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

#1180 In this special "Where are they now?" edition of AskPat, we're bringing back Julienne DesJardins from JulienneDesJardins.com ( originally on AP 1027 ). She supports business owners through virtual assistant services, email service providers, Squarespace, and social media management. She was first on the show back in 2018, when she was having trouble because she'd met her client limit. She wa...

#1179 When you discover the niche you should be focusing on, it's like the clouds part—everything becomes clearer. But once you've chosen a niche, how do you communicate the change to your audience without alienating them? Today we're talking with Erica James from Erica James Travel, as well as the Erica James Travel Show Podcast . Erica is a travel agent who's having some issues with niching down...

#1178 Today, we're talking with Heba from Mommy's Happy Hour. Through her book and podcast, she helps women balance a career with raising a family. She's a voice for mommies out there—and she wants to be more of a voice. She wants to lead this community even more. But she's struggling with something that many of us struggle with: how to brand and position herself. How should Heba put herself out t...

#1177 If you're a creative person of some kind, you know what it's like to be in a flow state, so focused on the thing you're working on. That's how you create great art, right? Well, if you treat your business ideas in the same way, you can create something great there, too. Today I'm talking to Chris Fleck, a person of many talents: art, comedy, video production, and more. There's so much he lov...

#1176 Today's guest has a popular website that helps people learn written Chinese, at WrittenChinese.com. She also has a big email list. But despite these resources, she's struggling to put it all together and make best use of what's she's got. She feels like she's "in a life raft in the middle of the ocean with a bag of gold bullion, but there's no land in sight." I help her hone her unique selli...

#1175 I rarely hear from an entrepreneur who has been through so much but is still smiling at the other end of things. Sarah Murphy, a medical herbalist, is one of those entrepreneurs! Like so many of us during the pandemic, Sarah has had to make a series of pivots with her business. Since she was last on the show in episode 1120, she's dealt with the ripple effect of the pandemic, decreased traff...

#1174 Hel Reynolds lives in Wales, where she runs a business called Comms Creatives that trains corporate communication professionals to use social media. She's experienced a lot of success already but she's a bit confused as to what to prioritize as she grows her business. This has been a challenge for me personally as a number three on the Enneagram test, so this advice definitely comes from exp...

#1173 Chris Roy runs an amazing company called Doobert.com. Doobert is a technological solution that connects rescue organizations with transportation for rescued animals, foster homes, and more. The only issue is that Doobert needs to bring in more funds to keep running effectively and grow. Chris has tried Google ads and selling physical products, but they haven't quite panned out. How can he in...

#1172 This coaching session digs down to one of the core questions of entrepreneurship: How do we combine our passion with monetization . . . and keep it authentic? Jason Lazarus is about to go all-in with his new podcast, The British Blacktrepreneur . He has ten episodes in the cue with a long-term goal of monetizing the show and earning six figures through his business. Where does he start? If y...

#1171 Pam Farley has come a long way since she was featured back in episode 1049 (in 2019!). Back then she found that her new content offering wasn't aligned well with what her audience truly wanted. Well, since then she's used email funnels and an experiment with three lead magnets to figure out what her audience really wants—she was surprised by the results! Now, she has some projects in the wor...

#1170 Neil Benson runs a business called Customery: he's on a mission to help people learn the Scrum methodology of project management. He has a podcast and regular course sales, but the numbers have been about the same for the last 12 months. In short, the business has stalled a bit. Today I'm going to coach Neil through all things optimization. We'll talk through strategies for using his podcast...

#1169 Joey Chang is a beatboxer, looper, cellist, songwriter, singer, and performer. He's here with a critical question: what's the difference between himself and musicians who are making a ton of money online? How can he better monetize his online music business? We're going to dig in to identify Joey's niche and how to leverage it. I give him advice for taking advantage of current events and tre...

#1168 Martin's podcast is now making up 50 percent of his take-home money — the other 50 percent comes from his work as a paramedic. How can Martin take that next leap of faith towards going full-time with his business and podcast, Calming Anxiety? How can he further his brand, and should that include putting his name in the actual podcast name? I challenge Martin to find out what's holding him ba...

