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

Dan has a niche site that is cyclical in nature and he feels he has taken the site as far as he can. What should he do next? Dan’s site is http://www.howtogetonrealitytv.net/. Do you have a question about taking your niche site to the next level? 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 Pri...

Cassel is considering repurposing content and wants to know if there are any problems she might encounter. Cassel’s site is http://scrapbookcampus.com/. Do you have a question about content repurposing? Record it at http://www.askpat.com/. Today’s sponsor is Music Radio Creative. Go to http://musicradiocreative.com/askpat for more information on podcast intros, commercials, and jingles. See Privac...

Mike is getting started with his online business and he wants to know how I knew my business was going to succeed. I recommend reading Steven Pressfield’s book, The War of Art. I also recommend listening to the Internet Business Mastery podcast (http://www.internetbusinessmastery.com/). Do you have a question about getting started with your business? Record it at http://www.askpat.com/. Thanks to...

Jackson is about to start his podcast and is interested in having sponsors. Should he recruit sponsors for the first episode or should he build up a listener base first? Jackson’s site is http://incredibleentrepreneurs.com/. Check out my chat with John Lee Dumas about finding sponsors on Smart Passive Income episode 97: http://smartpassiveincome.com/session97. Do you have a question about podcast...

Today’s question comes from Avi, who asks why I don’t use Google Adsense on the Smart Passive Income blog. I don’t use it on http://www.smartpassiveincome.com/ but I do use it on http://www.foodtruckr.com and http://www.securityguardtraininghq.com/. Here’s why. To celebrate my birthday, I’m raising money for Pencils of Promise to build schools in Ghana. Learn more and donate at http://askpat.com/b...

Today’s question comes from Lain, who was my guest on the Smart Passive Income Podcast episode 37: (http://www.smartpassiveincome.com/how-to-monetize-a-hobby/). Lain’s sites are http://www.layoutaday.com/ and http://lainehmann.com/. She has a popular, established business in the scrapbooking niche, and is creating a new business in a different niche. Should she create separate social media profile...

Annette is looking to promote her products and wants to find the fastest way to promote her products. Annette’s site is http://www.thomasapublishing.com/. Do you have a question about selling your products to a new audience? 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:/...

Jarrod is ready to launch his product and wants to know about the pros and cons of offering a free trial. Jarrod’s site is http://thepegeek.com/. Jarrod was a part of 1 Day Business Breakthrough; more coming soon at http://1daybb.com. In this episode, I recommend Flurry Analytics (http://www.flurry.com/solutions/analytics). Do you have a question about selling your product? Record it at http://www...

Stephanie is a college student with a blog that has started to generate income. She is looking for some free strategies to get started tracking her business income and expenses. The app I recommend is TaxBot (https://taxbot.com/landing/home). Do you have an accounting strategy you’d like to suggest? Use the hashtag #AskPat226 to share it with us. Do you have a question about tracking your business...

Gabe is interested in starting a podcast and video blog and is looking for recommendations on the best equipment to use. For a complete list of equipment, visit my podcasting tutorial at http://podcastingtutorial.com/. A few highlights from the list: the Heil PR-40 microphone or the ATR2100 microphone and the Xeynx 1002 mixer or the Scarlett 2i2 mixer. The DSLRs that I love are the Canon Rebel ser...

Mike is giving a presentation and is looking for a way to map/illustrate his business process when he’s giving a presentation. I recommend Lucid Chart (https://www.lucidchart.com/) and Draw.io (http://draw.io/), as well as FreeMind (http://freemind.sourceforge.net/) and MindMeister (http://mindmeister.com/). Do you have a question about giving presentations? Record it at http://www.askpat.com/. To...

Today is Thanksgiving in the United States. I share my family's gratitude practice on Thanksgiving. I'm so grateful to have the chance to know you and to serve you. Thanks for listening to AskPat and thank you so much for being part of my life. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Catherine wants to begin offering enhanced content and wants to make sure her users have a good experience. Catharine’s site is http://askthedentist.com/. Do you have a question about offering downloads? 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/privacy an...

