What if everything you know about marketing is backwards? Mike Konrad spent £70,000 on a waterfall that dropped words from the sky, only to discover the most important lesson of his 33-year business career. After transitioning from "high-tech carnival barker" to trusted industry authority, Mike stopped running adverts entirely - yet his sales kept climbing. In this episode, he reveals how abandoning product pitches, embracing education, and building genuine authority transformed not just his revenue, but the quality of customers who now fight to buy from him.
What You'll Learn
- Why stopping product promotion actually increases sales
- How to transform from 'carnival barker' to trusted authority
- The "guided discovery" method that lets customers sell themselves
- Why modern buyers join tribes, not customer lists
- How to attract solution-seekers instead of price-focused customers
- The coal-to-steam approach for building sustained business growth
- Real strategies for building credibility without traditional advertising
Timestamps
[00:03:00] The Ā£70,000 waterfall moment that changed everythingĀ
[00:06:00] Why Mike stopped advertising but sales kept growingĀ
[00:11:00] The steam engine analogy - how educational content fuels businessĀ
[00:16:00] The counterintuitive truth about selling without sellingĀ
[00:22:00] Learning from "Yoda" - the mentor who changed his perspective
[00:27:00] Two podcasts, different audiences, same authority-building strategyĀ
[00:42:00] The conscious marketing philosophy that connects emotionally
[00:48:30] How message quality determines customer quality
Resources
Guest Links:Ā
- Mike's personal website:Ā https://www.mikekonrad.com/
- The Reluctant Entrepreneur Podcast:Ā https://www.reluctantentrepreneurpodcast.com
- Reliability Matters Podcast:Ā www.reliabilitymatterspodcast.com
Podjunction Ecosystem:
- Podjunction Home:Ā https://podjunction.com/
- Sadaf's LinkedIn:Ā https://www.linkedin.com/in/sadafbeynon/