Paying Taxes: Expert Tips for Entrepreneurs and Creators

Larry Roberts [00:00:09]:

What is happening, everybody? I'm Larry Roberts.

Sara Lohse [00:00:12]:

And I'm Sara Lohse, and this is Branded, your comprehensive guide to creative Branding.

Larry Roberts [00:00:16]:

And on this episode of the podcast, we have an amazing guest with us today. His name is PT, and he is the owner and founder Of FinCon, a massive creator conference for those who are in the finance space. So, hopefully, we're gonna learn some ins and outs of How we manage our brand from a financial and even tax perspective. So, PT, thanks for joining us, man.

Philip Taylor [00:00:40]:

Larry, Sara, it's good to be on with you guys.

Sara Lohse [00:00:43]:

Happy to have you. You so you, your background was actually as a CPA, and you just recently got back into practicing as a CPA. Right?

Philip Taylor [00:00:53]:

Yep. It's a little bit of a wild story, but definitely, definitely have my CPA and accounting degree, came up through college with that, and, spent some time in public Counting. And then jump you're right. Jumping back in.

Sara Lohse [00:01:06]:

Yeah. And congratulations. I know you're opening a new practice and or taking over your father's practice.

Philip Taylor [00:01:11]:

Yeah. Yeah. So let's I'll let I'll let you in on it. So, certainly, my dad's had a had a firm for several years, and it It, it just became apparent to me that, you know, it was gonna be me taking it over or no one else. And so, I'm jumping back into the the, the CPA firm business. It's a great firm, young staff, and we're turning it into a virtual firm. Right? My dad had more of a physical location serving clients in the Branson, Missouri area, but we're gonna sort of turn that virtually. I've been I've been in the, sort of the Internet business world for the past 15 years, so I'm very comfortable, like, Marketing online and serving clients online, and so that's kinda where we're gonna be shifting the firm.

Philip Taylor [00:01:52]:

So I'm excited about jumping back then with actually client services and actually turning the firm potentially into a firm that serves specifically online creators. So we're gonna be taking people from FinCon, and offer them a bookkeeping and tax solution, to help them throughout the year. So that's the idea. Please.

Larry Roberts [00:02:11]:

That's cool, man. You know, it's funny, and I don't even think Sara knows this story. But coming right out of high school, I was a little confused. Didn't know exactly what I was going to do.

Sara Lohse [00:02:19]:

I know that.

Larry Roberts [00:02:20]:

And, well, yeah, you know that part. But I was actually enrolled to, go to DeVry, of all places to write to be a CPA.

Philip Taylor [00:02:30]:

I

Larry Roberts [00:02:30]:

thought that CPA was was my path in life. Now today, I can barely look at look at that. Look at the look on her face. He's super perplexed. He's like, bro, you barely pay your taxes, man. Are you gonna

Sara Lohse [00:02:41]:

be Seriously? You just make it very fucking hard.

Larry Roberts [00:02:46]:

Numbers aren't your thing. But, yeah, honestly, it was, and I was enrolled into DeBry, but, ended up having a kid instead. So that's it it worked out a little different. Yeah.

Sara Lohse [00:02:54]:

That'll do it.

Philip Taylor [00:02:55]:

Yeah. Yep. Yeah. Yep. I I definitely didn't I didn't take the the traditional career path either. I was I was more of a natural marketer and like you, and So even in my time working in the firms, it was apparent that, like, I was probably more suited to be on the entrepreneur side after I would do a tax return for a for a business owner or a, a real estate investor or something. I kept saying to myself, oh, I wanna be this kind of person one day, you know, the person I'm doing the return 4. And I would I told my partner that one time, and he said, that's crazy.

Philip Taylor [00:03:27]:

I actually wanna be this, not one of the entrepreneurs. And so he's like, should probably go be an entrepreneur for a while before you help help people out with their finances, but, yeah, that's kinda what

Sara Lohse [00:03:37]:

I'm opposite. I never thought I would ever own a business or do anything because I was so afraid of the taxes and all of that that goes into it. So kind of jumping into that, what is the first thing or, like, the your best tips for someone that is Like us, taking that entrepreneurial journey, launching an LLC, or becoming self employed, how do we even get started in a way that'll make tax time easier.

