indie business club

I blagged a mini strategy session from the wonderful Charelle Griffith 👌In episode 34, Charelle talked us through how to do our annual plan. I then asked her for a little bonus chat at the end about how she thinks I should grow this podcast. Her first question absolutely stumped me. Why do I want to grow this podcast? Errrrr… 🤷‍♀️In brief - to build my profile, help as many people as I can, hopefully get it to a point where it pays for itself. Charelle then gave me the best bit of advice I think I’ve ever heard. And it’s so beautifully obvious. It’s easier to get people to listen to your podcast if they already listen to podcasts. So guesting on other people’s podcasts is a great way to bring in new listeners who are already podcasty. So I did what I was told.I posted on LinkedIn, Instagram and TikTok saying “please can I come on your podcast”. Now I’ve got around a dozen invitations to work through. Thank you everyone who’s reached out or tagged their podcast pals.If you have any podcasts you think I should pitch to (or your own that you’d like me to guest on 😉) please reply to this email to let me know.Creator DayI’m back at Creator Day in May to record another live episode of indie business club podcast. I’ve got two special guest co-hosts lined up to do it with me - all will be revealed next week. I can’t wait. It’s always such a fun time in Poole. Speakers at the event include previous guests Gus Bhandal and Phil Agnew along with Lea Turner, Michelle Goodall, Jon Alexander and Katie Stokes.📅 Thursday 14th May (with my live podcast recording Friday 15th, in the morning)🌊 Poole, Dorset🎟️ Tickets from creatorday.uk 🍦 Save £20 on your ticket by using the code TeamMelThere’s also a special Cowork Crew on the Wednesday 13th May, so I’m going to try and get there for the Wednesday through to Friday. Freelancer Magazine Masterclass SeriesFreelancer Magazine is running a two-day masterclass series on 4th and 5th March. I’m running a workshop called “How to be lucky and win the freelance lottery” along with a tonne of other freelancer experty people talking about topics like branding, onboarding, tone of voice and PR. More info right here (my affiliate link, where it costs you the same as it would if you bought it anywhere else, but I get a bit of cash to help fund the podcast).You get 14 practical workshops designed by experts especially for freelance business owners, with recordings to watch back whenever you like. The value is ridiculous so get your ticket here (again, there’s recordings, so don’t worry if you’ve got other stuff on that week).LinkedIn Algorithm Be LikeI enjoy everything has ever written but this post in particular tickled me. Go follow him here and on LinkedIn. I’ve cut and pasted his post to maximise the chance you’ll read it but please go and thumb it here too. Andrew’s post:—————————————————————HAGGLING WITH LINKEDIN OVER THE REACH OF MY POSTS:ME:Hi LinkedIn. Do you reckon you could show this post to a decent chunk of my followers please?LINKEDIN:Dunno. What’s it about?ME:Just trying to let more people know about the work I do.LINKEDIN:15.ME:Excuse me?LINKEDIN:15 people. That’s how many people we can show it to.ME:That seems… a little low.LINKEDIN:Now it’s 12.ME:Well, what about this. A pal of mine is looking for work, what can I get for a post telling people how good they are?LINKEDIN:4.ME:Come on.LINKEDIN:7, but three of them are chickens.ME:You’re joking.LINKEDIN:Yeah. They’re all chickens.ME:Can you show it to anyone who aren’t chickens?LINKEDIN:Do you have Premium?ME:No.LINKEDIN:Then you get the chickens. And we hate you.ME:Fine. How about a post congratulating an independent agency I know on a brilliant campaign they’ve just done?LINKEDIN:We can show that to literally one person. His name is Ken.ME:Will he be interested?LINKEDIN:Not really. He’s more into the chicken content.ME:So… why…LINKEDIN:Plus, he’s super angry, like all the time.ME:Ok…LINKEDIN:You want us to show this thing to Ken?ME:Definitely not.LINKEDIN:That’s probably best. He’d really hate it and he gets super rude. You got anything else?ME:Well, there is this one thing, but I doubt it’s worth mentioning.LINKEDIN:Let’s hear it.ME:Well, I used A.I. to create this shoddy video of me playing crazy golf with all the different Batmans and…LINKEDIN:100 million.ME:Woah, really?LINKEDIN:200 million. Everyone should see that A.I. Batmen Crazy Golf Video. It’s super aligned to our vision and values, somehow.ME:Wow, that’s amazing, thanks LinkedIn! Then I can just add a link to my…LINKEDIN:A single chicken. And you’re shadow-banned. And we killed your fish.——————————————————————Byeeeeeee, Mel Find my producer, theme composer and certified grownup Ant Henderson on LinkedIn. And listen to indie business club wherever you cast your pods.🎙️ Spotify / Apple podcasts / Amazon Music and Audible This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit indiebusinessclub.substack.com

