Members Only Post #68 – Audiobooks Vs. Podcasts

At first glance this probably seems like a pretty small thing to make an entire post about but there’s actually a lot going on believe it or not. There are lessons to be learned as well as advice on how to spend your time in the most profitable manner to get where you’re wanting to go. So first off let’s talk about the differences between these two things and why they matter.

So you most likely know what an audiobook is and what a podcast is, the main difference between the two being one is paid for and one is produced and consumed for free. However the differences stretch beyond that. Generally audiobooks are better researched (being books and all) and have a tighter focus as well.

Also (in general) you expect higher quality from audiobooks then you do from podcasts. If not just in audio quality but also in the content that is being shared. Granted this isn’t always true but it is the expectation. Which leads us to which are better for listening to and which should you spend your time with?

Different Strokes For Different Folks?

I’ll admit it took me some time to get around to the whole audiobook thing. I’m reading all the time and yet still barely use my kindle or any other e-reader preferring to spend my time with a paperback or hardcover. I honestly think you learn more doing so and it’s something I don’t ever see myself changing from. But anyways I figure audiobooks was just a way to think you are “reading” while actually picking up very little in the process.

Reading for lazy people essentially and that’s what it can be when used improperly. But then I saw that there were some lectures and such that were on audiobook that they didn’t have paperback forms of so I decided to pickup. I had long been listening to CD’s and podcasts in the car ever since doing so with some sale training tapes years ago that talked about turning your commute/drive time into “learning time”.

Something which I found to be extremely helpful but anyways decided to try out these audiobooks in replacement of the podcasts that I usually listen to. Paid the price and figured the information I was paying for would be well worth it. And I was right, way more right then I’d thought I’d be. The content was 100x better than your average podcast and the same amount illuminating.

You Get What You Pay For

Now instead of listening to podcasts which can often drone on and lack points or good usable stuff (often remind me more of radio shows where the hosts drone on to eat up air time, not having much to say). Now I’d much rather re-listen to an audiobook then waste my time with the vast vast vast majority of podcasts. The information is just that much better and more informative.

Something else I’ve done is take books I haven’t read in a long time but know are very good (for example The Ultimate Sales Letter by Dan Kennedy) and will get the audiobook version to listen to. I’ll end up being refreshed by the important points I remember as well as pick up some extra things that I missed on the first couple pass throughs. This isn’t to say that audiobooks are a replacement for actually reading, I really don’t think there is a true replacement for that, simply that they work well in addition to reading.

And are generally way better than podcasts. You get what you pay for. Buying the right audiobook and you’ll have to listen to it again and again to get all that you can from it whereas with podcasts you’re often screening through all the blab just to get to the usable nuggets of information that you need. Even most interview podcasts have so much filler to be ridiculous (filler that would never make it in a book).

Spend Your Time With The Highest Quality

So couple of things to grasp here. First is, I’d highly recommend turning commute/drive time into a “university” time of sorts (time for learning). I think audiobooks are a much better option than podcasts for that time. That in life you often get what you pay for and that when it comes to time it’s worth it to make you’re spending it with the highest quality whatever (people/information/experts/etc.) that you possibly can.

As time is your only non-renewable resource. So spend the chunk of change it takes to buy an audiobook and be rewarded for it. Even if you’ve read a book before there’s still something different about listening to the audiobook and as a matter of fact for any books that you thought were great, information dense, or paradigm changing that you read I’d highly highly recommend getting the audiobook to go back through it. Trust me on this it’s well worth your while.