How Pat Flynn gets raving fans
Have you been listening to Pat Flynn’s Smart Passive Income podcast? I have been listening for a while, so a massive drawcard for the ProBlogger event was to see Pat.
He over-delivered in his keynote where he taught us “How to get raving fans!”
What is a raving fan?
People so loyal to you that they cannot imagine life without you!
Affinity pyramid by Pat Flynn.
So how do we get raving fans and more of them? Here’s how to move people from casual visitor to a raving fan!
Step 1: Casual audience → Active audience
PAT TIP: Ask your audience directly.
Pat picks 5 people to ask individually every so often (even with 85k subscribers.) He asks things like what was your first impression?
Don’t copy (or plagiarise) successful people, emulate them and use them as inspiration.
The 3 things to turn casual audience into an active audience
- Make a great first impression
- Unique content
- Be consistent
Put some YOU in your blog
PAT TIP: Pat reveals a random fact about himself at the start of every show (via his voice over guy). At first, mentors thought he was mad… now they think he’s a genius.
Plus people connect easily with Pat because he shares some stuff about his family and Back to the Future! Readers can relate with him.
Utlise the power of the quick small win (teach readers something small and let them achieve something quickly). Then they will keep coming back for more wins!
“If you want to change someone’s life, start by changing their day first”
Pat Flynn.
For example, Pat started reading Ramit Sethi’s blog when he was at college and he saved $30 per month on a bill because of a script he followed word-for-word that Ramit had shared. Pat was now a raving fan for life!
PAT TIP:
On your 1st email on your auto-responder give readers a quick win. Get them to take small action and make it valuable. Pat suggests getting subscribers to tweet something and to reply to a question.
Step 2: Active Audience → Connected Community
How do I get more interactions?
Ask questions for the answers. Like watching game-shows… we LOVE to play along and scream out the right answer. Let your audience prove they know the right answers!
Allow community decisions
If readers can be a part of the decision, they feel like a part of the community. A great way is to ask for feedback, for example:
- which logo do you like better.. A or B?
- which email header design do you like better? (like the Amy Porterfield example)
Take people “behind the scenes”
Make events… connect people face to face. Online works too. For example, Pat has “Let Go Day” each year where he celebrates being ‘let go’ from hid day job many years ago. And he also does masterminds with 10 or 20 people.
Reach out and highlight community members
Thank you most active Facebook fans each month — Pat designs a pictures and shares it on Facebook to thank his most raving fans.
Step 3 – Connected Community → Raving Fans
Read 1000 true fans. You don’t need many true fans to have a successful, profitable business.
Create memorable moments by surprise. For example in the live keynote Pat did a magic card trick for one person. Do special things for individuals.
Or for everyone.
Like this little thank you card under our seats. Nice touch hey?
Thanks Pat
PS. It was great to meet you Pat and thanks for travelling down under to speak with us Aussies!
me, Pat and Catriona Pollard
