079 - Welcome, welcome! Today I'm kicking off a six-week solo series covering the six pillars of your pet photography business. Whether you're just getting started, or your business was thrown together like a Pinterest-fail DIY shelving unit, this series will help.
This week I'm talking you through the legal and administrative side of things, which admittedly isn't the most exciting part of pet photography. But getting this stuff sorted out means the bedrock of your business will be solid. Don't skip it!!
What To Listen For:
No need to take notes as you listen; keep your hands free for driving or dog-petting, and simply DOWNLOAD THIS FREE legal/admin to-do CHECKLIST.
Resources From This Episode:
JOIN THE PARTY:
079 - Welcome, welcome! Today I'm kicking off a six-week solo series covering the six pillars of your pet photography business. Whether you're just getting started, or your business was thrown together like a Pinterest-fail DIY shelving unit, this series will help.
This week I'm talking you through the legal and administrative side of things, which admittedly isn't the most exciting part of pet photography. But getting this stuff sorted out means the bedrock of your business will be solid. Don't skip it!!
What To Listen For:
No need to take notes as you listen; keep your hands free for driving or dog-petting, and simply DOWNLOAD THIS FREE legal/admin to-do CHECKLIST.
Resources From This Episode:
JOIN THE PARTY:
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Welcome to the hair of the dog podcast.
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I'm Nicole.
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And today we are starting a six week series on the
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pillars of pet photography.
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These are your pillars of business.
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And today we are starting with week.
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Number one,
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Welcome to the hair of the dog podcast.
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If you're a pet photographer,
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ready to make more money and start living a life by
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your design,
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you've come to the right place.
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And now your host,
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pet photographer,
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travel addict,
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chocolate martini connoisseur,
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Nicole Begley.
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Heyeverybody. Nicole Here.
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Welcome back to another hair of the dog podcast.
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I am pretty excited for the series.
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We are going to be diving in for six weeks in
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a row.
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It's just me.
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Sorry. No guests for the next six weeks.
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Don't worry.
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I'll bring them back.
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You won't have to get too tired of my voice,
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but we're going to have six weeks of diving into the
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six pillars of business for the business of pet photography.
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Now it's no secret.
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I absolutely love teaching business stuff.
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It just lights me up.
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I love numbers.
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I know all of you guys,
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all those creatives out there,
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don't worry.
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I'm going to make it easier for you guys.
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Now we're going to be just going down the list of
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all the things you need to make sure you have done
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to get your business started for pillar number one,
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which is the legal and admin side of the business.
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And if you want that checklist,
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cause you're in the car,
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you're walking the dog you're out and about.
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Go ahead and go to hair of the dog academy.com/seven
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nine. And right there,
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you'll be able to download our show notes.
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You can download the checklist here so you don't have to
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be walking around making notes or worse driving and taking notes.
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Please don't do that.
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Just go to hair of the dog academy.com/
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79. You can download a super easy checklist to go over
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all of these pieces.
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All right.
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Are you ready to,
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just to start diving in now before we do,
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I guess I do need to do a little legal disclaimer.
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Since I'm talking about some legal things.
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I am not a lawyer.
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This is not legal advice.
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This is for entertainment purposes only.
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And I just wanted to share with you some of the
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things that you want to look into now for all legal
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and tax related things,
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I, 100% recommend that you hire a professional.
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They are 100% worth their weight in gold because they will
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make sure that you do all of this perfectly illegally.
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But one of the challenges we run into sometimes is we
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don't even know what legal things we need to look into.
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So this episode today,
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I hope will give you the idea of the things that
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you need to at least look into.
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Whether you look into them yourself,
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or if you go off and hire somebody else,
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you at least know what to ask and know what you
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need. So are you ready to dive in?
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These are going to be fairly quick,
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short and sweet episodes,
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but they are going to pack a punch and we're going
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to go over a lot of different content here.
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All right.
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So let's dive in.
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What do we need for our legal and admin part of
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our business?
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This is pillar number one,
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because quite frankly,
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if you don't have this setup,
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you really don't have a business.
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So it's really important to set this up correctly and take
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it from me.
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You don't want to have to change it later on.
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How do I know that it's a pain in the butt
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to change later on?
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Oh, because I've made some of these mistakes.
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One of the mistakes I made when I was getting started
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was that I started my business as a sole proprietorship because
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that was just easier,
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especially in the states.
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You know,
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if you guys,
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we have an international audience,
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so different countries are going to call your business formations,
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different names,
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keep listening.
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I know the business names might not pertain to you,
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but the rest of this still mostly will.
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And it will at least get you going in the right
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direction of what you need to look into in your home
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country. But anyway,
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the biggest mistake I made when I was starting,
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my business is I took the easy route and I was
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like, oh,
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I'll just become a sole proprietor.
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But then eventually I decided,
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oh really?
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I should be an LLC for a couple of different reasons.
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Number one,
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LLC has give you more legal protection in the United States.
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And number two,
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the main reason that drove me to make that change is
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once you hit a certain revenue number,
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and that depends on your state,
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because it depends on your state taxes.
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It depends on how expensive an LLC is to run in
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your state.
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It depends what your personal tax situation is.
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So this will be a different number for everybody.
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But at some point you hit a point that your LLC,
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that becoming an LLC would be more tax advantageous to you
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because you can file as an S Corp.
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Oh my gosh,
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Nicole, what do all those letters mean?
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Don't worry.
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We're not going to dive too,
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too deep in that this is why you're going to want
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an accountant for these tax situations.
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But basically when you're a sole proprietor in the United States,
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you take the profit from your business and your expenses in
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your business.
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And whatever that bottom number is,
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you are going to pay income tax on and self-employment taxes.
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So you're paying both of those taxes.
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Now, when you file as an S Corp,
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then you're able to pay yourself a salary.
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And on that salary,
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you have to pay your payroll taxes and you have to
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pay your income taxes,
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but the rest of the profit in your business,
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you only have to pay income tax on.
