Pat Flynn Net Worth 2024: 10 KEY Lessons from Smart Passive Income

Pat Flynn’s net worth is over $3 million.

All of his wealth is created from his online businesses such as Smart Passive Income, GreenExamAcademy.com, his online courses, and more.

If you’re into affiliate marketing, you might be already familiar with the name Pat Flynn (or the blog Smart Passive Income).

Pat started his online marketing journey by launching GreenExamAcademy.com, a website that helps people pass the LEED exam in the architecture industry.

His blog readers began suggesting Pat turn his notes into an easy-to-read eBook. So within a few months after launching Green Exam Academy, Pat created a premium eBook that generated over $8000 in the first month.

That’s how his blogging career started. He then launched the most popular online marketing blog Smart Passive Income which generated over $200,000 in the first year.

In this post, we’ll talk about Pat Flynn’s success secrets so you can also replicate his success. Are you ready? Let’s get started.

Who is Pat Flynn?

Pat Flynn is one of the most successful affiliate marketers and the founder of Flynndustries owns several websites including the Smart Passive Income, Green Exam Academy, and more.

pat flynn

Pat also hosts the popular marketing podcast called The Smart Passive Income Podcast, which was at one point the #3 overall business podcast on iTunes.

Pat Flynn also holds a B.A. degree in Architecture from the University of California, Berkeley. 

Pat has been featured in The New York Times and Forbes Magazine for his online endeavors. He’s also an advisor to ‘Pencils of Promise’ which is a nonprofit organization dedicated to building schools in developing countries. 

You can also check out our Neil Patel’s net worth post to find interesting details about the SEO guru Neil.

Pat Flynn biography:

  • Pat Flynn’s Age: 37 years old
  • Birth Date: 17 August 1983
  • Birth Place: United States
  • Nationality: American
  • Status: Married

Pat Flynn in Numbers:

  • Smart Passive Income blog’s podcast is one of the top iTunes “Business Podcasts” with over 60 million downloads
  • Pat Flynn’s YouTube channel currently has over 338K subscribers
  • Nearly 200K people follow the “Smart Passive Income with Pat Flynn” Facebook page

Are you ready to discover what contributed to Pat Flynn’s online success? Want to know how Pat Flynn net worth went from $0 to over $3 million? Read on.

10 Incredible Lessons from Pat Flynn to Build A Successful Online Business

Pat Flynn net worth

Lesson 1: Create Premium Content & Offer It for Free

People always love free stuff. As a marketer, it’s important to realize the “power of free”. 

As a marketing genius, Pat Flynn knows how to use “free content” to build and grow his audience. His content marketing skills are the PRIMARY reason Pat Flynn net worth is over 3 million dollars.

The main difference between Pat Flynn and others is, Pat gives away PREMIUM content for free (that’s actually worth paying for) while others offer garbage content for free.

Almost every single guide and article that’s been published on his blog Smart Passive Income is epic and highly-informative. 

Want to show us an example? 

One of our favorite guides on his blog is The SPI Guide to Ethical Affiliate Marketing where he teaches how to increase your affiliate income by recommending products that matter to your audience.

The whole guide is divided into 8 different chapters.

affiliate summary

It’s a HUGE guide that can be helpful for anyone who’s getting started with affiliate marketing

The best part? It’s all FREE!

He can turn that guide on into a premium eBook and sell it but he decided to offer it for free.

That’s the secret of Pat Flynn’s online success.

Once he started offering premium content for free regularly, his blog Smart Passive Income started getting more search traffic and profits, gaining up to $200,000 per month in revenue at one point.

This example shows us that offering really great content for free in the beginning can help you make huge profits later on.

If you truly understand the power of free, you should provide premium content for free at first. Only then, you’ll start attracting a high-quality audience to your website. 

If you start publishing thin content for free, you’ll eventually attract freebie seekers who don’t add any value to your business in the long run.

Key takeaway: If you want to attract a BETTER audience, provide premium content for free in the form of articles, case studies, podcasts, interviews, eBooks, email newsletters, and so on. Later, you’ll have plenty of ways to make profits with your content, products, or services.

affiliate marketing course
Learn How to grow your affiliate income from $0 to $1,000 in a month (Worth $197)

Lesson 2: Don’t Tell, Show

Pat Flynn never makes empty promises. He always teaches what’s already working well for him. That’s why thousands of people turn to his marketing advice. 

A good example is Pat’s FREE online course called Build Your Own Brand.

build your brand pat

As you can see above, it is a free 5-day email course where Pat teaches you how to build a brand and website that you can be proud of.

Why wouldn’t you join such a course when an expert like Pat offers it for free?

Pat has already built a great brand online through his blog, podcast, and books. 

