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  • Tips For Newbie Spiritual Entrepreneurs And Tarot Readers

    When you are working to start and grow your spiritual business or tarot reading business, you need to know a few things. Growing a spiritual business can be exhilarating, but it can also be hard work. Far too often, people give up before they really even put effort into their spiritual business or tarot business. Here are some tips that will help you understand that you aren’t alone, that your efforts will be worth it — if you put the effort in, that is!

    I want to let you know that this list is honest. It’s not airy fairy and it’s not Law of Attraction based. It is the real deal. Far too many people will tell you to wish until it comes true. Well, while you are wishing, here are some things you should know…

    You are going to have to work. 

    Sorry to say it, but you will have to put some hours into growing your spiritual business. Blog posts don’t write themselves. Podcasts and videos don’t appear out of the clear blue. You can spend all the time you want journaling and wishing, but if you don’t put in the effort, you won’t make a profit or grow your audience.

    This is one reason it is so important for you to LOVE what you do, so much so that you could write and talk about it all. day. long. to anyone who will listen, up to and including your partner or your pet. My dogs learn all about symbolism when we go for our walks, and they help me to get focused on what I want to talk to my audience about.

    It’s going to take time.

    This is one thing I see over and over again — people expecting that they will write a blog post or two, put up a Facebook page and an Instagram account, and WHOOSH — the money will start rolling in. When it doesn’t, they get sad and quit.

    Patience, Grasshopper. It WILL happen, but it WILL take time, energy, and focus. Your business will grow day-by-day and with loving care from you. Nurture it. Give it love and time. Cut out weeds, prune when needed, make adjustments, and it will grow.

    Shout it from the rooftops

    “If you build it, they will come.” Even Kevin Costner got a big wakeup call when he followed the advice he was given by Spirit. It wasn’t just about building it, but also about letting people know it was there. So, share your blog posts, videos, and readings with anyone who is interested in seeing them. Keep sharing. And then share some more.

    You can and should share your blog posts and videos multiple times — that is totally OK. The algorithms limit who sees your posts to like 10% of those posting, and then they have to be online that day to see what you broadcast.

    Create great content and share it all around!

    Also, the more you talk about and share your business, the more eyes you’ll have on it. Once your audience grows, people will start sharing your blog posts and videos and recommending your readings. Encourage them to share your spiritual based business and don’t let their sharing stop you from sharing.



    I can share it for you if you want me to. Let’s chat to see kind of help you need for your spiritual business.

    You do you.

    There are millions of spiritually based businesses out there — and the difference between what you are doing and what they are doing is 100% personality. You know the old adage: your vibe attracts your tribe — well, get out there and vibe it up!

    The thing is, when you aren’t being you, people feel it. It dulls your work and, on a subconscious level, steers people away from you to someone who is more real and honest. YOU are a totally spectacular part of your spiritual business — your personality, your thoughts about different topics, your journey, your unique take on things. Don’t hide that from the world. Embrace it and let the world get to know you!

    Speaking of honesty.

    It’s the best policy. I’ll tell you, there are charlatans and scammers GALORE on the market. Don’t be one of them. It cheapens you and your work and it cheapens our collective work as a whole. It makes people distrust all healers and readers. Don’t be the person who sows that kind of energy into our space.

    Don’t rely on unicorns.

    What is a “unicorn”? A unicorn is a client who spends bank on your services, day in, day out. Someone who is addicted to your readings and hands a huge chunk of their decision making process over to you. The bad thing is, these people are likely not making the changes or doing the internal work, but putting all of their hope into you saying or doing some magical thing that will bring them love or fortune. When the results they are hoping for don’t come to them, they’ll be asking for a refund. In full. For all the money they’ve paid you through the months and years.

    I have seen this happen more than once. It’s not good. If you find someone becoming overly reliant on you for advice, healing, or spell-casting, it’s time to draw a line in the sand and let them wing it until something changes in their lives. It might be hard to turn down the money, but you don’t want to nurture unhealthy, codependent relationships with clients.

    Boundaries will save your sanity.

