The Tarot Guide To Making Twitter Work For You

I'm no expert when it comes to social marketing, but I have learnt some valuable lessons over the last two years about what works and what not to do.

Twitter is one of those social marketing tools, I've recently rediscovered. I'm glad I did, because it has significantly increased the number of visitors to my websites and most importantly increased my earnings.

If you are serious about building a successful online business, then you cannot ignore Twitter as one of your major marketing tools to achieve your goal.

The Tarot is offering some valuable advice on how to make Twitter work for you:

1. Three of Pentacles (Earth)

Like with all other social networking sites, it is important to connect with the right people and interact with them.

If you only tweet about your latest offers and try to flog your stuff to your followers, you will be creating a lot of noise without anybody hearing.

Twitter is about teamwork and collaboration. Reach out to the people you follow by responding to their tweets; reply with a positive comment or retweet (RT). The idea is that they will follow you back, return the favour and this way you will gain exposure to their followers. 

Be patient. You won't gain thousands of followers overnight unless you are a celebrity. You need to be persistent and keep putting in some work every day. If you only tweet once a week or less, then Twitter will never work for you, and you might as well just leave it altogether.  

Don't be tempted to buy 10,000 followers for a Fiver! Yes, these offers can be found on the net, but believe me, it really is too good to be true. You just end up with low quality (often fake) followers.

2. Page of Swords (Air)

If you are new to Twitter, you might be wondering what to tweet. From a technical point of view, your tweet cannot exceed more than 160 characters.

When it comes to content, quality followers always value interesting, informative and humorous tweets. These are the ones that are most likely to be retweeted and ultimately gain you more followers. 

If you have a blog with valuable content, you can tweet links to individual blog posts. Example:

How to create your own Tarot deck: http://ow.ly/mFurM #tarot #spirituality #photography #art

Notice the hashtags; these appeal to people with an interest in those topics and are using the Twitter search facility to find related information.

Also notice the shortened link to my website, which is invaluable when you have to fit your message into 160 characters or less. Use hootsuite.com to shorten link addresses and schedule your tweets to save oodles of time (see my no. 1 Twitter efficiency tip below).

Even if you don't yet have a lot of content on your blog, you can always provide your followers with interesting retweets. But be careful: always check out the links first before you RT them to avoid sharing any content that is unsuitable or contains too much advertising or pushy sales hype. 

Twitter isn't an exact science, it's trial and error, so keep learning and refining your tweets and interaction.

3. Five of Wands (Fire)

Don't get involved in any negativity. Heated discussions, extreme opinions, nasty gossip and retweeting of unsavoury, possibly libellous messages won't help your business. 

If you disagree with someone, there is no point in responding with a dismissive comment. If I receive a negative reply to my tweets, I will unfollow and block the person without hesitation, so the same could happen to you. Not nice, so think before you stab!

And if you don't like what they tweet, you can always unfollow them without any fuss.

Keep it professional at all times. Remember, you're on Twitter to promote your business, not causing tension, getting into fights or legal disputes.

Avoid the idea of competition. I follow many fellow Tarot readers, who I admire and enjoy reading their work. I don't hesitate retweeting their valuable messages for the benefit of my followers.

4. Six of Cups (Water)

Be friendly and helpful. 

Spread happy vibes, joy and fun. 

Cheer people up. Encourage them. 

Respond to them, when they contact you or even retweet your messages. Nothing is worse than ignoring people, who support you.

Most of all, enjoy it!

It's easy to make conversation with people on Twitter. I have made some great Twitter friends and in the process learned a lot from the people I follow and won new clients, too.

When you do Twitter right and you stick with it, it's a win-win.

Finally, here is my number one Twitter efficiency tip: auto-schedule your tweets with a social media management tool such as hootsuite.com or socialoomph.com. You can plan, save, set and publish your tweets automatically, spreading them throughout the day and night (for international followers), while you do other things or are asleep.

It is important to keep your Twitter account ticking over with regular daily tweets (a minimum of 10 a day at different times) to reach as many of your followers as possible. All you need to do is spend five minutes to schedule your tweets for the day, and that's all. It doesn't take as much effort as you think.

As you may have noticed the four elements represented by the cards shown are carefully balanced, which contributes to a successful Twitter campaign.

Yes! Applying a little bit of Tarot and Woo Magick can make your working life so much easier and open doors to new opportunities.