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You don't have to pay those payroll taxes.
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That would be things like social security,
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FICA, all those payroll taxes.
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And you also don't have to pay that self employment tax,
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which is essentially both sides of that FICA and social security
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taxes, because when you're employed,
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then your employer pays half of those.
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But when you're self-employed,
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you get the fun bonus of paying all of that on
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your own.
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Whew. But anyway,
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that's kind of the long and short of why you might
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want to look into becoming an is that you get a
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little bit more tax advantages.
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Once you start making a little bit more money,
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and of course you have that more legal protection,
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but like I said,
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not an accountant,
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not a CPA,
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not a lawyer check with your professionals on that for how
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it influences your particular situation.
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Now, still get into that big mistake that I made going
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off on a tangent here,
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because I wanted to make sure you knew those differences.
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But the mistake I made was taking that easy way out
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at the beginning and just being that sole proprietor.
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So then a couple years down the road,
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once I was making six figures in photography and I was
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ready to start saving a little bit more money on taxes,
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I want it to become an LLC.
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Well, guess what?
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You can't change without totally shutting down and opening a new
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one. Oh,
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your federal EIN number or your,
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the businesses associated with your bank account.
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So I had to shut down my business,
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checking and open up a new business,
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checking with my new EIN number with the new LLC,
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anybody that's ever moved or anybody that's ever changed bank accounts,
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you know what a Royal pain in the butt that is
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because my gosh,
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I mean,
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it just is right.
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So yeah,
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so that was my big mistake.
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There is just not looking at that big picture from day
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one and then having to go back and make all those
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changes later on in the game.
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So my hope for you from this episode is that you
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can start to take a look at these things and make
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the right decisions from the beginning.
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So now that that story is out of the way let's
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really dig into this checklist.
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Shall we?
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All right?
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The first thing we need to do,
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number one on our checklist is we need to make sure
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we have a name,
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right? We need a business name.
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Now what's that name going to be?
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Is it going to be your name?
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Mine, Nicole Begley photography.
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That's pretty easy.
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There's a couple advantages to that.
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Number one is I don't need to worry about the copyright
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of that.
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I don't need to trademark that.
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I mean,
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that's my name I'm allowed to use it.
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It's really,
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really easy.
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I don't need to register for a fictitious name.
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I can use that name for whatever I want to do.
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If I want to do pets.
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If I want to do weddings,
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I don't,
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if I wanna do newborns,
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I don't.
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But regardless if I changed say I was doing a really
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classic style and then I wanted to go really like wide
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angle and bright colors or whatever,
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you can totally change up that style when your business name
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is your name,
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it can work for wherever the wind wants to take you,
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whatever changes you want to make in your business.
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So I think that's great.
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However, the other side of the coin for a business name
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is having a name like,
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you know,
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fluffy dog photography or some sort of,
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you know,
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name. That's not your personal name.
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Now there's a couple pros for that.
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And that is,
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that can be really fun.
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It can be when people see that name on like Instagram
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or Facebook,
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they're like,
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what is that?
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And they click on it.
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Some of the other fun things about that is it can
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really be dialed into whatever your branding is,
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whatever your style is,
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things like that.
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Now the challenges of having a name like that is it's
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not as easy to change.
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So a fits,
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you know,
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fluffy, white dog photography,
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or I don't know something just like really cute,
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but you're going to go for like a really classic early
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moody style.
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Then there's going to be a disconnect in that name.
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One of the other challenges of having that fictitious name is
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that you're going to want to trademark it most likely,
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which costs money this time.
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And then once you get it trademarked,
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you're going to have to defend that trademark.
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If other people end up using that name,
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which as this industry continues to grow,
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I imagine that will happen more and more often from people
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not realizing that they can't use it or just not doing
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their due diligence or for whatever reason.
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So those are some of the challenges,
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pros, and cons of either way.
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There's not really a right or wrong.
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Please don't let this first step of the puzzle hold you
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up too,
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too long.
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Just go ahead and make a decision.
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If you guys need some input,
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you can always,
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you know,
283
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ask in our podcast community.
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If you're a member of the hair of the dog academy,
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you can grab an office hours or laser coaching time and
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we would be happy to help you brainstorm and figure out
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what that looks like.
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So that's all right.
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That's step number one,
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choose your business name.
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Step number one,
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B slash two is if it's a fictitious name,
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you need to get that name registered.
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All right.
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00:10:38,540 --> 00:10:39,410
Step number three.
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What type of business entity do you want to be in
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the United States?
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It's usually a sole proprietor or,
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and LLC.
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00:10:47,690 --> 00:10:48,980
Now I already mentioned benefits,
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pros and cons and the big old pain.
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00:10:51,470 --> 00:10:52,760
And, but that's waiting for you.
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00:10:52,760 --> 00:10:55,310
If you start out as a sole proprietor and then decide
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later, oh,
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00:10:56,090 --> 00:10:57,710
maybe now I want to be an LLC.
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So if it's at all possible,
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00:11:00,050 --> 00:11:03,950
I would definitely look at starting out as an LLC first,
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00:11:04,010 --> 00:11:06,320
instead of just starting as a sole proprietor and having to
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change things later on now how feasible that is,
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00:11:10,310 --> 00:11:11,780
is going to depend on a few things,
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00:11:11,810 --> 00:11:13,130
namely, where you live.
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00:11:13,850 --> 00:11:14,930
When I was in Pennsylvania,
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it was a one-time fee of I think $125 and then
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no annual fee after that.
315
00:11:19,970 --> 00:11:22,280
So it was a pretty much a no brainer if you're
316
00:11:22,280 --> 00:11:23,030
in California,
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00:11:23,030 --> 00:11:25,760
I believe it's an $800 fee a year to have an
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00:11:25,760 --> 00:11:26,630
LLC. So,
319
00:11:26,630 --> 00:11:29,810
okay. That requires a little bit more thought here in North
320
00:11:29,000 --> 00:11:31,880
Carolina, it costs about $400 a year to keep an ELA.
