The Business Of Astrology Consulting
Behind the scenes @ ElsaElsa
Here is more of my (business) stupidity, revealed me over these last months. As for consulting, I take each chart and I work on it in what I have come to realize is an old fashioned way. That is, I take each chart and each person’s concern and come up with what I should tell them and how to best go about it.
I have to tell you this is extremely demanding when you do any kind of volume because you have to constantly change hats. I just don’t talk to a Sagittarius the way I would to a Cancer or a Leo or a whatever.
The problem is another consideration, as is the level of the person’s astrological knowledge. My history with the client comes into play and boundaries are always considered.
Some consultations are quite heavy and you have to be able to switch gears so the next person is not impacted. The variety of clients (culturally, age range, etc.) is absolutely astonishing and to be effective you really have to have a depth and a very broad scope of experience and knowledge.
There is a limit to how many people I can work with day just based on how demanding it is and what I am finding out is other astrologers don’t do this the way I do. People who are busy, I mean.
Turns out they cut and paste a lot. Saturn transit? Here is my bit on this, the astrologer says, pasting the bit into the document. Pluto on the ascendant? I say this about that. One would hope the things they say are original but I bet there are cases otherwise.
I found this out because people (new clients) have told me. Basically they are surprised to get something back from me that has actually been composed for them specifically and this forced me to ask myself if I was stupid.
If others cut and paste, should I? If I did I could keep the prices down, the volume up and save my wrist but…
But there is no art in it. There is no heart or emotional involvement or investment in the client so do I want to sign my name to that?
Turns out I don’t which means I have to find a way to increase my capacity without compromising the exact thing that attracted the clients in the first place. This is far easier said than done.
Basically I have to go down deep or out far to come up with a trick but luckily I probably have this capacity and I do like the challenge.
Oddly enough I tie this my ability to write dialogue VERBATIM from 30 and even 40 years ago. I have a way of remembering that I’ve developed and honed so I am going to do the same with chart reading. I’m going into the stratosphere with it and be a real wizard rather than a man behind a curtain cut-and-paste fake-o.
One other thing.
There was another astrologer who contacted me awhile back. She wanted a comment someone made on this blog removed because it quoted her in a consultation. “I heard this from this astrologer…”
Turns out the gal tells all her clients the same thing and she did not want the information out on the internet for free, or she’d have nothing to sell. I deleted the comment but have to say I was flabbergasted. It’s all so assembly line, see? There is no cook-to-order and really, I can understand why.
To do it the way I do it takes A LOT of energy. It’s like a marathon for the mind and the soul. What can I tell this person that will hit all these notes the best I can in this number of minutes?  And how can I tell them so I’ve actually connected and communicated? Are you sure what you are saying here? Is this your best?
I’ve got to work like a slave to pull it off and that’s a fact. I see a chance to not work like a slave but I am not going to take it because I just don’t want to be that kind of astrologer which reminds of when I first started reading charts professionally about 20 years ago.
I was going to buy my first professional software and I was talking to Annalisa about all the reports they had available. “Do I buy these things? What do you think?”
“It depends. Do you want to sell what you think or do you want to sell what another person thinks…”
ha ha ha, I bought no reports. 
48 Responses to “The Business Of Astrology Consulting”
Thank God there’s some integrity left in the world.
That is what I love about your consultations!! I know that you have looked at the chart and dug deep to give a personalized consultation!!! I too have had the regurgitated reports and it my eyes just glaze over like I know that but what does it mean for me,lol.
Hahaha,
Since you just put me in check about reading information that might be out-of-context, out-dated, or faulty, I have to ask:
Do these people realize this when they get the consultation? Is it like a placebo effect and they just accept it?
I guess if you pay good money for it you have to accept it?
hrae - I don’t really know but my impression is there are some people who hire me thinking they are going to get MY pasted together interp because they have never gotten anything else but. There is true shock that someone has composed for them specifically. I am not kidding, this is too much work for most. It’s like writing a new book every day (really) - and one that is tailored.
