Advice? I've decided to become a Paranormal Consultant

I always wonder how folks go about getting that kind of gig. I could tell you whether your place was 'haunted' or not when you bought it. Some folks would pay for that service, no? I'm really good at it, as far as matching well with other people's experiences.

The only people I'd know to ask, I was told as a kid to avoid! One of these days, I'm knocking on that witch-lady's door, you just watch

Is this like a weight loss plan. No offense, but the pay checks are going to be far and few between. Stock up on the Ramen Noodles now while you can...

Go for it. Seriously.

Universities are interested in this. They might hire you or give you a grant

<<<<<<<<<<<<<<wanders away....Hinky feeling?

<<<talks to self.....what are hinky feelings?

OH...best wishes with this.

Good luck with your new life

*cough*

What's a inexpensive way to go? Will Facebook serve my needs?

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Here's your second case (since I believe you live in southern NJ): Outing the Jersey Devil. I always wondered about it.

If you're serious, go in person to the police departments but be prepared to back up your qualifications. And also be prepared to get a lot of eye rolls. But you know that already. Then there's pounding the pavement and visiting detective agencies.

In this case, I don't see cold calling as getting you anywhere, but if they see you in person (and realize you're not deranged ) you'll probably have a better chance.

Whatever you set up, be it a Facebook page or straight web page, you'll need to document your successes and your qualfications - people aren't going to just take your word for it that you know what you're talking about.

If you can discuss your cases and lay out your successes online it'll go a long way to establish your credibility and keep you out of the "crackpot" crowd.

imo, of course.

If you do your own website don't forget Facebook, Diana. Right now it's where people often take their first look at companies but more than not the place where they keep an eye on things that interest them. It's also a great place to 'spread the word'. I manage a facebook page for a jeep company and it's pretty amazing how quickly it can grow.

You need a Facebook and a few other things for the best exposure.

1. Get Facebook in the business name and/or with important terms.
2. Twitter, same thing.
3. Get a real website, with a .com address. Try to get it with an important keyword(s) in the address if you can. If you prefer to have it as your business name, that's fine, but a keyword in the name can give it a boost. Think about what people who might want to talk to you will be typing in the search box to find services like yours. Use the Google Adsense tool to find how often these types of words are searched, and then look up the sites that come up with those words to see how competitive they are so you can choose something that's more likely to be found. Even if you went with something (which you wouldn't) ike Dianasdemonorama.com (with Diana's demonoarma not something anyone would search for) knowing the popular keywords will be helpful when you write on your site, to help more people find it.
4. Write articles for other people's blogs, similar sites and even places like ezinearticles.com to backlink to your site using appropriate keyword phrases as the link.


You can get a .com for a year for about $10. $20 or so if you want your registration details to be kept private, through domains by proxy or a similar service.

Consider Hostgator to host the site. $9.95 a month for the smallest plan. If you pay a couple of years in advance, the average can be closer to $6 monthly.

Use wordpress to create the site. It's free, super easy to set up with Hostgator and you've got a built-in blog that's easy to update whenever you want. You don't have to know anything about html or websites this way, and you can dicker it around to make it look like a website with a main page and attached blog, if you prefer. You can also find some nice free templates for the site, or pay a little bit to get something more professional. Some make custom stuff that's pricey but fantastic-looking. All depends on your budget.

If you'll be depending on local business, then you want to make sure to use local keywords. seances, ghost hunting, spirit contact or whatever are keywords, but if you're in Booville, then you'll want to make sure you use phrases like Booville ghost hunting, Booville haunting, ghost hunter in Booville, things like that, throughout your website text. Not crazily, but you'll want it there in prominent places. No need to keyword stuff, like some do. Keywords in post titles, headings, that sort of thing. (You may already be aware of this, I'm just trying to be complete.)

If you need help with setting up a website, finding keywords, meta tag stuff, PM me. I work fairly cheap.

However you choose to go about it, good luck! I think it sounds interesting and like you'll be doing something you love.

Shelley

meetup.com is local and have groups with different interests. Join as many as you can that are haunt related. You can put a link to your main page in your meet up profile, whether it is facebook or myspace or whatever.

Make sure you get all the right EPA permits. You've seen Ghostbusters, right??

NEVER CROSS THE STREAMS.

You'll want to make available any articles or books you've written on the topic right on your website/kindle/POD or commercial publishing, whichever you have or want to do. That could bring in a separate income from what you're actually doing when you go to locations.

Shelley

You might get in touch with those psuedo ghost busters on TV. I'm certain they could use someone with a bit of an...educated(?) background.

Have you already been doing this for some time? Because most people, when choosing to change horses in mid-stream, like to get one foot in the stirrup of the saddle on the horse they are moving too, before jumping off the horse they are already on.

Diana I wish you'd waited at least until next year to resign; starting a new business in this economy is hazardous.

I'd go with a free Blogger or WordPress site for now; see which works better for you.

I'd be very careful with FB; I'd mostly use it to promote your blog. FB is a troll haven, and you're going to be attacked as badly as you've ever been (I know you know what hostile and malicious trolls are like from previous experiences). You'll need to control access and posting. I'd use FB only for reposts, and not for interaction. Think of your blog as your hub; every thing flows from it. You can create static pages on both Blogger and WordPress; use those for the c.v. and other background data. Provide bibliographies with annotations; you're presenting yourself as an authority.

Try to keep cash outlay to a minimum.

L. Grumbling said:

You might get in touch with those psuedo ghost busters on TV. I'm certain they could use someone with a bit of an...educated(?) background.

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Ghost Hunters? Nah. They wouldn't actually want someone who might notice the fishing line and the creative editing.

Shelley

You need more than one successful case to build a business on. Perhaps a hundred or three. At the very least.

Diana, if this is what you want to do then retract your resignation and use the next few years to build your reputation in the field so that you have estabilished yourself in it before you have to rely on it for frivolities like food and rent.

Honestly. I'm really worried about you now.