Do You Really Need an LLC for Your Podcast?

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Good morning Podcasting Morning
Chat.

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Today is Tuesday, November 18th,
2025 and today making the

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business side of podcasting
simple, light and instantly

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usable.
That's our focus as Ralph Estep

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helps Breakdown, LL CS, Money
flow, Creator deductions and

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more.
So if you're listening live on

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Clubhouse, hit the share button
top right hand side of the

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screen and share it.
However, Clubhouse lets you.

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And if you're catching us via
podcast chatter, YouTube,

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Facebook, share this with a
fellow podcaster and now give us

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00:00:40,200 --> 00:00:42,880
about 30 seconds and we'll get
things rolling.

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Thanks for being here.
Good morning again podcasting

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morning chat.
Thanks so much for being here.

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I am your host Mark Ronik and
currently on stage with me we

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have Dr. Fey, producer Ashley
Feller, Sid Meadows, Jonathan

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Howard, Nick Naul back and Ralph
E step and look at that.

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Dominic is in the audience as
well.

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Dominic, you are welcome to come
up here and join us as well.

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It's been a minute since we've
had you, Dominic Lawson.

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And wait, Phil, you're still in
the audience, too.

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What's going on here this
morning?

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Come on up, gang.
Feel Better is here.

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Yep, there he is.
And yeah, we'll get into the

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main topic of the day in just a
moment.

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I appreciate Ralph stepping up
and offering.

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Well, really?
I asked.

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But I'll just say offering to be
here this morning to talk the

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business of podcasting.
We'll get into that.

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First, I want to remind you that
this Thursday, 7:00 AM Eastern,

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it's another episode evaluation
in our series that we've been

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doing every Thursday.
This time we are reviewing the

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podcast called The Space
Between.

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It's hosted by Sean McClellan,
who happens to be a brand new

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member of the Empowered
Podcasting community.

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He attended EPC 2 this past
September.

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Had a great time getting to know
him.

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I think he had a great time as
well and he saw that we were

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looking for podcasters to
evaluate their shows and he

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volunteered, so we're going to
get into that.

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His podcast is geared to
individuals who are seeking

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balance, purpose and intentional
growth.

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The show explores the journey
between where someone is now and

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where they want to be.
It's a 10 minute episode as

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well.
We will share a link to the

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episode we'll be specifically
reviewing.

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We'll share that in the show
notes for you as well.

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So follow along if you'd like.
And if not, I think if you've

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heard any of these episodes thus
far, I think we do a pretty darn

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good job of really keeping you
in the loop, keeping you in the

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know, removing any confusion,
even if you haven't heard the

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episode.
So come join us.

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I think people learn a lot, even
if it's not their own podcast.

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We're evaluating.
So come check that out this

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Thursday, 7:00 AM Eastern.
And tomorrow we do podcasting

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news.
And we should be breaking some

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big news coming from Riverside
FM.

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They're making a big
announcement tomorrow and

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they've told me they want to
come on the show and share the

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news.
So they're making a big

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announcement and they're making
it with us.

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That's right.
That's right.

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By the way, also Lucy, who
joined us yesterday, Lucy Werner

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is in the audience as well.
Great to have you back.

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You know, sometimes you think
about when you have a guest on

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and they say, oh, I want to come
back.

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This was really fun.
I'm having a great time.

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I'll have to come back.
You always, at least for me, I

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always kind of think, are they
just telling me that because

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they're being a nice guest?
But here Lucy is not just being

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a nice guest, but she's also
here listening today.

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Lucy, you're welcome to join us
as well if you have any

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questions.
Ah, yes, she says in the chat

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she's prepping for dinner this
time because yes, she is in the

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South of France.
She's not prepping dinner at

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7:00 in the morning, so welcome
Lucy as well.

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OK, so today we're going to do
the business of podcasting.

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And Ralph has been so kind to
step up and answer lots of

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questions.
I know that this is an area that

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sometimes some creators love to
avoid until these things bite

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them in the ass.
That's the business side,

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accounting, taxes, LLCS, keeping
money separate from personal and

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your podcast or your podcast's
business, all that fun stuff.

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But I promise this is going to
be simple and it's going to be

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practical.
So Ralph helps creators do this

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very thing.
He helps creators set up real

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systems so they can grow without
stress.

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And our intention is to give you
a road map that'll make 2026 a

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whole lot easier for you as a
creator.

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And since Ralph is our newest
community, I wouldn't say

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newest, maybe not newest.
One of one of our newest

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community members.
Let me tell you a little bit

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more about why I asked him to
lead us through this topic

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today.
He's a creator.

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He's a tax pro, someone who's
spent years helping

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entrepreneurs and small
businesses get their financial

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systems in order without all
that stress.

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He runs a company and Ralph,
I'll hopefully pronounce it

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correctly.
Saggy sag GI OK tell.

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Me, it's actually Saggio which
is Italian for wise.

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Saggio.
I like that Saggio Management

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Group, where he works with
creators on taxes, money habits

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and simple systems that actually
make the business side easier.

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He's a dad, he's a husband.
And he revealed to us just

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recently, he's a rancher who
raises Black Angus cows.

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Interesting tidbit.
He also hosts Ask Ralph podcast.

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And he's launching a new series
at contentcreatorsaccountant.com

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that's all about helping
creators run their work like a

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real business.
So an official.

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Good morning to you, Ralph.
How are you?

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Good morning, Mark.
And you said it was going to be

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simple, and my wife tells me I'm
a simpleton all the time, so

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I'll be perfect for today.
Great.

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Well, let's dig into it, Ralph.
Creators I think I've come

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across when they hear form an
LLC, they sometimes think, yeah,

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I got to do that.
And sometimes I come across

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others that say, Nah, I don't
need to do that.

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So what's the real deal?
When does it make sense and when

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does it not, if at all, if there
is a time where it doesn't make

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sense to start an LLC for your
podcast?

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Well, the first thing I want to
say is LLC may not always be the

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best fit.
So let's just back up one step

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and say, do I want to create an
entity?

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How about we use that term today
because an LLC is a particular

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entity, but we might want to
look at some other options.

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But to answer your question more
directly, in my view, it makes

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sense when you're earning
consistent money, when you've

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got brand deals, you're doing
client work or maybe you're

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hiring freelancers, you've got
some subcontractors working

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underneath of you or bigger
picture thing is you're worried

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about liability protection and
you don't want to have issues

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with your taxes.
Those are the really the big

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four things, Mark that I see is
when an entity or an LLC as you

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talked about makes sense.
OK.

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So I think it's when you are
actually in the black, as they

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say, that's the best time.
I don't know if I would say in

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the black, I would say you're
consistently generating revenue

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and revenue might not be equal
to net income because I have a

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lot of clients that start off in
business in the first couple

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years, they don't actually show
a profit.

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So I don't know that I would say
profit is the motivator here.

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I think it's consistently having
money coming in the door.

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You might be spending more going
out the door.

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A lot of people find themselves
in that position, especially

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with gear acquisition syndrome
for us podcasters.

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I know I've been guilty of that
as well.

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But as long as you've got
consistent revenue dollars, you

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know the top line dollars coming
indoor, I think then that's a

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real good time to look at
setting up an entity.

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Thank you, Ralph, and I want to
remind everyone, not just those

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of you on stage, but those of
you in the audience as well.

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If you have questions for Ralph
around the business side of

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content creation, podcasting,
whatever you do to create

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content, please ask away.
Join us up here on stage or ask

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in the chat as well.
And Dr. heated the call.

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Let's go to you, Dr. You have a
question for Ralph.

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I have it in my mind that I want
to start paying my taxes

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quarterly #1 is this a good
thing to do #2 how do I even

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start that?
Is there a form I fill out?

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Do I get like a reminder e-mail
to send something in?

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How do I send it in?
I'm not sure.

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That's a great question, Dr. And
honestly, the truthful answer is

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the IRS wants you to pay as you
go.

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Sound of like if you work for
somebody else and you have a

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paycheck, they your your
employer takes the taxes out.

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Well, the IRS wants you to do
the same thing.

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So from a technical perspective,
you should be paying quarterly.

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It really isn't all that
complicated.

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When you do your taxes, there's
ES forms are called estimated

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tax forms.
You find those both at the

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federal level and the state
level.

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But Dr. I'm going to take it
back a step because I think what

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you're really asking is, Ralph,
how do I know if I'm making any

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money?
And that's where I think to set

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up a simple accounting system is
really where you're going with

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that question.
Dr. Because then you'll, you'll

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have an understanding of do I
have net profit?

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If you have net profit, you
know, bottom line net income,

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then the IRS wants their cut.
Generally the best way to do

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that is quarterly and and look
and see what's going on with

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your business.
Now, the one thing I will tell

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you, having done this for over
30 years, when I'm working with

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small business clients, I'm not
a huge proponent of having them

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send their money as they go,
especially when they're first

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getting started.
Because who knows what's above

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the horizon, you know, next
month or the next quarter.

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And what you don't want to do is
pay a ton into the IRS or a ton

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into the state and then have to
sit on your hands and waiting

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for March or April the following
year to get that back.

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That said, I like to focus on
the third and fourth quarter

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estimates because then we kind
of have an idea of what the year

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is going to look like.
DRI hope that answers your

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question.
It does, you know, last year I

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was socked with, you know, $4000
to pay on, you know, before

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April 15th and I had been saving
it up.

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I have an account with Sofi Bank
and they have these quote UN

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quote vaults that you can put
money away in every month

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automatically.
And so I had saved up money,

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thank God.
And so that's, I thought, you

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know, if I can just pay a little
bit out at a time, that would be

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so much better on my psyche.
Absolutely, Dr. and you can

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actually go to irs.gov.
That's irs.gov and you can

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create an online account with
them and you can actually make

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those payments.
The other thing I will say while

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you're talking about that, Dr.
is I would like to understand

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your entity structure because
there may be some ways to save

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on some of those taxes that
you're paying.

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A lot of people don't understand
that just a simple LLC, which is

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called a single member LLC, is
not necessarily the best, best

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tax strategy for you.
So that's the kind of thing that

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I work with creators, helping
them understand what's the best

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tax entity for them to be in so
they can cut down on that $4000

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number.
So I have another question.

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So can you be anybody's tax
person, anyone from California

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to New York or is it a state
thing?

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Do you have to be licensed?
No, absolutely.

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DDRI have clients all over the
world actually.

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I've got clients overseas.
I've got clients all over the

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United States.
So taxes and representation in

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that regard is not state
bounded.

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So there's no issues with that
at all.

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I have clients all over the
place, especially, you know,

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since Zoom opened up, this has
been great.

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I, I find myself, unfortunately,
I spend more time on Zoom than I

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do meeting people face to face.
But no, I've got clients all

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over the world actually.
Thank you Dr. for that.

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Question.
Yeah.

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00:12:54,440 --> 00:12:56,360
And thank you, Ralph for
answering that.

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So real quick a follow up to
that.

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You talked about what were we
were talking about quarterly

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00:13:03,480 --> 00:13:08,040
payments and you said that's
what the government wants you to

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00:13:08,040 --> 00:13:12,440
do, but is it a requirement?
Like what if I don't do that but

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I am making money?
Great question mark.

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00:13:15,040 --> 00:13:19,520
So technically, if you do not
pay quarterly, the IRS can and

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00:13:19,520 --> 00:13:22,080
the state will too, assess
what's called an underpayment

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00:13:22,080 --> 00:13:23,920
penalty.
They actually charge you a

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penalty for not making estimated
taxes.

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Now, I don't want to get into
the weeds of tax law because

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there are safe harbor things
that you can not have to worry

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about that depending upon
particular situations.

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00:13:34,240 --> 00:13:37,840
But generally, to answer your
question mark, yes, it's a legal

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requirement because the IRS
wants to get paid as they go and

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they will charge you penalty and
interest if you don't do that.

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Anyone else have any questions
for Ralph before I ask him some

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00:13:48,600 --> 00:13:50,720
more questions?
Yes, go ahead.

