Bonus: How to Use Tarot Cards to Grow Your Business

Welcome to The Intuitive Entrepreneur Podcast. I'm your host, Brigit Esselmont, intuitive business strategist and mentor. As the founder of Biddy Tarot, I turned my love for tarot into an abundant seven-figure business. The secret to my success, making intuition and strategy my entrepreneur superpower, and now I'm inviting you to do the same. In this weekly podcast, I'll be sharing advice, tools, and real life examples from some of the best intuitive entrepreneurs, to show you how you can trust your intuition, align with your purpose, and create a positive impact through your work. Let's make it happen.

Hey, there. Welcome back to another episode of The Intuitive Entrepreneur Podcast. I'm so excited to be here, and I've been loving reading all of your reviews. Now, of course, if you haven't done so already, I would love for you to head on over to iTunes, make sure you subscribe to this podcast, and leave a review. It really helps to get the message out, and, of course, I love to hear what you're thinking, what's new for you as a result of this podcast, and also, I really encourage you to reach out to me on Instagram through the direct messages. You will find me over at brigitesselmont, so it's B-R-I-G-I-T Esselmont.

Awesome, okay, let's kick off for today. Now, just the other week, I was at an Entrepreneurs' Organization event down in Brisbane, and this was really my first time in EO with the members in Brisbane, and, of course, we were all getting to know each other and finding out, what do you do in your business and so on, and if you don't know anything about EO, it's a fairly special and unique group of people.

So it's around 16,000 members around the world, all entrepreneurs, and all doing at least a million dollars of turnover in their businesses. Now, some people are a bit more like me, down the $1 million end of the scale, and then others are up at the 300 million, 600 million, like, these kinds of numbers blow my mind. It's always exciting to be around such huge potential and possibility, and really feel into what is possible.

Now, as I was getting to know these folks, of course they were asking me, "What's your business?" and I said, "Well, I teach people to read Tarot cards online," and they looked at me as if I was nuts, but were so intrigued to hear more, which was a really good response. They said, "Like, how does that work?" Anyway, I talked to them a bit about Tarot and how I see Tarot working, that it's not about a fortune-telling tool, it's not about predicting the future, but it's about a way to really understand ourselves on a much deeper level.

I also started to share that I tend to use Tarot in my business. Of course, you know, the eyes are bulging open wide, like, "You do what?" I said, "Yes, Tarot can be really helpful in terms of growing my business, connecting with my community, understanding my customers better, making good decisions, being more mindful in how I work every day," and they were just so intrigued to find out more.

So that's what this episode is all about, it's about how to use Tarot cards to grow your business, and really, how to use them in a really strategic and intelligent way, because this isn't about predicting how much money you're going to make in another launch, or what's on the horizon in terms of business disasters or business opportunities. This is more about tapping into the energy of your business, and the energy of yourself, and finding that beautiful place of alignment between the two, so then you can really grow your business in a powerful way.

Now, I'm going to be sharing with you four ways that you can use Tarot cards to really grow your business. Now, if you're not sure about how to use Tarot, no sweat, I've got you covered. If you want to find out more about how to read tarot, then definitely check out my Tarot 101 program. You'll find it over at biddytarot.com/tarot101, and that walks you through all of the basics of how to do a tarot reading.

And trust me, you do not need to be an expert to make the most of the techniques I'm going to show you today, you simply need to know how to intuitively read the tarot cards, which, I swear, I can teach people within five minutes how to pick up the general energy of a tarot card, so then they're using that in their lives in some really powerful ways. I've totally got your back, so check out biddytarot.com/tarot101, and that'll give you the lowdown on how to read tarot.

All right, so let's get into it. So, first way to use Tarot to grow your business is through strategy planning. Okay, so, a little while ago, I was going through our strategy plan for the year ahead, and I was looking at one of our programs and thinking, do we go and do a live launch with this program, or do we focus all of our energy on making it evergreen, through evergreen webinars, and sales funnels, and email campaigns or so on, or do we have it open for a week, we get all excited and make things happen, and then close the doors after that?

