Most Popular Business Audiobooks: Listen and Grow
Digital nomads, remote workers and location-independent entrepreneurs have, most likely, one thing in common: they rely on audiobooks to absorb information and get through books while working. exercising or travelling to maximise their time. This article is in partnership with Day Translations who are hosting the Day Awards (you can get involved and vote for your winners in the chosen categories here).
Business Books on the Go
There is no time to waste when you are a freelancer, self-employed person or entrepreneur. Audiobooks are the best way to gain knowledge with minimum disruption to one’s schedule.
When I asked digital nomads in online communities what they were reading, the answers were quite varied, as some admitted to mostly read articles, especially for work, while others read for pleasure, mostly fiction, and others still would either listen to business and travel audiobooks or general knowledge topics audiobooks. Surely, having a good understanding of general knowledge and being familiar with a variety of topics make for interesting conversations, particularly when travelling to different countries and exploring their culture.
Talking of audiobooks, and, more specifically, busines-related audiobooks, there are some titles that have enjoyed high levels of popularity in the past few years, reaching the top spots in the sales charts. Here are some examples.
The Classic Business Titles on Audiobooks
The audio version of popular business books that have been in print for decades tend to do well in the charts.
Titles such as ‘Think and Grow Rich’ by Napoleon Hill, first published in 1937, ‘Tribes’ and ‘Purple Cow’ by Seth Godin, ‘The 4-Hour Workweek’, the 2009 book by Tim Ferriss, ‘Crush It!’, the 2009 book by Gary Vaynerchuk, ‘Good to Great’, the 2001 book by Jim Collins, ‘Blink’, the 2005 book by Malcolm Gladwell, ‘Finding My Virginity’ Richard Branson’s autobiography and ‘The 80/20 Principle’ by Richard Koch, first published in 1997.
Business Audiobooks for Today’s World
More recent audiobooks narrow down into specific topics such as the inner workings of a company and its successes, or the story of remarkable individuals and their careers.
For instance, Sheryl Sandberg wrote about women in leadership in her book ‘Lean In’, available in audio format, interviewing them and asking about the challenges that they face, particularly in Silicon Valley.
‘The Lean Startup’ by Eric Ries looks at techniques to engage customers across any industry and optimising business processes to encourage innovation. In particular, the book highlights the importance of product testing before launch.
National Read a Book Day
In the USA the national day to invite people to read more books falls on 6th September and various libraries, art and education institutions use the hashtag #ReadABookDay to generate engagement and have a conversation with readers, suggesting interesting titles.
For example, the Metropolitan Museum in New York has an incredible collection of art catalogues on its website and you can view it at Met Museum.
In Ireland there is a similar campaign which runs on the 25th February each year and it’s called Ireland Reads, bringing together authors, booksellers, libraries and publishers to celebrate reading.
UNESCO picked the 2nd March as the day to celebrate reading on World Book Day: this initiative is being shared by 100 countries around the world to promote reading for pleasure and give children and young people access to books. This is a non-profit endeavour to support children from disadvantaged background who may not have access to books. World Book Day started on the 23rd April 1995 and in the UK and Ireland it first took place in 1997.
The ultimate aim of World Book Day is to encourage young people not only to read but to create a life-long habit of reading, no matter what income level their families are. The charity behind World Book Day undertook research to evaluate the impact of the campaign on young people and found that through reading children improved their vocabulary, their reading ability, their performance at school in various subjects, their mental wellbeing, their empathy skills (you can find out more at World Book Day).