    Trust me on this one. I’ve been “overly available” for clients before. I’ve let people continue to contact me after knowing (and telling them) they should see a psychiatric counselor or just give things time to unfold. I’ve let people spend my time looking things up they could Google themselves.

    People are impatient and the internet — especially things like Facebook Chat and What’s App — gives people far too much access to your personal space and time. They want to get you to do freebies or they want to get around paying or doing the work themselves. I’ve been down this road before, and it led me to burn out and resentment.

    People will value your time if you value your time by setting boundaries and being strict with them.

    Get a scheduling application, like Acuity, and do not allow your clients to PM you or just reach out to pick your brain. Make them continue to work with you over the chatlines or through a pre-paid app. Make them pay for their appointments BEFORE you send an email or spend an hour with them (you can send a PayPal invoice right through your Facebook messenger). Trust me on this one.

    I’ve talked to many other readers and healers who got scammed out of hundreds of dollars by clients — and I have as well. Keep firm boundaries and honor them, or your clients won’t honor them or value your time.

     

    Speaking of value, charge your worth.

    This might rub sandpaper on the nerves of many a generous and “5D” spiritual entrepreneur, but we are still living in a 3D world and we still have stuff to pay for. Our businesses have real expenses, like computers, internet access, phone lines, new decks, training seminars, electricity, an office space (or home office), gas, parking, rent, etc. — and we have needs (food and clothes) and desires, too.

    If you want to be a full-time psychic, tarot reader, or healer, you have to charge a rate that will cover your expenses and pay for your living costs, food, clothes, and the things you want in life. If you don’t want to charge for your time, then go get a job and do your spiritual work as a hobby, because it isn’t a business. I know that sounds harsh, but it is true.

    Don’t be shy about asking what you truly think your readings or sessions are worth. Factor in things like drive time, booth rent, parking, and hourly rates. Be confident that you will find people who will pay what you ask. Put your prices on your site in plain view!

    And don’t base your business on the lowest common denominator. Be valuable, not cheap. There are a million other people in other situations who might charge less. That’s OK. Charge more, but make it worth it.

    Don’t half-ass it.

    I hear about people who are running multiple instances of hotlines on their computers at once, chatting with multiple people at one time. Whaaaaat? How can you get a good spiritual connection with several people at once? That sounds like a barroom conversation, and who knows if you are getting crossed lines.

    I’ve seen people say they type slowly during the “free three minutes” when they work on chatlines or just copy/pasting readings. C’mon now! And courses — don’t just regurgitate what you’ve seen/heard other people doing. And DON’T STEAL.

    And, while the occasional typo or misspelled word can slip by without harming your reputation (even if the Grammar Nazis point it out), sloppy, hard to read, and low-quality posts and content will definitely harm your credibility. We all start somewhere and we get better as we go, but consistently churning out messy, mediocre, and just boring content won’t likely do anything good for you.

    You are building a reputation for yourself with each and every action and encounter you have. Make your reputation speak for you in a good way.

    Ask for testimonials.

    This is kind of like reputation building. People LOVE to see that you have helped other people. They want to see a name and a picture of a person with a testimonial.

    Make sure you ask for the testimonial from someone who has mentioned they loved working with you or said your healing session was heavenly. Also, ask if you can use the person’s name and picture on your site. Most of the time, the people who are happy with your work will be happy to provide you with not only a little paragraph of praise, but also a nice picture to use on their site.

    Check out my Praise Page for a look at how this is done.

    One thing I have to say here, though, is how icky it is when you tell people that you will give them free minutes for or ask for a 5-star rating at the beginning of a reading. When I was doing QA at the psychic hotline I worked at, that drove me NUTS! Don’t waste a person’s time — especially if you are charging like $9.99 a minute — asking them to inflate their opinion of you. Do a good job and the 5-star ratings will accumulate.

    Don’t freak out over bad reviews.

    Not every review you get will be 5-stars. It’s OK. If you are consistently doing your best, you’ll still have some person who won’t like what you said. Don’t let it affect your energy or your confidence. Just shake it off and move on.

