Where are your Superfans? The easy way to find them with special guest Pat Flynn

Hey there. Welcome to another edition of the Confident Communications podcast. This week it's a little personal because I've hit a bit of a milestone with today's episode. My guest this week is the guy who got me into podcasts. So this week on the podcast, it's all about the super fan and me, the superfan is speaking with Pat Flyn. I started listening to podcasts when a lot of people did. I think it was season one of serial. Like many people who listen to that podcast, I binged on the story of Adnan Syed and the crime that took place in Maryland. And once it ended, I started to fill that void and with as many other podcasts as I could. And they're mostly serial type podcasts and most of them were about crime. But after a while, I knew I needed a new category. So one trip that I was taking for work, I was driving to French Lick, Indiana to speak at a conference. And I wanted to put myself in a mind space of business rather than crime. So I googled. Before I headed out on the road, I googled the top online marketing entrepreneur type podcasts. I read a list, lists of the top podcasts that you should be listening to. And at the top of that list was Pat Flynn of the Smart Passive Income podcast. Well, I subscribed right away and I started binge listening to pat. That was two years ago in August, and here I am in August 2019 and Pat Flynn is on my podcast. And I am super excited because I am a super fan of Pat Flynn and Pat Flynn has wr all about the super fan, the customers, the followers, the subscribers, the people that you want. That's more than just a number and just a like, it's how you can get them to really follow you because they want all of your information. Super fandom. So have a listen to me, Molly the super fan speak to Pat Flynn. Hello, Pat Flynn. Thank you for joining me on the Confident Communications podcast.

I'm excited to be here, Molly. Thank you.

And I am even more excited because you're here today to talk about your new book, all about the Superfan. And I have to tell you, I am a super fan of Pat Flynn.

Oh, you're amazing. Thank you for that. And I'm just very thankful to talk about the book. It's something that's really important to me right now and especially with where businesses are today and what I feel that we should all be thinking about. You know, a lot of businesses are focused on things like search engine optimization or a lot of people who are trying to Build followings in different places, like, oh, let's get more people. And I'm like, you know what? Well, you know, it's more important. It's like the experiences that those people have once they find you. And I think that that's how businesses can grow from the inside out. And, And, And, And. And I really owe my success to my superfans as well. Um, and so thank you, Molly. And, And I'm excited to chat about it today. Yeah.

And I did. You had mentioned how people stumble upon you and find you, and I. I stumbled upon you listening to a podcast. I was on a side road in Indiana on my way to French Lick to speak at a summer meeting, and I was new to the podcast game. Out of all the podcasts, I think I saw a link somewhere mentioning Pat Flynn, and I thought, okay, here's an Irish guy. I'll give him a try. And I started listening to your podcast, and it really opened my eyes to this whole idea of, wow, there's online entrepreneurs out there. So I consider you the first.in my introductions to podcasts. So I think I became. I stumbled on as a fan, but became a super fan, and you were the first guy.

That's really cool. Thank you. And I am a quarter Irish, but if you ever see me, you wouldn't know it.

Yeah, no, that's true. And for anyone that does look you up, I mean, of course, you are everywhere. You're all over social media. You have your smart, passive income pod website and your podcast and your Ask Pat podcast. And of course, I met you face to face at your boot camp in San Diego last fall when I wanted to start my podcast. And I knew the only way I could do it is if I just jumped into it. And so when I saw that you had one, I thought, now, that is the guy. He's the one that introduced me to podcasts, so he is the guy. I know that will. That will help me bring mine to the airwaves, so to speak.

Yeah. And here we are. I'm on your show now. Like, how cool is that? I'm so proud of you.

Hey, so this is your testimonial.

Well, thank you for that. I mean, it really speaks to the idea that, like, because that workshop wasn't cheap and it wasn't a small commitment, it took you flying over and to spend time with me and taking time away from your family for that, which is a big ask, but we don't. You know, when. When we. When we have businesses, oftentimes we're asking for the big ask so early, but it was as you, as you've all just heard, like, it's, it's, it's that first moment and there's likely some other moments of value providing or you hearing about things or me helping you in some way that eventually led to you to want to sort of commit to that and purchase that boot camp. And this is what I talk about in the book. It's the fact that, you know, fans aren't created the moment people find you. They're created by the special magical moments you create for them over time. And, and that's how you can stand out from other businesses. That's how you can future proof your business. So that kind of, no matter what happens to your website or technology or social media and they all the, all the algorithms getting in the way, like, your superfans are always going to be there for you and support you. And the cool thing is you don't need very many of them to do some amazing things for your life and your business and who you want to help.

