I had an appointment at the bank today. I needed to talk to someone about my money.
Here’s the thing, I’m great a doing voice over work. I’m great at earning money. I’ve definitely mastered the fine art of spending money. Heck, I’m even pretty good at saving money. What I’m not that good at, is growing money.
I had a lump sum of cash sitting in a savings account collecting about 1%. That’s not going to take me very far.
So today I met with a banker.
Seek An Expert
I sat down with an individual who is much smarter than me when it comes to finances. It’s important to know when to turn to an expert. Not just in your finances, but in every aspect of your life! You should always be building a network of people you can turn to for wisdom and guidance on all the things you don’t know as much about.
To begin our meeting I basically said, “Look. I don’t know anything about investing or mutual funds or retirement savings or any of it. Hence the reason I have a lump sum of money sitting in an account doing very little for me. I’m putting my financial future in your hands!”
With that, we began a 90 minute journey to diversification!
Diversify Your Portfolio
By the time I walked out of that meeting, I had money spilt up all over the place.
I’ve got cash in three different mutual funds. I’ve got cash invested in an RRSP, I’ve got cash in a tax free savings account. I’ve got cash cash in about four other accounts for various an assorted other purposes.
I now have, so I’ve been told, a diversified portfolio. Apparently, it’s going to make my money work for me. Or at least, much more so than it was in a savings account collecting 1%.
I like that.
Your Voice Over Portfolio
Your money isn’t the only place you need to diversify. You need it in your voice over career as well. I don’t think it’s a good idea to have all your eggs in one basket. Especially when there are so many options available to you to find work.
Online casting is a huge. It’s a very big part of my income. I’ve got memberships with three different online casting sites, and book a lot of work through them.
I also have many regular clients. Relationships that I’ve cultivated and developed over the course of many years. I’m still working with clients that have been with me since I started in 1995!
I don’t stop there though. Each week I spend time prospecting. Searching for new potential clients. Establishing relationships. Building my network.
A lot of voice talents have agents.
Others are members of unions, of business associations, of networking groups. All of these provide additional opportunities to get your name out there.
If you want to watch your money grow, you need to diversify your portfolio. If you want to watch your voice over career grow, you’ve got to do the same thing!
QUESTION: How diverse is your voice over portfolio? Are all your eggs in one basket or many?