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00:13:50,800 --> 00:13:52,480
Good morning, everybody.
There's actually a question in

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00:13:52,480 --> 00:13:55,120
the chat.
This is from Kathy, she's across

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the pond.
But can you deduct losses from

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another income?
So when I first registered as an

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earning musician, I received a
boost to my employed employed

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00:14:06,520 --> 00:14:10,080
income due to self-employment
loss deducted from my salary.

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00:14:10,960 --> 00:14:12,360
Ralph, I hope that question
makes sense to you.

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00:14:14,120 --> 00:14:16,360
I think so.
And I think what she's answering

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00:14:16,360 --> 00:14:21,680
there is can I offset losses
from one income stream against

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other income streams.
And I'm going to say generally

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00:14:23,840 --> 00:14:26,320
the answer is yes.
I would need to really

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00:14:26,320 --> 00:14:29,360
understand the specifics and I
want to be careful here today as

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00:14:29,360 --> 00:14:31,560
I talk.
And Mark, I probably should have

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00:14:31,560 --> 00:14:35,560
mentioned at the beginning, I
cannot give you tax advice over

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00:14:35,760 --> 00:14:38,680
the Clubhouse chat.
Everybody's situation is

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00:14:38,680 --> 00:14:42,200
different, but generally
speaking, you can generally

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00:14:42,200 --> 00:14:45,760
offset losses against gains.
So for example, I and said this

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00:14:45,760 --> 00:14:47,080
will probably answer the
question better.

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00:14:47,520 --> 00:14:52,080
So if she has W2 income from a,
a regular nine to five job or

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00:14:52,080 --> 00:14:55,200
something like that, and then
she has what we'll call side

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00:14:55,200 --> 00:14:57,720
hustle income or creator income
on the side.

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00:14:58,160 --> 00:15:01,480
And if she's treating it like a
business and it generates a

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loss, then the answer to that
question generally is yes.

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00:15:04,240 --> 00:15:05,600
So let's just use a simple
example.

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00:15:05,600 --> 00:15:09,920
Let's say she had $40,000 worth
of W2 income and let's say at

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00:15:09,920 --> 00:15:13,800
the end of the year her content
income was in actually a loss of

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00:15:13,800 --> 00:15:16,520
$2000.
Then yes, we could net that

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00:15:16,520 --> 00:15:20,280
40,000 against that $2000 loss.
I hope that answers the

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00:15:20,280 --> 00:15:21,400
question.
I think that's where that

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00:15:21,400 --> 00:15:24,840
question was going.
Thank you, Ralph and yeah, Kathy

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00:15:24,840 --> 00:15:28,680
can tell us in the chat if that
was helpful and or if she has

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00:15:28,920 --> 00:15:32,560
any follow-ups.
Feel free, Kathy and I want to

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00:15:32,560 --> 00:15:36,280
get back to a little bit more on
the LLC stuff and we can, we can

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00:15:36,280 --> 00:15:38,200
bounce around today.
And if people have more

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00:15:38,200 --> 00:15:41,560
questions on taxes, by all means
let's hear them.

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00:15:42,040 --> 00:15:47,160
But I do want to ask as far as
what if a creator doesn't want

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00:15:47,160 --> 00:15:51,680
to form an LLC or something
that's better suited for them,

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00:15:52,240 --> 00:15:55,240
like they they don't want to put
in any money yet to do something

283
00:15:55,240 --> 00:15:58,480
like that.
Is there a next best structure

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00:15:58,480 --> 00:16:00,760
or approach for them?
Absolutely.

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00:16:00,760 --> 00:16:03,520
I think the first thing you want
to do, and you know it's not for

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00:16:03,520 --> 00:16:06,400
everybody.
If you have no intention of

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00:16:06,400 --> 00:16:10,880
generating revenue for your
podcast, if you're just doing

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00:16:10,880 --> 00:16:13,040
this as a hobby or something you
just want to do on the side,

289
00:16:13,040 --> 00:16:16,160
that's totally fine.
What I would say the next best

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00:16:16,160 --> 00:16:19,120
step would be to make sure
you're keeping track at a very

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00:16:19,120 --> 00:16:22,000
minimum of the money that comes
in and the money that goes out.

292
00:16:22,280 --> 00:16:25,800
That way you can still put that
information on your tax return.

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00:16:25,800 --> 00:16:29,280
Because whether you're an entity
or not, if you derive income, if

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00:16:29,280 --> 00:16:32,080
you make revenue dollars,
technically, unless you want to

295
00:16:32,080 --> 00:16:35,080
go to jail like Al Capone went,
you've got to report those

296
00:16:35,080 --> 00:16:36,920
things.
And if you're going to report

297
00:16:36,920 --> 00:16:40,040
those things, you want to report
the expenses that go alongside

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00:16:40,040 --> 00:16:40,920
of that.
Because I'll give you an

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00:16:40,920 --> 00:16:42,280
example.
You know, I started in content

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00:16:42,280 --> 00:16:45,040
creation a few years back and
when I look at the amount of

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00:16:45,040 --> 00:16:49,120
money I spend on subscriptions,
you know, you know, Libsyn, I'm

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00:16:49,120 --> 00:16:51,680
not on Libsyn anymore, but
captivate the different pieces

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00:16:51,680 --> 00:16:53,840
of that puzzle.
All those things will help to

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00:16:53,880 --> 00:16:55,800
aggregate against any income I
earn.

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00:16:55,800 --> 00:16:58,680
So even if you're not going to
set up an entity, a basic

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00:16:58,680 --> 00:17:01,240
accounting structure is
something you definitely want to

307
00:17:01,240 --> 00:17:03,680
put in place so that you have
the information.

308
00:17:03,840 --> 00:17:05,920
So that in the end, because a
lot of people don't understand

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00:17:05,920 --> 00:17:08,960
this, Mark, if you use one of
these pay platforms like the

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00:17:08,960 --> 00:17:12,680
Cash App or Venmo or something
like that, and people are giving

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00:17:12,680 --> 00:17:16,000
you money, the IRS gets a report
of that at the end of the year.

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00:17:16,000 --> 00:17:18,400
It's on a, it's on a form called
a 1099 K.

313
00:17:18,880 --> 00:17:21,599
And when you get, and, and there
again, there are nuances to

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00:17:21,599 --> 00:17:23,760
that, depends on the number of
transactions, the amount and all

315
00:17:23,760 --> 00:17:27,000
that sort of thing.
But if the IRS gets that and you

316
00:17:27,000 --> 00:17:29,720
don't file a tax return, at
least showing that you're

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00:17:29,720 --> 00:17:31,840
reporting those revenue dollars
and you can always offset it

318
00:17:31,840 --> 00:17:33,720
with expenses.
But if you're not reporting

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00:17:33,720 --> 00:17:36,240
that, it's a big red flag and
you'll get a letter from the

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00:17:36,240 --> 00:17:39,040
IRS.
And Ralph, I think Sid has a

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00:17:39,120 --> 00:17:41,040
follow up or maybe a brand new
question.

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00:17:41,040 --> 00:17:42,840
Let's find out.
Sid, go for it.

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00:17:43,240 --> 00:17:45,440
Ralph, I want to talk about
expenses for just a second.

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00:17:45,440 --> 00:17:50,960
So I in my businesses, we put
everything on a credit card, the

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00:17:50,960 --> 00:17:54,880
fees, the memberships, you know,
$20 here, $20 there.

326
00:17:55,160 --> 00:17:58,320
And we do that in order to track
all of the expenses.

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00:17:58,320 --> 00:18:01,560
Because I think that's one of
the things that content creators

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00:18:01,560 --> 00:18:04,640
can get lost in is not really
tracking all of their expenses,

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00:18:04,640 --> 00:18:07,120
which actually do become a
deduction at the end of the

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00:18:07,120 --> 00:18:11,600
year, if I'm correct.
And so do you have tips about

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00:18:11,600 --> 00:18:14,200
tracking like I guess did we use
a credit card?

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00:18:14,200 --> 00:18:16,840
Are there certain tips that you
would offer that about ways to

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00:18:16,840 --> 00:18:20,200
track your expenses so that you
do get your maximum deductions

334
00:18:20,200 --> 00:18:22,240
at the end of the year?
Absolutely, Sid.

335
00:18:22,240 --> 00:18:24,200
And I think you brought up a
very good point.

336
00:18:24,640 --> 00:18:26,560
And one of the things that I
don't know if you if you're

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00:18:26,560 --> 00:18:28,480
intending to mention this, but
one of the things I would

338
00:18:28,480 --> 00:18:31,280
definitely say is keep your
business and your personal stuff

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00:18:31,280 --> 00:18:33,760
separate.
So Sid, I'm hoping you're using

340
00:18:33,760 --> 00:18:36,360
a credit card that's just for
the quote business side of

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00:18:36,360 --> 00:18:38,360
things that would definitely
recommend.

342
00:18:38,360 --> 00:18:41,200
Yeah, absolutely.
I got, I got so many freaking

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00:18:41,760 --> 00:18:43,840
business credit cards.
I think I've got four different

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00:18:43,840 --> 00:18:46,440
businesses and they each have an
American Express and two of them

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00:18:46,440 --> 00:18:48,440
the same color.
And I always have to look at

346
00:18:48,440 --> 00:18:51,640
what's the name on it to make
sure I'm using the right credit

347
00:18:51,640 --> 00:18:52,720
card.
So yes.

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00:18:52,960 --> 00:18:55,200
You know, Sid, what I tell
clients is sometimes I have some

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00:18:55,200 --> 00:18:57,640
clients that will come in and
they'll get their personal card

350
00:18:57,640 --> 00:18:59,080
and their business card messed
up.

351
00:18:59,080 --> 00:19:02,400
I said put a sticker on it and
put a B on the business card and

352
00:19:02,400 --> 00:19:04,880
P on the personal.
Really, that's important said,

353
00:19:04,880 --> 00:19:07,400
but no, I would definitely set
up the way you're doing is great

354
00:19:07,600 --> 00:19:10,080
if you've got a separate, I also
like to have a separate bank

355
00:19:10,080 --> 00:19:11,400
account.
One of things that I recommend

356
00:19:11,400 --> 00:19:14,960
for content creators, if you're
getting any kind of revenue

357
00:19:14,960 --> 00:19:18,040
dollars from online sites and
all that, set up a separate

358
00:19:18,040 --> 00:19:21,400
checking account so that you can
put all of those revenue dollars

359
00:19:21,400 --> 00:19:23,600
in that particular thing or
checking account.

360
00:19:23,600 --> 00:19:26,920
Because so many times people
have a, a mix match of, you

361
00:19:26,920 --> 00:19:29,680
know, 100 different things going
into five different accounts.

362
00:19:29,680 --> 00:19:32,160
And when we get to the end of
the year and we say, OK, we need

363
00:19:32,160 --> 00:19:34,440
to file a tax return for this,
where do we find the

364
00:19:34,440 --> 00:19:36,320
information?
It's like, which one do we look

365
00:19:36,320 --> 00:19:38,480
at?
So great idea, Sid, separate

366
00:19:38,480 --> 00:19:40,640
credit card is perfect.
Just be careful not to do what

367
00:19:40,640 --> 00:19:43,080
they call commingling.
And what I mean by that, Sid,

368
00:19:43,080 --> 00:19:46,360
and I bet you probably already
know this is make sure on that

369
00:19:46,360 --> 00:19:49,120
credit card you're only putting
business expenses.

370
00:19:49,360 --> 00:19:52,560
Because here's the thing, Number
one thing the IRS looks at is

371
00:19:52,560 --> 00:19:55,240
what's called combing link,
fancy accounting term for mixing

372
00:19:55,400 --> 00:19:58,200
business and personal.
What if you get audited by the

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00:19:58,200 --> 00:19:59,360
IRS?
And I'm not trying to scare

374
00:19:59,360 --> 00:20:01,280
everybody.
The amount of people getting

375
00:20:01,280 --> 00:20:03,400
audited is very small.
But if you do.

376
00:20:03,760 --> 00:20:06,360
The IRS is going to pull those
records and they're going to

377
00:20:06,360 --> 00:20:07,680
look through your credit card
statement.

378
00:20:07,680 --> 00:20:10,840
They're going to say, Sid, OK, I
see you spent money on Amazon.

