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

Today's question comes from Rachel, who has a question about email lists and lead magnets. How can she keep subscribers from receiving duplicate emails? Rachel’s site is http://www.candokiddo.com/. Rachel mentions the Smart Passive Income Podcast Episode 78 with Clay Collins (http://www.smartpassiveincome.com/rapid-list-building/), which talks about how to use LeadPages (http://www.askpat.com/leadpages). The email service providers I discuss are Mailchimp (http://mailchimp.com/) and AWeber (http://www.smartpassiveincome.com/aweber), and ConvertKit (http://askpat.com/convertkit). Do you have a question about how to manage your email 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 today.

Today's question comes from AJ, who asks about sending cold emails. Are they a good tool for generating new business? Do you have a question about using email to build 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 Brian, who has a question about the sharing the work of a much more established individual in his market. Is it a good idea to share a competitor’s site when they have a much larger presence? Brian’s site is http://www.askadaddy.com/. Do you have a question about the competition? Record it at http://www.askpat.com/. Thanks to our sponsor, Lynda.com. Try out all of Lynda.com's courses for free for seven days. Go http://lynda.com/AskPat to get started.

Today's question comes from Jon, who is setting up a video studio in the corner of his home office. What some space-saving advice do I have to recommend? In this episode I mention a bunch of photography tools, including using a wide angle lens, using bokeh effect (works better on a standard lens), using LED lights to save on space and heat, folding light reflectors, and ring lights. The lenses I mentioned are the Canon 1.4F 50 mm or 35mm lens. For purchasing camera equipment, Amazon is a good resource, as is B&H Photo (http://www.bhphotovideo.com/). As always, check out Caleb Wojcik’s resource at DIY Video Guide (http://diyvideoguide.com/). Do you have a question about shooting videos for your business? Record it at http://www.askpat.com/. Thanks to our sponsor, Lynda.com. Try out all of Lynda.com's courses for free for seven days. Go http://lynda.com/AskPat to get started. Today's sponsor is Freshbooks. Go to http://www.GetFreshBooks.com and enter "Ask Pat" for more information.

Today's question comes from Ann, who asks about the Periscope platform. What is its potential for marketing a business? Chris Ducker inspired me to get started using Periscope (http://www.chrisducker.com). Do you have a question about social media? Record it at http://www.askpat.com/. Today's sponsor is Braintree. Braintree will help you accept business payments for your products from customers across the world. Go to http://braintreepayments.com/pat. Thanks to our sponsor, Sidekick. Receive live notifications when someone opens your email. Go to getsidekick.com/pat to check it out.

Today's question comes from Mary, who asks how much a new business owner needs to work in the beginning. Is it important to work long hours when you’re first getting a business started? The two authors I contrast are Gary Vaynerchuck (https://www.garyvaynerchuk.com/) and Tim Ferriss (http://fourhourworkweek.com/). Do you have a question about getting your business 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 Megan, who asks about leaving a traditional product-based business to start an online business. How does she make sure this new business will last? 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 starting your online business? Record it at http://www.askpat.com/. Thanks to our sponsor, Lynda.com. Try out all of Lynda.com's courses for free for seven days. Go http://lynda.com/AskPat to get started. Thanks to our sponsor, Sidekick. Receive live notifications when someone opens your email. Go to getsidekick.com/pat to check it out.

Today's question comes from Chris, who is planning to interview some audience members. What questions should he ask his audience members? Chris’s site is http://sidehustleacademy.com/. I recommend Ryan Levesque's excellent book on how to conduct audience surveys (http://www.amazon.com/Ask-Counterintuitive-Discover-Customers-Business/dp/1939447720/&tag=smartpassiveincome-20). Do you have a question about learning from your audience? Record it at http://www.askpat.com/. Thanks to LegalZoom for sponsoring today's episode. Go to http://www.legalzoom.com/ and enter the discount code "Pat" at checkout.

Today's question comes from Elizabeth, who asks about business plans. How important is having a business plan? Elizabeth’s site is http://www.theseniorgap.com/. In this episode I mention the SBA, which is the Small Business Administration (https://www.sba.gov/). I recommend the book The One Thing by Gary Keller and Jay Papasan (http://www.the1thing.com/). Do you have a question about getting started with 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 Josh, who wants to know how to convert his Instagram followers to newsletter followers and customers. Josh’s site is http://mad-realestate.com/. I cover strategies for converting Instagram followers on my interviews on Smart Passive Income Podcast Podcast 165 with Susan Petersen (http://www.smartpassiveincome.com/susan-petersen-from-freshly-picked-on-selling-moccasins-and-her-booming-online-retail-business/) and 169 with Nathan Chan (http://www.smartpassiveincome.com/how-nathan-chan-built-a-6-figure-digital-magazine-and-the-marketing-strategies-we-can-all-use/). To set up domain redirects, check out the WordPress plugin Pretty Link (https://wordpress.org/plugins/pretty-link/). Do you have a question about Instagram? Record it at http://www.askpat.com/. Today's sponsor is Braintree. Braintree will help you accept business payments for your products from customers across the world. Go to http://braintreepayments.com/pat. Thanks to our sponsor, Sidekick. Receive live notifications whe

Today's question comes from Greg, who asks about affiliate products and email lists. Can he promote multiple products to a single list, or should he set up several email lists? For affiliate marketing advice check out this page: http://www.smartpassiveincome.com/affiliate-marketing-strategies/. 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 http://www.ziprecruiter.com/pat to get started posting jobs today.

