Should You Give Free Tarot Readings?

When you’re new to Tarot and developing your Tarot reading skills, one of the most common ways to build experience is to give free Tarot readings. They’re a safe way to practice your skills, explore your personal style, and gain valuable experience.

However, free Tarot readings aren’t always the best way to go. In some cases, they might end up completely draining your energy and leaving you feeling exhausted and depleted. 

In this blog post, I explore whether you should give free Tarot readings, and what you need to look out for so that you can make it a positive and sustainable experience for yourself and the people you read for. 

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How to Give Free Tarot Readings 

 There are many ways to offer free Tarot readings. 

1. Reading for friends and family can be a safe place to learn and great for getting friendly feedback. After you become more comfortable, you may want to branch out and challenge yourself to read for people you don’t know. 

1. Join a platform like the Biddy Tarot Community’s Free Tarot Readings Platform. The deal is that you offer a free reading in exchange for the opportunity to practice and receive feedback and testimonials. 

1. As part of your business growth strategy. You can either do a free reading for a group (like what I do for our over 136k subscribers in our weekly newsletter), or you can offer free 1:1 readings via email, Instagram, or Facebook. You could do this as a prize or giveaway to attract new people to your list, or you could offer free readings as a ‘trial’ of your services. 

1. Exchange readings with other Tarot readers. Perhaps you each do a free reading for one another and give feedback and support in the process.  

1. Exchange a free reading for something that’s of value to you, such as a warm meal, hand-made jewelry, or a massage. 

But here’s the thing. Giving free Tarot readings takes time and energy. As with most things, if you're investing your energy into it there needs to be some kind of return. Otherwise, you’ll find yourself feeling exhausted, depleted, and resentful.  

In the absence of money, the exchange might be experience, feedback, testimonials, leads, social shares, food, services, you name it. But ultimately, there needs to be an equal exchange of energy when you are reading Tarot for free – otherwise, it won’t be a sustainable experience for you. 

So, should you give free Tarot readings? The choice is yours, but it really comes down to where you are in your Tarot reading journey.  

If you are a Tarot Beginner… 

Yes! Giving free Tarot readings is one of the best ways to develop your skills, improve your confidence, and gain valuable feedback along the way. 

When I first started reading Tarot, I gave hundreds of free Tarot readings online and my skills and confidence went through the roof. I had clients from all around the world, with all kinds of questions and situations. The diversity meant that I become much more flexible and adaptable as a reader, and I quickly discovered where my ethical and personal boundaries lay with how I read Tarot. I was also able to try out my new skills as I learned new Tarot spreads, reading techniques, and card meanings. 

Caveat… Be careful that you do not try to be everything to everyone. The most valuable part of reading for so many different people is that you learn to appreciate where you can best help your clients (and where you cannot).  

And be mindful that not all feedback is helpful. For example, if a client has the expectation that you can accurately predict the timing of an event, but this is not part of your way of working, then you may take his one-star rating with a grain of salt. But if a client gives you constructive feedback about not just interpreting the cards but offering advice, then you might listen a little more closely. 

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The most important thing is to relax and have fun, enjoy the experience and take on the feedback that is most helpful for you. Discover who you are as a Tarot reader and try out new styles of reading as part of this experimentation phase. 

If you are considering becoming professional… 

Yes! Reading Tarot for free can be a great way to build up your experience, testimonials, and social proof.  

For every free reading, request a testimonial (and ideally, a photo) from your client so that you can share this testimonial when you become a professional Tarot reader. (Always ask for written permission to republish the testimonial and photo.) 

As you read for more people, keep a tally of how many clients you have read for. If you’re starting out as a professional reader, it can be very empowering to say that you’ve already read for hundreds of clients online. 

Be careful not to overdo it with the free Tarot readings and lose sight of the bigger goal of becoming a professional Tarot reader. It’s easy to give free readings, but it takes courage to finally ask for payment. So, set yourself a goal for how many free readings you will do (or testimonials you want to receive), and then make the leap to becoming a professional Tarot reader and receiving payment for your services. 

If you are already a professional Tarot reader… 

Giving free Tarot readings may be a good way to attract new subscribers to your email list or generate some ‘buzz’ for your business (particularly if the free reading is a giveaway with some requirement to share on social media to enter). 

However, let’s be really honest here. People who are seeking ‘free’, typically do not convert to ‘paid’. So, if you are hoping that by offering free readings, you’ll be able to convert these folks into paying customers, think again. You’re likely to end up feeling burnt out and exhausted. 

I know because I’ve been there before. Even when I was a professional Tarot reader, I offered free readings, thinking that it would be a great way to attract potential new clients. But when I offered a more in-depth reading at a nominal fee, these ‘free’ clients quickly disappeared and I was left feeling like I had invested a whole lot into not much.

The exchange just wasn’t there because I already had developed the experience necessary and had the testimonials, and instead, I wasn’t getting much else from the process. (And let’s be honest, while I love giving Tarot readings, there comes a time when you can’t just do it for the love of it.) 

So, should you give free Tarot readings?  Ultimately, it depends on where you are on your Tarot journey. If you’re at the beginning, then giving free Tarot readings is an invaluable way of improving your skills and boosting your confidence. However, if you're already a professional Tarot reader, you might want to think more strategically about whether free readings will actually help your business or not. 

Not sure what kind of Tarot reader you are? Take the FREE Tarot Reader Style Quiz right now and unlock insights that will help you choose your next best step!