Now, if I just had my business hat on, I might look at some data, I might look at some best practice and so on, and make a decision from there. But being the person that I am, being the intuitive entrepreneur that I am, I decided to pull out my Tarot cards to give me an additional source of information. I want to be really clear here. This is not about only using tarot and making decisions only based on the cards, but it is helping us bring in a more intuitive element to the way that we do business.

So I pulled out some cards. Now, with the evergreen, I pulled Seven of Pentacles and Four of Cups. Now, if you know anything about these cards, you might know that Seven of Pentacles is a sign that there are results, but only after doing the hard work, so it's more of a long term investment type of card. And the Four of Cups, it shows this guy sitting underneath a tree, he's got a few cups in front of him, another one's being handed to him, but he doesn't look very interested. In fact, he looks quite bored. So when I looked at these two cards in combination, I thought, okay, so there's long term results here, but at the risk of feeling bored and disinterested in the process.

Right, so then I pulled a couple of cards for if we did it as a live launch, and this time I drew the Six of Wands and Temperance reversed. Now, Six of Wands in the Rider-Waite tarot deck, it shows a person on a horse, they're carrying a victory wreath, they're surrounded by people who are cheering them on. It's very high energy. It's like, "Yes, look at you, you're doing amazing," so it's a card of success and achievement and very public recognition for that. So I took that to be a sign that if we did a live launch, it's high energy, people get to see what we're doing, and it's very, there's a lot of support and energy in the moment.

Now, the Temperance reversed card, however, was a sign that perhaps things may get out of balance if I wasn't careful, and I needed to be very mindful of managing our energy around a live launch. And I'm sure you know this, as a fellow business owner, live launches are super exciting but can be super exhausting if you don't manage your energy effectively. So to help me make a decision, I drew another card, and I was asking the tarot, what do I need to know to make this decision between live or evergreen, and I received the Six of Pentacles. Now, to me this was a sign that I needed to delegate, and if I could delegate more effectively, then I would be in a much better position to make the most of either evergreen or live launch.

Now, as I was looking at these cards, I felt a lot more energy around the live launch. It felt exciting to me. I saw that there was that caveat of potential burnout and exhaustion with the Temperance reversed, but then having received the Six of Pentacles, I knew that if I delegated more effectively and put my trust in the team, then some of that negative impact of the Temperance reversed would be reduced.

So what I decided to do was I went with a live launch, and I knew I needed to keep my energy in balance by delegating as much as possible, and also being as present as possible during the launch, because that Six of Wands is very about public recognition and look at me. And then, I didn't want to discount the evergreen part of this decision, because I could see that there potential there, but what I did was I put it on the back burner as a longer-term project that we could put in place after the live launch.

So that was how I used tarot for strategy planning, and any time that you are faced with a decision about, do I do option A or option B in your business, maybe it's that, like, "Oh, I just don't know whether to do a course or an e-book, you know, which one?" Or maybe you are thinking about topics that you want to talk about, "Do I talk about tarot or astrology? Which one?" Right?

So just pulling a few cards to give you a little bit of insight around each option can be incredibly helpful, and more so in the sense of feeling into the energy around each option, which one feels most in alignment to you, and are there kind of any little watch-outs that you need to be aware of, and then how can you plan effectively around those as well?

The thing with tarot and all of these kinds of things is that our future is not set in stone, and it's super helpful to understand what is happening right now, so that you can make changes now and therefore positively influence your future. So there you have it. I would love you try that one out for strategy planning.

Let's move onto the next one, and this one, I call mindful moments. So a little while ago, I was stupidly in my customer service inbox. So I have such a fabulous team, help desk team, who take care of the very large majority of our emails, and every now and then I do decide to jump in and just get a feel for what's going on. Now, I saw the subject line of this and it was like, "I'm very disappointed." I thought, oh gosh, disappointed about what? I couldn't help but open it up and start reading. Goodness me, what a mistake.

