00:01 - Intro (Announcement) It's time to take your business to the next level, the boss level. These are the premier business owner strategies and successes being utilized by the industry's top talent today. Rock your business like a boss a VO Boss. Now let's welcome your host, Anne Ganguzza.
00:20 - Anne (Host) Hey everyone, welcome to the VO Boss podcast and the Boss Superpower
00:01 - Intro (Announcement) It's time to take your business to the next level, the boss level. These are the premier business owner strategies and successes being utilized by the industry's top talent today. Rock your business like a boss a VO Boss. Now let's welcome your host, anne Gangusa.
00:20 - Anne (Host) Hey everyone, welcome to the VO Boss podcast and the Boss Superpower series. I'm here with my amazing boss co-host, la La Peters. Hey La, hey Annie, welcome back, I'm excited. Yay, oh La, let's talk this week about money, money, money, money, money money. How much does voiceover cost? Oh, you mean, I get that question. How much is it going to cost me? How much do I have to invest? How much does it cost? I think we should have a discussion on the financial side of things, because that's something that most people don't want to think about it. They don't want to talk about it A lot of times. They don't want to spend it or invest it. Yes, yes, yes.
01:09 - Lau (Co-host) I like to liken it to any other profession out there, and preferably the most expensive professions to get into. For instance, if I want to be a financial advisor and I'm going to go through college and then graduate school, and then I'm going to invest my money, my tuition, in my education, and then I'm going to invest my money to purchase my tools, then I'm going to invest money to get my either brick and mortar or online presence. Guess what? I've spent a lot of money for that type of profession, and not just a few hundred bucks.
01:44 - Anne (Host) No.
01:45 - Lau (Co-host) Not just a few thousand either.
01:47 - Intro (Announcement) Exactly, exactly.
01:49 - Lau (Co-host) I always set it up that way and just to give perspective to people that this is really a profession, it's a viable career. But also the truth is and I can say this because I live this myself it's a drop in the bucket compared to becoming a doctor or becoming a banker or becoming even SCPA a drop in the bucket.
02:12 So just to kind of keep that in mind up front. It's not an overnight success career. It's not a I don't have to spend any money but I can make a ton of money out of it. It's not that kind of career at all, and it's good we kind of put it out there, annie, and be honest about it, right?
02:30 - Anne (Host) Okay, so what are the popular topics to talk about in voiceover? Well, how can I be a character actor? How can I get my demo and start making money? But, in reality, all the other aspects of being a voice actor and having a business are going to require financial investment one way or the other, and we really shouldn't expect that it's going to be cheap. I don't have a lot of money, but I want to be a voice actor, so can you help me? Well, I think that we really just need to sit back and have a dose of reality where, as you mentioned before, voice acting is a career, and for many other careers, we invest our money. We've invested our money in education, we invest our money in inventory, in storefronts, in product, whatever that is. We invest our money, and the same is true for voiceover. And so if you are coming into voiceover without any money to spend, I think you need to rethink that decision.
03:31 - Lau (Co-host) Yeah, I would say that money should go along, in your mind, with the other types of investment that you're going to be giving to this Family time. What is the time investment? What are the sacrifices that you will be making in order to launch your career and keep it viable and keep it sustainable? I mean, what are you investing into this? How about just energy? How about talking about energy investment? It all goes along with your money. So don't think, oh, if I throw 50,000 at this, I'm going to be rich and famous. No, it's not just about money. It's about my level of commitment and what commitment actually means. Money symbolizes my commitment and it also is a monetary dispensation for someone to give me a service.
04:20 - Anne (Host) I love that you said, oh, if I throw $50,000 into this, because I'll tell you what not one person that has approached me in the last year or so, ever probably that it could cost up to that. But I'll tell you what, over the years, law I mean in reality. I mean there are thousands of dollars that are invested in my career, in my equipment, in my studio, in coaching, just in running the business. I mean absolutely, and I love that you just said that off the top because I think it will hit our bosses like a little bit of reality.
04:49 I mean, if any of you bosses that are out there have been listening to the VEOBOSS podcast, we've been going for seven years and so if you think about what have you really spent in seven years and you looked at your accounting, you looked at your books, I'd like to know what that number is, because 50,000 is actually small compared to what I've invested for equipment and websites and subscriptions and coaching and demos and conferences and all of these things that I have invested my money into.
05:17 That is really nothing. And so I really want you to kind of take a hard look at your numbers and I know a lot of people don't like to do that because it's scary. It brings, I think, a reality to people's lives. That voiceover isn't just this oh, I can do it from home and it's so simple and I don't have to invest anything. And I love how you also mentioned it really is a time commitment as well. It's a commitment to really make this a serious commitment and a serious career, because if you're not serious about it, well then I don't know how much money will you be making. You know?