Over to you:

Wanting to boost your Twitter marketing and networking?

Find out, which element you need to pay attention to at this moment in time to create a more balanced campaign.

Shuffle your deck and pull a card. Which element does it correspond with?
(Wands - Fire, Cups - Water, Swords - Air, Pentacles - Earth).

What advice does the card offer? What do you need to focus on?

Fire: vision, enthusiasm, leadership
Water: building relationships, social interactions
Air: communicating your business message clearly and effectively
Earth: perseverance, patience

Ready to make Twitter work for you? Then don't forget to follow me and send me a tweet. I'd love to follow you back! 

And please do share your Twitter tips here by posting a comment below.

Warmest wishes,

Christiane


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A Message from the Eight of Pentacles

Eight of Pentacles: productivity, mastery, 

perfecting skills, quality, discipline

"Many of life's failures are people, who did not realise how close they were to success when they gave up."

Thomas A. Edison



Affirmation: Each day I take action and persevere to move one step closer towards my goal.

For more inspiring quotes and affirmations for each card please check out my ebook Empowering Messages from the Tarot

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How to Increase Your Productivity

Are you sometimes wondering at the end of a working day what you have actually achieved? After all, you were so busy

• replying to emails
• going to meetings
• researching on the internet (yeah, right :))
• organising your files and dealing with colleagues (resolving their issues and queries, not yours) 

that you have lost sight of getting the real things done, the one's that generate new business, more income and also fulfil your creative and intellectual potential.

Here are 7 tips inspired by the Tarot to help you regain focus and supercharge your productivity:

1. Set your daily tasks. What do you need to achieve today? Take just a few moments at the beginning of each working day to make notes of what you want to get done to get you closer to your goal. 

Be like the King of Swords: clear thinking, sharp, objective, logical, taking control.

2. Limit your social media engagement. This is one of the major distractions that stops most people from getting their work done.

Most employers have banned their staff from accessing social media during work time, but if you are self-employed, then you need to apply firm self-control. You know deep down that online chats and reading people's self-centred status updates gets you nowhere.

If your marketing depends on social media, consider automating it. Check out Hootsuite and SocialOomph to schedule your professional Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn updates.

Use their free service to reduce repetitive social media marketing. You can create draft updates, which can be scheduled repeatedly; you only need to invest 5 minutes of your time in the morning for daily updates, or 10 minutes to auto-schedule your updates for the whole week.

Set a timer, if necessary. That's all! No more getting lost in cyberspace for hours.

Be like the Two of Wands: plan your time constructively, implement new systems to increase efficiency, focus on your creative ambitions and result-orientated activities.

3. Single-task. There is a wide-spread misconception about multi-tasking, which implies that the more stuff you are trying to complete in the shortest amount of time makes you a very productive person. Not true!

Human brains are just not wired to do different things at the same time. Ultimately, the quality of your work will suffer.

For example, reduce your multiple open windows on your computer to just one. Shut down your email client, so you are not getting distracted by incoming emails, while you focus on just one task to get it done.

Be like the Eight of Pentacles: keen on quality, accuracy, mastery, single-mindedness.

4. Clear your computer clutter. Do you have hundreds of email and document folders on your computer? How many emails are still in your inbox?

Maybe you are proud that you have managed to neatly categorise all your emails and documents into numerous folders, but can you remember what they all actually contain?

Chances are, a lot of those folders are no longer required (when did you last look into some of them?), or their contents is out of date. Instead, they are staring you overwhelmingly in the eye, and it is killing your productivity. Time for a cull!

Be radical; just like you de-clutter your wardrobe at home once or twice a year, do the same with your digital possessions you keep on your computer. Empty your inbox.

Be like the Hermit: reduce all that stuff, create space, simplify, back to basics, regain clarity, breathe.

5. Take regular breaks. Skipping lunch doesn't prove to your boss and co-workers that you are a hard and dedicated worker. In reality, it is a sure way to feeling drained more quickly, you lose concentration, get stressed and then make mistakes.

A ten-minute mid-morning break (make yourself a cup of tea, have a biscuit, pop to the loo) allows you some mental rest. A half-hour lunch break away from your desk helps you recharge your batteries for the afternoon ahead.

Not having a break reduces your productivity in the long-term. The world won't fall apart, if you don't respond to emails or finish that report in record time.

Be like the Empress: take care of your needs so you can take care of your work in return, keep a healthy work-life balance, treat yourself with a small reward for being productive for a specified period of time.