So I start reading this email, and it was one of our community members, and she was very upset with a couple of interactions that had happened within the community. She'd posted a question in the forum and felt that she wasn't treated with respect, but instead of stopping there, she went on to say how awful the community was, and how we just didn't care about anyone, and all we wanted was money, and blah, blah, blah, and I thought, oh my goodness, she doesn't get it.

I walked away from that email feeling so angry and frustrated because she had turned what could have been a fixable situation into something that was personal and had really pushed my buttons, because I wanted to make sure our community was super welcoming and inclusive. That's a core value of our community, and she hadn't seen that. So I started punching, like, literally punching out an angry email to defend what our community stood for, and that she'd got it all wrong, and this is what we were really about, but I got about halfway and I stopped, and I thought, "Hang on a sec, Brigit, this is not going to end well."

So thankfully, I took a step back from my computer, keyboard warrior that I am, and I said, "Okay, I've just got to calm down first," and I could feel all these crazy emotions swirling around. I knew that they weren't constructive. I knew that they were highly reactive. So what I did was, I pulled out my cards, and I just simply tuned in and asked, what is it that I can learn here? What do I need to know?

So I started to pull out the card, and it was the Five of Wands. If you know anything about tarot, you know that this card shows all these five different people, from different backgrounds, all fighting each other with their sticks out, and the underlying message of this card is that everybody is trying or fighting to be heard, but nobody's listening, and everyone's coming to the table with all of these different ideas and thoughts and opinions, but it gets louder and louder, and the disagreement and tension increases because nobody's listening.

I thought, goodness, I just need to stop and I need to listen to what she's saying here. So I hit delete on the email, thank goodness, and instead, I wrote a different email that had a lot more questions in it. I really wanted to understand what her experience was, what led her to feel this way, and how could we make the changes necessary to ensure that we do have an inclusive and welcoming community? I wrote that email out, I thought about it, I was asking myself, "Am I listening? Am I opening myself up to a new perspective here? Yes, yes. Good, okay, I'm honoring the message of the Five of Wands. Fabulous."

Then I hit send, and a few hours later, she got back to me, and it was beautiful. She started by saying, "Oh, I'm so sorry. I was so rude and nasty, and it's really not how I was thinking, and I really appreciate that you've asked me about my experience in the community, and that I have this opportunity to share it with you." She started to open up more about her experience, and in a much more balanced way, because finally someone was listening, and finally she felt heard, and that really came through in the tarot card that I had pulled.

So here's my advice for you with the mindful moments. If you have a moment in your business week or day, where you are having a slight freak-out, or you're feeling the emotions going nuts, you're feeling angry, you're feeling frustrated, you're ready to throw your laptop out of the window, who knows what it is, something has pushed your buttons, instead of reacting instantly, grab your tarot deck, tune in, do some nice deep breathing, and then pull a card, and let that card just guide you to what is at the core of these feelings, or emotions, or this issue that you're experiencing, and how can you let that card guide you to the highest version of yourself, the part of yourself that's going to react in a much more balanced way, that's for sure. So that's our second one, mindful moments. Pull a card if you're stressing out, and let it help you rebalance, refocus, and center yourself.

All right, the third one. This one's a bit of fun, and it's all around marketing copy, and how you can write your marketing copy to really tune in to your ideal clients. So I was working with a coaching client, and she was just about to launch a new online course for astrology, but as she was writing up the sales page, she was getting super stuck on what to write. She could kind of write out what was included in the course, and what might be the expected result, but she couldn't find a way to really connect with the right people for her course. So all of that good content that usually goes at the start of the sales page, she was just struggling with it super hard.

So I encouraged her to get her tarot cards out, and I asked her to pull a card for pain points, for opportunity, and for the expected outcome. So, when we looked at pain points, she pulled the Hermit card. This is an old, wise man, standing at the top of a snow-capped mountain. He has traveled the path on his own, using his light to guide him along, and, many aspects to this card, it's a very complex card, but one of the aspects is this feeling of isolation and loneliness, and feeling like you have to do it all on your own.