    Click here to read more Don’t Freak Out About Bad Reviews.

    BUT, if you are getting a lot of bad reviews, it might be telling you something. A bunch of bad reviews might mean that you need to polish your skills, take time to type better, or sorry to say, do something different. A bad rating from time to time is authentic. If you are getting all bad ratings, then you need to change something.

    Hang out with people who are a level up from you, get a mentor, or join a mastermind.

    I cannot tell you how much I have learned over the last few years by participating in some great online courses, like the Sparkling Biz Academy, The Conquer Club, and BSchool. So. Much. Good. Stuff. And the people I’ve met??? Phenomenal!

    When you are working on building your business, it’s a great idea to join a group of people who are also working on building their own businesses, along with hiring a mentor who can look after your specific needs and keep you motivated. The conversations you’ll have and support you’ll receive go a loooong way in helping you learn the ropes, discover tips and tricks and go from zero to 60 in a way shorter time than it would take if you did it all by yourself.

    And last, but not least…

    Set your spiritual business up as a business from the start.

    My sweet Lamb, your business IS a business, so let it be just that. Businesses earn money – they function to profit. Businesses have business hours, products or services, payment options, savings for paying taxes, organized receipts, business accounts, separate cash flows from personal finances, etc.

    You want to realize this from the get-go so that you set things up properly. Let me tell you, I got whopped with a $2K tax bill that I am making payments on because I didn’t put the money aside to pay my taxes. It happens.

    It’s just best to be organized, keep good records (and your receipts), charge money, and start learning the biz stuff from the get-go. It will help you create good habits right from the start and also avoid costly and stressful mistakes down the road.

    Ultimately, even though there is a lot to keep in mind, running a spiritual business can be fun and rewarding. I just shared my experiences with you all to give you tips about what I’ve discovered while running my spiritual business.

    Do you have a tip to share with us? Please feel free to comment and let us know what your best advice about starting up a spiritual business or a tarot business.

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  • 3 Reasons You Should Fire Your Client

    Firing a client is a really scary thought to many of us sensitive and spiritual entrepreneurs. We are here to serve. We’ve been called upon to help others with our work. We rely on our clients for our financial well-being. But really, we can’t expect others to heal themselves and stand up for their best interests if we, ourselves, are not. There are times when we need to fire a client.

    1) Rude or abusive behavior. Lord knows we don’t need to cater to anyone who treats us like poo. For some reason, there are those clients – especially when working on chat lines – who are abusive to the people they are turning to for help.

    Abusive behavior can be anything from comments on your race or background to demanding that you read for free to making unwanted, explicit comments toward you. If a client makes you feel uncomfortable, then you have every right to let that person go. Standing your ground might feel a little bit uncomfortable, but that momentary discomfort is far better than continuing to put up with a person’s abusive words.

    2) Not valuing your time and services. Clients who show up late, pay on their own schedule (not yours), or expect you to drop everything to cater to their needs are clients you should fire. Ultimately, people who aren’t valuing your time and energy won’t value the services or advice that you give them. Of course, if the person is doing what it takes to work out a payment schedule or is willing to wait for an appointment (or your time), that is one thing. Continuing to make demands on your time while having outstanding invoices or trying to push their projects to the front of your to-do list is quite another. See how the client makes you feel and go with your gut.

    3) You’re not a good fit. This is one of the harder reasons to fire a client, or to pass on that client in the first place, but it is totally important to really be honest with yourself and the people you work for. If you can’t help a person, then you can’t help them – and it’d be better to refer someone who could help rather than hanging on and muddling through and hoping.

    It’s like this: if your client needs a manicure and goes to a hairstylist and asks for a manicure. Sure, she’d likely get a manicure – maybe even a nice polish change and some cuticle cream. But a nail technician would be the better fit for the job and would likely do a much better, more thorough job.