05:55 - Lau (Co-host) Yes, and I know for a fact you and I come from the same background, the same training methodology and work ethic and generation that you come into it. Not every happening or event is a monetary compensation, this idea that, oh, if I spend time doing this or that, I'm gonna get paid for it. It's just not always true. There is a building block time and even when you've built your studio or you've built your company over five years or seven years, you're still wanting to get to the next level. Well, how do you get to the next level? Well, you are doing sacrifice all the time. Look at you and I, like you're doing this incredible podcast for seven years. I've been in it with you for a year and a half. Right, and one could say, well, we're not sitting here having dollars flying at our head on a Saturday afternoon for taking two, three hours of our time unpaid relatively unpaid to do this.
06:52 - Anne (Host) then you have to pay an engineer and an editor, whatever, so what's?
06:57 - Lau (Co-host) the return then? Well, the return becomes the belief system that what we're offering is educational value to our people we love and adore and care about our client base, our audience, new people coming in and that of course, to some degree you're going to close a number of new clients that come in that hear your project, but guess what? You may not.
07:20 - Intro (Announcement) And if you may not, if you may not.
07:22 - Lau (Co-host) That's the risk reward that you take in saying I'm going to take every Saturday to record, I'm going to pay that editor, no matter what, I'm going to hire that engineer, no matter what. It's that sense of jumping off the cliff and saying my career is worth doing, that I may not always see a dollar per dollar of time spent and energy spent, so it's not a tit for tat that way. I think too many people are looking at it in that way, like, well, what am I going to get paid for? Every single moment I work and think about this, I said, well, nothing. You're going to get paid in education, in value, in relationship, whatever. You're not going to always get the dollar bills. Baby, right, just remember that payment is not always about Money. It's about different value of forces in your life that come together that sustain a whole career. We don't want jobs, we want a career. Yeah.
08:20 - Anne (Host) And I think a lot of assumptions come from the fact if this is the first time you are getting into voice, acting and creating a business, it is all about creating a business, which is different than working for people, where you do tasks and then you get paid for that. When you are setting up and creating a business, there are investments that you need to make, and this is a completely different mindset than oh, okay, I did work and I expect money for it. Now you're going to have to put work in. You're going to also invest money. You're going to have to invest money into it. So most people they have a job. They're not investing money in that job, they're just receiving money. But here you have to understand that this is now something that will require an investment of your money and of your time and of your commitment really to make it work, and it's not just a one-time thing. I don't want people to think that as well.
09:11 It's not like oh, I can sink in $10,000 and then I'll have my career. No, that is something that you need to maintain. You need to continually invest and reinvest in that business to have growth, to have any kind of growth, and I think if you sat there with your business and never invested another cent in it, you're probably not going to have a business for very long. Right? I like to think of it as gambling.
09:35 - Lau (Co-host) It is a gamble. It's a gamble we can do the research, we can do our homework, we can make ourselves knowledgeable and we can hone our skills and talent, but it's still a gamble because you're dealing with a lot of variables that are not in your control. So I like to say, all right, if you have a pocket and let's say you're going to stash in, you know you're going to Vegas or something you're going to stash in $1,000 in that pocket on the left-hand side, that $1,000, I'm willing to spend and lose, because I know I'm going to Vegas and I know I'm gambling it and I know that there's a good chance the house will win and I'll lose it. Then in my other pocket I've got like $5,000, I'm not spending that, I'm saving that. I have that as a safety net, I have that as my backup, okay, for my life.
10:22 Let's say that and I'm not going to spend it unless I absolutely am up against a wall and would have to. So, from a gambling perspective, your business is one big gamble. Sure is, you know, sure is, and I'm only using $1,000 as just a number. It could be $100,000, but I'm not using $1,000 as a number. I know I'm spending that, will I get it back into my right pocket? Sure, that's the question, right? That's the gamble, right.
10:49 - Anne (Host) That's the gamble. That's the gamble, that's the gamble.
10:52 And that's where I think the investment in commitment right, commitment to making that business a success right Really comes into play as well, because it's not just a one-shot deal Let me just do this because I can do this from home. No, you're going to make an investment and, of course, we hope that, as bosses, you enjoy that investment or you're enjoying that creation of a business and also enjoying the performance aspect of your voice, acting career. So it's not just performance, it is business, probably more so almost, than performance. However, performance affects your product, right. So it then becomes a business because people are buying your product. Well then, you need to invest in your product. Your product would be your voice, that would be your coaching, that'll be your demos, that'll be your marketing, that'll be your website, anything that's going to get your product out in front of prospective clients. And again, that becomes investment and money that needs to be spent by you.
11:48 I'm not quite sure where it's coming from If it doesn't come. Oh, maybe it could come from other people. If you're lucky enough to have somebody invest in your business, that is wonderful, but it's still going to take some cold, hard cash and a lot of you that are just getting into this need to take a look at your investments and need to start tracking your finances. And again, I've always said that the best thing that I've always ever done for my business was to hire an accountant to help me do that on a day to day basis. So every bit of money that goes out is accounted for and all the money that comes in is accounted for, so I can do a P&L statement and then find out how is my business doing. Do I need to cut back spending on certain things? Do I need to? Maybe I don't need that new mic, even though I might want it.