Pat knows what it takes to build a great brand online. So it’s easier to convince people to take action such as enrolling in his course, purchasing a product, subscribing to his podcast or YouTube channel, and so on.

Key takeaway: Walk the Walk. Don’t tell, always show your results. If you’re already generating decent traffic or sales from your website, consider creating detailed case studies explaining how you did it. Your blog audience would love such content. 

Consider adding your income or blog’s traffic screenshots for credibility. Or find ways to show your expertise without making empty promises. 


Lesson 3: People Like Honesty

Since the beginning of his blogging career, Pat Flynn always tried to be as transparent as possible. 

He also published a ton of Monthly Income Reports to show his audience exactly what he’s earning and from where. 

In fact, Pat Flynn is one of the few guys who started revealing income reports online. Later, everyone followed the lead. 

By sharing income reports, you’re doing two things: 

  • One is, you’re motivating your audience to show the true potential of running an online business
  • Another is, your audience knows what you’re earning and from what sources

Although he now stopped publishing his income reports, if you’re just getting started, find out how you can show authenticity as a marketer. 

One more great example is his honest disclaimer on one of his online courses.

Have a look;

pat disclaimer

As you can see above, Pat said things like “Not all businesses succeed, and this product will not guarantee your success” and also “Any testimonials are real and valid, but no guarantee you will obtain the same results”.

Come one, who says that? Every course creator wants more people to buy their stuff, right?

But Pat is a different breed. He’s honest. He’s not selling you “get rich quick schemes” and he’s NOT giving you a 100% guarantee that you’ll also get success like others.

He’s extremely honest about his product. That way, people can decide whether or not to purchase his courses, products, or anything from his website. 

Key takeaway: The #1 reason most people love Pat Flynn is his honesty and authenticity. If you’re NOT selling any fake promises and always recommend products you really believe in, people will buy stuff from you. Be honest and find ways to show that by publishing income reports, writing affiliate or earning disclaimers, and so on.

Lesson 4: Diversify Your Income Streams

Pat Flynn is a genius when it comes to diversifying his online income streams.

Here are some of the amazing ways Pat earns from his online businesses. 

  • Selling premium online courses (ranging from $499 to $1599 and more)
  • Selling his own books on Amazon which are all best-sellers (ranging from $4.99 to $8.99 for kindle editions, even more for paperbacks and hardcover books)
  • Sponsors from his podcasts (his podcasts The SPI podcast is the #1 business podcast, so he attracts a lot of high-paying brands to make money)
  • Affiliate marketing (Pat Flynn is a king of affiliate marketing as he earns millions from selling a wide range of affiliate products)
  • He also conducts in-person workshops, led by Pat, which are premiere “done with you” training programs to help you succeed online
  • Speaking gigs and the list goes on

Just like Pat, we also believe in diversifying income sources. If you’re reading our blog for a while, you might already know that BloggersPassion generates over $10K each month and most of that income comes from affiliate marketing.

To diversify our income sources, we tried selling our own products such as paid eBooks last year and they generated decent revenue for us. 

Key takeaway: Never put all your eggs in one basket. Even if you’re earning huge from one income source, it’s always a smart idea to add multiple sources so you will never have to struggle to make money in the long run.

Do you love SEO? You can also check out our post on Brian Dean from Backlinko to find some interesting lessons from his SEO success.

Lesson 5: Offer an Irresistible Email Opt-In

Email marketing gives you the highest ROI.

Start building your email list from day one. 

The money is on the list.

You must have heard all the above things about email marketing but here’s the thing: offer amazing incentives to your audience so you can quickly grow your email list.

When it comes to building an amazing email list, Pat is the real deal. He knows how to lure his website readers to sign up for his email list. He offers amazing freebies.

Have a look at one of Pat’s freebies;

podcast pat flynn

As you can see above, Pat offers a freebie called The Podcast Cheat Sheet where people will get access to a free checklist and 3-day video series to successfully launch their podcast from scratch.

Who wouldn’t love that stuff for free? If you’re already listening to his podcasts and planning to launch your own podcast, you’d definitely want to opt-in, right? 

That being said, here are some freebie ideas you can consider to grow your email list like Patt Flynn.

  • Offer free eBooks (or you can also turn your existing blog posts into eBooks or guides)
  • Offer checklists or cheat sheets
  • Consider providing email courses for free (you can check out our free SEO and blogging courses to get an idea)
  • Try giveaways that are relevant to your target audience (if you’re in the SEO industry, you can offer free annual subscription plans of your favorite SEO tool such as Semrush, Ahrefs, etc)

Key takeaway: Focus on building and growing your email list from day one. Create free irresistible incentives such as eBooks, cheat sheets, email courses, etc to build a thriving email list.