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00:11:31,880 --> 00:11:32,390
I'll see.
322
00:11:32,720 --> 00:11:36,470
So you want to look into your state requirements for that
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and how much it costs to kind of start to make
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00:11:38,390 --> 00:11:39,440
that decision there.
325
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But if you're really serious about your business and you really
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want to grow it,
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00:11:42,680 --> 00:11:44,390
and you really want this to be your main source of
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00:11:44,390 --> 00:11:48,290
income and create this as really your full-time and business,
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00:11:48,920 --> 00:11:51,470
an LLC might be the way to go.
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00:11:52,280 --> 00:11:52,610
All right,
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00:11:52,610 --> 00:11:55,810
number. If you're creating an LLC,
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00:11:55,810 --> 00:11:58,840
you need to create an operating agreement and or articles of
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00:11:58,840 --> 00:12:00,340
organization. Generally,
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00:12:00,370 --> 00:12:03,400
you'll find that on your secretary of state website.
335
00:12:03,460 --> 00:12:06,190
So wherever you are creating your business,
336
00:12:06,310 --> 00:12:10,480
you can find so much information at your state's secretary of
337
00:12:10,480 --> 00:12:11,380
state website,
338
00:12:11,410 --> 00:12:12,700
just Google on there.
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00:12:12,700 --> 00:12:15,610
Do I need an operating agreement for my LLC?
340
00:12:15,760 --> 00:12:18,430
And it will tell you details and it will also,
341
00:12:18,430 --> 00:12:21,400
it usually gives you basically a template that you can print
342
00:12:21,400 --> 00:12:24,760
out and create for your own.
343
00:12:25,090 --> 00:12:27,970
So that is usually fairly easy to do on your own.
344
00:12:28,570 --> 00:12:28,750
All right,
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00:12:28,750 --> 00:12:29,380
number five,
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00:12:29,410 --> 00:12:33,250
do you need a local county or state business license?
347
00:12:33,720 --> 00:12:34,600
That is again,
348
00:12:34,600 --> 00:12:36,400
you're going to want to get in touch with your state
349
00:12:36,400 --> 00:12:39,430
or your county and find out about that that will vary
350
00:12:39,430 --> 00:12:40,930
widely based on where you are.
351
00:12:41,050 --> 00:12:41,230
All right,
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00:12:41,230 --> 00:12:41,950
number six,
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for those of you in the U S whether you have
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00:12:44,380 --> 00:12:47,440
decided to be a sole proprietor or an LLC,
355
00:12:47,800 --> 00:12:51,340
the next step is to file for a federal EIN number.
356
00:12:51,790 --> 00:12:56,320
Now that is basically just like a social security number for
357
00:12:56,320 --> 00:12:57,160
your business.
358
00:12:57,160 --> 00:12:58,480
It's a number that the government,
359
00:12:58,480 --> 00:13:00,280
the IRS puts with your business.
360
00:13:00,520 --> 00:13:01,900
So on all your tax paperwork,
361
00:13:01,960 --> 00:13:06,010
you use that particular number and I would get your LLC
362
00:13:06,010 --> 00:13:06,730
first. So that way,
363
00:13:06,730 --> 00:13:09,070
you know exactly what the name is of your LLC.
364
00:13:09,070 --> 00:13:11,530
So then you can apply for that federal EIN number.
365
00:13:11,620 --> 00:13:11,950
You guys,
366
00:13:11,950 --> 00:13:15,190
this is completely free and it takes literally five minutes,
367
00:13:15,370 --> 00:13:20,140
just Google apply for federal EIN number and make sure you're
368
00:13:20,140 --> 00:13:21,760
going to the IRS site,
369
00:13:21,850 --> 00:13:24,880
because when you Google that some other sites will pop up
370
00:13:24,880 --> 00:13:27,610
first and they'll try to get you to pay them to
371
00:13:27,610 --> 00:13:29,680
file the form,
372
00:13:30,040 --> 00:13:32,920
which is really just kind of infuriating.
373
00:13:32,920 --> 00:13:33,460
You get up.
374
00:13:33,490 --> 00:13:36,220
I almost did this when I was getting an EIN number
375
00:13:36,220 --> 00:13:38,320
for the conservation fund is I was like,
376
00:13:38,350 --> 00:13:40,030
oh, this is the right website.
377
00:13:40,030 --> 00:13:41,740
And I start to put all my information in and I
378
00:13:41,740 --> 00:13:42,880
get to the part to submit.
379
00:13:42,880 --> 00:13:43,330
And it's like,
380
00:13:43,330 --> 00:13:45,970
it'll cost you $69 and we'll submit it for you.
381
00:13:46,060 --> 00:13:47,560
Like, no,
382
00:13:47,890 --> 00:13:49,240
I just gave that information.
383
00:13:49,240 --> 00:13:50,590
I could have just typed that into the,
384
00:13:50,860 --> 00:13:53,530
the IRS site myself and gotten it for myself.
385
00:13:53,530 --> 00:13:54,430
So that's what I did.
386
00:13:54,430 --> 00:13:56,500
I just exed out of that website and re typed it
387
00:13:56,500 --> 00:13:58,270
all in on the proper website.
388
00:13:58,660 --> 00:14:01,750
So you do not have to pay for that federal EIN
389
00:14:01,750 --> 00:14:05,080
number, make sure that you are on the actual IRS site
390
00:14:05,140 --> 00:14:06,460
and it is completely free.
391
00:14:07,420 --> 00:14:07,720
All right.
392
00:14:07,960 --> 00:14:09,100
Number seven,
393
00:14:09,370 --> 00:14:13,420
it's time to register to collect sales tax in your state.
394
00:14:13,810 --> 00:14:14,440
Now, again,
395
00:14:14,440 --> 00:14:16,450
this too is very easy.