    This was one thing that I struggled with at the beginning of my career. I wanted to be a reader, healer, and business mentor for everyone who came knocking. As time progressed, though, I realized that my gifts were in helping newbie business owners, helping polish writing, and doing some totally honest readings for those who wanted to hear the truth and make transformative changes in their lives. Believe me, this net doesn’t catch everyone out there – not all of the spiritual business community or all of the people who need an editor or a tarot reading. But, it describes those I can help the most. And honestly, it’s best if I pass on or refer those who need something other than what I offer.

    As you know, your time and energy are important to conserve and protect – especially if you are a sensitive or spiritual business person. Cutting clients who just aren’t a good fit is one of the best ways to ensure that you have enough energy (and avoid frustrations and negativity) so that you can do your best work.

    What do you think about firing clients? Have you ever had to fire a client before? Feel free to leave a comment about either keeping a client who wasn’t a great fit or freeing yourself from a client who wasn’t.

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  • Just For Today, Do Not Worry

    When you are attuned to Reiki, one of the first things you learn is the Five Principles of Reiki. The first principle is:

    Just for today, do not worry.

    Not the easiest thing to do for someone who jokingly says her middle name is Worry.

    Worry is everywhere, from the well-meaning advice from your parents designed to keep you alive to the news warning you about chemicals and bad guys everywhere to internal dialogues and concerns about raising kids and taking care of yourself to… well – EVERYWHERE!

    Today is a day when I am trying to avoid worry, too. I am going to the doctor to have a tumor I discovered on my shoulder evaluated and schedule surgery. It’s hard NOT to worry about it. There are so many unknowns and I have to wait for more information.

    I’m trying not to worry about it, though. There isn’t anything I can do about it now. Worrying won’t help.

    I am taking proper steps in having the tumor evaluated and removed ASAP, and I will do what I need to do to resolve it, ultimately.

    But this brings up a lot of other thoughts: Should I do more to avoid issues in the future? Should I change my diet? Should I do more yoga or alter my lifestyle? Is Paleo better or should I follow a vegan diet? Low carb or low-fat? Or maybe a juice fast? Will that affect my metabolism? What if it’s cancer? U.G.H.

    And this tumor is the tip of the “worry iceberg” for me. I have 3 children to worry about, a husband who is a pilot and who is often out of town, family relationships, money, work, success, getting clients, writing blog posts…

     

    Just for today, do not worry.

    It seems impossible to me sometimes.

    The other day, as fears and concerns were rolling around my brain, I remembered my Reiki teachings.

    I stopped for a moment.

    I thought about worry and how that affects me and my mental state – how it blocks me from fully living in the moment.

    Do I really need to worry?

    I mean, I could allow myself to spiral down into the abyss of always fearing everything or I could be hopeful – even trusting.

    I don’t really need to worry about 99% of the things that I worry about.

    What if I replaced my worry with something more positive? What if I changed my mindset from concern to hope? What if I let go of what I can’t control and do something about what I can?

    What if I trusted the people around me? What if I just lived in this moment without projecting fears into the future?

    My present moments might be a lot more enjoyable without worry – and I would be happier as a result.

    So, just for the moment, I will not worry. Much. Hopefully.

    What do you do to change your mindset from worry to inspiration or action? Please feel free to share your ideas and tactics in the comments below.

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  • Imbolc Celebration – My First Time

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    I don’t know if it is the fact that I am older or the fact that I am really working on grounding and becoming more connected to the Earth, but I FEEL the changes and intuit the meanings behind the holidays that are celebrated in the Pagan community.

    For example, this year I allowed myself to somewhat hibernate during the winter. I didn’t have the same expectations for myself to always be doing and creating and moving forward. I took the time to just rest (mostly, if an entrepreneur anyone with 3 kids and a dog can really rest).

    It helped, too – at least it seemed to! I actually enjoyed going out with my boys in the cold. I dragged them around on their sleds and had a blast with them, watching them WHOOSH down the little hill at the edge of our village.

    And I don’t know if it was my plans for a trip to Florida that made this winter somewhat tolerable for me. I have some sunshine to look forward to – warm days and beaches. That might have helped to buoy my mood.

    Either way, I’ve felt a stirring in the last few days – a sense that I wanted to start DOing again. That I was done with BEing and with the rest. It was like I was ready to wake up after my winter slumber.

