Friends with Business Benefits hosted by Charlie Swift and Franky Shanahan is a podcast for creatives who crave connection, understanding and support. Hello, we are Charlie and Franky, two self-employed business owners living in Bristol in the southwest of England. Franky runs a copywriting business called Love Audrey, helping brands and creative businesses find their voice and tell their story online. As a business mentor to creative mamas, Charlie supports women to build their businesses…
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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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
2026 has officially been deemed ‘the year of analogue living’. The internet is going crazy for pen and paper, crafty hobbies, and physical media. In this week’s episode, we discuss the rapid rise of this trend, explore how it’s being interpreted online, and what this might mean for us as small business owners. We also chat about our own analogue habits and hobbies, and ponder why GenZ seem to love…
