Relationships Over Audiences
The second principle in The Big 4 was deceptively simple: engage with more people than you sell to.
Most of the world will never know your business exists. Of the people who encounter you, fewer still will buy. The math alone tells you that most of your impact happens before money changes hands.
I wrote that in 2024 as a marketing insight. Follow the brands you love — they make you laugh, teach you something, show up in your life even when you’re not buying. Great brands give value to people who may never become customers.
A year later, I’d call that the Relate principle.
Relationships are the asset
The 4 Pillars post described engagement as a bridge — attract, engage, convert, retain. I even named an “Entrenaut’s approach” before I had the word fully defined: educate, entertain, inspire.
That was right directionally. Relate goes further. It treats people as relationships, full stop.
An Entrenaut asks one question before any marketing decision: does this deepen the relationship? If it doesn’t, it gets deprioritized. Relationships are the actual asset — the thing that survives algorithm changes, platform shifts, and bad quarters.
Impressions, follower counts, open rates. Fine signals. Terrible goals.
The bond drive
Around the same period I was writing about core human drives — the need to acquire, bond, learn, defend, feel. The bond drive kept standing out: our need to belong, to be valued, to connect.
Businesses that treat engagement as broadcasting miss this. Businesses that show up generously for people who may never pay them tap into something older and more durable than any growth hack.
That’s what “engage with more people than you sell to” was really about. Leave everyone better than you found them.
What changed in the framework
On mikemisbach.com, I was writing for business owners who wanted to grow. Engagement was how you build trust that eventually converts.
In the Entrenaut framework, Relate is the work itself. You build relationships because that’s the point.
The people on the crew manifest reflect this. Steve Webber navigates alongside clients. Ben Jenkins teaches clients to own their websites. Alex Pearson educates pet owners through a podcast. That’s how they operate.
The line I’d write today
An Entrenaut builds relationships. The customer base follows.
If you want the earlier version of this thinking, start with The Big 4 and The 4 Pillars of Revenue Growth. This is where that instinct became a standard.