Make 2026 the year you promote the absolute heck out of yourself 👌This time, I’m joined by Gus Bhandal to talk about ways you can build up some good old fashioned hysteria for your personal brand and your business. Gus is a LinkedIn expert. I have an unhealthy relationship with LinkedIn. So of course we gave the platform some air time :) But we also talked about…how speaking at events has grown our profilesthe time Gus was a pub landlord (I didn’t ask if he ever got to shout “get outta my pub!”)stuff we see other people post online that makes us go “oh noooo” 😐why it pays to be positive when you’re putting yourself out theregetting famous (in our tiny bubble)And your friend and mine Will Slater is back with more bizpiration in #WillsBookClubSidenoteOn the topic of LinkedIn, I did a poll this week asking “If you know something was written by AI, do you keep reading?” Depending on what time you read this email, you might still be able to vote. But if you’re too late, you can at least see what the final tally was by clicking the picture below. I find it so interesting that despite all the hype around AI and how we’ll get “left behind” if we don’t use it, 57% of this sizeable sample of humans finds AI generated writing a major turnoff. Something to bear in mind when deciding whether to a) get a robot to do it or b) bring in me and Dave at Copy Or Die copywriting agency to get some squidgy human brains on the project.About my co-host - Gus BhandalBack to the episode, and my guest co-host Gus. He’s a marketing strategist, social media specialist, LinkedIn trainer, and founder of The M Guru. He recently launched The Squeeze, a LinkedIn focused membership for freelancers and founders who want to get more out of the platform. Gus also co-created the LinkedIn focused conference UpLift Live. Find Gus on LinkedIn (chronically, like me) and on Instagram. Next steps…If you want to take LinkedIn more seriously, get yourself to UpLift Live to hear from the world’s leading LinkedIn experts and influencers. Including your friend and mine Dave Harland, who’s speaking at this year’s event. The full line-up is on the Uplift Live website. It’s in Birmingham on Thursday 26th March and you can get £20 off your ticket right here by using the code MELB. I get a few quid when you use the code, which will go on paying sound guy (and sound guy) Ant’s next invoice. TracklistBTW, today’s episode name is Hysteria, a single by Muse from their 2003 (whaaat?!) album, Absolution. I picked it because as business owners we need to hype ourselves up and whip our clients into a frenzy of hysteria, so that they’re uncontrollably excited to work with us. Also coz Muse were the first band I saw live when they supported Skunk Anansie at Cambridge Corn Exchange in 1999. Good times.Let me know, how are you going to hype up yourself and your business this year? I’m going to try and bag a couple of speaking gigs, run more workshops (IRL and in person) and get onto more podcasts as a guest (it’s less work than making my own episodes) 😉Speaking of workshops…Freelancer Magazine Masterclass SeriesFreelancer Magazine is running a two-day masterclass series on 4th and 5th March. I’m running a workshop called “How to be lucky and win the freelance lottery” along with a tonne of other freelancer experty people talking about topics like branding, onboarding, tone of voice and PR. More info right here (my affiliate link, where it costs you the same as it would if you bought it anywhere else, but I get a bit of cash for aforementioned sound guy).You get 14 practical workshops designed by experts especially for freelance business owners, with recordings to watch back whenever you like. My talk is called ‘How to be lucky and win the freelance lottery’ (no lotto win guaranteed).Also speaking are…​Alex Thompson - ‘Go from order taker to trusted partner: earn more by doing less’.Amy Nolan - ‘Amy’s lunchtime doodle creative livener’.Alastair Thomson - ‘Getting funky with finance’.Angela Lyons - ‘Create a memorable freelance brand across all platforms’.Anita Ellis - ‘First contact to signed contract – take control of your sales and onboarding process’.Eman Ismail - ‘Turn followers into clients: how to turn your newsletter into a lead machine’.Gus Bhandal - ‘The LinkedIn content superstar strategy’.Heather Murray - ‘Reach new revenue levels (without hiring) with AI’.Jess Bruno - ‘F*ck the algorithm – how to build a personal brand and double your visibility’.Lucy Werner - ‘Using your personal stories to get PR’.Penny Brazier - ‘Write like yourself (everyone else is taken)’.Ryan Percival - ‘Create a LinkedIn profile that works while you work’.Tamu Thomas - ‘Impossible to ignore: 3 steps to get paid to speak and build a magnetic expert profile’.The value is ridiculous so get your ticket here (again, there’s recordings, so don’t worry if you’ve got other stuff on that week).Byeeeeeee, Mel Find my producer, theme composer and certified grownup Ant Henderson on LinkedIn. And listen to indie business club wherever you cast your pods.🎙️ Spotify / Apple podcasts / Amazon Music and Audible This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit indiebusinessclub.substack.com

Create a plan to make 2026 your best year in business yet 👌Producer Ant says this might be his favourite episode so far. But is he just hyping me up since it’s my first episode of the post-Ben era? 🤔 Have a listen and let me know what you think.My first guest co-host is Charelle Griffith, a business growth strategist, award-winning Chartered Marketer, event speaker and The Annual Planning Queen 👑Planning your business yearI’m the voice of the (lazy) people - I don’t do much planning in my business. But Charelle’s seen the difference it can make when people take planning their business seriously.In the episode, we talk in-depth about each step of Charelle’s framework:1) Review and reflect on the past year2) Set and record your goals for the upcoming year3) Marketing strategy4) MonitoringCharelle gives a compelling case for why we need to plan. For example, did you know, one study found self-employed/freelance workers take an average of just two weeks off each year?One of the (many) golden nuggets of advice Charelle gives is to book out your time off at the start of the year, to make sure you’ve ringfenced your downtime. There’s a heaptonne of similar gems of wisdom in the episode, so let me know which part resonates with you most.And if you’re put off by the enormity of planning for a whole year, remember that while the plan you get at the end is important, it’s the process that’s the most valuable part. The thinking, the reflecting, the decision making. It’s vital you set time aside to think properly about all elements of your business. I hope this episode helps to convince you.I couldn’t have hoped for a more generous, fun guest. Thanks Charelle for giving us so much businessy goodness.And in a new feature, your friend and mine Will Slater dips into a not-so-obvious business book to give us a bit of inspiration in #WillsBookClubAbout my cohost - Charelle GriffithThrough her business, CharelleGriffith.com, Charelle provides business growth and marketing consulting, mentoring and training to help small, but mighty, business owners to strategically grow thriving businesses they love, and that enable them to live their best life.Find Charelle on LinkedIn and on Instagram.Resources and next steps…You can download Charelle’s free Annual Planning Checklist and her Annual Reflection Questions. And if you want to book your private 1:1 Annual Planning Strategy Day with Charelle, you can read more about it right here.TracklistToday’s episode is named after the song Running/Planning by CMAT. Because we often spend so much time RUNNING our businesses we forget to make time to PLAN, geddit? Also, I’m obsessed since seeing her perform live last month (ICYMI).Needy feedback requestAs you know, I’ve been a bit *gulp* about going solo(ish) with the podcast. So I’d love to hear what you think about the new episode and format. I’m open to constructive criticism obvs, just maybe save it til January after I’ve had a nice little rest. Hit reply to this email, or comment if you’re reading in Substack.Cheeeeeers,MelFind my producer, theme composer and big biz boi Ant Henderson on LinkedIn.And listen to indie business club wherever you cast your pods.🎙️ Spotify / Apple podcasts / Amazon Music and Audible This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit indiebusinessclub.substack.com

This is the last episode I recorded with Ben before he left the podcast. If you didn’t want to do your CPD homework you just had to say so, Ben 😏This will be the last indie business club episode for a little while. I’m going to take some time off to plan out how to move forward with it. But whatever the format ends up being, I’ll definitely have…indie business insightsguest co-hosts andmy sound guy (and sound guy) AntAnywayyyy, back to today's b-side: training and CPD (that’s Continuous Professional Development). Ben and I discussed the benefits of attending conferences and training, as well as talking about budget-friendly free (and nearly free) ways to get your CPD fix.I was surprised at how little budget people who responded to the ProCopywriters survey commit to CPD. But then I am an absolute schlaaaaag for a conference. And I class that sort of in-real-life CPD as a massive part of my marketing. It’s also worth noting, times have been difficult for many freelancers out there so the budget isn’t always there to do all the courses, conferences and meetups you want to.But if you’re looking for an affordable way to get out of the house and learn, the Marketing Meetup has local in-person events. You get pizza, drinks, and a marketing talk from as little as three quid. I host the Northampton one - come along on 6th November if you’re close by. TMM also has a huge back catalogue of recorded webinars on their website. Including the one that we were on :)It can be really difficult to prioritise CPD as a business owner when you’re juggling a million and one other things too. But even just dedicating 10-15 minutes a day to reading, listening to a podcast, watching a webinar, it adds up across the week to make a big difference. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit indiebusinessclub.substack.com