    Then I read about Imbolc, which is today! Imbolc is a Gaelic/Celtic holiday dedicated to the Goddess Brigid and the return of the Sun. It’s midpoint in the Winter, which means that warm weather is on its way. (Read more about it here: Imbolc) It’s when the seeds start feeling a little bit like rousing from their slumber deep in the Earth. When the plants and trees start to get buds, when the tulips and schneeglocken start to blossom.

    Basically put, Imbolc is “It is the day that we celebrate the passing of Winter and make way for Spring.” Gods and Goddesses know that I am ready for that!

    As my practice and connection to the Earth is growing now, I am going to celebrate this holiday in a traditional way. I’ll get a red candle, a white candle, and an orange candle. I’ll adorn my altar in the appropriate colors (red, white, orange), and also put some white flowers out. I’ll use cinnamon and frankincense (rosemary and myrrh are also mentioned in the article and can be used), and I will get some freshly fallen snow to use in my ritual. I’ll give thanks for feeling good over this winter. I’ll give thanks for the freshly fallen snow, for the opportunity to rest and enjoy the winter with my children. I’ll ask for blessings of fertility and abundance in the coming year. I’ll thank the Gods and Goddesses for all that has been and all that will be. And I will deepen my bond with the energy of the Earth, the seasons, the Wheel of the Year.

    Blessed be.

    Sue Ellis-Saller

     

     

    Do you celebrate Imbolc? Feel free to share any rituals or even blog posts that you have written or read about the subject in the comments below!

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  • My New Year’s Day Tarot Card – Four of Air

    What does the Four of Air mean to me in the year 2017?

    It is easy for us all to put a LOT of energy and excitement into New Year’s Day! It’s good to bring that excitement into each and every day of our lives, no matter what the date!

    Right now, I am marching into the New Year with some big goals – one being to blog daily about cards and work more to share my journey with others. I want to share that with you!

    When I work with the cards, it’s hard for me to deny the connection that I have with them – the way exact notions that I was just pondering come up when I pull a card of the day for myself. 

    Today was no different.

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    Four of Air from Dreams of Gaia Tarot Deck, ©Ravynne Phelan published by Blue Angel

    One of the concepts I was thinking about this morning (well, over the past few weeks, actually) was organization of time, of energy, of my physical space. Making room, simplifying routines for the best outcomes, etc. And the card that I pulled from the Dreams of Gaia Tarot Deck, the Four of Air, fit EXACTLY with this theme!

    Now, generally speaking, the Four of Air/Swords tarot card means that you should take the time to rest and relax. It indicates that a hiatus is necessary or in store for you.

    The Dreams of Gaia deck often offers expanded thoughts on the meanings of the cards.

    The Four of Air in the Dreams of Gaia Tarot Deck asks a person to look at his or her habits and home to see how he or she can maximize time and space to feel most comfortable, relaxed, and successful. It encourages us to get organized, to work on creating better habits, and to better manage our time.

    This concept is HUGE for me this year, as I have vowed to bring myself back into my “real world space” – back into my home and body – and to drastically cut down on the things I do that are keeping me from what I truly want to do! When I spend too much time randomly scrolling through Facebook or arguing politics, I don’t make time (make being the key word here) to hang out with my kids, to paint, to make my home a warm and comforting environment. When I have to spend an hour looking for a document I need, it frustrates me to no end and totally takes time that I could have spent enjoying life and doing other things.

    My disorganization and using computer time and “work” to avoid dealing with life are issues for me.

    So, pulling the Four of Air from the Dreams of Gaia Tarot deck as my card for New Year’s Day 2017 is epic. It fully embodies a large portion of my goals for the year. It hit right on target.

    I see this as the Universe’s way of underscoring what I can accomplish if and when I get organized and use my time wisely.

    Would you like for me to pull a card for you for the New Year?

    Just pop your name into the comments below and I’ll do a one card New Year’s reading just for you!
    (one card per person, through January 15th, 2017)

    Blessed be!

    Sue Ellis-Saller

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