Marketing 4 Business

When COVID shut her gym’s doors, 85% of members kept paying anyway. That doesn’t happen by accident…

In this Marketing 4 Business episode, Scott chats with Sally Lovell, owner of Anytime Fitness Cashmere, about building a business people genuinely want to belong to. Sally bought the gym while sitting at an ice hockey game in New York, with no business experience, and has since grown it into a multi-award-winning club, now a 2026 Exercise New Zealand Awards finalist after being nominated by her own members. Sally shares insights and lessons you can put to work straight away, including:

• The pay-it-forward ask that kept 85% of members paying through lockdown, and why many refused the credit afterwards
• Why she waited four months to fill a sales role instead of hiring the first available person
• How bringing your manager into interviews leads to better hires
• The life plans she builds with every team member, reviewed every three months
• The “navigational check” anyone can do today to map where they are and where they want to be
• The 1,000 little things that build community, from walking the floor to using names in the first 20 seconds
• How charity events (including $30,000+ for Movember and a 24-hour marathon for Cholmondeley Children’s Centre) drive retention and trust
• Why word of mouth still beats every other marketing channel for a local business

If you’re a business owner trying to build customer loyalty, grow a team that steps up, or create something people talk about, this episode is well worth your time.

Is your business ready to be recommended by AI? Get your FREE DIVE Scorecard HERE to discover where you stand and what you could improve. HERE

If you found this episode valuable, please share it with another business owner who could benefit. Don't forget to follow Marketing 4 Business on your favourite podcast platform, and if you enjoyed the episode, we'd really appreciate a five-star review. Your support helps us reach more business owners with practical marketing insights.

Connect with us:

Follow the Marketing 4 Business podcast on Instagram HERE.

Follow Digital Influence on Instagram HERE.

Visit Digital Influence's website HERE.

Book a complimentary marketing strategy session HERE.

Connect with Scott Wilson on LinkedIn HERE.

Connect with Anytime Fitness Cashmere on Facebook HERE.

Connect with Anytime Fitness Cashmere on Instagram HERE.

Have Fun & Take Action

Most business owners already know what they should be doing. So why aren’t they doing it?

In this Marketing 4 Business episode, Scott chats with Ric Thorpe, CEO of Sidekick, a growing group of accountancy firms with nine offices across New Zealand. Ric breaks down a simple formula for change he picked up from his business coach, one that explains why anyone ever does anything (or doesn’t). From buying new equipment to chasing a stalled sale, Ric shares insights you can put to work straight away, including:

• The formula for change: (Dissatisfaction x Vision) + First steps > Resistance
• How to score your stalled ideas and tackle the biggest pain with the biggest upside first
• Why looking at the whole project kills momentum, and why the first step is usually just a phone call
• What to ask when a “yes” suddenly becomes “let’s put it on hold for three months”
• Why you should be fast to respond but the last to quote
• Marketing generates leads, sales converts them, and why hiring one person to do both often backfires
• OAR vs BED: building a culture of ownership, accountability and responsibility instead of blame, excuses and denial
• Why you should never get AI to do something you aren’t already good at, plus the simple prompt Ric uses to find his knowledge gaps
• What a slow, earnings-based recovery means for NZ businesses, and why struggling competitors may soon be up for sale

If you’re a business owner sitting on decisions you know you need to make, or watching competitors move while you wait, this episode is well worth your time.

Is your business ready to be recommended by AI? Get your FREE DIVE Scorecard HERE to discover where you stand and what you could improve. HERE

If you found this episode valuable, please share it with another business owner who could benefit. Don't forget to follow Marketing 4 Business on your favourite podcast platform, and if you enjoyed the episode, we'd really appreciate a five-star review. Your support helps us reach more business owners with practical marketing insights.

Connect with us:

Follow the Marketing 4 Business podcast on Instagram HERE.

Follow Digital Influence on Instagram HERE.

Visit Digital Influence's website HERE.

Book a complimentary marketing strategy session HERE.

Connect with Scott Wilson on LinkedIn HERE.

Connect with Ric Thorpe on LinkedIn HERE.

Visit Sidekick Accountants website HERE.

Have Fun & Take Action

Your customers decide whether they like your business in the first 2 to 4 seconds. Most owners never design for it.

