Podcasts recommended

1. Business Podcasts – click here
2. Sales Podcasts – click here
3. Digital Marketing – click here
4. Favourite AI Podcasts – click here

Podcasts – Why listen to them ? Ten reasons. Click here The web offers a sea of information and it is easy to drown in it. So, here I try to help you swim in it with a bit of direction. These are just some of my current favourite podcasts, broken down in to three separate sections: 1. Business Podcasts, 2. Selling or Sales related Podcasts and 3. Digital Marketing Podcasts and shows are in no particular order, as number 6 for me could be a number 2 for you.

We welcome suggestions and encourage feedback. What better way to use the time when travelling or waiting or recouperating, a Mobile university as Ziglar would call it. Listening to good advice on audio tap is a boon for people who want to learn and grow. Some of these “experts” may seem too old or too young or too American or even too brash, but all of them cover some great topics and offer some wonderful content when you need it. Try a few and find the ones that speak to you personally. The ones that make you feel uncomfortable, may be the ones to listen to most. Sometimes you get lots of relevant information and sometimes you just pick up a snippet, a sentence wrapped in fluff, but you will regularly get something from these guys. Sometimes, they are full of value bombs and you need to concentrate hard, get out the pen and take copious notes. This is classroom 101 for many and a place to get reminders of the things you promised you would do, like creating a To Do List or writing a Business Plan or working out your Ikigai or lifes purpose, maybe just focusing on the ‘one’ thing. The recurring theme here will be ‘Just Do It’ to coin a tag line, get some forward momentum, start somewhere and make it better as you go, rather than preparing and polishing and tweaking before launch. Push any fears aside and get started.

You can learn what is important as you travel. Many of these guys want you to sign up for the heavy stuff, but showcase their thinking to get you interested. If you like what you hear, then by all means sign up to one of them, to try it out. Most of them do events in US or UK and some in Australia, so you could immerse yourself in a weekend-long think in with like minded individuals. Expect to be pushed, but only paid membership will offer accountability buddies. As always I will try to keep you up to date with the stuff I find most useful in our Blog. These sections are in no particular order.

Favourite Business Podcasts recommended

1. Bill Caskey Podcast – Bill is always worth listening to and is easy listening, with some good advice
2. Two Bobs – David C. Baker and Blain Enns talk about the Art of Creative Entrepreneurship. The banter is bliss and the combined collective experience is bountiful.
3. Duct Tape Marketing with well known Author John Jantsch interviewing American thought leaders
4. Nudge – Behavioural science made simple with Phill Agnew. Not a typical business podcast. Concise and to the point, there’s an MBA’s worth of insight in every show.
5. Why That Worked – Donald Miller of Storybrand fame.
6. The Business of Authority – Jonathan Stark and Rochelle Moulton talk about why you want to be seen as an expert in your field, and how to do it.
7. Genius Network – Joe Polish gets some superstar guests on his show. US centric and for enterprise or growth focused firms.
8. The One Thing by Gary Keller and Jay Papasan, maybe this is a good place to start off. Listen to CEO Geoff Woods talk about the one thing, based on the bestseller.
9. The Positioning Show by April Dunford. April is most suited to big companies. However the fundamentals are the same, so try listening to her first few shows to see if this reasonates with you.
10. Seth Godin – a perennial favourite, Seth rehashes some of the best ever business advice from 2000 years of it, in his Startup School podcast from 2013, but in his own way, making it more 21st century pertinent and reminding us to use what we learn. Get on his mailing list to get daily tips.
11. Ted Talks Business – Ted Talks focused on business topics by a variety of speakers. Always a great way to spend an hour or two.
12. Tim Ferriss– Famous for being Tim Ferriss, he deconstructs what successful people do and then writes up a plan to be that successful. Worth a browse, if not a subscription.
13. How to start a Start Up with Sam Altman from OpenAI fame, the actual Stanford course in podcast format from the Y Combinator man himself. The Collison brothers appeared in one episode, as did Reid Hoffman and Marissa Meyer – No longer available.
14. Harvard Business Review weekly podcast with the best thinkers in business and management.
15. Wired – where tech and science meet, a great resource to keep you informed.
16. Entrepreneur on Fire with Jon Lee Dumas, is a mega daily podcast, possibly the best known and he has a huge following. Very american. Part of his success is that he is so successful in the podcasting landscape, people try to emulate him and everyone respects what he has done. A wonderful marketer with the sort of connections needed to get some very well known contributors and some very savvy content.
17.  The Bottom Line  from BBC4. Evan Davis hosts business conversations with people at the top giving insight into what matters.