379
00:20:10,840 --> 00:20:13,640
I see you spent money on road D
script, whatever those things

380
00:20:13,640 --> 00:20:14,760
are.
And then all of a sudden they

381
00:20:14,760 --> 00:20:18,240
see you took a a vacation to
Bahamas and they're going to be

382
00:20:18,240 --> 00:20:21,040
like, wait a second, Sid,
explain to us how this vacation

383
00:20:21,040 --> 00:20:23,680
now it could be that the Empower
podcasting conference is going

384
00:20:23,680 --> 00:20:25,080
to happen in the Bahamas next
year.

385
00:20:25,400 --> 00:20:28,000
And it's a perfectly reasonable
thing to do that.

386
00:20:28,000 --> 00:20:31,640
But I was just being funny.
But all that said, don't mix

387
00:20:31,640 --> 00:20:34,320
business and personal.
That's big take away.

388
00:20:34,320 --> 00:20:35,640
So Sid, I hope that answers your
question.

389
00:20:35,640 --> 00:20:38,520
But I love the idea of having a
separate credit card.

390
00:20:38,520 --> 00:20:41,480
It's the simplest way to keep
track of stuff because then you

391
00:20:41,480 --> 00:20:44,200
can go back, like you said,
you've got multiple businesses.

392
00:20:44,360 --> 00:20:47,360
You can go back and look at each
statement and figure out what

393
00:20:47,360 --> 00:20:49,280
happened on each particular
business entity.

394
00:20:49,440 --> 00:20:53,080
Great point.
I want to get into deductions a

395
00:20:53,080 --> 00:20:55,280
little bit more.
But first I did see Nick put in

396
00:20:55,280 --> 00:20:58,440
the chat here.
If you want an LLCI believe you

397
00:20:58,440 --> 00:21:01,160
need a separate bank account to
get it going.

398
00:21:01,160 --> 00:21:04,520
Is that true, Ralph?
So yes, basically true.

399
00:21:04,520 --> 00:21:07,440
And let me explain where I think
you said, Nick, I'm sorry, I

400
00:21:07,440 --> 00:21:09,840
don't see the chat 'cause I'm on
the I'm on the Mac platform.

401
00:21:10,120 --> 00:21:12,480
But what I was going to, the way
I was going to answer that is.

402
00:21:12,480 --> 00:21:15,800
So technically when you set up
an entity like an LLC, it's

403
00:21:15,800 --> 00:21:17,440
what's called an artificial
entity.

404
00:21:17,720 --> 00:21:20,440
It is a separate legal thing.
It's not you anymore.

405
00:21:20,680 --> 00:21:23,000
So it should have its own bank
account.

406
00:21:23,000 --> 00:21:24,600
It should have its own credit
card.

407
00:21:24,600 --> 00:21:27,760
Now I want to warn everybody.
A lot of people go out online.

408
00:21:27,760 --> 00:21:30,440
They find these knuckleheads
online, these legal depots and

409
00:21:30,440 --> 00:21:33,320
all this kind of stuff and they
we'll set up an LLC for just 99

410
00:21:33,320 --> 00:21:34,840
bucks.
You know what you get for that?

411
00:21:34,840 --> 00:21:38,880
You get a $99 shell.
That is not a legal entity.

412
00:21:39,320 --> 00:21:40,920
This is something that I do
professionally.

413
00:21:40,920 --> 00:21:43,720
I'm not trying to sell my
services here, but make sure you

414
00:21:43,720 --> 00:21:46,440
understand what you are getting.
But to answer next question,

415
00:21:46,440 --> 00:21:49,560
yes, absolutely it should have
its own bank account because it

416
00:21:49,560 --> 00:21:52,400
is a separate, for lack of a
easier easy way to explain, it's

417
00:21:52,400 --> 00:21:55,160
a separate person, It's a
separate entity, so it needs to

418
00:21:55,160 --> 00:21:56,800
have its own operating
agreement.

419
00:21:56,800 --> 00:21:59,720
That's what basically makes an
LLC an LLC.

420
00:21:59,920 --> 00:22:01,240
It needs to have its own bank
account.

421
00:22:01,240 --> 00:22:02,480
It needs to have a bunch of
other things.

422
00:22:02,480 --> 00:22:03,760
I don't want to get into the
details today.

423
00:22:03,760 --> 00:22:06,280
It's not for this audience.
But yes, one of the things it

424
00:22:06,280 --> 00:22:07,920
should have is its own checking
account.

425
00:22:07,920 --> 00:22:10,240
Absolutely.
Thank you, Ralph, Dr. did you

426
00:22:10,240 --> 00:22:14,080
have a follow up?
So when it comes to the LLC, I

427
00:22:14,080 --> 00:22:18,520
live in Nashville, TN.
Is it specific to the state that

428
00:22:18,520 --> 00:22:20,800
you're living in?
For some reason I remember

429
00:22:21,080 --> 00:22:25,440
someone saying Oh no get your
LLC and I forget what state they

430
00:22:25,440 --> 00:22:27,080
mentioned Texas or something
like that.

431
00:22:27,080 --> 00:22:29,880
It's so much cheaper.
I'm like, but I'm in Nashville.

432
00:22:30,200 --> 00:22:31,640
No, it doesn't matter.
It doesn't matter.

433
00:22:31,920 --> 00:22:35,880
So I need clarification on that.
And Dr. it does matter.

434
00:22:36,040 --> 00:22:39,240
We set up Delaware LLCS because
Delaware is one of those states

435
00:22:39,240 --> 00:22:42,640
that has great LLC rules.
But if I was setting one up for

436
00:22:42,640 --> 00:22:44,760
you, DRI would set up a Delaware
LLC.

437
00:22:44,760 --> 00:22:47,360
Then I would do what's called a
foreign status election for the

438
00:22:47,360 --> 00:22:50,120
state of Tennessee.
Because the way that it works is

439
00:22:50,120 --> 00:22:54,320
an LLC is only good for the
state in which you've registered

440
00:22:54,320 --> 00:22:56,200
it.
So technically when you cross

441
00:22:56,200 --> 00:23:00,120
state lines, let's just say you
set up a Tennessee LLC and I

442
00:23:00,120 --> 00:23:01,920
don't know anything about
Tennessee LL CS, but let's just

443
00:23:01,920 --> 00:23:04,960
say you did and then you went to
Florida and did business.

444
00:23:04,960 --> 00:23:08,400
Well, technically your LLC would
not cover you from liability

445
00:23:08,400 --> 00:23:10,200
protection.
Again, I'm not an attorney.

446
00:23:10,320 --> 00:23:13,480
I don't play 1 on TV.
If you want to talk legal, talk

447
00:23:13,480 --> 00:23:17,200
to an attorney, but generally
speaking, it stops at the state

448
00:23:17,200 --> 00:23:19,080
line.
So to answer your question,

449
00:23:19,080 --> 00:23:20,680
yeah, a lot of people do that
with Wyoming.

450
00:23:20,680 --> 00:23:22,440
I hear Nevada.
That's great.

451
00:23:22,720 --> 00:23:25,000
Cheap.
You again, you get what you pay

452
00:23:25,000 --> 00:23:27,920
for.
Understand that your LLC needs

453
00:23:27,920 --> 00:23:31,560
to, at the very least, be
registered to do business in the

454
00:23:31,560 --> 00:23:33,200
state in which you're doing
business.

455
00:23:33,200 --> 00:23:36,440
It's what's called Nexus.
If you've got corporate Nexus in

456
00:23:36,440 --> 00:23:39,160
Tennessee, then you better make
sure now you don't have to set

457
00:23:39,160 --> 00:23:42,520
up a Tennessee LLC to do that.
You can set up a separate state

458
00:23:42,520 --> 00:23:45,200
LLC, but you need to register
that LLC.

459
00:23:45,200 --> 00:23:48,240
Most states have what's called
foreign LLC registration.

460
00:23:48,240 --> 00:23:50,600
You pay them an annual fee.
You smile and wave.

461
00:23:50,600 --> 00:23:52,320
Thanks for letting me do
business here.

462
00:23:52,400 --> 00:23:54,520
But you want to have that set up
at the state level.

463
00:23:55,480 --> 00:23:58,640
The last time I checked with
Nashville it was around $300.00

464
00:23:58,640 --> 00:24:01,440
for the LLC.
That doesn't surprise me in in

465
00:24:01,440 --> 00:24:04,240
Delaware, your annual franchise
tax is $300.

466
00:24:04,240 --> 00:24:06,880
That seems to be a pretty much
the going rate for what?

467
00:24:06,880 --> 00:24:09,480
Again, it's a cost of doing
business if you're going to

468
00:24:09,480 --> 00:24:11,560
operate a business.
And a lot of people don't

469
00:24:11,560 --> 00:24:13,600
understand it's not just in the
content creator field.

470
00:24:13,800 --> 00:24:17,280
They think, well, I've got this
corporation in Maryland, but

471
00:24:17,360 --> 00:24:18,760
then they go do business in
Delaware.

472
00:24:18,760 --> 00:24:20,400
Now you've got business across
state lines.

473
00:24:20,400 --> 00:24:22,600
That makes things a lot more
complicated and think about

474
00:24:22,600 --> 00:24:26,400
content creators because where
are you actually doing business?

475
00:24:26,600 --> 00:24:28,360
That's a tough call.
Right.

476
00:24:28,520 --> 00:24:34,000
So every year am I paying $300
to Delaware and $300 to

477
00:24:34,120 --> 00:24:36,440
Tennessee?
Effectively, yes, because you

478
00:24:36,440 --> 00:24:40,920
have to have a registered agent
in each state and each state

479
00:24:40,920 --> 00:24:43,520
wants to carve out their little
piece of tax to make sure they

480
00:24:43,520 --> 00:24:45,800
can pay their bills.
So absolutely yes, you would be

481
00:24:45,800 --> 00:24:47,120
doing that.
I see.

482
00:24:47,320 --> 00:24:48,840
Thank you.
You're welcome.

483
00:24:49,080 --> 00:24:52,760
Thank you for your question and
thank you for your answer.

484
00:24:52,760 --> 00:24:56,040
Dr. and Ralph, I want to go to
Jonathan.

485
00:24:56,040 --> 00:24:58,320
I know Jonathan had a question
as well.

486
00:24:58,320 --> 00:25:01,440
And then I still have some
questions about deductions.

487
00:25:01,640 --> 00:25:04,000
So Jonathan, what do you got for
us?

488
00:25:04,000 --> 00:25:05,600
Good morning.
Good morning.

489
00:25:05,600 --> 00:25:08,320
Good morning.
So I have a question about,

490
00:25:08,360 --> 00:25:12,880
because I do business in like 20
some odd states with my clients,

491
00:25:13,640 --> 00:25:16,720
do I need to literally have an
LLC in all twenty of those

492
00:25:16,720 --> 00:25:20,760
states because I'm in New York,
it's like an $800 thing here.

493
00:25:21,040 --> 00:25:24,840
It's a great question, Jonathan,
and it's a tough question to

494
00:25:24,840 --> 00:25:26,720
answer.
If you're technically not

495
00:25:26,800 --> 00:25:31,040
traveling to those states, if
you're technically not selling

496
00:25:31,040 --> 00:25:34,280
something that is delivered in
those states like a physical

497
00:25:34,280 --> 00:25:37,200
product, then I don't see that
being an issue.

498
00:25:37,760 --> 00:25:40,560
The Wayfair decision that the US
Supreme Court decided what sales

499
00:25:40,560 --> 00:25:43,440
tax is the only thing I can
really hang my hat on on this.

500
00:25:43,800 --> 00:25:46,880
If you don't have physical
presence in those states, in

501
00:25:46,880 --> 00:25:49,560
other words, if you're working
with clients, I'm assuming

502
00:25:49,560 --> 00:25:53,280
you're doing that online, some
kind of online meeting or chat

503
00:25:53,280 --> 00:25:56,760
or something like that, I don't
see where that creates an issue

504
00:25:56,960 --> 00:25:59,440
for you to have to register in
those other states.

