Yes — and please know it’s completely understandable to feel like it’s getting harder, not easier. Between AI readings, free readings everywhere, and advice on social media that seems to change every five minutes, it can feel like the window has closed. It hasn’t. But the way you build a tarot business in 2026 looks genuinely different to how it looked even two or three years ago.
Why “how do I get clients?” is the wrong question in 2026
It’s the most common thing I get asked. Through Instagram, through email, in my Facebook group — people reach out and ask: Sal, how do I get clients? No-one is taking up my offers unless they want them for free.
In the early years of running my online tarot business, I could answer that in a paragraph or two. Not perfectly, but enough to point someone somewhere useful.
But now, in 2026, that question doesn’t account for what’s actually happening out there.
I see my tarot business — and yours — as being more like an octopus than anything else. Multiple tentacles, all needing attention to bring in clients consistently. Most people are only feeding one or two of them — and usually it’s the one that gives the least back.
Little tiny tips will maybe get you a couple of wins. They’re not going to build that long-term income without you constantly hustling and exhausting yourself.
The question I’d rather you be asking — the 2026 version — is this: what can I do to stop the scroll? What am I offering in the tarot realm that nobody else is? I’m going to give you a starting point for that by the end of this post.
Why understanding the landscape comes before any strategy
Think about what someone scrolling on Facebook, Instagram or TikTok is actually feeling in that moment. They’re distracted, tired, maybe heartbroken about someone, anxious about work. Their thoughts are more focused on finding something to distract them or take away the pain than on paying someone to help them.
They’re not scrolling to find someone to pay. They’re scrolling to feel better for five minutes.
In that headspace, they could be seeing dozens of tarot readers giving readings in reels, posting a card of the day, or offering their latest paid reading — with free options scattered in between. So it doesn’t matter how exceptional you are as a reader. Your job is to stop the scroll long enough for someone to notice you exist.
That’s a different skill to reading tarot accurately. And it’s one most online tarot readers haven’t been taught, or find deeply uncomfortable.
Why strategies from a few years ago won’t work today
Please know this isn’t about you doing it wrong. It’s about timing.
When I started in 2009, there were no free readings. Nobody expected them. Nobody asked for them. People were always paying me. It was easy to build a business then because there wasn’t such a thing.
That world no longer exists. YouTube, Facebook, TikTok — years of free content have trained people to expect tarot without a price tag. And most readers aren’t aware when they start selling their services that this is the reality of the space they’re stepping into.
Which means the strategies that worked even two or three years ago need fresh eyes. Not thrown out entirely — updated. Because the landscape underneath them has shifted.
The good news is there are real, specific things working in 2026 that don’t require you to post every day, chase an algorithm, or burn yourself out giving away readings that you have worked so hard to deliver — only to watch them not convert to paid clients.
Where to start this week
Here are three questions to start with — and they’re the most useful thing I can leave you with today.
Ask yourself what you’re doing that nobody else in the tarot space is doing right now. Whether there’s a real demand for it. And whether you can sustain it without burning out. You don’t have to answer all three today. But sitting with those questions is where something original starts to emerge — and original is what stops the scroll.
I know this can feel overwhelming. Most readers I speak to feel exactly the same way. But try these small shifts and start noticing whether you see a difference in your reach. You may not be flooded with requests for paid readings overnight — but you may just start to see more legitimate interest in what you do, and genuine curiosity from people who want to know how you can help them.
Over the next few weeks I’m going to be sharing exactly what that looks like. If you’d like these strategies delivered directly to you, join my mailing list Learning with Sal Jade here — that way you won’t miss what’s coming.
First up: what Instagram, Facebook and TikTok are actually designed to do with your time and energy — and why most tarot readers don’t realise it until they’re exhausted.
If you would like to go deeper with this, in late May I’m running a live masterclass — Consistent Tarot Clients Without Chasing Algorithms — where I’ll be going through exactly how to build a client base in 2026 that doesn’t depend on performing for an algorithm every day. If that’s where you are right now, you can join the waitlist below.
Sal Jade has been teaching tarot for 17 years and has taught nearly 100,000 students on Udemy. With over a decade teaching tarot business on her Psychic Healing Academy, she can be found at saljade.com
Read Full Transcript
Can you make money from tarot in 2026?
