AskPat 2.0: A Weekly Coaching Call on Online Business, Blogging, Marketing, and Lifestyle Design

Today's question comes from Jason, who asks about spam email list signups. What do you do to keep from getting a list full of spambot accounts? Jason's site is http://www.thesoundguyisinvisible.com/. I'm an advisor and big fan of the email service provider ConvertKit (http://askpat.com/convertkit). Do you have a question about email marketing? Record it at http://www.askpat.com/. Check out my free...

Today's question comes from Kelly, who asks about the AskPat t-shirts. What is the distribution process? Kelly's site is http://wirededucator.com/. We use Printfection for distribution (http://www.askpat.com/printfection). For collecting questions, we use Speakpipe (http://speakpipe.com). Do you have a question about using promotional materials? Record it at http://www.askpat.com/. Thanks to Zip R...

Today's question comes from Abdul, who has created a niche website and is filling out the content. What content is the most important? Check out my new book on validating your idea for a business, Will It Fly?, at http://willitflybook.com. A great tool to use is the Google Keyword Planner (https://adwords.google.com/KeywordPlanner). The Google search trick I recommend is to enter the following for...

Today's question comes from Aaron, who asks about a course I took, Michael Port's Heroic Public Speaking (http://www.smartpassiveincome.com/hps). What did I get from this program? I also recommend SCOREE (http://www.scorreconference.tv/) and Toastmasters (https://www.toastmasters.org/) for improving your public speaking. Do you have a question about public speaking? Record it at http://www.askpat....

Today's question comes from Jayson, who just started his blog four days ago. What should he do to get started the right way? Jayson's site is http://navyprogrammer07.blogspot.com/. I recommend a few tools in this episode, including Bluehost for self-hosting (http://www.askpat.com/bluehost). I'm an advisor and big fan of the email service provider ConvertKit. They have made advanced email marketing...

Today's question comes from Rachell, who is in the process of reading Will It Fly? and has encountered an exercise the feels overwhelming. As an introvert, the idea of talking to strangers is very scary. What can she do to push past this fear? In this episode, I mention Darren Rowse from http://www.problogger.net/. Do you have a question about overcoming your fears? Record it at http://www.askpat....

Today's question comes from Lesley, who spent eight years earning a professional degree. Now she would like to shift careers but worries about the time she spent earning that degree. Do I regret my architecture training? Do I ever use those skills now? Do you have a question about your career? Record it at http://www.askpat.com/. Thanks to our sponsor, Design Crowd. To learn more about working wit...

Today's question comes from Jan, who asks about using StumbleUpon. While StumbleUpon increases her page views dramatically, it also pushes her bounce rate above 90%. Should she continue to submit her posts to StumbleUpon? StumbleUpon is a content discovery engine (http://www.stumbleupon.com/). Two different tools I recommend for studying and improving your site analytics are Crazy Egg (https://www...

Today's question comes from Paul, who has a question about affiliate marketing. What happens if a user clicks on a product's affiliate link on two separate websites? Who gets the commission? Paul's website is http://photographytv.com/. Paul mentions my Smart Passive Income Podcast Episode 186 on affiliate marketing (http://www.smartpassiveincome.com/session186). Check out my guide on Affiliate Mar...

Today's question comes from Daria, who asks about my "be everywhere" strategy. Is it okay to put the same content across multiple social media and content channels? Daria's website is http://realrussianclub.com/. In this episode, I mention my podcasting tutorial (http://www.podcastingtutorial.com). Do you have a question about your marketing and social media efforts? Record it at http://www.askpat...

Today's question comes from Brian, who has a question about bookkeeping. Brian's site is http://cpr4educators.com/. Brian mentions the automation tool Zapier (http://www.askpat.com/zapier). The accountant I work with is Brian from Profitwise Accounting (http://www.profitwiseaccounting.com/). Today's sponsor, Freshbooks, is an excellent tool for your bookkeeping (http://www. GetFreshBooks.com and e...

Today's question comes from John, who asks about video podcasts. Are they a good idea? The host I recommend for video podcasts is Podbean (http://podbean.com). Do you have a question about video podcasting? Record it at http://www.askpat.com/. Thanks to our sponsor, Design Crowd. To learn more about working with their designers, go to http://designcrowd.com/askpat. See Privacy Policy at https://ar...

