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BTP42: 5 Simple Ways to Deliver a Tarot Reading Online

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When I first started doing Tarot readings online, I started by offering email Tarot readings. It was the perfect fit for me. But, email Tarot readings aren't the only way to do a Tarot reading online and they're not always everyone's cup of tea.

So today I'm going to share 5 different ways you can do a Tarot reading online. Plus, I'm going to outline the pros and cons of each method, what kind of reader it suits best and how you can get started.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

  • How I got started reading Tarot online – professionally!
  • How online readings are the perfect fit for you and your busy life
  • What you need to get started reading Tarot online today

How to pick the reading method that’s perfect for you

Additional Resources:

Podcast Transcript

Brigit: You’re listening to the Biddy Tarot Podcast, and this is Episode 42: Five Simple Ways to Deliver a Tarot Reading Online.

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 as always.

Now when I first started doing Tarot readings online, I started by offering email Tarot readings. It was the perfect fit for me, I was young and fresh faced and I really didn't want to be judged about not looking old enough or wise enough to read Tarot. And I was also studying at University so I really had to have a flexible schedule for doing client readings to fit around all my essay writing and going to class and so on. And as time went on, I started working full time and eventually had two beautiful girls and in both of these cases, email Tarot readings continued to be the perfect fit for me as I needed a way to read for other's professionally but really in my own time and with that possibility of being interrupted every now and then.

But I want you to know that email Tarot readings aren't the only way to do a Tarot reading online and they are not always everyone's cup of tea. So, today I am going to share with you five different ways that you can do a Tarot reading online. Plus, I am going to outline the pros and cons of each method and also what kind of reader it suits best and how you can get started. And that way, you can listen to these different ways to do an online Tarot reading and you can choose the one that fits you best. This is going to be a bumper podcast especially if you're thinking about becoming a professional Tarot reader online or you've recently started your Tarot business. I've also made a very special PDF download for you, which you can find over at biddytarot.com/42. You might be out and about doing a walk, putting shopping away, whatever it might be and you might not be able to write down all of these different methods. So, I've put it together into a PDF which again you can download that at biddytarot.com/42 and I'll outline the five methods that I'll talk about today. You can also get access to the transcript for this call and show notes and all the Biddy Tarot goodness over at biddytarot.com/42.

Brigit: All right, so let's get started. Now, as I said before, I'm going to show you these five different ways of doing an online Tarot reading, but I'm also going to show you a little about how you can get started, what the pros and cons of each are and who this kind of method is best suited to.

So, let's start with my personal favorite, which is the email Tarot reading. So what is it? Well, an email Tarot reading is basically where you would have someone online, they buy a reading with you and they send you a contact form or an email that says: “Hey, here's my name, my date of birth and this is my question, all right go and do a Tarot reading for me.” And as the reader, you can do that Tarot reading at any time really as long as it's in the time that you said that you would deliver that reading and you can type out the reading in say a word document or even a Google Docs, some readers like to do the reading and then take a photo of the actual card layout and attach that into the reading as well. And then you can easily PDF the reading and send it to your client via email. And what I typically like to do, because it's kind of like very one-way interaction, is I like to give my clients the opportunity to ask questions after the reading. Of course, if it means drawing another card then that is another reading, but I certainly encourage my clients to say: “Ok, I didn't quite understand this card, what does that mean?” or “Here's a little bit more information, would that, does that sort of add a different angle to the reading?”

I think with the email Tarot readings it's also really important to engage with your client up front and make sure that you’re on the same page with the reading. So, for example, if someone asked me: “When will I meet my future husband?” that's not necessarily a question I feel confident answering purely because I do not believe in exact timing of events in the future, I think it has a lot to do with free will and the actions that you take. So, in that sense, talking with, emailing with your client before you do the reading to make sure that you’re on the same page, it's really important. And I'm also often asking the client things like: “What's your desired out come here, what is it that your really want to have happen?” Because that's how we are gonna sort of frame the reading as if how you can achieve that desired outcome. And I just like to also get a photo as well along side the reading, just so I can get a sense of who this person is and get that kind of energetic connection.

