Pat Flynn of Smart Passive Income has been a marketing inspiration of mine for years. Not only does he run a successful blog, online business, and podcast, he’s a genuine and authentic person who has nailed his marketing and branding. Since I’ve learned so much from him over the years, I’ve decided to share some of the key insights I’ve gained and learned from his marketing efforts.
1. Give away free content that provides valuable insights to your audience.
People love free stuff, and even though it may seem counterproductive at first, it will help you in the long run. By offering free content you are giving your audience the chance to “test” you out and see that what you are providing is high quality content. When your audience knows with certainty your content is excellent and that it’s something they want– they will come back for more, even when it’s not free.
Pat Flynn is the master of this– he gives away high quality content on his blog with in depth articles that everyone has access to. One of my favorites is The Ultimate Guide to Adding Bonuses to Your Products (That Help You Convert More Customers). He also demonstrated this when he offered a niche site full of free resources and information for his audience. The website began to generate profit, gaining up to $50,000 in net profit at one point; this was a great example of how sometimes offering something for free can make you money later on.
2. Repurpose content on different mediums.
Source www.gotcredit.com
If you have created great content on one of your channels, there is no reason why you shouldn’t continue to use that content in other ways. A great method to accomplish this is to repurpose your content for another medium. If your content was originally a blog post, why not make a podcast out of it? If it was originally a video, why not try to translate it into an e-book? People respond to different mediums, so there’s no shame in repurposing your content across many outlets in order to get your message out. Pat Flynn believes that your most popular content should be used for success and even offers many tips on how to make it work harder for you.
3. Be transparent and authentic.
One sure way to get people to want to read your content and view you as a credible expert is to be open, honest, and transparent with them. If you are real with your audience, they will relate to you and feel comfortable coming to you for content. There are many great ways to do this, including showcasing behind the scenes. Your audience will enjoy seeing the process behind your work and it will make them develop a closer bond to you and your product in return.
If you want ultimate transparency take a page out of Pat Flynn’s book who not only shares valuable knowledge, but an inside look at his financial business. Every month he posts his monthly income reports for everyone to see that tracks where he is making money and how. Most people would balk at this kind of openness, but it’s definitely what sets Pat Flynn apart from the competition and has proved himself as a credible entrepreneur who knows how to run a thriving business.
4. You will only find success when you take action.
While this lesson may seem obvious, it still needs to be said. Pat Flynn preaches that you absolutely must take action and be consistent with your actions in order to find any kind of success. You can read, prepare, plan, and dream all you want, but nothing will ever come of it until you step up and act on it. You should also always be doing something to help your business or blog grow. Don’t just sit back and expect your blog to become successful off of a few items. Continue to be proactive, doing anything you can to grow your blog and make it more attractive. Get out there and take action!
5. A / B Test your website and email campaigns for the most effective strategies.
The two main goals for any website design is to catch people’s attention and make the content so amazing and full of value they don’t want to leave. Bringing people to your website is the only way you’re going to grow your business and build an audience so you have to make sure your website design is top notch. A great way to do this is to run a split (A / B) test which will compare different versions of your site (for many different criteria) and let you know which one is more effective. You can use this tool to test different colors, graphics, the organization of your content, and even the location of the content on your page. Using these tests will help you determine the absolute best method for building sales, clicks, and audience members. Pat Flynn offers a great rundown of these tests and even how to run one through Google Website Optimizer on his page.
6. Offer an amazing email opt-in.
Offering your audience an incentive for signing up for your email opt-in on your website can be a great idea that will kick-start your following. A great opt-in example Pat Flynn uses is giving away a free ebook. By offering the ebook for free Flynn believes that it helps establish authority in his field. Right away your audience is provided with valuable content that shows that you are an expert in your industry.
Offering something like an ebook, cheat sheet, or guide for free is also a fantastic way to make a great first impression on your audience. By giving them a good chunk of quality content right upfront, all just for doing the email opt-in, shows your audience what’s behind the curtain and what type of future content you might provide at an even higher value. Additionally, if your ebook or cheat sheet is full of quality content, it will leave your audience wanting the rest of your content, even if they have to pay for it.
7. Surround yourself with experts to cut your learning curve in half.
While your ultimate goal is to be considered an expert in your field, it’s unlikely you are or will be viewed as one from day one. You have to learn the lay of the land and build credibility with your audience. Building this kind of rapport can be time-consuming, but there is a way to speed that process up and that’s by asking for help. Build relationships and network with other people in your field who already have credible brands and learn from them. By watching them and learning what they’ve done right and wrong you can cut your learning curve in half and get ahead of the game.
You aren’t the first person in your field and you won’t be the last, use that to your advantage. Why not learn from someone who has already been there? This could be a business coach, social media mentor or a trust advisor that can provide you feedback and advice. By creating relationships with other people in your field, you will end up building a bigger audience for your own brand and grow your business quickly. Pat Flynn does this by surrounding himself with high level peer mentors in his mastermind groups where they discuss their businesses and exchange insights and feedback to make them better.
8. Always stay consistent – the key to building credibility.
One of the best ways to help your brand build credibility is consistency. You absolutely have to keep a consistent nature to your brand whether this is through blogging, videos, or podcasts. The content you share must be shared regularly to make the most of your marketing efforts. If you take long periods of time without posting any content or updates, you will not only lose credibility, but you’ll begin to lose audience members as well.
Try to keep a set schedule of when you plan on posting content to your blog or site and stick with it. If you post content on a regular basis you will keep your audience entertained and engaged, desiring to come back for more. Your fans will love that they will be able to know when to expect new content from you and trust that you’re a reliable source for any new content. As Pat Flynn says, success doesn’t happen overnight so being consistent is key.
9. Highlight your best content so it’s easy for people to find.
Your audience is visiting your website because they are looking for help, they have problems, or they are looking for the best advice out there in your industry. So make it easy for them! They want to read your most valuable and popular content, so don’t make them work hard to get there. Highlight your best content to make it easier for your audience to find. You can dedicate a single page to your top blog posts or podcasts to give people a one-stop shop of your best content. You’ve undoubtedly created some content that’s better than others, so take advantage of it. Pat Flynn offers many different tips for creating popular posts that will end up being your top content, and compiling them all together is a home run for your blog.
10. Share your mistakes and how you overcame them. 
We’ve already discussed how being honest with your audience can work wonders for you and your business, and owning up to your mistakes is a huge part of that. Everyone is human after all, and your audience wants to know that they can relate to you. If you’re coming across as a perfect person who makes no mistakes, no one will find you believable or be able to relate to your journey. Instead, you should discuss your mistakes and how you overcame them. Pat Flynn does this by discussing what he’s struggling with and keeping an open line of communication with his audience about his problems and how he’s working to get past them. Not only does this show a sense of honesty with your audience, but you will be teaching them great lessons of overcoming mistakes as well. Pat Flynn even does this with his podcast guests by asking them to share their business struggles and how they overcame them to inspire his audience and let them know they aren’t alone on their journey.
Hopefully some of these marketing techniques and insights I’ve learned from Pat Flynn have also been valuable you to you as well. If you want to find out more about him and his business visit Smart Passive Income, you won’t be disappointed.