In this Marketing 4 Business episode, Scott chats with Steve Rosling, owner and director of Element 17, about how the physical space shapes your brand, your customer experience and your bottom line. After 22 years of commercial and hospitality fit-outs across Christchurch and Queenstown, including rebuilding through the earthquakes, Steve has lost count of the venues he has opened. He shares what separates the ones that thrive from the ones that close, including:

• Why every job comes down to time, cost and quality, and you only get to pick two
• The 2 to 4 second first impression, and why the distance from your front door to first eye contact matters
• How one office fit-out noticeably cut staff sick days, and why designing for introverts and extroverts pays off
• Why 250 square metres is the Goldilocks zone for New Zealand hospitality
• The compliance checks to make before you sign a lease (power, gas, grease waste), and why it always takes more time and money
• “Touch points”: the door handles, bar tops and upholstery that quietly shape how customers feel
• Why the most successful hospitality owners run it like a business, right down to the sticky tables
• Why Steve can’t stand scan-to-order tables, and what hospitality loses when the hospitality goes

If you’re a business owner planning a fit-out, opening a venue, or wondering whether your space is helping or hurting your brand, this episode is well worth your time.

Is your business ready to be recommended by AI? Get your FREE DIVE Scorecard HERE to discover where you stand and what you could improve. HERE

If you found this episode valuable, please share it with another business owner who could benefit. Don't forget to follow Marketing 4 Business on your favourite podcast platform, and if you enjoyed the episode, we'd really appreciate a five-star review. Your support helps us reach more business owners with practical marketing insights.

Connect with us:

Follow the Marketing 4 Business podcast on Instagram HERE.

Follow Digital Influence on Instagram HERE.

Visit Digital Influence's website HERE.

Book a complimentary marketing strategy session HERE.

Connect with Scott Wilson on LinkedIn HERE.

Connect with Steve Rosling on LinkedIn HERE.

Visit Element 17 website HERE.

Have Fun & Take Action

Most clothing stores finish the season with hundreds of unsold items. Debbie Albrecht finishes hers with 20 to 30.

In this Marketing 4 Business episode, Scott chats with Debbie Albrecht, owner of So You! Boutique in Rangiora. She talks about building a retail business that has survived earthquakes, COVID and recession by putting confidence ahead of the sale. Known to her customers as the colour lady, Debbie has turned 20+ years of colour and styling expertise into a point of difference that drives smarter buying, loyal customers and almost no dead stock. She shares lessons any business owner can use, including:

• Why her store has had only 20 to 30 pieces left each season for the past six years, and what most retailers get wrong when buying
• How knowing a customer's colours and clothing personality turns a lost sale into a multi-piece purchase
• Why "great customer service" doesn't cut it as a point of difference
• The management course that showed her how most owners communicate with staff, and what she changed
• How a $65 workshop that turns 12 pieces into 60+ outfits keeps filling her colour consultation bookings
• Why she teaches her retail know-how to other store owners, competitors included
• Planning stock six months ahead so new arrivals are ready to sell the day they land
• How a self-described "technically challenged" owner got comfortable on video

If you're a business owner trying to stand out in a tough market, sharpen your point of difference, or turn customers into a loyal community, this episode is well worth your time.

Download the Local Business AEO Playbook HERE. A free, step-by-step guide showing you how to position your business to be recommended by AI.

If you found this episode valuable, please share it with another business owner who could benefit. Don't forget to follow Marketing 4 Business on your favourite podcast platform, and if you enjoyed the episode, we'd really appreciate a five-star review. Your support helps us reach more business owners with practical marketing insights.

Connect with us:

Follow the Marketing 4 Business podcast on Instagram HERE.

Follow Digital Influence on Instagram HERE.

Visit Digital Influence's website HERE.

Book a complimentary marketing strategy session HERE.

Connect with Scott Wilson on LinkedIn HERE.

Visit So You! Boutique HERE.

Have Fun & Take Action

You promoted your best person. So why does it feel like something has gone wrong?