Let's talk about the pros of doing an email Tarot reading. Well, definitely the most obvious thing here is that you can do the reading whenever it suits you as the reader. You're not committed to turning up at a specific time, and it's not ideal, but if you do get interrupted midway through doing the reading, then you can come back at a later time. It's that sort of flexibility, certainly if you got young kids then or a demanding schedule then that can certainly be a benefit.

Of course, even when I was doing email Tarot readings I would still make sure that I had the time and space to really give it my full attention. There are a couple of times when I might have done it, I was doing it on the train, going into work and sort of half of it at the start of the day and then half on the way home. Not ideal, I wasn’t able to give it my best attention, even though you have that freedom and flexibility with doing the reading when it suits you, you also want to make sure that you are giving it the right attention as well.

The other pro with doing an email Tarot reading is that the client actually has a written record of the reading and I think this is really, really important because something, when I've been a client and I've gone to see a reader, particularly in a face to face, reading I know that I've got these filters on, and I'm often only hearing the information that makes sense to me at that point in time. But if I do take a recording of the reading and listen to it later, I start to realize like: “Oh, here's all this other information that didn't make sense to me then but it does now.” And so if you think of an email Tarot reading, it's very clear about what the message is in that reading, because as a reader you've outlined it very clearly in writing. And so then your client can refer back to that reading at any time and I think that can be really helpful. Yeah, it's definitely very helpful.

I guess sometimes the only down side to having that written record to that reading is that sometimes clients can read into that in particular ways and you do have to be mindful of the words that you're choosing. Sometimes you might use a word that is sort of more lighthearted for you, not really thinking about it you just write a word, and that could actually be a trigger word for the client. So you just have to be wary of how you're using your language, make sure that things are clear and, not sort of gray area kind of writing.

The final pro of an email Tarot reading, is that you can kind of protect your identity, if that's important to you. Certainly when I was starting to read Tarot, I was literally about 20, 21 and I did not look like your average Tarot reader, especially being so young, and so for me because I was sort of had a bit of doubt or I was a little bit anxious about people maybe judging me, I decided that I could just could be online but no one would have to see me and that would be a good thing. So, that might be relevant for you if perhaps you're working a corporate job and you don't want people to see who you are. It's not that you are doing anything dodgy, it's just that you want to keep your identity separate. So, doing email Tarot readings can help that.

Ok, so let's talk about the cons, the sort of not so good parts of doing email Tarot readings. You really need to be able to trust your intuition. So, you don't have that advantage, that I think that you get in a face to face reading where you can see the client's responses and you can see if their engaged or not, you don't have that opportunity to ask questions as you go. “Did that resonate with you? Oh, good it did, ok, well let's keep going into this.” You really, really have to trust your intuition and work that intuitive muscle to make sure that you're delivering a great reading. I've often been in a position where I'm like: “Whoa, this reading is going down like one very specific track,” and I'm thinking: “What if I'm wrong? No, I'm feeling it so let's just keep going.” So, I've had to really, really trust my intuition with email readings.

Also there are some limitations on how you can connect with the client. So for me I do love doing co-creative kind of readings, where it's me and the client creating this reading together and I'm really holding space for the client to make some personal explorations about a situation, not just me saying this is what's going to happen. So, there are some limitations in an email Tarot reading because it is kind of one-way communication at any point in time but there's some ways to get around that. So, when I'm writing out an email Tarot reading, I'll make sure that I'm asking questions throughout that reading, and it might also be like adding in a few journaling prompts or things that you want the client to reflect on a little bit more. You could even set an activity or a bit of homework, some spiritual homework to do after your reading. And that way your getting a little bit more engagement with your client versus just saying here's the reading, there we go, all done.

