It’s time for our annual ‘planner meeting’ where we review the previous year's planners and journals and discuss what we’ll be using for the year ahead.

As well as sharing the notebooks and diaries we’ve invested in this year, we explain how we’ll be using them to stay organised at work and at home. It’s a must-listen for stationery fans and those who prefer pen and paper-based productivity tools!

Links and Further Reading

The 6 Minute Success Journal

Lunar Planners by Nikki Strange

CEO of My Own Life Planner by Ella Iconic

How to pronounce Leuchtturm 1917

Join the conversation on Substack to tell us all about your own planner plans for the year ahead. We’d love to hear from you!

Connect With Us

Friends With Business Benefits on Substack

charlieswift.com

love-audrey.com

Find Us On Instagram

@loveaudrey83

@_charlieswift

Subscribe to Our Mailing Lists

Franky’s Mailing List

Charlie’s Mailing List

We’re kicking off the new year with our annual cosy conversation about reflections and intentions. Find out what went well for us last year and what we learned from the things that didn’t. We also chat about our words of the year, share a few goals for 2025, and make some solid(ish) plans for Q1.

Links and Further Reading

The Power of Play

Larking About

Content Creatives with Charlie Swift

Join the conversation on Substack to tell us all about your plans for the year ahead. We’d love to hear from you!

Connect With Us

Friends With Business Benefits on Substack

charlieswift.com

love-audrey.com

Find Us On Instagram

@loveaudrey83

@_charlieswift

Subscribe to Our Mailing Lists

Franky’s Mailing List

Charlie’s Mailing List

In our final episode of the year, join us as we run through some of our non-business related faves.

As well as our favourite films, TV shows, music and books, we chat about the habits and experiences we’ve enjoyed the most. It’s an episode filled with recommendations, just for you!

Thank you for listening throughout 2024 and merry Christmas from both of us to all who celebrate!

Join the conversation on Substack where you can share your thoughts and fill us in on some of your own favourites. We’d love to hear from you!

Connect With Us

Friends With Business Benefits on Substack

charlieswift.com

love-audrey.com

Find Us On Instagram

@loveaudrey83

@_charlieswift

Subscribe to Our Mailing Lists

Franky’s Mailing List

Charlie’s Mailing List

This week, we’re chatting about the power of play and what happens when you choose to prioritise and embrace it.

Franky describes the transformative journey she’s been on this year after choosing ‘play’ as her guiding word. We discuss the impact it’s had on her mindset, her business and her life outside work. Charlie also shares what play has looked like for her over the last 12 months, and we both share tips to help you embrace all things playful in 2025.

Links and Further Reading

@artgurl on Instagram making “bad art”

Junk Journal January

Get Messy

Larking About

Join the conversation on Substack to tell us how you feel about play and doing things ‘just for fun’ alongside running a creative business. We’d love to hear your thoughts!

Connect With Us

Friends With Business Benefits on Substack

charlieswift.com

love-audrey.com

Find Us On Instagram

@loveaudrey83

@_charlieswift

Subscribe to Our Mailing Lists

Franky’s Mailing List

Charlie’s Mailing List

This week we’re tackling a huge topic - the impact of Artificial Intelligence on the small business world as a whole and on us as individuals. 

Charlie talks about using AI as a collaborative tool, highlighting some of the benefits, while Franky is very honest about how she thinks ChatGPT is already affecting her bottom line. We dive into some of the ethical issues surrounding AI and contemplate a future where more and more of the content we consume is created by robots.

Links and Further Reading

Yuval Noah Harari on How to Fail with Elizabeth Day

Join the conversation on Substack where you can share your thoughts on AI and tell us about your own experiences using (or avoiding) ChatGPT. We’d love to hear from you!

Connect With Us 

Friends With Business Benefits on Substack

charlieswift.com

love-audrey.com

Find Us On Instagram

@loveaudrey83

@_charlieswift 

Subscribe to Our Mailing Lists

Franky’s Mailing List

Charlie’s Mailing List

This week, we’re chatting all things email marketing.

To kick things off, Franky shares a personal dilemma about whether or not she should move her mailing list away from Mailchimp and/or start a Substack. As well as covering the pros and cons of various email marketing platforms, we also discuss strategy, consistency, outsourcing and AI, what we write about and how we come up with ideas.  

Links and Further Reading:

What Makes a Good Email Lead Magnet?

Are You Going to Start a Substack?