396
00:14:16,450 --> 00:14:21,250
If you just Google registered to collect sales tax in insert
397
00:14:21,250 --> 00:14:21,970
state here,
398
00:14:22,780 --> 00:14:25,600
it it'll come up to a page on your department of
399
00:14:25,600 --> 00:14:26,440
revenue site.
400
00:14:26,470 --> 00:14:28,330
And it's really pretty easy.
401
00:14:28,330 --> 00:14:30,310
You just put in your business information,
402
00:14:30,310 --> 00:14:31,390
your EIN number,
403
00:14:31,390 --> 00:14:34,390
and it's going to get you registered to collect that sales
404
00:14:34,390 --> 00:14:37,990
tax. If you have any questions about what is taxable and
405
00:14:37,990 --> 00:14:39,400
what is not in your state,
406
00:14:39,910 --> 00:14:41,380
you can probably call them.
407
00:14:41,590 --> 00:14:44,410
You might want to consult with a tax professional as a
408
00:14:44,410 --> 00:14:45,280
general rule,
409
00:14:45,310 --> 00:14:47,980
more and more states are making digital files.
410
00:14:48,040 --> 00:14:52,130
Taxable. A lot of states also have services as taxable.
411
00:14:52,370 --> 00:14:53,660
So more and more,
412
00:14:53,720 --> 00:14:56,900
every single piece of what we offer our clients in the
413
00:14:56,900 --> 00:14:59,300
photography industry is taxable.
414
00:14:59,330 --> 00:15:00,860
This isn't the case in all states,
415
00:15:01,190 --> 00:15:03,740
but it's becoming more of the,
416
00:15:03,860 --> 00:15:05,090
more of the trend.
417
00:15:05,120 --> 00:15:07,760
And so that more and more things are getting taxable.
418
00:15:08,000 --> 00:15:09,590
So definitely look into that.
419
00:15:09,590 --> 00:15:13,310
And especially that session fee and those digital files tend to
420
00:15:13,310 --> 00:15:14,780
be a little bit more of a gray area,
421
00:15:15,080 --> 00:15:17,810
but most states have defined those now.
422
00:15:17,810 --> 00:15:21,980
So you can look onto their what's taxable information and find
423
00:15:21,980 --> 00:15:22,370
that out.
424
00:15:23,090 --> 00:15:23,330
All right,
425
00:15:23,360 --> 00:15:24,170
number eight,
426
00:15:24,260 --> 00:15:26,000
we need some insurance.
427
00:15:26,450 --> 00:15:28,250
Well mean I guys,
428
00:15:28,370 --> 00:15:29,210
I promise,
429
00:15:29,270 --> 00:15:33,020
I promise the future episodes of this will be more exciting
430
00:15:33,530 --> 00:15:35,180
than EIN numbers,
431
00:15:35,360 --> 00:15:37,100
insurance and sales tax.
432
00:15:37,250 --> 00:15:40,700
But this is so important because it is the basis of
433
00:15:40,700 --> 00:15:41,570
our business.
434
00:15:41,600 --> 00:15:43,070
So stick with me.
435
00:15:43,280 --> 00:15:45,230
There's only 12 and they get more fun.
436
00:15:45,290 --> 00:15:46,190
I think after this one,
437
00:15:46,250 --> 00:15:47,270
so insurance,
438
00:15:47,390 --> 00:15:50,990
we need some liability and probably some equipment insurance.
439
00:15:51,200 --> 00:15:53,660
So liability insurance is insurance.
440
00:15:53,660 --> 00:15:55,970
If somebody gets hurt during your session,
441
00:15:55,970 --> 00:15:59,900
or if you cause property damage or injury to someone else,
442
00:15:59,900 --> 00:16:02,210
while you're doing your work,
443
00:16:02,390 --> 00:16:06,020
you are usually not covered with your personal homeowners or renters
444
00:16:06,020 --> 00:16:08,180
insurance, because it's a business thing.
445
00:16:08,180 --> 00:16:09,710
It needs separate insurance.
446
00:16:09,860 --> 00:16:13,010
You can check with whoever you get your personal insurance through
447
00:16:13,190 --> 00:16:15,830
to see if they offer business liability insurance.
448
00:16:15,920 --> 00:16:16,430
If not,
449
00:16:16,430 --> 00:16:18,530
you can ask him the hair of the dog group who
450
00:16:18,530 --> 00:16:20,720
offers that in the country that you're in.
451
00:16:20,810 --> 00:16:21,170
You know,
452
00:16:21,170 --> 00:16:24,620
it's, I've always been able to find it through whoever my
453
00:16:24,680 --> 00:16:27,350
personal insurance agents are.
454
00:16:27,410 --> 00:16:30,350
And the liability insurance is really not very expensive.
455
00:16:30,350 --> 00:16:34,310
I usually pay less than $200 for a million dollar policy.
456
00:16:34,370 --> 00:16:35,780
And then so,
457
00:16:35,780 --> 00:16:36,530
yeah, so it's just,
458
00:16:36,530 --> 00:16:40,970
it's definitely worth having to keep you protected as for equipment
459
00:16:40,970 --> 00:16:44,240
insurance. This is a little bit more expensive,
460
00:16:44,270 --> 00:16:48,740
but if you're having a hard time affording the equipment insurance,
461
00:16:48,860 --> 00:16:51,170
then you 100% need it because it's going to be a
462
00:16:51,170 --> 00:16:54,050
lot more expensive to replace your equipment.
463
00:16:54,350 --> 00:16:56,960
If something happens to it or if it gets lost or
464
00:16:56,960 --> 00:17:01,580
stolen. So having that insurance is just a really,
465
00:17:01,640 --> 00:17:04,850
really important thing to do to protect that investment of your
466
00:17:04,850 --> 00:17:06,050
equipment. Because again,
467
00:17:06,560 --> 00:17:10,310
your homeowner's insurance is not going to cover all of that
468
00:17:10,310 --> 00:17:14,420
equipment. It usually has a pretty low limitation on what it
469
00:17:14,420 --> 00:17:19,160
will cover work-wise and also for the expensive equipment like that
470
00:17:19,220 --> 00:17:21,590
one, you're looking for your equipment insurance.