And finally, you do need to be quite a fast typist, I've known some folks who've given email Tarot readings a go but their like one-fingered typists and their like: “But it's taking me two hours to do a three card reading.” Oh, goodness maybe this is not for you, so if you are a fast typist then email readings might be just right. I can certainly whiz over the keyboard and bash out two thousand words in under an hour in a reading, so for me it works really, really well. But if you’re a little bit slower on the keyboard, you might get some speed typing lessons or you might look at some different ways of doing readings

So given those pros and cons, let's have a quick chat about who the email Tarot readings are best suited for. So, I think that it really suits folks or readers who have kids or other commitments in their life. Where they do need that flexibility in their schedule and who may potentially be interrupted, of course you don't want that to impact your engagement with the client. So, email readings are the best if you're at risk of being interrupted.

I also think email readings are great for readers who can type fast, of course these practical things really do matter. And who are very good written communicators, so for me language and communicating through writing works very well and I feel very confident in that way, but maybe, let's say if you were a reader who had English as a second language, you might communicate better by speaking than writing or typing. Or maybe, I don't know, maybe it might just be a personal preference that writing isn't really your thing but speaking might be much easier. So just be aware of that.

And then, finally, it really does suit intuitive readers who feel confident about their intuition. It is like, intuition is a muscle so you do have to keep working on it and building it up over time so you might start your email Tarot readings with a little bit of anxiousness about your intuition but over time you'll notice that it just gets better and better and again these kinds of readings are perfect for developing your intuition. So, that's it for the email Tarot readings, you might be listening to that and going: “Yeah, I could probably do that, that sounds right up my alley.” Or you might be thinking: “Not really my thing, what else do you got?”

So, let's move on to the second way of delivering a Tarot reading online, and that is to do an audio reading. So, what is this? Well, it's a reading where you simply record it, just the audio, so not a video, but just the audio of you speaking your way through a reading. It's also another, like more of a one-way interaction so it's almost like what I'm doing right now, which is just talking into a microphone, quite simply and you might have your cards laid out in front of you and you just speak your way through that reading. You can easily record a reading on your mobile device, for example, like on your iPhone, it's really easy to make a recording on your iPhone. And you could also use some free software like Audacity, which you can just download online and in fact that's exactly what I'm using right now for this podcast. You can then, I mean, it's pretty easy, you record it, you can then save it as an mp3, you can reduce the file size if you need to, whatever it takes. Then just upload that audio reading to Google Drive or Drop Box and then you can share the link to the reading via an email to your client. And same kind of thing, you would have your client pay online and then maybe send you an email with their information. You know maybe if you're really going along with the audio theme, you might have an opportunity of the client to record their voice as well when their sending in their request for the reading, that could be kind of fun. So a few different options there.

So, let's talk about the pros of an audio reading. Same kind of thing as it is for an email reading, you can do the reading whenever it suits you, but in this case, you don't really want to be interrupted. Sure you can probably edit it out, you could stop halfway and then come back to it but it's going to be a little bit more obvious to the client that you've had a little bit of a break in between your reading. Ideally you want to have that time and space where you can do a reading where you're not going to have your kids screaming in the background, that's kind of hard in this house, because that's happening most of the time, except during school hours. Which is obviously is how I'm doing this podcast there is some time where it's quiet here. But you just have to make sure that you've got that time available to you.

I think also with the audio readings, when you're speaking, it can actually be a lot easier and faster to verbalize a reading to speak a reading out and I've noticed this with out Tarot students as well. It's one thing to sort of write down the reading but when students start to say a reading out loud, something shifts a little bit more and I think interpreting the cards can often be a lot easier when you speak through them. So again, you do need to be quite confident with your speaking and if we're thinking of English as a second language, it may be where you are, you have a strength, or it could also be where you feel that maybe it's not your strength. Maybe you’re still working through English as a spoken language and so you might actually not do an audio reading, completely up to you of course.

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Again, you can protect your identity so you're not having to show your face in an audio reading and that might be important to you if your managing a corporate career or something else where you don't want to have other people recognize you as a Tarot reader. And then finally the client has a recording of the reading, and if you really like you could do a bit of value-add in your service, you could do the audio reading and then hire a transcriptionist to transcribe the reading into a word document. And that way they could also have a written record of the reading.