Many of these business podcasts are about efficiencies and innovation, so the simple act of listening to some of them will help you become more productive, more organised and more successful. You can opt for bigger ‘names’ such as Gary Vee, Tony Robbins or Alex Hormozi if they are more your style.

Favourite Sales podcasts

Sales is an ever changing landscape, so it is important to keep up with trends and truths. Gone is the hard sell of yesterday and now we supposedly have the ‘social sell’ and the educated buyer. The buying cycle is getting longer as the selling cycle shortens, because buyers have browsed the web to arm themselves with the facts before coming to a decision or short list of options. The landscape has changed, but at the root of it, especially in B2B, this is a transaction between two people. The potential buyer may have more knowledge, but that may only add to the confusion about making a final decision. Maybe listening to some of these podcast episodes will help you, in your search to be of more service to potential clients. And you may benefit from learning more about how to identify a good match for you and your products or services. This is still the critical factor.

1. Selling Made Simple – the Salesman Podcast – Will Barron, pretty much made it up as he went along and does a great job of it. Will wanted to know the secret of selling for himself as a practitioner, so he interviewed all the big names in the area of coaching sales techniques, authors and proven professionals. Capitalising on all his learnings he has written a book on the subject which is available FREE and he has developed a paid programme for sales professionals and sales teams. Even as a Solopreneur or principal at your firm you can learn from some episodes. Pick the ones that resonate with you. ‘Sales is simple but never easy. It is a skill. Something you work at and acquire‘.
2. The Sales Hunter – Mark Hunter’s goal is to give you actionable ideas and strategies to make you a more powerful sales professional. Mark has some great turns of phrase and some lines you can use, that you will love. “It’s Not About Having the Right Opportunities. It’s About Handling the Opportunities Right.” – Mark Hunter.
3. The Brutal Truth About Sales and Selling by Brian Burns. The focus is on b2b sales and selling… strategic selling, linkedin, saas, sales leadership, sales management, social media and b2b marketing. Not for small firms.
4. Advanced Selling Podcast – Bill Caskey and Brian Neale host the oldest sales podcast. Sales podcasts come and go. People try it for a while and give up. These guys have been sticking at it for quite a while. Godd education regardless what position you hold.
5. The Win Rate Podcast – Andy Paul discusses the ‘The Science & Art of Great Selling’. Andy has many years of experience, all in large global corporates. Again not for small firms.
6. Sell or Die – Jeff Gitomer is still a good listen.

It was not easy to find 5 or 6 good solid Sales podcasts this year. I wish I could find more for you, but I did not want to add more just for numbers sake. There are so many new ‘options’ and a lot more on Youtube, but most are really poor quality or they are just selling a ‘programme’. Or they are Alex Hormozi ‘Influencer’ type channels.

Favourite Digital Marketing Podcasts

These “experts” specialise in growing business on the web or using specific web based tools to market your business. Sometimes you get technical analysis or explanations, other times you get techniques and suggestions on how to use web based platforms to promote your business. A lot of the time you get offered programmes to buy, in order to learn how-to market yourself, your products or services. And nowadays a lot of these are SEO related.