Philip Taylor [00:04:07]:

So, certainly, as a business owner, you wanna focus primarily on sales and marketing upfront to get clients and get business going. But if you've done that, you've sort of proven out the model, cash is coming in, you're like, okay. This is a true business, and I'm I'm getting going. What you'd probably wanna do before the end of the year or as soon as possible is is spend some time separating your business from your personal financial endeavors. So when you first started, they were probably sort of commingled. You just had 1 checking account, 1 savings account, and Didn't have anything really established. So as much as possible, wall off the business from your personal life. So I suggest, if you're not Opposed to credit cards, if you're comfortable using cards, paying them off every month, the 1st step I always Sara of suggest is to Is to maybe get a business credit card and start moving the business expenses through that initially.

Philip Taylor [00:04:59]:

That'll at least wall off the expense side, which is Typically, where the more the volume of the finances of the business is. And then if that's at a bank or at an institution that also offers a checking account, Go ahead and take the step of get that going as well. So you've got sort of the tool to use to run the business through to a degree, and then you've got the account to sort of start holding, you know, the inbound, cash that's coming in.

Larry Roberts [00:05:24]:

Let me jump in there real quick, PT, because I think a lot of people miss out on The differentiation between having a personal checking account and a business checking account, really, when it gets down to the focus of having and you mentioned the credit card, that's really what kinda triggered this, was having personal credit cards and business credit cards. There your credit rating for the 2 are entirely different. Can you kinda educate us there on that process a little bit?

Philip Taylor [00:05:49]:

Yep. Well, certainly talk to the financial institution who's rolling it out, but I would say that, for the most part, Any new business that you start, the bank or the institution's gonna be it's gonna be associated with your, with your Social security number. So there will be somewhat of a personal check against that credit. However, if you

Larry Roberts [00:06:09]:

have an And and I'm so sorry. I don't mean to jump in, but I just wanna differentiate. So you're talking about it sounds like you're talking about from more of a DBA perspective than if you go out and establish an LLC. Is that is that the difference there?

Philip Taylor [00:06:21]:

Yep. Exactly. Okay. Because we hadn't got there yet. You know? I think the account is probably a good space first just to do it, And Gotcha. That's gonna be you can get a business credit card, but it's going to be certainly tied to your name and your Social Security number. So before you get what's called an EIN, an employer

Larry Roberts [00:06:40]:

I did a vacation number. Number?

Philip Taylor [00:06:42]:

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. From from the IRS, Then, it's gonna be hard for you, I guess, to establish that that business line of credit or or a credit card associated with purely the business.

Larry Roberts [00:06:53]:

And I laugh there I laugh there, PT, because, I've always been a side hustle kind of guy, and I literally used to I had a website called taxidsolutions.com. Nice. And look at look at Sara. She's so disgusted, and I'm I'm but I would I would help people establish their EIN numbers.

Sara Lohse [00:07:13]:

Help is a very strong word here.

Larry Roberts [00:07:15]:

No. No. Because, you know, if a lot of people don't know how to establish an They don't know how to go get their tax ID number, which is synonymous with an EIN number. And so I had a website that for a Small fee. I would direct you where you needed to go. So I was above an information outlet, and I would say, hey. You want your tax ID? Go right here. And I would buy Google Ads at the time, and I was doing the pay per click campaigns.

Larry Roberts [00:07:40]:

And tax ID solutions was at the top of Google, so if you typed in tax ID, My website came up 1st. Click there.

Sara Lohse [00:07:46]:

He sold them a link to the website that you set it up. That is what he did.

Larry Roberts [00:07:51]:

That's that's

Sara Lohse [00:07:52]:

You're telling me for the service to click here.

Larry Roberts [00:07:55]:

How is that not a service? They didn't know where to go. I gave them directions. It was I I still don't understand how it wasn't a service.

Philip Taylor [00:08:02]:

I love it. I actually really love that because the process the process can be, difficult.

Larry Roberts [00:08:07]:

And Yes.

