Liz de Nesnera. Best of Both Worlds VO.

Fluently Speaking Your Script's Language in English and French.

How to Avoid Tax Prep Stress

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For those of us in the U.S., this time of year is the time we are all very conscious of “Tax Prep” (Our filing deadline is April 15th).

When I was growing up, it was an AWFUL time. My dad was self employed and my mom HATED paperwork and the whole process was a true nightmare (not to mention the compounded stress when they were ripped off by a criminal accountant which led to years of hassles.)

When I went out on my own, I swore that I would not live with “Tax Prep Stress”

What did I do?

  • Since I started my business I have put aside 30% of all income into a “Tax account” so that I’d never have to scramble for those quarterly payments.
  • I committed to keeping accurate and current records (I use Quicken & QuickBooks, but find a system that works for you, and use it)
  • I found an honest and detail oriented accountant (Thanks Francis P. Flynn CPA!)
  • and I made a promise to him that he’d have all my paperwork by the end of February.

Today I sent everything off to my CPA for my 2018 return to be prepared – 2 days earlier than last year!

Full disclosure: with the new US Tax laws, this year I WAS more apprehensive because some rules have changed, and I wasn’t sure how things would shake out. But with my CPA having my back, and his emailing me not to worry, that he’d make sure everything was right, I am much calmer again. (Yes, my CPA is that awesome that he emailed me assuring me that everything would be fine!)

How about you? Are you ready for next year’s tax prep?

A few quick tips for my self-employed friends:

  • Deposit 30% of any income that you earn into a separate bank account dedicated to taxes. And don’t touch that money except to pay Uncle Sam!
  • Keep accurate & current records. The 10 minutes you take today to enter that check you wrote or that withdrawal you made can save you hours next year.
  • Keep your Business & Personal accounts separate
  • Have 1 Business and 1 Personal Credit card (it makes record keeping easier!)
  • Reconcile your bank and credit card statements every month. Again, 10 minutes at the end of each month can save you hours of figuring out missed transactions months from now
  • GET a Professional CPA! You’re a professional in your business, get a professional to handle your taxes.

If you are just starting out, start setting up good habits now, before you get busy! If you are already in business and not happy with the system you have, change it and find a system that works for you. There is no perfect system But a simple system you USE is better than a new-fangled one that you don’t.

Some items that have helped me:

  • FILE-IT file folder calendar: I have used these for years and love them! I have one for personal expenses and one for business. As I get them, receipts get put in that month’s folder and at the end of the year they are all there by month.
  • Eccolo file folders: whether you chose the ones I like to or colored ones, I like them a lot better than the plain manila ones!

Take  deep breath and don’t be afraid of the numbers. (They’re going to be there anyway, and as a good friend told me recently: “Don’t worry, it only causes wrinkles!”)

So now…go start a file for 2019 taxes and put it somewhere that’s easily accessible so you can keep track of the papers starting today!

🙂

Back to Basics

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I’ve been in the voiceover industry for over two decades. I’m in my 14th year of being a full-time voiceover talent. I love what I do. And I am lucky enough to have built a business that has allowed me to keep a fine roof over my head, in a place I love to live, to keep food on the table and my awesome stick-shift-AWD-Subaru Forester (named Whitaker…think about it 😉 ) in the driveway.

I’ve trained in voiceover technique with some of the best in the business, and I run my business AS a business.

So?

Sometimes things happen that make you stop and think.

This year, the “things” were that two of my best clients decided to change direction when it came to their voiceover needs. One was bought by another company which had their own roster of talent, and another has changed the way they record their projects.

Now, remember when I said above that I run my business AS a business? Good thing!

Years ago, a friend of mine, and a very successful VO in his own right asked me this question: “If your two best clients decided to go elsewhere, would your business survive?” I never forgot that question, and today I can say without a doubt: ABSOLUTELY!

In fact over the last 10 years, at the end of every year, I run my reports and REMOVE the revenue from that year’s top two clients to see where I would be had I not gotten that income. You should try it, it’s in interesting exercise. 🙂 How top heavy are you with your top two clients? Do they make up 10% of your income? 30%? 50%? Ask yourself: “If my two best clients decided to go elsewhere, would my business survive?” Would you still be able to pay your bills and put food on the table?

So with that in mind, and while my business is still thriving, I decided to go back to basics.

I signed up for a 6-week marketing course. I just finished Week-1. Wow. What an eye-opener! I’m diving deep and committed to expanding and finding my next new two-three-four-five best clients.