Like I said, I am probably stupid / old fashioned and I am certainly told all the time I give too much for free or cheap but on this front, I am not going to start the other method. If I run out of hours or wrist, I will raise my prices but I will not become McDonald’s is what I am saying. Not on this blog and not in my practice.
This means my success will be limited, however as a trade off, I will not have to take any shit so this is worth it to me. 
just to clarify - it’s not necessarily faulty information that you’re talking about in this business, but something that DOES make me question the other astrologer’s validity is that he/she tells everyone the same thing?
how could that be helpful/personal?
hrae, it may be all she knows. It’s like reading Robert Hand’s planets in transit and then telling everyone who has saturn transiting opp their Moon whatever it is that Hand says. If that is all you know, then that’s all you’ve got.
Is it helpful? Who knows.
I guess what I am saying is first you need the skills and second, the willingness to put them to use. Chart interpretation and specifically COMMUNICATING your interpretation is not an easy thing to do. If you make it look easy (and I think I do) - then woe to you because it looks like you’ve not done much but this is not the case.
I mean, real work is short as compared to 10 pages from a computer print out, yes? Hard to believe something significant can be communicated in such a short time and concise manner… I mean compare it to psychotherapy where people spend YEARS. But something IS communicated.
I really act and feel more as an oracle - it’s got to be this way to deliver in the time allotted but I am communicating is pulled from FORTY years of experience so hey.
Other people have this experience, don’t get me wrong. But getting them to tap it is another thing all together, Much smarter to write one book and sell the thing, yes? That’s my point here. I have a stupid business model.
No Elsa, I disagree that you have a stupid business model. OK, if your business is only about making money then maybe it is stupid, but if you want to provide a quality service that will enhance a persons life, which I believe is the function of astrology, then you are absolutely on target.
A friend of mine went to a “professional” astrologer a few years ago. He was pleased with the interpretation and proud to show me. I read the report and was shocked to discover parts of it were word for word what I had already read about him on astro.com. Talk about copy, paste and charge like a wounded bull.
I value the time and energy you put into each reply. Thank you for being you.
Gotcha, opal, thanks. I am just thinking about this stuff, see? I am paid to do *this* and it costs me *this* or taxes me in *this way*… I am trying to sort through things to figure out what I can sustain (and how) while sustaining myself so I can continue to sustain… blah, blah, blah.
One possibility is I make a cheaper product but what I am realizing is I don’t want to. But what I am doing is so demanding, I have to find a way to make it less demanding which is what I am going to do using my own patented freak ways, akin to how I can write the dialogue.
In other words, there is a window there, I am going to throw it open. But before I can come to this conclusion, I had to think through all the other options. I am going to commit, see? So I have to make sure I’ve got the right mountain.
I do not think that you will change your MO on this. Maybe you could, but it doesn’t line up with the high standard of integrity you set for yourself. Also I do not think your business model is stupid because it is likely to lead you to some of the places that you have dreamed about and maybe some places that you haven’t imagined yet.
When people hire you, Elsa, they are hiring YOU. Your skill, your scalpel. I can buy a canned chart anyplace, and while there is probably some use in that for beginners or folks looking for random insights, it’s nowhere near the same thing as hiring a real astrologer who is looking at YOUR chart, listening to YOUR problems, and crafting input specifically for you. There is no comparison.
I have repeatedly gotten the impression that your ability to make significant difference in people’s lives and helping them out of the insanely difficult situations is where you get much of the satisfaction. Had you become a cut-and-paster, you obviously would not make the same impact. A canned reading does not integrate and does not speak to the client and their concerns personally. It does not integrate the many years of experience - both astrologically and personally - into a potent package of knowledge.
