BTP46: 5 Ways to Build Your Reputation as a Tarot Reader
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It seems that everybody and their dog will read your Tarot cards for just $5 online. Or walk down the streets of Manhattan and on every corner you’ll find a Psychic Tarot Card Reader with a bright neon sign out the front.
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 stand out as a credible Tarot reader? How do you create a solid reputation?
In this podcast episode, I’m going to walk you through 5 ways you can build your reputation as a Tarot reader. Plus, there’s a free PDF download just for you!
In this Episode, You’ll Learn:
The essential must-haves to make your Tarot business a cut above the rest
How to make a stellar online web presence
How to get those to-die-for testimonials
How to design your own branding – on a dime!
The key investment to take you to the next level
Learn the must-haves you need to make your Tarot business a cut above the rest @biddytarot
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Additional Resources:
Download the Free PDF: 5 Ways to Build Your Reputation as a Tarot Reader
Biddy Tarot Certification Program
Podcast Transcript
Click Here to Read the Full MP3/Video Transcript
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:
Act like a professional
Create a professional website or shop front
Publish Testimonials and Case Studies from your best clients
Take part in accredited Tarot training programs
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.
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