The Content Byte

This week is bittersweet as Rachel and Lynne announce that the show  is taking a hiatus after seven years and more than 300 episodes. It's been a huge undertaking doing this podcast and we decided to take the time to share some of our favourite moments and what we have learned over the years.  We reflect on how the show evolved from early scrappy recordings to a guest-driven format that helped us celebrate great work, learn podcasting skills, and raise their profiles and businesses (including Rachel's List). We share highlights such as meeting admired guests, supporting listeners during the pandemic, and running the 2023 and 2024 summits, which created community outcomes like friendships, masterminds, and published books. Key lessons include valuing a business mindset in freelancing, knowing your worth, pitching, audience-led content, and improving interview skills, along with the importance of taking breaks to avoid burnout. A big thank you to our team (Josh from Marker Creative, Claire Chow, Heidi Walkinshaw) and sponsor Rounded.   Find Lynne www.lynnetestoni.com Find Rachel www.rachelsmith.com.au Rachel's List www.rachelslist.com.au Thanks (as always) to our sponsors Rounded (www.rounded.com.au), an easy invoicing and accounting solution that helps freelancers run their businesses with confidence. Looking to take advantage of the discount for Rachel's List Gold Members? Email us at: [email protected] for the details. Episode edited by Marker Creative Co www.markercreative.co  

This week, Rachel & Lynne are chatting with launch strategist Brenna McGowan about "anticipation marketing" and using content to create warm leads so clients are eager to buy. Brenna argues freelancers either sell too constantly or not enough, and often over-educate audiences, creating overwhelm or enabling DIY. She outlines an "anticipation runway" framework: why (purpose and method-led story), what hurts (naming and reflecting pain rather than solving it), what stops (beliefs, myths, objections, and self-trust barriers), and what changes (future pacing and letting prospects "try on" outcomes, including through case studies). The discussion also covers trust, avoiding desperate energy, follow-up strategies including a closing-the-loop email, focusing on weekly visibility with limited time, demonstrating invisible services, and AI tools that help her in her business.   Brenna's website is: https://brennamcgowan.co/   Find Lynne www.lynnetestoni.com Find Rachel www.rachelsmith.com.au Rachel's List www.rachelslist.com.au Thanks (as always) to our sponsors Rounded (www.rounded.com.au), an easy invoicing and accounting solution that helps freelancers run their businesses with confidence. Looking to take advantage of the discount for Rachel's List Gold Members? Email us at: [email protected] for the details. Episode edited by Marker Creative Co www.markercreative.co  

This week, Lynne and Rachel are chatting with journalist, editor and novelist Maggie Alderson about how to create a good income stream from Substack. Now three years in with a highly successful column on Substack, Maggie shares her strategies about growing subscribers on the platform, including sharing occasional free posts. She also talks about the support she receives from the Substack community and how it has become a helpful source of income as traditional media declines. There's a lot to unpack in this episode, with many tips and hints, including Substack networking and events, why she still loves fashion and whether self-publishing will be her next adventure. Maggie's Substack is here: https://maggiealderson.substack.com/    Find Lynne www.lynnetestoni.com Find Rachel www.rachelsmith.com.au Rachel's List www.rachelslist.com.au Thanks (as always) to our sponsors Rounded (www.rounded.com.au), an easy invoicing and accounting solution that helps freelancers run their businesses with confidence. Looking to take advantage of the discount for Rachel's List Gold Members? Email us at: [email protected] for the details. Episode edited by Marker Creative Co www.markercreative.co  