Hi Elsa, from what I’ve gleaned in reading your blog these past few months, I think you are very insightful, and thoughtful. I may ask you for a reading. I recently reached out to another astrologer online and asked for a reading (didn’t realize these could be done online). I was actually indirectly referred to her, she is related to a friend of mine. I thought it better to work with *someone I know* through someone else. Believe it or not she actually *denied* me a reading! Something about me being a Scorpio, or my religious beliefs which (in her opinion) did not mesh with her own faith (Catholicism, from what I understood). I don’t look at Astrology as a *religion* either way however, so I don’t see the conflict. Everyone’s beliefs and background knowledge can be so varied. I do understand your need to “switch” between signs, as the energy is very different. I think some of the internet readings are, as you say, print outs, or canned responses.
von - what you report is what seems to be the norm and all I can say is I can see how this could happen because cook to order is HARD if you do any kind of volume at all. If you don’t do volume, you starve so it’s a very narrow thing.
I am trying to expand the operating area here. I am telling you I need a trick, and I am going for the trick, thank God, I am tricky.
Lisa I work with 30 year old virgins and the very next client is a self-proclaimed whore. I work with people of every faith from all around the world. I work with a lot of Asians, Indians and Americans… a good number of Italians, South Americans and some Brits. I always, always consider the culture and was raised to respect other people’s beliefs - PERIOD.
Mostly I just work though, LOL.
Elsa,
Let me join the chorus affirming your choice and deploring cut-and-paste. I have been thinking of doing astrology for money, but have not yet done so because I lack experience. (Unfortunately, unless someone takes me on as an apprentice, the only way I will get experience is by doing charts and getting feedback from clients, a classic Catch-22.) When friends have asked me to look at their charts, I have explained my limitations and told them to use their own intuition to judge what I tell them. It wouldn’t cross my mind to give, much less sell, someone a canned interpretation, although I might borrow language or a metaphor from a book.
To me, it’s dishonest to charge a hundred dollars or more for something the client could get on the internet for thirty dollars — or nothing. It’s not against the law, and it isn’t fraud, since I wouldn’t be lying. But there is an implicit fraud if the client doesn’t realize I’m not doing astrology, I’m repackaging for a huge markup. The client is not paying for my knowledge, imagination and intuition, but for his or her ignorance, or, bluntly, I am exploiting the client. I don’t want to be that kind of person.
Apart from writing books, I don’t see how anyone can make more than a modest living from astrology unless one cultivates relationships with very wealthy people who will pay $500 an hour, making one’s social life into the marketing arm of one’s business.
Unlike lawyers, astrologers can’t hire associates and make a profit on their work. Unlike doctors, astrologer’s skills don’t make the difference between life and death, there are no licensing requirements to limit competition, and no insurance coverage. But as an astrologer, you know who you are, you know what gifts you have, you know what you value, and if you didn’t value what doing astrology gives you, you wouldn’t have gone down this path. A person who wants to use his or her ingenuity reselling things for a profit should be doing something else. Be true to yourself, and may what you give come back to you multiplied.
Would scorpio on MC make you crave the depths? I know a professional numerologist who bakes from scratch, just like you. He was tempted to go mainstream by purchasing a program, renaming it, and then computing for all–no muss no fuss. But, he sees it as a serious craft and just couldn’t live with himself. saluto!
want to hear about business stupidity? i was looking for furniture on craigslist when i came across an ad for a couch that said: “i am lowering the price by $50 everyday it remains unsold. i started at $600 and it’s already at $350″. gee i wonder why!
boy, I don’t know eldil. I guess I feel if you’re gifted with the ability to do something, you ought to do it? I also just don’t like to be cheap. But really, I don’t think I know exactly.
I definitely understand why others would do what they do. I’d do it myself but then I wouldn’t be myself?
venusflytrap - that’s hysterical.
That’s a very interesting thread. I waited (without really realizing) 45 years until I started reading for others, while like you I started with astrology books when I was 10 or something.
And the stories I hear from people I read for are appalling, astrologers who take themselves as god, or who give 20 pages of information without explaining, etc.
I personally am not very “efficient” as it takes so much of my energy that face-to-face reading need to be limited to one-a-day. And I do not charge much as I’m just starting. But it is truly a blessing when you can do such a personalized, caring job which leaves the person saying “what a relief, you’ve lightened up my load”.
