One of the most challenging aspects of being a full-time freelancer is finding other people that can relate to your experiences. Not being able to share problems about your work or rely on anyone as a mentor can take a toll on you. It’s a lonely lifestyle if you don’t know anyone else in the same boat.
Other than co-working, options are limited to hear from others in the lifestyle. Freelancing podcasts are – for me – one of the best ways to learn from other people that have to deal with the same problems. After all, it doesn’t matter what field you freelance in; you still have to deal with problematic clients, time management issues, and more.
In this article, I’ll show you my four favorite freelancing podcasts about working on your own. I’ll share my favorite episodes and tell you what to expect from each one. It’s time to put your headphones on!
1. Smart Passive Income
Smart Passive Income is a lot more than just a blog. It offers online resources for everything from affiliate and email marketing to blogging smarter, and even podcasting. The entire operation is the brainchild of Pat Flynn – one of the most popular names in affiliate marketing.
In his podcasts, Pat often talks about his own experience in affiliate marketing and how he grew his business. Episodes come out weekly, and they usually last anywhere between 20 minutes to a full hour. It’s a great resource if you’re into affiliate marketing at any level. Be warned, it does focus a bit much on Pat’s own experience at times, but the takeaways are worth it.
Must-Hear Episodes for Building a Passive Income
- Lessons Learned While Testing and Launching My First Online Course: If you’ve ever considered creating your own online course as a source of passive income, this episode is for you. It gives guidance on pricing your course, building a community, and more.
- How Lucas Hall Built and Sold an “Ultimate Resource” Blog: Building a successful affiliate blog takes time, but can become an excellent source of passive income. Plus, you can always sell your blog for a tidy sum if it has a proven track record.
2. The Freelance Podcast
The Freelance Podcast is a one-man operation run by RJ McCollam. He’s a web developer focused on custom WordPress themes and (of course) he’s a freelancer. His podcasts deal with everything from how to price your work to his own experiences on what it’s like to be a long-term freelancer. As someone who does some web development on the side, I consider his podcast one of the best around.
However, he doesn’t update that often. New episodes often take months to come out, and there isn’t a fixed schedule. Each of them usually lasts about half an hour, though, and the wait is usually worth it.
Must-Hear Episodes for Freelance Web Developers
- Freelance Q&A on Pricing, Clients With Larger Budgets, and Where I Get My Designs: If you’re a web developer, you’ll appreciate this candid talk about how to price projects depending on who you’re working for.
- Avoiding Scam Project Bids: A lot of you have probably run into situations where you have to deal with fake project proposals. Here’s how RJ McCollam dealt with one when it reached his inbox.
3. The Solopreneur Hour
Personally, I think people are too liberal when it comes to using the word entrepreneur lately. However, Michael O’Neal has earned the right to use it in my book, thanks to his excellent podcast – The Solopreneur Hour. On his show, he often interviews people who decided to strike out on their own (including freelancers) and talks about how they made things work. If you’re looking to build a long-term business as a freelancer, this is an excellent resource.
The best thing is new episodes come out often. There are usually two or three of them per week, ranging anywhere from twenty minutes to over an hour.
Must-Hear Episodes for Building Your Own Business
- Dana Malstaff on Coaching, Sales Funnels, and How to Structure Your Online Course: Creating an online course can be an excellent source of passive income and in this episodes, Dana Malstaff talks about her own experience pulling it off.
- Building a YouTube Channel from Scratch with Jeff Miklem: I have zero experience with using YouTube as a money-making channel. However, this episode provided a lot of insights about how to make it work, even for a complete newbie like me.
4. Freelancer’s Show
The Freelancer’s Show is one of seven podcasts that make up the Devchat.tv network. Most of them are geared towards developers and The Freelancer’s Show focuses a lot of its episodes on topics for that same crowd. Still, you don’t need to be a web developer to enjoy the show since they also deal with subjects that have a lot of crossover appeal, such as choosing a niche for your business and pricing discussions.
There’s a new episode coming out every week, but the show often puts out new smaller discussions between releases. Plus, most episodes tend to last over an hour, so you’ll have plenty of content to work your way through.
Must-Hear Episodes for Finding Success in Freelancing
- Getting Started in a New Niche: We’ve talked in the past about why specialization is essential for freelancers. This episode will help you choose which niche to specialize in and how to go about getting started.
- Boundaries With Clients: A lot of freelancers let clients take advantage of them because they’re afraid of losing business. However, setting limits with your clients is a great way to weed out the worst ones and make them respect you.
Conclusion
Freelancing podcasts are a great way to find mentorship and connect with a community. Most of the popular ones have large fanbases, and they love to talk about the latest episodes, so you’ll always have something new to discuss. Plus, you can put their advice into action the next time you’re looking for new clients on the Paid to Blog Jobs board.
If you’re still not sure which show is right for you, here’s a quick recap of what makes each of these podcasts great:
- Smart Passive Income: An excellent podcast for figuring out ways to build passive income sources.
- The Freelance Podcast: This podcast focuses on the challenges and upsides of being a freelance web developer.
- The Solopreneur Hour: If you’re thinking about freelancing as a full-time business, this show offers a lot of resources from successful solopreneurs.
- Freelancer’s Show: This popular podcast offers tons of great advice for freelancers of all fields (with an emphasis on web development).
Are there any other freelancing podcasts you think should’ve made it into the list? Tell us why in the comments section below!
Image credit: Pixabay.
Ralph Quito says
I just can’t seem to skip a day without reading your blog. Everything in it just fascinates me, specially that you are able to send the message across very well. Thanks again Alexander!
Alexander Cordova says
Thank you so much, Ralph 🙂 I’m happy I can be of help!
Hussein Taleb says
Really great post, i totally love the passive income podcast with pat and a new addition with the other 3. thanks .