In this interview Pat Flynn tells us how he lost his job and managed to build a very lucrative online business to support his family, and now shares what he has learned with The Smart Passive Income Blog.

Tell us a little bit about your blog.

The Smart Passive Income Blog was originally going to be about my journey towards earning a second income online. I was working a 9 to 5 job that I loved and was planning to blog about all of the little side projects I had lined up that would hopefully make me some extra cash for a vacation, or a car payment. Well, as we all know – plans change.

In October of 2008, I was laid off. It was a huge blow because not only did I lose my “secure” income source, but I was going to be married in less than a year. I looked online for inspiration.

Long story short, after a lot of research, a lot of hard work, and a lot of excellent advice, in less than a year’s time I started my own business, co-founded another, and was able to earn over $200,000 online.

If you think I work 60 to 80 hours a week, you’re partly correct – because that’s how much work it took to get my businesses off the ground in the beginning. However, because of the way the businesses are now setup, I am only required to work just a few hours a week.

I spend all of my extra time writing on The Smart Passive Income Blog about my experience with internet business, marketing and blogging that have helped me get to where I’m at today.

How long have you been blogging for? What made you want to start blogging?

I picked up blogging my freshman year of college (in 2001) as a way to keep my friends and family informed about what I was doing. That’s it. The classes I took, the friends I hung out with, and the latest shenanigans on the third floor of our dormitory were the popular subjects on my blog. After college, I ditched my personal blog.

Fast forward to 2008.

In early 2008, I started a blog at intheleed.com (now greenexamacademy.com), simply to organize my notes for an exam I was taking as an aspiring architect, the LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) exam. I knew that a blog was an excellent content management system, so I used it as my “online notebook”, where I could easily add to, categorize and retrieve my notes while at work or at my girlfriend’s apartment, which is where I spent most of my time. I had no intention of making money from this blog.

After a few months, I realized that Google had picked up everything I had published, and people all around the world were using my notes to help them study for the exam too. This is when I realized first hand that there was a potential to do some really cool things with blogging, and that’s when I started taking this blogging thing seriously.

What were some of your biggest challenges when you first started blogging?

On my exam prep blog (from now on I’ll call this my “business blog”), my biggest challenge was trying to figure out how to monetize the site. I was already giving away a ton of free content, so how was I supposed to make any money?

Secondly, a big challenge I faced was simply not giving up. Giving up was something I wanted to do both when trying to monetize my business blog and when I started the Smart Passive Income Blog. I can’t tell you how many times I wanted to just stop because I wasn’t seeing any results, and I didn’t know if I was just wasting my time.

How did you overcome these challenges?

At first, I monetized my business blog by integrating Google adsense. It was amazing to see my first few dollars come in, but it definitely wasn’t enough to live off of.

Then, I noticed what companies were showing up in my Google ads, and I contacted them directly to sell them some ad space on the blog. I was making a little bit more, but again – it wasn’t even close to what I needed, especially with a wedding coming up.

After mustering up the courage, getting over the fear, and following some excellent advice I learned in a mastermind group, I wrote my own study guide (eBook) and sold it on my blog. Within the first month, I had grossed over $8000.00, which was way more money than I had ever made in a month in my entire life. I later released an audio guide to go along with it to monetize it even further.

As far as not giving up, I give most of the credit to the mastermind group I was in, and the other people that were trying to accomplish the same things as me. Just having someone with you along the ride can help boost productivity and motivation 1000%. If you’ve ever been to the gym or have gone on a diet, you know that it’s so much easier to do when someone is there going through it with you. Same idea.

What is a recent milestone that you have accomplished with your blog? How were you able to achieve this milestone?

My business blog is unique because there’s a finite amount of information that I can write about for the exam. Too much information, and I might end up confusing people who want the best and easiest way to pass. I’ve reached a point where I’ve published all that I can, and simply stay active on the site by responding to comments, and testing and optimizing for higher conversion rates.

A recent milestone I’ve reached was only being required to work 2 hours a week. This is possible because, as I mentioned before, everything is done automatically. From the purchase of the electronic guides, to the delivery of those guides to the customer’s email address, and the only thing I have to worry about is customer service. In case you’re wondering, I use e-junkie.com in order to do this (as does Darren from problogger.net for his eBooks as well).

Working less and making more is something I always try to do with this business, so having things like FAQs in place that answer people’s questions before they contact me really helps.

For the Smart Passive Income Blog, I’ve recently surpassed 2500 RSS subscribers and have over 1000 people on an email list in a little over a year’s time. I think a lot of it has to do with how transparent I am on the blog. I do a monthly report that tells you exactly where every cent I earn online comes from, and I even talk a lot about my failures and the things I could have done better.

Also, I’ve had a lot of success using social media to promote my blog. Twitter and Facebook continue to be some of my top referring sites.

What is your next goal that you want to achieve with your blog?

On the Smart Passive Income Blog, I hope to reach 6000 RSS subscribers at the end of the year and build an email list that’s over 2500 strong. I plan to do this by continuing to provide excellent content using examples from my own businesses, and networking and guest posting on other blogs who may be interested in some of the things I do online. I’d love to author a “real” book someday, one that you can find in the business aisles of your local bookstore, but that’s way down the road.

With my business blog, I’ll continue to optimize sales and test new tactics while reporting my case studies on the SPI blog. The LEED exam industry is constantly changing (and new players are getting involved), so I have to make sure I’m on top of any changes as they happen.

What is your best tip for other people out there who might be new or struggling with their blogging?

My best tip is to take bold actions that can make a difference. All too often, we get stuck in a routine of doing things that provide little to no change over time. It’s the bold actions (which are normally things you aren’t entirely comfortable with at first), that are going to take you somewhere. Write an eBook, start a membership website, write that guest post for the number one blog in your niche – do what it takes to get to the next level. Plan it out, write it down, and do it.

If it’s fear that’s holding you back, step away and think to yourself, “What’s the worst that can happen?” More often than not, the worst thing that can happen is not as bad as you think.

Thanks again Pat for taking the time to do this interview.

Pat Flynn is a 27 year old husband and father who works from his home in San Diego, California. He specializes in creating businesses that run on auto-pilot, so that he can spend more time with his family at home. You can read more about his passive income strategies at The Smart Passive Income Blog.

Tagged as: Blogging, Business, Interviews