It might take me some time to be able to brush up my craft but as long as there are people to ask me for readings, I will continue doing it and doing my best to help in any way I can, because now I feel I am ready to do it.
Another thing I hear, disturbingly common is people pay and get nothing. They wait months and months for the astrologer to write them… I just cringe.
I hear that.
You can hire Ms. Cleo for a Tarot reading, or you can hire me. And you know what? I don’t get mad if others hire Ms. Cleo. I would if I were sixteen. But not now, at thirty. Their loss.
Hooray for integrity.
Isn’t this simply called “fraud”, Elsa?
I mean, the intention might not be there, and believe me I know how it is to be busy, but from the paying person’s point of view it is fraud, period.
I suppose, anesa, but that is not how it is necessarily received. I mean, 2 cases come to mind where the person thought they had done something wrong, or were being impatient with the astrologer (after 4 months of waiting).
I think it is buyer beware. Word of mouth is the best indication, I’d say.
I do charts the same way as you do, Elsa. I don’t really see any other way to do them, frankly. If you cut-and-paste, it takes all the art out of the interpretation part. Not everything means exactly the same thing in every chart, and you have to be able to see that from what information about the person you do have.
I’m on this one-woman super-anti-fluff coalition lately, in case you haven’t noticed.
So much of that cut-and-paste info is available for free on the web, I’m surprised people would pay anything for it. I imagine that there’d be less and less of a market for that sort of recycled info (and for my own made-up prediction, it’s going to be the end of an era for these astrology-mills once pluto squares uranus…. I just made that up based on reading a ton of free info on the web, so take it for what it’s worth see!)
People are increasingly going to want depth.
And by the way, it IS really incredible how much free info is out there, if one wants to sift through it all. I just can’t retain it all or remember enough to help me much…. And besides, nothing beats a personal, ‘old-fashioned’, well-crafted, and truly original reading. Any half-way decent astrology book or website can yield a ton of “aha! interesting” moments. BUT the TRUTH is not just another seeming insight - it actually can set you FREE. This isn’t possible with cookie-cutters! People think they look pretty, and they do… but they cannot LIBERATE a person they way their OWN organically-understood, fully unique chart can. The insights just can’t be faked. The way it ‘clicks’ is deep. It just does beat all others, hands down!
elsa, having had the pleasure of experiencing one of your astro-sessions, i’d say that there’s something very intuitive about your interpretations that enhances the actual reading. very pointed and accurate and, for me, still resonating a few months after the fact. You can’t get that with a computer-generated one-size-fits-all reading.
and totally agreed that people need to watch out for those *erm* integrity challenged astrologers floating around out there, who are in a big hurry to get a payment and then disappear. amazing how the emails get lost after the paypal transaction
Yes, keep on keeping on! I am self employed, in a business where whores abound, not always their fault, some were born in barns. But many just skimming profits without doing due diligence.
Well I am learning boundaries now, and I have reported 2 and counting to the State (should have been doing this for years), and they WILL lose their licenses.
My job gets more demanding every month, new rules regulations, added research, and the payback diminishes. And while I am gravitating to other sources of income, still, I put in the extra hours for MY sake, as well as the desire to produce an excellent product, AND I sleep well at night
Elsa, LOL! I may mention this option to the 30+ year old (Italian) virgin! Funny
Obviously you don’t, but is *discrimination* common among astrologers? Perhaps some are more selective and only work with certain *types* of people? I probably should have done a little more research before I asked her, I had no idea about these things… Thanks.
Lisa, I have never heard of an astrologer turning someone down on account of… well, anything, really. You’re right, astrology is NOT a religion. Anyone who treats it like it is has totally misunderstood it. The only kind of “discrimination” I’ve ever heard of is if someone specializes in something like career path- but that still shouldn’t stop them from seeing any particular person. The astrologer you saw who rejected you sounds like she had some kind of unresolved grudge.
I was recently in the company of several astrologers, one of whom said he’d turned down young potential clients before, because the charts looked too bad and he didn’t want to tell them. Another astrologer replied that people have been traumatized by astrologers refusing to read their charts. I tend to agree with the latter, particularly if no reason is given.
