The Perks of Being a Part-Time Astrologer

Let's start with a few basic facts. Most astrologers do not practice full-time. The Organization of Professional Astrologers, or OPA, did a survey of some of their members (page 42 of the magazine's link above) and found that out of 500 respondents, 35% did not make any money from astrology. 51.26% said that the most intimidating factor in becoming an astrologer is the difficulty in making a sustainable living financially. But out of those 500 people, 49.49% made some money from astrology (this percentage excludes those not making money and those making a full-time income from it.) I'd suggest flipping through the numbers a bit to see the full survey for yourself.

All of these numbers are to basically say - it's okay to have a practice and not be full-time. Most people aren't. BUT! You can definitely make money off of it. It may not look like how you thought. You may not be giving readings all day, everyday. But maybe you don't really need to be. Here's why that's a good thing. Here's a few little perks of being a part-time astrologer, some encouragement if you're thinking of starting your own astrology practice, and some things you should look out for, whether you're a client or someone hoping to start a business.

The first perk: This business can look like whatever you want it to. Many astrologers do readings, but you don't have to. It's certainly not the only (or most lucrative) way to make money. Some astrologers don't even like doing them. Here's a few ideas for revenue streams:

Teaching classes
Writing (or selling pre-written) reports
Writing horoscopes
If you're tech-savvy, making some kind of app or software
Writing a book

And if you're thinking, "That doesn't sound like a lot, how am I supposed to do any of that part-time and make money?" Let me introduce you to the another perk: Expenses are relatively low. It doesn't cost much to run a business online. Here’s some of the basics you’ll need for a year, and how much they cost:

A website, which can vary in price, but I'll ballpark around $150 (You can also use a free platform like Medium, Substack, or Google Blogger. I use Ghost and do not recommend Wordpress or Squarespace.)
Domain name $20 (these are for your website, it's the url you'll get)
P.O. Box for business address $30-$100 (necessary to send out emails, under federal law in the U.S. with fines over $50k.)
Scheduler $150 ( I just use google workspace, which covers Google Meet and my appointment scheduler. That way you don't have to pay separately for zoom and a scheduler.)
County or city business license $50 (this is a guesstimate, and it is typically a one-time fee, but you may have renewal fees every year.)
Doing Business As (DBA) $20

That’s around $490. If the fear of the cost is holding you back, now you know! Let's break that down real quick: If you do readings at $100, you’d be doing just 5 readings a year to cover expenses. If you do $60 for an hour, that’s around 8 people. If you do mini readings at $30 for 30 minutes, that’s around 16 people. I know you can get 16 people to book a reading with you! Be more confident in your abilities - start the darn thing!

And the rest of these income streams can be relatively passive. Once you've written reports, they're pretty easy to generate. And that's only if you're not using the pre-canned ones written by other astrologers, which many astrology softwares come with, like AstroGold or Solar Fire. Many astrologers use reports written by other astrologers (so as a message to clients, if you're interested in buying a report, make sure it is either handwritten or written by the astrologer you're consulting.) The same goes with classes - as you do them, you'll become more experienced.

Here's the second perk: You get to do this whenever you want. You don't have to book clients all day, every day, just to live. You can only work one a day a week if you want. You most certainly don't have to work weekends or holidays if you don't want to. This takes the pressure off of having to work every waking moment.

There’s also the widespread notion that if an astrologer isn’t booked out for a few weeks or months in advance, they “must not be any good.” I’m going to not so politely call bullshit on this. I know plenty of excellent astrologers who are very well learned and have plenty of experience. And they do not have a practice. Or if they do, it may not be very big. That does not change the fact that they’re still great astrologers. I’ve had readings from, heard advice from, and learned from a good many of them. They’re fantastic. Being an astrologer is not dependent on having a practice.

An astrologer should not be judged upon their clientele size. I've talked a little bit about this before, but I don't even think an astrologer should necessarily be judged based on their accuracy. Yes, yes, I can feel some people clutching their pearls from across the screen. The reason I say this is because I think astrologers should be judged by how much they want to help you. An astrologer may not always be accurate. We're human. But the willingness to help people though the messiness of life is what matters, to me at least, in the end.

For my clients out there who may be looking for astrologers, here's a a general guide on how to choose one. First, ask how they do their readings and if they can address the specific concerns you have. If they’re honest and have integrity, they can tell you the bounds of what they can address. Some questions we can’t answer, or may not be the person for. That’s not to say they aren’t skilled, just that some astrologers are more fit for medical charts while others are fit for horary. I, for example, probably wouldn’t be the best if a client approached me about it certain topics. I have referred a few clients out before, to people who I thought would be better fit for that reading. Seeing the empathy and willingness of the person you will be working with (and putting your trust, psyche, and interpretation of fate into) is important. It cannot be overstated how vulnerable a reading can be.

An astrologer you should watch out for: one who can promise you the world. If they're a better salesman than they are an astrologer - be wary. If they promise that they can fix, guide, or predict outlandish things, I'd definitely be cautious.

The third perk: You don't have to be a slave to the social media machine. The majority of running a business, especially with the advent of social media, is marketing. But honestly? You don't really have to do that unless you want to. Now, a little disclaimer: I have enough traffic from this blog alone that I no longer have to rely on social media. The majority of readings I get are from people who now read this blog and find me through Google, Bing, DuckDuckGo, etc. I used to post to Facebook fairly often, but as I grew more tired and my disdain for tech companies grew ever higher, I found I no longer had the energy to do it. Do I miss it? Yeah. I miss the community aspect a lot (and am very grateful for those of you who found me through there! Shoutout to the OGs! 🥳🎉 I miss talking to you!) But I do not think social media is necessary for everyone. Nor do I think readings are. If you want to write little Sun sign astrology books and put them on Amazon, go for it. A solitary practice is perfectly fine. This little world is what you make of it.

You do have to do a little bit of marketing, but what that looks like is entirely up to you. You could run a blog, like me. Or you could just place advertisements in some astrology magazines every quarter. Perhaps you contribute to a podcast. Maybe you post to some Facebook groups. (I know I did! For a very long time! And I kind of miss it sometimes!) What that marketing looks like, how you get people in the door, is going to look vastly different from the next person.

I'm hitting so heavily on these points for a reason. The first, and most important, is because I do not want people to get discouraged because they are not able to do their astrology practice full-time. I did it full-time for a bit, and I must confess, I am tired. I am back in school. My mom is on a new round of chemo, and it's really fucking hard on her. We got new puppies that will not shut up. Being part-time allows me to focus on these things. If I had to focus on the profitability or the endless things to do, I'd miss out on some really important things ~~like how my dogs won't shut up~~. But seriously, we can't all devote that kind of time and energy to it, and that is okay. We have lives that have to be lived, and they can't be focused solely on money.

I wanted to write this for anyone who really wanted to turn their practice full-time, or felt disappointed that they weren’t "successful" and had a ton of clients after years of practicing, or never had the confidence to start a practice. Shit is hard. And just because you don’t go viral by making up some shit about the Moon on TikTok does not make you any less of an astrologer. You’re an astrologer, and a good one. You've got this. There are other more important things to focus on. You can be part-time, and honestly, you may find things feel a little easier that way. Not everything is about turning a hobby into something lucrative, sometimes it can be just because you enjoy it.

Also, it's really fun at parties to say your side gig is being an astrologer. People love that shit.

Much love,

Abby