Passive Income – The SMART Way, with Pat Flynn (VBL Podcast)
by Chris C. Ducker
28. Apr, 2010 
35 Comments
Location: Company Offices – Reading / Listening Time: 45mins
Last week I had the chance to sit down via Skype and speak with one guy that is completely Crushing It in the online world right now – Pat Flynn. Pat’s blog www.smartpassiveincome.com is one of the fastest growing blogs online right now, and he has been featured on ProBlogger as well as LifeHacker in the last couple of months alone.
In our podcast, I ask Pat a ton of questions. I figured a 20min chat with this guy, but it lasted for closer to an hour, and I personally felt that it could have gone on longer without any issues, if we both didn’t have scheduled telecon’s straight after!
What I love about Pat is that he isn’t shy with information. His blog is filled with tons of useful information, and he is consistently coming up with something new to discuss, analyze and present to his loyal legion of fans. Throughout our chat we discussed, amongst other things:
- What smart passive income really is.
- How he juggles working from home and being a father.
- His advice for aspiring online marketers.
- How he see’s the future of eBooks.
- His iPhone App’s and other future business plans.
- The Three key ingredients to creating passive income in the right way!
This is a great interview, and I’d like to thank Pat for taking the time to chat with me. Every now and then you sit down and converse with someone and, when you’re done and finished, the conversation continues to roll around inside your head for a good few hours. This was one of those chats.
Podcast: Download (Duration: 44:44 — 41.0MB)
Just press ‘play’ and following listening to the interview, please leave questions for Pat, and comments in general below, and I’ll see if I can convince him to drop by and answer them.
Thanks for your ongoing support and help in spreading the word of the Virtual Business Lifestyle blog.
By the end of 2010, I want to be a Full-Time Virtual CEO. Take the journey with me, month-by-month to find out how I'm going to do it! I’m a 19-year sales, marketing and PR professional originally from the UK and an entrepreneur at heart. I’m also the CEO of the Live2Sell Group of Companies, a thriving total business outsourcing provider based in Cebu City, Philippines.
Pat has been an inspiration to me because he’s so open about sharing what works and what doesn’t work in his online pursuits. Whether I read his posts or listen to interviews, I always come away with something tangible I can give a try in my own business.
Hi Jean
You’re absolutely right!
His openness is what sets him far apart from, as far as I’m concerned, anyone else in the ‘passive income’ space. It was a great interview.
Thanks for commenting, and I certainly hope to see you here again soon, Jean!
Best,
Chris
Thanks for the kind comment Jean! I figure, why hold anything back. We’re all in this together trying to succeed online, so there’s really no point in keeping anything a secret, right? Thanks again Jean!
Pat’s blog SmartPassiveIncome is a constant inspiration for me.
As Jean said his honest and open approach to making money online is what attracted me to him and what sets him apart from the other make money online gurus out there.
Thanks for the beautiful interview!!
Hey Carey
Thanks for dropping by, thanks for making the time.
Pat’s a great guy – with his heart in the RIGHT place, not just his pocket!!!
Thanks for the comment and the kind words on the interview, too. Much appreciated. Hope to see you back here on the VBL blog soon!
Chris
Thanks Carey! Hearing someone say that I’m set apart from other make money online gurus out there is truly an honor. Even though I know I’m just a regular guy, it means a lot. Cheers Carey!
Awesome interview. Definitely going to load this interview up to my iPod and listen to it again. Pat is making BIG THINGS happen “passive income” space.
I like the intro music too Chris!
Hi Tony
Honored to be on your iPod Playlist, bud! And thanks for the kind words on the music, too!!!
Chris
Awesome Tony. It was definitely one of the top interviews I’ve done – Chris is great at doing them. Tony, we gotta hook up the next time you come to SD. Cheers!
Hi Pat
Thanks for dropping by and getting to some of these comments, its very good of you.
And thanks, too, for the kind words on the interview – you were an easy victim… er, um, I mean target, er… SUBJECT – that’s the word!!!
Consider it done! I’ll let you know in advance the next time I’m going to be in SD. Chris needs to come and join us as well
Awesome idea.
Consider me there… I do lead a ‘virtual business lifestyle’ after all…!!!
