indie business club

We get quite personal in this episode, so skip through from about 11minutes to about 13minutes in if you’d prefer not to hear the part where we talk about mental health, marital breakdown and suicidal ideation. This episode of the podcast is all about one of my favourite topics - LUCK. Specifically, in careers. I chose John Lyons as my guest because a) he’s a legend and b) I knew he had a great squiggly story about how he got into marketing. We talked about… how a chance situation made John want to be an architect the chance situations that meant he dodged being one when “fails” lead to something better traits and behaviours of lucky people how Hat and Bins became John’s distinctive brand assets (or… diSTINKtive chortle chortle) the, at times, lifesaving beauty of internet friends …and we lament the loss of #MarketingTwitter (I miss you, pals). I need your help Someone’s given the podcast ONE MEASLY STAR on apple and spotify and it must be personal 💅 because the jingle is worth two stars alone. If you’ve ever enjoyed a smidge of an episode please give the pod a 5-star review to drown out my solitary hater 🙏 Here it is on SpotifyHere it is on Apple Podcasts About my co-host Here, have John’s bio from his website because I’m lazy - John Lyons is a London & Essex based Fractional CMO with over 20 years of experience in B2B technology and professional services marketing. He has worked with brands including LEGO, Deutsche Bank and Manchester United, and specialises in revenue-focused marketing strategy for scale-ups and funded startups. And like my last guest, John is no stranger to indie business club. He was our voicenoter two whole years ago on the second ever episode 02 It’s Oh So Quiet: Finding Clients. You can find him on LinkedIn too. He’s got some freebie publications on his website including the B2B Growth Companion mentioned in the episode. Tracklist This episode is named after the song Lucky Man by The Verve. It includes these lyrics which are definitely, definitely about personal branding and sharing your personality more online. Probably. Maybe.I’m stood here naked, smiling, I feel no disgraceWith who I am Byeeeeeee, Mel Find my producer, theme composer and scissormonkey Ant Henderson on LinkedIn. And listen to indie business club wherever you cast your pods…🎙️ Spotify / Apple podcasts / Amazon Music / TrueFans 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

LinkedIn has reintroduced its video feed tab. Unfortunately, it all seems to be Stephen Bartlett, “shark tank”, Joe Rogan and Elon Musk. Bleugh. And more recently, lots of film clips with slowed-down atmospheric music over the top 🙄 So, it’s up to us to populate the feed with better videos. A moral duty, really… This episode of the podcast is all about using video to promote your business, so I asked my pal Jonny Rose along for a chat. We talked about… how to get over yourself and get serious about using video why you’ve got everything you need in the palm of your hand how getting organised is half the battle the place for scrappy vids versus polished edits how we’re no longer in the knowledge era, we’re in the experience era …and of course, Jonny’s top tips for planning and recording your videos. We’ve also got Will’s Book Shelf, where Will Slater gives us some sage wisdom. Jonny Rose runs Storyclub where he gets b2b founders confident on camera and turns that into consistent content that actually builds their businesses. Jonny gets people as comfortable as possible before they start recording. But we know lots of people are doing this solo and it’s all too easy to be overly perfectionist and talk yourself out of it. So he’s here as your personal coach/nagger. The benefit/payoff from posting videos can be a slow burn - often it takes time to gain traction so you need to post consistently for a while. Don’t just give up after a couple of vids. You’ll only get better and better at it. I have no problem filming myself, or capturing footage from a day out. My stumbling block is I can’t be arsed to edit it. Jonny suggests getting an editor from Upwork or Fiverr to remove that friction point, to avoid ending up with a huge content graveyard of outdated footage (sob). Maybe I’ll try it some time. But I do find it hard to pay people for stuff I could do an okay job of myself. It’s a character flaw, truly. Jonny’s a fan of scripts for longer videos to remove a stumbling block, keep you on track, and stop you waffling. It also stops you getting frustrated at yourself and prevents you quitting before you’ve got the job done. But immediacy still has a place. Whipping out your phone to have a quick unscripted rant or deliver something with urgency is authentic and relatable so don’t always over-script yourself. About my co-host Jonny Rose is an expert in all things video. He runs The Story Club where he helps B2B founders get confident on camera and turn that into consistent content that actually builds their business. You can find him on LinkedIn. If you’re thinking “hmm this all sounds familiar” this is Jonny’s second time on the podcast, kind of. Because he provided a very helpful voicenote in episode 31, Moving Pictures. Tracklist This episode is named after the Lana Del Rey song Video Games because it should be fun to create video content to market your business. It can be, I PROMISE. Have a nose at my calendar (and come along) 11th September - I’m at the East Anglian Marketing Awards in Norwich. I judged the freelancer category and I can’t wait to celebrate with all the finalists. 