Today’s question comes from Joel, who asks how to balance the time spent creating content versus promoting content. Do you have a question about balancing your work schedule? Record it at http://www.askpat.com/. Thanks to today's sponsor, AWeber. Your email list is your most valuable asset—get started today. Go to http://www.aweber.com/askpat. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and Ca...

Glenn’s growth strategy relies on networking with people with large email lists. How can he find these people? Glenn’s site is http://survivalstill.com/. Do you have a question about finding the people you want to help? 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 Privacy Po...

Mike is selling a product. He offers a money-back guarantee and wants to know more about best practices and acceptable cancellation rates. Mike’s site is http://aceorganicchem.com/. Do you have a question about selling best practices? Record it at http://www.askpat.com/. Thanks to today's sponsor, AWeber. Your email list is your most valuable asset—get started today. Go to http://www.aweber.com/as...

Doug is getting his niche site started and he wants to know how to create tutorials for his site. Go to http://podcastingtutorial.com for an example of the tutorials Doug is talking about. Splasheo (http://www.splasheo.com/) made my video intros. Screenflow (http://www.telestream.net/screenflow/overview.htm) and Camtasia (http://www.techsmith.com/camtasia.html) are great video tutorial editors. Th...

Britney has an app idea, but doesn’t have the money to get started developing it. Where should she start? In this episode, I recommend Kickstarter (https://www.kickstarter.com/) and Indiegogo (http://www.indiegogo.com/) to test out the idea and to raise funds. Do you have a question about app development? Record it at http://www.askpat.com/. Today’s sponsor is Music Radio Creative. Go to http://mu...

April from DIY Nuru (http://diynuru.com/) wants to know if she should change her website and podcast name. I’d like your opinion—tell us what you think April should do using #AskPat216. I tell my story of what happened to my “In the LEED” website and how to do a permanent 301 redirect. Do you have a question about naming a website or product? Record it at http://www.askpat.com/. Today's sponsor is...

Cindy has followed by advice in building her website. She’s ready to level up her resources page and wants to know where to get started. Cindy’s site is http://realfoodwithcindy.com/. The WordPress plugin I recommend is Pretty Link Lite: https://wordpress.org/plugins/pretty-link/. Do you have a question about improving your website? Record it at http://www.askpat.com/. Thanks to today's sponsor, A...

Melanie is ready to set up her own affiliate program and is looking for the best practices to set it up right. Melanie’s site is http://fit4two.ca/. In this episode, I recommend Commission Junction (http://www.cj.com/), Neverblue (http://www.neverblue.com/), and Clickbank (http://www.clickbank.com). I also share these services: Post Affiliate Pro (http://postaffiliatepro.com/), Affiliate Royale (h...

Trends asks me how I stay motivated to keep producing on my businesses. Trends’s website is http://www.masteringevents.com/. Do you have a question about finding the right mindset to keep you running your business? 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...

Today’s question comes from Matt, who asks which are my favorite books for learning the specific skills needed to run an online business. Matt’s site is http://www.introvertimpact.com/. The books I recommend: Virtual Freedom by Chris Ducker, Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott, Book Yourself Solid by Michael Port, The War of Art by Steven Pressfield, The 4-Hour Chef by Tim Ferriss, and How to Win Friends...

Today’s question comes from Jon, who has a question about his mailing list. Jon’s site is http://classicallytrained.net/. Share your thoughts on this question by using the hashtag #AskPat211. Do you have a question about your mailing list? 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 t...

Our question today comes from Peter, who is starting a business-to-business podcast. He would like to run a sample episode past a focus group, and wants to know where to find participants who will give honest feedback. Check out the Smart Passive Income Podcast #129 (http://smartpassiveincome.com/session129) to learn more about Peek (http://peek.usertesting.com/), which is a great user-testing too...