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

Today's question comes from Wesley, who asks about two blogging terms: trackbacks and pingbacks. What are they? Do you have a question about a blogging term you don't understand? Record it at http://www.askpat.com/. To learn more about email marketing, go to http://emailthesmartway.com. Today's sponsor is Braintree. Braintree will help you accept business payments for your products from customers...

Today's question comes from Darin, who has been building a blog and has a question about post metadata. What is the difference between categories and tags? Darin's site is http://mystartupchallenge.com/. The WordPress plugin for combatting spam is Growmap Anti Spambot (https://wordpress.org/plugins/growmap-anti-spambot-plugin/). Share your advice with Darin on Twitter using #AskPat458. Do you have...

Today's question comes from Estevan, who asks about niche sites. Is the traditional niche site outdated? How do you learn enough to become an authority in your niche? The site I mention in this episode is http://howtobakeapotato.com. The tool I used to analyze the site is SEMrush (http://www.semrush.com/). I discuss my niche site project, Niche Site Duel (http://www.nichesiteduel.com/), and the ni...

Today's question comes from Nick, who asks about affiliate marketing. Is it okay to put multiple affiliate links on a page, or should he put each on a separate page? In this episode, we use Bluehost as an example (http://askpat.com/bluehost). Do you have a question about affiliate marketing? Record it at http://www.askpat.com/. Thanks to today's sponsor, AWeber. Your email list is your most valuab...

Today's question comes from Kitt, who has questions about crowdfunding. Which site do I recommend? Kit's site is http://theillustratedcoach.com/ The crowdfunding sites I discuss are Kickstarter (http://www.kickstarter.com/), IndieGogo (https://www.indiegogo.com/), and GoFundMe (https://www.gofundme.com/). I talk with Dwight Peters from BackersHub about crowdfunding in Smart Passive Income Session...

Today's question comes from Tom, who asks about Google search algorithm changes. He was hit with a Google penalty, and even after updating his site, it still hasn't recovered. How can he get back into Google's favor? Check out Neil Patel's guide on QuickSprout to recovering from Google penalties (a short link to the article: http://askpat.com/penalty). Do you have a question about the Google searc...

Today's question comes from Jay, who asks about mentorship. How can he find a mentor? Jay's site is http://www.respect1st.com/. My review of Azul Terronez's book is on SPI TV (http://www.smartpassiveincome.com/the-art-of-apprenticeship/). The printing company for our t-shirts is Printfection (http://www.printfection.com/). Do you have a question about mentorship? Record it at http://www.askpat.com...

Today's question comes from AJ, who asks about domain flipping (the buying and reselling of domain names). Is it a good income strategy? In this episode I talk about a principle Nicole Dean shared with me in Smart Passive Income Episode 009 (http://www.smartpassiveincome.com/spi-009-make-money-by-making-the-web-a-more-wonderful-place-with-nicole-dean/). I also discuss flipping websites using Flipp...

Today's question comes from Ethan, who asks about launching his new website. Should he set up a pre-launch landing page? Ethan's website is http://whydidntyouask.com/ and his Twitter name is @ethanpariseau. In this episode I talk about the launch strategy for my niche site FoodTruckr (http://foodtruckr.com/). Do you have a question about landing pages? Record it at http://www.askpat.com/. Today's...

Today's question comes from Stefan, who asks about outsourcing. How do you know when it is time to outsource a task? Stefan's site is http://howtolucid.com/. A few great companies for finding staff are Upwork (merger of oDesk and Elance; http://upwork.com) and Virtual Staff Finder (http://askpat.com/virtual stafffinder), as well as Fiverr (https://www.fiverr.com/) and 99 Designs (99designs.com/spi...

Today's question comes from Ray, who has a podcast that isn't showing up in search on iTunes. Ray's podcast is http://topagentsplaybook.com/. Do you have a question about podcasting? Record it at http://www.askpat.com/. Check out my new guide on email marketing at http://emailthesmartway.com. Today's sponsor is Braintree. Braintree will help you accept business payments for your products from cust...

Today's question comes from Ximena, who asks about my posting schedule for my blog posts, podcast, and video. What is my schedule? In this episode, I mention Darren Rowse (http://problogger.net/) and Derek Halpern (http://socialtriggers.com/). The tool I recommend is Coschedule (smartpassiveincome.com/coschedule). Do you have a question about blogging? Record it at http://www.askpat.com/. Today's...