Philip Taylor [00:08:08]:

And if you throw in the LLC component, if you're, like, okay, I need the ID number plus the LLC, then you're dealing with the states. You've got a sort of a federal federal, deal, and we all know government websites aren't necessarily the best at directing where to go, how to set set things up. And then on the LLC side, you've got, the state that you're dealing with. And every state does it differently, so there's there is a lot of handholding that is is needed to be done, I I guess, for for upstart business owners there. And I when I went through the process the first time, I actually wrote a blog post about it. So in a similar way, I kinda shared that process On my blog, walking us through these exact steps. Bank account, credit card slash bank account, then the EIN, Then the, LLC.

Sara Lohse [00:08:53]:

I think I did this backwards.

Philip Taylor [00:08:54]:

And then and then you've got, and then you've and then you've got, really the the bones of The skeleton of of, like, a good business setup at that point. So that's that's basically the bare minimum I would say you'd wanna have. The LLC part can come a little later, if you want to, maybe fully establish the business to do that, but that helps in terms of, I continue to separate the business and the, and the personal side. It helps with, spreading the liability of the business Around the Lohse limited liability company. So, yeah, I think having that set up next is probably a wise thing.

Sara Lohse [00:09:33]:

So it was I set up my LLC, got my tax ID number, and then set up all the bank accounts and the credit card. Did did I do it wrong?

Philip Taylor [00:09:41]:

No. No. No. That's fine. That's fine. I just don't want the legalities of those 2 things to slow the business owner down and to immediately have them separate. Because then at that point, once you have the ID number and the LLC, you may want to then go establish, like, a, a true business account or a true business line of credit or whatever. But Mhmm.

Philip Taylor [00:10:01]:

Entrepreneurs just need to get going, and they just separate it as as quick as possible. Focus on sales and marketing.

Sara Lohse [00:10:06]:

And now Since I'm an LLC and I'm, like, the sole proprietor, whatever however you say it, I'm these are big words for me. When I go to file my taxes, Am I actually filing them together? Like, I don't file the business taxes separately.

Philip Taylor [00:10:22]:

You don't you don't necessarily have to. So the way it works is So if you establish the LLC, what you'll do is you'll still file your 10.40, but you'll add on a schedule Lohse, For that for that year's filing. The schedule c is where you put all the income and expenses associated with that business. Now You don't have to have an LLC to to file the the Schedule c. You can do that just if you have a business running through Just just if you're running a business, that's where you would put the profit and loss from that business on there. But if you have the LLC and it's a single member, meaning you're the only member of that LLC, then you would also put that on the schedule c. The only exception is if we're getting in sort of the weeds here already, but if you were to, So the way the LLC works from a tax perspective is it's considered, especially for the single member LLC, it's considered a pass through entity. And so the IRS basically ignores it and says, okay.

Philip Taylor [00:11:22]:

Here's this extra sheet you can put all your business income on. You can be an LLC or not. We don't care, but that's where all your business income goes on that schedule Lohse. And then that's gonna pass over to your 10.40, and you'll still pay taxes on it just like you would, for for any other type of source of income. The only exception though is is if you get into what's called an s corp. So you Establish yourself as an LLC filing your taxes as an s corp, and what that does is it puts you into a a corporation status with A single corporation status with the IRS, and so you would then move your business over into a different form, an entirely different tax form. You'd still do your 10:40 personally, but then you have 11:20 s for the, the business. And so and then you'd The 11 20 s would be due on March 15th, the 10:40 due on April 15th, and then you would marry those 2 up to file your personal return.

Philip Taylor [00:12:19]:

So subtle difference. S corp status election is not something a new entrepreneur necessarily needs to worry about, but at some point, it makes sense. And I can explain the reason that it makes sense if you'd like down the road, and this conversation might be too heady for everyone's point.

Sara Lohse [00:12:34]:

My brain already hurts.

Larry Roberts [00:12:35]:

It's a little it's a little deep. I think you know, what what I would kinda be interested in and and and hopefully some of our listeners would be interested in is, you know, as an entrepreneur and somebody that's established their brand and they're still trying to get their footing, taxes can definitely be, Larry intimidating aspect of what we do, But I think the the what a lot of people are looking for is those deductions.

