Askpat 2.0: A Weekly Coaching Call On Online Business, Blogging, Marketing, And Lifestyle Design

Today's question comes from Ray, who asks about email marketing and sales conversion. What are healthy email open and conversion rates? Ray mentions Nathan Barry, who is an expert in online selling (and is the creator of ConvertKit: http://nathanbarry.com/). Do you have a question about email marketing. Record it at http://www.askpat.com/. I would so appreciate an honest review of the AskPat Podcast in iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/askpat-your-online-business/id806364627?mt=2

Today's question comes from Claudius, who asks about building an email list for his book review site. Specifically, he would like to create exclusive content available only to email subscribers. Which tools should he use to set this up? In this episode I talk about my favorite email service provider, ConvertKit (http://askpat.com/convertkit) and a great tool for sign up forms, LeadPages (http://askpat.com/leadpages). Check out Episode 78 of the Smart Passive Income Podcast to learn about rapid email list building (smartpassiveincome.com/session78). Do you have a question about email marketing? Record it at http://www.askpat.com/.

Today's question comes from Brooke, who has a marketing question. What recommendations do I have for marketing an expensive travel adventure? Brooke's site is https://yogatraveltree.com/. In this episode, I give the example of Chris Ducker's Tropical Think Tank (http://www.chrisducker.com/ttt/). Do you have a question about marketing? Record it at http://www.askpat.com/.

Today's question comes from Brandon, who is having trouble gaining traction with thought leaders in his industry. How can he convince larger Facebook groups to share his content? Brandon's site is http://www.bootstrappingthefoodrevolution.com/. Do you have a question about networking with influencers? Record it at http://www.askpat.com/.

Today's question comes from Glenn, who has an existing podcast and website. How should he handle competition from someone with the same business name as him? Glenn’s site is http://amiibotrainer.com. Do you have a question about dealing with competition? Record it at http://www.askpat.com/. Check out the Audible audiobook version my new book on validating your idea for a business, Will It Fly?, at http://willitflybook.com.

Today's question comes from Tiffany, who is looking to expand her professional network. Which conferences would I recommend to meet other savvy online entrepreneurs? Tiffany’s site is http://heytiffany.com. Tiffany mentions Ramit Sethi’s Zero to Launch course (http://askpat.com/ztl). The conferences I recommend are Social Media Marketing World (http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/smmworld/), Podcast Movement (http://podcastmovement.com/), FinCon (https://finconexpo.com/), and Traffic and Conversion Summit (https://trafficandconversionsummit.com/). Online communities include David Siteman Garland’s community (http://www.therisetothetop.com/), Fizzle.co (http://fizzle.com), Youpreneur.com (http://youpreneur.com). Do you have a question about networking and building relationships? Record it at http://www.askpat.com/.

Today's question comes from Glenn, who asks about reposting his content on sites like Medium or Quora. Is it a good idea to repost his content verbatim on these sites? Should he rework the content for those sites? Glenn’s site is http://thecasualcapitalist.com. In this episode, Glenn and I discuss Medium (http://www.medium.com), Quora (http://www.quora.com) and Anchor (https://anchor.fm/). Do you have a question about blogging? Record it at http://www.askpat.com/.

Today's question comes from Janet, who asks about preparing content for her affiliates. How should she manage her affiliate payments? How can she create social media sharable content for them? Janet’s site is http://www.getsocialhealth.com/. In this episode, I mention setting up swipe copy pages with integrations for Infusionsoft (http://askpat.com/infusionsoft), Ontraport (https://ontraport.com/), and Active Campaign (http://www.activecampaign.com/). Gumroad (http://gumroad.com) is another solution for affiliate management (http://www.gumroad.com). To find help with legal services, find an attorney or search on Upwork.com. Do you have a question about affiliate marketing? Record it at http://www.askpat.com/.

Today's question comes from Alexia, who asks about email marketing. Which email service should she use? Can she start with a provider for smaller lists first and upgrade later? Also, can she email people she knows who did not opt in to an email list? Alexia’s site is http://capitalizesocial.com. Alexia mentions two episodes of the Smart Passive Income Podcast, Session 159 (http://www.smartpassiveincome.com/autoresponder-email-best-practices/) and Session 185 (http://www.smartpassiveincome.com/the-story-behind-convertkit-with-nathan-barry/) . The email service providers Alexia mentions and I discuss are Active Campaign (http://www.activecampaign.com/), Infusionsoft (http://askpat.com/infusionsoft), and ConvertKit (http://askpat.com/convertkit). Do you have a question about email marketing? Record it at http://www.askpat.com/. Share your thoughts on this episode on Twitter using the hashtag #AskPat576.

