Entries from May 2008 ↓

I want ‘em!

The first issue of the Build Your Metaphysical Business Newsletter is coming! Soon! Very soon! I’m still figuring out what the publication schedule will be and all that -it’ll be a work in progress for a little while. But I do know I’ll feature a Q&A section, where I’ll be answering your questions. This means I need your questions!

You can leave questions in the comments, or email them to me at elizabeth at [domain name of this site].

As I said, the BYMB newsletter will be a work in progress. I’m thinking of making the Q&A’s newsletter-only. No matter what, however, there will be stuff in the newsletter you can’t get any other way, so definitely please sign up if you haven’t already. (Upper right hand corner of BYMB.com has the boxes for your name and email addy - just hit submit. In case you’re wondering, I repeat this every time because many folks are reading this from an RSS reader, not on the site proper!)

Anyhoo, bring ‘em on.

In other news, I need a snappy name for the newsletter. Anyone got any ideas?

A couple of weeks ago (waaay back when I started this blog - don’t know if you guys remember ) I talked about how NOT to be a commodity. That was my first mention of USP, one of the fundamentals of marketing.

USP stands for “unique selling position.” It’s the thing that sets YOU apart - the thing that answers the question, “Why should I do business with you, or have a consultation with you, as opposed to the squillion other readers out there?”

Finding your USP is the first step to reaching more people, increasing your income in a major way and yes, having more fun in your business too. So we’ll be looking at it a lot in the BYMBiverse. (I.e., the universe of BYMB - except I can’t figure out how to pronounce “BYMBiverse” - if anyone can figure it out, definitely let me know!)

I’ve never liked the term USP as it relates to metaphysical consultants. Yes, we are selling - I think we know that, and most of us are okay with that. But it doesn’t really capture the essence of what we do, does it?

Still, I hadn’t been able to think of anything better. Luckily, I didn’t have to. At the workshop, Anastasia of TarotPathways.com came up with something really cool. Check this out: Unique Service Position.

Yeah, that’s more like it.

(At least, I think that was Anastasia - someone correct me if I’m wrong!)

[This work is copyrighted material. Please visit http://www.buildyourmetaphysicalbusiness.com to claim your free 90 minute marketing brainstorming session with Tarot Pro James Wells.]

Here’s a little bit of fun for any of you who happen to be around on a Saturday - old pictures of Tarot events!

RS 2006 (who is that lovely lady next to me?):

Me and Lon (a.k.a. The Lon-inator), RS 2006:

And hang on to your bananas - it’s me and Elinor Greenberg at the New York Tarot Festival, 2002!!

That just kills me!

Ok, so 2006 isn’t exactly vintage. But y’know.

Yes, I invented the term “The Lon-inator”. I amuse myself.

(All photos courtesy of Debbie Lake!)

Yes, they’re out there! And one of the coolest things about marketing is that you get to pick ‘em.

We could talk about this all day, and then another day, but my goal with this post is to not ramble. So I’m just going to list a few strategies to get you thinking… and writing. (Get a pen and paper handy - you’ll want to jot down a few things as you go through this list.)

1. Start with who you know. Namely, your current perfect clients! Think for a few minutes about who is coming to see you now. Can you name three favorite clients? What is it about them that’s so awesome? Jot down specific attributes. Anything goes, from how they act in sessions to what they wear. Jot it all down… then go deeper. That handmade vintage playing card jewelry that one of them wears is probably indicative of a creative personality and that might be attractive to you.

2. Then move on to the wish list. In a perfect world, what would all of your clients look like? Nothing is too wild.

3. Don’t be afraid to monetize this exercise. Yes, it’s perfectly OK to say you want to work with people who can afford to pay you - and then some! How much would you like to earn for each reading/consultation? What kind of a person could pay you that fee?

4. Make a list, draw a picture. This one’s pretty self-explanatory: use the information you’re gathering to create a picture of your ideal client. It’s ok if it’s a work in progress - you can always add to your list or picture later.

5. Tell everyone you know. Once you’ve got a good idea of who you want, start talkin’. You might not know it, but I bet you’ve got a great network around you right now - friends, family, and service pros like the guy who changes your oil, the mailwoman, the guy at the deli, the drycleaner… people who have lots of contacts, some of whom might be interested in getting some guidance from you, if they only knew…

Ah, but I hear you saying, “Ask the mailman? Dude, are you kidding?” Many times we don’t want to ask for what we want because we’re worried, even subconsciously, what people will think about us. So turn it around by simply answering the squillion dollar question: what’s in it for them? That way, the focus is on them, not you.

6. Go where they go. Where do they hang out? If you want to work with, say, yoga teachers, you probably won’t find as many of them at night classes for auto mechanics as you will at, say, a school for yoga teachers. OK, that’s a snidge facetious, but you see what I mean I hope. The real question to ask is, “Who has access to the people I want to serve, and how can I get access to them?” One simple example: if you want to work with stay-at-home-moms, perhaps there’s a group or club or networking organization you can speak at or lead a workshop for.