6. Don't be controlled by others. Have you noticed how other people seem to think that their status, work and deadlines are more important than yours? "This is urgent! Can you action this asap." "Drop everything and sort out my problem right now to avoid disaster."

These are the people, who manipulate you into deferring what is important to you to follow their own agenda. You need to discern between what is important and what is urgent. Often, other people's urgent isn't your important. Get it?

Don't get sucked into their world, otherwise your list of "urgents" can easily grow, and you just end up neglecting your own important work. Don't tolerate time-wasters.

Be like the Queen of Wands: assertive, in charge of your responsibilities, determined, prioritising, bold.

7. Enjoy the work you do. Last but not least, if you don't like your job, it will affect your productivity, especially if you succumb to the resulting negative vibes like being moody and frustrated.

Most people aren't working in their dream jobs, but it is still possible to make the most of what you have.

Set yourself some exciting goals, beautify your workspace, be cheerful and show enthusiasm (even if you don't feel that way), be positive (after all, it could be worse!), look for training opportunities, so you have the chance to better yourself.

Be like the Nine of Cups: happy, grateful, light-hearted, joyful, pleasant, nurture friendships at work.

What are your favourite methods to improve your productivity? 

If your procrastination is driving you mad, or your workload is getting on top of you, let the Tarot help you get some clarity and focus:

Shuffle your deck and ask: What can I do today to improve my productivity?

Draw one card - up to three cards at the most. What are they advising you to do?

Warmest wishes,

Christiane



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The High Priestess in Business - Still Waters run Deep

"I would rather trust a woman's instinct than a man's reason."

Stanley Baldwin

The High Priestess is often an enigma; she represents hidden knowledge, intuition, the unconscious, stillness, counsel, secrets... anything that needs deeper exploration without certainty of revelation or resolution.

As a person, the High Priestess is introvert, quiet and a good listener. She doesn't talk much, but when you ask her for advice, she often comes up with some helpful guidance. 

The High Priestess doesn't get involved in gossiping, but she loves observing people and forms her own opinions, which she keeps to herself.

When you meet the High Priestess in a working environment, all you see is the tip of the iceberg. If you want to see the whole picture, you have to dive deep, which takes time, effort and patience. For example, the High Priestess may seem slow and passive at first, but over time you realise she is incredibly efficient in an effortless sort of way.

She isn't leadership material (and she really doesn't want to be in charge), but the High Priestess can have a powerful influence with her counselling skills and inherent wisdom a leader often relies upon when difficult decisions have to be made. She likes to rule quietly in the background, happy for someone else to take the limelight.

More and more hidden gems are gradually revealed, but of course be prepared to discover the odd weakness, too, which the High Priestess is very eager to keep hidden. Watch out for fragility, indecisiveness, ambivalence, changeability, shiftiness, spinelessness and loss of power.

Astrologically, she is linked to the moon, which can make her susceptible to moodswings, insecurities, self-doubt and hormonal imbalance. Therefore she can indicate trouble in a workplace where mostly women are employed, or if you have to connect and collaborate with other women on a project.

In a reading about your work, career and business life, the High Priestess offers the following advice:

• listen rather than talk
• wait and see, rather than take action
• trust your intuition, facts are not always what they seem to be
• only offer advice or share your opinion when you are asked for it
• calm down
• don't get involved in drama
• be observant and learn from what you see
• research thoroughly
• accept nothing at face value
• first impressions count, but remain open and receptive to all possibilities
• your creative ideas have great potential, but they need refining and a clear plan for action
• meet uncertainty with patience; don't panic
• take your time, slow down
• keep personal and sensitive information strictly confidential
• choose your words wisely

In Tarot Magick, meditate on the image of the High Priestess to enhance the power of your intuition, stay calm when faced with stressful situations, uncover secrets and hidden knowledge, and develop your counselling abilities.

What advice is the High Priestess offering you today? 

Warmest wishes,

Christiane

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Six of Wands Messages on Leadership

The traditional meaning of the Six of Wands relates to accomplishment, public recognition, praise, victory and success, but the image also depicts a leader and his followers. 

This card can suggest a recent promotion into a managerial position, or having gained more followers/fans/investors, who openly support your project or business venture.

Either way, effective leadership is an important means to get to this point, especially leading by example.