12:34 You don't need that other color pair of headphones, although that's an investment.
12:38 - Lau (Co-host) I did you one better, annie, I actually married one.
12:44 - Anne (Host) There you go, but you got to have a great accountant.
12:46 - Lau (Co-host) An in-house accountant on your side. You have to have it, it's so important to say have a great attorney, have a great doctor have a great accountant.
12:55 It's really important, I would say. Wouldn't you say it's fair to to say that every year of your business, for however long you own your business, you are going to have fixed costs always and you are going to have variable costs always. And to just kind of understand the difference between the two, so that I hear a lot of talent get very upset about the fact that their fixed costs are not doable for them. And I said, well, I can't even talk about the variable cost to you yet, because you haven't understood and been honest about your mortgage or your rent or your food or your car, whatever that fixed every month cost is for you. That's unavoidable. You must deal with that.
13:40 Then you can deal with the microphones and the demos and all of that stuff and you're going to have a very peaceful state of mind to know the most important things are taken care of. Like you and I have a team, so we hire people all the time, so we have to be able to pay those people right, absolutely. So if we can't pay those people, then we can't talk about the upgrade of the microphone or taking a trip around the world or whatever, because we've got a certain fixed cost that we are responsible for and that's really the ownership of a business is really understanding what your financial, fiscal, health and responsibilities are of your business on a daily, weekly, monthly, yearly basis really are?
14:24 - Anne (Host) Absolutely, absolutely. It really comes down to knowing those numbers and then understanding are you able to handle those numbers? And if you cannot handle those numbers with the voice of a career, yet there's nothing wrong. We did a whole episode on side hustles. There is nothing wrong with a side hustle, or even a full-time job, until you can get yourself to the point where you are able to support those fixed costs on a voiceover income and that is getting increasingly difficult to do in these times, I'm going to say but not impossible, not impossible. Number one I'm encouraged by the strike being over and encouraged that I feel that there's now life being breathed back into the career and the recognition that we're getting to be compensated fairly for what we do, and so I'm very encouraged by that.
15:13 And I think that for a while there there was some people that were scared in the business that we didn't have the influx of newbies that we typically do for a few months because of it, and I think what's nice about it is that the cream rises to the top right, because it's so important now, more than ever that our product right is something viable and something amazing that people will pay us for, and so you must, for your business, make that investment.
15:40 - Lau (Co-host) Yes, you do. You know, one thing that comes to mind I had conversation with a couple of colleagues of mine recently kind of an argument, a friendly argument, about this and it kind of is all in this mix, annie, of what we're talking about, and that is because there is so much for free now. Everything is so much accessible on the internet for free right now. Sometimes talent can fall into the spiraling rabbit hole, slippery slope of I'm going to spend my whole day going to free webinars, free zooms, free this, free funnels, free that, free this, free that, and not get to my work, not get to actually my business.
16:17 And so I think that when it comes to how you're spending your money, how you're investing your money, again that goes directly with your time. Your time is valuable, time is money, time is money. So be very careful not to over satiate yourself with oh, I'll just sit and be a professional student and get knowledge all day long and do the, but not really get to the hard, dirty part of running the business. Right, I see that is a problem for a lot of people. They spend every day in accountability groups. They spend every day in webinars.
16:51 They spend every day because it's so easy, it's so accessible and it's kind of fun too. You know you're learning and it's fun, but then their day is blown. Their day is blown and they never really get to the actual and they don't get to that marketing.
17:05 - Anne (Host) I'm going to say that's the biggest thing. People like they don't get to the direct marketing.
17:09 They don't get to their marketing, and marketing encompasses so much. Marketing is so darn important. In law it's everything, and I wish that it really is everything. I wish that everybody could really just appreciate that from the get-go. I mean, I would say that probably the majority of people that come into this industry and study for a little bit, get their demo and then don't succeed are because they have not been effective marketers, and that is really Like nobody can hire you if they don't know about you.
17:40 And so that marketing part which nobody likes. It's always the classes that nobody will take at a conference. They're like the last ones that are filled, because they're just not fun, right? I'd much rather take an animation class or one of those classes rather than figure out how can I run my business better. And it really is so, so important that you understand the marketing of your business, because you've got to be able to sell, you do. In order to be able to recoup and get a return on investment right you need to sell.
18:16 - Lau (Co-host) And let's be honest, especially as we get older. I can only speak for myself, but I know my colleagues feel the same way. I love sitting in on classes.
18:25 When I go to a conference and I'm a speaker all that other time I'm not speaking. I'm sitting in on classes and workshops and meeting and learning and growing and da-da-da, but it becomes addictive. You have to be careful. We are not a professional student. We are a professional voiceover, talent or voice over business owner, producer what have you? We can be studious, we can be educated and we can be in professional development, but we're not a professional full-time student.
18:54 - Anne (Host) Exactly. But again, I also don't want you guys out there to think that it's not important to be a student either.