505
00:25:59,440 --> 00:26:02,680
Now, that said, if you're
traveling to those other states,

506
00:26:03,040 --> 00:26:05,960
and I'm not saying travel for a
day, travel for a day or two,

507
00:26:06,200 --> 00:26:09,200
but if you're setting up
satellite offices, if you're

508
00:26:09,200 --> 00:26:13,280
selling physical products that
are going to those states, then

509
00:26:13,280 --> 00:26:17,200
you may have a registration
issue and maybe even a sales tax

510
00:26:17,200 --> 00:26:20,320
issue in those other states.
OK, got it.

511
00:26:21,120 --> 00:26:22,720
Thank you.
Yeah, it's mostly services.

512
00:26:23,160 --> 00:26:24,200
That's a great question,
Jonathan.

513
00:26:24,200 --> 00:26:25,360
It's a question I get all the
time.

514
00:26:25,680 --> 00:26:28,280
Thank you, Jonathan.
All right, so I've been saying,

515
00:26:28,280 --> 00:26:29,680
I want to ask you about
deductions.

516
00:26:29,680 --> 00:26:33,120
What are some things we can
think about as content creators

517
00:26:33,120 --> 00:26:37,840
that maybe we're not thinking
about that we could be

518
00:26:37,960 --> 00:26:40,480
submitting as something to
deduct, right?

519
00:26:40,480 --> 00:26:44,320
Like I know when I'm getting
equipment and you mentioned

520
00:26:44,320 --> 00:26:46,640
that, right?
Like that's a write off for me.

521
00:26:46,800 --> 00:26:50,360
I can write that off because
this is what I do professionally

522
00:26:50,360 --> 00:26:53,080
and it's an equipment that goes
with my profession.

523
00:26:53,400 --> 00:26:55,160
It.
Are there some things that we

524
00:26:55,160 --> 00:26:58,680
should be thinking about that
maybe we're not as far as what

525
00:26:58,680 --> 00:27:00,360
we can write off?
Absolutely.

526
00:27:00,360 --> 00:27:02,800
I'm going to give you the 30,000
foot view answer.

527
00:27:02,920 --> 00:27:05,080
Anything that helps you create
or grow.

528
00:27:05,560 --> 00:27:09,040
That's really the answer, Mark.
Anything that helps you do your

529
00:27:09,040 --> 00:27:13,440
business, if you can somehow,
you know, demonstrate that this

530
00:27:13,440 --> 00:27:16,520
is being used to grow my
business, then that technically

531
00:27:16,960 --> 00:27:21,040
the IRS calls it, you know, a
reasonable and you know, a

532
00:27:21,040 --> 00:27:24,480
routine expense.
So things like part of your Home

533
00:27:24,480 --> 00:27:27,840
Office mileage, if you're
driving your vehicle to and from

534
00:27:27,840 --> 00:27:31,320
shows or things like that,
meals, if you're doing video

535
00:27:31,320 --> 00:27:35,720
shoots or audio shoots, any
gear, software subscriptions,

536
00:27:36,040 --> 00:27:38,720
any contractors you're paying,
coaches that you might be

537
00:27:38,720 --> 00:27:41,960
paying, anything that you can.
I always tell my clients, if you

538
00:27:41,960 --> 00:27:44,480
can prove it to your
grandmother, then it's probably

539
00:27:44,480 --> 00:27:46,640
deductible because most people
don't lie to grandma.

540
00:27:47,040 --> 00:27:49,880
So as long as you can just with
it, because think about it, it's

541
00:27:49,880 --> 00:27:51,720
only an issue when it becomes an
issue.

542
00:27:51,920 --> 00:27:54,800
It's only an issue when you've
got a regulator or an auditor

543
00:27:54,800 --> 00:27:57,160
sitting in front of you and
saying, Mark, I love the fact

544
00:27:57,160 --> 00:27:59,880
that you have beautiful books,
but man, you got to explain to

545
00:27:59,880 --> 00:28:03,800
me how you wrote off this brand
new Lamborghini as a business

546
00:28:03,800 --> 00:28:06,960
expense for your, you know,
podcast morning chat.

547
00:28:06,960 --> 00:28:08,720
I just don't get it.
Darn.

548
00:28:08,720 --> 00:28:10,800
So I can't get the Lamborghini.
OK, got it.

549
00:28:11,000 --> 00:28:13,120
Ashley, you have a question.
Go for it.

550
00:28:13,120 --> 00:28:14,760
Good morning.
Good morning.

551
00:28:14,760 --> 00:28:19,280
So my question is I recently had
a reimbursement.

552
00:28:19,280 --> 00:28:23,400
I rented a rental car and the
company that paid for me to

553
00:28:23,400 --> 00:28:25,760
travel reimbursed me after the
fact.

554
00:28:25,760 --> 00:28:29,200
My question is, do I get to
write that off or is that their

555
00:28:29,200 --> 00:28:31,520
write off?
Sense they reimbursed you,

556
00:28:31,520 --> 00:28:34,240
Ashley, what you want to do is
you want to show that as income

557
00:28:34,240 --> 00:28:37,720
coming in and then show the
corresponding expense what you

558
00:28:37,720 --> 00:28:39,880
spent that triggered that
expense.

559
00:28:40,320 --> 00:28:42,800
And why is that, Ralph?
Because they're going to

560
00:28:42,840 --> 00:28:45,920
probably include that in the
1099 they give you at the end of

561
00:28:45,920 --> 00:28:47,880
the year.
So you want to make sure you're

562
00:28:47,880 --> 00:28:50,360
accounting for all the money.
So basically, let me back up a

563
00:28:50,360 --> 00:28:54,640
step, Ashley.
What you should do is any piece

564
00:28:54,640 --> 00:28:57,280
of dollar that hits your bank
account during a year, you

565
00:28:57,280 --> 00:29:00,080
should be able to trace that.
So if they gave you a

566
00:29:00,080 --> 00:29:03,480
reimbursement for $200 for
renting something that's going

567
00:29:03,480 --> 00:29:06,720
to show up on your bank account,
the IRS or an auditor examiner

568
00:29:06,720 --> 00:29:09,920
is going to go say, OK, prove
all these deposits, tell me

569
00:29:09,920 --> 00:29:12,880
where these came in.
So if they gave you that money,

570
00:29:12,880 --> 00:29:15,840
fantastic, show it as income.
But then, Ashley, what you're

571
00:29:15,840 --> 00:29:19,120
saying to me is you also paid
for that thing that they

572
00:29:19,120 --> 00:29:21,400
reimbursed.
So effectively it's a wash.

573
00:29:21,400 --> 00:29:25,360
If you think about it, you had
$200 come in, but you spent $200

574
00:29:25,360 --> 00:29:27,600
going out to trigger the
reimbursement in the first

575
00:29:27,600 --> 00:29:30,640
place.
By the way, Lucy in the chat

576
00:29:30,640 --> 00:29:33,320
here says one thing you could
write off is a subscription to

577
00:29:33,320 --> 00:29:37,160
her newsletter.
Yes, that is true.

578
00:29:37,160 --> 00:29:39,040
I I would imagine that.
News.

579
00:29:39,040 --> 00:29:40,560
A lot of people don't.
That's right, Mark.

580
00:29:40,560 --> 00:29:43,960
A lot of people don't think
about that is anything that

581
00:29:43,960 --> 00:29:47,040
you're using to build your
skills, anything you're using to

582
00:29:47,040 --> 00:29:49,880
build your business, to build
your content creation.

583
00:29:50,320 --> 00:29:51,720
Think about this one.
A lot of people don't think

584
00:29:51,720 --> 00:29:54,200
about this.
If you're paying for AI models

585
00:29:54,640 --> 00:29:57,560
for chat sessions, all those
type of things are definitely

586
00:29:57,560 --> 00:30:00,960
deductible as long as you keep
track of them, keep a receipt

587
00:30:00,960 --> 00:30:03,720
for them, and you can prove that
they were business use.

588
00:30:04,400 --> 00:30:06,880
Since we're talking about
finances, and I know we're kind

589
00:30:06,880 --> 00:30:09,880
of bouncing around between
finances and LLCS and things

590
00:30:09,880 --> 00:30:13,000
like that, but I feel like this
is an appropriate question right

591
00:30:13,000 --> 00:30:17,480
now.
Is there a right or wrong way to

592
00:30:17,480 --> 00:30:20,520
pay yourself as a content
creator?

593
00:30:20,560 --> 00:30:24,840
Because that's an area that I
honestly I am unclear on as far

594
00:30:24,840 --> 00:30:28,360
as really what's the best way.
What's the right way to pay

595
00:30:28,360 --> 00:30:30,600
myself?
OK, I'm going to answer that

596
00:30:30,600 --> 00:30:33,480
with a depends because anything
in content creation depends,

597
00:30:33,520 --> 00:30:36,240
right?
It depends on the type of entity

598
00:30:36,240 --> 00:30:40,320
you have set up.
If you have a single member LLC,

599
00:30:40,480 --> 00:30:43,280
then you cannot pay yourself a
traditional W2.

600
00:30:43,400 --> 00:30:44,920
You can't give yourself a
paycheck.

601
00:30:45,560 --> 00:30:48,120
If you set up what I would push
a lot of people to is what's

602
00:30:48,120 --> 00:30:51,280
called a Subchapter S
corporation that you would

603
00:30:51,280 --> 00:30:52,960
actually give yourself a
paycheck.

604
00:30:52,960 --> 00:30:55,840
That's what the IRS requires you
to do is you have to take a

605
00:30:55,840 --> 00:30:58,080
reasonable salary.
But generally, to answer your

606
00:30:58,080 --> 00:31:02,120
question, big picture, Mark, is
what you're effectively doing is

607
00:31:02,120 --> 00:31:03,960
you're taking a draw from the
business.

608
00:31:04,360 --> 00:31:06,760
You don't want to pay yourself
technically a salary.

609
00:31:06,760 --> 00:31:10,040
Again, it depends on your
situation, but you're going to

610
00:31:10,040 --> 00:31:12,960
pay tax on whatever the net
income is from the business,

611
00:31:12,960 --> 00:31:15,960
regardless of how much money you
leave in or take out.

612
00:31:16,440 --> 00:31:19,040
So let's just say Mark in your
business, and I don't know how

613
00:31:19,040 --> 00:31:21,640
it's structured to say it's a
simple sole proprietorship.

614
00:31:21,640 --> 00:31:23,440
You don't have any entity
anything like that.

615
00:31:23,800 --> 00:31:25,600
And let's say you're looking at
your checking account, you've

616
00:31:25,600 --> 00:31:28,200
got $5000 in there.
You're like, oh man, I could, I

617
00:31:28,200 --> 00:31:30,440
could use this money for my
personal side of things.

618
00:31:30,440 --> 00:31:31,440
It's not going to be business
use.

619
00:31:31,760 --> 00:31:34,480
If you wrote yourself a check
from the business, that's great.

620
00:31:34,600 --> 00:31:37,760
It's your money, spend it how
you wish, but that is not going

621
00:31:37,760 --> 00:31:39,920
to be an expense for the
business.

622
00:31:40,560 --> 00:31:42,920
It's you're going to pay tax on
that regardless of whether you

623
00:31:42,920 --> 00:31:44,240
leave that money in or take it
out.

624
00:31:44,240 --> 00:31:46,120
I hope that makes sense, Mark.
Yes, it does.

625
00:31:46,160 --> 00:31:50,920
And yeah, that's what I, I
learned from past LLCS and yeah,

626
00:31:50,920 --> 00:31:54,280
I'm an LLC and yeah, it was
taking a draw.

627
00:31:54,320 --> 00:31:57,120
And that's what I've, that's
what I continue to do.

628
00:31:57,560 --> 00:31:59,800
The problem with LLC is mark
though and I'm going to throw

629
00:31:59,800 --> 00:32:01,360
something out there for
everybody to think about.

630
00:32:01,600 --> 00:32:06,040
If the LLC is not set up the
most tact advantageous way, you

631
00:32:06,040 --> 00:32:07,120
could be leaving money on the
table.

632
00:32:07,120 --> 00:32:08,360
I worked with the creator last
year.

