by: AskPat 551 Episode Transcript
Pat Flynn: Hey, what's up, everybody? Pat Flynn here. Welcome to March. For those of you who are listening when this comes out, it's March 1st today. It's awesome. Can't believe it. But it's also Episode 551 of AskPat. And I want to thank you for joining me today.
All right, now let's get to today's question from Josh.
Josh: Hi, Pat. As suggested to newcomers, I've listened to your podcasts 15, 16, and 17, but I realize they're quite dated. I think they were recorded in 2010. You suggest in podcast number 15 to start writing articles for InfoBarrel. You said it's a good place to start. So my question is quite simple: Is InfoBarrel now in 2015, going into 2016, still the best site to write articles for, or do you have another suggestion? Thanks so much. Cheers.
Pat Flynn: Hey, Josh. What's up? Thank you so much for the question today. For those of you who are listening, episodes 15, 16, and 17 of this Smart Passive Income podcast were ones that I had mentioned that everybody should start listening to those because they go over, in three parts, the different types of passive income you can generate online. Everything that goes along with those, in terms of what you need to get started, what to look out for, whether it's right for you or not and all those sorts of things. And Josh is right. They are definitely outdated now. They were recorded in 2010. However, I recently reupdated, or rerecorded new episodes that very much align with those things but have updated content. And those episodes are 192, 193, and 194. So to get to each of those, you can actually start at episode 192; that's smartpassiveincome.com/session192. So if you're just starting out in the world of passive income and online business, that's exactly where I would recommend you start there. Again, like I said, you could check out the different types of passive income, what it really means to start and online business and how you should approach it for “maximum effort.” That's a little Deadpool reference. But if you don't know what that is, don't worry. But maximum results and so that's where I would start. Episode 192. Smartpassiveincome.com/session192.
Now, Josh, the second part of your actual question was about InfoBarrel. Because in one of those episodes, in the early days, I had mentioned that InfoBarrel was a great place to start if you are super afraid of all the techy stuff and you just want to get stuff online and learn how it all works and just see what it's like to put stuff online, have other people read it and get your toes in the water before you jump in the deep end, for example. And InfoBarrel was the place to do it. It was an article directory, and it was very easy because the website's already set up and you just have to start writing and you put it out there. There was a great community there. Now, that being said, I wouldn't recommend InfoBarrel nowadays. InfoBarrel still exists. I believe they went over … I've been getting emails from them for the first time in years recently, so I think they've undergone a management change or a strategy change, or whatever. I don't know what their plan is. But I wouldn't recommend it right now. For a while, it was just sitting there, doing nothing.
What I would recommend is a site called Medium.com. Medium.com. Anybody can get access to write on Medium.com. You can get followers on there. It's a very beautiful reading experience, and to have yourself practice writing content in this way is perfect, because eventually when you start your own site and your business, you're going to have to write content or provide content in some way. And this is a great way to start. And again, without having to actually set up your website because it's already set up, and plus you get some interaction. You can actually start to build a following and make a big impact on Medium. There's a lot of super-popular articles that have gone viral on Medium.com. So you have that opportunity as well. And again, the reading experience is just beautiful.
So, I would highly recommend you all check it out. You sign up for an account. You can follow me, Pat Flynn. And I don't necessarily write on there very much, but I do have a couple articles there about Pencils of Promise and my work with them, building schools around the world. But anyway, whatever you want to write about, you can write there. It's a great testing ground, just find your voice there, and then once you're comfortable and ready, I would absolutely recommend you start your own blog or podcast or provide content in some way where it's on your own platform. On your own self-hosted website and you have major control over it, so that you can start building your following and building your email list from there.
So, Josh, I hope that answers your question. Everybody, again, go to Medium.com if you're just getting started, you want to get your toes in the water and start writing and see what that's like. It's a great place to do it and it's non-threatening, and it's a friendly place to be. And people can comment and you can comment on other articles and you can read and there's a lot of good stuff there. Check it out. Medium.com.
So, Josh, thank you so much for the question today. We're going to send you an AskPat T-shirt for having your question featured here on the show. And for those of you who are listening, if you have a question, seriously, if you have a question that you'd like potentially featured here on the show, plus on the side you can get a t-shirt if you get featured on the show, just head on over to askpat.com. Just hit the record button on that page, use your microphone, ask a question just like Josh did. And it doesn't need to sound beautiful. It's my job to sound great. It's your job to ask the questions, because without the questions, this show wouldn't exist. So, again, I appreciate each and every one of you and your questions. Can't get to them all, obviously, because I get dozens a day and there's only five episodes a week, but I do listen and they do get listened to. And then we put them in a spreadsheet and we pick the ones out that make the most sense to answer and then I answer them. And that's what we do here.
So, for those of you who are listening, again, askpat.com is the place to go. And for those of you who have yet to pick up my book, it's March 1st here. You might not have heard, but last month, exactly a month ago, I launched a book. It's called, Will It Fly? How To Test Your Next Business Idea So You Don't Waste Your Time And Money. And I'm so happy that it became a Wall Street Journal bestseller. Sold over at least, at the time I record this, 16,000 copies, and it's just blowing my mind how well people are responding to it and actually taking action and getting results from it, too. I mean, I knew it was great and I knew it was going to be helpful, and just to actually see it happening now and to see all that stuff I visualized when I was writing this actually come to fruition, it's amazing. So thank you, guys, for those of you who picked it up. If you want to pick it up, go to willitflybook.com.
And finally, as always, I love to end these episodes with a quote. And today's quote comes from Rob Siltanen. Sorry, that was a hard one. Rob Siltanen. And he said, “People who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do.” Are you crazy? I hope you're crazy. Because it's the crazy ones that actually get things done. So, we'll be crazy together. Cheers, guys. Take care, and I look forward to serving you in tomorrow's episode of AskPat. Thanks. Bye.