10 Great Podcasts To Inspire Your Online Business

Podcasting is becoming increasingly popular in education but also as a social media marketing communication channel. In a previous blog post, we extensively discussed how you can start your own podcast and leverage this medium’s power to reach a wide and varied audience.

Now, it is time to examine how successful podcasters use this communication channel and dig deeper into the podcasting trend.

We discovered hundreds of fascinating and useful podcast series from different businesses and people during our research. Having compiled a list of the ones that inspired us most, here it is for you to pump up your creativity and inspiration!

1TED Talks Daily

Podcast category: Education
Podcast channel: Apple podcast app
Frequency: daily

What is the podcast series about

Some of the world’s leading thinkers and creators share their thoughts on every subject imaginable. You get to listen to discussions ranging from artificial intelligence to business, technology, and everything in between.

What we like about this podcast series

The series covers a wide range of topics that can provide inspiration, teach you something new about the world and businesses, and maybe even change your perspective.

Our favorite podcast episodes

• 3 rules to help you build a successful business
• 7 tools for building a business people trust
• What you discover when you really listen

2Planet Money Podcast by NPR

Podcast category: Business
Podcast channel: NPR podcast
Frequency: not specified

What is the podcast series about

NPR is an independent, nonprofit media organization founded on a mission to create a more informed society. NPR connects millions of Americans daily through broadcasts, online stories, and in-person events to explore the news, ideas, and what human beings are all about.

What we like about this podcast series

It covers the topic of money and finances creatively, with a nice twist and out-of-the-box discussions. You can get tons of inspiration from how they write their podcast descriptions to how they present themselves.

Our favorite podcast episodes

• Burnout (Classic) | All types of companies are struggling with burnout. Many try to fix it. Most of them fail. One exception
• How Do You Feel? (Classic) | A revisit of how rational economists try to deal with our feelings and the story of a man who came up with five simple questions that he hoped would predict the future.
• Big Little Ideas

3Mixergy Startup Stories

Podcast category: Education
Podcast channel: Google podcast app
Frequency: not specified

What is the podcast series about

Mixergy’s purpose is to introduce you to doers and thinkers whose ideas and stories are so powerful that they will change your life just by hearing them. This podcast aims to offer a viable alternative to know-it-all, professional gurus. Their goal is to show you that the way to grow is to learn from smart people who are eager to share their expertise and experiences.

What we like about this podcast series

This podcast features businesspeople who are willing to take time out of their schedules to share what they’ve learned from their own experiences. You are not guided in specific predefined directions. Instead, they encourage you to create your own mission and follow it.

Our favorite podcast episodes

• #2153 Building a startup to sell
• #2150 Don’t trust your “gut” in business decisions
• #2142 Solving the customer testimonial problem

4The Happiness Lab with Dr. Laurie Santos

Podcast category: Education
Podcast channel: Google podcast app
Frequency: not specified

What is the podcast series about

You might think you know what it takes to lead a happier life… more money, a better job, or Instagram-worthy vacations. You’re dead wrong. Yale professor Dr. Laurie Santos has studied the science of happiness and found that many of us do the exact opposite of what will truly make our lives better. Based on the psychology course she teaches at Yale — the most popular class in the university’s 300-year history — Laurie will take you through the latest scientific research and share some surprising and inspiring stories that will change how you think about happiness.

What we like about this podcast series

This podcast series takes you through history and major events from the past and brings them into the present day. It covers topics that put you in the position to think beyond a simple business model and provides incentives for thinking deeply about your professional purpose.

Our favorite podcast episodes

• How to Adopt a Growth Mindset | A discussion on how we fall into limiting fixed mindsets and how easy it is to adopt a “growth” mindset that will allow us to flourish.
• Happiness Lessons of The Ancients: Epictetus | A discussion that reframes how we view the problems we all face and defuse the negative emotions of anger and envy that can harm our happiness.
• BONUS: How to Handle Change | A discussion on how we can put change in perspective and learn to fear it less.

5Business Wars

Podcast category: Business
Podcast channel: Google podcast app
Frequency: bi-weekly

What is the podcast series about

The business world is a battlefield. Money and attention can be on the line. Sometimes it is just about the fun of beating the competition. We make our lives and purchases based on the outcome of these battles. Business Wars tells the uncensored story of what drives these companies and their leaders, inventors, investors, and executives to greatness — or to ruin.

What we like about this podcast series

We love the way they discuss and compare the major logos. Companies are analyzed from their very beginning and about their competitors in actual life in a very authentic way. A lot of valuable information about great logos to get inspired by for your business.

Our favorite podcast episodes

• Nike vs. Adidas – The Starting Line | 2 | WWII war may have been over for Germany, but the rivalry between Adi and Rudi was just heating up. Rudi left to start his own company, Puma, and Adi created Adidas.
• eBay vs. PayPal – Going Once, Going Twice | 1 | At the dawn of the dot-com era, a Silicon Valley tech geek on a personal vendetta launches the first e-commerce site.
• Coke vs. Pepsi – The Imitator’s Revenge | 4 | As Pepsi fires up a hot new ad campaign, Coca-Cola starts getting nervous.

6The eLearning Coach

Podcast category: Education
Podcast channel: own website
Frequency: not specified

What is the podcast series about

This podcast series offers actionable strategies, practical content, product reviews, and resources to assist you in designing, developing, and understanding learning, instructional design, and visual design.

What we like about this podcast series

We appreciate how they explain complicated topics and learning concepts in a straightforward manner. Their method of relating to instructors and learners is really helpful so that everyone can understand and apply the tactics and best practices discussed.