Philip Taylor [00:12:55]:

Yep.

Larry Roberts [00:12:55]:

Talk to us about and what are some of the things that we can save money on Yep. By having a business account and being entrepreneurs because, I mean, cash flow is always a struggle, especially as an early on entrepreneur. That cash flow can be very, very tight, And if we can write some of these things off or save money, I think that's to our advantage. So could you give us some insight there on some of the things that we may overlook some of the most common deductions that people don't take into account?

Philip Taylor [00:13:21]:

Sure. Absolutely. So certainly setting up the separate account helps because then you can identify what your expenses are and whatever thing is that's associated with the business. And then as you're pulling that card out, it sort of triggers you to say, Oh, is this associated if this is this, you know, meal associated with something with the business? Is this thing I'm buying from my office associated with it? So it puts you in the mindset of, like, looking for these types of deductions, but that's the normal everyday average spending. So anything you spend It's called ordinary and necessary is the IRS language. If it's an ordinary or necessary expense associated with their business, You can deduct it on your schedule c or on that, as part of that s s corp, through the 11/20 s that I mentioned. But what are the outside of the box things? Right. So you're gonna have your standard expenses, your you know, anything associated with the business.

Philip Taylor [00:14:14]:

Well, what are some some of the outside of the box things? Maybe at the end of the year, like, Okay. I wanna, maybe add on some expenses or do some things to save, money on my taxes, like you mentioned. So A couple of things through the years that I've done is focus on accelerating my expenses. So I look at what I would maybe spend in the Q1 of the next year and maybe try to accelerate some of those expenses. And what I what I mean is basically, like, if you're going to a conference that you know you're going to next year, then go ahead and buy that ticket for that conference. Like FinCon.

Larry Roberts [00:14:47]:

Like yeah. I said FinCon, but being the professional that I am, I was muted. So, that worked out really well.

Philip Taylor [00:14:53]:

Yeah. So so accelerate some of your expenses. That's the way to think about it. Of course, that affects next year's taxes, so you're sort of always playing that acceleration game if you go down that route. Some other big ideas are, not to not to forget the fact that you have a home office, and oftentimes people think, well, it's not I'm not paying rent, so I don't necessarily have to, I can't deduct that. But, no, you can. You can deduct the expense

Larry Roberts [00:15:19]:

of That's something where every year, I try to deduct my office, my studio because is my home studio. I mean, it's literally a room in my house that is my studio, plus I have another space that I do all of my development and actual real work goes on in a totally different room. But every time I do my taxes, it comes back as I don't qualify to write it off, and it's super frustrating. I don't know how I I know I have to be doing something wrong, But Mhmm. It's it yeah. Because I I get zero deduction no matter what I claim. I mean, I've I've claimed the whole square footage of the house, and it still goes, nah. You're good.

Larry Roberts [00:15:52]:

You're not getting a deduction. I don't I don't know what I'm doing wrong there. And I know you can't answer that today, PT, but, I mean, just as an example, it's it it it those types of deductions kinda frustrate me, but I think some someone like yourself could help other entrepreneurs that might be falling into that same rut.

Philip Taylor [00:16:09]:

Yep. Yep. Well, schedule c, they have 2 methods that you can use to, deduct that home office. There's sort of a simplified version, which basically takes, I think, $5 a square foot for the room, or there's sort of a a more complex version, which kinda takes into effect, like, some of your actual expenses associated with it. So there's 2 ways you can calculate it, but there there may be some limitations, like you said, that might apply to your particular situation that may prevent you from doing that. But, and also maybe the software, that you're using. So,

Larry Roberts [00:16:42]:

Good old TurboTax.

Philip Taylor [00:16:46]:

Yeah. It might be worth visiting, a CPA to to look through it and see, you know, why that limitation's happening, try to understand that a little deeper. But, yes, home office, Something you always should try to, deduct every year, the vehicle that you use for your business. So if you went if you drove it to conferences, If you drove it to meet clients, if you, you know, use it as part of your business, then certainly you should be deducting that as well. So those are 2 big items, car and home. And then some additional levers you can pull are, and these are massive actually. Or or the first one is retirement accounts for your business. So Just like you have if you had a employee or, you know, regular job and you had access to a four zero one k at that job, you can set up the same thing for your individual business.