When we covered the topic before (in episode 14 Handbags and Gladrags), we set ourselves the goal of becoming an award-winning podcast.And if you want to be award-winning, you have to actually enter awards. Even Oscar winners have to be put before the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences “for your consideration”. So we stuck in our application. Indie business club got shortlisted in the Podcast Jingle Of The Year (well done, Ant!) and Podcast Of The Year in the business and money categories at the Independent Podcast Awards. As finalists we'll also be up for the big one, the overall Independent Podcast Of The Year🤞🏻Soon, we’ll find out if we won. Will report back 🫡In this b-side, we also chat about how winning a copywriting award last year has impacted my business and why you should put yourself forward for stuff too. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit indiebusinessclub.substack.com

Ben and I are on our way to Manchester today for CopyCon 🤩 I spoke at the event last year and the year before that, our Copy Or Die pal Dave Harland spoke. Dave’s meeting us there and this time, we're looking forward to a totally talk-responsibility-free CopyCon with lots of learning, loadsa laughs, and hopefully a sizeable karaoke sesh. We do love giving an event talk, though. Last week we spoke together at Nottingham Digital Summit all about how you can “shorten the gap” by using three strategies; tone of voice, curiosity, and reciprocity. Maybe you were there? :)If you weren’t but you're nosy (or just like chocolate brownies) we've popped the resources right here. You get:- the best brownie recipe in the world- our guide to tone of voice- our talk slides (which you won't have context for if you weren’t there, but they sure do look pretty if I say so myself)New episode out todayThis podcast episode is our conversation with The Marketing Meetup’s Joe Glover all about freelancing.We look at…- our freelance origin stories- what to think about before taking the leap- how to attract clients- how to cope in tumbleweed times- pricing your work- and loads of other stuffDedicated listeners will spot that this is recycled content. Yes, it is :) but we recorded some new podcast content this week…Awards, revisitedYesterday, we recorded a follow-up to our previous episode about awards (Handbags and Gladrags). It’ll be out in a few weeks. It’s almost a year since I won the Women In Marketing Brand Copywriting Award, so the next episode is a look back on how it’s impacted my business (spoiler alert = 💰) And ICYMI indie business club has been shortlisted for Podcast Jingle Of The Year, and Podcast Of The Year in the business and money category at the Independent Podcast Awards. We’re off to London in a few weeks for the awards show. I might pack my sequinned dress for max glam points. Ben’s outfit is TBC. At lunchtime on the awards day we get to go and poke around at Apple Podcasts HQ in Battersea.We’ll (obviously!) let you know how we get on. YouTubeThe episode is already on the TMM YouTube channel right here 👇Cheers, Mel (& Ben)Find our producer, theme composer and bald-faced beaut Ant Henderson on LinkedIn. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit indiebusinessclub.substack.com

This episode is called All These Things That I’ve Done and it’s all about how to put together a portfolio to show off what you can do. We look at…creative ways to give a good account of yourselfwhy it’s best to get something out there, even if it’s just “for now”the importance of making your portfolio as “you” as you canMake sure you subscribe to the channel to get your bell poked when the YouTube video goes live. VoicenotedToday’s voicenote is from long-time (day-one listener!) friend of the show, copywriter and poet Gemma Strang. Mel first met Gem at the Women In Marketing Awards where they were both shortlisted. Gemma is a true creative with a fizzy brain. It comes through in her portfolio, which you can ogle here: Gem’s Portfolio and find her on LinkedIn here. Your Friend And MineThis time our friend of the show is photographer Wendy Gannon, who you can find on LinkedIn. Wendy is the Queen of Angles, a personality-led photographer and consultant for unapologetic female founders. You can read more about her empowering project, femalefivemillion.comStuff we said we’d put in the show notesCain Lewis’ portfolio Joe Coleman’s incredible website - getcoleman.comA creative prompt generator shared by Leigh JamesPat on the backFinally, some news we’ve been itching to share with you… indie business club has been shortlisted for two awards at the upcoming Independent Podcast Awards 🎉🥳.We’re in the running for Podcast Jingle Of The Year, and Podcast Of The Year in the business and money category.Way back in episode 15, The Masterplan, we set a goal for indie business club to become an award winning podcast. At the time we didn’t even know if there were awards for pods like ours, but we found the IPAs soon afterwards and nominated ourselves.That’s right, we nominated ourselves.Initially I felt a bit cringe about it. But I re-listened to our episode on industry awards (episode 14, Handbags And Gladrags) and got over myself. Mainly because of what our voicenoter from that episode Charles Commins said:“It's lovely recognition of the work that you have done, and it can give you a little bit of gravitas. And even when you put yourself up for awards, to get nominated, to be seen by maybe your peers, whoever it is that's judging those awards, to be recognised as one of the best entrants into that category in that awards that year is fantastic. So it gives you a warm, fuzzy feeling.”We wanted that warm, fuzzy feeling.And Charles* is right. To be shortlisted feels amazing. I’m really proud of us. The awards night takes place in London in a few weeks. Mel and I will be there, and we’re hoping to tempt Producer Ant down from the North. We’ll keep you posted (about Ant, and whether we win).Cheers, Ben (& Mel)Find our producer, theme composer and beardless (*sob*) beauty Ant Henderson on LinkedIn. *Charles’s podcast “It’s All Cobblers To Me” is also shortlisted at the IPAs, in the sports category 👏👏👏 This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit indiebusinessclub.substack.com