633
00:32:08,360 --> 00:32:13,560
I saved them $9000 in
self-employment tax by changing

634
00:32:13,560 --> 00:32:17,360
the structure of their LLC and
and finding a more optimum way

635
00:32:17,360 --> 00:32:18,840
to do that from a tax
perspective.

636
00:32:18,840 --> 00:32:22,280
So that's the thing when I hear
LLCI kind of cringe sometimes

637
00:32:22,560 --> 00:32:26,040
because the LLC from a tax
perspective can be treated a

638
00:32:26,040 --> 00:32:28,400
dozen different ways.
So you really need to understand

639
00:32:28,560 --> 00:32:31,920
how it's created, how it's set
up, and is that the best tax

640
00:32:31,920 --> 00:32:33,800
structure for your particular
situation.

641
00:32:34,520 --> 00:32:36,400
Thank you, Ralph.
Yeah, Sid, go ahead.

642
00:32:36,960 --> 00:32:40,240
So as you're talking, I'm
reminded about how complicated

643
00:32:40,240 --> 00:32:43,760
all of this can be.
And is there a point in time

644
00:32:43,760 --> 00:32:48,960
that you would recommend to a
creator or a small business

645
00:32:48,960 --> 00:32:53,120
podcaster, whatever we might be,
that they actually go and

646
00:32:53,120 --> 00:32:57,080
embrace and work with
professionals that understand

647
00:32:57,080 --> 00:32:59,560
all of these laws?
I mean, I have an attorney and

648
00:32:59,560 --> 00:33:03,040
an accountant that I work with
on all my businesses, same to

649
00:33:03,040 --> 00:33:06,360
people and all of my businesses
because I don't trust myself to

650
00:33:06,360 --> 00:33:08,320
know what's right and what's
wrong.

651
00:33:08,320 --> 00:33:10,160
So I'm always asking their
advice.

652
00:33:10,160 --> 00:33:13,480
Is there a Is there a point in
this journey that you would say

653
00:33:13,480 --> 00:33:16,400
to the creator?
Now is the time that you need to

654
00:33:16,400 --> 00:33:19,120
go and employ the professional.
Absolutely said.

655
00:33:19,120 --> 00:33:21,320
I'm going to say before you get
started is when you should do

656
00:33:21,320 --> 00:33:24,640
that because if you sit down
with somebody like me, I will

657
00:33:24,640 --> 00:33:27,800
charge you a consultation fee of
a couple $100 to get started.

658
00:33:28,320 --> 00:33:30,760
And I will tell you the things
that you don't know.

659
00:33:31,200 --> 00:33:35,840
And that stuff can be huge for
the one that, like I said, $9000

660
00:33:35,840 --> 00:33:38,240
in self-employment tax savings
is not a small amount.

661
00:33:38,840 --> 00:33:40,840
But what I found said is a lot
of people are shy.

662
00:33:40,840 --> 00:33:43,360
They don't want to spend a
couple $100 to go meet with a

663
00:33:43,360 --> 00:33:45,160
professional.
I think it's great you've got an

664
00:33:45,160 --> 00:33:46,720
attorney.
When I work with small business

665
00:33:46,720 --> 00:33:49,760
clients, I say to them, surround
yourself with the dream team, a

666
00:33:49,760 --> 00:33:52,200
good attorney, a good
accountant, a good insurance

667
00:33:52,200 --> 00:33:54,080
person.
You've got to build that

668
00:33:54,080 --> 00:33:56,560
foundation because if you don't
build the foundation well at the

669
00:33:56,560 --> 00:33:58,640
beginning, it's going to crumble
later on.

670
00:33:58,640 --> 00:34:01,720
So Sid, I think it starts at the
very beginning.

671
00:34:02,000 --> 00:34:03,760
As soon as you say, look, I've
got an idea.

672
00:34:04,160 --> 00:34:06,440
And I think in my own head, I
would say if you have an idea

673
00:34:06,440 --> 00:34:09,480
that you intend this to make
money for you at some point,

674
00:34:09,719 --> 00:34:12,960
then go enlist the services of
somebody like myself.

675
00:34:12,960 --> 00:34:15,760
Go enlist some services from an
attorney, go enlist some

676
00:34:15,760 --> 00:34:18,400
services from an insurance agent
so that you've got a strong

677
00:34:18,400 --> 00:34:20,000
foundation.
Because you're never going to

678
00:34:20,159 --> 00:34:22,800
suffer from a strong, you're
never going to, you know, be a

679
00:34:22,800 --> 00:34:24,760
be a negative from having a
strong foundation.

680
00:34:25,719 --> 00:34:28,760
Ralph, I have a business, Ironic
Media, right?

681
00:34:28,760 --> 00:34:32,280
And Ironic Media, it's an LLC
don't cringe.

682
00:34:33,159 --> 00:34:37,239
It's an LLC and we help
podcasters podcast, whether it's

683
00:34:37,239 --> 00:34:40,560
production, whether it's
consulting and coaching, that's

684
00:34:40,560 --> 00:34:43,239
what we do, right?
And then I have, as you know, I

685
00:34:43,239 --> 00:34:44,760
have the podcasting morning
chat.

686
00:34:45,080 --> 00:34:49,000
Do I need to set up an LLCS
Corp?

687
00:34:49,000 --> 00:34:51,199
Whatever would be the best for
my situation?

688
00:34:51,199 --> 00:34:55,440
Do I need to register my podcast
as a separate business entity?

689
00:34:56,320 --> 00:35:00,120
No, not at all because you can
run them under the ironic media

690
00:35:00,120 --> 00:35:01,520
head.
The only thing I would say,

691
00:35:01,600 --> 00:35:04,000
Mark, is if you're going to be
doing different things, best

692
00:35:04,000 --> 00:35:06,640
example I can give you, let's
say this today, you decide.

693
00:35:06,640 --> 00:35:09,560
You know what, I love doing the
podcast morning chat, but every

694
00:35:09,560 --> 00:35:12,000
afternoon I want to run a hot
dog stand on the corner where I

695
00:35:12,000 --> 00:35:14,400
live.
Well, I would set up a separate

696
00:35:14,400 --> 00:35:17,840
entity for that because it's not
the same type of business.

697
00:35:17,840 --> 00:35:21,480
It has different liability
fields, but generally a content

698
00:35:21,480 --> 00:35:25,200
creator could set up what I will
call like a master entity and

699
00:35:25,200 --> 00:35:26,760
run all their content underneath
it.

700
00:35:26,760 --> 00:35:29,640
For example, like I'll use me as
an example, I've got four

701
00:35:29,640 --> 00:35:32,680
different shows.
I write books, I do online

702
00:35:32,680 --> 00:35:35,800
courses, I do consulting work.
All of those things are

703
00:35:35,800 --> 00:35:38,000
underneath of what I call Ask
Ralph Media, Inc.

704
00:35:38,000 --> 00:35:41,880
It's a Subchapter S corporation.
Now, my accounting practice is

705
00:35:41,880 --> 00:35:44,360
under something different.
The farm is under something

706
00:35:44,360 --> 00:35:46,320
different because they're not
the same business.

707
00:35:46,480 --> 00:35:48,920
There's different liability
structures or different assets

708
00:35:49,360 --> 00:35:51,080
amongst them.
But Mark, from what you're

709
00:35:51,080 --> 00:35:53,560
telling me, no, you would not
need to set up something

710
00:35:53,560 --> 00:35:55,520
separate.
OK.

711
00:35:55,560 --> 00:35:57,320
Thank you, Ralph.
I know that's one that I've

712
00:35:57,320 --> 00:36:00,720
heard even recently people
talking about whether or not

713
00:36:00,720 --> 00:36:02,880
they should do that.
So I'm glad we've got you here

714
00:36:02,880 --> 00:36:06,280
today because that that had been
something that was I was curious

715
00:36:06,280 --> 00:36:08,520
about and, and.
I get that question all the

716
00:36:08,520 --> 00:36:10,720
time, Mark, because a lot of
people don't understand it.

717
00:36:10,720 --> 00:36:13,720
And again, it comes down to try
it.

718
00:36:13,880 --> 00:36:15,880
It's it's an old adage of
putting all your eggs in one

719
00:36:15,880 --> 00:36:18,160
basket.
It's cheaper to put all your

720
00:36:18,160 --> 00:36:20,720
eggs in one basket, but it might
not be the best long term

721
00:36:20,720 --> 00:36:22,080
strategy.
Got you.

722
00:36:22,280 --> 00:36:24,760
And by the way, Bez is in the
audience.

723
00:36:24,760 --> 00:36:28,520
Bez, I see you raised your hand.
I invited you up here on stage.

724
00:36:28,520 --> 00:36:31,640
If you've got a question or want
to add anything, by all means,

725
00:36:31,720 --> 00:36:34,720
come on up and we'd love to hear
from you.

726
00:36:34,760 --> 00:36:37,960
And in the meantime, we also
want to hear from Ashley.

727
00:36:38,040 --> 00:36:39,280
Ashley, you have something for
us.

728
00:36:39,720 --> 00:36:43,080
I'm thinking about hiring a
local accountant to start

729
00:36:43,080 --> 00:36:45,720
helping me this next upcoming
tax season.

730
00:36:46,120 --> 00:36:49,080
What would you look for in a
local accountant and what are

731
00:36:49,080 --> 00:36:52,400
some things to watch out for?
Oh, great question, Ash.

732
00:36:52,400 --> 00:36:54,640
I get this question all the time
because I do a local accounting

733
00:36:54,640 --> 00:36:58,880
work for people too #1 make sure
they have credentials, make sure

734
00:36:58,880 --> 00:37:01,800
they're a licensed accountant,
LPA or CPA.

735
00:37:02,400 --> 00:37:04,920
The thing that people don't
understand what tax prepares,

736
00:37:04,920 --> 00:37:07,280
there is no, there's no
licensing for that.

737
00:37:07,520 --> 00:37:10,240
Anybody can hang a shingle
outside their business and say

738
00:37:10,240 --> 00:37:12,360
I'm an accountant.
I would look at that.

739
00:37:12,400 --> 00:37:16,000
I would go online and look at
their reviews, go take a look at

740
00:37:16,200 --> 00:37:18,960
have they ever been sanctioned
by any government bodies?

741
00:37:18,960 --> 00:37:21,720
Like for example, I hold a
license as a Delaware public

742
00:37:21,720 --> 00:37:23,840
accountant.
You can go on to the Delaware

743
00:37:24,000 --> 00:37:26,400
Public Account Division of Pet
Professional Regulation.

744
00:37:26,400 --> 00:37:29,360
Look me up and you can see I've
had a license for 25 plus years.

745
00:37:29,760 --> 00:37:31,640
I've never been sanctioned.
Those are the kind of things,

746
00:37:31,880 --> 00:37:35,000
this thing a lot of times,
Ashley, it's funny in the tax

747
00:37:35,000 --> 00:37:37,200
from, I see a lot of people sort
of work out of the back door of

748
00:37:37,200 --> 00:37:40,160
their house or they've got a
laptop, they come to your place

749
00:37:40,480 --> 00:37:42,600
and and do the taxes there.
So I just would be careful of

750
00:37:42,600 --> 00:37:44,240
that.
And if somebody's calling

751
00:37:44,240 --> 00:37:47,640
themselves an accountant, then
they should have an advanced

752
00:37:47,640 --> 00:37:50,360
degree.
They should have ACPA or an LA

753
00:37:50,520 --> 00:37:52,320
or an EA, some kind of
designation.

754
00:37:52,320 --> 00:37:55,320
I have four of them, but you
don't need four of them, but you

755
00:37:55,320 --> 00:37:57,040
want to make sure they
understand what they're doing.

756
00:37:57,040 --> 00:37:59,520
And the second thing I would
say, Ashley, is work with

757
00:37:59,520 --> 00:38:01,480
somebody that understands your
field.

758
00:38:02,000 --> 00:38:04,800
So for example, the reason I'm
really moving into the content

759
00:38:04,800 --> 00:38:07,120
creator sphere is that I'm a
content creator myself.

760
00:38:07,280 --> 00:38:10,600
So I understand this and I can
work with content creator

761
00:38:10,600 --> 00:38:12,520
because I understand the nuances
of it actually.

