This is an archived page from 2019. Find out more
(By Troy Price) If you ever have the chance, fly into the Santa Fe Regional Airport in New Mexico. Why you may ask? Take a break from reading this and look around the room you are in. Unless you are in my favorite place to read, the Santa Fe Regional Airport is only about twice the size of the room you are in right now. But wait there is more, the tiny airport is decorated with perfect terra cotta floor tiles and exposed beam ceilings just like the airport was built by the Spanish in the 1800’s. It was a great place to visit.
I wasn’t there on a vacation however. I was there to record interviews for a podcast. I attended a convening of principals of the State’s Early College High Schools and conducted interviews about their best administrative tips and collect antidotes of successes that the educational model has garnered. If you are interested in this use of podcasting, feel free to re-read my article titled, “A Unique Way To Make Money Podcasting” that was also published here in the Podcast Business Journal.
I share about my trip not to talk about the tech I took for the remote recordings, or to talk about my interviewing techniques. If you saw me during my trip you would have asked yourself, “Why is that man treating that wad of receipts with such reverence?” From my airline tickets to the too long receipt I received for the batteries I bought at the drug store, I kept everything insanely organized. Even to the point of printing the Uber receipts out at the hotel’s business center each day. I did that so that at the end of my trip I can just drop my “Santa Fe Trip” folder into my records drawer and forget about them until tax time.
I often talk about the fun part of podcasting. I love the tech, technique, and mindset of being a podcaster, but, like what the name of this journal suggests, there is a business side to podcasting. I have a couple of business tips I would like to share with fellow podcasters, this is the first time I am sharing them in print.
If you think you will ever make a dime from your podcasting efforts, follow the rules of your state and form an official business. There is something almost ceremonial about going through the business registration process. By just taking that step you will take your podcasting efforts more seriously, that in and of itself will help you.
Secondly, with your newly official business paperwork, open up a new banking account in the name of the business. When I make any amount of money from podcasting I put it in that account. Slowly that account grows. There is a level of satisfaction when the statement from the bank arrives and tells me I have hundreds of dollars sitting there from all the fun stuff I get to do. I sometimes forward that email to my wife. It does generate a fair amount of good will when I am out late recording or have to travel without her.
After you are an official business, one requirement will be that you will now have to report on all the income that goes into that account and any expenses it takes for you to run your business. And it is for that reason that I am like Gollum from Lord of the Rings holding my receipts like My Precious. All of those receipts translate to business expenses that I can claim against any money I make.
In truth, it was good fun to fly out to Sante Fe. But it was an even better trip knowing that it helped my bottom line! You too can have the privilege of easily claiming business expenses all you need to do is follow these steps.
_Troy Price is the co-founder of _Front Porch Studios_ in Berea, Kentucky. He’s been involved with podcasting for over a decade. Reach Troy by email at _Troy@frontporchstudios.com.
Comments:
Gordon -
Troy, You are So right. These are some of the kinds of things I teach podcasters about in my Podcaster’s Legal & Business Bootcamps. In fact, I’m doing one this Saturday, December 14th, to show podcasters how to DIY most of the business / legal startup stuff that protects them and their shows. http:// podlawbootcamp.com for more details