Day 10 of 21 days to becoming a better domainer takes you away from the keyboard. Well, sort of.
I love to read. I read the domain blogs, books, magazines, whatever. Granted, I do most of my reading on a screen. I’m either reading from my computer, iPad or phone. I even read newspapers electronically. There is debate about benefits of reading a hardcopy or physical book as opposed to an ebook, but what the hell, at least I’m reading. I read because I like to continue to learn. I read on all types of subjects. I sometimes even take notes on what I read.
But it’s not always convenient in this hyper-fast-paced world we live in. I can’t read as often as I’d like so I love audiobooks and podcasts. There are also some subjects I’d rather hear about than read about. At one point, I had so many podcast subscriptions it was overwhelming. I carved that down to size and now focus on just a few and I rotate a couple in and out every so often.
Just as we could debate about physical books and ebooks, we could debate about audio learning vs reading. I’m sure if you look hard enough, you could find evidence to support either case. I really don’t care what research says, listening to podcasts and audio books are far better than not learning anything at all, which is what I would be doing when I travel or drive in my car, if I didn’t have the option.
I’ve talked about some great domaining specific podcasts in a past article, so I’m not going to rehash that whole thing here. I do suggest that you go back and read that for some valuable information. But don’t just limit your listening to domain podcasts. There is much more involved in what you need to know, and this is my main point for today. For example, you need to know how to sell. So check out some podcasts or audiobooks on selling. There are some great ones out there. You also need to know how to negotiate. Guess what, there is great audio material on that as well. How about running a business, or taxes, or being more productive? These are all things that will benefit you in domaining that you aren’t going to find in domain specific podcasts or blogs.
Here are a few suggestions to get you started.
Sales Pod Casts – I haven’t yet found one I love and want to listen to exclusively but each has some great episodes.
Productivity – I like this guy’s dorky humor and the short length of each episode.
Online Business – I was into this one for awhile but have since cycled it out of my rotation. I may pull it back in soon. Definitely worth a listen though.