Philip Taylor [00:17:31]:

And so the solo four zero one k or the SEP IRA or the simple IRA are 3 types of accounts that you could establish for yourself As a business owner, there's differences between the the 3 there depending on if you have employees or not, but, basically, it allows you to Defer some of your income. So let's say at the end of the year, your business bottom line made $50,000, and you wanna take some of those funds and put them toward your retirement instead that if giving more of that over to the IRS, you can establish a solo four zero one k, and that has massive, deductive deductions available to it. Not only because you're the employer and the employee in this situation, you get to actually deduct, the contributions on both sides. And, looking to the solo Lohse one k is is a good option, especially if you don't have employees. Like, you can really defer a lot of your income into the future. That means you also need to save that money. You don't have access to that money, but, my thought has always been through the years. I'll say, I'd rather save it for my future then give it over to the IRS.

Philip Taylor [00:18:33]:

And so that's a big one. Another big one is, charitable contributions. So, if you've got a charity associated with your business or just personally that you're into, utilize the end of the year as a good time to give some of those funds to a charity versus giving to the government to ultimately dull it out based on their wants and wishes. Another one is just to something you mentioned earlier was to Are there any new pieces of equipment, new vehicles, new things that you know you're gonna need for the business? You know, now may be a good time to buy those. Now don't let what they say, is letting the the tail wag the dog here. Like, don't go out and buy something just because you think it's gonna save you on taxes. Only buy things if it truly will help your business and move you move your business forward.

Larry Roberts [00:19:21]:

PT, Man, it was great having you as a guest. We appreciate you coming up today, but, yeah. No. I'm just kidding. No. It's funny you

Sara Lohse [00:19:28]:

say that. On the head with Larry.

Larry Roberts [00:19:31]:

No. It's like, man, put me in my place right out of the gate.

Sara Lohse [00:19:33]:

Uh-huh. But

Larry Roberts [00:19:34]:

but no. It it's because you do. You can be tempted by those things, especially When you're listening to people, you know, there's so many influencers out there that we look at as being super successful, and they have all these these tax breaks and these, different angles where they're leveraging certain tax breaks, but so many times we don't take into account as, you know, newer entrepreneurs that maybe those same tax breaks aren't necessarily gonna work for us. So I I I think that I love what you're saying there. You know, keep it keep it basic. Keep it simple as possible Branded don't try to you're gonna find yourself in some hot water, and, you know, I'm I'm speaking that from a little bit of experience. There was a time where I Didn't quite pay enough, and this what got me was they didn't even tell me till 3 years later. I had no idea that I owed the IRS money until 3 years after the fact, and, of course, by the time they come back, there's interest and penalties.

Larry Roberts [00:20:31]:

And now I'm on a payment plan for the next 5 years, and it felt like I was never gonna get out from under that. But I did eventually. But if you can avoid those pitfalls right out of the gate, of course, that's gonna be much more beneficial in the long run.

Philip Taylor [00:20:44]:

I think it's important. Once you establish that that that checking account, maybe throw in an extra savings account associated with it and start stashing some of that,

Larry Roberts [00:20:53]:

that income

Philip Taylor [00:20:54]:

over in there. 10, 15% of your earnings should probably go over there to that to get ready for the tax bill at the end of the year. Because If you're if you're earning if you're earning, the money yourself and it's coming in through 10.99 type of payments, then you're responsible for those for those taxes. And so Mhmm.

Larry Roberts [00:21:11]:

You need

Philip Taylor [00:21:12]:

to be stashing it aside.

Sara Lohse [00:21:13]:

Jumping back to the home office deductions. So my home office Is I mean, obviously, it's in my house, so I'm using the same electricity, like, all of the like, the same, utilities. Can I deduct my whole utility bills, or can I only do, like, a like, a piece of it?

