Tag: Classes

Blog, Classes

Blogging Tarot with Theresa Reed

innowen

I almost missed Theresa’s telecourse tonight. I was so busy focusing on layout design that when I looked up it was 3 minutes till showtime. Thankfully, this gave me just enough time to log in and be second in line for the class.

Theresa’s amazing. I’m so glad that I got the chance to partner with her at the Reader’s Studio. She started the session right on time and lead us through an hour’s worth of tips, tricks, and inspiration to start, or work on our own blogs.

So what did I learn?

  1. Blogging gives us four things: it helps you get to know me; it allows me to educate you on various tarot aspects; it allows me to entertain you (well, I DO firedance…maybe not with the cards tho); and it helps increase my business awareness online.
  2. Theresa gave me permission to talk about things that have “been said before”. Everything may have been said, but it hasn’t been said in my voice or with my perspective.
    That it’s okay to write for both clients and peers. I want to strike a balance between sharing tarot stories with both clients and peers while getting them the information they need.
  3. I brainstormed new topics to write for and I learned that I should put blogging due dates on my calendar to really make this habit stick.
  4. Blogging should be done with a “just do it” attitude. Or as I like to think of it, a NaNoWriMo mode, where I shove my author and editor brain aside and just write something and get it up. So I’ll be trying to do that more often.

She was even kind enough to answer a question that I forgot to ask during the teleclass.

“What is your take on the difference between a newsletter (email or print) and a blog? I tend to do both and have a hard time figuring out where to draw the line on sharing.”

Her response, “Ah – good question. Here’s the deal: a blog allows you to reach an audience and show your personality. And hopefully it gets people to sign up for your newsletter. Because the newsletter is where you can offer deals, etc. for your clients and get to know them better – and allow them to get to know you even better!” Good advice indeed.

I’m looking forward to next month’s seminar on “Stop Being A Broke Ass Tarot Reader” on Tuesday June 21st. If you’re a tarot reader and could use some expert advice on growing your business, then don’t miss this one!

Blog, Classes

Thoughts on Inspiring the Muse

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I spent 2.5 hours yesterday going through the attendees’ feedback from Inspiring the Muse. While I was happy to see everyone got a lot out of it, I believe there’s a lot of room for improvement, both in the content and as I learn to develop my speaking style. Mainly, I think I’m going to break apart the journalling and the creative storytelling parts so that they are featured as their own separate classes. Putting them together, while a good compliment, is just something that overwhelms beginning students in an hour or 90 minute time limit. Breaking up the two parts also gives me the flexibility to give attendees more time to spend doing the work, which consists of writing down their thoughts.

Usually when I teach this class, I have a whole morning (2 hours or more), or a whole day (up to 8 hours), to carefully go through the material. My students are given ample time to dive deep into each exercise and properly share and provide feedback on each other’s ideas. Going into PantheaCon, I thought that if I went over both parts of this course, and gave them less time to write, that it would also give them less time to putter around or feel “stuck” in their heads. I like quick brainstorm ideas because the inner editor does not have time to pipe up and spew the negative vitriol that tells us we can’t do something. This quick-fire brainstorm technique primes the pump and shows students how creative they can be in short amounts of time.

I hope that students of this course went home to experiment with what I gave them in longer spurts. If you’re an alumni of Inspiring the Muse and have done the exercises in your own time, please share. I’m always interested in hearing feedback.

Blog, Classes

Coastal Tarot Intensive Coming Up

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Next Tuesday, I’ll be heading out to the coast to participate in Katrina Wynne’s Tarot Intensive. From morning to evening I’ll be steeped in taroty goodness with a few other students who are interested in learning from her. The program starts out in teaching tarot basics but quickly progresses to intermediate and counseling skills.

I’ve known Katrina for several years now and she’s a wonderful instructor. Katrina’s very much an intuitive reader and I look forward to hearing and learning about the cards from her perspective. Plus, it’s always fun to camp out in her wonderful coastal wilderness property. I’m looking forward to recharging my batteries with this trip.

Because her classes at the Intensive lead up to her Level One certificate, I signed up to take that exam. Wish me luck on passing and receiving the certificate. I don’t if she has any spots left for the intensive but you can always go check Katrina’s site and email her if she’s got any more spots open.

When I get home, I’ll post details of my journey at the intensive.

Blog, Classes

Divination for the Curious class success

innowen

Last Sunday I stood in front of a small group of people and talked to them about tarot. I gave them the history of the cards, debunked some myths, and answered a lot of questions about how to personally connect with the cards. Anna talked about the runes, and compared them to tarot. She also dove a bit into spirit guides and how one can connect with them.

Overall, we had a fun two hours sharing stories and learning about how the tarot worked. Looking forward to teaching this one again in autumn.