Creating super fans might just be more important than traffic and conversions.
With the book Superfans by Patt Flynn, This post will discuss how to create fundamentals for the growth of super fandom in 4 parts.
Book Table of Contents
Book Name (00:14)
Companion Course (00:36)
Dedication (00:20)
Prologue (11:07)
The superfan paradygm (24:53)
Part I: Casual Audience to Active Audience (02:01)
Chapter 1: Learn The Lyrics (12:46)
Chapter 2: Break The Ice (16:32)
Chapter 3: Create Quick Wins (10:26)
Chapter 4: Drive the DeLorean (12:08)
Chapter 5: Return Every Handshake (08:37)
Part 2: Active Audience to Connected Community (04:45)
Chapter 6: Let Them Take a Shot (08:49)
Chapter 7: Let Them Decide (10:17)
Chapter 8: Create a Challenge (08:30)
Chapter 9: Open The Factory Doors (12:49)
Chapter 10: Stage a Gig (10:33)
Chapter 11: Give Them a Name (08:54)
Chapter 12: Bring Them Together (10:36)
Chapter 13: Make Them Shine (15:46)
Part III: Connected Community to Superfans (05:45)
Chapter 14: Remember The Lemons (09:00)
Chapter 15: Send Unexpected Messages (09:57)
Chapter 16: Get Them Involved (15:22)
Chapter 17: Offer Platinum Access (19:37)
Part IV: The Dark Side of Building Superfans (01:33)
Chapter 18: The 6 Hidden Traps of Building Superfans and How to Avoid Them (21:45)
Chapter 19: Avoiding Unwanted Recognition and Staying Safe (12:57)
Part V: Your Superfans Await (09:02)
Additional Resources (02:33)
Acknowledgements (03:44)
Final Credits (00:21)
Decision Process
I have read both the old edition of Let go and the new one, and also listened to the book Will It Fly by Patt, and liked them both, so as usual I was glad to listen to another book by the same author which I liked earlier.
Also it sells well, so there was the social proof part in action.
Book Attributes
Author - Patt Flynn
Among Patt’s Achievements are:
-The author of 3 Books: Let Go, Will It Fly and Superfans.
-The owner of multiple niche websites among which are:
smartpassiveincome.com greenexamacademy.com Sold: securityguardtraininghq.com foodtruckr.com . (Those are the ones I’m aware of)
-The owner of multiple social media channels including:
AskPat 2.0 and Smart Passive Income Podcasts.
Patt Flynn and Deep Pocket Monster YouTube Channels
and on and on it goes…
-Patt has also been featured in the forbes article “10 Leaders Who Aren’t Afraid to Be Transparent“.
Note: When searching for “Patt Flynn” you may find three of them.
A fitness expert, another who’s mainly an author, and our Patt, who is the owner of Smart Passive Income.
Length
Physical/Audio : 224 pages/5h 2m
Reviews
Amazon.com has 650 reviews from which 84% are 5 stars and 10% are 4 stars as of writing this post.
Introduction
As I mentioned in the first paragraph, this book concentrates on building Superfans in 4 main stages.
1. Casual Audience ( First Time visitors/ Prospects )
2. Active Audience ( Leads/Subscribers )
3. Engaged Community ( Actively Engaging with you and other members of community )
4. Superfans ( Someone who will purchase anything and everything you produce )
Patt claims that if we are able to cultivate superfans all the rest will come as a consequence, therefor they are more important than traffic or conversions.
4 Ideas From the 4 Parts of the Book
Part I: Chapter 5: Return Every Handshake
Imagine you were to come up to someone, offer him a handshake, and he would just stare at you and not answer it, how would you feel?
Well the same happens with our brands, there are people who comment on our blog posts, videos, and other social media, then they wait for a response, and after a few days, they just give up on waiting for the response and move on.
Don’t leave those people hanging, answer every comment! (We’ll maybe not spammers etc. in my opinion but patt indeed says everyone 🙂 )
Practical Takeaway No.1: Return Every Handshake
I used to be unsure of whether I should reply to all the comments on social media, after all when there will be a lot of comments, I would surely not get to each one…
Moreover, some comments are difficult to reply to or feel like they require no replies.
After reading this chapter, I came to understand the Importance of replying. In the words of Patrick, it is like meeting a handshake, if you don’t meet it, you most definitely might lose a relationship, and a potential Superfan.
I will now give more significance to replying on comments, and try to reply even if it doesn’t feel “Natural” sometimes, though I still keep myself the right to not reply everything in some cases, like trolls or spam and others that we should really not comment.
Part II: Chapter 6: Let Them Take a Shot
At the end of each piece of content it is crucial to make some sort of question or do something to increase engagement, we should use the human desire to say “The Right Answer” .
A good example of this is when a teacher asks something at the classroom and all the kids shoot their hands as high as they can and say things like “I know, I know, I know” and hope that she picks them to answer.
