Pat Flynn
Smart Passive Income Host
Discussion
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Pat Flynn
@patflynn · Founder, Flynndustries, LLC
Hi! My name is Pat Flynn from SmartPassiveIncome.com. I build businesses publicly that focus on delivering value with automation and scaling in mind, and I share everything that happens along the way, including the income I generate each month and failures I'm met with too. I also host one of the top-ranked business podcasts on iTunes with over 25 million downloads.
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Alex Carter
@alexcartaz · Operations @ 60dB. Ex-PH Podcasts 😻
What's a mistake you made early on when starting your podcast that you now know to avoid? What pitfalls do you advice others to avoid?
@alexcartaz I was so worried about what people were going to think of my show, it took me 1.5 years to finally pull the trigger after publicly announcing in 2008 I was going to start one. Big mistake being so worried - I learned the most from just doing, so just getting started is what I would say.
Alex Carter
@alexcartaz · Operations @ 60dB. Ex-PH Podcasts 😻
@patflynn I have several friends passionate about creating their own podcasts, with really good ideas for their shows, but I've seen this pattern of behavior too. just keeps getting pushed back!
Jacqueline von Tesmar
@jacqvon · Community, Product Hunt ✌️😻
What are you favorite hobbies lately?
@jacqvon Legos with my kids. Science experiments at the home with my son, and coaching my son's soccer and b-ball team. So, yeah - mostly kids stuff. I've sacrificed a lot of my own personal hobbies (or, at least put them on pause for now), like golf and surfing to be able to spend time on my business and family, my priorities right now. Thanks for the question! (oh, and anything back to the future related is my hobby, lol)
Ross Simmonds
@thecoolestcool · GetCrate.co + Hustle & Grind
Hey Pat - Simple question that I'm stealing from Peter Thiel: What important truth do very few people agree with you on?
Jourdan Bul-lalayao
@jourdanb21 · Co-Founder & CTO, Jobox
Hey Pat!
Thanks for chatting with us on Product Hunt LIVE!!
As someone who has achieved a lot of success in your own right, I would really love to ask you the following question. It's intentionally vague, as I'd love for you to answer it based on your interpretation of the question :).
If you had only one tip to share to the world on how people can achieve their goals, what is your absolute #1 tip?
Thanks again, Pat!
@jourdanb21 Thanks for the question! By far, the #1 tip I can share is ask for help - it's impossible to do any of this alone, and if you ask any entrepreneur how important relationships and connecting with others is for success, all of them will tell you it's absolutely crucial. Don't be afraid to put yourself out there, know what you're not good at, and get help when you need it.
Adam Muller
@muller_adam · Co-founder ADHD Collective, MullerCast
@patflynn thanks Pat for doing this!
You've talked recently on your podcast about the importance of mastermind groups, and how crucial it is to surround yourself with quality people who are doing great things.
With that in mind, if you could brag on one person in your peer group who's really inspired you lately to step up your game, to think bigger and/or dig deeper, who would that be, and what have they taught you?
@muller_adam Great question Adam, thank you! I'd love to give a shout out to Jaime Tardy from Eventual Millionaire. She's interviewed over 300+ millionaires and she and I get to connect every week in a MM group, and she's not afraid to share her wisdom based on all of that information she takes in every week. She's super honest, but also very connected and always is sharing new people with the group and making connections.
Rashida B.
@xorashidab
@patflynn Love Jaime! She's the BEST thing that's happened to my business. @muller_adam
Justin F Harris
@justinfharris · Co-Founder, Beehive
Hey @patflynn thanks for doing this AMA!
2 Questions for you:
Do you think there will be more entrepreneurs doing Passive Income Businesses vs trying to be VC backed startups?
Where do you see the SPI brand going in the next few years?
@justinfharris VC backed vs. Passive Income (maybe better known as lifestyle businesses) - interesting thought. I think they each are suited for different types of people with different goals. Both will grow in popularity, I feel, but don't get me wrong passive income businesses definitely don't start off that way, and require a ton of hard work and perseverance, like VC backed startups, and even more so. With that said, I feel a trend toward what it was like in the "olden days", where everyone with a skill or trade will have their own little online property that they can then do business from. Small town rules, as Gary Vaynerchuk says. In terms of SPI, books, courses and more exposure in mainstream media I feel is in my future, but also more philanthropy and non-profit work too. Thank you Justin!
Emily Hodgins
@ems_hodge · Community and Marketing, Product Hunt
@patflynn thanks for joining us! You're so open about the income you generate and past failures on your career path, has there ever been something you were worried about sharing? What made you decide to share your story so candidly?
@ems_hodge Thanks for the question Emily! When I started in this space and began talking about building businesses, I felt no one was being completely open and honest about it. It was all "look at how rich I am", "it's easy", "check out my mansion and ferrari" type of stuff, which disgusted me because while building my own business it was the hardest thing in the world, and it definitely wasn't all clear to me while going through it. Plus, I was successful not because of the material things, but because of the freedom and flexible schedule it created for me. Because of all that, I decided to just be completely open and honest about the entire journey - wins, failures, income, everything, because that's what I wanted to see when I started - someone who was real and not sugar-coating the entire process.
Sebastian Prohaska
@it_helps · SEO, Blogger, Austria
@patflynn Hey, do you think (new) niche sites are still working. Greatings from Austria (Europe) We are huge fans :-)
@it_helps Niche sites in the traditional sense of the term (i.e. building a site relatively quickly with a finite amount of information on it to serve an audience primarily looking for that information on search, which is how you'd get your traffic) is not working at all like it used to. You used to be able to target a keyword (high search, low competition), build a website on that and then generate an income with ads and products from there - but keyword research is now just one of many factors involved in a site, and the long-term successful businesses / sites are ones that are consistent with their content and create community. That's not necessarily passive (actually, not at all), but it can be made more passive by being smart with automation, potentially getting a team involved to help (especially when it comes to the community), but again that trust you build over time is more likely to show up if you show up - but you can still generate an income without 1:1 trading time for money, but again it takes time to get there.
langtree
@mylangtree
@mylangtree @it_helps Honestly, I feel there's a huge need for different kinds of software - it can potentially create that "holy grail" of passive income, which is monthly recurring payments where income is more predictable. Plus, in my experience with software, it's very fulfilling to be able to create something that people pay for and use right away to solve a problem, instead of information that, for example, takes time to first consume, and then implement, and even then the results may vary. Software, however, is NOT easy, and in order for it to be passive in a sense it takes a team - especially on the customer service end. I like software though, and in my experience on the advisory board for two software companies, LeadPages and ConvertKit, it's definitely not easy, but if you have some startup capital, a very good way to begin.
Jordi Querol
@joquerol · CEO, www.nexodosstudio.com
Hey Pat I had two very important questions I needed answered before starting my businesses. But you already answered them. I'm your question #360 and #446. So I just wanted to thank you again for the answers. I've listened and read a lot of your material and I've followed a lot of your suggestions, and now my business is growing. I've gotten to the point we're I'm starting to get recognized locally.
I was just interviewed for a magazine and I was invited to give a conference. So really, thank you so much!