19:00 No, we're always a student or a continual, always learning student just not one that spends their entire day sitting in on free webinars or I would say, investment in your demos, investment in your coaching because, again, something that's going to enhance your product okay is something that is always worthwhile. It's just that when you kind of are like, oh no, I'll just sit in on this and you're not really you're doing it more for the social aspect rather than the enhancement of your product, I would say, be careful of that.
19:32 - Lau (Co-host) And that gossipy water cooler let me be in the in-clicky group is listen, you're too old for that. I don't care if you're 25 or 55, you got to get past that. You want to have friends and colleagues? Of course you do, but it's really got to be. You are a solopreneur. Until you build your team, you're a solopreneur. The buck stops there. You know what I'm saying. You said it earlier. You said about tracking have a tracking system where everything you do, every webinar you take, every group you join, every membership what is the return on that?
20:04 - Anne (Host) at the end of a month or six months, what is?
20:07 - Lau (Co-host) the return. Are you getting return? I don't necessarily just mean a financial return. Are you getting an actual return of relationships that have been built, of connections that have been built, of producers that now know you, or is it just for fun, is it just for social value? Is it for oh, I'm learning some new tips and tricks, which I love, but is it applicable to what I'm doing? Is the question that's.
20:32 - Anne (Host) The fine line again. You and I both run online groups and we know the value and the power of having a group. There's a power in socializing with people with like minds, because we are solopreneurs and we need that. But also it's kind of like if you were in an office and you were socializing in your office the whole day, your boss probably wouldn't be very happy with you.
20:52 - Lau (Co-host) That's a great analogy.
20:55 - Anne (Host) There's no productive work being done, so just keep that in mind. I mean, I think every group has value. Accountability has value, watercooler has value. My VOPEAPs, my VIPs in your group as well the Inner Circle they all have their value, but just not necessarily 24-7, where you're now neglecting the fact that you probably need to market your business and get some jobs that will help you to get a return on your investment.
21:21 - Lau (Co-host) Yes, and understand your budget at the beginning of your quarter. Set up your budget, however, is comfortable for you, whether it's quarterly, annually, whatever it is. Set it up and have some advisory on that, based on what your fixed costs are, so that you don't feel like you're scrounging for under-the-seat cushions for the coins by the end of the month. You want to come from a place of abundance and wealth and fullness.
21:46 You don't want to come from a place of I'm scratching out of desperation and I'm on my last dollar. It's very hard to have a healthy, successful business coming from a mindset like that.
21:58 - Anne (Host) Oh gosh, yes, and I will say that my business didn't really fully take off I've said this before until I really started to feel comfortable having that little nest egg, that kind of savings account.
22:09 So when I was able to, I mean, I put away money every single month, right, and so it's just a consistent thing, so that I have a business savings account, and when that business savings account has a certain amount of money in it, I feel confident that I can take risks, that I can invest in coaching, I can spend money on things that will help me to get my business known better, and also I can take some chances and try new technologies.
22:33 I want to emphasize that it's important for bosses to evolve with the times and evolve with the technologies to help run their businesses faster and more efficient, because if you're just doing things still in an Excel spreadsheet or it really depends on what makes you the most efficient. But there's lots of wonderful technologies out there that can help you to run your business and market your business more effectively. And take some time, maybe learn those, maybe not. Let's not sit in the water cooler right now, but let's learn how to utilize new technologies that will help me automate my billing right, or how do I learn QuickBooks, or how do I learn a new CRM, that kind of a thing. So think of those things that will also help you to be more efficient in running your business as well as saving money, so that you're not having to spend maybe hiring somebody to do that. Maybe you can hire and, if you are hiring out, make those people more efficient.
23:28 - Lau (Co-host) Yes, and don't be cheap. Be frugal and economical, but don't be cheap. You know, when you have your circle considering you and thinking about you, and thinking about you as a person and also you as a brand, you want them to feel this richness that there's a giving to what you do, there isn't a holding back or a holding on to or being a miser. You have to be very careful of that, because if we always say this, annie, you and I say this the more you give, the more potential you have of getting back in return. Yeah, absolutely. So just give wisely, give wisely, invest wisely. There you go.
24:03 - Anne (Host) Wow, love it. All right, guys. Well, bosses, money. Take a cold hard, look at it and don't be afraid. Don't be afraid of it. Don't be afraid to invest and strategize. I think the more that you can educate yourself, the easier it is to make those investments and the smarter and more efficient your business will be. So, love that, bosses. Take a moment and imagine a world full of passionate. Because we are passionate, right, empowered, diverse individuals giving collectively, as Law was just talking about, and intentionally to create the world that they want to see. You can make a difference. Visit 100voiceswhocareorg to learn more. Big shout out to IPDTL, our sponsor. We love IPDTL. You can learn more at IPDTLcom. Bosses, have an amazing week. We love you. We'll see you next week. Bye, bye, have a good break.
24:58 - Intro (Announcement) Join us next week for another edition of VO Boss with your host, ann Gangusa, and take your business to the next level. Sign up for our mailing list at vobosscom and receive exclusive content, industry revolutionizing tips and strategies and new ways to rock your business like a boss. Redistribution with permission. Coast to coast connectivity via IPDTL.