How about you? Do you need to get back to basics? Whatever that means to you, it might just be what leads you to your next success.

Remember that saying about first impressions?

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You never get a second chance to make a first impression.

In my work as a full-time voiceover talent, I record in many different genres: eLearning, explainer videos, commercials and…yes…Telephony.

To many voiceover talent, it’s not even on their radar or, honestly, it’s looked down upon as not worth their time.

For those not in my industry many know this as “voicemail jail.” Which is really sad.

What many don’t realize is how important it is for companies to have a professional sounding phone system.

It truly is often the first impression that people get of a company.

(How many rants have we all heard about the awful system and sound someone had to deal with when they called a certain company)

I just got off a session for a major luxury brand. There were two people on the line from the agency and client side, plus the engineer.

(For my VO friends: Yes, this was a Union booking via one of my agents, Desanti Talents recorded via ISDN)

We spent 40 minutes recording 3 paragraphs for their phone system.

These people get it. They understand that the people who call their company expect a certain sound and a certain quality. It’s also a sign of respect for the customer. Their customers don’t want to hear someone who’s just “phoning it in” (pun intended!)

I was thrilled to be hired to represent them.

So, the next time you hear a bad recording, what will you think of the company? Will you feel respected?

If, on the other hand, you hear a good recording, you’ll know that the company cares about their image, and you their customer.

Do the Footwork

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I’d like to chat about something I’ve been thinking about a lot these days.

It’s about doing the footwork.

We all take steps every day to advance our careers, enhance our relationships and make a better life for ourselves and our loved ones. Here’s the thing though….you don’t really know how it’s all going to turn out. Sure, you want it to turn out in your favor. You want that happy ending, but sometimes you never know what action you take will make that ripple and ultimately have that positive (or negative) impact.

Sure, a new voiceover demo is great. A new website? Fabulous! But sometimes it’s about sending an email thanking someone for writing a book that made you laugh….which can lead to a wonderful friendship. Or attending a business conference where you meet someone who becomes your best friend….or even the love of your life.

Just keep doing the footwork, and as someone once told me: “Stay out of the results.”

Be true to yourself, and you’ll be surprised at where you’ll be led. I know I have been.

Rant on Language

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OK, let me get this out of the way right now, so that it cannot be said that I did not “admit” this from the start:

I am not a teacher. I am not a parent either.

There, I said it.

But I AM a person who speaks more than one language due to parents & teachers who felt that this was important to my development and to my education as a whole.

Given that I use two of my languages in my work every day – I am a full time bilingual voiceover artist – I can say that speaking more than one language is vital to my everyday life. [Read more…]

A Community. Not Competition

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When I became a full time voice talent (or actor, or “-over” or artist, or faffer…whatever you want to call it these days! ;-), one of the statements that I heard over & over again was “Oh forget it, it’s always the same 10 people that get booked for those jobs.”

Really?

So how have I managed to make a full-time living at this? [Read more…]

Education of the voiceover….and of the most basic kind

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There’s a lot of talk these days about voiceover coaching and education.

Voiceover Coaching has become a veritable industry unto itself with some good coaches and – as always – some charlatans. I’m not going to get into that here.

I have been lucky enough to be coached by some of the best, and I’m STILL being coached and educated. I really feel that it’s a constant process of developing my skills and taking my abilities to the next level.

It’s an education that I take seriously. [Read more…]

You never know who’s listening, watching, reading.

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In today’s day and age of social network-meetup-hi-look-at-me-ing you never really know who’s out there peeking in your website-blog-twitter-facebook-window.

That’s not a bad thing, in fact it can be pretty cool!

I had a wonderful experience at the NYC Voiceover Mixer hosted by Voice Talent Productions last month: a fellow voice talent, who I had never met in person, came up to me and told me how much she appreciated my posts about telephony and how much she learned, and thanked me for the help I had given…virtually. That made me feel really nice! [Read more…]

Happy New Year!

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OK! So it’s “that” time of year again…Resolution-time!

What interesting about the concept of “resolutions” is that they usually involve some sort of major sacrifice or herculean effort….losing weight, quitting smoking, getting to the gym more often…Resolutions, frankly have a bad rap because they usually DON’T involve efforts we really want to make …but rather ones we feel we SHOULD make….and that’s why they are so often NOT kept.

On the other hand, when it comes to my voiceover career – that I LOVE – I see resolutions not as bad, but as opportunities to play and expand and grow as a voice talent and a business owner…I WANT to do these 🙂 What a concept! [Read more…]