762
00:38:12,520 --> 00:38:14,520
So make sure they're
credentialed, make sure they've

763
00:38:14,520 --> 00:38:17,080
got good reviews and make sure
they understand your particular

764
00:38:17,080 --> 00:38:19,000
industry.
Thank you, Ralph.

765
00:38:19,040 --> 00:38:22,560
I want to ask you, you know,
we're talking a lot about hiring

766
00:38:22,560 --> 00:38:26,120
people and which I you, you
probably know this about me.

767
00:38:26,120 --> 00:38:29,360
I'm all for that.
I hire lots of people to help

768
00:38:29,360 --> 00:38:32,720
me, whether it's coaching,
whether it's bookkeeping, I'm

769
00:38:32,720 --> 00:38:36,200
all for that.
And I also recognize that some

770
00:38:36,200 --> 00:38:39,360
creators may not be in a
position or care to be in a

771
00:38:39,360 --> 00:38:42,800
position to pay somebody to help
them yet.

772
00:38:42,800 --> 00:38:46,080
Maybe they are recognizing that
they've got to dig into their

773
00:38:46,080 --> 00:38:49,720
finances more.
And a lot of creators that I've

774
00:38:49,880 --> 00:38:52,440
come across don't love working
with numbers.

775
00:38:52,440 --> 00:38:57,040
So what's the simplest system
that you've seen that works for

776
00:38:57,040 --> 00:39:00,720
creators who hate numbers?
Listen, I get it.

777
00:39:00,720 --> 00:39:03,200
I'm an accountant that hates
number, so I totally get that.

778
00:39:04,600 --> 00:39:05,720
It's funny.
I'm I'm going to do an

779
00:39:05,720 --> 00:39:07,280
accounting work since I was 8
years old.

780
00:39:07,280 --> 00:39:09,400
I grew up in the industry.
My dad had an accounting firm

781
00:39:09,400 --> 00:39:11,680
when I was a kid.
But no, the simple answer is

782
00:39:11,680 --> 00:39:14,040
there are a lot of great online
tools.

783
00:39:14,200 --> 00:39:17,480
For example, QuickBooks Online
is a great tool.

784
00:39:17,800 --> 00:39:20,800
Wave is a great tool.
FreshBooks is a great tool.

785
00:39:21,000 --> 00:39:23,280
The reason I really like those
tools is they have something

786
00:39:23,280 --> 00:39:27,040
called bank feeds, which you
can, and I love this Mark, you

787
00:39:27,040 --> 00:39:29,600
can connect your bank account,
you can connect your credit card

788
00:39:29,600 --> 00:39:31,480
accounts all to this online
software.

789
00:39:31,480 --> 00:39:34,400
And what it does is it feeds in
the transactions as you go.

790
00:39:34,800 --> 00:39:37,200
So if you're one of the folks
who I don't want to be dealing

791
00:39:37,200 --> 00:39:39,000
with numbers wrap, this makes me
crazy.

792
00:39:39,200 --> 00:39:42,200
I'm pulling my hair out, at
least go sign up for one of

793
00:39:42,200 --> 00:39:45,160
these software things and
they're not cost prohibitive and

794
00:39:45,160 --> 00:39:46,520
then connect your bank accounts
to them.

795
00:39:46,520 --> 00:39:48,800
And then what's going to happen
is behind the scenes while

796
00:39:48,800 --> 00:39:51,320
you're sleeping or while you're
doing content creation, all your

797
00:39:51,320 --> 00:39:52,600
transactions are going to feed
in.

798
00:39:52,600 --> 00:39:55,400
And at some point you're going
to have to go back and

799
00:39:55,400 --> 00:39:57,360
categorize those things and say,
oh, this was for this, this was

800
00:39:57,360 --> 00:39:58,400
for this.
But man, if you've got the

801
00:39:58,400 --> 00:40:01,320
information there, at least
you're going to have it there.

802
00:40:01,320 --> 00:40:03,000
And it's not going to be cost
prohibitive to do it.

803
00:40:03,440 --> 00:40:07,040
Thank you Ralph, keeping that
type of creator in mind.

804
00:40:07,040 --> 00:40:10,960
That creator who doesn't love
the numbers but recognizes they

805
00:40:10,960 --> 00:40:14,760
need to dig in.
If that creator could only track

806
00:40:14,760 --> 00:40:20,120
or will only track 3 numbers all
year, what 3 would you pick?

807
00:40:20,720 --> 00:40:22,920
OK, real simple.
You got to track what comes in

808
00:40:22,920 --> 00:40:24,280
the door.
That's what we're going to call

809
00:40:24,280 --> 00:40:27,280
your income or revenue.
You got to track what goes out

810
00:40:27,280 --> 00:40:29,320
the door.
That's all your expenses, and

811
00:40:29,320 --> 00:40:32,120
then track your profit.
Those are the three main things

812
00:40:32,360 --> 00:40:35,320
that you've got to track.
And listen, consistency matters

813
00:40:35,320 --> 00:40:37,600
more than software being
consistent.

814
00:40:37,600 --> 00:40:41,920
I tell content creators, pick a
day, 10 minutes a week and do

815
00:40:41,920 --> 00:40:44,040
those three things.
If you've got those three

816
00:40:44,040 --> 00:40:46,600
things, then you're going to be
in much better shape than the

817
00:40:46,600 --> 00:40:48,280
person who doesn't have those
three things.

818
00:40:48,560 --> 00:40:50,120
OK.
Thank you very much.

819
00:40:50,640 --> 00:40:51,920
Because you can overthink it,
Mark.

820
00:40:51,920 --> 00:40:55,240
Like you can get into a point
where you get to what we call a

821
00:40:55,240 --> 00:40:57,600
paralysis through analysis.
You're worried about this,

822
00:40:57,600 --> 00:40:59,320
You're worried about that.
It's really not that

823
00:40:59,320 --> 00:41:01,440
complicated.
What I do is not rocket science.

824
00:41:01,920 --> 00:41:05,040
It's income minus expenses
equals net profit.

825
00:41:05,440 --> 00:41:09,600
OK, so let's talk budgeting then
for a second, because yeah,

826
00:41:09,800 --> 00:41:12,440
let's go simple here.
Where does budgeting fit in for

827
00:41:12,440 --> 00:41:15,080
creators?
How detailed should budgeting

828
00:41:15,080 --> 00:41:18,040
be?
I think budgeting is huge for

829
00:41:18,040 --> 00:41:19,680
creators.
And the reason I'll tell you why

830
00:41:19,680 --> 00:41:22,320
I think it's huge is I don't
think creators realize how much

831
00:41:22,320 --> 00:41:24,840
money goes out the door in the
different subscriptions they

832
00:41:24,840 --> 00:41:27,680
have, the different publications
they have, all the different

833
00:41:27,680 --> 00:41:30,600
pieces of that puzzle.
And that's why I think budgeting

834
00:41:30,600 --> 00:41:33,080
is huge.
And I actually start a little

835
00:41:33,080 --> 00:41:36,480
bit different approach, Mark,
what I say is go back and look

836
00:41:36,480 --> 00:41:39,760
at the last 60 days of your
transactions.

837
00:41:40,440 --> 00:41:43,520
Use that to build a simple
budget and budgets don't have to

838
00:41:43,520 --> 00:41:47,320
be all that complicated.
Use categories that work for you

839
00:41:48,200 --> 00:41:50,400
and just put together where
you're spending your money

840
00:41:50,400 --> 00:41:52,840
because here's the truth.
What gets measured gets done.

841
00:41:52,840 --> 00:41:55,480
What you go and look at and see,
here's what I spent.

842
00:41:55,840 --> 00:41:58,920
If you don't have any concept of
what you're spending, you're

843
00:41:59,000 --> 00:42:01,080
going to get lost and you're not
going to know whether you're

844
00:42:01,080 --> 00:42:03,920
actually making any money with
your content creation or not.

845
00:42:03,920 --> 00:42:06,680
So it doesn't have to be
elaborate, don't have to be 15

846
00:42:06,680 --> 00:42:09,120
lines on a budget sheet.
It could be simply here's what's

847
00:42:09,120 --> 00:42:10,560
coming in, here's what I'm
budging to come in.

848
00:42:10,680 --> 00:42:13,600
Here are my big expense
categories.

849
00:42:14,160 --> 00:42:16,880
If you're a content creator,
maybe you've got a Captivate

850
00:42:16,880 --> 00:42:19,640
subscription, maybe you've got
some AI subscriptions, maybe

851
00:42:19,640 --> 00:42:22,520
you're paying some coaching,
maybe you've got some VA S that

852
00:42:22,520 --> 00:42:24,920
you're working with.
Those could be just simple

853
00:42:24,920 --> 00:42:27,560
categories so that you can go
back and see, OK, am I

854
00:42:27,560 --> 00:42:29,320
overspending?
Am I underspending?

855
00:42:29,320 --> 00:42:31,000
Where are the leaks?
Because that's a lot of things

856
00:42:31,000 --> 00:42:33,320
people don't understand.
And a lot of content creators,

857
00:42:33,600 --> 00:42:35,720
it's not that they're worried
about the numbers, they're

858
00:42:35,720 --> 00:42:37,160
scared of what the numbers tell
them.

859
00:42:37,600 --> 00:42:39,600
They're worried about looking
back and saying, wow, I spent

860
00:42:39,600 --> 00:42:41,080
how much?
That's the problem.

861
00:42:41,080 --> 00:42:43,960
If you don't keep track of that
stuff, you don't have a basic

862
00:42:43,960 --> 00:42:46,760
idea, a basic budget, then
you're going to be always in

863
00:42:46,760 --> 00:42:48,960
that place of fear of like, I
don't know what I actually

864
00:42:48,960 --> 00:42:52,160
happened.
I have a couple more questions

865
00:42:52,160 --> 00:42:54,640
and again want to encourage
anybody if you have questions,

866
00:42:54,640 --> 00:42:59,000
please feel free to ask.
Ralph, no pun intended, for the

867
00:42:59,000 --> 00:43:03,040
name of his show, Ralph.
So what should creators review

868
00:43:03,040 --> 00:43:07,000
from 2025 to make smarter
decisions next year?

869
00:43:07,720 --> 00:43:11,920
OK, real simple answer to that.
Number one thing, start today

870
00:43:12,000 --> 00:43:15,720
doing things a better way.
Go find that, like Sid said, go

871
00:43:15,720 --> 00:43:17,400
get that credit card just for
the business.

872
00:43:17,400 --> 00:43:19,720
Go set up that bank account just
for the business.

873
00:43:19,720 --> 00:43:22,640
So that's what I'm going to say.
Draw a line in the sand from

874
00:43:22,640 --> 00:43:25,000
today forward, I'm going to do
this a better way.

875
00:43:25,160 --> 00:43:27,440
And then Mark, go back and look
at those three things.

876
00:43:27,640 --> 00:43:29,400
What were the revenue dollars
that came in?

877
00:43:29,520 --> 00:43:31,560
What were the expenses by
category?

878
00:43:31,600 --> 00:43:33,520
And what does the bottom line
number look like?

879
00:43:33,560 --> 00:43:35,920
It's really that simple.
Again, you can drive yourself

880
00:43:35,920 --> 00:43:37,880
crazy.
You don't have to sit there and

881
00:43:37,880 --> 00:43:40,640
live in this sins of the past
mentality like, oh, I'm never

882
00:43:40,640 --> 00:43:42,960
going to do this because and I
got a whole year to go back and

883
00:43:42,960 --> 00:43:44,160
go through.
That's great.

884
00:43:44,160 --> 00:43:45,960
That does need to get done at
some point.

885
00:43:45,960 --> 00:43:48,000
But today I'm going to draw a
line in the sand.

886
00:43:48,000 --> 00:43:49,920
I'm going to say today I
listened to Ralph.

887
00:43:50,040 --> 00:43:52,640
It made some sense.
I'm going to do this moving

888
00:43:52,640 --> 00:43:55,440
forward because then at least
you've set the tone for your

889
00:43:55,440 --> 00:43:57,480
piece moving forward.
And it's a great time to do it.