Lesson 6: Build Your Audience EVERYWHERE

Pat Flynn has built his audience on his own blogs such as Smart Passive Income, Green Exam Academy, and PatFlynn.com 

He also built his YouTube audience from scratch and he’s now close to 300K subscribers

Pat also has two amazing podcasts including The SPI Podcast with Pat and Ask Pat 2.0 and both these podcasts have thousands of listeners worldwide.

So yes, Pat is EVERYWHERE online.

The best part is, his ability to build an ENGAGING community. Check out his Facebook page, Twitter handle, YouTube channel, Smart Passive Income blog, or podcast, he always gets HUGE engagement from his followers.

Just look at the raving reviews on his podcast on iTunes.

pat flynn reviews

See that? His podcast generated more than 3.3K ratings from real people who gave 4.8 stars out of 5 which shows the impact of his online teaching. 

Key takeaway: Although Pat now has built HUGE audiences everywhere on almost every major platform, he started small. In the beginning, he only focused on growing his blog audience by publishing great content consistently.

You should also follow the same approach to build your audience online. When you’re getting started online, focus on ONE platform. Build an audience in one platform first before you decide to move on to the next. 

One good thing about building a loyal audience on one platform is that you can easily leverage your existing network. For example, if you already have over 100K subscribers on your YouTube channel, you can easily start a new blog and start getting thousands of visitors from day one.

Are you getting it? Focus on one platform at a time. Grow your audience. Then, use your existing network to be everywhere. 

If you want to start a website, you can look at the Hostinger. Their servers are fast, have top-notch support, and have data centers in your target countries. Don’t forget to check Hostinger Coupon Codes here to get up to 90% discount on the products of your choice now.

Lesson 7: Become A Published Author

One of the clever ways to establish yourself as an authority in your industry to publish a book.

Become a published author. You can use your experience to share the strategies to write a book. That’s exactly what Pat did.

Pat Flynn published three amazing books to turn dreamers into achievers. All his books are available on Amazon and you can also find their details on his website.

 Also, all his books got amazing reviews on Amazon. Just have a look;

pat flynn books

Here’s the list of his published books which are all available on Amazon.

1. Superfans

If you’re looking to build super fans just like Pat Flynn, this book is a must-read for you. Pat Flynn refers to Superfans as your tribe, your following, the people who trust you and your brand without question.

2. Will It Fly?

Want to know how to validate your next business idea so you don’t waste your time and money? Then, this book is just for you. In this book, you will discover a step-by-step system for testing your business idea before it goes to market.

3. Let Go

If you’re looking for an inspiring book to read from Pat Flynn, this one’s for you as he shares all the challenges he faced and pieced together what has become a thriving online business.

Key takeaway: There are many topics that are beyond the reach and understanding of millions of people. If you have expertise in your field, you should definitely consider self-publishing a book so you can help others and also establish yourself as an expert in your niche.

Lesson 8: Help Before You Sell

The #1 reason for Pat’s success is his ability to create successful online products. That’s the reason Pat Flynn net worth is growing rapidly. Pat is currently selling 7 online courses ranging from $199 to $1599. You can check all his online courses from here.

help before you sell

Here’s the breakdown of all his premium courses;

  • Smart From Scratch (costs you $199 and teaches you how you can find a winning business idea and land your first customer)
  • Email Marketing Magic (costs $499 which helps you grow your list, make more money, and automate your email marketing) 
  • A to Z Webinars (costs $499 which is a step-by-step roadmap to help you create and deliver webinars that work, grow your list, and make profits)
  • 1-2-3 Affiliate Marketing (costs $599 which is a 3-step system to generate an income by recommending products your audience love)
  • Power-Up Podcasting (costs you $799 where you can learn how to create, launch and market a podcast that grows your income and impact online)
  • Amp’d Up Podcasting (costs $999 and teaches you how to automate, market, and profit from your online business) 
  • Power-Up Podcasting Bootcamp (costs $1599 which is their best-selling course combined with live, instructor-led sessions, and a supportive community to help you launch your podcast in just eight weeks)

Guess what? Almost all of his premium courses sell like hotcakes. Why would someone pay hundreds of dollars for content?

The simple reason: people like his FREE content. Thousands of bloggers, brands, and marketers have used Pat’s marketing strategies to grow their businesses and income. That’s also the reason why we launched FREE courses on blogging and SEO.

People always love to reciprocate. When you’re getting so much value for free (in the form of articles, podcasts, eBooks, and more), why wouldn’t you consider when the blog owner launches a premium product offering immense value?

Are you getting it?

That’s the power of helping before you sell anything online. Help people with free content and they will reciprocate and help you make a ton of profits when you offer something for premium. 

