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 resource, Email the Smart Way, which will teach you what content to include in your email marketing: http://emailthesmartway.com/.

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 Recruiter for sponsoring today's episode. Go to http://www.ziprecruiter.com/pat to get started posting jobs today.

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 a forum website (replace "forumwebsite.com" with the URL for the site you want to search): site:forumwebsite.com "I need" Do you have a question about writing for your website? Record it at http://www.askpat.com/. Today's sponsor is Freshbooks. Go to http://www.freshbooks.com/askpat and enter "Ask Pat" for more information.

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.com/. Thanks to our sponsor, Design Crowd. To learn more about working with their designers, go to http://designcrowd.com/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 easy and affordable. Check out my affiliate link: http://askpat.com/convertkit. Do you have a question about getting your website started? 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.

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.com/. Today's sponsor is Freshbooks. Go to http://www.GetFreshBooks.com and enter "Ask Pat" for more information.

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 with their designers, go to http://designcrowd.com/askpat.

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.crazyegg.com/) and SumoMe (http://www.askpat.com/sumome). Do you have a question about increasing traffic to your site? Record it at http://www.askpat.com/. Thanks to our sponsor, iubenda. If you have a website, you need a privacy policy. iubenda will help you create one; go to http://www.iubenda.com/ to build an easy-to-read policy.

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 Marketing, Affiliate Marketing the Smart Way (http://affiliatemarketingthesmartway.com). Do you have a question about affiliate 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.

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.com/. Thanks to our sponsor, iubenda. If you have a website, you need a privacy policy. iubenda will help you create one; go to http://www.iubenda.com/ to build an easy-to-read policy.

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 enter "Ask Pat"). Stripe is an excellent tool for collecting credit cards and keeping track of the records (http://www.askpat.com/stripe). Do you have a question about the accounting side of 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.

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.

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/. Thanks to our sponsor, iubenda. If you have a website, you need a privacy policy. iubenda will help you create one; go to http://www.iubenda.com/ to build an easy-to-read policy.

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 http://www.GetFreshBooks.com and enter "Ask Pat" for more information.

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 to get started posting jobs today.

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://askpat.com/vf). Do you have a question about outsourcing? 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.

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://www.GetFreshBooks.com and enter "Ask Pat" for more information.

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 sponsor, iubenda. If you have a website, you need a privacy policy. iubenda will help you create one; go to http://www.iubenda.com/ to build an easy-to-read policy.

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.smartpassiveincome.com/the-most-important-conversation-ive-had-about-my-business-ever/. Do you have a question about content audits? 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.

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.askpat.com/. Thanks to our sponsor, iubenda. If you have a website, you need a privacy policy. iubenda will help you create one; go to http://www.iubenda.com/ to build an easy-to-read policy.