Hi, Mel and Ben here,

Today’s episode is called Chasing Rainbows, and it’s all about business planning.

There’s a strong theme of “do as we say, not as we do” in this episode 🙃. We both tend to approach our business planning with the start point of, “how do we want our family life to look?”

We both have young children and share school run duties with Mr Barfield & Mrs McKinney. For others, business goals might be all about earning as much as possible even if it means working 80-hour weeks.

Alastair Thomson’s book How to Build a Better Business Plan: A hands-on action guide for business owners is available here.

The Business Model Canvas is available online, this page has an explainer video and download. Both Canva and Miro have templates so have a look if you have those pieces of software.

We discuss how important it is to have ringfenced time to reflect on the business and plan ahead. Ben attends Phil Budd’s quarterly planning sessions and Mel is part of friend-of-the-show Jodie Newman’s Business Allotment, with monthly planning.

We give a shout out to Melanie Johnson (aka Mel1). Mel’s from The Sussex Social, and her LinkedIn newsletter covers all things social media marketing.

Do you have a business plan? What format do you use?

Please follow, like, review, whatevs…

Spotify / Apple podcasts / Amazon Music and AudibleThanks for listening,

Mel & BenFind our producer and theme composer Ant Henderson on LinkedIn and our indie business club page is also there.

This episode is called I Bet You Look Good on the Timeline, and we’re talking about everyone’s favourite/most hated social media platform… LinkedIn. In the episode we talk about how incredible LinkedIn and how much Mel (hi) loves it. Ben is… slightly less enamoured.

We went to top LinkerInner and Friend Of The Show Dave Harland for a voice note about the impact a single post can have.

And as always, we shout out a fellow indie business owner we think is top notch. This time it’s Jonathan Wilcock, a copywriter and dungeon master at sowhatif.co.uk.

When he’s not sweating over copy, Jonathan enjoys sweating over his victims, with his series Copywriters On The Rack. We’ve both had the honour of being squeezed for words.

Read what Mel said on the Rack

Read what Ben said on the Rack

Please follow, like, review, whatevs…

Spotify / Apple podcasts / Amazon Music and Audible

If you'd like the transcript (it keeps glitching) you can request it by emailing mel@allcopymel.com

Thanks for listening,Mel & BenFind our producer and theme composer Ant Henderson on LinkedIn. Our indie business club page is also over there.

This episode is called Flaming Lips, and we’re talking about public speaking as a way to build your profile and attract more clients. We’ve both spoken on large stages, and one of the reasons we wanted to start a podcast was to…

* improve our public speaking

* get more speaking gigs, both in-person and on podcasts

In the talk we mention Ben’s speaker performances at Creator Day this year and at Copy Cabana in 2017, which you can watch here.

In this episode, Pascalle Bergmans gives us her top tip for people who want to start delivering event talks. Her website is presentales.com.

And as always we have our regular “Your Friend And Mine” feature where we big-up a fellow indie business owner we think is great.

Please follow, like, review, whatevs…

Spotify / Apple podcasts / Amazon Music and AudibleThanks for listening,

Mel & BenFind our producer and theme composer Ant Henderson on LinkedIn and our indie business club page is on LinkedIn.

This episode is called A Little Respect, and we’re talking about Client Relationships.

We’ve got a contribution from creative force of nature Jodie Newman at The Business Allotment and as always we shout out an indie business owner we think is ace. One thing that came out in the discussion is just how much running an indie business relies on having processes and boundaries in place. We also touch on the danger of falling into the classic “employee mindset” trap. But we also talk about how to surprise and delight your clients, which Jodie is especially great at.

Please follow, like, review, whatevs…

Spotify / Apple podcasts / Amazon Music and AudibleThanks for listening,

Mel & Ben

PS: #TacticalBumlickerFind our producer and theme composer Ant Henderson on LinkedIn and our indie business club page is on LinkedIn too.

This episode is called All Together Now and we’re talking COMMUNITIES.

We’ve both been part of various communities as freelancers, and in this episode we mention…

Freelancer Magazine including its virtual co-working sessions and The Marketing Movement on LinkedIn by editor Sophie Cross.

You Are The Media including the annual event Creator Day by Mark Masters (who features on the episode).

Being Freelance, the community and podcast by Steve Folland.

The usual beg to please follow, like, review, whatevs…

Spotify / Apple podcasts / Amazon Music and AudibleThanks for listening,

Mel & BenFind our producer and theme composer Ant Henderson on LinkedIn - you’ll hear he’s taken absolute audio liberties during the “Your Friend And Mine” segment 😏

And our indie business club page is on LinkedIn.

Ben McKinney and Mel Barfield discuss strategies for attracting clients during economic downturns, emphasising the importance of diversifying marketing efforts, posting on LinkedIn, and avoiding relying solely on one platform or approach. They also discuss the value of authenticity, consistency, and specificity in leveraging social media platforms for business growth, and share tips for managing challenging clients and projects, including taking a step back to assess situations objectively. Finally, they touch on various aspects of freelancing, including marketing oneself, managing clients, and finding work. Fractional CMO and Hat fan John Lyons gives his advice on how indie business owners should market themselves. Mel and Ben give an indie business owner a much deserved shout out. https://barfieldandmckinney.substack.com/ https://www.indiebusinessclub.com/ Produced by Ant HendersonTheme by Ant Henderson

Ben McKinney and Mel Barfield discuss pricing strategies for freelancers and small business owners. They emphasise the importance of understanding value propositions, having a sales process, and being confident in pricing. They also addressed gender disparities in confidence and pricing, with findings from Ben's call for writers revealing a consistent gap in rates charged by men and women. Mel and Ben also covered intricacies of pricing and payment, including managing client expectations, negotiating rates, and receiving upfront payment. They stressed the importance of setting fair prices, balancing flexibility with capacity, and prioritising the client's needs. Tom Garfield provides his take on pricing, and Mel and Ben give an indie business owner a much deserved shout out. https://barfieldandmckinney.substack.com/ https://www.indiebusinessclub.com/ Produced by Ant HendersonTheme by Ant Henderson