Today's question comes from Diana, who asks about claiming social media handles for her new business. Should she claim social media accounts right away, even though she isn’t planning to use them immediately? Do you have a question about social media? Record it at http://www.askpat.com/.

Today's question comes from Applejaxx, an artist who asks how to grow and better engage with his email list. His free downloads are very popular—how can he get engagement with his other content? In this episode, I recommend Periscope (https://www.periscope.tv/) and Snapchat (https://www.snapchat.com/) as good ways to build engagement for an audience like Applejaxx has. Do you have a question about podcasting? Record it at http://www.askpat.com/. If you have a podcast, check out the Smart Podcast Player, a beautiful podcast player for your website. Go to http://smartpodcastplayer.com to check it out.

Today's question comes from Serena, who is struggling to determine who her target customer is. Can she have more than one type of target customer? Serena’s website is http://thriftdiving.com. In this episode, I mention the post by Kevin Kelly called 1,000 True Fans (http://kk.org/thetechnium/1000-true-fans/). Do you have a question about determining who your customers are? Record it at http://www.askpat.com/.

Today's question comes from Jakub, who asks about including interviews in a paid product. Should he compensate the people he interviews? Do you have a question about creating paid products? Record it at http://www.askpat.com.

Today's question comes from Raylee, who has a huge quantity of Facebook fans, but almost no conversions. What should she do differently? I highly recommend reading Ask by Ryan Levesque, who I interviewed on Smart Passive Income Podcast #178 (http://smartpassiveincome.com/session178). I also recommend validating ideas using exercises in my new book, Will It Fly?, at http://willitflybook.com. Do you have a question about selling to your audience? Record it at http://www.askpat.com/.

Today's question comes from Tammy, who asks about the video tutorials I have on Smart Passive Income. Which tools do I use to create these tutorials? Tammy's site is https://trainingforlocalsmallbusinessowners.com/. For creating screen recording videos, I recommend using Screenflow (http://askpat.com/screenflow) or Camtasia (https://www.techsmith.com/camtasia.html). For drawing in Mac programs, I use OmniDazzle (http://omnidazzle.en.softonic.com/mac) and a Wacom tablet (http://askpat.com/tablet). Do you have a question about creating tutorials for your blogging audience? Record it at http://www.askpat.com/.

Today's question comes from Ben, who asks how to share personal stories on his blog, while still staying safe. How can he protect himself from any malicious invasions of his privacy? Ben's site is http://theamateurcyclist.net/. Do you have a question about blogging and personal safety? Record it at http://www.askpat.com/. The audiobook for my new book on validating your idea for a business, Will It Fly?, is available now at http://willitflybook.com.

Today's question comes from Glenn, who asks about using ConvertKit email templates. Should he use images or stick to text only? Glenn discusses the email marketing service ConvertKit (http://askpat.com/convertkit). Do you have a question about email marketing? Record it at http://www.askpat.com/.

Today's question comes from Matt, who has a chat feature on his website. What are some good tips for his agents to increase sales without seeming pushy? Matt's site is http://www.homeoanimal.com/. I mention an episode of the Smart Passive Income Podcast with Trevor Page (http://www.smartpassiveincome.com/blog-ebook-membership-site/). Do you have a question about improving your interactions with fans and customers? Record it at http://www.askpat.com/. My audiobook recording of Will It Fly? is now available at http://willitflybook.com.

Today's question comes from Collin, who has recently started a podcast. What are the activities or statistics he should track? Collin's site is http://20se.co/. I share the four things I think all podcasters should track. The landing page I reference is http://emailthesmartway.com/. Do you have a question about podcasting? Record it at http://www.askpat.com/.

Today's question comes from Daniel, who asks about traffic growth. How can he maintain his site's traffic growth and reach one million visitors? Do you have a question about traffic to your website? Record it at http://www.askpat.com. The Will It Fly? audiobook is now available through Audible! Check it out at http://willitflybook.com