This episode is called Moving Pictures and it’s all about using video to market yourself and your business. We look at…why some people would rather poo in their hands and clap than record themselvesreasons you might want to consider choosing videos over doing the abovehow to get over yourself and get startedI’m currently editing the video version of this episode, which will go on YouTube by the end of the week. Make sure you subscribe to the channel to get your bell poked when it goes live. VoicenotedToday’s voicenote is Ben’s stiff competition for “loveliest voice on this episode” it’s Jonny Rose. Jonny runs The Story Club where he helps B2B founders get confident on camera and turn video into consistent content that actually builds their business.You can find him on LinkedIn where he shares tips and (kind) nags to get people to use video in their marketing. Disclaimer… we say on the episode that LinkedIn changes the rules so quickly everything could have changed by the time this airs. And maybe it has?! Big thanks to Jonny for recently sharing this PDF LinkedIn report on video, which seems to put B2B video front and centre again. https://business.linkedin.com/content/dam/business/marketing-solutions/global/en_US/site/pdf/wp/2025/the-art-and-science-of-video.pdf Your Friend And MineThis episode’s YFAM is Craig Williams, a graphic designer providing box fresh designs that deliver excellence for events. When I went to Craig’s LinkedIn profile to get the link to put in these show notes I was THRILLED to see how he’s laid out his bio with song title references as subheadings. So go have a look and connect with him while you’re there. YouTubeAnd if you’re catching up on your to-do list, break up the boredom by watching our last episode. Phill from Nudge podcast tells us all about behavioural psychology and how you can use certain principles to your advantage when marketing your business. Watch it here 👇Cheers, Mel & BenFind our producer, theme composer and bearded beauty Ant Henderson on LinkedIn. 🎙️ Spotify / Apple podcasts / Amazon Music and Audible This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit indiebusinessclub.substack.com

Want to trick people into buying from you? Then read on!Jokes, that’s deeply unethical, please don’t do that.Today’s pod episode is a bit special. Firstly, it’s episode 30 (toot toot 🎺) and secondly, we’ve got a guest! He’s the host of the UK’s #1 marketing podcast and he’s also probably the UK’s #1 “marketer who could trick you into buying something from him” (but he won’t coz he’s a nice guy) it’s…👏 Phill Agnew from Nudge 👏The episode is called Where Is My Mind and it’s all about principles of behavioural psychology you can (ethically!) use to your advantage as an indie business owner.We had a lovely time recording with Phill. Lotsa laughs and lotsa insights including…- how to get some reciprocity (I can’t say it without singing Lauryn Hill in my head - IYKYK)- why it helps to demonstrate the effort behind your work instead of outsourcing everything to AI- the pratfall effect and why showing your human side helps (to a point)- how obsessed Phill is with Ben’s lovely voice (🙄)We also got some behind-the-scenes intel on how Phil uses psychology to promote his own podcast Nudge, including how he gets people to sign up to his email list.On a completely unrelated topic.. 👀 In the episode Phill mentions the 25 books he recommends you read in 2025 and 5 you should avoid (you can tell he’s a psychologist). Slap your email address in right here at this here link here here it’s this one here to get Phill’s knowledge in your box.YouTubeI’m behind in editing the episode videos for YouTube because it takes lots of effort (which is a good thing - see above) but I skipped a few to make sure this one is ready to view in time so you get to see Phill’s lovely face. Watch it here.We’ll leave you with Phill’s testimonial about the episode 😎👇"I don't think I've laughed this much on a podcast in a long time"Cheers,Mel & BenPS: The capital of Tuvalu is Funafuti.Find our producer, theme composer and legal eagle Ant Henderson on LinkedIn and you can watch older episodes of the show on YouTube here. 🎙️ Spotify / Apple podcasts / Amazon Music and Audible This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit indiebusinessclub.substack.com

This episode is brought to you by Copy Or Die, the copywriting agency we work at, which Ben co-founded with Dave Harland. If you say you listen to the podcast we’ll probably give you I dunno, 0.05% off or something. Subscribe nowHi, Mel here,Today’s episode is all about starting a podcast. In our first attempt at recording our last episode (on starting something new), we rambled on and on about indie business club. It felt too self-indulgent (even for us) so we re-recorded that episode and made starting a podcast an episode topic in itself. As you can tell by the extended runtime, we enjoyed self-indulgently talking about ourselves. In this episode, we covera bullet point, quick (hah!) recap of our podcast origin storydecisions to make when considering starting a podcastquick audio quality wins (including getting your mic the right way around)cushions, and other sound mufflersbare minimum gear and tech requirementssome “behind the scenes” chat about how we’ve improved stuff along the wayhow and why to put structure into your podcastDisclaimer: we are not podcast experts. Far from it. This is just a conversation about how we’ve done things, and why.A rare time I’ve checked what I said I’d put in the shownotes 👇Podcasts we’ve been on as guests…Mel’s is hereBen’s is hereAnd we had a question in from Martin Dewar about what gear we use. Here’s our “stack” (as the kids call it):Ben’s mic: Rode NT-USB.Mel’s mic: Rode Podmic USB - and we both have mic arms so we can avoid bashing the mics too much. Riverside FM for recording.Anthony P Henderson’s magic scissors (and magic brain) for editing.Canva and Riverside for editing the videos. Canva for our graphics. Substack for publishing the podcast and sending out these here emails.VoicenotedToday’s voicenote is by Graham Coath, a LinkedIn content creative, podcast maker and business consultant. He also has a LinkedIn sales training course which you can read about here. Graham’s podcast with Marianne Mills is A Better Way Of Life.Your Friend And MineThis week’s YFAM is a beautiful human inside and out. Leyla Alexander is a graphic designer who helps brave brands stand out, connect, and grow with thoughtful branding and graphic design.Alongside her design studio, she founded and runs You Are The Sea, a sustainable, ocean-inspired clothing brand that gives back to the sea by donating £2 to Surfers Against Sewage for every item of clothing sold. Find Leyla on Linkedin here and on her website where you can sign up for her newsletter, The Happy Palette. ResourcesOne of the best ways to learn about podcasts is to listen to other podcasts! Shout out to Being Freelance, the podcast by our pal Steve Folland. Steve interviews freelancers about their journey and as he’s a podcast producer himself, the production value is excellent.Colin Gray runs ThePodcastHost.com and has a youtube channel with tonnes of great info. Our pal Charles Commins started Mic’s Podcast Club with Vic Turnbull. It’s a regular online meetup that’s a great source of support, advice and community. Chris Stone has a newsletter here on Substack called Podcast Strategy Weekly. Catch the replayHave you seen our Marketing Meetup webinar on how to grow a freelance business? Please watch it to pump the numbers 😉 This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit indiebusinessclub.substack.com