I do not believe there is a chart that is or looks “too bad”, that’s the skill of the astrologer - or his/her view of the world - that may be lacking.
Many people asking for a reading are searching for something, and are not looking for one more rejection, especially if it is a challenging chart.
I am a translator by profession, and some people are good at translating the real meaning of what their clients are saying (even the non-verbal bits), some people just assemble words. Same with astrology.
The client/astrologer synergy is interesting as I tend to read for many people with Saturn issues, natally and by transit, and I have been thinking about/dealing with Saturn all my life.
So here’s another way of looking at it:
Cut and paste reports are like supermarkets’ home delivery services: they offer you the convenience of all the ingredients you need to make a meal, delivered to your door. From there it’s up to you practice making the dish.
Having a real astrology consultation would be like having an experienced chef cook you a private meal, tailored to your personal preferences and dietary requirements and taking care of all the shoping, preparation and cleaning up.
The difference in value is enormous, but it’s quite a financial leap to make if you don’t know the chef well.
Cafe Astrology offers some really cheap cut and paste reports and I found the transit report useful as starting point, knowing I needed to do a lot more research and thinking myself to try to work out how to apply that to my life. But, without the experience of a professional, I’m probably missing alot.
Just for the record, I am not talking about people who sell reports and call them reports. I am talking about astrologers (with big names) who cobble together a reading with things previously written.
What I have been told specifically is the keen client can tell and frankly I have had the same experience, though not by email.
That is, I have paid astrologers and gotten nothing from the reading as I felt they were saying things they say to everyone and had not really assimilated me or my chart. They have like code words or phrases they use over and over. Essentially it is like putting the same(or very close) shoe on every foot that come in the door and AGAIN I can see how this could and would happen. You have to actually consciously let it NOT happen. Like this:
“Look alive, Elsa. Focus the fuck up!”
You have to maintain your compassion and the level of your skill and commitment which few do.
The other day I dropped the soldier at his truck. I was leaving when another driver pulled up in his personal truck to load stuff into the big truck and take off. I got home (15 min away) and realized I had forgotten to put something in the soldier’s ice chest. This meant I had to drive back….
I called to make sure he was still there, I figured he was but the trip back made 30 min, see? So I did go back and when I pulled up the other trucker was already gone. We’d gotten there first so…
“How did that guy get out of here so quick?”
“He doesn’t inspect the truck. He skipped the truck inspection, P, a lot them do. I don’t. I don’t want to wind up in a ditch and I don’t want to kill anyone…”
I nodded. I know this of the soldier, he just does the right thing all the time, even when people say and think otherwise and on that front we are similar, or at least we aspire.
It would be difficult for me to turn down a client with what appears to be a difficult chart. There’s a reason they picked you and it may be a great opportunity to learn something about yourself. Also, you don’t know how much work the person has done on himself, it is great to meet someone who has navigated life’s challenges well.
Oh yes, I’d forgotten! It took me some time before asking an astrologer for a reading, and one of the first readings I’ve ever had by email was a very long report that I found out later was automatically generated by a famous astrology software. And a few lines from the astrologer herself, while she pretended having written down everything herself.
And I paid a very very expensive price for that. Truly. I tend to learn the hard way, but now I know.
Integrity may not give you easy money nor make you save time, but I fully aspire for it and even if nobody is watching, Saturn is.
I’m so happy to have found this blog and one other where it’s about interpreting and learning from real experiences what is generalized in astrology books. When I read a chart I call it “connecting the dots” as I go around from one point to another. I still don’t feel knowledgeable enough to charge, but I get real appreciation from friends and family when I interpret theirs. It’s intuitive for me (water planets).. and I learn more here everyday. I remember reading about chart interpretation for clients.. a big book.. and it didn’t make any sense to me. I trust your take on things Elsa because as a professional, you are studying from real life. Studying and applying your knowledge. Not cutting and pasting and regurgitating. If I want that I’d buy the book the astrologer is reading from. Since finding these blogs I’ve given away half of my books.
