#63 The Michelle Warner Route

In this episode, Michelle Warner, a business strategist and designer, shares her transition from building venture-backed startups to creating a smaller, more sustainable business. After ıexperiencing intense burnout, she stepped away from the traditional growth-at-all-costs model and began designing a business that aligned with her life. She reflects on how working with single mothers in a social impact startup revealed a growing wave of online entrepreneurship and inspired her consulting work.

Michelle also breaks down her core philosophy of relationship marketing vs traffic marketing, explaining why most service-based businesses struggle when they rely on audience growth alone. She shares how building intentional relationships, instead of chasing scale, leads to better clients, more aligned growth, and a more sustainable business model.

(00:00) Intro

(00:39) Leaving startups after burnout

(02:46) Shift to a smaller business

(02:56) Discovering online entrepreneurs

(06:59) Offers evolve over time

(12:32) Relationship vs traffic marketing

(28:00) Real vs transactional networking

(29:37) Connection avatars strategy

(32:59) Using a podcast to network

(35:23) Small, specific asks

(46:12) Defining what’s enough

Follow Michelle on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/warnermichelle/ Check out Networking that Pays: https://www.themichellewarner.com/

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