by Mark McDonough
Synopsis
Computerized reports are often overlooked when trying to build your astrology practice. They're assumed to be cheesy imitations of the real thing. However, today's reports are more accurate than you might imagine and clients love them. Astrologers who use reports find them a powerful tool for increasing repeat business and finding new clients.
Biography
Mark McDonough, previous President of AstroDatabank Company. AstroDatabank develops and publishes the Lois Rodden's AstroDatabank software program – the largest collection of accurate birth data for learning and research. AstroDatabank.com publishes charts of people in the news with commentaries from serious astrologers. AstroDatabank Company also publishes Astrology Software Shop– the most comprehensive guide to professional-grade astrology software on the web.
Computerized Reports – They're Better Than You Think
Millions of people read their horoscope in the paper each day, but only a tiny fraction ever experience an in-person reading of their whole chart. How can we build a bridge from newspaper astrology to your front door? Making an appointment for a chart reading is a big commitment of time, money, and identity. Most people don't have their chart done 'for entertainment purposes only.' To go through the effort of finding an astrologer, driving to the appointment, listening attentively for an hour and a half, and then paying a fee equal to several hours of one's labor, one must believe that astrology is useful. If 'real' astrology is to become more popular, we need to offer readings whose cost and customization falls somewhere between newspaper astrology and a full in-person reading. Computer-produced readings are that middle ground, and those astrologers who offer computerized reports will have a second source of income and a much wider base of referrals.
But can a self-respecting professional astrologer actually sell computerized reports? Aren't they just cheesy hack jobs with zero intelligence? Well, they all used to be, and some still are. We know that computers can't possibly integrate as many factors into a report as we do when we examine the sign, house, aspects to each planet, and how the planets fit into bigger patterns that all tell a story. But computerized reports are better ambassadors for real astrology than you might first suspect.
I recently took on a project to review all the major report writers. I came to the project with a skeptical attitude. I had read too many unimpressive computerized reports, consisting of boring, confusing lists of one-paragraph descriptions for each planet's sign, house and aspects. However, I was pleasantly surprised by the current batch of professional-grade report writers. The writing is much fresher, more precise and more integrated than I recalled. I was actually stunned by the accuracy of the reports. I ran off samples for friends and read them the descriptions of their tight-orbed, hard aspects and they were also stunned. Some serious work has gone into re-writing these delineations that are now detailed and quite helpful.
These professional-level reports are not 'for entertainment purposes only.” They are serious attempts to give useful astrological information to people who are ready to get beyond Sun sign astrology but cannot afford it or are still too embarrassed to see an astrologer in person. They are a valuable bridge to an in-person reading. As a professional astrologer, you can use these reports as sales agents to increase your business. They are the appetizer that creates the hunger for more information.
Reports as Sales Agents for New Business
Each printed report goes out with your name, phone number and an explanation of the benefits of an in-person reading. With today's report writers, you can count on several paragraphs in the report to stun the reader with their accuracy. In some ways computerized reports are even more impressive than an in-person session. You know that astrology works when your core personal dilemma is laid bare by a computer that can't possibly be picking up any clues from your style of speech or dress.
Of course, computerized reports may miss big themes composed of multiple planets, and clients often get confused with their contradictory interpretations. This is why they will come to see you to learn more. Your cover letter tells them that the computer is limited in its ability to present an integrated report. It promises that when they come to see you, the contradictions and amazing hits will all be wrapped up into a coherent, integrated story. They will learn things about themselves that they have sensed but were never quite able to articulate. They will feel seen in a profound way.
Not everyone is ready for the personal intensity of an in-person reading. The computerized report can be the bridge for them. It brings real astrology to more people. Many of the people to whom you sell reports will come back for more. Some may tuck a report away for years and call you later. Many will show the report to their friends and you'll get some of their friends for clients.
Reports Create More Repeat Business
A great many reports are given free to clients and this makes good economic sense. It is much easier to keep a client than find a new one. The more you can do to enhance your client's experience, the more likely they will come back to you for another reading.
Reports help clients retain what you said in the reading. Just the act of reading something on paper helps people to remember better. Also, reading the same message from a different point of view often provides the 'something extra' to make it click. Though reports are limited in their ability to integrate the pieces into a coherent picture, they are able to go into more detail than one can cover in a single session. The reports can be easily personalized by highlighting the tightest orbs or scrawling a few notes in the margin. Most reports let you edit them in your word processor before you print them so you can delete the less relevant paragraphs or add a few sentences of your own. Many even give you easy access to the delineation text so if you don't like their version of Moon-Neptune you can permanently change it to yours. The net result is that you'll be more helpful to your clients because they will retain more of your perspective and advice by taking home something written.
