Pat Flynn, Founder of Smart Passive Income and one of best affiliate marketers.
He teaches you proven hacks for running an online business and how to generate passive income.
Pat has an inspiring story who lost his job and then built a million dollar business.
Enjoy his story.
LEED Exam Aspirant to an Entrepreneur
Pat Flynn had planned to be an architect since the day when he was a straight-A high school student.
After graduating magna cum laude from UC Berkeley, he got a job with a renowned architectural firm in the Bay Area, where he became one of the youngest people ever to become job captain.
Three months later, Pat lost his job. Pat had even gone the extra mile to become accredited in Leadership in Energy and Environment Design (LEED), a professional credential that proves mastery in the highly specialized areas of green building.
LEED exam has only about 30% pass rate.
The time when he was preparing for the Test, he created a website to keep himself organized and make it easy for him to cross link and access his resources and notes from wherever he happened to be, because he had to travel for work.
In 2008, he passed the exam with high marks and he got promoted.
He thought, I’ve passed the LEED exam and he must create something that people could use to pass the exam. He went to his site that he created during the preparation period and optimize the website. He started spending hours engaging with people and answering their questions.
Pat compiled the information that was on his website in organized and easier to read and added charts. He created an ebook. He put a graphic on the sidebar of his website, a little description, a paypal button and priced at $19.99. He ended up generating $7908.55 that month which has two and half times more than his architecture income.
There were few ups and downs, but from that day Pat’s income grew month after month. He became LEED exam expert because no one else was providing the help people were seeking.
Soon, people started asking about how he has built his site and business. So he launched SmartPassiveIncome.com, a site where he could document everything he has learned about starting an online business.
Right around the time, Pat’s earnings show a striking upward inflection point. He started talking to the negative comments and turned them into his fans.
How Pat Flynn Made His First $3 Million In Passive Income
In 2009, he started a YouTube channel and in 2010, he launched the smart passive income podcast. He started speaking in public events. His self published book was a Wall Street Journal bestseller.
Today, Pat’s passion for architecture and design was surpassed by his passion for helping others.
If Pat Flynn can make a stellar income off a website dedicated to helping people pass an exam only a few people have ever heard of, you can also do it. Dig deep into what you know best and love most, and start creating content around it.
How to Make Passive Income Online (3 Legit Models From Someone Who Made $5+ Million Online)
Pat Flynn Income Report
December 2017 Monthly Income Report
December 2016 Monthly Income Report
(Source – https://www.smartpassiveincome.com/income-reports/)
Pat’s Advice for Affiliate Marketers
- Recommend products you’re familiar with
You must remember one thing when promoting a product or service that you don’t own: Only recommend products/services that you’re familiar with and that you’ve used before. And if are not sure about the product that It can help your audience, Never promote it. Your audience trust you and you have to keep this trust.
You find a product you like, promote it to others and earn a piece of the profit for each sale that you make.
- Be honest and open with your audience
Be honest and open with your audience that you’re sharing an affiliate link. Let them know you will earn a commission if they use it. It will make your audience understand that you’re honest, and a number of people will seek out your affiliate links to pay you back for the value you’ve already provided to them.
- Create a resource page
You must create an information and beautiful resource page because your audience lands on a helpful page where you have curated all of the top and most helpful products/tools, services, books, etc. that you’ve mentioned on your website. The one thing that you must remember is: keep all of the products you curate on your resource page up to date.
- Build relationship with product owners
Have you become an affiliate for a product/service? Reach out to the owner and start conversation and build a fruitful relationship with them. What you can do? You can feature the product owner in a blog post, interview, or your podcast. It will help your audience to learn more about the product.
Takeaways from Pat’s Insider Newsletters
- Create online courses to serve your audience
it’s no secret that online courses are one of my best methods for serving a niche audience. With courses, you get to use a wide variety of teaching methods to take your audience on an awesome, in-depth learning journey on a specific topic.
And the benefits of online courses don’t stop there! They also let you foster a deeply engaged community around the course subject, all while charging a premium price for a quality learning experience that can help you generate passive income.
- One important skill you must learn: Writing a Copy
One of the most important skills in online business that you need to master is . . . You may ask. “What!?” I’m talking about writing copy. Email copy. Marketing copy. Sales copy.
Any written words that you write and your audience reads. The words you write are as important as a podcast, as important as if you were standing right in front of your customers. And in terms of monetizing, in terms of the success of any product or course launches, writing solid sales copy is everything. Copy can make or break the success of your business. It’s that powerful.
- Optimize ABOUT page
If you’re like most people, you set up your ABOUT page of your website once in the beginning, and then never really go back to it. The same goes with any social media bios that you may have, too.
Pat recommends going back and optimizing it because a well thought out about page is a great opportunity to get more subscribers and potentially even build super fans. And if you check your analytics, you’ll see there are people visiting that page.
- Freelancing is a quick way to make money
Freelancing is charging for a skill that you have that someone else needs. It’s definitely not passive income, but it’s income that can come in faster than building an audience or creating a product from scratch, and personally I feel it’s an awesome gateway to your own business where you can later take yourself out of the equation, but still have the business run on its own.
Pat’s Books and Courses
Let Go
Will It Fly: How to Test Your Next Business Idea So You Don’t Waste Your Time and Money
Smart from Scratch: How to Find a Winning Business Idea & Land Your First Customer
Power-Up Podcasting: A Step-By-Step Course to Launch a Successful Podcast that Gets Found and Grows Your Online Brand
Build Your Own Brand A Free 5-Day Challenge to Help You Build a Brand and Website You Can Be Proud Of
1•2•3 Affiliate Marketing
Fun Facts About Pat Flynn
- Pat plays the trumpet.
- His favorite Movie is “Back to the Future” and Book “Ready Player One”
- His favorite game is Star Wars Battlefront
Follow the blueprint Pat’s story provides: Go deep, go niche, and offer real value in the form of information or entertainment.