Ok, so what is some of the down sides to doing audio Tarot readings, well you do need to trust your intuition, again, so similar to what we talked about with email Tarot readings because you're not getting that instant feedback from your client. Again, there's some limitations on how you can connect with the client, although I kind of find that one thing is to write but then when you're actually listening to someone, if you think of it from the client's prospective, they may feel more connected to you as they are hearing your voice and their hearing your intonation, your tone of voice, your volume, all those kind of things, might actually make it feel more of a connected reading then say and email Tarot reading, that's something important to think about.

You also need to have a mic and reasonably good sound quality, thought I find it's ok using the built in mic and the same with your laptop but it does pay just to get, I think you can pay like $50.00 on, I use an, what is it, 802020 mic, could have that wrong, I'm just trying to see if there is anything on the mic that's telling me what it is, no. And also with the iPhone you can use a Rode Lapel mic, which is really handy, you can just pop that on to your shirt or your top and it records straight into the phone and then you get a much better quality sound. So it can be worth investing in, and of course if you're doing this professionally that can be a tax deduction as well.

Ok, so who is this good for? Well definitely readers who are good verbal communicators. If you feel confident talking and as I think actually, it's all personal style, but I think if you can remain relatively succinct as you're talking, that's a good thing. I know that some folks find if they're feeling a little nervous they might use a lot of words to describe one concept but you might look at how can you be a little more succinct with your reading and the message that you want to convey. And of course, you might already feel comfortable in that space in which case this is perfect for you. It's also well suited to intuitive readers, again because you're not getting that immediate feedback.

All right, let's move on to our third method, which is doing a reading via video. And I'm not talking about a live video, like Skype, that will be our fourth method, I'm talking more about just recording yourself, doing the reading with a webcam or a video camera of some sort and the audio obviously. Most laptops and computers do have a webcam built in, I'm on a Mac, so I just use Photo Booth to shoot a video. You can get free software online to shoot videos, you can shoot a video on your phone again and have a lapel mic or just do it straight into the phone. If you do use a phone I suggest getting a tripod or putting your phone somewhere it's not in your hand, because that can make people feel a little bit sick with all the movement. And so you can shoot the, you can record the reading, and it might be you just sitting there going: “Ok, well this is your question here is me shuffling the cards.”

And then they can see that and then you might lay out the cards, maybe use the video to show the cards that were laid out and then you can go through that reading. And I think the really nice thing about this is, it's a lot more personable, they get to see you as well as hear your voice and so on, so it's kind of like a live reading but you've got the advantage, again, that you can do the reading when it suits you in your own time, you're not dedicated or committed to a specific time to meet.

Of course you don't want to be interrupted during a video reading, yes, you can edit it out but it doesn't, you know it's a little bit patchy not as easy as the email reading. Oh, and once you do finish your video again, you can use software to reduce the size and then upload to Google Drive or Dropbox and share that link to your client via email. Nice and easy. You do want to make sure that you don't share it on YouTube, don't think: “Oh, I'll just post it on YouTube.” Even in the private version I think it's a little bit dodgy. Especially when your dealing with sensitive information in a Tarot reading, so I suggest using something more like Dropbox or Google Drive just to help with the security.

Ok, so back into the pros, we talked about you can do the reading when it suits you, providing you won't be interrupted, it can also be faster and easier to verbalize a reading so same with the audio reading, you create a more personal connection with your client and again the client has a recording of the reading and if you wanted to create a written version, you totally could, just by hiring a transcriptionist. I reckon it might cost you, well ok, it all depends what your pricing is for your readings but it might cost you about $20.00 to have somebody to write up that reading for you.