#1167 Today's guest is Kara Gott Warner — she was last on in episode 1087 where she had some questions about getting more engagement for her website and her podcast. Well, a lot has happened in Kara's business since then: a life coaching certification, rebranding her podcast, making a shift in her coaching program and business offerings — she's here today to tell us all about it. We also talk abou...

#1166 This is a one-of-a-kind episode of AskPat 2.0. For one thing, I'm interviewing a professional chocolate-maker. Yes really — her name is Arcelia Gallardo and she has a chocolate factory in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Not only does Arcelia have a unique business, but she also has a unique problem: how does she decide what content is written in English, Portuguese, or another language? Her customers are...

#1165 Today I'm thrilled to welcome Mark Savant to the show. Mark helps businesses and entrepreneurs create and repurpose digital content and grow their online presence. He wants to grow his revenue streams and convert all the DMs he's getting into agency-style clients, but he feels his messaging might be off. To help Mark out, we're going to unpack his current messaging so we can nail it going fo...

#1164 Peter's business is in the Australian healthcare tech niche — he's got a membership community and a podcast that publishes four times weekly. He also recently decided to go full-time with the venture . . . he's working so many hours and he's starting to burn out a little bit. Let's see if we can help him get closer to equilibrium. Using my own experience and strategies with time management,...

#1163 Derek James has a unique business that helps business owners win government contracts, which can be a huge win if done correctly. He has created a ton of resources on this topic, but cashflow isn't quite where he wants it to be. Now he's working hard on his flagship course and he wants it to be a big hit. How can he tip the odds in his favor? Don't miss this one, because you'll hear me coach...

#1162 Today we have Lesya Holzapfel from EatBeFitExplore.com — she was last on in episode 1088. In this episode you'll hear about Lesya's hybrid membership/course model, what's working for her, her foray into podcasting, where she's going next, and what advice she'd give herself, looking back at where she was in episode 1088. This is a super-inspiring episode with a fantastic mic drop moment from...

#1161 Taking the "big leap" and deciding to go all-in with your business or side hustle can be nerve-wracking. When's the right time to jump? How can you be sure you're set up for success, especially if, like today's guest, you have a little one on the way? Well, that's exactly what Matthew Gawronski, a music teacher from Long Island, New York, is asking today. Although we don't land on a definiti...

#1160 Today's guest is Colm McCarthy, calling in all the way from Limerick, Ireland! Colm is in a unique position as the owner of the golf course management business he once worked for, as well as his landscaping company. He wants to take both to the next level and also develop an online business and a college specific to greenkeepers. How can he manage his time and team and also take his offline...

#1159 Today we have physical therapist Aaron LeBauer on the show with a couple of critical questions. For one, how can he get more time back by delegating or reevaluating some of his revenue-generating responsibilities? How can he further monetize his brand? And what about virtual events — how can he make sure his are a success? There's a lot to talk about today with some hard-hitting takeaways, s...

#1158 We last chatted with Leila in Episode 1069 , where I coached her on scaling up and expanding her business, Supakit , which creates cat harnesses and collars. She's back today to recap her big takeaways, tell us how it went, and detail what she's learned about building relationships online and staying authentic as a niche brand. There's a lot to learn from today, so let's get going! Show note...

#1157 We have Genevieve Leavold on the show today; she's an abstract artist from the UK and Serbia. She's trying to balance creative time and promotional marketing time. How can she paint and create good content without sacrificing the quality of either? We run through a few ideas based on what I know other artists are doing online, strategize about ways Genevieve can convert one piece of artistic...

#1156 Marjie Kemper is a mixed media artist with an excellent question about podcasting: how do you successfully co-host with someone who has different products and offerings? There's a lot to think about. Who owns the email list? How do you share expenses? How should they approach call to actions within each episode, and how do they set expectations up front? Show notes and more at SmartPassiveIn...