The reading will feel more substantial to the client when they leave your office with something in their hand. Clients usually find it more convenient to review written material than to listen again to the session tape. No one has the time to write out a full report, but it doesn't take long to annotate one.
Clients often take reports to work to show friends. Those friends may become clients themselves after hearing your client describe how powerful it was to have an in-person reading with you.
Compatibility and Forecast Reports
Clients who come in for a natal reading may wish to purchase a compatibility or forecast report before leaving. Many people have no idea how useful a synastry reading can be. It is very reassuring to see one's relationship issues written out on paper. It is such a relief to see that the difficulties are somewhat fated by the stars and that the relationship can be made much more satisfying with insight and compassion. It is a tremendous service to be able to give clients objective feedback on how they enter relationships, and on the particular dynamics of their relationship with their spouse, boyfriend, parent, child or sibling. The more information one has on what each person brings to the relationship, and the more insight one has on how each person’s needs and expectations interact, the greater the chance of relationship success.
Like natal reports, compatibility reports can overwhelm clients with the amount of detail that they provide. Again, you can help overcome this by writing a few notes in the margins and using a highlighter to point out the inter-aspects with the tightest orbs. In some cases, the compatibility report is just a quick check on a new relationship. If the relationship is serious and long-lasting, many people will want to come back for a more in-depth understanding of the issues presented in the report. They'll want you to supply the full story behind all the details in the report.
Providing or selling clients a forecast report allows you to give the natal chart all the focus it deserves and still provide your clients with a complete service. Forecast reports are so much better than what your clients are accustomed to reading in the newspaper. Modern forecast reports do a much better job than their predecessors of pulling out the big transits and writing more expansively on their meaning and possibility.
Forecast reports keep astrology alive every day. A six-month report reminds your clients that it is time to order another report or book another appointment
I have long thought it a tragedy that there are so many single-session readings. There is so much more that we can tell clients about themselves, their relationships, and the meaning of their current struggles. Reports introduce clients to other areas of astrological expertise and to some of the details that we don't have time to go into in one session, but could if clients are willing to go deeper.
How much money can one make selling reports?
Natal reports generally sell for $15-25; compatibility reports go for $20-25; and forecast reports for $25-65. In absolute dollars it isn't going to buy you a new car, but it is a second source of income. Charging $15 – $60 for five minutes work is high-profit activity.
An astrologer from a small town in northern California told me that she made $50 –200 per week selling reports mainly to her existing clients. She also gives reports away to clients who come in on their birthdays or after the birth of a new baby. With Moon in Cancer she develops long-standing nurturing relationships with clients. Sometimes a client will call needing an immediate appointment and she's booked solid for weeks. In these cases the client often buys a compatibility or forecast report to hold them over until they can see her personally. They feel better and she does too.
People also buy reports as presents for others. Child reports are popular new baby gifts and a compatibility report may be given as a wedding or engagement gift. For the person who has everything, a forecast report is different every year.
You can sell reports at fairs, over the phone, or from your web site. They can be printed and mailed or emailed to customers around the world. If you have a web site and buy a report developed Cosmic Patterns, they will set up a special page for you on their web site to sell these reports. They do all the credit card processing all you have to do is provide a link from your web site and you get 40% of whatever they sell from your referrals.
Selling reports makes money in two ways – you get extra cash for the reports but most of all it helps build repeat business for in-person readings.
Which Reports Are the Best?
Which reports are the best? That is a very interesting question, and the answer is too detailed to capture in a short article. At the risk of sounding self-serving, the best place to go to get a comprehensive report on all the major report writers is Astrology Software Shop. We have devoted many pages to comparative reviews of the major astrological report writers. We describe each report writer’s writing style and its level of detail. We also provide the full text of each report using the chart of Robin Williams. To make it easier to compare writing styles, we have even pulled out delineations for the same chart factors from each report to put them on the same page. There is no other place to find this level of report comparison.
Each of the major charting software companies makes several reports that use the same file format as their charting program. What this means is that if you have already entered the data to construct a chart for someone, it is just a matter of a few more keystrokes to print out a report. Entering the birth data will take you more time then it takes to send a several reports to the printer.
Computerized Reports Will Grow the Market for In-Person Reports
I built Astrology Software Shopto help fund further development of AstroDatabank, but in the process I became devoted to spreading the word about what computerized reports can do to further the growth of astrology. I believe that they have a valuable role to play in bridging the gap between newspaper astrology and full in-person readings. They are an inexpensive way for people to get an introduction into what real astrology can do for them. They also increase your repeat business by providing more value to your client. They are good for astrology and also good for building your business.
This article by Mark McDonough appears in the Organization for Professional Astrologers' book How to Start, Maintain, and Expand an Astrological Practice.
You may order a copy of the book from the OPA, at http://www.professional-astrology.org/.
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