And that is true. And when you mention magical moments, I had two at your boot camp and one when I was talking to you, we were sitting, there was a group, was a rather small group of kind of super focused people that wanted to start their podcast. When you had asked me, you know, when are you going to start? And I said, oh, I think I'm going to do it in January because I have a very, very busy schedule. And you looked at me and said, well, what are you waiting for? Why wait? Do it now. And I said, okay, Pat, I'm going to do that. And then the next magical moment was meeting Azul at that workshop because he was talking to me. I didn't realize that he was behind Will it Fly.

Yeah, he was.

My book writing book of yours I've read and I love that book. And that was such a magical moment because Azul Taronis is now helping me on my book.

Kind of funny how the world works like that, isn't it? And that's, you know, that's exactly. That's a very clear example of something that I talk about in super fans as well, which is like bringing your community together because, you know, we oftentimes forget that, you know, in addition to helping people one on one, people love to find other people just like themselves. And so at this bootcamp, which, and no, you don't have to create a paid thing. You can create a meetup. You can create a sort of, you know, a gathering of sorts online and Offline. But magical things happen when you bring your community together and a lot of things that you can even plan for happen. And of course, when you facilitate those things, it elevates your brand. So, I mean, I was able to connect you with Azure. You did that yourself. But then of course, it all comes back to. Where was that? Oh, it was that Pat's podcasting bootcamp. Oh, that's cool. And then of course, things spread from there. So it's just another example of one of the things I talk about in the book that just happened with you, which is really amazing.

Yeah. And what is amazing is the book. For a moment, I'm just going to talk about what, you know, my, my passion is and what my mission is. And it's. And it's teaching people this idea of how you can become an indestructible leader. It's how to manage and kind of keep your role as a leader in the digital age. It's like a public relations playbook for non communicators. And I work with these pillars and value statements about authenticity and transparency and relevancy. How to be a leader that can kind of break through in this digital environment. You need to possess those value systems. And I think you, Pat Flynn, possess them. And because you, I think when you talk about your influence and your passion, like you're very passionate guy, like you come off the screen, you follow all these, all these values. Like when I talk about authenticity, you're very open about who you are, your past. And could you just tell my listeners what is that one event, that very somewhat, you know, early event in your career that threw you off the rails, but that allowed you to become who you are today?

Yeah, I mean, I always wanted to become an architect. I went to school for architecture. I got this amazing job in the Bay Area here in California as an architect. And I was just set to becoming a world famous architect. It was my love, my dream, I was living it. And it was what I felt was rewarded to me after working so hard in school and taking all these tests and all that stuff. And I loved it. And then in 2008, I was told by my boss that I was going to be let go, which was, it was a huge, it was a tough blow for me. I mean, I had no other plans to do anything else but that. And I begged and I pleaded at work to get to come back, even at the entry level position. It was the only world I knew. And I even went out and tried to find jobs elsewhere in the space and nobody was hiring at the time because of the recession. Yeah. And I was very looking back. Honestly, it was probably the best thing that could ever happen to me because it really opened my eyes to what else was out there and becoming an entrepreneur. And I started to explore, to see what other people were doing to survive. And I came across this podcast called Internet Business Mastery with these two guys. And there was a lot of people teaching Internet business at the time. And a lot of it was just like super snake oil. It was like just, hey, I'll tell you the secrets, but you got to pay me, like, a grand first, and then I'll tell you the rest of it later, like, all that kind of stuff, which, yes, does still exist, but these guys were just sharing everything. And I was just like, wow, this is amazing. So I listened to one of their podcasts where they interviewed a guy who is making six figures a year helping people pass the project management exam. And I was like, whoa. Like, this is amazing. I didn't know you could do that. And I got inspired to start my own website and see what I could do to help people pass a particular architectural exam called the Lead Exam L E E D, which stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design. And what I did was I worked for probably 14 to 16 hours a day, just pouring all the knowledge I knew about this exam into this website, publishing multiple blog posts a day, and even being very involved in forums in architecture websites about this exam and just being there as a resource. And I remember doing it for a couple months and getting to the point where people would ask questions about the lead exam and other people would go, oh, just wait till Pat signs on. He'll probably answer that question for you, kind of thing, which when I started to see more traffic coming to the website because Google started to go, oh, this is a good resource on this topic. And then eventually, in late October of 2008, I published an ebook with all my information about this test in a $19 guide. It was just a PDF file that I sold on my website, and I made $7,908.55.