This episode is brought to you in partnership with Nikki Pilkington - SEO expert, copywriter, legend, and friend of the show. You can get 20% off Nikki’s full SEO course and on-page SEO toolkit with our code IBC20. Learn more at nonwankyseo.comToday’s episode is all about starting something new. It’s called Roll With It (we promise we aren’t just jumping on the Oasis bandwagon…) In the episode, we talk about- why you should follow your gut when something keeps “winking” at you- shiny object syndrome (and what it could mean)- worky and non-worky new things- how taking advice from others can be a good (and bad) idea- examples of people we know who have gone for it and started something newWe ripped off Buzzfeed/LadBible so this is a listicle episode 😉 Here are some things we think you should consider before starting something new…1) Do you actually have time to do this thing justice?2) If it’s a product or service, does anyone actually want it?3) How realistic are you being with yourself about the work involved?4) What’s the cost to you?5) What’s the ROI?6) What does success look like?7) What should you outsource?8) If you’re starting with someone else, how will you divide up tasks?And of course you can expect our usual conversational meanderings. If you’re pondering a new thing, give the episode a listen and then let us know if it’s helped. VoicenotedToday’s voicenote comes from friend of the show Sophie Cross. Sophie is editor and founder of Freelancer Magazine, the quarterly print magazine that also offers subscribers lots of other benefits including three virtual coworking calls per week and lunch and learn sessions. You can subscribe at: freelancermagazine.co.uk - look out for our faces in there. Thank you Steve, Jen, Glenn and Fiona for your kind words :)Your Friend And MineThis week’s YFAM is Glenn Sturgess, a legendary copywriter with an illustrious career as head of copy at some of the biggest agencies and businesses. Glenn’s written ads that you’ve definitely seen and heard. He's now freelance and running his business Write This Way Ltd. Glenn is incredibly generous with his time and advice and he’s a big supporter of the show too. Find Glenn on LinkedIn here. Catch the replayWe spoke to Joe Glover all about freelancing at The Marketing Meetup webinar. Please watch it so the view count gets nice and high. Coz we’d love a part two 😉 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6H03qh6UA4&t=1s Thank yoooooou, Mel & BenFind our producer, theme composer and audioslave Ant Henderson on LinkedIn and you can watch older episodes of the show on YouTube here. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit indiebusinessclub.substack.com

Hi, Mel here,Today’s episode is all about audio branding. And so, we’ve brought in the expert! Of course, it’s sound guy (and sound guy) our producer and theme composer Ant Henderson *insert big cheering noises here - it’s what he’d want* Subscribe nowWe talk aboutwhy audio branding workshow to insert a little audio magic into your businessour favourite jingles (maybe we mentioned yours?) though sadly Ant was reluctant to sing despite being a literal rockstar (we’ll link to that story another day if he lets us)some random jingle factsWe had an incredible response to my request for jingle suggestions on LinkedIn. Sadly, we couldn’t possibly run through the whole lot (the episode is already way longer than normal!) and you’ll have to listen to see if we got to yours ;)George Levens and Emma Pritchard sent in some jingle voicenotes and a special thank you to the incredible Stefanie Mellano for her rendition of… well, you’ll have to hear it yourself. Paul Burgess sent in some punk band covers of jingles:VoicenotedToday’s voicenote comes from our pal Jack Chambers-Ward. Jack is Marketing and Partnerships manager at Candour search agency, and he hosts the Search With Candour podcast and Sequalisers, a podcast about fixing bad film sequels. He’s already a friend of the show (episode 12) and he’s the first listener I ever met in the wild who we didn’t already know. Hopefully we’ll be able to do a podcast crossover with Jack some time. As predicted in the show, we have not included all the links in the shownotes because there were frankly way too many to keep track of. But that’s okay because Google exists ;) I will remember to put this in though - Molly Scanlan’s newsletter (for excellent facts and info on how to be less evil) is at www.mollygetsitdone.comCatch the replayWe spoke to Joe Glover all about freelancing at The Marketing Meetup webinar. Please watch it so the view count gets nice and high. Coz we’d love a part two 😉 Thank yoooooou, Mel & BenFind our producer, theme composer and special VIP guest star Ant Henderson on LinkedIn and you can watch older episodes of the show on YouTube here. If you enjoy the show, you can chip in on our production costs with a £3 contribution at ko-fi.com/indiebusinessclub please and thank you 💖🎙️ Spotify / Apple podcasts / Amazon Music and Audible This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit indiebusinessclub.substack.com

Today’s episode is all about outsourcing. Are you an outsourcer? Or an outsourceee? Or both? Did I just make up those words? At least one of them. Either way, to keep it easy we’re using “outsourcing” to cover any projects that are done by someone who’s not on the payroll. We discuss the pros and cons, what to watch out for if you’re outsourcing, how to be a good outsourceee (we should use more triple-Es in made-up words) and highlight how outsourcing can help you scale your business both up and down, depending on how things are going. BTW, this episode is supported by Freelancer Magazine, the quarterly magazine for freelancers, founders, and the freelance-curious. Along with the mag (which is printed or digital) your subscription gives you a whole heap of other benefits including three virtual coworking sessions every week. You can subscribe here or find it on LinkedIn and on “instantgram” @freelancermag. Ben and I are both in the upcoming issue on client processes and getting new clients. Look! Ben’s the COVER GIRL!VoicenotedOur lovely pal Jo Marshall is today’s voicenoter. Jo runs All Things Words, the copywriting agency for higher education providers. Jo and her team provide copy audits, course copy and content. Shout out to Louis and Ivy too! You can find Jo on LinkedIn and at allthingswords.co.uk.Your friends and mine A double bill this time and first up is VA to creative types like us, Erin Buck. Erin is a firm supporter of the show and knows a thing or two about podcasts herself, having hosted Women In Business podcast for multiple series. Find her at her website and on LinkedIn. We also want give a shout out to friend of the show and past voicenoter (episode 13) Rishi Dastidar who has a new book which is out now. A Hobby Of Mine is published by Broken Sleep Books, and is described as “an unrelenting catalogue of cultural observations which becomes an absurd and profound portrait of modern life”Buy it from brokensleepbooks.com and all good bookshops.And can you do us a favour?We’re speaking on The Marketing Meetup webinar this coming Tuesday 17th June at 2pm. Please come along and watch us get quizzed by Joe/James from TMM so we don’t have to talk to an empty room. Okay, so it’s virtual and there’s no real room… and you aren’t on camera anyway, but you know what we mean. Sign up is here. Thank yoooooou, Mel & BenFind our producer, theme composer and apprentice roofer Ant Henderson on LinkedIn and you can watch older episodes of the show on YouTube here. If you enjoy the show, you can chip in on our production costs with a £3 contribution at ko-fi.com/indiebusinessclub please and thank you 💖🎙️ Spotify / Apple podcasts / Amazon Music and Audible This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit indiebusinessclub.substack.com