890
00:43:57,480 --> 00:44:01,120
As we sit here in November, it's
not going to be too far off to

891
00:44:01,120 --> 00:44:03,120
where the tax man is going to be
knocking or you're going to

892
00:44:03,120 --> 00:44:04,760
understand what the end of the
year looks like.

893
00:44:04,880 --> 00:44:07,040
It's a great time to start to
put those things in place.

894
00:44:07,040 --> 00:44:09,880
You can go out today and set up
a simple wave.

895
00:44:09,880 --> 00:44:13,320
That's WAVEI don't have an
affiliate link, but a wave

896
00:44:13,320 --> 00:44:16,000
subscription and start just
feeding in your bank account and

897
00:44:16,000 --> 00:44:18,720
credit card statements.
Do it today and then you'll

898
00:44:18,720 --> 00:44:20,360
you'll thank yourself in 30
days.

899
00:44:20,360 --> 00:44:21,600
And you say, wow, this was
really pretty.

900
00:44:22,280 --> 00:44:26,640
And Speaking of wave, I know DRU
use wave and I also saw that

901
00:44:26,640 --> 00:44:29,720
maybe you have a question.
So Ralph, when it comes to

902
00:44:29,920 --> 00:44:35,120
paying yourself, what kind of
criteria should I be looking at

903
00:44:35,800 --> 00:44:39,280
in order to come up with an
amount to pay myself?

904
00:44:39,760 --> 00:44:42,840
Well, Dr. Again, it depends on
the type of entity you're in.

905
00:44:43,160 --> 00:44:46,800
If you're a simple sole
proprietor, single member LLC,

906
00:44:46,800 --> 00:44:50,040
then honestly, if you've got
money in the bank account, then

907
00:44:50,040 --> 00:44:51,920
you can pay yourself.
Now that said, you're going to

908
00:44:51,920 --> 00:44:55,120
want to keep a certain amount of
what I call emergency funds or

909
00:44:55,120 --> 00:44:57,040
emergency cushion in the bank
account.

910
00:44:57,040 --> 00:44:59,720
So come up with a number in your
own head as I never want my

911
00:44:59,720 --> 00:45:02,200
business account to be less than
X dollars.

912
00:45:03,400 --> 00:45:04,920
Other than that, Dr. it's your
money.

913
00:45:04,920 --> 00:45:07,240
Do as you wish with it,
understanding that you're not

914
00:45:07,240 --> 00:45:09,200
going to take a deduction for
that on the business side, but

915
00:45:09,200 --> 00:45:10,760
it's your money.
You've worked hard to get it.

916
00:45:10,960 --> 00:45:15,080
Content creators work hard and
if you've got money in the bank,

917
00:45:15,360 --> 00:45:16,560
you can take that money and use
it.

918
00:45:16,560 --> 00:45:19,200
Just be careful that you're not
putting yourself in a position

919
00:45:19,200 --> 00:45:22,920
where the next month you don't
have a big Patreon payout or a

920
00:45:22,920 --> 00:45:24,960
big super chat payout or
something like that and you're

921
00:45:24,960 --> 00:45:26,800
like, oh man, I got
subscriptions to pay and now I

922
00:45:26,800 --> 00:45:29,600
don't have the money.
So come up with that baseline of

923
00:45:29,720 --> 00:45:32,120
here's how much I need to keep
in the business.

924
00:45:32,480 --> 00:45:34,720
Other than that, take it out and
enjoy your life.

925
00:45:35,480 --> 00:45:39,840
I actually do that very thing
DRII have that number that I

926
00:45:39,840 --> 00:45:42,960
want always to always see in the
account.

927
00:45:42,960 --> 00:45:47,440
And if it's going over and I
want to pay myself, I will pay

928
00:45:47,440 --> 00:45:50,480
myself the difference or
something similar.

929
00:45:50,840 --> 00:45:53,800
But yeah, that that works really
well for me too.

930
00:45:54,160 --> 00:45:56,680
The other thing I would say Dr.
is another great idea.

931
00:45:56,680 --> 00:45:59,840
And you actually mentioned the
Dr. is the other philosophy I

932
00:45:59,840 --> 00:46:02,640
would have in mind is maybe
setting up a savings account for

933
00:46:02,640 --> 00:46:05,560
taxes.
And as you're seeing that money

934
00:46:05,640 --> 00:46:09,200
start to go over that minimum
number you like, carve out 20%

935
00:46:09,200 --> 00:46:11,920
and put it in a savings account,
call it your tax savings account

936
00:46:12,120 --> 00:46:14,640
or you're, I don't want to be in
trouble with the IRS account.

937
00:46:15,000 --> 00:46:17,440
And when you take money out,
it's a great idea.

938
00:46:17,880 --> 00:46:20,880
Put 25% of that or 20% of
depending upon your tax

939
00:46:20,880 --> 00:46:23,320
structure in that savings
account so that you don't have

940
00:46:23,320 --> 00:46:26,640
that surprise, surprise, glomer
Pyle surprise when tax time

941
00:46:26,640 --> 00:46:28,920
comes around in your account or
tax repair says, hey, guess

942
00:46:28,920 --> 00:46:32,240
what, Dr. you owe $4000.
You're like, I owe what we

943
00:46:32,240 --> 00:46:34,320
already have.
Set that aside because if you're

944
00:46:34,320 --> 00:46:38,280
putting that 2025%, again, it
depends on your structure aside

945
00:46:38,280 --> 00:46:39,560
and you're like, OK, that's
cool.

946
00:46:39,560 --> 00:46:44,040
I've got the money to pay it.
It has been a godsend for for

947
00:46:44,040 --> 00:46:47,800
that money to to be there, you
know, for it to be taken out

948
00:46:47,800 --> 00:46:50,640
automatically.
And again, I'm with Sofi Bank

949
00:46:51,040 --> 00:46:53,240
and they take it out
automatically.

950
00:46:53,240 --> 00:46:55,800
I've already set up, but they
call it a vault.

951
00:46:55,800 --> 00:47:00,960
They already, I already set up a
vault called taxes and at the

952
00:47:00,960 --> 00:47:05,680
end of the year, you know, I
know how much that's there and I

953
00:47:05,680 --> 00:47:08,840
usually have overshot it.
So that's good.

954
00:47:09,240 --> 00:47:13,400
I have enough money to pay the
taxes and I can still feel like,

955
00:47:13,640 --> 00:47:15,080
OK, I've got some money left in
there.

956
00:47:15,080 --> 00:47:19,720
OK, good.
Yes, thank you, Dr. Before I ask

957
00:47:19,720 --> 00:47:23,800
you my next question, which is
going to be around taxes and any

958
00:47:23,800 --> 00:47:27,680
potential changes, but first I
want to just ask you, Ralph, to

959
00:47:27,680 --> 00:47:31,200
tell us quickly about the
Content Creators Accountant,

960
00:47:31,200 --> 00:47:33,720
your new podcast series.
Oh, thank you, Mark.

961
00:47:33,720 --> 00:47:36,400
I appreciate that.
So the actual show launches on

962
00:47:36,400 --> 00:47:39,960
December the 9th.
We have a a trailer out there,

963
00:47:39,960 --> 00:47:42,320
we've got some YouTube shorts
out there, but the whole purpose

964
00:47:42,320 --> 00:47:45,440
of this show is to work with
content creators and helping

965
00:47:45,440 --> 00:47:49,000
them take that next step to stay
out of trouble with the IRS to

966
00:47:49,000 --> 00:47:52,200
understand how to set up an
entity to understand how to set

967
00:47:52,200 --> 00:47:55,000
up a simple accounting system.
Actually, after today's show,

968
00:47:55,000 --> 00:47:57,720
I'm going to recording a whole
show that will come out in the

969
00:47:57,720 --> 00:48:00,840
middle of December on how to set
up a basic accounting system.

970
00:48:00,840 --> 00:48:02,400
Kind of a lot of what we talked
about today.

971
00:48:02,400 --> 00:48:05,360
So it's kind of been a good on
rant for that recording today,

972
00:48:05,360 --> 00:48:07,000
but it's super simple to go
there.

973
00:48:07,000 --> 00:48:09,200
We actually created a Patreon
group as well.

974
00:48:09,560 --> 00:48:12,560
You can go to
contentcreatorsaccountant.com/join.

975
00:48:12,840 --> 00:48:15,400
My goal with that show is to
really build a community of

976
00:48:15,400 --> 00:48:17,880
people supporting one another.
That's the thing I love about

977
00:48:18,040 --> 00:48:20,040
content creators.
We love to support each other.

978
00:48:20,400 --> 00:48:23,840
And I looked at this as a way
for me to sort of give back my

979
00:48:23,840 --> 00:48:26,240
30 years of experience working
with small business people

980
00:48:26,240 --> 00:48:29,040
because the truth is content
creators are small business

981
00:48:29,040 --> 00:48:31,160
people and I just have a passion
for that.

982
00:48:31,160 --> 00:48:34,000
Like I said, I don't like
numbers, but I love people and

983
00:48:34,000 --> 00:48:35,480
this is my whole point of this
new show.

984
00:48:35,480 --> 00:48:38,480
My new endeavor is to really
lean into building

985
00:48:38,480 --> 00:48:40,880
relationships.
One of the things I also offer,

986
00:48:40,880 --> 00:48:42,960
and you're welcome to reach out
and do this, I'll send Mark a

987
00:48:42,960 --> 00:48:45,840
link for this, but I offer a 15
minute complimentary discovery

988
00:48:45,840 --> 00:48:47,640
call.
So if you want to, you want to

989
00:48:47,640 --> 00:48:49,800
do a Zoom call with me and talk
about what's going on with your

990
00:48:49,800 --> 00:48:52,320
content creation.
Is it the right time for you to

991
00:48:52,320 --> 00:48:54,440
create an entity?
I would love to talk to you.

992
00:48:54,840 --> 00:48:57,200
So just reach out to me and
we'll I'll be happy to do that.

993
00:48:57,800 --> 00:49:00,400
We will absolutely grab that
from you, Ralph, and we will put

994
00:49:00,400 --> 00:49:04,560
that in the show notes.
Now, Ralph, it's just about tax

995
00:49:04,560 --> 00:49:07,600
season.
We are unfortunately already at

996
00:49:07,600 --> 00:49:11,320
the end or maybe for some,
fortunately at the end of 2025.

997
00:49:11,560 --> 00:49:15,080
And by some, I mean actually me,
because I it, it's been a

998
00:49:15,080 --> 00:49:19,920
challenging 2025 and I'm
curious, are there any tax

999
00:49:19,920 --> 00:49:22,960
changes that are coming up that
creators need to pay attention

1000
00:49:22,960 --> 00:49:24,880
to?
There's not a whole lot.

1001
00:49:24,880 --> 00:49:27,440
There have been some changes
with this big beautiful bill.

1002
00:49:27,840 --> 00:49:31,680
There's been some expansion of
itemized deductions, there's

1003
00:49:31,680 --> 00:49:35,280
been some additional credits,
but as far as specific to

1004
00:49:35,280 --> 00:49:39,840
content creators, I don't see
anything that would be that

1005
00:49:40,000 --> 00:49:42,280
dramatic.
Again, it comes down to keeping

1006
00:49:42,280 --> 00:49:43,520
track of your income and
expenses.

1007
00:49:43,520 --> 00:49:45,800
Don't hand your account in a
shoebox full of receipts and

1008
00:49:45,800 --> 00:49:47,560
expect them to put this together
for you.

1009
00:49:48,320 --> 00:49:50,160
Understand what happened and put
that together.

1010
00:49:50,160 --> 00:49:52,240
Like Mike, I'll give you an
example, Mark, like you did a

1011
00:49:52,240 --> 00:49:54,440
conference this year.
So you've got complications with

1012
00:49:54,440 --> 00:49:56,320
that.
So all of those things really

1013
00:49:56,320 --> 00:49:58,840
need to be stratified out so
that you can, because here's the

1014
00:49:58,840 --> 00:50:01,960
thing, like I've been doing
accounting work for 30 years at

1015
00:50:01,960 --> 00:50:03,280
the time we're doing a tax
return.