This week, it's just Rachel and Lynne as they discuss changes they're making in their freelance businesses in response to shifting client needs, including experimenting with new services and focusing on deeper client relationships. Rachel plans to consistently send a client newsletter, launch a formal email marketing offering, and pitch LinkedIn thought-leadership services built from interviews. Lynne is going deeper with existing tech tools (including AI features), running her business more fully through digital systems such as calendars and Trello, and upselling blog posts and case studies into more strategic, ongoing work. She also highlights the value of in-person meetings and site visits for better interviews, stronger relationships, and fresh story ideas.  They also talk about giving genuine positive feedback to clients and sharing wins publicly. Rachel shares Rachel's List experiments: making the jobs board free, increasing in-person member events, launching "Booked Out Bingo", using personalised welcome videos, and trialling a new early-career freelancer membership with a private podcast. Find Lynne www.lynnetestoni.com Find Rachel www.rachelsmith.com.au Rachel's List www.rachelslist.com.au Thanks (as always) to our sponsors Rounded (www.rounded.com.au), an easy invoicing and accounting solution that helps freelancers run their businesses with confidence. Looking to take advantage of the discount for Rachel's List Gold Members? Email us at: [email protected] for the details. Episode edited by Marker Creative Co www.markercreative.co   

This week, Rachel and Lynne are chatting with friend of the pod, Bernadette Schwerdt, a copy coach, comms expert and ghostwriter, to discuss how writers can build valuable, scalable businesses and multiple income streams in the age of AI. Bernadette explains why demand is rising for copywriting and ghostwriting as CEOs and thought leaders invest in personal branding and content that connects audiences to the person behind the business, including books as "sales reps" and long-term content engines. Drawing on interviews for her new book Secrets of the New Online Entrepreneurs, she outlines traits of successful founders: deep industry apprenticeships, resilience, attention to detail, not taking criticism personally, and solving real problems with strong distribution. For freelancers, she recommends niching by what you love, what you're good at and what pays, building systems, databases and a sales mindset, and focusing on storytelling frameworks and follow-up. Connect with Bernadette via her website: https://bernadetteschwerdt.com.au/  Download the first chapter of Bernadette's book here    Find Lynne www.lynnetestoni.com Find Rachel www.rachelsmith.com.au Rachel's List www.rachelslist.com.au Thanks (as always) to our sponsors Rounded (www.rounded.com.au), an easy invoicing and accounting solution that helps freelancers run their businesses with confidence. Looking to take advantage of the discount for Rachel's List Gold Members? Email us at: [email protected] for the details. Episode edited by Marker Creative Co www.markercreative.co 

This week, Rachel and Lynne are chatting with Sarah Tayler of Tweed Coast Media about producing and reviving custom publications, sharing her thoughts on why print is far from dead when it's driven by business goals and integrated into the wider customer journey. Sarah shares how she helped Continence Health Australia transition and grow its magazine Bridge by focusing on process over product, moving digital hosting to the organisation's own site to improve user experience and cut costs, and testing distribution strategies — including scaling from 500 copies to 8000 before pulling back to just over 4000 when ROI didn't stack up. She explains how to define conversions for print via trackable calls to action (QR codes, URLs, phone numbers, promos), balance editorial and ads, avoid cutting corners on research and professional proofing, manage internal expectations, and use editorial collaborations to build advertising and partnership opportunities. It's a valuable conversation and vital listening for anyone still believing in the power of print media. Find Sarah on her website: https://tweedcoastmedia.com.au/    Find Lynne www.lynnetestoni.com Find Rachel www.rachelsmith.com.au Rachel's List www.rachelslist.com.au Thanks (as always) to our sponsors Rounded (www.rounded.com.au), an easy invoicing and accounting solution that helps freelancers run their businesses with confidence. Looking to take advantage of the discount for Rachel's List Gold Members? Email us at: [email protected]  for the details.   Episode edited by Marker Creative Co www.markercreative.co    

Rachel and Lynne speak with Sarah Hubbard, author of The Intentional Networker, about using referrals and relationship-based networking to find new clients. Sarah shares her MAPP framework (mindset and intention, authentic presence, precise messaging, purposeful follow-through) and explains how to systemise networking with simple tracking (even spreadsheets), an A/B/C contact system, and regular follow-ups. She describes using AI tools such as ChatGPT and Claude to capture event notes, create templates, and update a CRM, and offers strategies for introverts such as preparing in advance, keeping the day's workload lighter, and leveraging extroverts for introductions. It's a great conversation, about being curious, connecting as a person, going deeper rather than wider, and building relationships over time.   Connect with Sarah via her website: https://sarah-hubbard.com The Intentional Networker: How to Strategically Build Your Sphere of Influence and Transform Connections Into High-Value Opportunities https://a.co/d/0426cgMQ   AI Prompts for Strategic Networking: https://sarahhubbard.myflodesk.com/aipromptsitn   Find Lynne www.lynnetestoni.com Find Rachel www.rachelsmith.com.au Rachel's List www.rachelslist.com.au Thanks (as always) to our sponsors Rounded (www.rounded.com.au ), an easy invoicing and accounting solution that helps freelancers run their businesses with confidence. Looking to take advantage of the discount for Rachel's List Gold Members? Email us at: [email protected]  for the details. Episode edited by Marker Creative Co www.markercreative.co    