In this Marketing 4 Business episode, Scott welcomes back Amy Jones, leadership coach and founder of Human Impact leadership, to unpack why capable people struggle when they step into leadership, and what business owners can do about it. Amy works with teams across New Zealand and now Australia. She shares practical tools from her Emerging Leaders Programme, including:

• Why leadership is 80% psychology and 20% skill
• The heart emoji that came up in an exit interview, and what it taught Amy about leading across ages and channels
• How to make conflict healthy, and "kill the monster while it's little"
• Why new leaders dive in and do the work, and how that pattern leads to burnout as teams grow
• Clearing the runway: how leaders spot and remove roadblocks, including when the roadblock is them
• Why you should build the leader before the role exists
• The mindset trap of only training people who are underperforming
• Why time and energy matter as much as money for business owners

If you're a business owner trying to grow leaders who take ownership, keep good people longer, or get your time back, this episode is well worth your time.

Download the Local Business AEO Playbook HERE. A free, step-by-step guide showing you how to position your business to be recommended by AI.

If you found this episode valuable, please share it with another business owner who could benefit. Don't forget to follow Marketing 4 Business on your favourite podcast platform, and if you enjoyed the episode, we'd really appreciate a five-star review. Your support helps us reach more business owners with practical marketing insights.

Connect with us:

Follow the Marketing 4 Business podcast on Instagram HERE.

Follow Digital Influence on Instagram HERE.

Visit Digital Influence's website HERE.

Book a complimentary marketing strategy session HERE.

Connect with Scott Wilson on LinkedIn HERE.

Connect with Amy Jones on LinkedIn HERE.

Have Fun & Take Action

He left school at 15 because he didn't fit in, and has since bought, fixed and sold more than 460 houses.

In this Marketing 4 Business episode, Scott chats with Kane Lawson of My New Start about focus, intent, and why most marketing does not fail at the marketing. Kane was the second ever guest on this podcast four years ago, and he is back with 460-plus property transactions, a greenfield subdivision in South Canterbury, and a very direct view on what business owners get wrong.

Insights you can put to work straight away, including:

• Kane on why he tells people not to ring a marketing agency unless they are ready to answer the phone
• The Mag and Turbo franchise owner who swore a campaign didn't work, until the data showed he'd missed 11 of 12 calls
• Scott's rule that marketing always fails at the weakest link, and the client he parted ways with over it
• Kane on the wiper blade stand that gathered dust for 18 months, and why he now runs a case study instead of an emotional study
• Why Kane never turns marketing down: "who am I to judge when someone is going to sell their house?"
• The one question Kane has drilled into the last four years, and how it shortens every meeting: what is the intent?
• Write it down and you earn the right to forget it, Kane's system behind the notebooks his team carries
• Scott on why the old game was getting found and the new game is getting recommended, and what that means for video
• Kane on self-belief, knowing your capacity, and operating just below your cap instead of burning out above it
• Why the best staff Kane ever hired at Mag and Turbo were people others had written off

If you are a business owner spending money on marketing, trying to stay focused while everyone pitches you their next idea, or working out how to hand the baton to someone younger, this episode is well worth your time.

Download the Local Business AEO Playbook HERE. A free, step-by-step guide showing you how to position your business to be recommended by AI.

If you found this episode valuable, please share it with another business owner who could benefit. Don't forget to follow Marketing 4 Business on your favourite podcast platform, and if you enjoyed the episode, we'd really appreciate a five-star review. Your support helps us reach more business owners with practical marketing insights.

Connect with us:

Follow the Marketing 4 Business podcast on Instagram HERE.

Follow Digital Influence on Instagram HERE.

Visit Digital Influence's website HERE.

Book a complimentary marketing strategy session HERE.

Connect with Scott Wilson on LinkedIn HERE.

Connect with My New Start on LinkedIn HERE.

Have Fun & Take Action

Everyone said radio would be dead by now. It is not, and the reason has nothing to do with the music.