Today’s episode is all about testimonials. But just before we get into it… we’re incredibly excited about this 👇We’re doing a Marketing Meetup webinar with Michelle L P Boland all about how to grow your marketing freelance / consultancy business in 2025. Doing a TMM webinar is major #Goals so please help us make it a success by coming along! 😄We’ll talk all about how we’ve each built our businesses and give allll the indie business intel and tips. It’s not until 17th June but you can sign up here to get it in your calendar :)TestimonialsNow. Onto the episode. It’s all about testimonials, which seem to be a sore point for lots of people. Do you…ask for them? get them? use them?Full disclosure, we’re not exactly great at asking clients for them. This is one of our “do as we say, not as we do” situations..! It sometimes feels a bit icky. And then time just dribbles by and before you know it, two years have gone by. Bit late by then.I asked people’s opinions on LinkedIn and got some great tips. Several people noted how it’s useful to be ultra specific about what you’re asking for. So if you want to highlight your organisation skills / communication / professionalism / slick onboarding process etc. (delete as appropriate) then tell your client that when you ask for a testimonial.Others try and grab natural comments as they go along. There’s a “Wall of Remembrance” on the Copy Or Die homepage (scroll down a bit to see it) thanks to a plug-in called testimonial.to (I think we might have said i o on the episode sorryyyyy).VoicenotedLuckily, we have the Peter Pan of graphic design Dave Officer as today’s voicenoter to give us a steer. He made us ponder why it feels gross to ask for testimonials and talks about how he approaches asking for them. It was an epic feature-length voicenote, so we’ve had our sound guy (and sound guy) Ant weave Dave in and out of the whole episode.Your friends and mineThe YFAMs from this episode are everyone we mention in this episode!Gemma Strang, Jodie Newman, Leigh James, Jo Shock, Stacey Eleczko (find her helpful article here), Eddie Shleyner, Dave Harland (again!), Adrian Elton, Amy Hawthorne, Jeremy Freeman, Gemma Champ, Lou Major, Erin Buck, Samantha Harman and Ruth Sedar.We didn’t have time to cover everyone’s testimonials tips so we will revisit the topic in future. Email us on show@indiebusinessclub.com if you have any comments and we’ll try and include them in our testies part two.One last wangOkay, it probably won’t be the absolute last time I wang on about this but we’re so proud of our live episode. We’d love you to listen to it if you haven’t already. We had a jolly old time making it, as you can see. Please give it a listen 😉 Thanks again to Mark Masters and the team at FOUNDRY Poole.And one last askWhile we’re on the topic of asking for testimonials, can you leave us one please? 🙏 You email us (show@indiebusinessclub.com) or leave one on our individual LinkedIn pages here for Mel and here for Ben. Or you can leave a review wherever you listen to your podcasts. Thank yooou! This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit indiebusinessclub.substack.com

This earlier-than-expected episode is called Let’s Go Surfing* and it’s a LIVE Q&A episode recorded at FOUNDRY Poole as part of Creator Day 2025. Extra special thanks to Mark Masters at You Are The Media for organising the space and inviting us to record our first live episode *TV announcement voice* recorded in front of a live studio audience. Thank you to the team at FOUNDRY as well for taking such great care of us. BTW the video version of the live recording won’t go up for a little while yet - I’m still wrangling with the massive file size :)Q’s got A’d (mostly…we’re okay admitting when we don’t know stuff)We had a range of questions submitted on LinkedIn: Robyn Santa Maria on when to burn it all down and start againSeyam Hamed on how to rest without the guiltFelicity Wild on what clients really wantGrace Hall on how to get a retainerRaymond Manzor on where to focus your efforts when there are 29 things you could do right nowWe also had questions live in the room: Mark Masters on how to switch offChristine Gritmon on when to work for freeRachel Extance on how to do market researchPhoto credit: Steve Folland of Being FreelanceThank you to everyone who came, especially Becky Greaves for sending me this link to a LinkedIn post Ben mentions on the show when talking about how engaging a freelancer on retainer is more cost effective than having an employee. Creator DayFriday’s recording closed out Creator Day. On Thursday, I spoke on stage** at the main conference day about how to be lucky. I talked about how chance events impact careers, and the three things you can do to harness luck:1) get over yourself and post - put yourself out there online2) network, network, network - meet people, with the goal of friendship first3) go brain-to fingers - don’t over sanitise your content to the point it doesn’t sound like you anymoreIt’s thanks to doing those three things that I ended up meeting Ben. And it’s how we’ve approached building an audience for indie business club podcast too. We don’t make promises about how you can hack your way to six figures, or sugar-coat freelance life to make it sound all sunshine and lollipops. We don’t have fake personas or masks we put on to record. We certainly don’t try and polish our episodes too much. And we try and get out there to events to meet people and turn online connections into real-life relationships. Creator Day is one of those special events where you walk into the room and feel like you’re surrounded by friends. You might not have met all of them yet, but they’re future friends at least. If you want to get in on the action next year, earlywirly bird tickets are on sale now. Your friends and mineThank you so much to everyone who came along to watch the live recording. We really appreciate you sticking around a little longer after Creator Day to join us in our first studio recording. It’ll be weird going back to recording remotely on Riverside!Check out what friend of the show Amy Nolan created to showcase the day. What a legend. You can buy Amy’s doodles as postcards and pngs at her shop here. We’re hoping to make it back again next year. What a blast. Cheers, Mel & Ben* (if you’re not sure if you know the song, you probably do)**if you were at Creator Day, I’d love to know what you thought of my talk. Please can you spare 3-5mins to fill in this form?Find our producer, theme composer and speedy splicer Ant Henderson on LinkedIn and you can watch older episodes of the show on YouTube here. If you enjoy the show, you can chip in on our production costs with a £3 contribution at ko-fi.com/indiebusinessclub please and thank you 💖🎙️ Spotify / Apple podcasts / Amazon Music and Audible This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit indiebusinessclub.substack.com

