It sounds like you have a great idea to be a key part of the Scandinavian Tarot niche! Claim it!
Hi Brigit,
I am totally inspired by your entrepreneurial spirit.
You make it sounds so easy.
This idea of creating “passive income” did struck my mind when I planned for my metaphysics business.
After hearing from you, it opens my mind and I will start taking action soon.
Regards,
85 Metaphysics
Great! Well, it can be easy and hard at the same time, I think. It takes hard work to get it up and running, but once you do, you’ll be amazed at how easy it all feels and inspired to create another product!
Greetings dear Brigit!
How very refreshing and Blessed you are and may I say inspirational as well. I took the leap of Faith to leave regularly paid work to concentrate on my healing, reading and artistic pursuits including writing…this was 8months ago. To date I am gradually expanding my horizons and gaining confidence and new friendships along the way. Opportunities do present themselves , we only need to be open to them and that is why I have commenced facilitating workshops , guided meditations where sometimes I have asked participants to draw a card from the major Acana. Once each have a card I do not interpret for them but rather encourage tem to look upon the illustration the number and suit . With this done we then enter a meditation where I guide them to find their own meaning from the card. I have designed my own Oracle set of cards and am working on a book …however was not aware how ‘simple’ ebooks could be until I read your kind and timely advice,
in gratitude and Blessings
Vanessa
So glad I could help!
I am also working on a meditations program as we speak, due to be launched in October. Meditations and guided visualisations offer such a powerful method for interacting with the Tarot cards and tapping into their deeper meaning. How lucky are we to work in this space?!