This weekend I got an email from Catherine asking if I had plans to start producing any podcasts or if I had any recommendations for worthwhile business listens. I’m a huge fan of getting business advice from audiobooks and podcasts – it’s an ideal way to multi-task while working in the studio or driving. I’d love to do some CMBA podcasts in the future, but in the meantime, here are my recommendations for your business listening pleasure:
Audiobooks:
- Made to Stick – I know some of you may be tired of hearing about Made to Stick, but it seriously might be my favorite audiobook of all time. (Ok, tied with the Harry Potter books, but it’s my favorite business audiobook for sure.) I actually listened to the audiobook so many times before I ever picked up an actual copy. The information in this book is so great, and the way it’s presented is so enjoyable that you’ll want to listen to it over and over again.
- Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-free Productivity – Do you feel so disorganized and busy that you couldn’t find time to read a book about productivity even if you wanted to? Then I highly recommend the audio version of Getting Things Done. One note of warning – I was listening to this while working in the studio, and found I had to keep paper handy so I could take notes and apply them later!
- Free: The Future of a Radical Price – The latest book by Chris Anderson (author of The Long Tail and editor-in-chief of Wired Magazine) shows how your business can benefit by giving things away for free. Best of all, you can download the audiobook for free!
Podcasts:
- American Craft Council – ACC has a nice collection of podcasts and video on their iTunes channel, including all the lectures from last year’s conference, Creating a New Craft Culture. From a business stand-point, my favorites were the lectures on Heath Ceramics and Alabama Chanin. And if you’re interested in the future of craft, listen to Garth Clark’s lecture, Palace and Cottage.
- CraftyPod – Sister Diane, who also contributes to Make + Meaning, has created over 100 podcasts aimed at helping you develop your crafty biz. There’s enough to listen to here to get you through many, many hours of making. I particularly like the recent discussion of “free.”
How about you? Any biz-related audiobooks or podcasts on your must listen list? Feel free to share in the comments!
PS. There are no affiliate links today. I’m just sharing stuff that I absolutely love!
Megan,
I have been wanting to ask SOMEONE but never knew WHO this question for awhile.
So I want to thank you for the link on Giving Things Away that benefits your business.
I will listen to this as soon as possible due to the fact that I have not really known what
the truth was on this subject. And I have wondered wondered and wondered some more.
The only thing is: I and probably alot of us give many many many things away. We pay for vendor booths and rightly so. We subscribe to sampler websites where we give away and pay shipping for many many samples per month to multiple shopping channels and portals; hoping to gain more exposure for our businesses. We pay advertising and rightly so. We also get hit up by local businesses to “give” or “sponsor” local charity events.
I know that we need to allow funds in our budgets for all of this.
My only question is this: In an environment where “giveaways” abound, I am not really sure that this is reaching my target market. My mom used to be a realtor and quite a good one; have you ever heard of “lookie lou’s”? They are the ones who only troll for freebies.
Can you address this in light of target markets? What if you are trying to reach the rich and famous? Or upper echelon? A giveaways relevant in that environment?
Is my question clear?
Thanks alot for your time!
Megan, thank you so much for posting this!!! I can’t wait to start listening 😀 Have a great day and keep up the good work….you’re a powerhouse of amazing inspiration and knowledge!
Catherine
I LOVE CraftyPod!
Another business podcast favorite is the Entrepreneurial Thought Leaders seminars from Stanford Business School. They tend to be more venture capital/tech based, but I think they’re fascinating and you can glean some interesting tidbits from them.
Kelly – This is a fantastic question, and one that I believe warrants a longer post. I’m going to work on it for next week!
Catherine – thanks for asking the question in the first place!
Mallory – I will absolutely check out those podcasts from the Stanford Business School. I love that more and more colleges are making their lectures available online.
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Oh, I just remembered! These are both mostly older episodes, but check out the Startup Nation podcast series and the Indie Biz Chicks podcasts too!
I love me some Sister Diane & her Crafty Pod! Another one I like (available on iTunes) is CraftSanity. She interviews successful designers/crafters and I always find them full of inspiration/information/ideas.