471
00:17:21,590 --> 00:17:23,000
There are two types of insurance,
472
00:17:23,000 --> 00:17:24,770
there's cash value insurance,
473
00:17:24,770 --> 00:17:26,720
and there's replacement cost insurance.
474
00:17:26,720 --> 00:17:29,120
And you are going to want to get the replacement cost
475
00:17:29,300 --> 00:17:33,770
because that will actually replace your gear or the cash value
476
00:17:34,070 --> 00:17:37,880
might just be okay if you have a four-year-old camera and
477
00:17:37,880 --> 00:17:40,040
you can sell it on eBay for $800,
478
00:17:40,040 --> 00:17:40,790
that's what you're getting.
479
00:17:40,790 --> 00:17:42,170
You're not getting a new camera.
480
00:17:42,200 --> 00:17:45,620
So that's an important piece for that insurance.
481
00:17:45,620 --> 00:17:49,920
One of the other things to look into for your insurance
482
00:17:49,950 --> 00:17:51,810
is to see what's covered,
483
00:17:51,810 --> 00:17:55,710
and what's not a is mysterious disappearance covered.
484
00:17:56,280 --> 00:17:56,670
You know,
485
00:17:56,670 --> 00:17:58,080
do you want that to be covered?
486
00:17:58,080 --> 00:18:00,000
Is it covered for when you're traveling?
487
00:18:00,270 --> 00:18:02,520
Just make sure you read that policy and talk to the
488
00:18:02,520 --> 00:18:05,190
agent and make sure it's covered for what you need it
489
00:18:05,190 --> 00:18:09,900
to be covered for generally for 15 to $20,000
490
00:18:09,900 --> 00:18:11,520
of equipment coverage,
491
00:18:11,880 --> 00:18:14,010
I would say yearly insurances,
492
00:18:14,010 --> 00:18:16,770
somewhere in the ballpark of 400 to $600,
493
00:18:16,770 --> 00:18:18,240
at least that's what I've found.
494
00:18:18,630 --> 00:18:22,020
So it's not that exciting of an expense,
495
00:18:22,140 --> 00:18:25,320
but it is a pretty critical if you want to protect
496
00:18:25,320 --> 00:18:25,760
your equipment,
497
00:18:25,790 --> 00:18:28,050
if you're going to be out and about or shooting your
498
00:18:28,050 --> 00:18:31,020
water or shooting city where someone could easily walk off with
499
00:18:31,020 --> 00:18:31,710
your gear,
500
00:18:31,860 --> 00:18:34,290
or if you're traveling and checking in on airplanes and things
501
00:18:34,290 --> 00:18:34,740
like that.
502
00:18:34,740 --> 00:18:35,760
So that's number eight,
503
00:18:35,820 --> 00:18:38,310
getting that insurance liability and equipment.
504
00:18:38,820 --> 00:18:39,120
All right,
505
00:18:39,120 --> 00:18:40,800
I promised we'll get a little bit more fun.
506
00:18:40,800 --> 00:18:42,990
So now it is number nine.
507
00:18:43,020 --> 00:18:45,660
We are talking about opening business bank accounts.
508
00:18:45,840 --> 00:18:47,010
Remember my story,
509
00:18:47,760 --> 00:18:49,290
if you want to be an LLC,
510
00:18:49,770 --> 00:18:50,730
now's the time.
511
00:18:50,730 --> 00:18:52,950
So you don't have to switch those bank accounts in the
512
00:18:52,950 --> 00:18:56,100
future. I'm a big fan of making sure you have a
513
00:18:56,100 --> 00:18:58,170
savings account and a checking account,
514
00:18:58,860 --> 00:19:01,770
because you can have all of your operating costs through that
515
00:19:01,770 --> 00:19:02,460
checking account,
516
00:19:02,460 --> 00:19:04,980
but you can also put some money in that savings account
517
00:19:05,130 --> 00:19:07,830
to save in your business for when you need that new
518
00:19:07,830 --> 00:19:10,710
computer. When you need a new piece of gear,
519
00:19:11,340 --> 00:19:14,220
when you maybe have a little bit more sales tax due,
520
00:19:14,220 --> 00:19:16,320
you can put that money over there.
521
00:19:16,590 --> 00:19:18,390
If you are,
522
00:19:18,570 --> 00:19:20,940
I don't want to say not good at that would not
523
00:19:20,940 --> 00:19:21,690
be the right word,
524
00:19:21,720 --> 00:19:25,260
but maybe if you have trouble budgeting or kind of keeping
525
00:19:25,260 --> 00:19:26,520
track where that money is,
526
00:19:26,520 --> 00:19:30,300
or you have a hard time paying yourself or making sure
527
00:19:30,300 --> 00:19:33,090
that you're saving enough for those taxes or those different things.
528
00:19:33,420 --> 00:19:35,250
There's a book called profit first.
529
00:19:35,520 --> 00:19:40,440
That is a great system for kind of putting your money
530
00:19:40,440 --> 00:19:42,570
into different buckets of bank accounts.
531
00:19:42,570 --> 00:19:44,940
So you open a couple different bank accounts and you move
532
00:19:44,940 --> 00:19:49,110
your money into those specific buckets that kind of forces you
533
00:19:49,110 --> 00:19:50,010
to pay yourself,
534
00:19:50,010 --> 00:19:51,450
to save some money for taxes,
535
00:19:51,450 --> 00:19:53,070
to save money for your business.
536
00:19:53,340 --> 00:19:54,450
It's a pretty cool system.
537
00:19:54,720 --> 00:19:55,440
Check it out.