In this Marketing 4 Business episode, Scott chats with Kate James, newly appointed General Manager of MediaWorks Canterbury, about what actually makes advertising work for a local business, and what business owners keep getting wrong before they even book a campaign. Kate started out cooking sausages outside appliance stores and car yards on a Saturday, and has spent more than 20 years across promotions, client services, integration and sales. She is refreshingly blunt about what works, what does not, and where media reps should be pushing back harder. Insights you can use straight away, including:

• Why radio's real job is building trust, not reach, and why that matters more in a market full of "click here, buy this"
• What to turn up with before you brief any media rep, starting with who your customer actually is, because "anyone from 10 to 80" is not a target market
• The underspend trap: how a budget that is slightly too small wastes the entire thing, and the honest conversation your rep should be having upfront
• Why one station done properly beats four done thinly, every time
• The nationwide advertiser that dropped radio for a pure digital strategy, and why they have come fully back to TV and radio
• How digital audio and Rover put targeting by age, gender and location within reach of a local budget
• Why stopping your marketing hands the opportunity straight to a competitor, and why you will not feel it for six months
• The florist in his 70s who refused to let anyone underspend his budget, because he knew he was buying customers, not sales
• What the best salespeople actually have in common, and why it is not polish

If you are a business owner deciding where the next marketing dollar goes, wondering whether radio still deserves a slice, or trying to work out what a decent budget really looks like, this episode is well worth your time.

Download the Local Business AEO Playbook HERE. A free, step-by-step guide showing you how to position your business to be recommended by AI.

If you found this episode valuable, please share it with another business owner who could benefit. Don't forget to follow Marketing 4 Business on your favourite podcast platform, and if you enjoyed the episode, we'd really appreciate a five-star review. Your support helps us reach more business owners with practical marketing insights.

Connect with us:

Follow the Marketing 4 Business podcast on Instagram HERE.

Follow Digital Influence on Instagram HERE.

Visit Digital Influence's website HERE.

Book a complimentary marketing strategy session HERE.

Connect with Scott Wilson on LinkedIn HERE.

Connect with Kate James on LinkedIn HERE.

Have Fun & Take Action

He was coached by five men who went on to become Sirs. He says the difference at the top had almost nothing to do with rugby…

In this Marketing 4 Business episode, Scott chats with Aaron Mauger, 46-Test All Black, professional coach, and founder of leadership consultancy Black 12, about what actually makes a team perform. Aaron and his wife Amy also own Dux Dine in Christchurch, so this is elite environments and the reality of a small business in the same conversation.

Aaron shares insights and lessons you can put to work straight away, including:

• The eight words Anton Oliver said to a 20-year-old Aaron that took him off cloud nine and straight back to work
• Why a team that lacks clarity produces plenty of action and almost no progress, and how to spot it in your own business
• The 3 Cs Aaron runs with exec teams (connection, clarity, consistency), and why clarity is the one that stops people in their tracks
• Why the best thing a new leader can do in the first few months is change nothing, plus Scott's story of the CEO who did exactly that and walked out with 57 improvements his people already owned
• The four cornerstones behind that All Blacks era, and how "express yourself" gave players permission to fail
• What "better men make better All Blacks" looked like in practice, and what it should change about how you invest in staff
• Why one department celebrating while the rest of the business struggles is a sign of a dysfunctional team, not a high-performing one
• The two or three minutes Aaron spends sitting in the car so a hard day at work does not walk through his front door
• What, so what, now what, and why most meetings quietly stop at the second question
• Why Aaron will tell a player he is not playing before he says anything else, and why softening the message helps nobody
• How Amy spotted Dux Dine for sale on her phone while they sat in the garden, and what Aaron learned about leading by getting out of the way

If you are a business owner trying to get your people aligned, handle pressure without passing it down the line, or build an environment where good people stick around and grow, this episode is well worth your time.

Download the Local Business AEO Playbook HERE. A free, step-by-step guide showing you how to position your business to be recommended by AI.

If you found this episode valuable, please share it with another business owner who could benefit. Don't forget to follow Marketing 4 Business on your favourite podcast platform, and if you enjoyed the episode, we'd really appreciate a five-star review. Your support helps us reach more business owners with practical marketing insights.

Connect with us:

Follow the Marketing 4 Business podcast on Instagram HERE.

Follow Digital Influence on Instagram HERE.

Visit Digital Influence's website HERE.

Book a complimentary marketing strategy session HERE.

Connect with Scott Wilson on LinkedIn HERE.

Connect with Aaron Mauger on LinkedIn HERE.

Have Fun & Take Action

Everyone is talking about AI. Almost nobody is telling business owners what to actually do on Monday morning.