25:26 - Lau (Co-host) How about this? You really, you really moved, that was interesting. I just need time to process that.
a
series. I'm here with my amazing boss co-host, Lau Laupides. Hey Lau, hey Annie, welcome back, I'm excited. Yay, oh Lau, let's talk this week about money, money, money, money, money money. How much does voiceover cost? Oh, you mean, I get that question. How much is it going to cost me? How much do I have to invest? How much does it cost? I think we should have a discussion on the financial side of things, because that's something that most people don't want to think about it. They don't want to talk about it A lot of times. They don't want to spend it or invest it. Yes, yes, yes.
01:09 - Lau (Co-host) I like to liken it to any other profession out there, and preferably the most expensive professions to get into. For instance, if I want to be a financial advisor and I'm going to go through college and then graduate school, and then I'm going to invest my money, my tuition, in my education, and then I'm going to invest my money to purchase my tools, then I'm going to invest money to get my either brick and mortar or online presence. Guess what? I've spent a lot of money for that type of profession, and not just a few hundred bucks.
01:44 - Anne (Host) No.
01:45 - Lau (Co-host) Not just a few thousand either.
01:47 - Intro (Announcement) Exactly, exactly.
01:49 - Lau (Co-host) I always set it up that way and just to give perspective to people that this is really a profession, it's a viable career. But also the truth is and I can say this because I live this myself it's a drop in the bucket compared to becoming a doctor or becoming a banker or becoming even SCPA a drop in the bucket.
02:12 So just to kind of keep that in mind up front. It's not an overnight success career. It's not a I don't have to spend any money but I can make a ton of money out of it. It's not that kind of career at all, and it's good we kind of put it out there, annie, and be honest about it, right?
02:30 - Anne (Host) Okay, so what are the popuLaur topics to talk about in voiceover? Well, how can I be a character actor? How can I get my demo and start making money? But, in reality, all the other aspects of being a voice actor and having a business are going to require financial investment one way or the other, and we really shouldn't expect that it's going to be cheap. I don't have a lot of money, but I want to be a voice actor, so can you help me? Well, I think that we really just need to sit back and have a dose of reality where, as you mentioned before, voice acting is a career, and for many other careers, we invest our money. We've invested our money in education, we invest our money in inventory, in storefronts, in product, whatever that is. We invest our money, and the same is true for voiceover. And so if you are coming into voiceover without any money to spend, I think you need to rethink that decision.
03:31 - Lau (Co-host) Yeah, I would say that money should go along, in your mind, with the other types of investment that you're going to be giving to this Family time. What is the time investment? What are the sacrifices that you will be making in order to Launch your career and keep it viable and keep it sustainable? I mean, what are you investing into this? How about just energy? How about talking about energy investment? It all goes along with your money. So don't think, oh, if I throw 50,000 at this, I'm going to be rich and famous. No, it's not just about money. It's about my level of commitment and what commitment actually means. Money symbolizes my commitment and it also is a monetary dispensation for someone to give me a service.
04:20 - Anne (Host) I love that you said, oh, if I throw $50,000 into this, because I'll tell you what not one person that has approached me in the Laust year or so, ever probably that it could cost up to that. But I'll tell you what, over the years, Lauw I mean in reality. I mean there are thousands of dolLaurs that are invested in my career, in my equipment, in my studio, in coaching, just in running the business. I mean absolutely, and I love that you just said that off the top because I think it will hit our bosses like a little bit of reality.
04:49 I mean, if any of you bosses that are out there have been listening to the VEOBOSS podcast, we've been going for seven years and so if you think about what have you really spent in seven years and you looked at your accounting, you looked at your books, I'd like to know what that number is, because 50,000 is actually small compared to what I've invested for equipment and websites and subscriptions and coaching and demos and conferences and all of these things that I have invested my money into.
05:17 That is really nothing. And so I really want you to kind of take a hard look at your numbers and I know a lot of people don't like to do that because it's scary. It brings, I think, a reality to people's lives. That voiceover isn't just this oh, I can do it from home and it's so simple and I don't have to invest anything. And I love how you also mentioned it really is a time commitment as well. It's a commitment to really make this a serious commitment and a serious career, because if you're not serious about it, well then I don't know how much money will you be making. You know?
05:55 - Lau (Co-host) Yes, and I know for a fact you and I come from the same background, the same training methodology and work ethic and generation that you come into it. Not every happening or event is a monetary compensation, this idea that, oh, if I spend time doing this or that, I'm gonna get paid for it. It's just not always true. There is a building block time and even when you've built your studio or you've built your company over five years or seven years, you're still wanting to get to the next level. Well, how do you get to the next level? Well, you are doing sacrifice all the time. Look at you and I, like you're doing this incredible podcast for seven years. I've been in it with you for a year and a half. Right, and one could say, well, we're not sitting here having dolLaurs flying at our head on a Saturday afternoon for taking two, three hours of our time unpaid reLautively unpaid to do this.
