A lot of people think about podcasts as fun ways to kill time. For me, they’re excellent opportunities to learn new skills and find out about freelance success stories.
If I can learn about business strategy while I’m making lunch, that’s definitely a win in my book. Podcasts are easily digestible, fun, and there are a ton of programs that focus on what it’s like to be a freelancer and grow a small business.
In this article, I’m going to introduce you to my four favorite freelancing podcasts and break down why you should make time to listen to them. Let’s get to it!
1. 7-Figure Small
This podcast is the brainchild of Brian Clark, a guy that started and sold multiple multi-million dollar businesses. As many people with too much money on their hands like to do, now he spends his time telling other people how he made it.
The advice in this podcast is all about helping freelancers and ‘solopreneurs’ how to grow their business. It touches a lot on freelancing within tech, but the advice Brian shares applies to a lot of fields.
For example, a recent episode discusses why it’s better to have a few high-paying clients than to spread yourself too thin. I’m a big fan of that business strategy since it enables you to specialize and offer better services.
Successful freelancers often think about themselves as small business owners rather than just a guy making a living in his pajamas. If you’re ready to shift to that mindset, you’re going to like this podcast.
2. The Fizzle Show
Fizzle is a service that helps people build businesses from the ground up. They offer everything from video courses, to live coaching, hosting, and of course, a podcast.
I’m not going to vouch for their business course because I haven’t tried it for myself. However, as a regular listener of the Fizzle podcast (which is free), I have to say they know their stuff.
The Fizzle podcast publishes new episodes weekly and their bread and butter is interviewing digital entrepreneurs that made it big. For these episodes, they break down what the strategies are that helped them go from ‘working online’ to success stories.
If you’re a fan of reading autobiographies, you’re going to love this podcast. The focus here is more on the guests, but that often helps drive the point home when they tell you what strategies they used to grow their online businesses.
3. Being Boss
There are very few podcasts that focus on what it’s like to be a creative freelancer. Out of that small pack, Being Boss is by far my favorite.
This particular podcast features two hosts – Emily Thompson and Kathleen Shannon. The episodes themselves are eclectic. When the pair isn’t interviewing successful freelancers, they’re sharing productivity hacks, discussing media marketing, or talking about travel to avoid burnout.
The thing with business-focused podcasts is they often make you believe everyone else in the field is a machine except you. They’re all about these people that found massive success thanks to working 20-hour days for years on end. Kudos to them, but from time to time, you might want to listen to something more relaxing, which is where Being Boss comes in.
4. Businessology
Usually, I will tell you to stay far away from websites that end in .biz. However, Businessology won me over with their podcast, even if they could definitely use a .com domain instead.
So far, the host Jason Blumer has published almost one hundred episodes that focus on “the business of design and the design of business.” That’s in his own words. There’s a goldmine of advice here if you’re a freelance designer.
You can listen to Ryan interview leading names in design firms, branding and marketing agencies, and much more. Even if you’re not in the ‘business of design,’ the advice in this podcast is incredibly useful. For me, it’s helped me think about how to market my freelance writing business with a design mindset, which is not something a lot of people in this business do.
Marketing is key to growing any business (and to blogging) and that includes freelancing. If you want to learn more about how the pros use design to inspire trust and find new clients, Businessology is worth an hour or two of your time.
Conclusion
These days, there are podcasts for everything, and that’s not an exaggeration. I’d go as far as to say podcasts are the new blogs in terms of everyone wanting to jump in on the bandwagon. That’s not a bad thing, though, since it means you and I get to listen to some of the most knowledgeable people in the world share their wisdom with us.
One common denominator among all these freelancing podcasts is they all tell you to think about yourself as a business owner. That mindset is key to growing your client base to the point where you can make a career as a freelance writer, instead of just making a living.
Do you have a favorite podcast about freelancing? Share your playlist with us in the comments section below!
Image credit: Pixabay.