Our friend Onomatopoeia might be on to something here, and I don’t believe you’ll even have to travel south to execute his plan. I’m not sure how sold you are on this voodoo bit, but while there may be a lot of suckers willing to buy into your friend’s magic powers because he’s “Haitian,” there are a lot more people who will be willing to believe their Jesus can cast out demons.
But he is going to be rich in earthly treasures, right?
It’s more B than A, no matter how scary it is. People can’t do their own exorcism for a reason.
And those things are all cons. Except stage magic, which both the performer and viewer understand is entertainment.
You ripoff artist! They are only $5 per box of 50 from this site.
Maybe you can adapt this idea into a TV show pitch for the USA Network.
Or SyFy. It’d make about as much sense as almost anything else they have on that channel. I’m still trying to wrap my mind around what professional wrestling has to do with science fiction.
That was meant as a useful rule of thumb to keep in mind when examining this career path. It’s the same advice I’d give someone who thought that photography, acting, or opening a restaurant is an easy way to get rich. Making a little money is not always laborious, but making a living almost always is.
You left out C) will pay enough money for, repeatedly. Most people can’t or won’t stand on their head and eat grizzly bear shit. But not nearly enough people will pay enough, often enough to make it worthwhile.
Stage magic is as much of a con as movie acting is. If you’re just looking for some beer money, then go for it, it’s more fun than shoveling snow, and no sore back.
But don’t kid yourself, of course it’s a con: A) You don’t appear to believe that spirits and such are real and B) You admit to having no training or expertise in woo-ology. Customers are not just paying for the voodoo dance and infrared ghost detector schtick. They want the ‘professional’ to believe in this silly crap and apply their expert knowledge to solving their ghost problem. A rational person understands that your play-acting is just as (in)effective as a ‘real’ exorcism, but your customers are not rational.
Since your business plan does no harm, and is indistinguishable in its results from a genuine spiritual what-have-you, it’s a harmless con. They are going to throw their money away, it may as well go to you. It’s less morally suspect than many legitimate sales jobs.
You know, there are people who do this for a living. Some are believers and some are not. What they all have in common is a willingness to take the beliefs seriously, and do some background research.
I have done ghost counselling myself, twice (for free, as an expert in folklore, taking care to keep my personal beliefs or lack thereof off the table). In both cases, it was clear that they would have been better off talking to a psychologist. My personal opinion was that they psychological issues that were being expressed through their beliefs in ghosts, and that it would in fact be very easy to do more harm than good. The ghosts weren’t real, insofar as I can tell, but they weren’t cases of idiots who were too stupid to deserve money.
Just on the off chance that some random reader is interested in an actual answer to the OP, it’s: probably not a lot. I get calls for house cleansings about 3 times a year. Exorcisms, I’ve assisted with one once. (Oh wait, two. Two in ten years.) There’s just not a lot of call for this stuff, honestly.
Of course, I don’t *try *to make it my living. I don’t advertise or make cold calls or anything at all - people just hear about me through a friend and call me up. I do have a friend who did decide to make a career of it, and he’s…well, I think he’s painting houses in Georgia at the moment. Or maybe running a fruit stand in Hawaii. Who knows where he is, really…it’s that kind of lifestyle.
Great guy, charismatic as all get out, hard working like you wouldn’t believe, has blue eyed blond hair babyface with just enough piercings and visible tattoos to please the exotic loving contingent, actually believes in himself and the work he is doing, knows enough of various systems and had enough tools to be able and qualified (from those lineages) to do generic new age, neopagan, Wiccan, a Hermetic *and *Ifa ceremonies…
…and he couldn’t make a living off it when we was single and living in his van. Hardly trying to support a lavish lifestyle, there. He does some of it, along with some bodywork and managerial stuff and the occasional house to paint, and he’s hanging in there. But he’s by no means “supporting himself” solely as a ghost hunter like he had once hoped.
*Are there Spiritual Advisors and the like who make a living at woo? Absolutely. But not very many, and not a very lavish living, unless you’re Deepak Chopra. And they’re doing more than ghost busting, they’re also counseling, reading Akashic Records, doing Tarot readings, maybe weddings and baby blessings, selling tools and incense, that sort of thing. Not ghost hunting alone.
*who, by the way, is a narcissistic twit. I’m sure you’re shocked.
I’d go with this if you add C) haven’t thought to do.
When it comes to relatively fun jobs like photographer, interior designer, DJ, the hard work is really in getting established. Once you’re well-known you can command high fees without having to prove that you’re better than anyone else.
And it’s much easier to establish yourself in a new market.
And, for the purpose of the OP, I would consider starting a ghost-hunting business in an area that doesn’t already have one to be an original idea.
To echo WhyNot, everyone I have ever met who does this professionally is an established religious practitioner who performs a variety of other religious services (largely Neopagans and a couple of Santeros). They also all have day jobs to pay the bills. I am aware that some Christian groups also perform these services. I don’t know what they charge, but I imagine it’s at a pretty low cost or free to church members. Mijin, I think you’d be hard-pressed to find an urban area where these services are not already available.
I’d recommend against being an exorcist. There are a lot of people out there, in this bad economy, who would have a hard time paying for an exorcist these days, because getting demons taken out of you is an expensive proposition. And you know what happens when you can’t pay your exorcist–you get repossessed.
I see SenorBeef beat me to the punch, but I’ll say it anyway:
Yes, it’s a con. And every one of the things you compared it to there (except stage magic) is also a con.
Now, I’m sure some people would draw a distinction here. If I convince you that I can cure your cancer by laying you on a table and setting rocks on and around you, I’ve most certainly conned you. On the other hand, they might say, if you already believe it, I’m just providing the rocks and a little hand-waving, so I’m not really a con artist. I don’t draw that distinction.
If a plumber went to people’s houses and charged a bunch of money to do stuff that didn’t fix the plumbing, he’d lose his license, get booted out of the union, and probably get sued. But palm readers don’t have licenses or unions, and if you sue them, they’ll just disappear and set up shop somewhere else.
Heh. A while back I had an idea for making money from idiots–I would write and sell an ebook about something stupid, like how to get the most out of your psychic reading. I did a little market research and found 5 or 6 books like that for sale on Amazon.
But still, writing short books on stupid topics for idiots and selling them on Amazon could probably bring in a few bucks.
This reminds me of a recent Family Guy episode, where Brian knowingly wrote a book of complete crap that sold like hotcakes.