Today's question comes from Jasmine. Do vending machines qualify as smart passive income? For an example of a vending business, check out my friend Matt Miller's School Spirit Vending (http://schoolspiritvending.com/). If you have a vending machine business, share your experience on Twitter with #AskPat672. Do you have a question about different business models? Record it at http://www.askpat.com/...

Today's question comes from Glenn, who asks about the best way to structure his course. Should he provide access to all of the videos at once, or should he drip out the course content, providing access one at a time? Glenn's site is http://strategicstartup.com/. Do you have a question about structuring your course content? Record it at http://www.askpat.com/. Today's sponsor is Freshbooks. Go to h...

Today's question comes from Ruben, who asks whether it's possible to repeat my success. Is it possible for someone to follow what I've done and achieve the same results? Do you have a question about branding? Record it at http://www.askpat.com/. Share your thoughts on Twitter with the hashtag #AskPat670. Thanks to Zip Recruiter for sponsoring today's episode. Go to http://www.ziprecruiter.com/pat...

Today's question comes from Mark, who asks which parts of my website I outsource other people. Mark's site is http://www.gigsthatwork.com/ In this episode, I recomment Upwork (merger of oDesk and Elance; http://upwork.com) and Virtual Staff Finder (http://askpat.com/virtualstafffinder). Check out Chris Ducker's book Virtual Freedom for advice (and his Three Lists of Freedom exercise) (http://askpa...

Today's question comes from Megan, who works for a nonprofit organization and is looking to improve her email list's open rate. What re-engagement techniques do I recommend? I'm an advisor and big fan of the email service provider ConvertKit (http://askpat.com/convertkit). Do you have a question about email marketing? Record it at http://www.askpat.com/. Today's sponsor is Freshbooks. Go to http:/...

Today's question comes from Eddie, who asks about podcasting. The quality of his show has improved dramatically since he began the show. Should he go back and redo his early episodes? Eddie's site is http://changeyourpov.com/. Eddie mentions my free podcasting tutorial (http://www.podcastingtutorial.com) Do you have a question about podcasting? Record it at http://www.askpat.com/. Thanks to our sp...

Today's question comes from Andrea, who asks about blog content audits. Should she change post dates? Should she remove seasonal posts? Andrea's site is http://www.goodhealthgirl.com/. Andrea discussing Smart Passive Income Podcast Session 200, where Todd Tresidder and I discussed content audits (http://smartpassiveincome.com/session200). Here's the updated post I discuss: http://www.smartpassivei...

Today's question comes from Neil, who has a question about increasing his social media involvement. He has a very busy schedule; is this something that he should outsource? Neil's site is http://thelawentrepreneur.com/. The tool I mention is Edgar (https://meetedgar.com/). Another option is Hootsuite (https://hootsuite.com/). Do you have a question about social media? Record it at http://www.askpa...

Today's question comes from Naureen, who asks about selling ebooks. What is to stop people from sharing your book after they download it? In this episode, I mention Gumroad's PDF stamping (http://blog.gumroad.com/post/40614820182/introducing-pdf-stamping). Share your experience on Twitter using #AskPat664. Do you have a question about ebooks? Record it at http://www.askpat.com/. Thanks to our spon...

Today's question comes from Peter, who asks about my work schedule over the life span of Smart Passive Income. How many hours a week did I work each year? In this episode, I mention RescueTime (https://www.rescuetime.com/). Do you have a question about time management? Record it at http://www.askpat.com/. Today's sponsor is Freshbooks. Go to http://www. GetFreshBooks.com and enter "Ask Pat" for mo...

Today's question comes from Adam, who asks about planning projects. How do I plan large projects and break them down into smaller pieces? Adam's site is http://morningroar.com/. In this episode, I discuss the project planning for my book on validating your idea for a business, Will It Fly? (http://willitflybook.com). Do you have a question about project planning? Record it at http://www.askpat.com...

Today's question comes from Megan, who is working on a roundup post. How can she get influencers in her industry to respond to her emails? Do you have a question about building your business? Record it at http://www.askpat.com/. Today's sponsor is Braintree. Braintree will help you accept business payments for your products from customers across the world. Go to http://braintreepayments.com/pat. S...

Today's question comes from Travis, who hasn't launched his website yet. He's feeling overwhelmed by keyword research. How can he overcome this and get started? Kimanzi Constable shares advice for raising your profile with larger media sites in Smart Passive Income Episode 145 (http://www.smartpassiveincome.com/session145). Do you have a question about getting started? Record it at http://www.askp...