In this Marketing 4 Business episode, Scott chats with Blake Harkness, the AI engineer behind Harkness AI, about what AI can actually do inside a normal New Zealand business right now. Blake started a mechatronics degree, watched ChatGPT answer his entire coursework, and pivoted. He now works as a fractional AI partner, runs a 300-strong community called Young Kiwis in AI, and recently went to China on a national delegation to see where this is all heading. No hype, just the practical version:

• Blake explains how AI took his proposal process from 4 hours to 5 minutes, with a human review at the end
• Why you must pay for your AI tools, and the confidential contract story from the States that shows what happens when you do not
• Blake's rule for connecting AI to your systems: read-only first, add permissions gradually, never go full ham from the start
• Scott shares why he scrapped his AI chatbot and AI phone answering project and hired a call centre of real people instead
• The full breakdown of how a one-man fencing supplier automated Xero invoicing, repeat inquiries and calendar booking using Claude and a set of skills
• What Blake saw in China: room-service robots riding elevators, AI triage in hospitals, and scan interpretation cut by 80%
• Why job roles shift rather than disappear, and the two risks Blake sees: using no AI at all, or using AI for everything and learning nothing
• Blake's 5 steps to get AI ready, including the testing mistake almost everyone makes
• Scott's take on the AI bubble from an investor's seat, and why retail investors usually wear it
• The intern who posted 5 Instagram Reels and had a job by day 5

If you are a business owner drowning in admin, unsure which AI tools are worth paying for, or being pitched six-figure AI projects you suspect you do not need, this episode is well worth your time.

Download the Local Business AEO Playbook HERE. A free, step-by-step guide showing you how to position your business to be recommended by AI.

If you found this episode valuable, please share it with another business owner who could benefit. Don't forget to follow Marketing 4 Business on your favourite podcast platform, and if you enjoyed the episode, we'd really appreciate a five-star review. Your support helps us reach more business owners with practical marketing insights.

Connect with us:

Follow the Marketing 4 Business podcast on Instagram HERE.

Follow Digital Influence on Instagram HERE.

Visit Digital Influence's website HERE.

Book a complimentary marketing strategy session HERE.

Connect with Scott Wilson on LinkedIn HERE.

Connect with Blake Harkness on LinkedIn HERE.

Have Fun & Take Action

You are busy. Your business is not growing at the rate it should. Those two things are connected, and this episode explains how.

Scott has been saving up business lessons. 21 of them, held back until the right person walked through the door. In this Marketing 4 Business episode, he sits down with Darren Pratley, business coach and speaker, who walks into companies across New Zealand and asks the question most owners avoid: what actually creates your success? No interview structure. Just 21 lessons, one at a time, with two people who do not always agree.

Lessons you can put to work this week, including:

• Why Darren tells smaller businesses to focus on profit over cash flow, and the question the bank asks first that explains it.
• Scott's counter: cash keeps you alive during the year, profit is what you show at the end of it.
• The three week diary test that reveals whether your success is planned or just hoped for.
• Why Scott pulled AI off his phone lines and put a real call centre back on, and where Darren openly disagrees with him.
• The scoreboard question Darren asks in every business he walks into, and why it is not a financial question.
• 57 touchpoints, and how one CEO used clarity alone as his competitive advantage.
• Why Scott tells clients to let go of marketing results for the first 12 months, and what happens at month 13.
• Darren's 10 calls a day rule, worth millions over his career, and the exact opening line he uses.

If you are a business owner who keeps finishing the week exhausted with nothing moved forward, this is the hour that fixes it. Pick three lessons, act on them this week, and see what changes.

Download the Local Business AEO Playbook HERE. A free, step-by-step guide showing you how to position your business to be recommended by AI.

If you found this episode valuable, please share it with another business owner who could benefit. Don't forget to follow Marketing 4 Business on your favourite podcast platform, and if you enjoyed the episode, we'd really appreciate a five-star review. Your support helps us reach more business owners with practical marketing insights.

Connect with us:

Follow the Marketing 4 Business podcast on Instagram HERE.

Follow Digital Influence on Instagram HERE.

Visit Digital Influence's website HERE.

Book a complimentary marketing strategy session HERE.

Connect with Scott Wilson on LinkedIn HERE.

Connect with Darren Pratley on LinkedIn HERE.

Have Fun & Take Action