How To Bootstrap Your Tarot Business

Have you been reading tarot for a long time?  Do you have people constantly telling you how great you are?  Are you considering going into business but don’t have a business mind – or a lot of money?

You can get started on the fly with very little dough.  Here’s how:

1. You’ll need some spiffy business cards to hand out to the locals.  Can’t afford a designer?  You can design ‘em yourself and get them printed cheaply at http://www.vistaprint.com or http://www.moo.com
2. Think outside the box when it comes to an office.  You can choose to work right in your home – all you need is a small space if you are primarily phone or email oriented.  If you plan on seeing clients in your home, then a room where you will not be disturbed can work.  Can’t do it at home due to family/space/privacy issues?  How about trying your local coffee shop?  Be sure to ask the owner if this would be a problem.
3. You’ll want a phone and answering service to field calls.  If you want to protect your privacy and avoid costly business lines, get Google Voice – it will send all calls to your home or cell phone plus it will mask your private info!  I also highly recommend Skype for making calls – it’s free and will allow you to connect with clients all over the world.
4. Be sure to get an email address.  Gmail is free and it works perfectly.  Plus, there are many great benefits to Gmail – you can easily access it on the road, you can add canned responses, and more.
5. You will need a website.  Sorry, but in this modern age, everyone Googles – if you want potential customers to find you, you need to get a site up, pronto.  But it doesn’t need to cost an arm and a leg!  You can simply start a site/blog on Blogger (it’s run by Google and totally free).  I recommend buying a domain name and pointing it towards your Blogger site and selecting “masking” the url when you redirect.  This will give your free site a legit name without the blogspot.com url (you want your own branding as much as possible).
6. Customers will need an easy way to pay you.  PayPal works great but I also recommend getting Square. This genius device attaches right to your smartphone and allows you to swipe credit and debit cards.  Both PayPal and Square are FREE (but you’ll get hit with small fees for each transaction).
7. Next, you’ll need a marketing plan.  Most social media is completely free.  At the very least, set up a Facebook page and a Twitter account.  And then start promoting your bad self!
8. Lastly, start thinking like a business person and get as much education about business as possible.  Not sure where to start?  I recommend videos from Marie Forleo and Nathalie Lussier.  I follow their weekly videos religiously and always learn new things.  Always remember this: no matter what your business dilemma, someone has an answer for you – it’s simply a Google away.

If you really want to build a tarot business, it’s time to stop making excuses and get down to some serious creating.  What are you waiting for?

Blessings!

Theresa

© Theresa Reed | The Tarot Lady 2013

Want more info to get your biz off the ground properly?  Check out my Tarot Business In A Box, the all in one kit for budding tarotpreneurs.  For just a small investment, you’ll get your biz set up RIGHT the first time.