538
00:19:55,740 --> 00:19:57,750
Some of the things to look for for your business bank
539
00:19:57,750 --> 00:20:01,440
accounts are to make sure that there are little to no
540
00:20:01,440 --> 00:20:05,430
fees. Generally I would start with wherever you bank for your
541
00:20:05,430 --> 00:20:06,330
personal banking,
542
00:20:06,420 --> 00:20:08,130
and if they have a lot of fees or they have
543
00:20:08,130 --> 00:20:10,440
a high minimum balance that you don't want to deal with,
544
00:20:10,470 --> 00:20:11,700
maybe look at some smaller,
545
00:20:11,700 --> 00:20:12,840
more regional banks,
546
00:20:12,840 --> 00:20:15,150
or if there's any credit unions that you can use,
547
00:20:15,150 --> 00:20:19,260
they generally have better account terms than like the really big
548
00:20:19,290 --> 00:20:20,220
national banks.
549
00:20:20,520 --> 00:20:25,170
So go up in those bank accounts and then number 10,
550
00:20:25,320 --> 00:20:25,920
number 10,
551
00:20:26,010 --> 00:20:29,280
designate a credit card for business use only.
552
00:20:29,580 --> 00:20:31,800
Now, if any of you have been hanging around with me
553
00:20:31,800 --> 00:20:32,430
for a little while,
554
00:20:32,430 --> 00:20:32,730
you know,
555
00:20:32,730 --> 00:20:35,430
I love to travel and if you've been paying attention,
556
00:20:35,910 --> 00:20:36,210
you know,
557
00:20:36,210 --> 00:20:39,570
that I love to travel without paying for my plane tickets
558
00:20:39,600 --> 00:20:40,830
for me and my family.
559
00:20:40,830 --> 00:20:44,100
And especially getting up to the front of the plane without
560
00:20:44,100 --> 00:20:45,840
actually paying for those plane tickets,
561
00:20:45,840 --> 00:20:47,380
but instead using points.
562
00:20:47,380 --> 00:20:50,410
So I love my credit cards.
563
00:20:50,440 --> 00:20:52,240
I have a whole bunch of personal ones,
564
00:20:52,240 --> 00:20:53,830
a whole bunch of business ones,
565
00:20:53,920 --> 00:20:55,900
and they are,
566
00:20:56,470 --> 00:20:56,770
you know,
567
00:20:56,800 --> 00:20:58,120
great for earning points.
568
00:20:58,180 --> 00:20:59,260
Now, caveat,
569
00:20:59,410 --> 00:21:01,480
you need to make sure you're paying those off every month.
570
00:21:01,480 --> 00:21:02,350
So if you are,
571
00:21:02,590 --> 00:21:02,950
you know,
572
00:21:02,950 --> 00:21:04,630
someone that can't,
573
00:21:04,990 --> 00:21:05,890
can't keep,
574
00:21:06,460 --> 00:21:07,030
you know,
575
00:21:07,150 --> 00:21:08,080
keep those straight,
576
00:21:08,080 --> 00:21:10,240
or you end up putting too much on those credit cards
577
00:21:10,240 --> 00:21:11,200
and carrying a balance,
578
00:21:11,410 --> 00:21:13,570
any of those free rewards you're going to get are going
579
00:21:13,570 --> 00:21:14,890
to get like,
580
00:21:15,010 --> 00:21:15,370
you know,
581
00:21:15,760 --> 00:21:18,010
they're not going to be as worthwhile when you're paying interest
582
00:21:18,070 --> 00:21:19,180
for those purchases.
583
00:21:19,180 --> 00:21:21,910
So make sure that if you're going to use those credit
584
00:21:21,910 --> 00:21:24,100
cards for things like business or personal,
585
00:21:24,100 --> 00:21:28,000
that you are creating a system and you're able to actually,
586
00:21:28,660 --> 00:21:28,840
you know,
587
00:21:28,870 --> 00:21:29,950
pay them off each month,
588
00:21:30,580 --> 00:21:33,730
if you guys are interested and you want to see a
589
00:21:33,730 --> 00:21:40,630
sneak peek into my ridiculous backend to do list board,
590
00:21:40,660 --> 00:21:42,790
or I manage all my credit cards.
591
00:21:42,790 --> 00:21:45,640
So I can like keep track of the pay dates because
592
00:21:45,670 --> 00:21:46,390
I have some,
593
00:21:46,390 --> 00:21:47,650
my husband has the same one,
594
00:21:47,650 --> 00:21:50,290
so we can double up on the signup bonuses.
595
00:21:50,470 --> 00:21:51,280
Well, we got a lot of,
596
00:21:51,350 --> 00:21:54,400
lot of credit cards in the Bagley house and you need
597
00:21:54,400 --> 00:21:55,450
a system to manage that.
598
00:21:55,450 --> 00:21:58,540
So if there's interest DME on the Instagram,
599
00:21:59,050 --> 00:22:02,050
and maybe I will just create a little video for you
600
00:22:02,050 --> 00:22:05,290
guys to show you how I manage all of that in
601
00:22:05,320 --> 00:22:06,010
to-do list,
602
00:22:06,250 --> 00:22:06,910
super fun.
603
00:22:07,210 --> 00:22:08,290
I am such a nerd.
604
00:22:08,590 --> 00:22:11,530
I love managing things in boards.
605
00:22:12,940 --> 00:22:13,390
All right,
606
00:22:13,450 --> 00:22:14,440
that's number 10.
607
00:22:14,740 --> 00:22:15,760
Number 11.
608
00:22:16,030 --> 00:22:18,220
We need to choose an accounting system.
609
00:22:18,280 --> 00:22:18,910
Oh gosh,
610
00:22:18,910 --> 00:22:21,220
Nicole, I thought you said this was going to get better.
611
00:22:21,850 --> 00:22:24,400
Well, kind of in a county system allows you to send
612
00:22:24,400 --> 00:22:26,080
invoices, which means you're making money.
613
00:22:26,080 --> 00:22:26,920
So does that help?
614
00:22:26,950 --> 00:22:27,790
Is that better?
