Friends with Business Benefits

By Charlie SwiftBusiness Entrepreneurship

Friends with Business Benefits episodes

September 23 Adventures in Analogue Marketing
We’re back from our summer break and diving into a topic we’ve been talking about a lot off mic - analogue (or offline) marketing. What is it? What does it entail? And what are the potential benefits?
As well as discussing the AI backlash and other broader trends making analogue marketing more popular right now, we share ideas and inspiration for your own offline campaigns. Franky also chats about her experience handmaking and distributing a small run of mini-zine business cards earlier this year.
Links and Further Reading
Our Thoughts on the Analogue Trend
Polaroid’s ‘The Best of Summer is Analogue’ ad campaign
Parker’s Anti-AI Billboards
Studio-Om
Being Freelance
Franky’s Mini-Zine Business Cards
Have you tried any of the analogue marketing methods mentioned in this episode? Join us on Substack to share your thoughts. 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

Get full access to Friends with Business Benefits at friendswithbusinessbenefits.substack.com/subscribe
30 min
July 27 Our Tips for a Summer Spent Working in the Margins
In our final episode before taking a break until the autumn, we’re chatting about working in the margins during a busy summer. What would the next six weeks look like if you did this intentionally rather than squeezing things in on the fly?
Drawing on our own experience, we discuss visualising what you want the season to look like, adopting the right mindset, and mapping out the next six weeks. We also explore whether things really do go quiet online at this time of year and chat about the impact you can have by staying visible, even when you’re time poor.
Links and Further Reading
How We Savour (and Survive) the Summer
Can You Ever Take a Break When You’re Self-Employed?
Friends with Business Boundaries
The Lazy Genius
What will working in the margins look like for you this summer? Join us on Substack to share your thoughts. 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

Get full access to Friends with Business Benefits at friendswithbusinessbenefits.substack.com/subscribe
22 min
July 10 Q2 Reflections, Q3 Intentions
As we hit the midpoint of the year, we’re reflecting on Quarter 2 and looking ahead to Quarter 3 in our respective businesses. 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, dig into our plans for the next three months, and discuss what we’re hoping to achieve before the next time we have this chat.
Links and Further Reading
Franky’s Zine Business Card
Our Thoughts on the Analogue Trend
What’s Working on Instagram Right Now?
Spark Social
Join us on Substack where you can share your thoughts on this episode in the comments. Come and tell us your own intentions for Q3 - 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

Get full access to Friends with Business Benefits at friendswithbusinessbenefits.substack.com/subscribe
30 min
June 24 How to Write an Attention-Grabbing Homepage
This week, inspired by the work she’s doing on her new website, Charlie’s asking Franky to share her top tips for writing a compelling homepage.
We chat about the things you need to know before you start writing, what information goes where, and the things you don’t need to include on your homepage. We also run through some common pitfalls to avoid and touch on topics like niching, SEO, and readability.
With more than decade of experience, Franky shares a lot of website wisdom in this episode. If you’re currently writing your own copy, or plan to in the future, it’s a must-listen.
Links and Further Reading
Building a Portfolio and Sharing Your Work
How to Write an Engaging About Page
How to Name Products and Services
Feeling inspired to revise and update your homepage copy? Join us on Substack to share your thoughts. 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

Get full access to Friends with Business Benefits at friendswithbusinessbenefits.substack.com/subscribe
30 min
June 10 What's Working on Instagram Right Now?
If there’s one thing you can count on, it’s Instagram shifting and changing. They’re constantly adding new tools and features, and there’s always different styles of content to consume. As a result, what worked this time last year, probably isn’t giving you the same results today.
With this in mind, we’re chatting about current trends and popular types of content on the ‘gram. What’s performing well? What isn’t? And how are tastes changing?
From text carousels and tiny mics to creating your own episodic ‘TV show’ via Reels - our conversation is packed with ideas and inspiration to help you market your business on Instagram.
Links and Further Reading
Gina Slow Going
Cari Williamson
What Happened to Online Etiquette?
What’s working (or not working) for you on Instagram right now? Join us on Substack to share your thoughts. 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

