#248 – Joshua Counsil: The $0 Event That Saved a Brewery

Joshua Counsil is the co-founder of Good Robot Brewing in Halifax, a multi-award-winning hospitality and beverage company with three venues, national wholesale distribution, and The Beverage Factory, a co-manufacturing facility serving brands all the way to Costco. Good Robot Brewing was weeks away from insolvency. No ad budget. No agency. No playbook. Co-founder JOSHUA COUNSIL posted about a silent reading event on Facebook, and within 72 hours the taproom was at capacity. That single idea didn't just save the business, it became 5% of their website traffic for the next five years and helped fuel a $10M brand built almost entirely on earned media, raw authenticity, and doing the opposite of what every competitor was doing. He explains: ◼️ How one $0 Facebook post pulled a brewery back from the brink of insolvency ◼️ The "zig where they zag" framework that turned a corn beer into an award-winning product and a viral campaign ◼️ Why publicity is the most underrated marketing channel — and how to manufacture it without a PR budget ◼️ The brutal truth about running a business vs. opening one (and why most entrepreneurs get blindsided) ◼️ How Josh uses AI as a strategic thinking partner — not a content machine — to break through writer's block and sharpen product positioning ◼️ Why founder-led content still wins, and what happens to your brand when the founders stop showing up ◼️ The mindset shift that keeps entrepreneurs going when the fire hose of problems never turns off ---------------------------------------- *Timestamps* 02:15 – Why Josh loves conferences more than most people love vacations 05:00 – Raised by murder mystery dinner theatre owners: how that shaped everything 09:30 – From engineering to entrepreneurship — quitting his job in Seattle for a brewery idea 14:00 – Landing in Halifax and the culture shock of a non-hustle market 18:30 – Weeks from insolvency: what the early days of Good Robot really looked like 23:00 – The silent reading event that packed the taproom in 72 hours 27:30 – Zigging where competitors zag: the corn beer campaign that no one expected 32:00 – Publicity over paid ads: why earned media builds brands that ads can't 36:30 – Knowing what you suck at — the most underrated business skill 40:00 – Using AI as a strategic partner, not a shortcut ---------------------------------------- 🔗 Connect with Joshua Counsil on LinkedIn: http://linkedin.com/in/joshuacounsil 🍺 Good Robot Brewing: http://goodrobotbrewing.ca 📩 Enjoyed this episode? Subscribe and leave a 5-star review. 🎓 Want the AI tools and strategies we use at Merged Media? Join the Amplify Your Brand community: http://skool.com/ayb Learn more about Jay: https://jayhunt.social

source https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rsd7ny68lmU

Your LinkedIn DMs are full of AI-generated compliments

Everyone's automating their LinkedIn outreach. And everyone's getting ignored. This week on Drop The Mic, Zivko Dodovski breaks down the manual LinkedIn strategy that's booking 8-10 qualified calls a month with zero ads and zero AI. All from LinkedIn. All organic. All manual Listen to episode 247 of Drop The Mic.

source https://www.youtube.com/shorts/QD51DaM4Luk