Today's question comes from Michael, who asks how I stay motivated when work and life gets tough. It’s a great question, because life is a roller coaster. Here’s what I do. Do you have a question about staying motivated? 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 Saj, whose audience is asking him to create some coaching courses. What tools does he need to create a course? These are the tools I recommend. For hosting the course, if you don’t want to create your own website, you can use Udemy (http://www.udemy.com/) or Teachery (https://www.teachery.co/). For a merchant account, you can use Stripe (https://stripe.com/), PayPal (https://www.paypal.com/), 1Shopping Cart (http://www.1shoppingcart.com/) or Authorize.net (http://www.authorize.net/). Kajabi is another option for hosting courses, but I have not tried it out (https://www.kajabiapp.com/). To host a course on your own website, look into these WordPress platforms: WP WishList (http://member.wishlistproducts.com/), WP Courseware (https://flyplugins.com/wp-courseware/), and Zippy Courses (http://askpat.com/zippycourses). For screen recording, I recommend Screenflow for Mac (http://www.telestream.net/screenflow/overview.htm) or Camtasia for PCs (https://www.techsmith.com/camtasia.html). A

Today's question comes from Elyse, who writes online content for a living. How can she increase traffic to her site to help her find more customers? Elyse’s site is http://www.contentbyelyse.com/. Take a listen to Smart Passive Income Podcast 158 with Brian Casel, where we discuss how to productize a service-based business (http://www.smartpassiveincome.com/how-to-productize-your-service-based-business/). Also check out Derek Halpern’s site, Social Triggers (http://socialtriggers.com/). Here’s the video of Derek walking me through how to improve my conversion strategies (http://www.smartpassiveincome.com/conversion-strategies/). Do you have a question about building traffic for your site? Record it at http://www.askpat.com/. Share your thoughts on today’s episode using #AskPat411. Thanks to our sponsor, Lynda.com. Try out all of Lynda.com's courses for free for seven days. Go http://lynda.com/AskPat to get started. Thanks to our sponsor, Sidekick. Receive live notifications when someone opens your email. Go t

Today's question comes from Gaynete, who asks about the time my website got hacked. What did I learn from getting the site hacked? What would I do differently to prevent future attacks? I share the 11 things I learned from the DDOS attack that will help you prevent your site from getting hacked—or help you recover if a site hack happens to you. The plugins I discuss for limiting logins are Limit Login Attempts (https://wordpress.org/plugins/limit-login-attempts/) and Wordfence (https://wordpress.org/plugins/wordfence/). The password managers I mention are 1Password (https://agilebits.com/onepassword) and LastPass (https://lastpass.com/). The hosting companies I recommend are Linode (https://www.linode.com/) and Bluehost (http://askpat.com/bluehost). Two other service I recommend are Sucuri (https://sucuri.net/) and Cloudflare (https://www.cloudflare.com/). Do you have a question about your website’s security? Record it at http://www.askpat.com/. Thanks to our sponsor, Lynda.com. Try out all of Lynda.com's cou

AP 0409: Where Should I Put My Affiliate Disclosure Statement? Today's question comes from Jason, who asks about affiliate disclosure. Where should he put the affiliate disclosure statement? I recommend creating a resources page that includes a disclosure statement (http://smartpassiveincome.com/resources). On that page you can see my disclosure statement in blue. Do you have a question about affiliate sales? 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 Khizer, who is a musician with very active social media accounts but no active website. He’s ready to start releasing his own music—how can he use his social media to make money? In this episode I talk about Kevin Kelly’s 1000 True Fans post (http://kk.org/thetechnium/1000-true-fans/). Do you have a question about starting 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 Stephen, who has a question about keywords and Google Analytics. How can he get started with keyword research in Google Analytics? In this episode I talk about how to use Google’s free Keyword Planner tool (https://adwords.google.com/ko/KeywordPlanner/), as well as how to use Amazon and iTunes for research. Do you have a question about keyword research? Record it at http://www.askpat.com/. Thanks to LegalZoom for sponsoring today's episode. Go to http://www.legalzoom.com/ and enter the discount code "Pat" at checkout.

Today's question comes from Tanner, who has courses on Udemy. He’s ready to market courses from his own platform, but he doesn’t have an audience yet. How should he get started? Tanner’s courses on are the course platform site Udemy (http://www.udemy.com/). For Facebook marketing and list building advice, check out Amy Porterfield’s site (http://www.amyporterfield.com/). Good platforms for hosting courses include WP WishList (http://member.wishlistproducts.com/), WP Courseware (https://flyplugins.com/wp-courseware/), and Zippy Courses (http://askpat.com/zippycourses). Do you have a question about creating courses? Record it at http://www.askpat.com/. Thanks to our sponsor, Lynda.com. Try out all of Lynda.com's courses for free for seven days. Go http://lynda.com/AskPat to get started.

Today's question comes from Selin, who has a question about choosing between two business ideas, an ecommerce site and custom product versus blogging. Kickstarter is a good tool for raising production funds (https://www.kickstarter.com/). Do you have a question about when to start your business? Record it at http://www.askpat.com/. Thanks to our sponsor, Lynda.com. Try out all of Lynda.com's courses for free for seven days. Go http://lynda.com/AskPat to get started. Thanks to our sponsor, Sidekick. Receive live notifications when someone opens your email. Go to getsidekick.com/pat to check it out.