17th September - I’m at Nudgestock to cheer on speaker (and friend of the show) Phill Agnew and try to edge my way closer to Rory Sutherland (who defo perceived me at Atomicon last year when I was sat in the front row - a start). 1st October - Off to Manchester for the inaugural You Are The Media lunch club. A right trek from my house in Northamptonshire but worth it to support Mark and our glam host Judith (and our slightly less glam Dave, who’s on the panel). 15th October - I’m speaking at Cowork Crew Northampton about how to be lucky. It’s £30 for a day of coworking and cake with some of the loveliest humans you’ll ever meet. 5th-6th November - I’m hosting CopyCon, a two-day online conference for professional writers. The ticket price goes up on Monday so get a wriggle on! 11th November - Dave and I are speaking at Social Day B2B Forum. We’re running a mini workshop on how to write uncrappy captions. 13th November - I’m hosting a panel at the Alt Marketing School Business of Marketing event at Canva HQ in London. My panel is all about careers (I used to be a careers advisor dontcha know) and there’s tonnes of other tickets start at £85 for digital, £135 in-person. Future plans You might have noticed (or worse, not noticed) I haven’t posted a new episode in a while. It’s been difficult to keep up momentum, find time to record new episodes and generally be organised with the podcast, alongside running Copy Or Die with Dave. So I had a chat with a pal yesterday about them becoming a regular co-host and we’re going to see how it goes. Guess who it is? And ICYMI Bill Gates has a lot to say about AI. Would’ve been nice if he’d had his epiphany before forcing Copilot on everyone. Byeeeeeee, Mel Find my producer, theme composer and scissormonkey 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 episode was recorded in front of a live studio audience at You Are The Media’s Creator Day 2026. Huge thanks to FOUNDRY for hosting us - check out their coworking spaces in London and across the South coast (Eastbourne, Poole, Walthamstow, Hove, Wandsworth and Bromley) right here. I’m joined by a coupla LinkedIn legend Dave Harland and Lea Turner. Accidentally done two Lea episodes in a row because I’m a little behind in releasing recordings, but she’s worth it 😏 This is (somehow?!) the first episode with Dave despite him being mentioned in approx 87% of eps. We talked about all sorts including… how LinkedIn has changed since Lea and Dave first started out what seems to work now where the line is between sharing your personality without getting too personal whether LinkedIn premium is worth it how to navigate the feed tips for young people at the start of their career (spoiler: don’t use AI for your posts) the effectiveness (or lack of…) of company pages the best people we’ve connected with on LinkedIn how writing helps you find your voice the benefits of trying to be interested instead of interesting About my co-hosts Lea Turner is founder of The HoLT, the community where freelancers, solopreneurs, and small business owners connect, share ideas, and grow together. Before starting The HoLT Lea spent four years training people how to use LinkedIn to grow their business, and she should know having amassed (at the time of recording) over 177,000 LinkedIn followers. Find Lea on LinkedIn and find out more about how to become a HoLTie right here. Dave Harland aka The Wordman is a copywriter, event speaker and all-round good egg. He’s my biz partner at Copy Or Die - to can get us in fill in our briefing form 😉 and get Dave’s emails here. He’s also working on his course on how to Write The Funny - get on the waitlist. Tracklist This episode is named after the first track on The Kooks’ Inside In / Inside Out album which came out (brace yourself) 20 years ago. “D’ya want to go to the seasiiide” next year? Creator Day returns on Thursday 6th May 2027. Get yourself on the guestlist. Guesting After I put it out there that I wanted to guest on more pods*, I got invited as a guest on the Content Byte podcast, run by Rachel Smith (from Rachel’s List) and journalist and content writer Lynne Testoni. Together they serve up weekly short bites of advice, tips and strategies. My episode is out now, all about how to get lucky in your career. Listen right here :) *ICYMI this was the homework Charelle Griffith gave me in this b-side episode of indie business club all about how I'll grow this podcast. Byeeeeeee, Mel Find my producer, theme composer and MUSE fan 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 episode is about the pros and cons of being (in my case, very mildly) famous in your industry I’m joined by LinkedIn legend, founder of The HoLT, and all-round wonderful human Lea Turner. Lea knows a thing or two about being famous - she’s built a following of over 208k followers across LinkedIn, Instagram and Threads. In the episode we talk about… - how Lea built her huge following - what’s changed since she started posting on LinkedIn - why fame is a luck multiplier - how to get “more famous” in your industry - why being famous isn’t all sunshine and lollipops I invited Lea onto the podcast because sometimes I walk into a room and a couple of people know who I am, but I don’t know who they are. For Lea, it’s like that times a hundred. This balance of “power” is sometimes a bit strange to navigate, so I wanted to know how Lea copes with her microfame and what tips she has for people looking to grow