06:52 - Anne (Host) then you have to pay an engineer and an editor, whatever, so what's?
06:57 - Lau (Co-host) the return then? Well, the return becomes the belief system that what we're offering is educational value to our people we love and adore and care about our client base, our audience, new people coming in and that of course, to some degree you're going to close a number of new clients that come in that hear your project, but guess what? You may not.
07:20 - Intro (Announcement) And if you may not, if you may not.
07:22 - Lau (Co-host) That's the risk reward that you take in saying I'm going to take every Saturday to record, I'm going to pay that editor, no matter what, I'm going to hire that engineer, no matter what. It's that sense of jumping off the cliff and saying my career is worth doing, that I may not always see a dolLaur per dolLaur of time spent and energy spent, so it's not a tit for tat that way. I think too many people are looking at it in that way, like, well, what am I going to get paid for? Every single moment I work and think about this, I said, well, nothing. You're going to get paid in education, in value, in reLautionship, whatever. You're not going to always get the dolLaur bills. Baby, right, just remember that payment is not always about Money. It's about different value of forces in your life that come together that sustain a whole career. We don't want jobs, we want a career. Yeah.
08:20 - Anne (Host) And I think a lot of assumptions come from the fact if this is the first time you are getting into voice, acting and creating a business, it is all about creating a business, which is different than working for people, where you do tasks and then you get paid for that. When you are setting up and creating a business, there are investments that you need to make, and this is a completely different mindset than oh, okay, I did work and I expect money for it. Now you're going to have to put work in. You're going to also invest money. You're going to have to invest money into it. So most people they have a job. They're not investing money in that job, they're just receiving money. But here you have to understand that this is now something that will require an investment of your money and of your time and of your commitment really to make it work, and it's not just a one-time thing. I don't want people to think that as well.
09:11 It's not like oh, I can sink in $10,000 and then I'll have my career. No, that is something that you need to maintain. You need to continually invest and reinvest in that business to have growth, to have any kind of growth, and I think if you sat there with your business and never invested another cent in it, you're probably not going to have a business for very long. Right? I like to think of it as gambling.
09:35 - Lau (Co-host) It is a gamble. It's a gamble we can do the research, we can do our homework, we can make ourselves knowledgeable and we can hone our skills and talent, but it's still a gamble because you're dealing with a lot of variables that are not in your control. So I like to say, all right, if you have a pocket and let's say you're going to stash in, you know you're going to Vegas or something you're going to stash in $1,000 in that pocket on the left-hand side, that $1,000, I'm willing to spend and lose, because I know I'm going to Vegas and I know I'm gambling it and I know that there's a good chance the house will win and I'll lose it. Then in my other pocket I've got like $5,000, I'm not spending that, I'm saving that. I have that as a safety net, I have that as my backup, okay, for my life.
10:22 Let's say that and I'm not going to spend it unless I absolutely am up against a wall and would have to. So, from a gambling perspective, your business is one big gamble. Sure is, you know, sure is, and I'm only using $1,000 as just a number. It could be $100,000, but I'm not using $1,000 as a number. I know I'm spending that, will I get it back into my right pocket? Sure, that's the question, right? That's the gamble, right.
10:49 - Anne (Host) That's the gamble. That's the gamble, that's the gamble.
10:52 And that's where I think the investment in commitment right, commitment to making that business a success right Really comes into pLauy as well, because it's not just a one-shot deal Let me just do this because I can do this from home. No, you're going to make an investment and, of course, we hope that, as bosses, you enjoy that investment or you're enjoying that creation of a business and also enjoying the performance aspect of your voice, acting career. So it's not just performance, it is business, probably more so almost, than performance. However, performance affects your product, right. So it then becomes a business because people are buying your product. Well then, you need to invest in your product. Your product would be your voice, that would be your coaching, that'll be your demos, that'll be your marketing, that'll be your website, anything that's going to get your product out in front of prospective clients. And again, that becomes investment and money that needs to be spent by you.
11:48 I'm not quite sure where it's coming from If it doesn't come. Oh, maybe it could come from other people. If you're lucky enough to have somebody invest in your business, that is wonderful, but it's still going to take some cold, hard cash and a lot of you that are just getting into this need to take a look at your investments and need to start tracking your finances. And again, I've always said that the best thing that I've always ever done for my business was to hire an accountant to help me do that on a day to day basis. So every bit of money that goes out is accounted for and all the money that comes in is accounted for, so I can do a P&L statement and then find out how is my business doing. Do I need to cut back spending on certain things? Do I need to? Maybe I don't need that new mic, even though I might want it.
12:34 You don't need that other color pair of headphones, although that's an investment.
12:38 - Lau (Co-host) I did you one better, annie, I actually married one.
12:44 - Anne (Host) There you go, but you got to have a great accountant.
12:46 - Lau (Co-host) An in-house accountant on your side. You have to have it, it's so important to say have a great attorney, have a great doctor have a great accountant.
