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

Today's question comes from Jacob, who asks about business structure. Should multiple businesses operate under the same LLC, or should each business have a separate legal entity? The first business I started is Green Exam Academy (formerly called In the LEED; http://www.greenexamacademy.com/). My original LLC is Flynndustries LLC. The other LLC I discuss in depth is related to the Smart Podcast Player (http://smartpodcastplayer.com). My account is Dave from Profitwise Accounting (http://www.profitwiseaccounting.com). Do you have a question about your business structure? Record it at http://www.askpat.com/.

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Today's question comes from Jason, who has some questions about setting up a shopping cart for his website. Which is the best one for his needs, with include considerations for shipping physical goods? I recommend checking out ShipStation (http://www.shipstation.com/). A good website platform to check out is Shopify, which is an alternative to WordPress that is designed specifically for online stores (https://www.shopify.com/). If you want to stick with WordPress, WooCommerce is a good platform (https://woocommerce.com/). Another good shopping cart option is Samcart, for which I am an advisor (https://askpat.com/samcart). Do you have a question about selling products? Record it at http://www.askpat.com/.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Today's question comes from Brent, who is selling a product on his website, but it is also available on Amazon. Should he let people know they can buy the product on Amazon, rather than directly from him? Should he share the affiliate link? Brent's website is http://margaritatexas.com/. To see my book club landing page strategy with Amazon affiliate links, go to http://patsbookclub.com/. Do you have a question about selling products? Record it at http://www.askpat.com/.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Today's question comes from Ciaran, who asks about business idea validation using Facebook ads. If you're testing three different ideas with Facebook, do you need three separate landing pages? Do the landing pages need to be on different domains, or can they use the same domain? Ciaran discusses some of the methods I share for validating your ideas in my book Will It Fly? (http://willitflybook.com). The landing page tool I recommend is LeadPages (http://askpat.com/leadpages). Do you have a question about testing ideas with Facebook ads? Record it at http://www.askpat.com/.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Today's question comes from Denise, who asks about redesigning a website. What steps should she take during the redesign to maintain her site's search ranking? Will redesigning the navigation negatively impact the SEO? In this episode I talk about permanent 301 redirects. Do you have a question about website redesigns? Record it at http://www.askpat.com/.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Today's question comes from James, who is building his business on the side while he continues to work his day job. How does he prepare himself to become a full-time entrepreneur, looking specifically at day-job benefits like health insurance? I talk about COBRA, which is a method for continuing health insurance from a previous employer. Check out https://www.healthcare.gov/ to find out how to get individual health insurance in your state. Do you have a question about becoming self-employed? Record it at http://www.askpat.com/.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Today's question comes from Nathan, who validated a business idea, but the customers didn't last. Is that a sign that the business idea isn't good? Nathan's site is http://honeybunnybaking.com/. Nathan talks about my book Will It Fly? (http://willitflybook.com) and my talk with Noah Kagan about SumoJerky (https://www.smartpassiveincome.com/tv/validating-a-product-and-the-story-of-sumojerky-with-noah-kagan/). Do you have a question about starting a business? Record it at http://www.askpat.com/.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Today's question comes from Brian, who has a question about niching down. How does he niche down his website and his course? Should he target a specific niche, or a broader market? How specific should his target market be? Brian's website is at http://www.saasjunkie.com/. In this episode I mention Internet Business Mastery, a resource that was key for me early on in my business journey. Learn more at http://www.internetbusinessmastery.com/. And, lastly, I mention SPI Podcast #46 at http://www.smartpassiveincome.com/session46/ with Dane Maxwell, where he discusses building a lucrative business with no ideas. Do you have a question about niching down? Record it at http://www.askpat.com/.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Today's question comes from Steve, who has a number of essential online business questions. Would Pat be as successful if he wasn't let go? How do you define success in online business? Should he post his editorial calendar online or will Google penalize him? Does iTunes categories matter, and what happens if there isn't a specific category for his podcast? How do you transfer your domain from one host to another without losing email service? What is the best way to monitor and fix third-party links? In this episode I mention SPI Podcast #215 at http://www.smartpassiveincome.com/session215/, the episode where I cover my editorial calendar and strategy. I also mention a broken link checker at http://www.brokenlinkcheck.com/. Do you have a question about the things you need to do to be a successful online entrepreneur? Record it at http://www.askpat.com/.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.