Our favorite podcast episodes

• ELC 063: The Evolution To Learning Experience Design | A discussion of the evolution of instructional design to learning experience design.
• ELC 058 Virtual Training is Much More Than a Presentation | Clears up people’s misconceptions about virtual classrooms and offers some great tips and techniques for facilitating a successful virtual learning event.
• ELC 056: How To Develop Your Creativity | This podcast explains how to develop creativity as a skill.

7The Tony Robbins Podcast

Podcast category: Education
Podcast channel: Apple podcast app
Frequency: not specified

What is the podcast series about

A top-notch Life and Business Strategist, Tony Robbins has helped over 50 million people from 100 countries create positive and lasting changes in their lives. With this podcast series, he shares proven strategies and tactics to help you succeed in business, relationships, health, and finances. Tony and his team conduct in-depth interviews with the most prominent global masterminds and experts. This collection includes excerpts from his signature events as well as other exclusive, never-before-released audio content

What we like about this podcast series

You can gain inspiration and learn something new about the economy and the world that you can directly put into action for your business

Our favorite podcast episodes

• Start small, think big, scale quickly | SPANX founder Sara Blakely on how to bootstrap a billion-dollar business
• The small business resiliency kit | Tony plus 5 top business experts with advice on how to protect your business today and prepare for future growth
• 6 things Tony is doing to take charge of his businesses

8Scenario Secrets

Podcast category: Education
Podcast channel: Podbay
Frequency: weekly

What is the podcast series about

The goal of this podcast series is to explore how instructional designers that can’t accept the status quo and who are striving to maximize their own creative potential work in a way that allows them to make a meaningful impact and contribute in a way that makes them proud.

What we like about this podcast series

The presenter tells her story as an instructional designer and coach and provides actionable tips and suggestions that she derives from her own work, her students’ work, and conversations with field experts.

Our favorite podcast episodes

• Games, Gamification, and Interactive Storytelling Strategy | A discussion about the differences between games and gamification and how that fits into the interactive storytelling framework.
• What It Really Means To Be a Lifelong Learner | A discussion on Brendon Burchard’s belief that “Everyone thinks the dream lives in the destination…but that’s not the case. The dream lives in the activities that you do today.”
• Two crazy strategies for maximum engagement!

9Smart People Podcast (SPP)

Podcast category: Business
Podcast channel: own website
Frequency: weekly

What is the podcast series about

This podcast series is dedicated to enhancing human connection and fostering personal growth while expanding people’s worldviews through authentic conversations. They conduct weekly, interview-based podcasts featuring today’s most well-respected thought leaders, engaging in authentic, insightful conversations for the listener’s benefit.

What we like about this podcast series

Our favorite part of this podcast series is how they provide actionable ideas on a variety of topics, including psychology, leadership, education, technology, entrepreneurship, relationships, and much more. We appreciate how their interviews are always engaging with a wide range of thought leaders from various fields.

Our favorite podcast episodes

• 383 – Robert Siegel – How to leverage digital thinking in a physical world | An interview of how people need to start understanding where we blend digital with physical.
• 375 – Scott Miller – How to brand yourself for success | An interview full of authentic lessons about promoting and marketing yourself. Making progress, becoming the “you” you want to be.
• 350 – Jim McKelvey – The world needs your crazy ideas | An insightful interview with the former co-founder of Square, who discusses his new book “The Innovation Stack: Building an Unbeatable Business One Crazy Idea at a Time.”

10Startup Exits Podcast

Podcast category: Business
Podcast channel: own website
Frequency: not specified

What is the podcast series about

This podcast series explores prominent startups’ exit strategies and acquisition cases. They have already interviewed the founders of Shazam, Sendgrid, Plated, AdEspresso, Urbanspoon, and many others, who successfully sold their companies for $100s of millions. The podcasts feature interviews and provide listeners with original, in-depth discussions.

What we like about this podcast series

One of our favorite parts of this podcast series is how they outline every podcast’s topic right from the beginning, giving users a clear idea of what they will cover. In addition to making the podcast episode easy to listen to, they also provide a transcript. Interviewers prepare sets of questions beforehand that lead the interviewees to share the juicy details of their businesses.

Our favorite podcast episodes

• The M&A by Hootsuite: how Massimo & Armando started, ran and sold AdEspresso | An interview of how the founders of AdEspresso started their company and grew it to become the #1 Facebook ad tool in the world, which led Hootsuite to acquire AdEspresso in 2017.
• The $3 billion sale to Twilio: how Tim started, ran and sold SendGrid | Interview with the founder of SendGrid, the world’s largest email delivery platform, discussing how Twilio acquired SendGrid for $3 billion dollars back in 2019.
• The $400 million sale to Apple: how Chris started, ran and sold Shazam | An in-depth interview with Chris Barton, founder and former CEO of Shazam, talking about how Shazam amassed over a billion downloads and was acquired by Apple in 2017 for $400 million.

What Will Be The Topic Of Your Next Podcast?

Remember that podcasting has an explicit potential for your social media strategy and for growing your online business. Use it as a communication channel to build and nurture a live community of learners, to engage your audience and prospective customers, to build awareness for your online school, and to showcase your most popular or important courses; the possibilities are limitless and only limited by your imagination.

We recommend podcasts in this article to inspire you, but don’t just restrict yourself to listening to them. Roll up your sleeves and draft an action plan to create your own personalized podcast series that will address topics of interest to your specific audience.

Rosemary Georgarakou

Rosemary is LearnWorlds’ Content Marketing Manager. She has over 2 decades of experience in omnichannel marketing and content writing for the IT and SaaS industry. Her expertise lies in crafting effective content marketing strategies that attract, engage, and nurture customers, enabling LearnWorlds to reach its target audiences with precision.