Today's question comes from Ted, who asks about images in blog posts. How should he name his images? Ted's website is http://www.beersinsac.com/. The tool I recommend is Sumo Me (smartpassiveincome.com/sumome). Do you have a question about the nitty-gritty of blogging? Record it at http://www.askpat.com/. Thanks to today's sponsor, AWeber. Your email list is your most valuable asset—get started to...

Today's question comes from Jordi, who wants to help his peers get started with their own freelancing businesses. He lives in an area where security is a concern—how safe is it to share details about his personal income? I share reports on my income with my audience (http://www.smartpassiveincome.com/my-income-reports). Do you have a question about sharing with your community? Record it at http://...

Today's question comes from Jim, who has several different interests. How does he choose which interest will make the best podcast? To learn how to better serve your audience, listen to Smart Passive Income Episode 178 with Ryan Levesque (http://www.smartpassiveincome.com/the-ask-formula/). The acronym I use is FOCUS (Follow One Course Until Success), from John Lee Dumas (http://www.eofire.com/)....

Today's question comes from Richard, who works in Formula One racing. Each race weekend he gets a big spike in traffic. How can he convert that traffic into book sales? Richard's site is http://jobinf1.com/. Richard talks about my very first niche site, Green Exam Academy (http://www.greenexamacademy.com/). Take a look at Google Trends (https://www.google.com/trends/). Do you have a question about...

Today's question comes from Ian, who is looking to build his confidence with public speaking and in interviews. Would starting a podcast help him improve his public speaking? Ian's site is http://logogeek.co.uk/. I share my experience with using a podcast to build my confidence with public speaking. Do you have a question about improving your confidence in an area of your business? Record it at ht...

Today's question comes from Jonathan, who asks about adding links into ebooks. Jonathan’s site is http://www.best27inchmonitor.com/. In this episode, I talk about Geni.us, which helps you join international Amazon affiliate programs (http://geni.us). Do you have a question about affiliate marketing? Record it at http://www.askpat.com/. Thanks to Zip Recruiter for sponsoring today's episode. Go to...

Today's question comes from Tony, who asks about content promotion. Tony mentions Derek Halpern, who spends a lot of time promoting his content (http://socialtriggers.com/). The tool I use for recycling social posts is Edgar (http://meetedgar.com/); the tool I use for my editorial schedule is Coschedule (http://smartpassiveincome.com/coschedule) Do you have a question about promoting your content?...

Today's question comes from Peter, who has to move often. What’s a good online business for someone on the move? In Episode 46 of the Smart Passive Income Podcast, Dane Maxwell talks about how to find a business idea (http://www.smartpassiveincome.com/no-ideas-no-expertise-no-money-business/). The post by Kevin Kelly I mention is called 1,000 True Fans (http://kk.org/thetechnium/1000-true-fans/)....

Today's question comes from Thomas, who asks if I still have meetups in person. Use the hashtag #AskPat439 to let me know if you’re interested in my idea. Do you have a question about networking with others? 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 Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privac...

Today's question comes from Todd and his kids Joshua and Jenna, who ask about blog comment platforms. Do you recommend Disqus? Smart Passive Income uses Disqus (https://disqus.com/). My friend Cliff uses Livefyre (http://web.livefyre.com/). The spam plugin I mentioned (but didn’t work well for me) is Akismet (http://akismet.com/). The spam plugin that did work for me is Growmap Anti-Spambot Plugin...

Today's question comes from Tony, who asks about how my online business has impacted how I feel about design. Tony’s site is http://designerhacks.com/. Tony mentions Smart Passive Income Podcast Episode 90 (http://www.smartpassiveincome.com/architecture-online-business/). In this episode, I also talk about what I’ve learned from Derek Halpern (http://socialtriggers.com/) and from my designer Dusti...

Today's question comes from Will, who hopes to convince his podcast guests to provide offers for his audience. The problem is that he doesn’t have an audience yet. How should he get started? I share how I would go about finding offers for my podcast audience. Do you have a question about podcasts? Record it at http://www.askpat.com/. Thanks to today's sponsor, AWeber. Your email list is your most...

Today's question comes from Michael, who asks about single opt-in for email marketing. In this episode, I mention my interview with Ryan Levesque on Smart Passive Income Podcast Episode 179 (http://www.smartpassiveincome.com/underused-methods-for-building-your-email-list/). Do you have a question about email marketing? Record it at http://www.askpat.com/. Today's sponsor is Freshbooks. Go to http:...