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

Today's question comes from Mark, who asks how to use Elance (now called Upwork) to find business partners. Is it a good place to find a business partner? In this episode, we discuss Upwork, which is the company that was formed by the merger of Elance and oDesk (http://upwork.com). I share my advice for vetting contractors on Upwork. Do you have a question about finding business partners? Record i...

Today's question comes from Sarah, who has noticed that a few competitors have joined her email list. What should she do, delete them? Keep them? Sarah's site is http://thefreelancenaturopath.com/. Do you have a question about email marketing? Record it at http://www.askpat.com/. Today's sponsor is Freshbooks. Go to http://www. GetFreshBooks.com and enter "Ask Pat" for more information. See Privac...

Today's question comes from Lucas, who asks about starting a new website. Is it possible to rank on the front page of Google with only a "coming soon" landing page? In this episode I talk about Amy Porterfield's list-building strategy (http://www.amyporterfield.com/). Do you have a question about starting your new business? Record it at http://www.askpat.com/. Check out my new book on validating y...

Today's question comes from Priest, who has a question about marketing his podcast. Should he market his podcast as a separate brand, or should he keep it with his existing audience? Priest's site is http://www.affiliatemission.com/. Do you have a question about marketing? Record it at http://www.askpat.com/. Thanks to our sponsor, Active Campaign. To learn more about their integrated, automated m...

Today's question comes from Pete, who has a successful podcast. How does he convert his podcast listeners into website visitors? Pete's site is http://meaningfulmoney.tv/. In this episode I talk about Amy Porterfield's podcast and website (http://www.amyporterfield.com/), as well as the LeadPages podcast, ConversionCast (http://podcast.leadpages.net/). Do you have a question about podcasting? Reco...

Today is a little bit different. A kind, anonymous caller let me know about a website that is copying me. I've seen this before, both with my own site and sites of others. In this episode, I share my thoughts on copying and getting copied. Do you have a question about starting your own business? Record it at http://www.askpat.com/. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Pri...

Today's question comes from Kyle, who has trouble sticking with his ideas. How can he learn to stick with his ideas? In today's episode, I talk about Steven Pressfield's book, The War of Art (http://www.smartpassiveincome.com/war). Do you have a question about getting a new business started? Record it at http://www.askpat.com/. Thanks to our sponsor, Active Campaign. To learn more about their inte...

Today's question comes from Ileana, who asks about BlogTalk Radio. Why didn't I publish my podcast with BlogTalk Radio? If you're considering starting a podcast, check out my free tutorial (http://podcastingtutorial.com/). Do you have a question about podcasting? Record it at http://www.askpat.com/. Today's sponsor is Freshbooks. Go to http://www. GetFreshBooks.com and enter "Ask Pat" for more inf...

Today's question comes from Jamal, who asks about validating a niche selection. How can he tell if the niche he has chosen is a valid choice for a business? In this episode, I reference Steven Pressfield's book, The War of Art. Do you have a question about keyword research? Record it at http://www.askpat.com/. Check out my new book on validating your idea for a business, Will It Fly?, at http://wi...

Today's question comes from Lea, who is using both ConvertKit and LeadPages. What is the best way to use these services together, or does ConvertKit replace LeadPages? Lea's site is http://www.leapica.com/. In this episode I discuss my Smart Passive Income Podcast interview with Clay Collins (http://smartpassiveincome.com/session78). To enter to win the AskPat t-shirt, send a tweet with #AskPat600...

Today's question comes from Eric, who has two hours available each day to dedicate to his business. How should he spend those two hours? The phases I mention in today's show are covered in my new book, Will It Fly? (http://willitflybook.com). Do you have a question about prioritizing your time? Record it at http://www.askpat.com/. Today's sponsor is Freshbooks. Go to http://www. GetFreshBooks.com...

Today's question comes from Bob, who has spent a lot of money in online business courses, but with no result. Where can he find business partners? In this episode, I mention Internet Business Mastery Academy (http://smartpassiveincome.com/ibm), Youpreneur from Chris Ducker (http://www.chrisducker.com/youpreneur/), Michael Hyatt's Platform University (https://platformuniversity.com/influence/), and...

