Business Simple Podcast

Reviewing a massive 2025 with my 2 business partners, Sam and Graeme, from Agentary.

00:00 Introduction & First 3-Person Podcast
00:41 How the Sam & Graham Merge Started
01:28 Bootstrapping the First Office & Early Growth
02:27 Hiring a Team & Escaping 100-Hour Work Weeks
03:44 Creative Growth, Editing Innovation & Team Talent
05:05 AI in Property Video & Visual Effects
06:27 Vertical Video, Reels & Package Strategy
07:31 Scaling to Thousands of Videos & $1.5B in Property
08:14 Training Systems & Quality Control
11:11 Launch of Agent Two Studios
13:13 From Home Hustle to Office Structure
15:01 Why the Old Workflow Was Unsustainable
16:03 Working With High-End Developers & Big Clients
17:09 Balancing Real Estate vs Studio Turnarounds
18:21 Launch of the Digital Ads Product (EDS)
19:59 Pricing Strategy & What Agents Are Buying
22:22 Hiring a Salesperson & Growth Strategy
24:22 Photography vs Video Demand Trends
25:27 What Separates Top Performing Agents
28:06 The Future of Real Estate Marketing & Storytelling
30:28 Queenstown Expansion & National Growth
33:03 Transitioning From Operators to Business Owners
35:23 Leadership Challenges of Rapid Growth
37:01 The Power of Business Partnerships
39:12 CEO vs Creative – Getting Off the Tools
42:13 Systemising Creativity
44:03 Office Culture & Team Environment
46:17 Advice for Entrepreneurs & Creative Founders
48:21 Final Advice to Agents & Businesses
49:15 Final Reflections on Growth & Foundations

Lewis is a career electrician that grew within a number of amazing businesses, working with some exceptional business owners.

He is now the president of the Canterbury Car Club and played a key role in bringing the Supercars to Ruapuna Raceway.

A passionate, humble person, this podcast has something for everyone!

01:00 – Intro & Early Sales Journey

02:30 – Transition to Digital Marketing

03:45 – Founding Digital Simple

04:20 – Scaling with Property Marketing

05:35 – Lessons from Growth & Churn

06:10 – Transparency & Approach to Marketing

07:15 – Marketing as Sales (1-to-Many)

08:24 – Importance of Brand + Sales Together

09:08 – Marketing Theory & Customer Psychology

13:05 – Crafting Compelling Offers

18:56 – Messaging & Positioning

22:20 – Human vs. AI in Marketing

26:30 – The Power of Digital Leverage

30:11 – Why Video is Critical

33:11 – Balancing Brand & ROI Campaigns

37:21 – Funnel Strategy Example

40:27 – Optimisation Mindset

42:19 – Scaling Offers & Upsells

45:18 – Practical Q&A on Campaign Optimisation

46:16 – Live Campaign Walkthrough

50:18 – Daily vs. Lifetime Budgets

56:00 – Setting Audiences & Placements

57:12 – Building Lead Forms & Creatives

What is working in the world of marketing in 2025?

I think it's a pretty big change up from years prior, hear my thoughts in this episode

Zane is everything I am beginning to love about politics: a fresh perspective, accountability-focused, and transparent.

Hear here what he sees as the future for Taupo, and the opportunities the district has, as well as his story and what has guided him to stepping into the council.

0:00 – Intro & return to the podcast

0:37 – Why the podcast paused

1:13 – Announcing the return & future plans

1:41 – Reflecting on 2025 so far

2:12 – Growth, listenership & tough decision to pause

2:57 – Balancing business responsibilities

3:24 – Challenges of rapid team growth

4:19 – Personal challenges (new parenthood)

4:40 – High client churn & delivery issues

6:01 – Sales challenges & underestimated difficulty

6:23 – Revenue drop & recovery efforts

7:13 – Refocusing on sales to stabilise

8:01 – Playing “whac-a-mole” with problems

8:38 – Culture challenges & staff poaching

9:27 – Rebuilding positive culture

10:22 – Leadership changes & restructuring

11:08 – Cutting overhead & reinvesting in delivery

11:51 – Shifting focus to dollar-producing roles

12:14 – Team adjustments & scalability

12:37 – Returning talent strengthens the team

13:17 – Lessons from staff turnover

14:11 – Systemising & onboarding new team members

15:19 – Key lesson: people quit bad culture, not hard work

16:08 – Reframing staff exits as opportunities

17:01 – Importance of consistent content & communication

18:18 – Leadership mindset & positivity

18:57 – Perfect storm of HR & client churn challenges

19:50 – Culture rebuild & lowest churn since 2022

20:37 – Culture maturing & team bonding

21:06 – Recap: bouncing back stronger

21:29 – Looking ahead to new episodes

Dan Vann was an epic person to interview - someone who first practised what he teaches, and really loves what he does.

From professional cricketer, to sports coach, and now high performance coach, there's something in this episode for everyone.

Kirsten Ellis has an incredible story, faced with some challenges that really put yours into perspective.

Her optimism, passion and open mindedness to running her business blew me away, and everyone will learn something from her story.

Aidan is incredibly passionate, intelligent and well spoken.He has a unique, efficiency driven approach to businessIn this episode we covered everything from his time as a mechanical engineer, his first business, impacting New Zealand tax law and his current company, Workride.

Ashleigh's energy is infectious, she was an amazing guest to interview.

After doing 10 years employed as a property manager the time came for her to step out on her own, hear her learnings, challenges and what's working as she begins building her business.