Favorite Business Podcasts
If I’m making small talk or catching up with a friend and someone asks what I’m currently watching, I often struggle for an answer. (Do reruns of The Office count?) But if someone asks what I’m listening to, that’s a whole other story.
I’m a huge podcast nerd.
I have a few podcasts I love listening to just for fun, but what I really use podcasts for is learning about sales, marketing, tech, and business. In the space of a lunch break or a dog walk, I listen to podcasts about content marketing, sales strategy, influencer marketing, AI and marketing automation, and so much more.
Why Podcasts?
Podcasts are a great way to learn about the latest sales and marketing trends and strategies from experts in the field. They go with me, so if I’m walking my dogs, running errands, or taking a break from work, I can easily learn new things, stay informed, and be entertained. Many podcasts are published in bite size pieces, so I can learn about a topic and have a key takeaway in an hour or often significantly less time. If I really want to deep dive on a topic, I’ll read a book… Or (more realistically) I’ll listen to a bunch of podcasts on it. Especially in the ever-changing landscape of sales and marketing, podcasts are a great way to stay current.
My Podcast Strategy
There are quite a few podcasts that I subscribe to so I don’t miss an episode. But I’ve found that with marketing and sales podcasts especially, I’m better off picking a handful of podcast episodes about a specific topic or from a specific podcaster as opposed to subscribing to just one or two podcasts and listening to every episode regardless of topic.
By jumping around a bit with what I listen to, I get insight from multiple experts and I can examine a topic from more than one angle. Especially in the realm of marketing and business, where there isn’t necessarily one “right” way to do something, I love finding a few podcasts that can illuminate a topic or suggest a way of working that I haven’t thought of yet.
My Favorite Marketing & Business Podcasts
There are so many great business and marketing podcasts out there, but here’s my current shortlist of podcasts I’ve listened to in the past week.
Entrepreneurs On Fire - This one covers a huge array of topics in business and entrepreneurship. Episodes are often 30 minutes or less and are general enough to apply to many types of businesses.
How I Built This - This is largely an interview-based podcast featuring discussions with entrepreneurs who built iconic, well-known brands. It’s perhaps more inspirational than tactical overall, but it’s so interesting to hear from the source how they got started and persevered.
Marketing Over Coffee - This weekly podcasts covers current trends in marketing and often, something I learn here will send me down a rabbit hole into a marketing trend I want to better understand.
Sell or Die - I’m good at business development and helping others sell, but selling myself is more difficult. (Why is that?!) This is a great podcast for getting real-world, tactical sales advice from experts in a variety of industries.
The Goal Digger Podcast - This is one that I subscribe to and listen to (almost) every episode. This is a female-focused podcast that covers business, marketing, and lifestyle topics, and it helps the listener create their own personal definition of success and then chase it, as opposed to pursuing traditional pathways of success.
I could easily add five more to this list, but I’m cutting myself off. Perhaps I’ll do a part two and share some others later this year.
Just for Fun Podcasts
I’m not going to leave you hanging! My current entertainment only podcasts are:
Office Ladies - A rewatching / behind-the-scenes podcast about The Office hosted by Angela (Angela Kinsey) and Pam (Jenna Fisher). It’s adorable.
Absolutely Not! - Heather McMahan does the most and the least at the same damn time. (iykyk) I laugh out loud multiple times every episode.
Happier with Gretchen Rubin - Author Gretchen Rubin and her sister, tv writer Liz Craft, give us advice, insight, interviews, suggestions, questions, and research-based tips for how to make every day happier.
TL;DR
Podcasts are an easy way to learn about new topics, get insight on current trends, and dive into specific subjects. I can truly say that both my life and business are enhanced by listening to podcasts. My favorite time to listen is when I’m doing something that doesn’t require my full intellectual attention like folding laundry or any number of mundane tasks. A few months from now my list of favorite podcasts will probably look a little different, so down the road I’ll push play on another podcast-related blog post.
Do you have a favorite marketing, sales, or business podcast I should be listening to? Let me know!
