AskPat

Today's question comes from Glen, who asks about online courses for passive income. Which one would I recommend? I recommend several courses, which you can check out from my resources page (http://smartpassiveincome.com/resources), including Ramit Sethi's, Noah Kagan's, Fizzle.co, Youpreneur with Chris Ducker, The Foundation with Dane Maxwell. Check out my new book on validating your idea for a business, Will It Fly?, at http://willitflybook.com. Do you have a question about getting 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 David, who asks about starting a business with funding through Kickstarter. Is this a good way to validate a business idea or will it give me a skewed sense of the market for my product? Check out my new book on validating your idea for a business, Will It Fly?, at http://willitflybook.com. Do you have a question about validation? Record it at http://www.askpat.com/. Today's sponsor is Earth Class Mail. Earth Class Mail brings your snail mail to the cloud. Go to https://www.earthclassmail.com/pat to get your first month free. 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.

Today's question comes from Brittany, who asks about low value affiliates. Is it worth the time involved for inexpensive, low commission items? Brittany's site is http://www.bhookedcrochet.com/ Do you have a question about affiliate marketing? 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.

Today's question comes from Jeremy, who is concerned that the niche he has selected may be too small: springboard diving. How can he validate the size of this market? Also, how can he feel comfortable teaching, given that he is young? For more on idea validation, check out my forthcoming book at http://willitflybook.com. Do you have a question about testing your business idea? 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.

Today's question comes from Darin, who asks about managing his multiple careers on LinkedIn. Darin's side business is http://kidsdoubledesk.com/. Share your thoughts on this topic with Darin using #AskPat489. Do you have a question about managing your social media profiles? 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. It's my birthday week! I would so appreciate if you'd leave me an iTunes review. Coming soon: http://willitflybook.com/.

Today's question comes from Meghan, who has built up an email list for her blog but isn't sure how to use it. What type of content should she send her subscribers? I offer email templates at http://emailthesmartway.com. 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 Justin, who asks about choosing which affiliates to work with. What are my criteria for making these decisions? An example of the special landing page I mention is http://www.smartpassiveincome.com/bluehost. Do you have a question about affiliate marketing? 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 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 Josh, who is trying to name a podcast without violating a government trademark. In this episode, I talk about the trademark problems I ran into with my niche site, Green Exam Academy (http://www.greenexamacademy.com/). Do you have a question about naming your podcast, blog, or product? 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 Braintree. Braintree will help you accept business payments for your products from customers across the world. Go to http://braintreepayments.com/pat.

Today's question comes from Victor, who asks about insuring himself as a self-employed individual. How does he find insurance? Victor's site is http://moneyuseitwisely.com/. To find your state's health insurance marketplace, go to https://www.healthcare.gov/. Do you have a question about self-employment? 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 Ozzy, who asks about his podcasting strategy. Can one show have two formats? For advice on setting up a podcast, try my free podcasting tutorial (http://www.podcastingtutorial.com). Do you have a question about podcasting? 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 Jonah, who asks about curating content. He mentions paper.li, but asks if I recommend any content curation plugins. Jonah's site is http://testingthemuse.com/. The tool I recommend for finding out what people are sharing is BuzzSumo (http://buzzsumo.com/). Do you have a question about your blog's content strategy? Record it at http://www.askpat.com/. To share your own advice on this topic on Twitter, use #AskPat466. 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 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 Sam, who asks about making versions of his website in multiple languages. Is it worth the time? Sam's site is http://edmprod.com/. Use Google Analytics to help you make this decision (http://www.google.com/analytics/). Do you have a question about making your site multi-lingual? 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.

Today's question comes from AJ, who asks about domain flipping (the buying and reselling of domain names). Is it a good income strategy? In this episode I talk about a principle Nicole Dean shared with me in Smart Passive Income Episode 009 (http://www.smartpassiveincome.com/spi-009-make-money-by-making-the-web-a-more-wonderful-place-with-nicole-dean/). I also discuss flipping websites using Flippa (https://flippa.com/) and my friend Chris Guthrie who has done this successfully (http://upfuel.com/). I tried this once with http://beginnergolftips.com/. Do you have a question about income strategies you've read about online? 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 Peter, who has to move often. What’s a good online business for someone on the move? In Episode 46 of the Smart Passive Income Podcast, Dane Maxwell talks about how to find a business idea (http://www.smartpassiveincome.com/no-ideas-no-expertise-no-money-business/). The post by Kevin Kelly I mention is called 1,000 True Fans (http://kk.org/thetechnium/1000-true-fans/). Do you have a question about getting your business started? 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.

Today's question comes from Tony, who asks about how my online business has impacted how I feel about design. Tony’s site is http://designerhacks.com/. Tony mentions Smart Passive Income Podcast Episode 90 (http://www.smartpassiveincome.com/architecture-online-business/). In this episode, I also talk about what I’ve learned from Derek Halpern (http://socialtriggers.com/) and from my designer Dustin (http://www.smartpassiveincome.com/meet-team-flynn/). Do you have a question about how design impacts 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.