What leadership lessons does the Six of Wands teach us? The rider on the image seems to take success in his stride and keeps moving forward. There is no time to be complacent. He's certainly not resting on his laurel.

When you draw this card in a reading, it may indicate an achievement, but it can also ask you to develop and nurture some leadership qualities, that can help you reach your goal. Which ones do you need to focus on? Here are some quotes relating to the Six of Wands, which may give you a few ideas:

"A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way." 

- John C. Maxwell

"It is better to lead from behind and to put others in front, especially when you celebrate victory when nice things occur. You take the front line when there is danger. Then people will appreciate your leadership." 

- Nelson Mandela

"If you want to see the true measure of a man, watch how he treats his inferiors, not his equals."
- J. K. Rowling

"Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower." 
- Steve Jobs

"A leader is best when people barely know he exists, when his work is done, his aim fulfilled, they will say: we did it ourselves." 

- Lao Tzu

"The challenge of leadership is to be strong, but not rude; be kind, but not weak; be bold, but not bully; be thoughtful, but not lazy; be humble, but not timid; be proud, but not arrogant; have humour, but without folly." 

- Jim Rohn

"He that cannot obey, cannot command." 

- Benjamin Franklin

Affirmation: I achieve my goals by leading others towards greatness.

For more inspiring quotes and affirmations for each card please check out my ebook Empowering Messages from the Tarot

Warmest wishes,

Christiane



Transform your life this year:

Tarot Readings - Insightful guidance when you need it
Learn Tarot - A magickal, inspirational tool for life
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The Zen Law of Attraction

The Hermit is my personality card, and as such I love simplicity and avoid hype, hard sell and pressure. Running a sustainable business or developing a fulfilling career should flow naturally without brute force and the accompanying stress.

Thomas J. Leonard in his book The 28 Laws of Attraction has developed a simple system based on Zen philosophy to help you let success flow into your life more effortlessly.

When less is more, nothing is everything.

You can learn to apply the 28 Laws by using the following koans Leonard has developed:

1. Promise Nothing
Just do what you most enjoy doing.

Hidden benefit: You will always over-deliver.

2. Offer Nothing

Just share what you have with those who express an interest in it.

Hidden benefit: Takes the pressure off of wanting other people to see you as valuable or important.

3. Expect Nothing

Just enjoy what you already have. It’s plenty.

Hidden benefit: You will realize how complete your life is already.

4. Need Nothing

Just build on your reserves and your needs will disappear.

Hidden benefit: Your boundaries will be extended and filled with space.

5. Create Nothing

Just respond well to what comes to you.

Hidden benefit: Openness.

6. Hype Nothing

Just let quality sell by itself.

Hidden benefit: Trust.

7. Plan Nothing

Just take the path of least resistance.

Hidden benefit: Achievement will become effortless.

8. Learn Nothing

Just let your body absorb it all on your behalf.

Hidden benefit: You will become more receptive to what you need to know in the moment.

9. Become No One

Just be more of yourself.

Hidden benefit: Authenticity.

10. Change Nothing

Just tell the truth and things will change by themselves.

Hidden benefit: Acceptance.

This is a summary; you can find the full list of 14 koans on this coaching website.

How can you apply the Zen Law of Attraction to progress your business and career life? What improvements to your current working practice can you make? 

Warmest wishes,

Christiane

PS: Use the Hermit as a meditation card to explore how you can simplify your working style and accelerate your progress at the same time.

Transform your life this year: 

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22 Business Quotes Inspired By The Tarot

Pearls of Wisdom Tarot, Major Arcana  © 2011 Roxi Sim

If you are new to Tarot, a sceptic or at best dismiss the whole thing as a bit of woo, then you may be surprised  to know that you can use the cards as inspirational messages to help you improve and transform your life for the better.

Sounds too good to be true? Or even a scam? Well, if you're one of THOSE sceptics, then rest assured I'm not charging you any money to read my blog, so you can try out and experience my ideas and suggestions for yourself with an open mind and without any obligation.

The archetypal images of the Tarot integrate very well with our everyday lives, which is beautifully illustrated by linking them to inspirational quotes by famous people, who most likely have never been involved with the Tarot in their lives.

Here on my Tarot For Business blog I focus on helping you transform your work, career and business life with the help of the cards, so most of the quotes chosen are from well-known entrepreneurs and business professionals.

