In this edition of The Loaf we talk about:
And a quick friendly reminder from Matt D'avella on creation:
Business: The Racecar Growth Framework [Thread]
Growing a business is challenging. Trying to grow a business when your efforts are split between the creative work and the business work is even harder. Your time needs to be spent wisely and effectively.
This quick thread from Blake Emal highlights 4 key components of a small business growth strategy and walks through examples of how to use them - summarized from this blog post by Lenny Rachitsky and Dan Hockenmaier.
Money: How Much Does a Financial Planner Cost? [Blog]
If you've never worked with a financial planner or a financial advisor, I don't blame you. The industry is known for being sleazy and not looking out for people's best interests.
However, deciding to work with a financial planner can be one of the best investments you make in yourself and in your business.
Why?
Because good financial planners can take the stress out of managing your money alone and can help plan around all aspects of your financial life including:
• Tax planning & business planning
• Investment management
• Insurance planning
• Life planning & goal-setting
• Cash flow planning
• Debt management and more
If you do freelance work, you know how valuable specialized services are.
Now think about how valuable it could be to work with a planner who specialized in small business/creator finances.
Strategy: Why Mr. Beast Should Sell His Channel [Video]
We know YouTubers can make a lot of money, but can YouTube channels be considered an asset? Through fractional ownership, fans and supporters could in theory own a portion of Mr. Beast's channel, which could give them access to revenue generated from the channel. Since he pulled in $54 million from YouTube last year, that ownership could be significant.
This is one of my favorite videos from Colin & Samir as they dive further into the topic and explore the different possibilities of fractional ownership.
Found via The Publish Press - Luke Korns started creating YouTube videos as a kid and by the age of 17, he received his first brand deal for $1,000.
He then moved to LA when he was 19 and at this point, he was getting multiple 5-figure deals each year. Being young, he lived up the LA life - got a $6,000/month apartment, new car, and didn't think twice about them.
He was making $100k+/year but found himself unfulfilled with the content he was creating.
He wanted to create travel videos and at the time of this decision, coronavirus hit... so he took a break from YouTube in 2020.
During this time of what he calls "youtube channel suicide", he was still paying LA rent, making car payments, and living the typical influencer life.
He'd become used to spending money without thinking twice about the impact so when he started losing income from not posting on YouTube, his personal finances took a major hit.
His vulnerability in the video he published in December on the topic does it a lot more justice than I can, so you can watch it here. But he was down to his last dollars and he's now traveling the world on a budget, finding the cheapest flights and hostels, making food at home when possible, and creating YouTube videos again.
But it hasn't come without a significant change in how he's managing his money and with the income he'd earned prior, if managed correctly, could've set him up for a very successful financial future.
Since this could happen to anyone, these are a few strategies you can use to remove the stress around money and avoid getting in a tough spot financially:
Pay yourself first - One of the best ways to start working towards financial security is paying yourself first. Every time you receive a payment, put a portion of it to the side for savings. It could be 5% or 20% depending on what your regular spending and goals are - but this guarantees that some money is being saved, and then you can freely spend what's left over.
You should already be doing this for the IRS with taxes, do it for yourself too.
Also read: How to Put Your Savings on Autopilot
Invest, often - After saving money, the next best thing to do is invest. This allows your money to grow over time so when the time comes and you'd like to take a step back from the business life, you have money to travel and continue living out your whatever your dream life looks like. There are many different accounts you can make investments in and it can be confusing, so we wrote a guide on the 3 best retirement accounts for creators.
Focus on sustainability - He mentioned in the video that he took a break from YouTube for a year and it stunted his channel's performance, which then impacted his finances. By focusing on building a sustainable business, you can take time off and not suffer financially. This may be diversifying your income streams or aiming to find a cadence that lets you create in perpetuity.
Also read: How to Build a Sustainable Creator Business
Make a plan - Creating a financial plan probably sounds like one of the most boring things in the world, and it is. However, laying out the numbers and getting a clear understanding of where you are, where you want to be, and how you plan to get there is the biggest weight off of your shoulders.
📈 The most important content lesson, learned from Seinfeld
👀 How this creator got 319,000 likes and 15,000 followers from a single tweet
🔥 The twitter hack you didn't know you needed (via Geekout)
🎨 8 things I've learned about creativity by The Oatmeal (via StoryThings)
🚀 30% of YouTube viewers quit watching in the first 30 seconds, these are 7 ideas for a great intro
🎥 TikTok star Khaby Lame signs deal with Hugo Boss alongside Kendall Jenner, Hailey Bieber, and Future
Tool of the Week: Truebill (free - $10) - One of the best personal finance apps in existence in my opinion, Truebill is what every budgeting app wishes it was. It has a clean UI, lets you know what recurring expenses are upcoming, you can cancel subscriptions, easily view spending reports, and much more. They offer "pay what you want" pricing and I couldn't recommend this tool enough to anyone who wants to gain clarity in their financial life.
Freelance Finds: This 1099 Tax Estimator from Bonsai helps you get an understanding of how much you'll owe (or may not owe 👀) via Ventursom
Keep creating,
Treyton DeVore