Today's question comes from Paul, who asks how to make his course sales process more professional. Does he need to take the time to learn how to manage each element, or should he take the time to hire out help? Paul's website is https://safetysolutionsacademy.com/. In this episode, I recommend finding developers on Upwork (http://upwork.com). If you have experience with the tool, Magento, that Pau...

Today's question comes from Vladimir, who has a question about blog post email subscriptions. Should he send readers the full text of the post or should he only send an excerpt? Do you have a question about email marketing? Record it at http://www.askpat.com/. Thanks to Zip Recruiter for sponsoring today's episode. Go to http://www.ziprecruiter.com/pat to get started posting jobs today. See Privac...

Today's question comes from Mark, who has built up an audience by providing free content. How can he transition his audience from free content to paid content? Mark's site is http://www.healthynomics.com/. Do you have a question about beginning to sell to your audience? Record it at http://www.askpat.com/. Today's sponsor is Freshbooks. Go to http://www. GetFreshBooks.com and enter "Ask Pat" for m...

Today's question comes from Martie, who asks about sponsorships for podcasts and videos. How do I find my sponsors? Martie's site is http://letsbuildwp.com/. I discussed podcast sponsorship with my guests on Smart Passive Income Podcast Episode 180 (http://smartpassiveincome.com/session180). I work with The Midroll for some of podcast sponsorship (http://www.midroll.com/). Do you have a question a...

Today's question comes from Priscilla, who has a website that she has been working on for five years. What does she need to do to start making money from her site? Priscilla's site is http://www.africancurls.com/. To help with website security issues, I recommend WP Curve (http://wpcurve.com/) and/or start using Securi (https://sucuri.net/). I recommend creating a course on Udemy (https://www.udem...

Today's question comes from Gil, who asks about using a podcast or live stream to drive affiliate sales. Find Gil on Twitter at https://twitter.com/gilliamwallace. I share my thoughts on how to build a business based on affiliate sales. Do you have a question about affiliate sales? Record it at http://www.askpat.com/. Thanks to our sponsor, Harry's, who provides great razors and shaving products....

Today's question comes from Brad, who asks about keyword research. Is this still a good way to find ideas for new businesses? Do you have a question about researching business ideas? Record it at http://www.askpat.com/. Check out my new book on validating your idea for a business, Will It Fly?, at http://willitflybook.com. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Noti...

Today's question comes from Scott, who asks about masterminds. Is it acceptable to invite a competitor to join his group? Scott's site is http://freeteachertech.com/. Listen to Smart Passive Income Podcast Episode 180 to hear two competitors who are in the same mastermind group (http://smartpassiveincome.com/session180). Do you have a question about masterminds? Record it at http://www.askpat.com/...

Today's question comes from Brendon, who has a heavy metal band. On the band's website, not only do they provide fan content, but also advice to other aspiring bands. Should he create a separate website for the entrepreneurial content, or keep it on the same site as the music content? Brendon's site is http://www.claimthethrone.com/. Do you have a question about promoting your business? Record it...

Today's question comes from Luke, who is planning to create a podcast. What should he include in his pre-launch strategy? Luke's site is http://lukeguy.com/. My interview with Daniel Decker on the Smart Passive Income Podcast Episode 198 talks about book launches, but absolutely applies to launching a podcast (http://smartpassiveincome.com/session198). I also mention the ConversionCast podcast (ht...

Today's question comes from Kevin, who asks about providing free value vs. paying for traffic to sales pages. Kevin's site is http://hyperlush.com/. I share my thoughts on businesses built around cold traffic. Do you have a question about marketing your products? Record it at http://www.askpat.com/. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/...

Today's question comes from Sean, who is having trouble convincing people to use his project-sharing site. How can he get users to understand the appeal of his site? Sean's site is http://www.simplecove.com/ I mention some exercises for finding your unique selling proposition from my book, Will It Fly?, at http://willitflybook.com. Do you have a question about marketing your business? Record it at...

Today's question comes from Daryl, who is planning to start a business. He shares a name with a famous singer—is this a positive or a negative when starting a business? In this episode, I talk about my SPI TV interview with Sean McCabe, who uses a different name professionally (http://www.smartpassiveincome.com/tv/how-sean-mccabe-focused-his-way-into-entrepreneurship/). Do you have a question abou...