Key takeaway: People would love to pay for premium content if they already like your free content. So always find ways to offer help before you sell anything. That’s how smart marketers like Pat Flynn generate a ton of profits online. 

Lesson 9: Share Your Lessons With Your Audience

One great reason to follow Pat Flynn is that he often shares the lessons while doing something.

For instance, he published a blog post sharing the most important lessons he learned while testing and launching his first online course called Smart From Scratch.

pat lessons

The post is not only extremely detailed but it also includes the BEST content. In this post, he tells what exactly he did to test and validate his own business idea. 

Key takeaway: We’ve already discussed how being honest with your blog audience can work wonders for your business. Similarly, sharing your mistakes and lessons you learn in your journey helps you build a strong bond with your audience. So don’t hold anything back and share everything you know. 

Lesson 10: Build A Strong Team

Almost every successful marketer and entrepreneur knows the importance of building the RIGHT team.

Pat Flynn was a one-man army when he started his blog Smart Passive Income back in 2008. He used to take care of everything from content marketing to promotion.

build a team like pat

Building a successful website or online business takes A LOT of time as it involves many things such as;

  • Content creation
  • Search engine optimization
  • Blog promotion
  • Social media management
  • Email marketing
  • Managing podcasts and/or YouTube
  • Networking and the list goes on

So you can’t do everything on your own. Yes, you can hustle 24/7 in the initial days but you need to start building a team as soon as you start making money. 

That’s what Pat did. Once he started earning huge profits from his website, he started outsourcing to save more time and spend time on things that matter.

Currently, there are over 10 people who work full-time for Pat Flynn. You can visit this page to find more details about Pat Flynn’s team members.

pat flynn team

The smart thing about Pat Flynn is that he hired a team that works full-time. If you’re running a business, you need to build a strong team who are ready to work with you for years, not months.

Most people get this one thing wrong as they always hire to finish a particular project. If you’re also making the same mistake, don’t waste your team looking for people. Hire smart people, and keep them with you forever! 

Key takeaway: Want to build a profitable online business that grows year after year? Invest money in hiring the right people and try to outsource as much as you can. That way, you can spend your time on things that matter even more.

Few More Net Worth Posts:


FAQs About Pat Flynn

Here are some of the frequently asked questions about Pat Flynn and his marketing success.

Who is Pat Flynn?

Pat Flynn is the owner of Flynndustries, LLC and he was laid off as a Job Captain in the architecture industry to become a full-time blogger at Smart Passive Income in 2008. He’s one of the popular affiliate marketers who has a net worth of over $3 million. 

What is Pat Flynn net worth?

Pat Flynn net worth is estimated at over $3 million dollars as of 2024. Most of his revenue comes from his online marketing blog called The Smart Passive Income. 

What is Pat Flynn’s email address?

Pat Flynn’s email address is [email protected]

What are the books written by Pat Flynn?

Pat Flynn published three books so far (all of them are available on Amazon):

– Superfans
– Will It Fly?
– Let Go

What is Pat Flynn’s age?

Pat Flynn is 37 years old as he was born on 17th August 1983.

What are the courses created by Pat Flynn?

Here’s a list of all the Pat Flynn courses that he sells from his blog Smart Passive Income:

– Smart From Scratch (costs $199)
– Email Marketing Magic (costs $499) 
– A to Z Webinars (costs $499)
– 1-2-3 Affiliate Marketing (costs $599)
– Power-Up Podcasting (costs $799)
– Amp’d Up Podcasting (costs $999) 
– Power-Up Podcasting Bootcamp (costs $1599)

Where can I find Pat Flynn’s income reports?

Pat Flynn stopped publishing monthly income reports on his blog Smart Passive Income. If you want to read his previous monthly income reports, visit this link where you can find his monthly earning reports along with the income sources and expenses.


Final Thoughts on Pat Flynn Net Worth

Pat Flynn is a successful and genuine online marketer who believes in the “teach everything you know” concept. He adds a HUGE value to the blogging community and makes profits from his courses, affiliate products, podcasts, books, and so on.

Are you a fan of Pat Flynn and his blog Smart Passive Income? 

What do you think about Pat Flynn’s net worth and online success? How did Pat Flynn inspire you? If you’ve any questions, let us know in the comments.

About Author
Anil Agarwal is the Founder of Bloggerspassion. He is a full-time blogger and SEO expert who has been helping people build profitable blogs for over a decade Now. He has been featured in Over 100 Publications including Forbes, The HuffPost, HubSpot, Shopify, Semrush, Kinsta, Bluehost, Hostinger and G2.com etc. Know more about Anil Agarwal from here.

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