My Top Ten Favorite Podcast Episodes Of All Time

The first step in conquering a problem is admitting you have one.

My name is Neil, and I’m a podcast-aholic. That’s right, I have a podcast problem.

I listen to about twenty hours of podcast content per week. Over the last four or five years I have probably listened to over 3,000 hours of podcasts. Wow, I do have a problem!

Anyway, all that listening qualifies me to make a ‘best of’ list. (I knew it would come in handy some day!)

Admittedly, my list is biased towards business and marketing. But as a small business owner I have other interests as well. All work and no play makes you one dull person. A well-rounded listening list is important.

So here are my top ten podcast episodes of all time in no particular order and for no particular reason.

1 – The Amateur Traveler Episode 179 – Travel To The Kingdom Of Bhutan

I’ve been a big fan of Chris’ podcast for years. In fact, I like him so much I went on a trip to Egypt with him in 2010! This episode on Bhutan is fascinating to me. I can’t wait to visit there someday. Just can’t get the wife on board.

If you like travel you will love The Amateur Traveler.

2 – The I Love Marketing Podcast Episode 24 – The One With More Cheese And Less Whiskers

Dean and Joe discuss some of the basics of direct response marketing. Avoid looking like a cat (aka – whiskers) and lure with cheese is a brilliant analogy. This episode is a great introduction to the concepts of direct response marketing.

The audio quality is absolutely awful, but if you can suffer through, the content is well worth it. A handful of I Love Marketing episodes go a long way because they tend to be repetitive. But a few listens are a good investment of time.

3 – Power To The Small Business Episode 82 – The Shift In Local Search Engine Ranking Factors

This is the podcast episode that dramatically increased our Google Pages ranking! Jay and his guest break down Google rankings into easy to understand chunks. Using some of this information, I started a program to get Google reviews from our clients. Instant success!

All of Jay’s Power To The Small Business shows are geared to the local small business owner and full of practical information. Unfortunately, he’s not producing this show anymore, but he assures me he has a new project in the works.

 4 – The Moth – Any Episode

One of the bad things about The Moth is they only keep their latest five episodes available on iTunes. So I can’t share with you my favorite of all time. This show is real stories told by real people.

My favorite story is actually told by one of the founding members of The Moth about how her father let a prisoner out of jail to go get his own bail money. It’s hilarious and poignant. But that pretty much sums up The Moth. It will make you laugh and it will make you think – every time.

5 – The Eventual Millionaire – MJ DeMarco Interview – Successful Online Entrepreneur and Author

This episode changed my life! After listening to this interview with MJ DeMarco I had to get his book. This book was completely eye opening for me. It has changed how I approach business and wealth building. Every business owner I have shared this interview and book with has been blown away.

In addition to MJ, Jamie interviews new millionaires each week on The Eventual Millionaire and explores their mindset. A great insight into the minds of the successful.

6 – Marketing Over Coffee – Special Interview With Derek Sivers

I’m a huge fan of Derek Sivers. When his book, Anything You Want, came out, he did the rounds of podcasts. I love his honesty and openness in these interviews.

If you don’t know Derek, he is the founder of CD Baby. He is a very unassuming entrepreneur. Here he talks about his rise to CEO and one HUGE mistake he made (a $3,300,000 mistake!!) along the way. A great lesson for all start-up businesses.

Every week Marketing Over Coffee discusses the latest in marketing mostly from a social media and big-business perspective.

 7 – The Two Hosers Episode 35 – High Speed Sync

I recently discovered these Canadian Hosers. I love their slow pace, dry wit and Canadian accents. Eh? The photography education is just a nice side-note to this odd pairing. This is one of my favorite episodes mostly because someone was finally able to explain high speed sync in  a way that I could understand it.

If you’re not into amateur DSLR photography then this podcast probably isn’t for you. But if you are trying to improve your photo chops then you should be tuning into The Two Hosers.

 8 – The Daily Boost

Scott’s show is another that doesn’t archive any more than the past few episodes. So I can’t get you to my favorite show that he has recorded. But that doesn’t mean I can’t tell you about it!

Scott Smith is an inspirational guy and he shares his own brand of self-improvement weekly on this podcast. A huge part of his show is his own personal story. My favorite episode of his had to be this past Christmas when he shared a very special Christmas his family had as his first wife, Cheryl, was dying of cancer. Not a dry eye in the house.

Despite the emotional weight of that story, Scott will usually pick you up and get you moving towards your goals. Every week on The Daily Boost Scott asks me if I “did my homework.” Thanks for keeping me on track!

 9 – The Entreleadership Podcast – Unity With Tony Dungy

Entreleadership is the small business arm of  the Dave Ramsey brand. Dave Ramsey is a financial expert and radio-show host. In this episode Chris, the host, talks with  football coach Tony Dungy. This may sound strange, but I’m not much of a football fan. I’m definitely not a Colts fan (Tony’s team). But I am a huge fan of Tony Dungy.

I had the opportunity to see Tony speak once and I was completely impressed. This podcast interview with him is equally impressive. Tony is a great leader and a great person. Here he shares some great tips for leading an organization that you could put to work in any part of your life.

Dave Ramsey’s Entreleadership is a good podcast with lots of great information for entrepreneurs and aspiring leaders.

10 – Help Start My Small Business Episode 7 – Dealing With Your Fears About Starting Your Business

Is it vain to include your own podcast in a top ten list? Well, it may be, but I’m doing it anyway!

I include it because this is an episode I’m very proud of. Here we lay out seven tips for dealing with the fears of starting a small business. It’s something I think every small business owner goes through when they start. With this episode we try to give some guidance to help overcome those fears.

If you are a new small business owner or are considering starting a small business our Help Start My Small Business Podcast will give you the help you need to jump-start your business.

Those are my ten. What have I left out? Share your favorite podcast moments below…