A wide-ranging look at the trials and tribulations of building a successful business when you work for yourself. Ben is the operational mind to the creative flair at copywriting agency, Copy or Die, a window cleaning magnate, soon to be father of 3 and the other half of Barfield & McKinney.

When we spoke a few weeks back, we talked about how the partnership with Dave Harland came about, where the name of the agency came from, his window cleaning empire, where he finds time to do anything, and a whole lot of other stuff too.

Loved chatting with Ben, and his real life personality is loads better than his online one - its ok, i'm allowed to say this because he says it in the show himself. Promise.

Here's a few of the highlights:

• We chatted about the challenge of defining self-worth in freelancing and how its the first piece of advice anyone gives but its so subjective you still have to figure things out for yourself.
• Ben gave some practical tips on making the most of a perceived skill and leaning into it to gather momentum and get things in flight
• We chatted about how he has turned a passion and a love of networking and copywriting into a flourishing business and how delighted he is about it
• We heard how building Copy or Die on LinkedIn is just the first step in a much grander ambition (watch this space!)
• And he shared how the Barfield & McKinney live shows paved the way for indie business club podcast and were a first step towards building a community

You can find Ben on LinkedIn here:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/benmckinney/

To register as a copywriter for Copy or Die you can do so here:

https://copyordie.co.uk/writers/

And you can catch Barfield & McKinney's indie business club podcast here:

https://barfieldandmckinney.substack.com/

In this intriguing episode, Bret discusses her copywriting and content marketing journey. Her story is an unusual one, as she went from freelancer to in-house leader. During the show, Bret discusses the innovative approaches she is deploying at Hopscotch, a platform designed to boost cash flow management for small businesses.

Whether you're a budding entrepreneur, small business owner, or marketing enthusiast, there's a bunch of great tactical ideas and strategic thinking on show in this episode. From user-generated campaigns to crazy Product Hunt launches and understanding the customer - this is a great show.

- Learn the effective social strategies that resulted in a top-three product of the day award on Product Hunt

- Discover how to create a unique landing page that generates both traffic and customer sign-ups

- Understand the challenges and solutions in targeting the right audience for a niche product, increasing search visibility and community engagement

- Hear how Bret's inspired user-generated content campaign is engaging audiences and surfacing trends and long-term content initiatives

Find out more about Hopscotch: gohopscotch.com

Check out Bret's user-generated content campaign:

https://gohopscotch.com/secretsofsuccess/

https://www.tiktok.com/@secretsofsuccess_hop

https://www.instagram.com/secretsofsuccess_hop

And of course, follow and connect with Bret on LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/bretamandalawrence/

Dive into the ins and outs of running a successful agency, growing an exceptional team, and managing a successful exit. In our first episode, we chat with Chris Bantock, a veteran in agency management and now a community leader for Agency Local - soon to be Agency Adventure.

From his initial start at Hewlett Packard to the triumphant sale of his agency, Chris shares invaluable insights from his time supporting other businesses in their objectives.

You can expect to find out :

• What milestones and factors were involved in the sale of his marketing agency
• Which campaign was Chris's favourite from his 11 years running an agency
• How community has always shaped Chris's career and why its so important today
• Why he is rebranding his current company and the new services on offer

Whether you’re an aspiring creative, a seasoned agency owner, or just interested in the intersection of strategy and creativity, this episode is packed with actionable strategies and advice.

Follow Chris on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrisbantock/

Check out Agency Local: https://www.agencylocal.co.uk/