The nature of one's business, especially in industries not considered mainstream, does not determine the level of professionalism and interaction with clients as a whole. Sound business etiquette and ethics are necessary in order to succeed in the business world, immaterial of the type of service offered. Too many practitioners in holistic, alternative and esoteric fields discard these principles, discrediting their professions.

1. Never misrepresent your credentials and qualifications – transparency is vital.
2. If you are not qualified in astrology you should not be practicing.
3. Never make false claims about your craft – the stars are infallible, the astrologer is not.
4. Should the client contacting you require the services of another category of professional or even of another astrologer refer out immediately – always be aware of your limitations and those of astrology.
5. Always be aware of the mental and emotional states of the prospective client – these are easily gauged simply by listening to the words, tone and pitch of the voice, and yes even of the email, and the level of desperation of the client. If you think that you will be out of your depth refer out.
6. Be aware of the clients who are what I call “serial soul seekers”. They have consulted with every psychic, tarot card reader, tea leaf reader, numerologist, etc. in town and you are next in line. These people are very hard to shake off once they latch onto you. The reality is that many people do not want to help themselves and they will continue to seek out the practitioner who will tell them what they want to hear.
7. Knowledge of the law in so far as it is applicable to diagnoses, prognoses, and prescription of “courses” of action is vital especially for astrologers involved in the realm of medical astrology.
8. Maintain the strictest levels of client confidentiality. I am often asked, especially in media interviews, who my celebrity clients are. I only ever divulge one name as I have this client’s express permission to do so for marketing purposes.
9. Honour your deadlines. If you agreed to provide certain information to a client by a stipulated date, ensure this is done.
10. Always charge for your services and ensure your fees are market related and relevant to your level of skill and qualifications. Not charging brings the craft of astrology into disrepute and says more about you and your levels of skill and confidence than anything else – which is not positive.
11. If you believe that astrology is a sacred art and fees should not be charged please go and learn how to read tea leaves instead. You will never be in the same league as William Lilly, Richard Saunders, John Dee, etc., and they certainly charged for their services.
12. Discuss the fees with the client at the outset – again transparency is vital.
13. Ensure that you have a terms and conditions schedule which you provide to your clients in advance. This ensures that there are no unrealistic expectations and both parties can then engage in a manner of respect and transparency.
14. Get paid up front! I repeat, get paid up front. The preparation for a consultation is extensive – only a dim-witted person would invest that amount of time while running the risk that the client does not arrive for the appointment.
15. This also ensures that both the astrologer and client can focus on the task at hand during the consultation, which is the astrology, with neither worrying about money.  
16. If a client does not agree to your terms and conditions, which includes the up-front payments, let them find another astrologer. This is the kind of person who wouldn’t arrive for their appointment or who has the completely wrong perception of what astrology is – you don’t need them even if your bank balance tells you otherwise.
17. Take yourself seriously and afford your craft the respect it deserves – it will always be bigger than you, and it is for you to do it justice. Do not engage in conversations with clients where you are required to “prove” your craft. They either wish to consult with you or they don’t.
18. Explain to the client that the success of the delineation is dependent on his levels of honesty, transparency, sincerity and participation.
    
19. Do not slip into a melancholic funk when you attain an incorrect judgement or forecast. No vocation requires you to sign a document stating you will always be right, not even if you are elected president of your country.
20. Do not offer to refund a client if you attain an incorrect judgement – to do so undermines the craft. A lawyer does not refund you when you lose a court case and neither does the medical practitioner when it transpires you have pancreatic cancer instead of his diagnosis of constipation. Return to your chart, locate your errors, obtain additional information from the client if applicable, and set things straight.
    
21. Explain to the client during the consultation that you make every effort to apply your skill to the best of your ability but you are fallible – they enter into the agreement with you of their own free will.
22. Paramount to points 18, 19 and 20 is the one aspect of our craft that we have no control over – the will and grace of God – it is best never to forget this.
23. Do not allow clients to continually badger you after the consultation. Your boundaries of what you will and won't do should be stated clearly in your terms and conditions; this includes the boundaries for communication.
24. Never keep a client waiting, whether for a distance or face to face consultation.
25. Have a cut-off for how late clients’ may be for a face to face consultation – mine is 15 minutes. If they do not contact me to advise me they are running late, the consultation is cancelled; no refund applies.
26. Market yourself wherever you go – I have secured clients in queues waiting to pay my rates account.
27. Walk the talk and remember by whose grace we practice this celestial science! If you attend a social function and end up as the topless dancer on the table the chances are you will not attract the CEO of Microsoft as a client, but the person who was licking tequila off your naked body instead.
28. Continue to study immaterial of your level of qualifications. You will never know it all and ongoing education is paramount to your success as an astrologer.
29. Honour those who came before you and on whose knowledge and experience you rely – if they are still living you never know when you may need their expertise again.
30. And finally, in the words of Jerome Cardan: He that has too great a conceit of himself will be apt to fall into may errors in his judgement; yet on the other side, he that is too diffident, is not fit for this science.