1016
00:50:03,400 --> 00:50:05,600
You'll be shocked how many
people bring me just a bucket of

1017
00:50:05,600 --> 00:50:08,760
receipts or baskets of receipts
and I'm like, look, this is

1018
00:50:08,760 --> 00:50:10,080
great.
I'm going to charge you a lot

1019
00:50:10,080 --> 00:50:12,040
more because now I've got to sit
down and do this.

1020
00:50:12,280 --> 00:50:15,000
And the bigger picture is you
have no idea what happened with

1021
00:50:15,000 --> 00:50:18,200
your business last year and I
guarantee you've missed things.

1022
00:50:18,560 --> 00:50:21,200
So Mark, again, I go back to
what I said a little while ago,

1023
00:50:21,440 --> 00:50:25,520
This is a great time to set up a
system for moving forward and

1024
00:50:25,520 --> 00:50:27,720
also go back and check out what
happened in the past.

1025
00:50:27,720 --> 00:50:30,680
But you can't oversell that.
This is a great time to set up

1026
00:50:30,680 --> 00:50:34,040
some structures, maybe put a
call into me or somebody else

1027
00:50:34,400 --> 00:50:37,520
and decide is the entity you're
in the best fit for you?

1028
00:50:37,760 --> 00:50:40,680
Is this the best tax structure?
Because honestly, even right

1029
00:50:40,680 --> 00:50:43,960
now, if we were to convert your
LLC to something, and I don't

1030
00:50:43,960 --> 00:50:46,880
know what you have to something
more tax advantageous, I could

1031
00:50:46,880 --> 00:50:49,640
still save you money in the
current year on self-employment

1032
00:50:49,640 --> 00:50:50,720
tax.
So just something to think

1033
00:50:50,720 --> 00:50:52,640
about.
Like Sid mentioned, spend a

1034
00:50:52,640 --> 00:50:55,440
couple dollars, talk with
somebody, and see if there's a

1035
00:50:55,440 --> 00:50:57,840
better mousetrap for your
particular content creation

1036
00:50:57,840 --> 00:51:03,720
endeavors.
Contentcreatorsaccountant.com So

1037
00:51:03,760 --> 00:51:09,040
if a creator did only one thing,
from everything that we've

1038
00:51:09,040 --> 00:51:12,280
talked about today, Ralph,
what's what should that one

1039
00:51:12,280 --> 00:51:15,680
thing be?
Track your income, expenses, and

1040
00:51:15,680 --> 00:51:17,280
profit.
I'll say that again.

1041
00:51:17,400 --> 00:51:19,440
Track your income, your
expenses.

1042
00:51:19,440 --> 00:51:20,840
And I'm going to say it a third
time.

1043
00:51:21,600 --> 00:51:23,760
No, keep and keep things
separate.

1044
00:51:23,760 --> 00:51:25,800
I love what Sid said.
I'm telling you this is the

1045
00:51:25,800 --> 00:51:29,000
easiest way to keep yourself
number one, understanding

1046
00:51:29,000 --> 00:51:30,720
clarity, because clarity is a
big piece of this.

1047
00:51:30,880 --> 00:51:34,200
And out of hot water, keep your
business and your personal stuff

1048
00:51:34,200 --> 00:51:37,240
separate and track those three
simple things.

1049
00:51:37,240 --> 00:51:40,720
It's really not that big a deal.
Just track those three simple

1050
00:51:40,720 --> 00:51:42,640
things.
Awesome, Ralph.

1051
00:51:42,760 --> 00:51:45,960
Thank you so much.
Let me go to Sid before we wrap

1052
00:51:45,960 --> 00:51:48,360
up officially.
But yeah, Ralph, thank you.

1053
00:51:48,360 --> 00:51:51,680
This has been a a wealth of
knowledge.

1054
00:51:51,680 --> 00:51:54,640
And yes, I did mean that pun.
Go ahead, Sid.

1055
00:51:54,960 --> 00:51:58,480
I just wanted to put a plug, not
that I don't have an affiliate

1056
00:51:58,480 --> 00:52:00,240
link or anything like that, but
I just put a plug in for

1057
00:52:00,240 --> 00:52:04,680
American Express.
They are very friendly to new

1058
00:52:04,680 --> 00:52:07,440
and small businesses in getting
a credit card set up.

1059
00:52:07,440 --> 00:52:10,280
So if you're freaking out about
a credit card, maybe you have

1060
00:52:10,280 --> 00:52:13,400
credit issues or whatever.
When you have your business and

1061
00:52:13,400 --> 00:52:16,960
you have your W9 form and your
your federal tax ID number and

1062
00:52:16,960 --> 00:52:18,920
all that, American Express to
ask you for very little

1063
00:52:18,920 --> 00:52:20,920
information and they will give
you a credit card.

1064
00:52:21,240 --> 00:52:24,080
It's super easy, which is why we
have American Express for every

1065
00:52:24,080 --> 00:52:27,720
one of our businesses because
they are super easy to work with

1066
00:52:27,720 --> 00:52:29,280
and very friendly to small
businesses.

1067
00:52:29,280 --> 00:52:31,280
If you're thinking about a
credit card, I would highly

1068
00:52:31,280 --> 00:52:34,200
recommend American Express.
Ralph, what say you, you on

1069
00:52:34,200 --> 00:52:36,520
board with that or is there
another credit card that you

1070
00:52:36,520 --> 00:52:38,880
would recommend?
No, no, actually, I think Sid is

1071
00:52:38,880 --> 00:52:40,400
right.
I've had American Express since

1072
00:52:40,400 --> 00:52:43,800
I was a toddler.
No, American Express is great.

1073
00:52:43,800 --> 00:52:45,840
Now I'm just being funny.
American Express is great for

1074
00:52:45,840 --> 00:52:47,800
small businesses.
I actually, I used to run a

1075
00:52:47,800 --> 00:52:51,320
credit union, so I have a little
bit of a a passion for credit

1076
00:52:51,320 --> 00:52:53,640
unions.
I think they really are more

1077
00:52:53,640 --> 00:52:56,080
suited towards individual small
business people and content

1078
00:52:56,080 --> 00:52:57,480
creators.
But no, I think American Express

1079
00:52:57,480 --> 00:53:01,680
is great, but Sid, just to have
a credit card for your content

1080
00:53:01,680 --> 00:53:05,320
work is a huge thing because now
you've separated those things

1081
00:53:05,320 --> 00:53:07,680
out, it's going to make your
life easier and you're going to

1082
00:53:07,680 --> 00:53:10,320
be able to go figure out what
happened last year much simpler.

1083
00:53:10,320 --> 00:53:11,880
So no, American Express is
great.

1084
00:53:12,080 --> 00:53:14,120
Again, I don't have an affiliate
link with them as well, but

1085
00:53:14,280 --> 00:53:16,920
setting up a credit card is a
great thing to do.

1086
00:53:17,600 --> 00:53:22,000
I have a Fidelity credit card
and one of the cool things about

1087
00:53:22,000 --> 00:53:26,120
that is it actually puts money
based on what I'm spending.

1088
00:53:26,120 --> 00:53:30,480
It puts money toward a Roth IRAI
like that idea.

1089
00:53:30,480 --> 00:53:34,440
Just nice to see my money
working for me as I spend it as

1090
00:53:34,440 --> 00:53:36,320
well.
Which is a great thing, Mark,

1091
00:53:36,320 --> 00:53:39,000
and a lot, and can I just add
this, a lot of content creators

1092
00:53:39,000 --> 00:53:42,520
don't think about retirement.
One of the chief things I see

1093
00:53:42,520 --> 00:53:45,160
you in the content creator realm
is they don't put money aside

1094
00:53:45,160 --> 00:53:47,600
for retirement, Mark.
So yes, that is huge, dude.

1095
00:53:48,040 --> 00:53:52,880
Putting money into a Traditional
IRA, a Roth IRA, some sort of

1096
00:53:52,880 --> 00:53:56,560
self funded SIMPLE IRA or 4O1K.
Again, that's one of the things

1097
00:53:56,560 --> 00:53:58,480
that I see a lot of content
creators don't think about,

1098
00:53:58,680 --> 00:54:00,840
especially those who are full
time self-employed.

1099
00:54:00,840 --> 00:54:03,560
They don't think about, you
know, at some point I'm going to

1100
00:54:03,560 --> 00:54:06,240
want to retire.
So Mark, it is huge that you're

1101
00:54:06,240 --> 00:54:07,520
doing it.
That's fantastic.

1102
00:54:08,000 --> 00:54:09,520
Cool, thank you.
I feel good.

1103
00:54:09,520 --> 00:54:12,560
I got my Gold Star today.
Ralph, thank you so much.

1104
00:54:12,560 --> 00:54:15,520
This is content
creatorsaccountant.com.

1105
00:54:15,520 --> 00:54:18,640
That's the new series coming out
the first week of December.

1106
00:54:18,960 --> 00:54:21,240
Let's support Ralph.
Let's check that out.

1107
00:54:21,240 --> 00:54:25,720
Let's follow his podcast and
give him any kind of support and

1108
00:54:25,720 --> 00:54:29,240
and take advantage also of that
15 minute discovery call as well

1109
00:54:29,240 --> 00:54:30,920
that we will share in the show
notes.

1110
00:54:30,920 --> 00:54:34,600
If you have more questions about
business, about accounting,

1111
00:54:34,600 --> 00:54:38,280
Ralph is your guy.
And Ralph, we are so thrilled

1112
00:54:38,280 --> 00:54:41,160
that you're a part of this
community and behind the scenes

1113
00:54:41,160 --> 00:54:43,120
for everybody.
Ralph and I've been talking,

1114
00:54:43,120 --> 00:54:45,960
Ralph will become a regular
here, a regular Co host,

1115
00:54:45,960 --> 00:54:51,040
moderator here on Clubhouse and
of course the podcast as well.

1116
00:54:51,040 --> 00:54:53,840
So we are thrilled Ralph, that
you're a part of it.

1117
00:54:53,840 --> 00:54:56,800
Thank you so much for all of
this knowledge today.

1118
00:54:57,280 --> 00:54:58,840
Oh, thank you, Mark.
And I've really enjoyed the

1119
00:54:58,840 --> 00:55:00,280
community.
It's been great getting to know

1120
00:55:00,280 --> 00:55:02,200
folks.
My first podcast conference was

1121
00:55:02,200 --> 00:55:04,280
the Empowered Podcasting
Conference, and that was kind of

1122
00:55:04,280 --> 00:55:05,880
a launching board.
I just met some great people

1123
00:55:05,880 --> 00:55:08,000
there.
And so thank you so much for the

1124
00:55:08,000 --> 00:55:09,760
community, Mark.
It's been great being involved.

1125
00:55:10,080 --> 00:55:12,160
I love that we were your first
as well.

1126
00:55:12,160 --> 00:55:15,480
We had lots of firsts with
people this past conference.

1127
00:55:15,480 --> 00:55:18,000
It's very cool.
Thank you for being here, Ralph.

1128
00:55:18,000 --> 00:55:20,440
Thank you for all you've done
already for this community.

1129
00:55:20,440 --> 00:55:23,960
Looking forward to growing with
you moving forward.

1130
00:55:24,080 --> 00:55:27,200
And we're back tomorrow covering
podcasting news.

1131
00:55:27,200 --> 00:55:29,720
And as I said, one way or
another, we're going to have a

1132
00:55:29,720 --> 00:55:31,880
very big announcement from
Riverside.

1133
00:55:31,880 --> 00:55:35,400
Hopefully Kendall, their
community manager is going to be

1134
00:55:35,400 --> 00:55:38,440
joining us in the morning to
give us the news herself.

1135
00:55:38,640 --> 00:55:43,200
If not, I think I will be
cleared to share the news with

1136
00:55:43,200 --> 00:55:45,840
you.
So join us tomorrow for that and

1137
00:55:45,840 --> 00:55:49,920
a whole lot more of podcasting
news that affects you as a

1138
00:55:49,920 --> 00:55:53,520
content creator.
So until tomorrow, make it a

1139
00:55:53,520 --> 00:55:55,400
great day everybody take care.