Welcome to The Loaf - making money & business more approachable for creatives & freelancers
Good morning!
Last week I shared an article about how 1,000 creators would spend $2,000.
I'm curious - would you benefit from a small grant?
Like a no-strings-attached, <$500 gift to work on a creative project, buy equipment, rent studio time, afford a course, learn a skill, whatever it may be related to your creative journey.
If you would find value in something like that, kindly submit this form.
If not you, maybe a friend or family member who's trying to pursue their passions - forward this email along.
I have some ideas and if there's any interest, I'll gladly keep working on them 💰
Creative Business: How Tyler, The Creator Built a Cult-Like Following [article]
After starting his music career in 2007, Tyler's since created a TV show, launched multiple brands, and began hosting Camp Flognaw - a music festival that had 2,000 attendees in its first year.
Now, he has multiple hit albums and his festival brings in 50,000+ fans year after year. His unique approach to building a true following lets him pursue nearly any creative project while having support from his core fans along the way.
Money: I Feel Guilty About Wanting More [article]
A quick article by a fellow creative, Jessica breaks down two tricks to help you build a healthier relationship with money and a growing business:
Topic of the week: Do i have to file taxes if my business didn’t make money?
While this shouldn't be considered official tax advice, here's how I would think about it:
When you're self-employed, your business income or losses are typically calculated & reported on your personal tax return via Schedule C (below).
Once you know your business income, that information is then transferred to your personal tax return (Form 1040).
Now, let's look at two different scenarios:
In general, if there's no activity for the business, you wouldn't have to file anything for it.
If your business had losses or deductible expenses, you're technically not making money, but you'd still want to file to claim the deduction.
As a freelancer or self-employed creative, your business is most likely going to be a sole proprietor or a single-member LLC. These two entities are the most straightforward when it comes to taxation.
If you have a corporation or a partnership, tax filing & reporting gets a little trickier (even if there's no income) and I'm not going to dive into those nuances today because I think most people are either sole proprietors or LLCs.
Even though you may have a good understanding of how taxes work for your situation, I always recommend that you talk with a tax professional and work with them to ensure that everything is being done correctly. Different states can have different reporting requirements and taxes are one of the few things that you don't want to make mistakes with.
In my opinion, it's better to invest in professional help upfront than pay for errors down the road.
💸 Have a question about money?
Questions that are more in-depth/personal may not make the newsletter, but are welcome and actually, encouraged. The goal of this is to answer your most pressing financial questions for free, while sharing some of them publicly to help everyone learn.
❓ How to figure out what to post on social media
📫 8 unique questions to ask yourself if you're writing a newsletter
🎨 Your personal brand is the art you create
💰 The best breakdown of YouTube Shorts' new monetization
🎥 Watch: How Andrew Schulz's video editor got his job (interview)
✍🏼 Freelance Finds: A vocabulary tune-up for freelance writers
Keep creating,
Treyton DeVore
cover image: GQ
