The Smart Passive Income Online Business and Blogging Podcast

Pat Flynn got laid off from his architecture job in 2008 and decided to turn his LEED exam study guide into an online business. That one pivot became the foundation for everything Smart Passive Income has grown into over the past 17 years. The podcast has crossed 900 episodes, publishes twice a week, and Flynn has built it into a media brand that covers online courses, affiliate marketing, email list building, SEO, content creation, and team management -- basically the full toolkit for building an internet-based business from scratch. What makes Flynn distinctive in the crowded online business space is his transparency. He published monthly income reports for years, breaking down exactly how much money each of his revenue streams generated and where the numbers fell short. That level of openness attracted a community of people who were tired of gurus promising overnight riches without showing their work. Flynn's journey is also genuinely relatable for first-time entrepreneurs. He started with zero audience, built traffic through helpful content, and scaled gradually through affiliate partnerships and digital products rather than venture capital or outside funding. Recent episodes have covered 2026 marketing trends, content repurposing strategies, and how to build authority in a niche without a massive following. Flynn interviews both well-known creators and lesser-known entrepreneurs who've built quiet six-figure businesses in unexpected corners of the internet. The production quality is strong, episodes run about 30 minutes, and Flynn's teaching style is patient and clear without being patronizing. For someone just starting to think about building an online business, the back catalog alone is worth months of study.