Philip Taylor [00:21:33]:

Sure. It's a it's a percentage based on the square footage of your home of your office compared to the rest of your home. So let's say your, your home office is a 100 square feet, and your house is A 1,000 square feet. So you're working with 10% of your expenses at that point, that you can deduct.

Sara Lohse [00:21:54]:

Is anyone from the IRS going to come and measure my office.

Philip Taylor [00:21:59]:

They're not. They're not.

Sara Lohse [00:22:01]:

Good to know.

Philip Taylor [00:22:03]:

I mean, I don't know. They might, but I doubt it. What was I gonna say? Just make sure that it is it is important that the space it is important that the space be dedicated to your business. And so it's not the kitchen table, unless the kitchen table is the only thing you ever do there is work on your business. So it can't it doesn't have to be a physical office, but the space has to be dedicated to your business. There's also sort of a, a factor of, like, How how many months during the year did you actually use it? So let's Larry it's a seasonal business. It can be dedicated, but if it's seasonal and you only work there during the summer, then you Sara have to cut that 10% then by the the amount of months that you actually used it. So does that make sense?

Sara Lohse [00:22:51]:

It's a lot of math.

Larry Roberts [00:22:53]:

So is taxes. Yeah. So, PT, tell us, man. We we've done a we've had a good conversation here about taxes and kinda laying the foundation of the the at least the groundwork for our taxes going forward as new entrepreneurs. I would like to learn a little bit more about FinCon.

Philip Taylor [00:23:10]:

Yeah.

Larry Roberts [00:23:10]:

Now I've only been to FinCon once, and it was a great experience. I went at the behest of Sara And also as co promoter of another conference myself, Podfest, we had a booth there at FinCon and, Of course, talking to people to potentially come to our event as well. But tell us more about FinCon, how it got started, and and what it means to the financial creator, community.

Philip Taylor [00:23:35]:

So back in the day, I was a personal finance blogger. Still I am, have that site at petzmoney.com, and on that journey, I met other content creators online. We needed a space to come together and share ideas, meet meet brands, kind of have an industry conference. And so That's what it's become. We've grown it through the years. It's a great group of people that are helping people with their finances on a regular basis, And so we get to serve them with really what's become a digital marketing conference, so a place for them to sharpen their content creation skills and come together under one roof. So, we've we're in our 13th iteration. Our next one will be in Atlanta in the fall of 2020.

Larry Roberts [00:24:15]:

I didn't realize it was 13 years. Wow. That's amazing. Congrats.

Philip Taylor [00:24:18]:

13 years strong. Yeah. But a great community to serve, and I've, I've got a great events team behind that business that puts on the show every year. But, really, it's the community that comes together that really has a big abundance mindset, Collaborative mindset, and that is interested in basically helping folks achieve financial freedom and independence in their lives and, comes together sort of collectively under that mantra.

Sara Lohse [00:24:45]:

Yeah. Yeah. Saint Con has always been one of my favorite events, and We we were just together at the conference down in New Orleans, AFCPE Symposium, and I was there just on my own, but you had a booth. So I half of the conference at your booth talking to attendees, and I would talk up the conference, and I'd be like, and in case, like, you think, like, you're not fully convinced yet, I don't work for them. He's not paying me to say this. I just felt like, there was an open chair. I get to sit down. I'm gonna tell you how great this event is because it's just it really is, and the community is amazing.

Sara Lohse [00:25:19]:

And every time I go, it's like a little I mean, we say this all the time about Podfest and Outlier, but A little family reunion. I got to see all the people that I haven't seen, since the last conference, and everyone is always They just wanna help other people and collaborate. There's no competition, and, like, how can we help everybody else do great things? So Yep. It's just it's such a great event.

Philip Taylor [00:25:42]:

Well, thanks for that, Sara. I appreciate you.

Larry Roberts [00:25:45]:

And even just being there one time, I kinda got that feeling as well. You know, I do a lot of conferences, Speak all across the country at podcasting conferences and creator conferences and AI conferences, you name it, and there's very few that feel like what I would call a community, but even in my single appearance there, and that wasn't an appearance, my attendance, I didn't or anything, but, just being there, I felt that same community type vibe. And the people that I connected with and talked to and interacted with, It just it just gave that community vibe off, which is super, super cool and super, super rare in a conference type environment, so Good job on providing that community for everybody.

