Indie business club with Barfield and McKinney

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

Episode 18 of indie business club podcast is called The Day We Caught The Train and it’s all about going to conferences, networking, and events as an indie business owner.In it, we cover:the CPD benefits of attending industry conferencesthe other reasons it’s well worth goinghow to decide which events to attendIf 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 lovely Nick Crawford, marketing strategist at Twist Consultancy Ltd. Nick has benefited from networking over the years and he also runs the Milton Keynes Marketing Meetup. Your friend and mineThis week’s YFAM is Lorna Smart. Lorna is a proof-reader and she’s been such a huge support since before we even started the podcast back when we were doing our “Barfield & McKinney” LinkedIn lives. So thank you Lorna, we appreciate you!YouTubeDid you know you can now watch the show on YouTube here? Email the showGot a burning question about being a freelancer, founder, or independent business owner? Or a filthy conference story that HR had to get involved in? Get in touch on show@indiebusinessclub.com and we might feature you in a future episode.Cheers, Mel & BenFind our producer, theme composer and scissor jockey 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 17 of indie business club podcast is called Hanging On The Telephone and it’s all about professional ghosting.In it, we cover:reasons why prospective clients might ghost youways to try and prevent it happeningwhat to do if you do get ghosted andif you’re ghosted on payment, this blog from FreeAgent might be usefulIf 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 cat-daddy Will Slater, creative content specialist at 43 Clicks North. Will’s also an event speaker and specialises in storytelling as a marketing tool. Your friend and mineThis week’s YFAM is the lovely Heather Pownall. Heather is an award-winning media and marketing consultant, podcast producer and ideas machine. She’s also producer for friend of the show Ange Lyons’ podcast, Creatives Like Us. YouTubeDid you know you can now watch the show on YouTube here? You get to see all our facial expressions and the messy bits Ant cut but I can’t be bothered to trim off the video. Email the showGot a burning question about being a freelancer, founder, or independent business owner? Or a story about how you’ve been ghosted? Get in touch on show@indiebusinessclub.com and we might feature you in a future episode.Cheers, Mel & BenFind our producer, theme composer and kitchen renovator Ant Henderson on LinkedIn 🐶Support the show at ☕ko-fi.com/indiebusinessclub 🎙️ Spotify / Apple podcasts / Amazon Music and AudibleThe back catalogue16 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

Hello, If you enjoy the show, you can chip in on our production costs at ko-fi.com/indiebusinessclub please and thank you 💖In episode 16 “Heart Shaped Box”, we talk about…how and why to nicheikigai (Mel had written it down wrong, no wonder she couldn’t say it)VoicenotedWe’ve got a voicenote in from marketer Ayo Abbas, an award-winning strategic marketing consultant who specialises in working with construction and built environment firms. Ayo also has a podcast (podcast pals!) called The Built Environment Marketing Show. You can find Ayo here on LinkedIn, here on her website and here for her podcast. Your friends and mineRaymond Manzor is a sustainability copywriter for climate heroes. Ray also has a substack where he writes about climate change issues. What do you reckon?Mel set a goal for ten listeners to email in and let us know what they think of the show. We’ve had some incredible feedback in so far but we’re greedy and want more more more so please let us know what you think of the show. It helps us stay motivated 😉 show@indiebusinessclub.com Email the showGot a burning question about being a freelancer, founder, or independent business owner? Or a story about how you niched? Get in touch on show@indiebusinessclub.com and we might feature you in our upcoming Q&A episode.Cheers, Ben & MelFind our producer, theme composer and big kid Ant Henderson on LinkedIn 🐶Support the show at ☕ 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

Hello, and welcome to our first full-length podcast episode of 2025 🙌🏻 If you enjoy the show, you can chip in on our production costs at ko-fi.com/indiebusinessclub please and thank you 💖In episode 15 “The Masterplan”, we talk about…how setting goals can help you to protect your boundariesthe power of writing your goals downhow setting a specific number as a target can have a limiting effectMel’s knowledge of the phonetic alphabet (what a treat)how “vanity” goals can still influence your business positivelysetting aside time for thinking about your goals*the dog poo outside Ben’s house how to say hello in American (howdy to our US listeners 👋🏻)We (well, Mel) also set a goal for ten listeners to email in and let us know what they think of the show 👀 Just gonna leave this email address here… show@indiebusinessclub.com Always be improvingYou might notice in this episode we had precisely zero accurate statistics to hand. No wonder producer Ant gave us this succinct but stern advice after he edited it. VoicenotedAs always, a cracking voicenote on the topic. Janine Coombes is a Sales and Marketing coach for 1:1 coaches, consultants, mentors & strategists. She’s also an event speaker and very experienced brand marketer. You can find Janine on LinkedIn, and at janinecoombes.co.uk. Get on the waitlist for the book she’s writing for coaches at easy-yes.com. Your friends and mineJust to mix it up, we’re giving a shout out to two of our friends who have exciting stuff in the pipeline. Friend of the show Dave Harland is launching a course called Write The Funny, which is basically 20 years of Dave’s wordmessaboutery condensed and refined into a video course. Sign up at thewordman.co.uk/course for a healthy discount when it comes out.And our first ever Your Friend And Mine back on episode 01, Ange Lyons has launched her very own podcast called Creatives Like Us.The podcast is dedicated to opening up the conversation and amplifying the voices of underrepresented creatives, especially people of colour. Hosted by graphic designer Ange, this podcast is all about breaking down barriers and showing that a successful career in the creative industry is possible for everyone.Creatives Like Us is here to empower and uplift the next generation of diverse talent, whether you're a student, graduate, or exploring a new career path. Ange’s dream guest is Idris Elba so if you know him, hook her up!Ask us anythingGot a burning question about being a freelancer, founder, or independent business owner? Send them to in to show@indiebusinessclub.com and we might feature you in our upcoming Q&A episode.Cheers, Mel & Ben*If you have a recommendation for a brilliant spa hotel in the Birmingham area for Ben and his business partner Dave to have a relaxing goalsetting day, let us know. 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

On this minisode we discuss the concept of having a "word of the year". In case you missed it, we’re speaking at the Alt Marketing School open day on Thursday 16th January. There are 14 speakers and we’re talking about tone of voice and why it’s important for your brand and your business. Click the pic for tickets.It’s an affiliate link so if you opt for the paid ticket for lifetime access to the talks, we get some cash which we’ll put towards the cost of making the podcast.See ya,Ben & MelFind our producer, theme composer and big kid Ant Henderson on LinkedIn 🐶🎙️ Spotify / Apple podcasts / Amazon Music and AudibleThe back catalogueReplays here…b-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