Ok, so the downsides of a video reading again you do need to be able to trust your intuition, it's not really a downside but just something to be aware of. You do need equipment, so in this case you need a good mic and a webcam. Most of that is pretty much built into your devices already so I wouldn't stress out too much about, oh I need to get this new thing. You don't, you can usually just use what you have. And of course you do need to be comfortable on video. Some people feel a little bit awkward when they're on video, in which case that might not be for you but I often suggest, like with video, it's that first video that makes you feel like: “Oh, what am I doing, I look like a doofus.” But you just get that first one done and then you feel much better afterwards. It's been the same for me with Facebook Live, it was just like, just get on that Facebook Live just once, get that out of the way and then you will be fine, and now I can't really get off the thing. I enjoy it so much.

Who is the video reading for? Well, certainly for readers who are good verbal communicators and who are comfortable on video and of course you do need to be quite intuitive and confident with your intuition.

All right, let's move on now to our fourth method which is a Skype reading. As you know, Skype enables you to do a live call with somebody anywhere in the world, for free, which is amazing, and you can be on video and audio and it's quite simple. All you need to do is install Skype and you can also use a recording software like e-cam or just google Skype, record Skype call. There's many different ways that you can record the call and that way, again, your client has a record of the call as well afterwards and that's a great value-add for your Tarot reading offers. You can also use a scheduler like Time Trade or I think it's Calendly as well, a lot of different schedulers out there because with a Skype reading you obviously do need to agree to meet at a certain time and I tell you what, there's nothing worse than having to organize via email. “Oh, are you available here? Oh, what time zone is that?” It's like all this crazy stuff, just invest in getting an online scheduler, it will just save you so much time and just a hassle and be way, way, way better. And I think Time Trade is like literally about $50.00 a year, so yeah, it's pretty minimal and it will save you a lot of time and it will also mean happy clients. And then of course, once you've finished your reading you can upload that recording again via Google Drive or Dropbox and share the link in the email.

The good things about Skype readings are that you can co-create your reading with your client. This is where it can be a lot more engaging because you can ask questions as you go. You can have more of a coaching style of reading. I think it can be really exciting when you do have that live interaction with your client. And again, you can connect real time ,which is really nice. And if you are recording the call then obviously your client has a recording which could be helpful for later on.

Now the downsides of Skype readings, you do need to schedule the appointment and you need to be able to commit to it. Now for me that's not great because I might have some family commitments and for me generally I'm not great, I just don't, I don't know what it is, I don't really like having to have appointments at set times. I quite enjoy just having that, with a reading particularly, I like to do it when I feel inspired, not when the clock says I need to turn up somewhere. But again, we're all different, right? So don't let that interfere with how you want to read the Tarot cards.

Also with a Skype reading you may be put on the spot and need to respond, so you might be in the middle of a reading and you might draw a bit of a blank and you're like: “Oh, I don't know what this is.” You don't have that luxury of just pushing that pause button or anything like that, so you do need to be ready with some strategies of what to do if you do kind of draw a blank and you're not sure about what a card means, so just be ready for that.

One thing with Skype calls is that the technical issues can be so disruptive, like I love Skype so much, I think it is such an enabler but when there are tech issues, oh my goodness it's the worst. So you might be in the middle of the reading and then you're like: “Can you hear me, you're frozen, you're stuck.” And then everything sort of breaks down and your flow, your energy can really be interrupted in the reading. So, you might just have some standard requirements that you communicate to your client before the reading and that might be make sure you turn everything else off so you get a really strong internet connection, make sure you've go the latest version of Skype, and so on.

And actually, just coming back to scheduling calls, your client might just not show up, that's the other sort of downside and that can be quite a time waster or maybe they show up 10 minutes late, 20 minutes late, can be quite frustrating. So, make sure that you set some clear expectations before the scheduled call to say, ok, anything up to five minutes, that's fine, anything beyond five minutes then we need to reschedule the call or there might be a rescheduling fee. You might have a cancelation fee, so if they cancel within 24 hours of the committed time then maybe there's no refund, something like that. You need to figure out where your boundaries are, but please make sure that's clear with your clients. Be careful about running over time and if their turning up 20 minutes late, doesn't mean you have to stay on for another 20 minutes. You might be quite clear that: “Well, this was an hour reading, so we are going to go through to the hour.” Even then if that means you've only got 40 minutes together. That's up to the client, they should've showed up on time. And then finally you do need some equipment, a mic and a webcam.