Pat is a huge inspiration and what I really find useful is his frankness in discussing his online income. I also like his “smart passive income” definition. Here’s to getting back to work now to build the future.
Go get ‘em, Tyler!!!
Appreciate you dropping by and commenting.
Always nice to see you here.
Great interview. It’s always powerful to hear the stories behind the people that made it.
I am always appreciative of the entrepreneurs that take the time to peel back the curtain just a little bit and show others the things that can really make a difference in a small business.
-Joshua Black
The Underdog Millionaire
Mr. Black!
Thanks for dropping by, bud – much appreciated.
There are a LOT more curtains to peel back. Stay tuned, my friend.
Chris
Hey Joshua, thanks for taking the time to listen to the interview, I really appreciate it! All the best to you. Cheers!
Hi guys,
and thanks to Pat for that great story and Chris for always bringing that great guys back to your blog!
Even Tim Ferriss worked hard till he reached his goal earning xx thousands a month. After that you can easily work 4 hours a week I still believe that. But before that will happen you still need to work hard of course.
I have another question to Pat: where do you get this massive number of followers, not only on twitter, but also on your blog. Really that guys who want to share information with you? When you started your blog, did you participate on other blogs as well, let’s say for redirecting that guys to your own blog?
ps: I’m currently downloading pat’s ebook
Florian
Hi Florian
Thanks for the comment, buddy.
I absolutely agree with you 110% – you MUST work your butt off to be able to create a more desirable lifestyle, and if its what you want – work less. Tim did it too, correct.
Great questions to Pat – hope he spins over again and answers them for you.
All the best.
Chris
I always to my best to leave no questions unanswered!
Anyways, Florian –
In regards to a large number of followers for my blog, I think it comes from a few things:
1) Simply writing the best content I can, and having things setup so it can spread virally and I can reach more people. By virally, I mean spread through word of mouth, facebook, twitter, stumbleupon, etc.
2) Being totally transparent and not “salesy” at all. A lot of people have told me my blog is a refreshing stop in a sea of people just trying to earn a buck.
3) Always reminding people to subscribe. In my sidebar, in the middle of relevant posts, and at the end of posts too.
For twitter, I like to follow followers of people I follow. So for example. I’ll try and follow people who follow Yaro Starak, or Darren Rowse, because I know they’d be interested in what I do too, since it’s similar. The more people you follow, the more follow you back, it’s as simple as that =)
When I started my blog, i did leave a lot of comments on other blogs, but really what made my numbers skyrocket was getting featured on some big blogs. If you can’t get featured yourself, try and run a few guest posts here and there and you’ll see the same results.
I hope you enjoy eBooks the $mart Way!
Cheers!
Great answers, Pat.
Thanks for the info – and you’re right about the Guest Posts, I’ve been doing a few more than usual lately, including my ‘epic’ one on SPI, and have seen definite increases in visitor numbers, RT’s, FB mentions and comments, too!
This interview was a great score, Chris…and, great guest post over on SPI today…
Looking forward to reading a little more of your blog now!
Hi Howie
Great to have you over here, and a pleasure to be stuck in your Reader somewhere!!!
Hoping to hear more from you in the coming weeks, months…
Your comments are always very thoughtful and appreciated.
Cheers,
Chris
Hey this audio was awesome!! I took time out to visit Pat’s smartpassiveincome site and there was some truly excellent stuff on there, especially about iphone apps, it’s given me some good insight into areas i’m going wrong in and things i can try to get some significant income coming in from my iphone app investments.
Thanks Chris for sharing this and opening doors to more valuable information.
Hey Joe!
Thank you for the comment. Yes, Pat is a great resource for online income generation.
You can expect more interviews in the coming weeks and months. Lots being planned.
Best,
Chris
Fantastic interview, learned a ton!
First time listening to your interviews, love that you take the time to really put forth the effort to ask great questions.
Great to hear the insight behind Pat and his blog, it’s crazy how much money he’s making, truly inspiring.
Keep up the great work!
Hey Murlu
Welcome to the VBL blog!
I appreciate the comment on putting together a good set of questions. The bottom line is that ALL these people are BUSY. So, if they can give me an hour or so of their time, then I have to make sure that I get the most out of it. Their answers are waaaaaaaay more important than the questions, obviously!
Look forward to your next comment, buddy.
Chris