I love that you remember it to the penny.

I do. And it's just like, first of all, I thought the FBI was going to come, because I was just like, this is not real. This doesn't feel right, how this actually happened. And the income continued to grow every month. And then that's when I started smartpassiveincome.com, which is where most people know me from now, to have a platform to share how all that happened and I started to just share everything, including how much money I was making and where it was all coming from, what I wish I had done differently, what I was trying to do better. And then I started to build new businesses. I built an iPhone app company. I went into different other niche websites. I started to build out a software company. I, more recently, just in this past year, built a physical product company. And I've just been hearing all the numbers and the behind the scenes and what went right, what went wrong, all the lessons. And a lot of these projects have been complete failures, but a lot of them are also becoming successful too. And the cool thing is that now just sharing everything. Over the years, I've become sort of known as this leader in the space of entrepreneurship, somebody who's known for being transparent, known for being just the guy who has a family, who's trying to support his family and help others too, versus, like, you know, these guys who have Lamborghinis and mansions in front of their houses, quote, houses that they have or rent.

But anyway, is that true? Is that like the showy thing? All the influencers just, they're just renting.

They're just tenants, a lot of them. I mean, they're like, you know, there's this guy who had like Mark Cuban in his house, and it was just a house that he rented, but he forgot to mention that. He also forgot to mention that he paid Mark Cuban to be there and like all this stuff. But they, like, they, they show off as bling, because that's attractive to people, right? But I hate that because it's like, okay, well maybe people are gonna follow you and that's cool, but they're not following you. They're following the fact that you rented all this stuff and that, like, they're following the car that looks cool. They're not following you for you. And so for me, I think a lot of people resonate because I'm just me. And if you like me, great. If you don't, there's. Go find the person that you do resonate with. But I think because I talk about family a lot and I talk about, you know, other things beyond just like making money. It's, it's, I think, resonating with a lot of people. Anyway, that's, that's my story and how I got here. And now I'm writing books and speaking on stages, and I have a podcast that just passed 60 million downloads, and it's just, it's just blowing my mind. And again, if it wasn't for getting laid off. It wouldn't have happened. And I'm just so thankful that all.

Yeah, and you mentioned the buzzword when you went, when, when you transferred from talking about influencing and marketing and just online influence into my lane, which is public relation, is when you mentioned transparency. And that is, I think your sweet spot, Pat, is when you had mentioned that at one time you would share your revenue on your website for everyone to see. And I follow you across all your, you know, your social media accounts. And you're very open and you're very vulnerable. I know. You know, recently you. You dealt with a break in, in your office and you shared this video on YouTube and it was so raw and it was so honest and I was so brought into it one, because I had been in your office, but just you showing your vulnerability. And I was watching it in the, in the lens of writing this book thinking, oh, this is why Pat Flynn is so successful, is because you have no fear of putting the real you out there.

Well, thank you for that. And yeah, the break in was tough. And in that video, for those of you who didn't see it or don't or, you know, just want to know about it, my office was broken into and it was. There was a lot of very expensive camera equipment in there. And I showed the footage and then I showed my reaction. And I didn't think I would cry, but I cried. And I talked a lot about how it affected my behavior with my kids, which I just felt very disgusted by, and things like that. But, you know, just like the layoff, since then, I've been able to turn it around. I've moved out of that space and formed a partnership with WeWork, which is a coworking space that has locations all around the world. And now, very soon, I'm going to be known for being the podcasting guy at WeWork, which is pretty amazing. And I have a beautiful space now in a San Diego office in a WeWork here as a result of that. And again, that wouldn't have happened if I didn't get broken into. And I always see what I can do to make a great story out of anything that happens. And again, just very thankful for not the break in, but what I've done as a result of the break in.

Yeah, what you learned from it, and that's interesting. I was just spoke at a crisis management conferen with the head of crisis from WeWork, and I love that even we work is spreading out to even think to bring you in as part of a business strategy. That says a lot about wework and you as well. Now speaking, let's move on to your book, the Idea of the Superfans. So the book that is coming out, super fans, the easy way to stand out, grow your tribe and build a successful business. So it's available for pre orders starting. It was started on June 1st at yoursuperfans.com Pat I already pre ordered my book, thank you. And I can't wait to redeem.

