Because podcasts are purely audio, content has to be designed from the listener’s perspective, much like a radio producer or radio host would do. Radio stations have to play music they think their listeners will like, to prevent them from changing to another station; podcasts are the same. The content has to be valuable in order to make the listeners stay, and also to make those listeners want to tune in again to another show.

You can listen to Podcasts while you sit in traffic, workout at the gym, walk the dog, cook dinner, or just about anything else. And besides being an alternate source of entertainment, you can also use this listening time to learn — just like reading a business book, but handsfree!

We subscribe to a number of digital marketing and business podcasts and try to listen to all of them on a regular weekly basis; here’s a list of some of our favourites.

1. Online Marketing Made Easy

Amy Porterfield is a Facebook marketing expert, trained and mentored by the likes of Tony Robbins and Mike Stelzner of SocialMediaExaminer.com. She, like us, believes social media is essential to business today, and her Podcast covers many topics like maximizing Facebook ad budgets, the importance of customer testimonials, and actionable lead-gen strategies.

2. Social Media Examiner

Social Media Examiner offers an audio podcast and a weekly live video show to help boost your marketing skills and keep you up-to-date with the ever-changing world of social media. In this show, you’ll discover success stories and expert interviews from leading social media marketing pros in a weekly 45-minute podcast. Discover how successful businesses employ social media, learn new strategies and tactics, and gain actionable tips to improve your social media marketing.

3. The Art of Paid Traffic

Rick Mulready brings you The Art of Paid Traffic, revealing the best paid traffic tips, tactics and strategies for generating leads and sales for your business on autopilot. Discover how to create freedom in your business through paid traffic without having to empty your wallet in the process.

4. Marketing Smarts

This weekly podcast features in-depth interviews with smart marketers from all walks of life. Hosted by MarketingProfs, this 30-minute, weekly podcast delivers actionable insights and real advice to help you market smarter.

5. StartUp

StartUp is a documentary series about what it’s really like to get a business off the ground. Whereas Season 1 and 2 covered the stories of launched businesses Gimlet Media and Dating Ring, Season 3 and onwards have focused on the entrepreneurial life of  different founders and their companies, and the challenges they have faced.

6. Marketing School with Neil Patel & Eric Siu

Neil Patel is a New York Times Bestselling author who Forbes says is one of the top 10 marketers. Eric Siu is the founder of digital marketing agency Single Grain and the co-founder of SEO A/B testing software ClickFlow. Together, they have created the series Marketing School, which brings you 10 minutes of actionable marketing advice every single day. Get the right tips to take your business to the next level and get to work right away.

7. As Told by Nomads

A podcast after our own hearts as digital nomads ourselves, As Told By Nomads podcast features interviews with global nomads, Third Culture Kids, entrepreneurs and multicultural individuals who are leaders in business, culture, travel and global affairs to discuss what it takes to embrace your global identity and become a global leader.

8. Duct Tape Marketing

For over a decade John Jantsch, a veteran small business marketing speaker and workshop leader with over 200 successful events under his belt, has interviewed thought leaders, experts, and authors. His Duct Tape Marketing podcast features some of today’s most influential marketers and entrepreneurs telling their stories.

9. Internet Business Mastery

Learn how to create an internet based business, unleash a flood of traffic and trigger explosive profits in the new social media age. Whether you’re starting a new business or looking to augment your current one, you’ll discover techniques that will boost earnings, increase lead generation and extend your personal/business brand. You’ll learn tools and techniques such as search engine optimization, social media marketing, social network marketing, email list building, blogging, podcasting, online viral video and much more.

10. Grammar Girl Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing

From the Quick and Dirty Tips series, Grammar Girl aka Mignon Fogarty provides you tips to improve your writing in a short and fun format. From punctuation to style, Grammar Girl has you covered in her weekly on demand podcasts, to help you improve your content marketing.

11. Become a Blogger (Learning with Leslie)

This raw, unedited on-demand talk show has quickly become one of the favourite podcasts of many bloggers and aspiring entrepreneurs. Leslie shares tips on how to build your online blogging empire and interviews experts to add to this ongoing conversation.

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Even subscribing to one of these podcasts and listening regularly can help increase your digital marketing and business management knowledge. Try it out on your next lunch break or while you’re stuck in traffic and you might be surprised at how much you enjoy it, and how much you can learn.