12:55 It's really important, I would say. Wouldn't you say it's fair to to say that every year of your business, for however long you own your business, you are going to have fixed costs always and you are going to have variable costs always. And to just kind of understand the difference between the two, so that I hear a lot of talent get very upset about the fact that their fixed costs are not doable for them. And I said, well, I can't even talk about the variable cost to you yet, because you haven't understood and been honest about your mortgage or your rent or your food or your car, whatever that fixed every month cost is for you. That's unavoidable. You must deal with that.
13:40 Then you can deal with the microphones and the demos and all of that stuff and you're going to have a very peaceful state of mind to know the most important things are taken care of. Like you and I have a team, so we hire people all the time, so we have to be able to pay those people right, absolutely. So if we can't pay those people, then we can't talk about the upgrade of the microphone or taking a trip around the world or whatever, because we've got a certain fixed cost that we are responsible for and that's really the ownership of a business is really understanding what your financial, fiscal, health and responsibilities are of your business on a daily, weekly, monthly, yearly basis really are?
14:24 - Anne (Host) Absolutely, absolutely. It really comes down to knowing those numbers and then understanding are you able to handle those numbers? And if you cannot handle those numbers with the voice of a career, yet there's nothing wrong. We did a whole episode on side hustles. There is nothing wrong with a side hustle, or even a full-time job, until you can get yourself to the point where you are able to support those fixed costs on a voiceover income and that is getting increasingly difficult to do in these times, I'm going to say but not impossible, not impossible. Number one I'm encouraged by the strike being over and encouraged that I feel that there's now life being breathed back into the career and the recognition that we're getting to be compensated fairly for what we do, and so I'm very encouraged by that.
15:13 And I think that for a while there there was some people that were scared in the business that we didn't have the influx of newbies that we typically do for a few months because of it, and I think what's nice about it is that the cream rises to the top right, because it's so important now, more than ever that our product right is something viable and something amazing that people will pay us for, and so you must, for your business, make that investment.
15:40 - Lau (Co-host) Yes, you do. You know, one thing that comes to mind I had conversation with a couple of colleagues of mine recently kind of an argument, a friendly argument, about this and it kind of is all in this mix, annie, of what we're talking about, and that is because there is so much for free now. Everything is so much accessible on the internet for free right now. Sometimes talent can fall into the spiraling rabbit hole, slippery slope of I'm going to spend my whole day going to free webinars, free zooms, free this, free funnels, free that, free this, free that, and not get to my work, not get to actually my business.
16:17 And so I think that when it comes to how you're spending your money, how you're investing your money, again that goes directly with your time. Your time is valuable, time is money, time is money. So be very careful not to over satiate yourself with oh, I'll just sit and be a professional student and get knowledge all day long and do the, but not really get to the hard, dirty part of running the business. Right, I see that is a problem for a lot of people. They spend every day in accountability groups. They spend every day in webinars.
16:51 They spend every day because it's so easy, it's so accessible and it's kind of fun too. You know you're learning and it's fun, but then their day is blown. Their day is blown and they never really get to the actual and they don't get to that marketing.
17:05 - Anne (Host) I'm going to say that's the biggest thing. People like they don't get to the direct marketing.
17:09 They don't get to their marketing, and marketing encompasses so much. Marketing is so darn important. In Lauw it's everything, and I wish that it really is everything. I wish that everybody could really just appreciate that from the get-go. I mean, I would say that probably the majority of people that come into this industry and study for a little bit, get their demo and then don't succeed are because they have not been effective marketers, and that is really Like nobody can hire you if they don't know about you.
17:40 And so that marketing part which nobody likes. It's always the cLausses that nobody will take at a conference. They're like the Laust ones that are filled, because they're just not fun, right? I'd much rather take an animation cLauss or one of those cLausses rather than figure out how can I run my business better. And it really is so, so important that you understand the marketing of your business, because you've got to be able to sell, you do. In order to be able to recoup and get a return on investment right you need to sell.
18:16 - Lau (Co-host) And let's be honest, especially as we get older. I can only speak for myself, but I know my colleagues feel the same way. I love sitting in on cLausses.
18:25 When I go to a conference and I'm a speaker all that other time I'm not speaking. I'm sitting in on cLausses and workshops and meeting and learning and growing and da-da-da, but it becomes addictive. You have to be careful. We are not a professional student. We are a professional voiceover, talent or voice over business owner, producer what have you? We can be studious, we can be educated and we can be in professional development, but we're not a professional full-time student.
18:54 - Anne (Host) Exactly. But again, I also don't want you guys out there to think that it's not important to be a student either.
19:00 No, we're always a student or a continual, always learning student just not one that spends their entire day sitting in on free webinars or I would say, investment in your demos, investment in your coaching because, again, something that's going to enhance your product okay is something that is always worthwhile. It's just that when you kind of are like, oh no, I'll just sit in on this and you're not really you're doing it more for the social aspect rather than the enhancement of your product, I would say, be careful of that.