Did you redeem the receipt for the audiobook? Because if you. If you pre order before August 13th and you go to yoursuperfans.com I'm gonna give you the audiobook for free, Pat.

So when I went on the website and I saw that and I thought, look at that, Pat Flynn. You always have some little New Age trick up your sleeve. I thought that was fantastic. Of course I did. Yeah, absolutely.

Okay, good.

Yeah. So tell me, what differentiates a super fan from an average Joe fan?

So a super fan is somebody, if you're a musician, for example, they're going to be the ones that drive 10 hours on the road and just to hear your gig, and then they're going to stay afterwards backstage so that they can get your autograph and take a selfie with you, and they're going to be on top of the world because of that. If you're a creator, a superfan is somebody who is going to watch every single video, listen to every podcast, read every single word of every single blog post, and purchase every product that you come out with without even reading the sales page. These are the people who, when somebody disrespects your brand or you, they're gonna come up and defend you like their life depends on it. These are the people who are gonna talk about your brand, your mission, your creations, your products, like, Like. Like it's theirs. Like they own it. And they're gonna market that brand for you without you having to ask for that. And they're so important. And the nice thing is you don't need very many of them to do some amazing things to support your brand. And this is very much. This book is inspired by, by Kevin Kelly, a man who wrote an article in 2007 that has now become sort of like required reading for anybody in business or any creators, musicians, artists, what have you. And the thesis behind this article, which was called A Thousand True Fans, is that in order to have a successful life, you don't need a blockbuster hit, you don't need millions of followers, which is what we all seem to want Nowadays because of those vanity metrics and what those tools want us to do and how they make us feel. But what if you just had a thousand true fans? These super fans like I was talking about, and let's say for example, they were to pay you a hundred dollars a year for your craft, your art, to support you with a hundred dollars a year. That's not very much by the way. That's like less than $10 a month. And I know I've spent more than like $15,000 on back to the future stuff because I just love back to the future so much. But anyway, $100 a year times a thousand true fans. There's your six figure business right there, that can support your life and what you'd like to do. And of course, those fans can become much bigger and grow more than just a thousand and continue to help support your life as you grow. This really puts things into perspective when it comes to creation because it's like a lot of us want to create the next Uber or the next PayPal or the next Tesla, but do you need to in order to survive and be successful? And this really makes it more achievable for people. And that's the idea here. But the problem with this article is it's just, you know, theory. There's no how to. And that's what this book Superfans is all about. This is the how to for anybody who wants to build those fans.

And you created a framework to be able to build that, your puritan of a fandom.

I did. And actually, interestingly enough, this book is a result of a number of people who have asked me to write it because I used to speak and I still speak about this topic on stage. And every time people are, people go, wow, this is like one of the most impactful presentations I've seen. This should be in a book. And after about the 12th time, I was like, okay, I should probably turn this into a book. And that's why. But also because I think it's so important now to hear this message of, let's not worry so much about search engine optimization and Facebook advertising, Instagram advertising, advertising, all these things that cost money and cost time and are just tough. Why not focus more on where most of your customers are going to come from, where most of the engagement is coming from, where most of your market ambassadors are going to be. Those are your superfans. And if you can provide those experiences in your brand that create superfans, well, your business, guess what, is going to grow. It's going to grow from the inside. Those people are going to help market your brand for you and not bring new people in who don't know you, but they're going to bring people in who have already been endorsed by a person that they trust. And so this is really cool because you can grow your brand by focusing on the inside and who's already there. Even if you're small and if you're just starting out, that's your advantage. You have the ability to create these special moments for people much more than, let's say, even I could, because I have a much bigger audience now. So you have an advantage. Starting out now and being small. You can provide those experiences. But the truth is, a person doesn't become a fan or a super fan the moment they find you. They become a super fan because of the magical moments that you create for them over time. Like we, like we talked about. And so, you know, it starts with, okay, well, when people find you or hear about you for the first time, you got to activate them. You got to get them to go, oh, this, this person, this person's interesting, or this thing is interesting. I need to stick around for a little bit more. They're not a fan yet, but they're triggered to stay. And there's a few different ways that you can do that. You can do that by offering a quick win. And a lot of times, we business owners and brands online, we want the people who find us to, like, do these big things. And that's cool. We want to change their lives. But in order to change somebody's life, you need to start by changing their day first. So starting small actually can help them having more of you show up in your brand. Because guess what? People connect with other people. And if you're just providing a service, that's cool. But when you get to know who is providing that service and what they like and what they resonate with and how you can relate to them, well, then you're going to be more likely to convert that person to go, oh, I like this person. Let me stick around. Another thing you can do is just make sure that you understand the lyrics that your audience is going to be responding to. Just like a song, right? Like, you pay attention to the songs where the lyrics relate to whatever it is that's going on in your life. And that's why really good musicians pay attention to the language that their audience is using. And. And they put those in their songs, even title their songs, the very exact way that a person may speak to somebody else who is in that target audience.