their “personal brand”. I hope you enjoy listening in on our candid conversation. About my co-host - Lea Turner Lea Turner is founder of The Holt, the community where freelancers, solopreneurs, and small business owners connect, share ideas, and grow together. Before starting The HoLT Lea spent four years training people how to use LinkedIn to grow their business, and she should know having amassed (at the time of recording) over 176,000 LinkedIn followers. Find Lea on LinkedIn right here. Tracklist This episode is named after the Lady Gaga album Fame Monster, with notable tracks Paparrazi, Money Honey and Beautiful, Dirty, Rich 😎 Guesting After I put it out there that I wanted to guest on more pods*, the lovely Lucy Heavens invited me onto her CMO Therapy podcast. My episode is out today, all about tone of voice. I had a lovely big ol’ chat with Lucy getting all passionate about word stuff. Listen right here :) Excuses, excuses I hoped to get this episode out about two weeks ago. But I was too busy with work. Then last week I was too busy having fun with my pals at The Marketing Meetup conference. ICYMI here’s my highlight reel from Dave Harland’s talk.When Ben left the podcast, I was determined to keep up putting episodes out every two to three weeks. But a heaptonne’s changed since then. Before, I was working with my three retainer clients (Copy Or Die, The Marketing Meetup, Bignose & Beardy). Now, I’m still working with all three. But my role at Copy Or Die has, er, grown somewhat. Instead of working with COD founder Dave Harland one day a week I’m now full time as Dave’s Managing Partner and Brand Voice Lead. Which is a blimmin dream - he’s brilliant to work with and we have a lot of fun. Most importantly, our clients are happy bunnies. We’ve been nagged/advised by friend of the show (and next time’s guest) Jonny Rose on how to use video to better demo what we do. So expect some absolute cringe attempts as we “build in public” *gulp*. Byeeeeeee, Mel PS: This was a long episode, so Will’s Bookshelf gets a break this time. Find my producer, theme composer and man with a plan 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

How to use a newsletter to grow your business💌 This time, I’m joined by Molly Scanlan to discuss how to grow your business using the ancient (okay, at least decades-old) art of writing newsletters. Like this one. But do as I say, not as I do. We talked about… - why you should start (or resurrect) your newsletter in 2026 - how a newsletter isn’t the same thing as email marketing - examples of newsletters we love and why - how a newsletter can “world build” as well as show your authority - why you should talk about your newsletter “to an uncomfortable degree” And your friend and mine Will Slater is back with #WillsBookClub About my co-host - Molly Scanlan Molly Scanlan is a web designer, event speaker, quizmaster puzzlenerd and karaoke diva. She builds sustainable websites for non-evil businesses. The websites she makes are “better for the planet – but don’t look like they’re woven from brown rice”. Like me, Molly is a columnist for Freelancer Magazine. She also co-founded a social enterprise and co-hosts Cowork Crew London with your friend and mine Ange Lyons. She is busy. Molly also has one of my favourite newsletters of all time (it’s SO short!) called Molly Gets It Done, which is why I’ve asked her to join me on this episode. She’s also one of my business besties. Find her on LinkedIn right here. Tracklist The name of this episode is Delivery, a song by Babyshambles from their 2007 album, Shotter’s Nation. I was single for the first time in my adult life in 2007. I had a great time. It’s also when I was last single because it’s the year I met Mr Barfield. 19 years ago?! Bloody hell. It’s classic 00’s Britpop-rock and I chose it because if you send out newsletters you might choose to monitor your delivery rates and open rates… geddit? Resources In the episode, we talk about newsletters we love. You should try ’em some time. But first, Molly’s newsletter again - Molly Gets It Done - it is SO SHORT! Ange Lyons’ Font Love FridayA monthly newsletter on fonts, typography, and designery things Lucy Werner’s Hype YourselfNB - in the episode, I called this newsletter “a substack” and spoke about how it’s on that platform, but it’s now hosted elsewhere. Partly due to the horrible situation we speak about in the episode. Signup is at the bottom of this page. Dave Smyth’s Five LinksA short roundup of links to do with user experience, privacy, accessibility and sustainability. Amy Nolan’s The Doodle DabblerA short newsletter by our favourite doodler (and friend of the show) Amy Nolan, which includes a doodle prompt to get you scribbling. The Welsh Kitchen by Ross ClarkeGet a recipe to a traditional Welsh dish along with links to Welsh songs and other Welshy things. Dave Harland’s The Word Friend of the show Dave can explain what his newsletter’s all about. Emails to “help you come up with the weird, witty and funny words and ideas that all of the bore-bag brands in your sector struggle with.” She’s so lucky As a freelancer, you've got to ask yourself one question… “Do I feel lucky?” Well, do ya, punk? If not, Freelancer Magazine’s 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” where I go into the (proven!) ways you can adjust your attitudes and behaviours to get more lucky. You get over a dozen other expert sessions, for keeps. Get your ticket 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