Yes — and please know it’s completely understandable to feel like it’s getting harder, not easier. Between AI readings, free readings everywhere, and advice on social media that seems to change every five minutes, it can feel like the window has closed. It hasn’t. But the way you build a tarot business in 2026 looks genuinely different to how it looked even two or three years ago.
Why “how do I get clients?” is the wrong question in 2026
It’s the most common thing I get asked. Through Instagram, through email, in my Facebook group — people reach out and ask: Sal, how do I get clients? No-one is taking up my offers unless they want them for free.
In the early years of running my online tarot business, I could answer that in a paragraph or two. Not perfectly, but enough to point someone somewhere useful.
But now, in 2026, that question doesn’t account for what’s actually happening out there.
I see my tarot business — and yours — as being more like an octopus than anything else. Multiple tentacles, all needing attention to bring in clients consistently. Most people are only feeding one or two of them — and usually it’s the one that gives the least back.
Little tiny tips will maybe get you a couple of wins. They’re not going to build that long-term income without you constantly hustling and exhausting yourself.
The question I’d rather you be asking — the 2026 version — is this: what can I do to stop the scroll? What am I offering in the tarot realm that nobody else is? I’m going to give you a starting point for that by the end of this post.
Why understanding the landscape comes before any strategy
Think about what someone scrolling on Facebook, Instagram or TikTok is actually feeling in that moment. They’re distracted, tired, maybe heartbroken about someone, anxious about work. Their thoughts are more focused on finding something to distract them or take away the pain than on paying someone to help them.
“They’re not scrolling to find someone to pay. They’re scrolling to feel better for five minutes.”
In that headspace, they could be seeing dozens of tarot readers giving readings in reels, posting a card of the day, or offering their latest paid reading — with free options scattered in between. So it doesn’t matter how exceptional you are as a reader. Your job is to stop the scroll long enough for someone to notice you exist.
That’s a different skill to reading tarot accurately. And it’s one most online tarot readers haven’t been taught, or find deeply uncomfortable.
Why strategies from a few years ago won’t work today
Please know this isn’t about you doing it wrong. It’s about timing.
“When I started in 2009, there were no free readings. Nobody expected them. People were always paying me. It was easy to build a business then because there wasn’t such a thing.”
That world no longer exists. YouTube, Facebook, TikTok — years of free content have trained people to expect tarot without a price tag. And most readers aren’t aware when they start selling their services that this is the reality of the space they’re stepping into.
Which means the strategies that worked even two or three years ago need fresh eyes. Not thrown out entirely — updated. Because the landscape underneath them has shifted.
The good news is there are real, specific things working in 2026 that don’t require you to post every day, chase an algorithm, or burn yourself out giving away readings that you have worked so hard to deliver — only to watch them not convert to paid clients.
Where to start this week
Here are three questions to start with — and they’re the most useful thing I can leave you with today.
Ask yourself what you’re doing that nobody else in the tarot space is doing right now. Whether there’s a real demand for it. And whether you can sustain it without burning out. You don’t have to answer all three today. But sitting with those questions is where something original starts to emerge — and original is what stops the scroll.
I know this can feel overwhelming. Most readers I speak to feel exactly the same way. But try these small shifts and start noticing whether you see a difference in your reach. You may not be flooded with requests for paid readings overnight — but you may just start to see more legitimate interest in what you do, and genuine curiosity from people who want to know how you can help them.
Over the next few weeks I’m going to walk through exactly what that looks like in practice. If you’d like it delivered directly to you, join my mailing list below — that way you won’t miss what’s coming.
First up: what Instagram, Facebook and TikTok are actually designed to do with your time and energy — and why most tarot readers don’t realise it until they’re exhausted.
In late May I’m running a live masterclass — Consistent Tarot Clients Without Chasing Algorithms — where I’ll be going through exactly how to build a client base in 2026 that doesn’t depend on performing for an algorithm every day. If that’s where you are right now, you can join the waitlist at sal-jade.com.
Sal Jade has been teaching tarot for 17 years and has taught nearly 100,000 students on Udemy. Over the past decade she has been helping tarot readers grow their business in a soul-driven way on the Psychic Healing Academy. You can find Sal at saljade.com