Oh, like a lyrical SEO, you're typing in. What is the keyword search that everyone is looking for? What are they talking about?

Exactly. Exactly. And the example I use in the book is coming from my wife, who is a huge Backstreet Boys fan, right? And she told me about the first time she really connected with the band, and it was while she was going through a breakup and she heard a song called Quit Playing Games With My Heart, where she had described every lyric was what she was going through in her life at that time. And I was like, wow, this is really powerful. And as business owners, we need to know the lyrics that our audience would respond to. So that's how you can kind of trigger people who find you for the first time to go, oh, okay, like, let's keep going here. So now, now they're in your active community, but then from there, we need to bring them into your. Your community and make them feel connected to you and more importantly, to each other. So creating things like little meetups where your clients can all meet each other or celebrate with each other, or little, little events even online or offline, where sort of like a concert that a person might go to, but you're creating content or you are just providing a space and facilitating those meetups that can help elevate your brand. Giving your audience and your customers a little bit of a, say, giving them a little bit of a chance to get involved in some way. And when they are involved, they will then invest. Giving your community a name is also a really smart thing to do because then, now people can associate themselves with each other. Like how people who are fans of Star Trek find other Trekkies. Or if you're a fan of Beyonce, you are a part of her beehive. Or if you're a fan of Lady Gaga, you're one of her little monsters.

And what are you. If you're a fan of Pat Flynn.

You'Re a member of Team Flynn.

Tim Flynn. Team Flynn. Of course.

Of course, Team Flynn. And the reason I chose that specifically is because the way that I position myself and my brand is I'm not like on this mountain, talking down to you and teaching you from afar, like, I'm in this with you. And so as a. As a. As a team member, we're on the same team, and I might pass the ball to you sometimes, and you're going to score and we're all going to benefit from it. And I just. I just wear the C on my sleeve. But we're all in this together. So that's. That's where Team Flynn comes from.

Okay, well, I want to ask you one question, one last question, Pat, about your book. For anyone that isn't an online marketer or their business is only partially online, is there anything that the. The executive or just someone that works. That works for a company, an organization, is there anything that they can take away from your book, any of these that will resonate or translate from an online marketer just into the job space?

Yeah. This isn't a book about online business. This is a book about people and relationships. And if you want to build stronger relationships with your team, if you are looking to become a leader of any kind and have people trust you and to use that trust for good, then this is a book for you. So if you are a manager and you want to make sure that you are building the best team possible to support you with, with your roles as you are supporting your boss, well, this is going to help you do that. Because super fans is just kind of a general term for getting people to really care and support you and building that network. Network of people around you.

And I like what you said, too. It's getting people to trust you. That's how you can build a fan as well. It's just if you build that trust.

Absolutely. Absolutely.

Okay. Well, Pat, I know that you are a busy, busy man, so I really, I want to thank you so much for taking the time to speak with me. Like I said, I am a super fan of Pat Flynn. I can't wait to read this book. So, super fans, the easy way to stand out, grow your tribe and build a successful business. It's launching on August 13, right around the time of this podcast coming out, but available for pre orders before that on yoursuperfans.com. pat, thank you so much.

Thank you, Molly. I appreciate you.

All right, I appreciate you too. And I will keep following you and good luck with the book. I can't wait to read it and.

Keep up the good work yourself.

All right, thank you so much, Pat. There you have it. Pat Flynn speaking about superfans, the easy way to stand out, grow your tribe and build a successful business. As we mentioned in the interview, the book comes out on Tuesday, August 13, but it is available for pre orders at your superfans. And so check out that book if you can, because Pat Flynn is one of the best. And I, if you can tell, am a super fan of Pat Flynn. So that's all I have today for the Confident Communications Podcast. Thank you so much for listening. And I hope to see you next week, Sam.