if you go pro, do you adverstise to friends/family/

HOLMES

hi guys.

at powwow,/fairs I been at,my family members yells to their friends, and distant cousin to get their readings.

on family member started a facebook group for me but invited only family/friends to it.
I don't like it , mostly because I hate it when a friend spams me with their job "get a car now" for example.

I think starting words of mouth customers came before the internet, where we had to be worried about the crazies harassing us in person for we could advertise in local phones.

now we live in a world where a complete name, and numerologist can do a profile on you, astrology just needs birthdate, and name and they can do a complete astrology profile of you.
let alone a nutter can find you by doing a search.

let me share a personal story here,,
there was a counselor , who I knew in high school so I figured we were friends. so I had an appointment couple of years ago, but didn't know who was my counsellor. so I looked her up online just by her name and profession.
and her email was right there on the public website.
so I emailed her to ask the question.
she contacted me back and ask "how did I get the email " and I said it is right there on the website.
her co worker contacted me and we talked about who was my counsellor , and said she was worried about me getting her email .
I said again "her email is right there on website. "
so the point I am making is that it is easier then ever to get ones email if they were looking for it.

and so , it is better to reach out to those we don't know. mostly because my friends/family know I read the tarot or should that is. so If they wanted a reading they know how to reach me.
I just dont' want to spam friends and lose friends I think.

any of you guys prefer to advertise soley to family and friends , hoping they can bring someone they meet for a reading ?
 

Disa

Hi, Holmes.

I get what you are saying about not wanting to spam them, and about the idea of unsavory characters finding us. I don't specifically advertise to family and friends. The family and friends I do know pass the word around and that helps a little.

I did once send one email to multiple people I do know offering a free reading, life coaching, or reiki session with the hopes of letting some of them know I do these things and hoping to open up a discussion or perhaps get them to recommend someone who was in need of these things. Quite a few took me up on the free reading, not on the other services.

I'm not much of a salesperson, and I don't really like a lot of attention, so I just do what I do and when the opportunity presents itself I'm here if people need me. I guess I'm more into all of this for helping people than making money since I do have a full time job. I do need to get better at talking about what I do, but I don't want to seem pushy. There must be a middle ground somewhere :)
 

Achlys

I've tried the whole online shop and advertisement thing, but I honestly prefer setting up a physical booth and gaining customers that way...it's just so much easier to filter through the people who aren't good candidates to be a sitter for you or unsavory characters.
I'm not a fan of having other people spam people on my behalf. I'll politely ask them to stop spamming but they can recommend me to people they think need it as opposed to unsolicited advertisements.
 

Cocobird55

I put some business cards at the local new age shops. Never got anything at all.
 

AnemoneRosie

I casually mention to friends and family that I'm a reader. Such people seem to expect free readings because they already know me. If I mention that I'm looking to barter then they never talk about it again.

Instead, I barter on some community sites. I also donate to charities, raffles, etc. That way I can set out business cards and promotional materials. Because the donations are all businesses the assumption is that I am too, and folks who are interested are already understanding of the fact that they will need to pay.
 

SunChariot

hi guys.

at powwow,/fairs I been at,my family members yells to their friends, and distant cousin to get their readings.

on family member started a facebook group for me but invited only family/friends to it.
I don't like it , mostly because I hate it when a friend spams me with their job "get a car now" for example.

I think starting words of mouth customers came before the internet, where we had to be worried about the crazies harassing us in person for we could advertise in local phones.

now we live in a world where a complete name, and numerologist can do a profile on you, astrology just needs birthdate, and name and they can do a complete astrology profile of you.
let alone a nutter can find you by doing a search.

let me share a personal story here,,
there was a counselor , who I knew in high school so I figured we were friends. so I had an appointment couple of years ago, but didn't know who was my counsellor. so I looked her up online just by her name and profession.
and her email was right there on the public website.
so I emailed her to ask the question.
she contacted me back and ask "how did I get the email " and I said it is right there on the website.
her co worker contacted me and we talked about who was my counsellor , and said she was worried about me getting her email .
I said again "her email is right there on website. "
so the point I am making is that it is easier then ever to get ones email if they were looking for it.

and so , it is better to reach out to those we don't know. mostly because my friends/family know I read the tarot or should that is. so If they wanted a reading they know how to reach me.
I just dont' want to spam friends and lose friends I think.

any of you guys prefer to advertise soley to family and friends , hoping they can bring someone they meet for a reading ?

I don't charge friends or family for help I can give them. I never advertised to them for that reason. Of course it is at my discretion when I have time. I might tell them I am a reader and if they need me I am there for them. But "advertising" as a professional is to get paying clients.

I might tell friends and family that I have gone professional and to tell anyone who might be interested how to find me. But that is about it.

I tended to advertise more through my web site and now newsletter. At the start I advertised it through various ways including running some facebook ads...

It makes no sense to be worried that someone you know has your e-mail when you put in online on a website. Or conversely, it makes no sense to put your e-mail on your website if there are people whom you do not want to have it.

BTW what I do is....my site does not give my actual e-mail. Instead it has a "Contact me" form. The person fills it out and presses sent and what they type in comes to me as an e-mail. But they themselves do not see my actual e-mail address. You can do it that way too. That eliminates the problem. Of course I then e-mail most people back, but not the spammers.


Babs