This episode is called Separated by Motorways and it's all about working with your friends. We’re at Creator Day today. So the YouTube video will be up in the next week or so. Here we are at last year’s event, which was only the second time we’d met in person. This photo was taken at FOUNDRY, where we’re recording a live podcast Q&A episode tomorrow morning. Let us know your indie business/freelancer questions on show@indiebusinessclub.com and we’ll answer as many as we can.Could you work with your friends? Have you?On the face of it, it seems like an easy decision to work with people you're friends with. But doing so comes with its own unique challenges and rewards. On this episode, we’ll talk about:How to make a success of it (i.e. stay friends)Making sure you're on the same page when working with your palsPutting in place boundaries so it all works outVoicenotedWe’ve got long-term friend of the show Bonnie Harrington on to talk about working with friends. Bonnie is a Bristol based copywriter specialising in writing for independent businesses and brands with a conscience. We've both worked with her and can verify she's ace. Find Bonnie on Instagram @wordsbybonnie and at wordsbybonnie.com Your friend and mineToday’s YFAM is Paul Smart, a business counsellor who fixes the “you” in your business. A bespoke mixture of counselling, coaching, mentoring and good old practical advice can get you where you want to go. Paul also runs a regular Friday music collective on LinkedIn which I love to get involved with.CopyCon DiscountSave 10% on all tickets to CopyCon, the conference for professional writers. This October, we’re heading to Manchester for the main conference day on Friday 3rd. Get your tickets here. Email the showGet in touch on show@indiebusinessclub.com with any questions you have about indie business life, or share your freelance/founder challenges. We may well feature you in a future episode. Cheers, Ben & MelFind our producer, theme composer and Sainsbury’s superfan Ant Henderson on LinkedIn and you can watch the show on YouTube here. A like and a subscribe goes a long way 😉 If you enjoy the show, you can chip in on our production costs with a £3 contribution at ko-fi.com/indiebusinessclub please and thank you 💖🎙️ Spotify / Apple podcasts / Amazon Music and AudibleThe back catalogue21 Got Your Money: pricing projects20 Joy Division: work-life balance19 Daytripper: conferences part deux18 The Day We Caught The Train: conferences ft Nick Crawford and Lorna Smart17 Hanging On The Telephone: ghosting ft Will Slater and Heather Pownall16 Heart Shaped Box: niching ft Ayo Abbas and Raymond Manzor15 The Masterplan: goal setting ft Janine Coombes and friends b-side Word of the yearb-side LinkedIn revisited14 Handbags and Gladrags: Industry Awards ft Charles Commins and Fab Giovannetti13 You’re The Voice: Tone Of Voice ft Nick Parker, Rishi Dastidar and Amy Nolan12 Plug In Baby: Software ft Jo Shock and Jack Chambers-Ward11 Somebody Told Me: Referrals ft Bob Burg and Penni and Jo Pickering10 Paranoid Android: AI vs creativity ft Tom Albrighton and Molly Scanlan09 Shiny Happy People: Personal brands ft Lea Turner and Steve Folland08 Chasing Rainbows: Business planning ft. Alastair Thomson and Melanie Johnson07 A Design For Life: Creating for yourself with guest co-host Dan Nelken ft. Penny Brazier and The McKinneys06 I Bet You Look Good On The Timeline ft. Dave Harland and Jonathan Wilcock05 Flaming Lips: Public Speaking ft. Pascalle Bergmans, Becki Wilson and Nikki Pilkington04 A Little Respect: Client Relationships ft. Jodie Newman and Sophie Cross03 All Together Now: Communities ft. Mark Masters and Ant Henderson02 It’s Oh So Quiet: Finding Clients ft. John Lyons and Bonnie Harrington01 Fools Gold: Pricing your projects ft. Tom Garfield and Ange Lyons00 What’s The Story? Podcast origins This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit indiebusinessclub.substack.com

Episode 22 is called Bloc Party and it's all about celebrating your wins as a freelancer, founder, or indie business owner. Subscribe nAre you good at celebrating wins? Lots of freelancers, founders and indie business owners are rubbish at it. You hit a goal, you tick it off, you move on. Rinse, repeat. But if you don’t stop to enjoy the wins (however small) it can make everything feel like an endless slog.In this episode we discuss ways to mark the milestones, what we’re going to do to celebrate one year of indie business club (coming up soon!) and we also talk about how it’s hard when you don’t have a manager to go “hey, you’re doing a great job!”So in case no-one else says it to you today... Hey. You’re doing a great job. It’s important to share and celebrate when stuff goes well. One of our recent wins is partnering with ProCopywriters to promote CopyCon, which is in Manchester on 2nd - 3rd October. I spoke at the event last year and we’re both going along again this year with friend of the show (and Copy Or Die colleague) Dave. You can get 10% off your ticket with the code IBC10 for CopyCon 2025. Treat yo’self.In the episode, Ben mentions how at Creator Day 2024 we took promo pics for the podcast. We also stepped out from the after party to listen to sound guy (and sound guy) Ant’s sample theme tunes for the podcast. Now Creator Day 2025 is in just two weeks (today 🎉) and you can get £40 off your ticket with code: IndieYATMVoicenotedAnita Ellis is a punchy copywriter for bold brands, offering brand positioning, web copy, and case studies. Anita talks to us about how she celebrates the wins (spoiler, it involves cake) and how important it is to record the small wins as well as big stuff. Shout out to Mr Ellis, who started Anita’s business birthday tradition.Your friend and mineToday’s YFAM is Jen Sands, an online business manager and wing-woman for entrepreneurs looking to scale and revitalise their business. Jen and her team of change makers and time reclaimers will help you create, systemise, and manage your processes. Jen’s been a great supporter of the show since day one and you can find her at jensands.co.uk.Email the showGot a burning question about being a freelancer, founder, or independent business owner? Or feel the overwhelming urge to give us a glowing testimonial? Get in touch on show@indiebusinessclub.com and we might feature you in a future episode. Cheers, Mel & Ben Find our producer, theme composer and Sainsbury’s superfan Ant Henderson on LinkedIn and you can watch the show on YouTube here. A like and a subscribe goes a long way 😉 If you enjoy the show, you can chip in on our production costs with a £3 contribution at ko-fi.com/indiebusinessclub please and thank you 💖🎙️ Spotify / Apple podcasts / Amazon Music and Audible This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit indiebusinessclub.substack.com

Episode 21 is called Got Your Money and it's all about pricing work as a freelancer, founder, or indie business owner. If you enjoy the show, you can chip in on our production costs with a £3 contribution at ko-fi.com/indiebusinessclub please and thank you 💖Pricing was the first topic we ever covered way back in episode one, released 27th June 2024. No need to listen to that one. Our sound quality and (professional podcast conduct) has come a long way since. On this new episode, we discuss:what to consider when you price up projectscharging for your time versus value-based pricinghow to deal with pushback on pricewhether to work for freeIt's such a complex and nuanced topic, we'll probably come back for a third episode in another ten months.VoicenotedBusiness coach Phil Budd gives us his thoughts on how to price up work as an independent business owner. Phil owns the High Performers Academy [ https://highperformersacademy.co.uk ] and is coach and business owner with ActionCOACH UK. You can find Phil on LinkedIn here. [ https://www.linkedin.com/in/philip-budd ]Your friend and mineThis time we give a shout out to Laura Bean. Laura's an internal communications specialist and copywriter who very generously let us know about a glitch on one of our YouTube videos. What a star. She's a wonderful supporter of the show. Thanks, Laura![ https://www.linkedin.com/in/laurabeancopywriting ]Listener discountsYou Are The Media’s Creator Day 2025 is on Thursday 15th May in Poole, Dorset.Mel’s speaking on the Friday morning, we’re recording a live episode of this podcast at 11ish at Foundry. Book here and save £40 with the code IndieYATMProCopywriters’ CopyCon 2025 is on Friday 3rd October in Manchester. With our code you can save on all packages. Book here and save 10% with the code IBC10YouTubeAnd you can watch the show on YouTube here. A like and a subscribe goes a long way 😉 The latest episode will go up a little later today.Email the showGot a burning question about being a freelancer, founder, or independent business owner? Or feel the overwhelming urge to give us a glowing testimonial? Get in touch on show@indiebusinessclub.com and we might feature you in a future episode. Cheers, Ben & MelFind our producer, theme composer and beard trimmer Ant Henderson on LinkedIn 🐶Support the show at ☕ko-fi.com/indiebusinessclub 🎙️ Spotify / Apple podcasts / Amazon Music and Audible This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit indiebusinessclub.substack.com