Ok, so who is the Skype reading for? Typically, it's for readers who are confident on video and confident being in front of the client. It's great for readers who have a more coaching style of reading versus a more one-way. That's said, like I consider myself more of a coaching style Tarot reader and I still get a lot out of email Tarot readings. And then finally really sort of practical element, this is for readers and clients who have reliable internet connections. So you know if maybe you're in the Philippines it might not be the best way to connect to your clients, but if you're in an area where you do have much better internet then absolutely this would be an option for you. And of course, I'm not just picking on the Philippines, I'm only thinking of that because when I was traveling there earlier this year, it's like so intermittent, the connection there.

All right our last, last method for delivering a Tarot reading online is to do it via Social media. What do I mean? Well, you could do a public reading via Facebook Live or maybe YouTube and this could work in a couple of different ways. Maybe you offer a free reading to one, like to someone in your community and on the proviso that you can publicize that reading. It's a good opportunity for potential clients to say: “Ok, well this is their style of reading, does that match him with what I'm looking for?” and so on. The alternative is that you could just do a generic reading, so for example I do the Tarot card for the week and I will publicize that via Social media. It's a very different model, right? So, before this is very much one-on-one when were doing email, audio, video, Skype readings, but this is more of a sort of a reading that's available to many people.

The advantages, potential clients can get a taste of your reading style and you can attract new potential clients by creating content from the readings. And what I mean by content is this could be part of your Social media strategy to do an example reading every week, so that you've got something there that people can refer to.

The downside is that the client that you’re working with must be willing to have their reading made public. You need to make sure that that is very, very clear and that you have their expressed permission to do so. And generally for public reading like that, you wouldn't really charge for it so that can be a downside. I mentioned it before but I'll do it again, using say YouTube for a one to one reading, I think you've got to be really mindful, it's set up as a public forum and even though you can choose private, it can be a little bit, there are other ways of sharing readings more privately.

Who's the Social media reading for? Well, readers who are really wanting to establish their business, might be you if your just early on in your online Tarot reading career. You might want to do a couple of those Facebook Live readings to build up your business. And of course it's great for readers who are confident on video and if you're not confident, just get on there, give it a go a couple of times and you will probably be confident by the end of it.

There you have it; we've got our Five Different Ways of Delivering a Tarot Reading Online. We can do it via email, we can do audio readings, we can do video readings, Skype readings and Social media.

I hope that it's been really helpful for you, again whether you're just starting out with doing online Tarot readings or maybe you've been doing readings for quite a while and you might think: ” Oh, I haven't thought of doing a say video reading.” Give it a go, see what happens and head on over to biddytarot.com/42 and you can leave comments there. So I'd love to hear if you've tried out a video reading what was it like? Or tell me a little bit about which method you prefer using for your online Tarot readings. And of course if you jump over to biddytarot.com/42 you can also download the free PDF handout with each of these five methods and you can have that as a quick reference guide if you're setting up your business or expanding your Tarot reading business.

Now if you're thinking about reading Tarot online or becoming a professional Tarot reader then make sure you check out my online training courses at biddytarot.com/courses. I'm going to show you How to Master the Tarot Card Meanings and Read Tarot with Confidence, so that you can become the Tarot reader that everybody raves about. Head on over to biddytarot.com/courses to find out more. And the best news is that you can also become a Certified Tarot Reader which is awesome for building up your reputation as the Tarot reader. It is all possible.

Again, thank you so much for listening today, it's my absolute pleasure to be in your earbuds and talking with you about Tarot. Now, next week I have a very special guest on our podcast, she is like this modern day Spiritual Guru, fashionista, amazing chick and she is talking to us about how she uses Tarot in her everyday life. You're going to love it, I'm not going to tell you who it is just yet but I know it's going to be super, super fun. Alright, so I hope to, well, I was going to say I hope to hear from you then but that's not really what I mean. I can't wait to connect wit you again soon and have an awesome week. Bye.

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