Why I Changed My Business Name (aka Rebranded My Business)
Once upon a time, I had a flourishing tarot business. I had clients all over the world, building my business, having fun.
And then one day, everything went sour.
Well, it didn't quite happen that dramatically. It was more of a "let me just walk away whilst you all forget about me for a moment...."
As I was building my tarot business, I was making connections left and right. I joined groups and made friends with oodles of people, took various classes, and even had a business coach (which turned out to be kind of crappy, but hey, it was life experience, right?). I had lots of students and even more clients. Life was pretty awesome.
Then, my business coach came to me and said "You need to change your business name. It's way too close to another popular tarot reader." I was a bit shocked, as I was doing pretty well under my own name, even if it was similar to a tarot business mogul. She was WAY more popular than I ever was and was WAY more famous, so I didn't see the issue with little 'ol me and my business name. And besides, I loved it.
Then my business coach started a "Learn to Read the Tarot" course for like a hundred bucks. She wasn't even a tarot reader. I was shocked, but she was allowed to do what she wanted, so I just bit my tongue and said nothing. Never mind I was already preparing my own beginner's course, which she knew about.
So, I just went along, putting together my course, and gave it away for free (which was always my plan). Because believe me, there is NOTHING you need to charge $100 for to teach a beginner, especially when there are already a billion books out there that can teach you everything you need to know.
I could see if there is a special technique that someone wanted to teach to charge more than a nominal fee, that makes sense, but basic tarot for $100? Why?
My goal was NOT to undercut her class, it was to give people a basic understanding of the many ways you can use the tarot (one of them is the way I read today) without any fluff or hype. It covered the basics, no videos, just some great information and some great links and some fun downloads. That was it. But that didn't stop her from sending in her assistants to take my class and to take anything I was using that she wasn't to incorporate into her own class (which was fine by me, my wanted to share what I knew, even if nobody knew it came from).
Then I saw she was upping her tarot class game by giving away free copies of a workbook this other tarot reader she was "all of a sudden" promoting.
And guess what?
This other unknown reader had the same name as me.
Oh, I though my name was too similar to a supposed tarot guru? I thought I needed to change my name because people would think I was cashing in her popularity? No, it was because she was deciding to promote another tarot reader with the same name as me. And that reader became immensely popular.
So, instead of fighting about it, I retreated. Childish? A little. But I was hurt. Angry. And sad. But rather than just quit (which I did do for a bit), I incubated.
I decided then and there, I needed to reinvent myself.If you've read my About Me, you'll see that tarot has been in my blood since I've been 12 years old. I couldn't just walk away. So I sat, I incubated. I cultivated. I deeply examined my views and what wasn't working anymore for me (and possibly what never did work for me). And I realized something: I wasn't psychic. I never was. I so much wanted to be. I believed I was. But I just wasn't. And I realized that nobody was. That was their downfall. And that would eventually be every other reader's undoing: they were going to be wrong sometimes.
Because they were completely reading the tarot wrong.
My entire tarot career, I had had an accuracy rate that was out of this world. But why??
I figured it out: it was because I wasn't using "psychic prediction" in my readings. I was ALWAYS reading the cards the way they were meant to be read, I just didn't know it at the time. It wasn't some sixth sense gift that made me a good reader. I was just tapping into people's deepest crap without even trying, all because of this method.
So I deleted my domain name (some jerkoff bought it and wanted me to pay big $$ to get it back...LOL sorry sucker, I gave it up, not lost it! haha). I completely revamped my website. I changed my name, so I was not be associated with who I used to be or those I used to hang around. Also, that person who has my name now is doing really well for herself (I don't think she stole my name, I think she had it, and that's why people wanted me to change mine). So I don't want anyone to think I stole it from her.
I wanted to be me. To create a site about the tarot I have come to know and understand. To read in my style. Teach in my style. And distance myself from everything I once was.
And Rainy Day Tarot is a play on my name, Emma Rayne, along with a feeling I wanted to convey to my clients, my fellow readers, and my students.
If your tarot business isn't working or you've had a bad experience with it? Or with any business? Then step back, take a breather, reevaluate, and reinvent yourself with your new revelations.
Be The Hermit.
Take your lantern into a dark cave and return to spread the word. Because you're never stuck being who you are or who people think you are. You always have a choice to change. We all do. I did. So can you 😊
See? We all have the ability to change LOL
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