Thank you all so much for showing up and asking so many great questions on our first “Ask Me Anything” (AMA) Livestream here on Substack!
So many folks asked great questions about The Business of Woo, and I’ve compiled a few links to help flesh out some of my quick answers from last night’s conversation— and even provide some additional resources for those interested in going a bit deeper:
“How do you create your brand and name your business?”
Creating your Woo-based business’ brand— and even picking it’s name— is an important but often daunting process. Our new book, The Business of Woo: Thriving In Your Psychic Business (Without Losing Your Mind or Selling Your Soul!), has a robust section on how to create a brand from the “basement to the attic”, delineating our proven methodology that builds on your Practitioner Archetype, Value Proposition, Differentiators, and Voice of the Customer Feedback to ensure that your brand aligns with you— and actually works for your Woo-based business!
We’ll also dig into this methodology for attendees of our upcoming Business of Woo workshop series, addressing brand specifically in the Go to Market Strategy: Part 1 and the Go to Market Strategy: Part 2 workshops scheduled for May 9th and May 23rd respectively.
These are workshops I would do at a very high ticket price for corporate clients, so trust that it’s going to be substantive— and serve all of your brand development needs!
“How do you overcome Imposter Syndrome?”
All the worst Woo-based business grifters and spiritual tourists never ever (not even for a second) ask themselves if they’re equipped to undertake this work for paying clients. They never hesitate. They never doubt themselves. They just sprint into the unknown, often leaving metaphorical bodies on the side of the road in the process!
Conversely, all of the best and most sincere Woo-based business owners and practitioners often struggle with Imposter Syndrome: the persistent inability to believe that one’s success is deserved or has been legitimately achieved as a result of one’s own efforts or skills.
While Imposter Syndrome is an inevitable part of the Woo-based business ecosystem, it doesn’t have to be an obstacle to your success. In my experience, the key to unlocking the Imposter Syndrome gate is twofold:
* Understanding Your Practitioner Archetype: Odds are, you’re a natural fit for the Business of Woo— the trick is to just figure out what your unique niche is in the Woo-based business ecosystem! I mean, how are you supposed to overcome Imposter Syndrome if you don’t even know if you’re a shaman, energy worker, psychic reader, diviner, astrologer, animal communicator or medium? At TOTEM, I’ve built a proprietary assessment that builds on your natural psychic abilities (called the “clairs”), your dominant chakras, and what all of this means for the kind of Woo-based business owner you can and should be! We’re going to dive into this assessment in detail in our May 9th What’s Your Practitioner Archetype Workshop.
* Just Doing the Damn Thing: Imposter Syndrome starts to evaporate (or, at least, get a little less loud) as you just do the thing: client-facing readings, energy work sessions, and even selling and shipping your own wands, tinctures or fairy houses on Etsy! So, as not-sexy and basic as it may sound, you really do realize bit-by-bit that you’re good enough, you’re smart enough and people like you through the day-to-day delivery of your Woo-based services to practice and paying clients!
“How do you prioritize tasks?”
Being a small business owner in this time of hyperinflation, churn and rapidly-accelerating rate of change is hard enough— and being a Woo-based business owner only adds psychic and energetic complexities to the mix! So, what tasks get priority with regard to your precious time and energy and which need to get parked in the proverbial parking lot for later?
Well, this obviously varies from Woo-based business to business, but a few key through lines include:
* Automate Admin Tasks: Anything that takes your time but doesn’t a.) make you money or b.) directly serve your clients’ needs is not worthy of your precious (and very scarce) material resources: time, money, attention, and energy. Our June 20th Ethics and Standard Operating Procedures workshop is going to dig into the details (you know, where they say “the devil is”) and lay out what to automate (and how) and what to lock into!
* Prioritize Client-Facing, “Billable” Deliverables: Just like in corporate America, anything that doesn’t count as client-facing (and paying work) is considered “overhead”, and generally costs you and your Woo-based business time and energy! So, when seeking guidance on what competing priority to shift to first, remember: a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush! When in doubt, focus on your client-facing work and get back to basics!
* Feng Shui Your Day: In our upcoming Ethics and SOPs workshop in June, I’m going to share my own, unique and very Woo approach to “flowing to the work” and “grouping like tasks”, which I call “Feng Shui Your Day”. Why fight your natural rhythms and tendencies? Why not take advantage of momentum? And how can you structure your day to optimize your talents while minimizing unnecessary noise? Yep. We’ve got you covered!
“What are your tips and tricks to manage your energetic hygiene?”
Whew. The vibe has been intense lately, hasn’t it? And it’s not any chiller in the Business of Woo, where we basically work as professional psychic athletes!
So, what can we do to ensure that we are in tip top shape for our tarot card reading slalom or energy work triathlon? We can establish our own, custom-built Energetic Health & Hygiene protocol, of course!
And, considering this is a very meaty topic with esoteric and mundane tips, tricks and tools to help you stay in the game and perform at championship level, we’re doing an equally meaty July 25th Energetic Health & Hygiene workshop that’s going to dig into all of the details, including: proprietary meditations and exercises, practical tips for clearing and grounding, how to establish session containers and behaviorial boundaries, and how to manage your physical space (and its energetic thresholds) to ensure maximum energetic health and hygiene!
Free Intro Workshop on April 25th!
Curious to learn more? Join us on April 25th for a free/ donations-based intro workshop that will explore the exploding Business of Woo Market Cap, the so-called “Goldilocks Zone” for those curious about dipping their toe into this work, how to build your own side hustle (which we call the “bug out bag”), and what the rest of our Business of Woo workshop series is going to cover so that you can decide which workshops, if any, are a good fit for you.
You can learn more about this intro workshop (and register) on Eventbrite here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/1984567427599?aff=oddtdtcreator
The Business of Woo: Thriving In Your Psychic Business lands on 5/1
The book that inspired this Business of Woo workshop series is set to be published and available for purchase on May 1st, so keep your eyes peeled for updates, links, and in-person book events here in Austin!
Review Raffle
And, as we mentioned during last night’s livestream, don’t forget to submit your entries for our Review Raffle before April 1st! Just screenshot any review of TOTEM’s services on Yelp or Google, our flower essences and decks on Etsy, our decks on Amazon, our podcast, The Skeptical Shaman, on Apple, or our TOTEM + PUCK HCKY merch collaboration— and email it to me at: [email protected].
There are three phenomenal Grand Prizes for three Grand Prize winners that I will announce with the incredible billy.purgatory and Jennifer Hotes of the “Is AI the Devil?” podcast right here, live on Substack on April Fool’s Day!
Thank you all so much for joining, and I’m looking forward to catching up with all of you soon as we launch our new book, our Business of Woo workshop series, and hit the local scene here in Austin!
And, if you have other questions or have a comment or thought to share, hit me up in the comments section right below!
-Rachel
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