Philip Taylor [00:26:26]:

Yeah. Thanks. I think it has a lot to do with the fact that our subject matter is still a taboo in our society. Right? People don't wanna, Yeah. Necessarily talk about open up about their money or or share ideas about it. They're afraid they'll be judged by it. They're afraid they're They'll seem ignorant of it, and and, so when we get together, it's, it's it's it's like, We have permission to have those conversations with each other finally. We're the people we're the weird I always call them the weird people on the Internet who like to talk about money, you know.

Philip Taylor [00:26:55]:

Yep. So when you get them in a room, it's, like, cool. We can actually have these conversations versus, like, bothering my wife or spouse with it or bothering a neighbor with these topics. You know?

Sara Lohse [00:27:06]:

Yeah. And you actually have a new event coming up too. You've branched into the travel industry.

Philip Taylor [00:27:12]:

Yep. Yep. So the FinCon team is gonna take on Travelcon in May of 2024. So, it's been an existing event in place, another creator event that serves Travel creators, and so we're gonna be running that event, in Portland in May. And it was, Matt Kepnes who founded that event, Nomadic Matt, And he said, you know, here you go, PT. Take it and run with it. And so he's got other fish to fry, and we're gonna, we're gonna take the event and and move it forward. So, yes, The team and I have expanded into 2, events, a sort of a spring and fall deal.

Philip Taylor [00:27:48]:

I've also got the CPA firm I'm trying to get off the ground. So There's a lot going on right now, but I'm excited for it. I'm here for it.

Larry Roberts [00:27:56]:

That's super cool. Tell me more about Travelcon because Sara's the world traveler. She's got the tattoos to prove it. But me, I literally just got my passport for the very first time, this year, and I still Still still haven't used it. The the trip that we were planning fell apart, but, yeah. So tell me about Travelcon. What what is that all about, and What's the audience that you're looking for there?

Philip Taylor [00:28:19]:

Sure. Similar to FinCon, it's it's content creators. So it's anyone who has a podcast, a YouTube channel, a blog, But instead of finances, the focus is on travel. So whether you're budget travel, luxury travel, rewards, in some kind of, adventure travel, whatever it is, or just traveling with your family. If you're showing that offline, creating content around it, and that's kinda brewing up a little business for you or a big business. We're the conference that's gonna help you do 2 things. We're gonna take you on a journey, from part time content creator to full time, and then we have a 2nd track dedicated to scaling up. So if you already are a full time creator, We're gonna help you scale up that operation and turn it into sort of a bigger business idea, potentially with a with a team and creating more freedom for yourself.

Philip Taylor [00:29:06]:

So, It's really business focused, very marketing focused. We'll have brands there. We'll have the destinations there. So you could come, and If you're a creator who likes traveling around and sort of being hosted by destinations when you get there

Sara Lohse [00:29:20]:

Yes, please.

Philip Taylor [00:29:21]:

Those destinations will be there, and you can work out a deal with them To, you know, to come to their city or their state or whatever it is and showcase them and be compensated for it. So that's kinda how the industry works. There are a few travel agents there that are content creators. There'll be authors, people who work for sort of travel tech, solutions. But for the most part, it's just people who who are passionate about sharing their experiences with travel and what they're doing online. And in some way, they figured out how to attach a business to that. You know? And that business part is what we're gonna help them expand.

Sara Lohse [00:29:59]:

The dream.

Larry Roberts [00:30:00]:

Dude, that is so cool. And, you know, it's it's kind of a testament too because, you know, we're heavily involved with Podfest. You you've got FinCon. Now you've got Travelcon, And we see all these content creator cons or conferences that are out there, and it just speaks to the power, and the opportunity Being a content creator slash entrepreneur today, especially, it's it's really interesting because I was I'm a Huge fan of Think Media and Sean Cannell, and, I was watching an episode of the Think Media podcast. I think it was yesterday, maybe day before. And, Patrick Bet David was on there, and Sean was inter interviewing PBD, and they were talking about the power of how content creators now more than ever, We've got the platform. We've got the voice. We've got the opportunity to get out there and not just make an impact, but make a career out of what we love to do.