Let the Tarot show you how to wise up in your working life:

0. The Fool - new beginnings and spontaneity

"Begin today. Declare out loud to the universe that you are willing to let go of struggle and eager to learn through joy.”
- Sarah Ban Breathnach, Author of Simple Abundance

1. The Magician - potential and initiative

"Do it no matter what. If you believe in it, it is something very honourable. If somebody around you or your family does not understand it, then that's their problem. But if you do have a passion, an honest passion, just do it."
- Mario Andretti, Racing Driver

2. The High Priestess - intuition and patience

"Intuition becomes increasingly valuable in the new information society precisely because there is so much data."

- John Naisbitt, Author and Public Speaker

3. The Empress - nurture and creativity

"We see our customers as invited guests to a party, and we are the hosts. It’s our job every day to make every important aspect of the customer experience a little bit better."
- Jeff Bezos, Founder of Amazon.com

4. The Emperor - leadership and vision

"No man will make a great leader who wants to do it all himself or get all the credit for doing it."
- Andrew Carnegie, 19th century Steel Industrialist

5. The Hierophant - rules and structure

"Start with good people, lay out the rules, communicate with your employees, motivate them and reward them. If you do all those things effectively, you can't miss."
- Lee Iacocca, Businessman (former Head of Chrysler and Ford)

6. The Lovers - love and devotion

"Disneyland is a work of love. We didn't go into Disneyland just with the idea of making money."
- Walt Disney, Film Producer

7. The Chariot - struggle and victory

"Do more than is required. What is the distance between someone who achieves their goals consistently and those who spend their lives and careers merely following? The extra mile."
- Gary Ryan Blair, Business Coach 

8. Strength - assertiveness and courage

"The most courageous act is still to think for yourself. Aloud."
- Coco Chanel, Fashion Designer

9. The Hermit - simplicity and knowledge

"Nobility of spirit has more to do with simplicity than ostentation, wisdom rather than wealth, commitment rather than ambition."
- Riccardo Muti, Conductor and Music Director

10. Wheel of Fortune - luck and fate

"What separates the winners from the losers is how a person reacts to each new twist of fate."
- Donald Trump, Entrepeneur

11. Justice - fairness and objectivity

"Life isn't fair; get used to it."
- Bill Gates, Founder of Microsoft

12. The Hanged Man - reflection and stagnation

"Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect."
- Mark Twain, Author  

13. Death - endings and transformation

"Failure is not fatal, but failure to change might be."
- John Wooden, Basketball player and Head Coach

14. Temperance - balance and harmony

"Technology helps us become more efficient and productive but our business still has a lot of art as opposed to strictly science."
- James Sinegal, Co-founder of Costco

15. The Devil - materialism and greed

"Above all, you want to create something you're proud of. This has always been my philosophy of business. I can honestly say that I have never gone into any business purely to make money. If that is the sole motive, then I believe you are better off not doing it."
- Richard Branson, Entrepeneur, Virgin Media Group

16. The Tower - breakdown and destruction

"One of the symptoms of an approaching nervous breakdown is the belief that one's work is terribly important."
- Bertrand Russell, Philosopher

17. The Star - hope and optimism

“Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement. Nothing can be done without hope and confidence.”
- Helen Keller, Author and Political Activist

18. The Moon - drifting and imagination

"Anyone who has lost track of time when using a computer knows the propensity to dream, the urge to make dreams come true and the tendency to miss lunch."
- Tim Berners-Lee, Inventor of the World Wide Web

 

19. The Sun - happiness and contentment

"Happiness does not come from doing easy work but from the afterglow of satisfaction that comes after the achievement of a difficult task that demanded our best."
- Theodore Isaac Rubin, Psychiatrist

 

20. Judgement - review and evaluation 

"Recognize that there will be failures, and acknowledge that there will be obstacles. But you will learn from your mistakes and the mistakes of others, for there is very little learning in success."
- Michael Dell, Founder of Dell Inc.

21. The World - completion and advancement

"The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again, less sure about everything. It freed me to enter one of the most creative periods of my life.”
- Steve Jobs, Co-founder of Apple Inc.

What quotes inspire you? Which ones are your favourites for each card? Please share in the comment box below; I'd love to hear from you.

Warmest wishes,

Christiane

Transform your life this year: 

Tarot Readings - Insightful guidance when you need it 

Learn Tarot - A magickal, inspirational tool for life

Tarot eBooks - Great value, innovative Tarot study material

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