You may also ask something that has no correct answer like: What is healthier Broccoli or Spinach? People will fight for proving their opinions right.
Practical Takeaway No.2: Let Them Take a Shot
Currently at the end of each video I have a CTA that talks about the 10 FREE audiobooks PDF.
But I remember hearing on one of Sean Cannell’s or Think Media’s Videos that he suggests having different CTA’s on different videos, like, one may be for purchases, another for comments, a third one for likes, a fourth one for subscribes, so I decided to try it out this time and go for engagement (Since other sources suggest only having one main CTA on each content piece).
Part III: Chapter 14: Remember The Lemons
At his college days, Patt used to work as a waiter and compete with his co-workers on who will get the most tips.
One of the customers who came to dine at the restaurant was Albert.
When Patt waited on Albert for the first time he noticed that albert asked for 3 lemons with his cup of water.
The next time Albert came, Patt presented him with his 3 lemons which eventually in combination with other techniques, resulted in higher tips for Patt, and Albert asking him as his waiter every time he came to the restaurant. By caring about albert and paying attention to the details and caring, Patt became extremely likable.
Practical Takeaway No.3: Remember The Lemons
When answering anyone in any of the social media I shall truly try to understand what interests me about them, and ask about that thing.
Part IV: Chapter 18: The 6 Hidden Traps of Building Superfans (And How to Avoid Them)
Trap 2: You Let The Fame and Money Go To Your Head
Antonio Bran was on a trajectory to become the best wide receiver in the history of American Football ever, but then he started to be late to team meetings, do borderly violent behaviors off field which resulted in a power struggle between him, the quarterback and trainer which eventually got him sitting on the bench for the rest of the season, after those incidents, people no longer counted him on the trajectory to become the best, rather saw him as a “Self Concentrated Diva”.
Patt’s wife April said “If your head is going to grow so big, I’m not going to be there to carry it anymore” and he says that he is thankful that she said that.
Trap 6: You Burn Out
The founder of Huffington Post – Ariana Huffington worked very hard at her business. She was trying to fit both her family and business in her schedule, at the expense of sleep and health. One day she collapsed in her office, hitting a table and breaking her cheekbone in the process.
After medical examinations she was given the diagnosis of “Burn Out” since then she changed her ways, started focusing more on sleep and health, delegated more, and even wrote the book “The sleep revolution“.
Practical Takeaway No.4: Don't Burn Out
Next time when tempted to have 6 hours of sleep instead of 8 to work 2 extra hours, remember that the function of the brain will be worse the whole next day because of it, and decide taking that fact into consideration.
My General Experience of Superfans
Though I do not allow myself to apply all of the book’s contents right when I read, I have managed to get 4 takeaways from this book and believe that there are more to come. One may see that Patt really doesn’t hold back on Ideas, and that he sure has some, by just seeing the sheer amount of episodes of his podcasts and the amount of resources in the bonus course. He also seems to be very transparent and has some jokes throughout the book which makes him even more relatable.
Rating (6 Parameters)
Narration
Clarity of Speech
Fluency
Were there any gulps, voice jumps? Recording interruptions? The higher the score – the less interruptions.
Answer: Some very minor interruptions during which he re-recorded himself speaking without erasing the problematic part. 5/6
Expressing Emotions
Plot
Heading Distribution
When I read the heading, can I recall the contents?
Answer: Can recall 16/19 chapters right after reading the book 8/10
Drive For Implementation
How much does the book push you to apply it’s contents?
Visuals
Does it use images or other resources to transfer it’s message?
Answer: It has a supplemental course with many resources to transfer it’s messages, There weren’t any that
I didn’t understand. 6/6
Direct Calls to Action
How often does the author prompt you to apply the ideas in the book?
Answer: Every other chapter we are prompted to visit the supplemental course. 6/6
Providing Actual Specific Details
Can you actually apply the Ideas in the book without additional resources?
Answer: I did not try to apply all of them, but it seems very detailed, and I have applied some. 7/7
Examples
How often are examples provided to explain a point, and how well do they portray the ideas?
Answer: there are many examples for every idea both in the book itself and the supplemental course, I managed to understand all the Ideas mentioned. 20/20
Content
How interesting/useful was the content?
Answer: Was very interesting, didn’t yet apply all of it, but I have a part of it and it already made some impact! 18/20
Final Rating
Conclusion
In order to build a business that may make you a living, you may not need to be a superstar or have millions of views, a 1000 superfans is enough. To create superfans, the key factor is human relationships. Communicate with the audience and try to fill out their desires as though they were friends who you physically met.
"With great fans comes great responsibility"
What book summary would you like to read next and why?
1)Magnetic Marketing – Dan Kennedy
2)Ask – Ryan Lavesque
3)YouTube Secrets – Sean Cannell, Benji Travis
Let us know in the comments below.