Get full access to Friends with Business Benefits at friendswithbusinessbenefits.substack.com/subscribe
56 min
May 20 Protecting Your Business When Personal Crisis Hits
Most people go through some sort of personal crisis at least once in their lives. In the time Franky’s been running her business, she’s experienced a few. Most recently, she’s had to navigate the sudden, unexpected death of her step-father.
In this episode, we’re chatting about what happened and what she learned. Why is preparing for a personal crisis something all business owners need to consider? And where do we start?
We cover building a strong foundation before disaster hits, what to do during a personal crisis, and what to do next. It’s advice we hope you never need to use, but we think you’ll be grateful for it if you do.
Links and Further Reading
What I’ve Learned From Running My Business During a Personal Crisis
How I Run My Copywriting Business with a Chronic Illness
Some Thoughts on Dropping Balls
Have you ever had to navigate a personal crisis while running your small business? Do you feel prepared to face one in the future? Join us on Substack to share your thoughts. 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

Get full access to Friends with Business Benefits at friendswithbusinessbenefits.substack.com/subscribe
26 min
May 07 Q1 Reflections, Q2 Intentions
We’re back following an unplanned, emergency hiatus. Find out what happened and listen as we belatedly reflect on Quarter 1 and look ahead to what’s left of Quarter 2 in our respective businesses. We share 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. Spoiler alert: Charlie didn’t choose one for 2026!
Finally, we share a few sources of creative inspiration and dig into our plans for the next three months.
Links and Further Reading
Carolyn Yoo
See You
Xanthe Appleyard
Join us on Substack where you can share your thoughts on this episode in the comments. Come and tell us your own intentions for Q2… 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
Larking About
Content Creatives with Charlie Swift

Get full access to Friends with Business Benefits at friendswithbusinessbenefits.substack.com/subscribe
34 min
March 19 How We're Using Substack in 2026
It’s been two years since we last chatted about how we’re using Substack in our respective businesses. A lot has changed for both of us since then, so we decided it was time to share an update.
Listen as we discuss moving the podcast to Substack, growing our mailing lists, turning on paid subscriptions, and in Charlie’s case, turning them off again. As well as sharing what has and hasn’t been working for us on the platform, we chat about our plans for 2026 and what we hope to achieve through our publications.
Links and Further Reading
Are You Going to Start a Substack?
How Are We Showing Up on Substack this Year?
Glennon Doyle, Mean Girls, and the Evolution of Substack
Should I Start a Substack for My Small Business?
Are you using Substack in your small business? Join us over there to share your thoughts. 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

Get full access to Friends with Business Benefits at friendswithbusinessbenefits.substack.com/subscribe
42 min
February 26 What Happened to Online Etiquette?
We’ve been noticing a rise of some poor manners online of late. Copy-cat content, big brands using photos without permission or giving proper credit, people presenting other creators ideas as their own. SO, in this episode we’re wondering ‘what happened to the Online Etiquette of the early internet’?
Listen to hear us share some examples of the types of poor etiquette we’ve noticed recently, chat through the difference between being inspired and copying, consider the role the rise of AI is playing and rant about Pinterest being sited as an image source.
Links and Further Reading
Siece Campbell
Shana Blakley
Our Thoughts on the Analogue Trend
Join the conversation on Substack to share your thoughts on online etiquette. 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

Get full access to Friends with Business Benefits at friendswithbusinessbenefits.substack.com/subscribe
30 min
February 12 Building a Portfolio and Sharing Your Work
How do you currently showcase and share your work with prospective clients? Do you have a portfolio or gallery on your website? Maybe you treat Instagram like a portfolio or have some kind of PDF you send out?
In today’s episode, we’re exploring all these options and more. We cover the purpose of a portfolio, where it should live, and share a range of creative ideas to help you present your work to the world. Alongside digital options, we discuss some unique analogue concepts.
As well as chatting about our own portfolios, Franky shares insights from working with clients, offering copywriting tips and pointing out a few pitfalls to avoid.
Links and Further Reading
Grace Yencer
Design By Emilia
Becky Lord Design
Cyber Areej
Carolyn Yoo
Chaotic Creatives - Curating Your Creative Work Like a Pro
Our Thoughts on the Analogue Trend
Join the conversation on Substack to share your thoughts on building a portfolio. 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

Get full access to Friends with Business Benefits at friendswithbusinessbenefits.substack.com/subscribe
31 min

About Friends with Business Benefits

From the publisher's feed

Friends with Business Benefits hosted by Charlie Swift and Franky Shanahan is a podcast for creatives who crave connection, understanding and support.