615
00:22:28,870 --> 00:22:33,340
QuickBooks tends to be the accounting system of,
616
00:22:34,090 --> 00:22:34,500
I don't know.
617
00:22:34,520 --> 00:22:35,710
I don't want to say of choice.
618
00:22:35,710 --> 00:22:36,820
It's the most popular.
619
00:22:37,000 --> 00:22:38,560
It's definitely the most widespread.
620
00:22:38,740 --> 00:22:41,770
There are some new ones on the new players in the
621
00:22:41,770 --> 00:22:45,010
game that I think would be great that I would probably
622
00:22:45,010 --> 00:22:46,570
use. If I were starting today,
623
00:22:46,810 --> 00:22:48,550
I would probably be using wave.
624
00:22:48,610 --> 00:22:51,010
It is free up to a certain point.
625
00:22:51,130 --> 00:22:51,880
And it's,
626
00:22:52,300 --> 00:22:52,540
you know,
627
00:22:52,540 --> 00:22:55,930
you do pay a merchant services for when people pay invoices,
628
00:22:55,930 --> 00:22:57,640
but you're going to have done on any system,
629
00:22:57,970 --> 00:23:02,230
but it's a great system for keeping track of your spending
630
00:23:02,260 --> 00:23:03,790
and what money's going in,
631
00:23:03,790 --> 00:23:04,750
what money is coming out,
632
00:23:04,750 --> 00:23:05,500
sending invoices,
633
00:23:05,500 --> 00:23:06,280
getting paid,
634
00:23:06,340 --> 00:23:08,140
and it doesn't have a monthly fee.
635
00:23:08,140 --> 00:23:09,610
So definitely go check out.
636
00:23:09,610 --> 00:23:11,800
Wave QuickBooks is a great option too.
637
00:23:11,800 --> 00:23:13,030
It's a little bit more,
638
00:23:13,210 --> 00:23:14,320
not as user friendly,
639
00:23:14,380 --> 00:23:16,780
the accountants know it and like it and use it.
640
00:23:17,050 --> 00:23:20,200
But for us lay people that have never really worked in
641
00:23:20,200 --> 00:23:22,570
QuickBooks, it can be a little bit overwhelming.
642
00:23:22,990 --> 00:23:24,940
So wave is a little bit more straightforward.
643
00:23:25,210 --> 00:23:25,540
I mean,
644
00:23:25,540 --> 00:23:27,910
and you don't have to get crazy and even get any
645
00:23:27,910 --> 00:23:28,180
of that.
646
00:23:28,180 --> 00:23:29,620
You can start off if you want,
647
00:23:29,620 --> 00:23:30,760
with just a spreadsheet.
648
00:23:30,820 --> 00:23:33,460
The important thing is to have a place where you keep
649
00:23:33,460 --> 00:23:35,920
track of money coming in and money going out of your
650
00:23:35,920 --> 00:23:37,840
business. So come tax time,
651
00:23:37,900 --> 00:23:40,720
you're not just looking at a shoe box of receipts and
652
00:23:40,720 --> 00:23:42,160
saying, oh,
653
00:23:42,250 --> 00:23:43,930
okay, here we go.
654
00:23:44,020 --> 00:23:44,710
Let's do our,
655
00:23:45,440 --> 00:23:48,610
because you're going to need quite a few chocolate Martinez that.
656
00:23:48,790 --> 00:23:50,590
So get an accounting system,
657
00:23:51,250 --> 00:23:52,240
wave cheat,
658
00:23:52,270 --> 00:23:53,500
QuickBooks. Those are all good.
659
00:23:53,500 --> 00:23:54,190
There's zero.
660
00:23:54,190 --> 00:23:55,780
There's a whole bunch of other ones out there too.
661
00:23:55,780 --> 00:23:59,200
Again, if you guys want to go ask an our podcast
662
00:23:59,200 --> 00:24:00,100
community group,
663
00:24:00,130 --> 00:24:03,790
it is hair of the dog academy.com/fb
664
00:24:03,790 --> 00:24:05,320
group. If you're not a member,
665
00:24:05,480 --> 00:24:07,240
there's a lot of people in there that can give you
666
00:24:07,240 --> 00:24:10,900
all sorts of ideas and suggestions for what works for them.
667
00:24:11,050 --> 00:24:11,320
All right.
668
00:24:11,320 --> 00:24:15,790
And number 12 last but not least the final crown Juul
669
00:24:15,880 --> 00:24:19,750
in our let's get legal and get our admin under control.
670
00:24:20,050 --> 00:24:24,970
Pillar is creating a session agreement or contract.
671
00:24:25,480 --> 00:24:33,970
Now that is pretty important to have whether you are photographing
672
00:24:33,970 --> 00:24:39,160
for money or even just photographing models,
673
00:24:39,400 --> 00:24:41,500
because you still want to set expectations.
674
00:24:41,500 --> 00:24:43,540
You still want to talk about copyright.
675
00:24:43,540 --> 00:24:45,700
You still want to talk about liability.
676
00:24:45,760 --> 00:24:48,580
There's still all of these things that you want to cover
677
00:24:48,610 --> 00:24:50,710
in that session agreement.
678
00:24:51,070 --> 00:24:53,980
If you are wondering where you can possibly get a session
679
00:24:53,980 --> 00:24:57,670
agreement, I've actually partnered with Rachel bronchi from the law tog,
680
00:24:57,760 --> 00:25:03,040
and she has a pet photographer Mundell that has a contract
681
00:25:03,040 --> 00:25:05,500
or a session agreement for pet photography clients.
682
00:25:05,710 --> 00:25:06,880
There's also a separate one.
683
00:25:06,880 --> 00:25:12,580
If you are doing photographs for shelters or rescue photography,
684
00:25:12,610 --> 00:25:16,600
if you want to go to hair of the dog academy.com/contract,
685
00:25:16,630 --> 00:25:19,870
you can go to that website and yeah,
686
00:25:19,870 --> 00:25:21,160
and that information's there.