7. Don’t be afraid to let go. Yep, I’m talking about firing clients. Those clients. This might seem completely off the wall if you’ve never considered it, let alone done it, but bear with me here. “Those clients” may be paying your rent… but they’re also sucking up your time, energy and brain cells. When you create a space, create an intention, and back it up with smart and supportive action, not once but consistently, the results are fairly easy to predict. But you need that energy to do it. Don’t be afraid to release problem clients “for the good of all.”

Those are just 7 quick strategies to get you started. Don’t worry, we’ll talk about more! In the meantime, I’d love to hear your ideas and strategies in the comments.

[This work is copyrighted material. Please visit http://www.buildyourmetaphysicalbusiness.com to claim your free 90 minute marketing brainstorming session with Tarot Pro James Wells.]

Okay, now that I’m back and I’ve talked marketing a little, here’s more on what went down at The Readers Studio!

I’ve found a couple of updates so far that are bound to be much more involved than this one will be. Debbie has a detailed four day recap, Joanna has a lovely wrap-up as well. Any others? (Keeping my peepers peeped for one from Corinne, whom I didn’t get to talk to much - dang!!)

The highlight of the weekend for me was meeting old friends and making new ones, without question. I hadn’t seen Barbara Moore since… goodness, I can’t even remember. It had been a while! And she gave me some of the very best readings of the weekend, hands down - like, sit-and-ponder-change-your-life kind of readings. Very helpful to me, indeed. And Mary Collin, UK business coach and leader of the popular Readers Studio Tarot Round The World webinar series - what a lady! You guys are in for a treat because Ms. Collin is quite the expert on marketing herself and shared some great ideas at my workshop, which I’ll be passing on to you shortly here on the blog or in the newsletter.

Also wonderful was getting to thank James Wells in person for his expert interview here on BYMB (if you haven’t nabbed it yet, be sure to sign up for the newsletter in the upper right hand corner of the BYMB homepage). And Matt Brooks! Holy smokes, Matt Brooks in the house! I’ve known Matt since the ATA days (for some reminiscences, see this post on my personal blog). And the Aeclectic peeps!

See what I mean? The Readers Studio is all about the people.

I can’t do a play-by-play ’cause it would take too long. Here are some highlights…

One of the big themes that kept coming up again and again: oracles as the antidote to what Thalassa calls “our fractured culture” - our sound-bite culture, our lack of connection to one another and the speedy dwindling of all that is Sacred-With-A-Capital-S in the dominant culture. This “fractured culture” stuff is a big theme for me (it’s something I think about a lot) but I’d never considered my work with Tarot as “subverting the dominant paradigm” or a remedy to that particular rift. Of course, it makes perfect sense. Psychics as agents of change. Definitely something to chew on.

Kevin Quigley shared an amazing 7-card spread to evaluate ourselves as readers. Check out Debbie’s post for positions and details. This was incredibly useful to me, not to mention illuminating… in that Tower sorta way, if you know what I mean. (”Wait, I do what?” “Them cards don’t lie…”) I highly recommend you check it out - I might even ask Kevin if I can pass it along it here.

Like Kevin, the highlight of Thalassa’s session for me was the spread - this one about how to move through massive change. I am very much a how-to/practical solutions kind of reader, so it resonated. (Again, Debbie’s got the deets on positions of the cards.)

The deck highlight of the weekend for me was the Bohemian Gothic, hands down. I know the BG is probably old news to everyone reading this (after all, there is that massive thread on Aeclectic), but still, I’d not yet gotten around to ordering one of my own. Well. Barbara had her silver out for the Foundation Reading (first session), and let me tell ya - I made a “do not pass go, do not collect $200″ beeline to the Tarot Garden table. It was “I cannot be without this deck for a minute longer” moment! My freebie goodie back deck was Tarot of the Thousand And One Nights, featuring Léon Carré’s splendid illustrations (not seen since a Sir Richard Burton edition of The Arabian Nights from the 20’s) - also good stuff. (And apt- I have a webcomic that’s a modern-day send-up of the Arabian Nights called Scheherazade, incidentally. It’ll be a Real Big Project someday when I have the leverage to do it right.)

It felt like I got a lot of messages this weekend, which is probably not a bad thing for a Tarot conference. From the cards I drew to what my session partners were telling me to the mid-session doo-dads (”You are POWERFUL!” on an affirmation card), it felt like the antennae were UP more than usual. Now to ponder over it all…

I’d love to hear more Readers Studio stories, so if you’ve got ‘em, be sure to leave ‘em in the comments!

Last but by certainly no means least, here’s the link to my pictures on Flickr - I’ve added a few since I posted last.