This week Rachel and Lynne are responding to a question from listener Stephanie about how to make time to work on your freelance business. It's a bit of a choose-your-own adventure because we have such different work styles and systems. Rachel uses a mix of a bespoke paper diary (Creator's Friend), Outlook, Google Keep, batching, and Friday "work on the business" time, plus automations in Moxie (forms, pipelines, calendar booking windows, templated replies, and auto-created Google Drive folders). Lynne has a paper-free setup using Trello, an electronic calendar, "salami tactics" (small daily actions), Marketing Monday, Mail scheduling/follow-ups/reminders, and industry events for networking. We also discuss invoicing habits, accounting software, setting aside GST/tax/super, and recommend choosing regular business time, one in-person event monthly, and automating two tasks per month.  Want to suggest a topic for a future episode? Email us at [email protected]  Find Lynne www.lynnetestoni.com Find Rachel www.rachelsmith.com.au Rachel's List www.rachelslist.com.au Thanks (as always) to our sponsors Rounded (www.rounded.com.au), an easy invoicing and accounting solution that helps freelancers run their businesses with confidence. Looking to take advantage of the discount for Rachel's List Gold Members? Email us at: [email protected]  for the details. Episode edited by Marker Creative Co www.markercreative.co 

This week, Rachel and Lynne are chatting with freelance writer Mat Patterson (morehumancontent.com), who argues small and medium businesses and freelancers should lean into being personal, flexible and customer-close rather than copying big-company systems and jargon. Mat shares his path from web design to customer support to writing, explaining how support work builds communication skills through fast feedback. His work includes newsletters, podcasts and articles for customer-centric SaaS and customer experience companies, focused on clearer, more engaging messaging. We also chat about: Customer marketing via happy customers Why good service requires leadership giving staff authority How generative AI will increase the value of unique human perspective amid generic content Connect with Mat via: https://morehumancontent.com, https://www.linkedin.com/in/mathewpatterson/ and https://www.helpscout.com/resources/supportive-podcast/  Find Lynne www.lynnetestoni.com Find Rachel www.rachelsmith.com.au Rachel's List www.rachelslist.com.au Thanks (as always) to our sponsors Rounded (www.rounded.com.au), an easy invoicing and accounting solution that helps freelancers run their businesses with confidence. Looking to take advantage of the discount for Rachel's List Gold Members? Email us at: [email protected] for the details. Episode edited by Marker Creative Co www.markercreative.co    

This week, Rachel and Lynne are chatting with freelance business coach Leticia Mooney about building an "engine room" of systems across customer experience, sales and finance so clients feel safe, payments are smoother, and work is easier to deliver. Leticia says freelancers often skip systems because they assume their work is unique, but writing includes research, analysis, delivery and communication, all of which benefit from good processes. It's a great discussion about how to make your business run better and free yourself up for creative work. So many tips, including the PDCA (Plan-Do-Check-Act) cycle with frequent review, how to do client updates to reduce anxiety, and walking through agreements on sales calls to prevent questions and ghosting.  Connect with Leticia via her website: Https://leticiamooney.com  Find Lynne www.lynnetestoni.com Find Rachel www.rachelsmith.com.au Rachel's List www.rachelslist.com.au Thanks (as always) to our sponsors Rounded (www.rounded.com.au), an easy invoicing and accounting solution that helps freelancers run their businesses with confidence. Looking to take advantage of the discount for Rachel's List Gold Members? Email us at: [email protected] for the details. Episode edited by Marker Creative Co www.markercreative.co