Elzie Flenard, founder of Podcast Town and host of Journey to Mastery, shares how podcasting transformed his business from a side hustle into a strategic platform for growth. In this episode, Elzie breaks down how his show became the cornerstone of his brand, the lessons he's learned over nine years and 500+ episodes, and why podcasting is the most powerful tool for building trust, visibility, and long-term influence.

Whether you’re new to podcasting or wondering how to better leverage your existing show, this conversation will give you practical insight into what it really means to build a business around a podcast.

• The story behind Elzie’s first podcast guest (hint: it started at the barbershop!)
• How podcasting helped him connect with high-level entrepreneurs and build credibility
• Why he believes podcasting is the most trusted medium and what that means for business owners
• The monetization strategy behind his Journey Feed private community
• Lessons from over 500 episodes: trust, consistency, and mastering the art of listening
• Why he’s planning a daily 10-minute podcast and the personal challenge behind it
• What all founders need to understand before using podcasting as a business tool

• 🎧 Listen to Journey to Mastery: https://open.spotify.com/show/2RQRkzY8zFztz7vHNjib77
• 🌐 Learn more about Elzie: https://elzieflenard.com
• 💡 Interested in launching your own podcast? Visit: https://www.podjunction.com

Subscribe, rate, and review the show to help more business leaders discover how to use podcasting to grow, connect, and build their brands.

Visibility strategist and award-winning podcaster Michelle L. Thames shares how she turned Social Media Decoded into both an authority builder and a lead-gen engine. We cover simple CTAs inside episodes, a two-week content ecosystem (podcast → email/social → community/speaking), sustainable batching with 5–10 minute solos, and why quality over virality wins the long game. Michelle also unpacks her 7-Day Audio Visibility Challenge, how she uses “other people’s audiences” (podcast swaps, summits, stages), and building Elevate & Empower online and in-person.

Key Takeaways

1. Make your podcast do two jobs: authority + leads. Seed one next step per episode (freebie, event, community) with a clear CTA you can measure.
2. Run a two-week content ecosystem: keep the podcast as the anchor, repurpose into email, LinkedIn, and Reels/Stories, and record quick debriefs after talks or events.
3. Consistency = rhythm, not daily posting: set a cadence you can keep. Start with Clarity → Platform → Analytics, and give every post a goal + CTA.

Timestamps / Chapters

• 00:00 Intro
• 00:53 Why Michelle started the show
• 02:36 What a podcast does that social can’t
• 03:36 Authority growth and lead generation
• 05:44 Host voice consistency
• 05:52 Lead gen plays (CTAs, seeding offers)
• 07:35 The 7-Day Audio Visibility Challenge
• 09:36 Consistency without posting daily
• 11:50 Clarity, Platform, Analytics
• 14:23 Channels that move the needle
• 16:30 The content ecosystem (podcast-first)
• 19:30 Short solos, batching, daily experiment
• 21:58 Platform formats and focus
• 24:37 Email growth and testing SMS
• 29:05 Building Elevate & Empower
• 31:30 Using the podcast to land stages and summits
• 33:24 Consistency > virality
• 35:52 Goal + CTA on every post
• 38:01 Where to find Michelle

Guest Links

• Instagram: @michelleLthames
• Website: Michelle Thames
• Podcast: Social Media Decoded (available on all major podcast apps)
• Community: Elevate & Empower (women entrepreneurs; online + in-person meetups)
• Freebie: 7-Day Audio Visibility Challenge (lead magnet mentioned in the episode)
• LinkedIn: Michelle on LinkedIn

Resources Mentioned

• Podcast swaps / tours
• Bundles & summits (Facebook community “Bundles of Bundles”)
• ManyChat (for DM keyword automation)

Host / Podjunction

• Podjunction Home: https://podjunction.com/
• Sadaf on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sadafbeynon/

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.

• 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

[00:03:00] The £70,000 waterfall moment that changed everything

[00:06:00] Why Mike stopped advertising but sales kept growing

[00:11:00] The steam engine analogy - how educational content fuels business

[00:16:00] The counterintuitive truth about selling without selling

[00:22:00] Learning from "Yoda" - the mentor who changed his perspective

[00:27:00] Two podcasts, different audiences, same authority-building strategy

[00:42:00] The conscious marketing philosophy that connects emotionally

[00:48:30] How message quality determines customer quality

Guest Links:

• Mike's personal website: https://www.mikekonrad.com/
• The Reluctant Entrepreneur Podcast: https://www.reluctantentrepreneurpodcast.com
• Reliability Matters Podcast: www.reliabilitymatterspodcast.com

Podjunction Ecosystem:

• Podjunction Home: https://podjunction.com/
• Sadaf's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sadafbeynon/