Indie Business Club

By: Mel Barfield & Ben McKinney
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  • Summary

  • A podcast for independent creatives. Packed with tips, advice, and food for thought for freelancers, founders, and business owners in creative industries.

    barfieldandmckinney.substack.com
    Mel Barfield - @allcopymel
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Episodes
  • 09 Shiny Happy People: Personal Brands

    09 Shiny Happy People: Personal Brands
    Oct 3 2024
    Hallo, Ben here,Today’s episode is called Shiny Happy People, and it’s all about building a personal brand. Mel and I dig into what a personal brand actually is, and what having one might do for your business.Have you got a personal brand? Do you want one?? Do you need one???In this show, we’ll ask and answer all those questions and more. As a slight spoiler, Mel will say that we’ve all got a personal brand whether we like it or not, and I’ll try and get over the slightly icky feeling that leaning into my own personal brand leaves me with.Our voice note comes from a social media queen, Lea Turner, who tells us how she used her own personal brand to build a community that has changed her business and her life (P.S. Lea’s just launched her own podcast - here’s the Spotify link…).There’s a slight cringe moment where Mel and I try and describe our own and each other’s personal brands in three words (we’re both kinder to each other than we are to ourselves), and we finish the show with our famous Your Friend and Mine feature. This week it’s the inspirational Steve Folland from Being Freelance.Find us wherever you get your podcasts (or just listen by clicking the link above). And, as always, thanks for your support so far.The back catalogue01 Fools Gold: Pricing your projects ft. Tom Garfield and Ange Lyons02 It’s Oh So Quiet: Finding Clients ft. John Lyons and Bonnie Harrington03 All Together Now: Communities ft. Mark Masters and Ant Henderson04 A Little Respect: Client Relationships ft. Jodie Newman and Sophie Cross05 Flaming Lips: Public Speaking ft. Pascalle Bergmans, Becki Wilson and Nikki Pilkington06 I Bet You Look Good On The Timeline ft. Dave Harland and Jonathan Wilcock07 A Design for Life: Creating for yourself with guest co-host Dan Nelken ft. Penny Brazier and The McKinneys08 Chasing Rainbows: Business planning ft. Alastair Thomson and Melanie JohnsonFind, follow, and enjoy us…Spotify / Apple podcasts / Amazon Music and Audibleand on the indie business club LinkedIn page.See ya,Mel & BenFind our producer, theme composer and tallboy Ant Henderson on LinkedIn. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit barfieldandmckinney.substack.com/subscribe
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    46 mins
  • 08 Chasing Rainbows: Business Plans

    08 Chasing Rainbows: Business Plans
    Sep 19 2024

    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 is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit barfieldandmckinney.substack.com/subscribe
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    37 mins
  • 07 A Design For Life: creating for yourself

    07 A Design For Life: creating for yourself
    Sep 5 2024
    I’ve got a special guest co-host this time, because Ben’s been on paternity leave. This one’s called A Design For Life and features the lovely Dan Nelken. In this episode we talk about the importance of creating stuff for ourselves. It’s a long one, as we covered a lot of ground. Dan explains how adding structure into your routine can improve your creative output, even if it feels counterintuitive to try and control the flow.There's a science behind why we get our best ideas when we're relaxed but as Dan points out, people who are prolific in their output tend to have windows of time, processes and discipline.Copywriter and literal rockstar Penny Brazier tells us how being in bands (see Tiger Island on Instagram) has helped fuel her creativity as a writer. Expect meandering detours through other topics including alcohol (or lack of), karaoke, Dan’s brother’s band, an exclusive revelation about Dan's pinkie, Sophie Cross rapping, Seth Rogen's pottery, and whether Canadians use the term "seaside".Dan’s website has all the info you need to sign up to his newsletter, buy his course and his book. Find him at nelkencreative.comIf you’re in the UK, Dan’s book currently has 18% off on Amazon - have at it here.Please follow, like, review, all that good stuff…Spotify / Apple podcasts / Amazon Music and AudibleBen will be back on the mic next time, when we discuss business planning. As always, we’d love to get your feedback on the podcast so far and any topics you’d like us to cover.Thanks for listening,Mel & Ben (& Dan)Find our producer and theme composer Ant Henderson on LinkedIn.Our indie business club page is also over there on LinkedIn. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit barfieldandmckinney.substack.com/subscribe
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    52 mins
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