1. Smart Passive Income with Pat Flynn, a ‘nice’ guy with a great attitude and a simple philosophy, who offers candid advice and opens up all his methods to anyone who wants to listen. Pat loves what he does and is liked for his sincerity and honesty. Loads of useful tips and advice. Pats get his bucks from being an affiliate, so there is no cost to you – just useful tips.
2. The Digital Marketing Podcast with Daniel Rowles and Ciaran Rogers at Target Internet.com – an advert maybe, but a great listen and some very useful news or quick tips, well delivered.
3. Content Inc with Joe Pulizzi the current king of Content Marketing, who heads up CMI Content Marketing Institute. Nice short, sharp daily 5 minute episodes as teasers for CMI.
4. Edge of the Web – All about SEO, Content and Digital Marketing to keep yourself abreast of changes and innovations, techniques and tips.
5. Search Engine Round Table with Barry Swartz – outside of Google, it is hard to know what Google is doing, but if anyone knows, Barry knows. Ideal for professional Digital Marketers, to keep you in the loop. Not for the faint hearted.
6. Marketing School with Neil Patel, one of the smartest guys around and is so good at marketing himself. Marketing School brings you 10 minutes of actionable marketing advice every single day. Neil Patel creates some incredible long form blog articles, packed with great advice. He also created a tool called Ubersuggest.
7. Marketing Against the Grain – Kipp Bodnar (HubSpot’s CMO) and Kieran Flanagan (Zapier’s CMO), lead you down the rabbit hole of marketing …

Favourite AI Podcasts

AI or Artificial Intelligence, this is a huge area, so I listen to a few podcasts that update me on what is happening in AI, especially for Marketing firms, rather than any podcast that is too vertical or granular.

1. The Artificial Intelligence Show! – the podcast that makes AI actionable and approachable for marketers. You’ll hear the latest AI news from around the globe and thoughts on what it all means to marketing, business, and humanity. Paul Roetzer and Mike Kaput pack a lot on to this weekly roundup in about one hour 15 minutes.
2. AI Applied – Jaden Schafer and Conor Grennan offer a shorter twice weekly roundup of what is happening in AI.
3. The Artificially Intelligent Marketing Podcast – Martin Broadhurst and Paul Avery every month or so.
4. Google DeepMind: The Podcast – Listen to Professor Hannah Fry as she talks to AI legends in 2024, movers and shakers to uncover the extraordinary way AI is transforming our world
5. What is next? You tell me 🙂

Podcasts – Why listen to them ? Ten reasons

There are many reason why people listen to podcasts, here are my 10.

1. Time – Listen when it suits you rather than when it is being broadcast.
2. Convenience – Listen when you are in the right space physically and mentally.
3. CPD Continuous Personal Development – Keep on learning, never stop and always be developing your skills, enriching your talent locker and growing as a person.
4. Automotive Therapy – Listen when driving, as it fills that time and helps you relax as you drive or wait in traffic.
5. Speed – You can listen at any speed ratio you like, so by all means play at 2x or 1.5x and get through more. If you want to replay bits of particular interest that is simple to do – hit replay or rewind. This is usually a good sign.
6. Ambient Background – Replace the noise around you with useful information.
7. Review – Keep a library of your favourite podcasts, by subscribing to them, so that you can refer back to them at will.
8. Audio – It simply delivers easier than Video. Whilst I like seeing good content on Youtube or Ted Talks, it generates huge file sizes and needs serious bandwidth to watch.
9. iTunes – iPhones makes using iTunes seamless, so I just sync and or download podcasts before I start my trip to work or further a field. I will download enough to fill my travelling time.
10. Entertainment – Yes that thing you do for fun, for the sheer joy of it, let some great speakers simply entertain or educate you.

Listening to podcasts entertains, educates and gives me ideas to use. I find I listen to most at 1.5x speed and I get useful snippets from so many, that I regularly freeze sessions to go back to it when I am at a desk, with keyboard at hand. The combination of iPhone and iTunes which makes my podcast listening so smooth, is the single reason I use an Apple smartphone. Rarely, are my AirPods or earbuds out of my ears when I am alone or travelling. I realise that many people think I am really really in to my music, but hey this is just as good as great music, at least for me. When I am not listening to an Audiobook, I am listening to good podcasts. If you are not already doing this, try one from this list that interests you to see if podcasts are for you.