Hope you manage to find the balance without losing the essence.
Liz, Can you share a way to find the other site? Sounds like a great learning tool. Thanks!
Lucy, I agree with you 100% about absolutely everything you said! I believe this woman I mentioned does have some sort of unresolved grudge. When I told her I was a Scorpio, I didn’t realize at the time some deeply embedded psychological issues regarding Scorpio, and regarding women in powerful positions. I found out later through my research that her mother was a Scorpio, and she did not have a very good relationship with her mother (related to abandonment issues with her real father, etc). Probably through no fault of her own, but still a grudge.
But that being said, I still don’t think the signs should be a conscious (or subconscious) reason for discrimination. She also seemed to use things I said against me like a personal attack- such as my religion (she said hers differed too much so she could not do a reading), my education level (acted like I was a moron, but Im actually a University Professor), and my openmindedness regarding spirituality (called me “creepy” and “an odd ball religious zealot”). She did say “we need to find you someone who is more in line with your beliefs”. I thought that was nice of her, but she never recommended anyone else. So then I turned to one of those cut-and-paste people on the internet (soon figured out it was cut-and-paste) lol!
Maybe too much of a conflict of interest to her, or she felt threatened by me (due to the grudge)? Very strange, i was seeking her help and guidance, and I got such a bad vibe. She hadn’t even met me, our only interactions were over email (like I said I reached out to her via a mutual friend, and was trying to tell her as much about me as possible), as she advertised doing readings right on her website. Which coincidentally no longer exists. She seemed like a bit of a basketcase anyway, always ranting about her problems (work, domestic, health) on her blog. LOL Red flag- not sure she should be guiding others! 
I agree with Anesa too, most people asking for a reading are NOT looking for one more rejection. If we entrust someone with a negative mindset, the interpretation probably won’t seem positive (whether or not it is a challenging chart). Glad we’re doing our research and collaborating here, this is all very helpful!
tinaroma, the other site i go to is http://www.thecosmicpath.com where I read the weekly weather report. Not sure it will be for everyone though.
Liz, I hear ya. Thanks!
Great topic Elsa, I thought that “oracle” was the keyword in your blog. As I was reading through the discussion, there were many phrases and stories that stuck in my mind, but the one I liked best was from anesa:
“even if nobody is watching, Saturn is.”
Hi Elsa, now you know who the Astrologer is that I mentioned above, who denied me a reading. Thank you for your clear-minded, honest insight regarding this individual on your other post. Glad to know its “not just me” and Im not just imagining things! Seems she makes enemies easily. Just be yourself and it will happen LOL 
”Chart interpretation and specifically COMMUNICATING your interpretation is not an easy thing to do. If you make it look easy (and I think I do) - then woe to you because it looks like you’ve not done much but this is not the case.”
Its a greatttt gift to be able to do it!
I am slowly-slowly starting to understand how to look at a chart. I read the symbols,aspects and meanings but when I try to explain to people, its like I am talking another language.
I just keep it to myself -for now-:)
Hi Elsa - I work like you too. Its more time consuming but it’s astrology! Cut and paste can be done by anyone, even those with just a little amount of astro knowledge. K xx
As a financial astrologer, I’m indeed fortunate that no one has devised a cut an paste reading or program for that matter. Too specialized to make any money with the cut and paste routine I suppose. Just have to sit and type whenever a client asks for advise. I did learn to break up the readings into several E mails. Hardest part of my job is to tell them they have been scammed. Or in the case of a student of astrology when they know the other person is dishonest and I agree with them that the person is dishonest.
Good blog Elsa
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I work the same way you do, Elsa, and you are right! It is one hell of a lot of work. The only text I am willing to carry over from one written report to the next is some basic intro paragraphs, otherwise it’s all tailored to each client.
Must be my Virgo MC - it’s all about giving the best possible service. Keeping up has been very, very tough and occasionally impossible for me. I have NO idea how you have kept up the pace you have. Amazing woman . . .
I passed on the predigested reports too . . .