How Are We Showing Up On Substack This Year 

Flodesk (affiliate link)

Boatman Admin Services

Plotting by Katie Sadler

Liz Mosley

Hi Communications

Join the conversation on Substack where you can share your thoughts on this episode and tell us about your own email marketing in the comments. We’d love to hear from you!

Connect With Us 

Friends With Business Benefits on Substack

charlieswift.com

love-audrey.com

Find Us On Instagram

@loveaudrey83

@_charlieswift 

Subscribe to Our Mailing Lists

Franky’s Mailing List

Charlie’s Mailing List

As we head into the darker, colder months of the year, we’re sharing how we embrace and survive the autumn/winter season. Whether you love this time of year or not, there’s something in this mini-episode for everyone.  

Charlie describes some of her favourite seasonal rituals and Franky raves about her beloved thermal leggings. From making our homes feel cosy to working from home when it’s cold, we share tips and advice to help you get the most out of this time of year.  

Links and Further Reading

The Christmas Chronicles by Nigel Slater

Wintering by Katherine May

M&S Thermal Leggings

Franky’s Wrist Warmers

Charlie’s Autumnal  Playlist

Work With Us

charlieswift.com

love-audrey.com

Find Us On Instagram

@loveaudrey83

@_charlieswift

Franky’s Mailing List

Charlie’s Mailing List

As we head into the darker, colder months of the year, we’re how we embrace and survive the autumn/winter season. Whether you love this time of year or not, there’s something in this mini-episode for everyone.  

Charlie describes some of her favourite seasonal rituals and Franky raves about her beloved thermal leggings. From making our homes feel cosy to working from home when it’s cold, we share tips and advice to help you get the most out of this time of year.  

Links and Further Reading:

The Christmas Chronicles by Nigel Slater

Wintering by Katherine May

M&S Thermal Leggings

Franky’s Wrist Warmers

Charlie’s Autumnal  Playlist

Join us on Substack where you can share any reflections on the episode in the comment section. Come and tell us your own intentions for Q4…we’d love to cheer you on!

Connect With Us 

Friends With Business Benefits on Substack

charlieswift.com

love-audrey.com

Find Us On Instagram

@loveaudrey83

@_charlieswift 

Subscribe to Our Mailing Lists

Franky’s Mailing List

Charlie’s Mailing List

We’re back from our summer break and ready for a big catch up! In this episode, we’re reflecting on Quarter 3 and looking ahead to Quarter 4. Find out what felt good, what didn’t and what we’ve learned in the process. 

We also talk about our words of the year and how they’ve been showing up for us since we last spoke. As well as sharing a few sources of creative inspiration, we dig into our plans for the final three months of 2024 and discuss what we’re both hoping to achieve before the end of the year.   

Links and Further Reading

Are You Going to Start a Substack?

How Are We Showing Up On Substack This Year 

What is EFT/’Tapping’?

EFT/’Tapping’: Becoming a Channel for Creativity (Releasing Creative Blocks)

Join us on Substack where you can share any reflections on the episode in the comment section. Come and tell us your own intentions for Q4…we’d love to cheer you on!

Connect With Us 

Friends With Business Benefits on Substack

charlieswift.com

love-audrey.com

Find Us On Instagram

@loveaudrey83

@_charlieswift 

Subscribe to Our Mailing Lists

Franky’s Mailing List

Charlie’s Mailing List

Welcome to the Summer Series! After 5 years and 100 episodes, we’re re-releasing some of our favourite conversations while we take some time off from recording. Perhaps you missed them the first time round, but even if you’ve heard them before, we think they’re worth another listen. Friends With Business Benefits will be back with fresh, new episodes in September. In the meantime, we hope you have a great summer.

What to Do if Selling Gives You the Ick

Originally published June 2022

Does promoting your products and services make you feel a bit… uncomfortable? Do you struggle to show up and sell your stuff? Well, you’re not alone. As well as experiencing this ourselves, it’s something we hear all the time from clients. 

In this episode, we’re chatting about why selling can be hard and sharing our advice to make the whole process easier. We cover a lot of ground, including what is and isn’t ‘hard selling’, the mindset shift you might need to make more sales and our new mantra - ‘you are allowed to sell your stuff and make money’.      

Links and Further Reading

How to Create a Seamless, On-Brand Customer Experience 

Liz Mosley 

Connect with Us

Friends With Business Benefits on Substack

charlieswift.com

love-audrey.com

Find Us On Instagram

@loveaudrey83

@_charlieswift

Subscribe to our mailing lists

Franky’s Mailing List

Charlie’s Mailing List