19:32 - Lau (Co-host) And that gossipy water cooler let me be in the in-clicky group is listen, you're too old for that. I don't care if you're 25 or 55, you got to get past that. You want to have friends and colleagues? Of course you do, but it's really got to be. You are a solopreneur. Until you build your team, you're a solopreneur. The buck stops there. You know what I'm saying. You said it earlier. You said about tracking have a tracking system where everything you do, every webinar you take, every group you join, every membership what is the return on that?
20:04 - Anne (Host) at the end of a month or six months, what is?
20:07 - Lau (Co-host) the return. Are you getting return? I don't necessarily just mean a financial return. Are you getting an actual return of reLautionships that have been built, of connections that have been built, of producers that now know you, or is it just for fun, is it just for social value? Is it for oh, I'm learning some new tips and tricks, which I love, but is it applicable to what I'm doing? Is the question that's.
20:32 - Anne (Host) The fine line again. You and I both run online groups and we know the value and the power of having a group. There's a power in socializing with people with like minds, because we are solopreneurs and we need that. But also it's kind of like if you were in an office and you were socializing in your office the whole day, your boss probably wouldn't be very happy with you.
20:52 - Lau (Co-host) That's a great analogy.
20:55 - Anne (Host) There's no productive work being done, so just keep that in mind. I mean, I think every group has value. Accountability has value, watercooler has value. My VOPEAPs, my VIPs in your group as well the Inner Circle they all have their value, but just not necessarily 24-7, where you're now neglecting the fact that you probably need to market your business and get some jobs that will help you to get a return on your investment.
21:21 - Lau (Co-host) Yes, and understand your budget at the beginning of your quarter. Set up your budget, however, is comfortable for you, whether it's quarterly, annually, whatever it is. Set it up and have some advisory on that, based on what your fixed costs are, so that you don't feel like you're scrounging for under-the-seat cushions for the coins by the end of the month. You want to come from a pLauce of abundance and wealth and fullness.
21:46 You don't want to come from a pLauce of I'm scratching out of desperation and I'm on my Laust dolLaur. It's very hard to have a healthy, successful business coming from a mindset like that.
21:58 - Anne (Host) Oh gosh, yes, and I will say that my business didn't really fully take off I've said this before until I really started to feel comfortable having that little nest egg, that kind of savings account.
22:09 So when I was able to, I mean, I put away money every single month, right, and so it's just a consistent thing, so that I have a business savings account, and when that business savings account has a certain amount of money in it, I feel confident that I can take risks, that I can invest in coaching, I can spend money on things that will help me to get my business known better, and also I can take some chances and try new technologies.
22:33 I want to emphasize that it's important for bosses to evolve with the times and evolve with the technologies to help run their businesses faster and more efficient, because if you're just doing things still in an Excel spreadsheet or it really depends on what makes you the most efficient. But there's lots of wonderful technologies out there that can help you to run your business and market your business more effectively. And take some time, maybe learn those, maybe not. Let's not sit in the water cooler right now, but let's learn how to utilize new technologies that will help me automate my billing right, or how do I learn QuickBooks, or how do I learn a new CRM, that kind of a thing. So think of those things that will also help you to be more efficient in running your business as well as saving money, so that you're not having to spend maybe hiring somebody to do that. Maybe you can hire and, if you are hiring out, make those people more efficient.
23:28 - Lau (Co-host) Yes, and don't be cheap. Be frugal and economical, but don't be cheap. You know, when you have your circle considering you and thinking about you, and thinking about you as a person and also you as a brand, you want them to feel this richness that there's a giving to what you do, there isn't a holding back or a holding on to or being a miser. You have to be very careful of that, because if we always say this, annie, you and I say this the more you give, the more potential you have of getting back in return. Yeah, absolutely. So just give wisely, give wisely, invest wisely. There you go.
24:03 - Anne (Host) Wow, love it. All right, guys. Well, bosses, money. Take a cold hard, look at it and don't be afraid. Don't be afraid of it. Don't be afraid to invest and strategize. I think the more that you can educate yourself, the easier it is to make those investments and the smarter and more efficient your business will be. So, love that, bosses. Take a moment and imagine a world full of passionate. Because we are passionate, right, empowered, diverse individuals giving collectively, as Lauw was just talking about, and intentionally to create the world that they want to see. You can make a difference. Visit 100voiceswhocareorg to learn more. Big shout out to IPDTL, our sponsor. We love IPDTL. You can learn more at IPDTLcom. Bosses, have an amazing week. We love you. We'll see you next week. Bye, bye, have a good break.
24:58 - Intro (Announcement) Join us next week for another edition of VO Boss with your host, ann Gangusa, and take your business to the next level. Sign up for our mailing list at vobosscom and receive exclusive content, industry revolutionizing tips and strategies and new ways to rock your business like a boss. Redistribution with permission. Coast to coast connectivity via IPDTL.
25:26 - Lau (Co-host) How about this? You really, you really moved, that was interesting. I just need time to process that.