Philip Taylor [00:30:52]:

And That's

Larry Roberts [00:30:53]:

right. So super cool to see you doing that in the finance space and in the travel space, And it's just it's just such a tremendous time to be alive right now if you're a creative, and you've got regardless of what your interest is, You can create content and be an entrepreneur and leveraging some of your insight and your tax methodologies there, you can you can be successful.

Philip Taylor [00:31:13]:

Well, thanks, Larry. Yeah. I'm bullish on it too, man. I I think this is, I think this is the future. My kids, they're kind of The they're, and they talk about how that's what they wanna be when they get older as a as a creator. You know? They've they've got their YouTube channels they follow. They don't watch real TV. And It does.

Philip Taylor [00:31:31]:

Yeah. And, you know, that's that's kind of the future they see themselves in, you know, is is sharing what they're doing online. So I'm bullish on it. I'm honored to be serving these communities because they're entrepreneurs. You know, most people that come to my shows, they pay their own way. You know? It's not like Mhmm. Someone some Someone sending them there or something like that. I mean, they're really investing to be there, and so that's a cool customer to to get, you know, in the event space.

Larry Roberts [00:31:56]:

Yeah.

Sara Lohse [00:31:56]:

I used to get someone sending me there, and then I decided to be an entrepreneur. Now I have to pay for it, and I did not think this through.

Larry Roberts [00:32:03]:

She still said it happened. Go ahead, PT.

Philip Taylor [00:32:07]:

Well, I was gonna say, at least you get to deduct that expense now. You know what I'm saying?

Larry Roberts [00:32:10]:

There you go. There you go. I mean, we're sitting here celebrating the opportunities that we have, It's Sara's over here going, yeah. It sucks.

Sara Lohse [00:32:17]:

I told okay. I said from the beginning, I never wanted to open to run a business. And I still am just like, I probably made a mistake.

Larry Roberts [00:32:27]:

You definitely did not make a mistake. You're crushing it, and I appreciate the opportunity to have you as is a is a cohost and a partner here in what we're doing, so really amazing.

Sara Lohse [00:32:35]:

Oh, you said good things about me.

Larry Roberts [00:32:37]:

Yeah. It's not often, so take a minute. But BT, man, thank you thanks. We really appreciate you being here with us, BT. Tell everybody where they can reach out to you. Find out more about FinCon. Find out more about, Travelcon, find out more about your your your practice. Just tell everybody where you're at.

Philip Taylor [00:32:52]:

Yep. Best place to hit me up is on either Twitter at ptmoney or on LinkedIn. And you can just search for PT Money or Philip Taylor on LinkedIn, and you'll spot me on there as well. So those are my favorite 2 platforms right now. Yeah. Would love to connect with anyone in the in the audience who's interested in either event or is interested in, being one of our beta Test versions for our tax and bookkeeping clients in the future. We're we're opening the doors to that in the coming weeks, and so yeah. Sara, did did I win you over for that?

Sara Lohse [00:33:24]:

Uh-huh. Maybe? You mean I don't have to do it? Okay.

Larry Roberts [00:33:27]:

I don't want any of my friends or associates seeing my books. So

Sara Lohse [00:33:34]:

True.

Philip Taylor [00:33:37]:

But, anyways, PT That explains the IRS letter now.

Larry Roberts [00:33:40]:

Yeah. A 100%. A 100%. Yeah.

Sara Lohse [00:33:42]:

It it was deserved. I'm sure.

Larry Roberts [00:33:46]:

So well, PT, thank you, man. We really you coming on here, providing a tremendous amount of value on this particular episode of Branded. And for those of you listening and watching, if you some value in this episode. Do us a huge favor. Just go ahead and hit that subscribe button so Sara and I and our amazing guests like PT can continue to bring you this amazing content each and every week right here on Branded. And with that, I'm Larry Roberts.

Sara Lohse [00:34:11]:

I'm Sara Lohse, and pay your taxes.