687
00:25:21,160 --> 00:25:22,330
Those links are there.
688
00:25:22,540 --> 00:25:27,760
There is a special code for saving 10% on anything on
689
00:25:27,760 --> 00:25:28,120
the site.
690
00:25:28,120 --> 00:25:29,620
Any of the contracts are templates.
691
00:25:29,650 --> 00:25:31,600
It's just hair of dog 10,
692
00:25:31,840 --> 00:25:34,720
all capitals hair of dog 10.
693
00:25:34,990 --> 00:25:38,530
We'll save you 10% on any of those contracts are templates
694
00:25:38,890 --> 00:25:40,390
at Rachel Brenke fees,
695
00:25:40,450 --> 00:25:41,980
the law tog.com.
696
00:25:41,980 --> 00:25:44,230
So definitely check that out.
697
00:25:45,070 --> 00:25:45,610
All right.
698
00:25:46,270 --> 00:25:47,140
How are you guys feeling?
699
00:25:47,140 --> 00:25:48,580
You're feeling completely overwhelmed,
700
00:25:48,820 --> 00:25:49,570
just reminder,
701
00:25:49,690 --> 00:25:50,620
not a CPA,
702
00:25:50,620 --> 00:25:51,340
not a lawyer.
703
00:25:51,340 --> 00:25:53,920
So this is not legal or tax advice.
704
00:25:53,980 --> 00:25:56,890
Please check with your professionals for how they pertain to your
705
00:25:56,890 --> 00:26:00,310
situation. But I wanted to make sure that you guys had
706
00:26:00,310 --> 00:26:03,310
this list of just really the most important bullet points of
707
00:26:03,310 --> 00:26:07,060
the things we need to do when we're starting our business.
708
00:26:07,300 --> 00:26:10,240
If you want to get a printout of this checklist,
709
00:26:10,270 --> 00:26:13,200
just go to hair of the dog academy.com/seven
710
00:26:13,230 --> 00:26:14,440
nine down there,
711
00:26:14,440 --> 00:26:17,560
scroll down to the resources section of the show notes and
712
00:26:17,590 --> 00:26:20,350
click on the button to grab your checklist.
713
00:26:20,350 --> 00:26:21,700
And then you can have it all right there.
714
00:26:21,700 --> 00:26:22,540
You can make notes.
715
00:26:22,540 --> 00:26:24,220
You can go ahead and check off the stuff that you've
716
00:26:24,220 --> 00:26:26,320
done and of course,
717
00:26:26,590 --> 00:26:30,610
join us next week for pillar number two,
718
00:26:30,760 --> 00:26:33,700
in which we are going to be talking all about branding.
719
00:26:33,970 --> 00:26:37,300
That is our second pillar in our six pillars of pet
720
00:26:37,300 --> 00:26:41,620
photography. And I can't wait to see them have a good
721
00:26:41,620 --> 00:26:43,000
week. Everybody see you next week.
722
00:26:43,410 --> 00:26:45,600
If you enjoy this podcast episode,
723
00:26:45,600 --> 00:26:48,990
go ahead and take a screenshot of this episode on your
724
00:26:48,990 --> 00:26:52,260
phone and post it up there on your Instagram stories and
725
00:26:52,260 --> 00:26:55,770
be sure to tag us at hair of the dog academy.
726
00:26:55,890 --> 00:26:59,430
And we would just love to see how you're listening and
727
00:26:59,430 --> 00:27:00,570
a full disclosure.
728
00:27:00,690 --> 00:27:04,110
Sometimes we just like to give away a little pet photographer,
729
00:27:04,120 --> 00:27:07,980
swag in the form of hair of the dog t-shirts and
730
00:27:07,980 --> 00:27:10,560
sweatshirts. So what are you waiting for?
731
00:27:10,590 --> 00:27:13,680
Go ahead and share that screenshot of this episode.
732
00:27:13,950 --> 00:27:15,810
And don't forget to tag us at Hare,
733
00:27:15,810 --> 00:27:16,620
the dog academy.
734
00:27:16,860 --> 00:27:17,850
And while you're there,
735
00:27:17,910 --> 00:27:20,190
maybe you want to jump on over to our account and
736
00:27:20,190 --> 00:27:23,130
see what we're up to on the gram would love to
737
00:27:23,130 --> 00:27:23,940
connect with you.
738
00:27:24,660 --> 00:27:26,700
Thanks for listening to the hair of the dog podcast.
739
00:27:26,700 --> 00:27:28,620
If you want to check out the show notes for access
740
00:27:28,620 --> 00:27:30,810
to any of the links that we shared in this episode,
741
00:27:31,080 --> 00:27:33,390
as well as any additional related resources,
742
00:27:33,600 --> 00:27:38,640
simply go to www.hairofthedogacademy.com/seven
743
00:27:38,640 --> 00:27:40,110
nine. Once again,
744
00:27:40,170 --> 00:27:45,180
that's just www.hairofthedogacademy.com/the
745
00:27:45,180 --> 00:27:46,770
number seven in the number nine.
746
00:27:48,050 --> 00:27:50,990
Thanks for listening to this episode of hair of the dog
747
00:27:51,020 --> 00:27:53,390
podcast. If you enjoyed this show,
748
00:27:53,510 --> 00:27:55,220
please take a minute to leave a review.
749
00:27:55,430 --> 00:27:56,330
And while you're there,
750
00:27:56,420 --> 00:27:57,830
don't forget to subscribe.
751
00:27:57,860 --> 00:28:00,080
So you don't miss our upcoming episodes.
752
00:28:00,620 --> 00:28:01,310
One last thing,
753
00:28:01,730 --> 00:28:04,400
if you are ready to dive into more resources,
754
00:28:04,700 --> 00:28:10,040
head over to our website@wwwdothairofthedogacademy.com.
755
00:28:10,400 --> 00:28:13,610
Thanks for being a part of this pet photography community.