Episode 20 (TWENTY! 🥳) is called Joy Division and it's all about work-life balance. If you enjoy the show, you can chip in on our production costs at ko-fi.com/indiebusinessclub please and thank you 💖We first discussed the topic way back on our LinkedIn lives (we should bring those back). At the time, I had a lot going on and found the subject quite triggering. On the show, we discuss:whether it’s actually possible to find balance as an indie business ownerways to switch offthe “email fear”apps that can helphow a creative outlet can help you gain balancelistening to your bodyfinding joy in your workVoicenotedThis time we hear from our friend Bhavini Lahkani, a graphic designer specialising in brand identities and marketing collateral. Bhavini is an obsessive drinker of good coffee and eater of pistachio tiramisu (NEED) and you can find her at b81designs.com (where her blog is the excellently named “pixels & percolators”) and on instagram @b81designs.Your friend and mineThis time we give a shout out to Timon Spiesschaert, an international listener based in Ghent. Timon is a freelance copywriter & digital marketer at his business, Timon van Gent. Timon is a great supporter of the show, often sending us messages and comments. Thank you, Timon!Listener discountsYou Are The Media’s Creator Day 2025 is on Thursday 15th May in Poole, Dorset.Mel’s speaking and if you stick around until the Friday, we’re recording a live episode of the podcast at 11ish at Foundry. Book here and save £40 with the code IndieYATMProCopywriters’ CopyCon 2025 is on Friday 3rd October in Manchester, with fringe events the day before. With our code you can save on all packages. Book here and save 10% with the code IBC10YouTubeWe’ll never stop reminding you to watch the show on YouTube here. It takes ages to edit the videos so a like and a subscribe goes a long way 😉Email the showGot a burning question about being a freelancer, founder, or independent business owner? Or feel the overwhelming urge to give us a glowing testimonial? Get in touch on show@indiebusinessclub.com and we might feature you in a future episode. Cheers, Ben & MelFind our producer, theme composer and scissorati Ant Henderson on LinkedIn 🐶Support the show at ☕ko-fi.com/indiebusinessclub 🎙️ Spotify / Apple podcasts / Amazon Music and AudibleThe back catalogue18 The Day We Caught The Train: conferences ft Nick Crawford and Lorna Smart18 The Day We Caught The Train: conferences17 Hanging On The Telephone: ghosting ft Will Slater and Heather Pownall17 Hanging On The Telephone: ghosting16 Heart Shaped Box: niching ft Ayo Abbas and Raymond Manzor16 Heart Shaped Box: niching15 The Masterplan: goal setting ft Janine Coombes and friends 15 The Masterplan: goal settingb-side Word of the yearb-side LinkedIn revisited14 Handbags and Gladrags: Industry Awards ft Charles Commins and Fab Giovannetti13 You’re The Voice: Tone Of Voice ft Nick Parker, Rishi Dastidar and Amy Nolan12 Plug In Baby: Software ft Jo Shock and Jack Chambers-Ward11 Somebody Told Me: Referrals ft Bob Burg and Penni and Jo Pickering10 Paranoid Android: AI vs creativity ft Tom Albrighton and Molly Scanlan09 Shiny Happy People: Personal brands ft Lea Turner and Steve Folland08 Chasing Rainbows: Business planning ft. Alastair Thomson and Melanie Johnson07 A Design For Life: Creating for yourself with guest co-host Dan Nelken ft. Penny Brazier and The McKinneys06 I Bet You Look Good On The Timeline ft. Dave Harland and Jonathan Wilcock05 Flaming Lips: Public Speaking ft. Pascalle Bergmans, Becki Wilson and Nikki Pilkington04 A Little Respect: Client Relationships ft. Jodie Newman and Sophie Cross03 All Together Now: Communities ft. Mark Masters and Ant Henderson02 It’s Oh So Quiet: Finding Clients ft. John Lyons and Bonnie Harrington01 Fools Gold: Pricing your projects ft. Tom Garfield and Ange Lyons00 What’s The Story? Podcast origins This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit indiebusinessclub.substack.com

Episode 19 of indie business club podcast is coming at you faster than usual. We recorded a second episode on conferences, called Daytripper, so we could include feedback we got from LinkedIn. If you missed our first conferences episode, The Day We Caught The Train is here. If you enjoy the show, you can chip in on our production costs at ko-fi.com/indiebusinessclub please and thank you 💖VoicenotedWe’ve got a voicenote in from the inimitable Susie Palmer-Trew. Susie is a change consultant and founder of Growth Club, a community for people in the change management industry. Susie is also a public speaker and explains her different approaches to events, depending on the context. Your friend and mineOkay, so we’re cheating this time and calling all the LinkedIn contributors our friends of the show. Whether they like it or not. Exclusive Creator Day discount for our subscribersSpeaking of conferences… why not come along to You Are The Media’s Creator Day 2025, on Thursday 15th May in Poole, Dorset. If you stick around until the Friday, we’re recording a live episode of our podcast at around 11ish at Foundry.Our email subscribers can save £40 off the cost of a ticket for Creator Day. Book here and use the code IndieYATM.YouTubeWe’ll never stop reminding you to watch the show on YouTube here. It takes ages to edit the videos so a like and a subscribe goes a long way.Email the showGot a burning question about being a freelancer, founder, or independent business owner? Or want to warm our cockles with a glowing testimonial we can brag about? Get in touch on show@indiebusinessclub.com and we might feature you in a future episode. Cheers, Ben & MelFind our producer, theme composer and mouthclick collector Ant Henderson on LinkedIn 🐶Support the show at ☕ko-fi.com/indiebusinessclub This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit indiebusinessclub.substack.com