I said to my client, "Fantastic, we've got something here. This is a pain point. When it comes to astrology, maybe your ideal student feels like she's just been doing it all on her own. She's got no support, no one really thinks that astrology is great, and she's just on her own. So talk about that, and what that might feel like to be all alone, and only traveling your own path without support or cheerleading from others."

Then we looked at opportunity and we drew the Eight of Swords. Now, in the Eight of Swords, there's a woman who's blindfolded, she is bound up, and she's stuck between these eight swords. It looks as if she can't get out. It looks as if the swords have trapped her in there, but if you take a bit of a better look, there is a way out, she just needs to be able to remove that blindfold and the bindings, and she would realize that she has a lot more freedom than she realizes.

So the opportunity here with the Eight of Swords is to be able to find that path forward, so that you can get out of that feeling of being stuck and trapped, like, "How on earth am I meant to learn all of this astrology stuff? There's so much. I feel so stuck. I can't move forward." The opportunities release those bindings, release the things that are holding you back, release the limiting beliefs that are getting in your way of being a great astrologer, right.

So then the third card was for the expected outcome, and lo and behold, we had the Eight of Wands. Now, the Eight of Wands shows eight sticks, basically, traveling through the air at very fast pace, and this is all about fast movement and things happening very quickly. So I said to her, "Look, there's a great opportunity here to talk about quick wins, and feeling a sense of achievement quickly and along the way. So rather than perhaps just working on a 12-month course, is there a way that you can break down the course so that there are quick wins? Smaller modules, perhaps, little rewards along the way that help someone feel as if they're making progress, because that's also what's going to help them get out of that feeling of being stuck with the Eight of Swords."

So away she went. She started to write her marketing copy, now with all of these different insights from the tarot cards, and when she came back a week later with her copy, oh my goodness, it was completely different and it was beautiful. It really spoke to her ideal client, and, of course, she didn't just use what we'd talked about with the tarot cards, but what had happened was, by seeing the Hermit and tapping into those feelings of isolation and loneliness, she started to see other pain points that people were experiencing, and she also started to see other opportunities, so it was as if it was like a creative spark, or an inspiration, that she could then use to create really compelling marketing copy.

Now, she went on to launch that course and had an absolutely amazing response, and had sold over $25,000 in this first online course of hers, so, massive results, really proud of her, and all by tapping into that insight of the tarot. So, anytime you're feeling a little bit stuck on your marketing copy, or even maybe doing email marketing campaigns, or the sales page, whatever it might be, even blog content or social media content, it can be really helpful to just pull a few cards to help you then tap into what's really going on.

And, again, with email copy or any kind of marketing copy, pull a card for, what are the pain points, pull a card for opportunity, and pull a card for the expected outcome. And, of course, please integrate other sources of information as well. You might do a welcome survey, so that you're getting to understand who your audience is and what their language is. You might do some questions on social media, and again, tapping into the language your clients are using, but integrate that with the insights that you're getting from the tarot cards as well.

All right, our final one for today is the monthly check-in, and this one is not strictly tarot, in fact, it's more using the oracle cards, and the reason I like to use oracle cards for the monthly check-in is that oracle cards typically have a much more chunky message, and are more thematic in their messages. So tarot helps you really zone in to specific issues and core themes at play, and the oracle cards are a little bit more all-encompassing, and tend to be more encouraging and in the positive.

So every month, what I do is I set aside a full day, and I use that day to reflect on the previous month. I look at, what were some of our wins in the business, what achievements did we achieve, and also, what were some of the things that weren't so comfortable, what didn't go so well, and what have I learned from those experiences? So I start to reflect back on that past month and figure out, what can I learn from that month.

Then, I start to focus on the month ahead, and before I get into my strategic planning for the month, or looking at my weekly to-do list and so on, what I do is I tune in to the energy of the month ahead, and I draw an oracle card. Now, I like to use the Sacred Rebels Oracle from Alana Fairchild, or also, I think it's Work Your Light from Rebecca Campbell, that's a really beautiful deck as well.

So I draw a card, and I then feel into that card, I read a little bit more about it, and it really does set the tone for the month ahead. I know that I've had some instances where, goodness, I can't remember the exact name of the card, Releasing Allegiances, yeah, that's it, from Sacred Rebels. So there's a card called Releasing Allegiances, and there was a phase where every time I drew this card, it was a sign that I needed to let go of someone on the team, that maybe I already knew about, but was resisting for some reason, or, in one case, it came completely out of the blue.

So I know that when I see that card, that I need to be very aware of, have I got the right people on the team, have I got the right people supporting me more widely, like our partners and so on, because that card will show up if anyone is out of alignment, and it's often a sign that I need to take action, whether I want to or I don't.

Other ones, you know, birthing, I think this if from the Work Your Light deck, and it was Birthing a New Age, and that was literally a couple of months ago, as the Intuitive Entrepreneur podcast and website were coming into fruition, and I didn't know it at the start of the month, but I had the flash of inspiration and the surge of energy, and kaboom, by the end of the month, I had birthed a new age with the new business. So these cards can be incredibly insightful because they set the tone for the month ahead.

Then what I do, then I get more of my sort of strategic planning hat back on, and I look at, what are my priorities for the month ahead, and what are our key projects, what kinds of results do we want to see, and so on. I look back to the oracle card and I check in. Okay, maybe it's like knowing that I'm birthing a new age and I've got these priorities on, what else do I need to incorporate into my month ahead? Do I need to have more dream time included in my work week, so more spaciousness, so that I can just dream and be creative? Do I need to channel more of my energy into the new projects, and perhaps let go of some of the older projects that aren't about birthing a new age, and so on. So it just starts to weave into my planning in a really beautiful way.

Now, of course, it's not the only piece of information that I'm using for strategic planning, but it certainly forms a core part of that planning process. So if you're not doing a monthly check-in as a business owner, I strongly recommend that you do. You want to use it to reflect on the previous month and start planning for the month ahead, because otherwise, every single week just starts to blend into another, and before you know, it's the end of the year, and you've kind of drifted along. So having these monthly check-ins, or what I call CEO days, is really vital to helping you stay on track and keep in alignment. And, of course, if you're incorporating that oracle card, or potentially a tarot card, maybe one of the Major Arcana cards, then that's going to help you stay spiritually and soulfully in alignment with your business.

All right, so there you have it. Those are the four ways to help grow your business using tarot cards. So one was the strategy planning, particularly if you're weighing up a couple of different options, and using the cards to help you make a decision. Number two was mindful moments, if you're having a freak-out, then make sure you grab for your tarot cards, not social media or email, and make sure that you check in and find out what's at the heart of the issue.

Number three is to use tarot for your marketing copy, particularly to help inspire you around the language that you might use and the points that you might make, and then finally, your monthly check-in or your CEO day, and drawing an oracle card to help set the tone, or feel in to the tone, for the month ahead.

And remember, if you do want to find out more about tarot, you will find it over at biddytarot.com. We've also got the Tarot 101 course, which is ready and waiting for you. You'll find that at biddytarot.com/tarot101. There you have it. All right, thank you so very much for today. It's been an absolute pleasure, and I can't wait to connect with you again very soon.

Thank you for joining me for today's episode of The Intuitive Entrepreneur Podcast. If you loved this episode, please leave an honest rating and review on iTunes. It helps to get the word out, and, of course, I read every single comment.

And if you want to discover how to plan your next big launch using the cycles of the moon, make sure that you download my free guide, Lunar Launches. You'll find it over at brigit.me/lunar-launches. That's brigit.me/lunar-launches. Now, these are the exact strategies I've used in my business to create six-figure launches, time after time, and now you can use them too. You'll find it all inside of my free guide, Lunar Launches, over at brigit.me/lunar-launches. All right, that is it for now. I cannot wait to see you next time. Bye for now.