In 2019, Stanley Henry returned to New Zealand without much of a plan after following his career in hotel management around the globe. While his next professional chapter was left undefined, he knew it would start by building his personal brand on LinkedIn.

What started as a tactic to uncover a business niche, however, soon became the niche itself.

One of the world’s first agencies specialising in building personal brands, The Attention Seeker has quickly become an international go-to for full-service social media management. While the agency focuses on LinkedIn for business leaders, they service a wide range of clients across all forms of media platforms.

At the start of the pandemic, Stanley was working solo out of his mate’s spare bedroom, cold messaging on LinkedIn, and boosting his own professional content.

Now, in mid-2022, The Attention Seeker is bolstered with 12 staff members, a brand new studio space, and a calendar set with 500 pieces of content to publish every month.

"We never stop engaging.”

As a business built on sharing content and active digital networking, it’s no surprise that a huge focus for Stanley is media engagement.

“Our business is building brands and becoming well-known for what you do. The stronger brand you become, the more business you generate, which in turn strengthens your brand,” says Stanley."

Now more than ever, The Attention Seeker is engaging at every corner of the digital world – building a presence everywhere from LinkedIn to TikTok. As the variety of clients and brands continues to grow, so does the need for exploration into varying platforms, markets, and countries.

Our philosophy is really that what we sell is also what’s working for us.”

Responding to rapid growth with EO support

After finishing the Accelerator programme recently, Stanley is now one of the newest members to join the EO network.

Through the last two years of business, there have been learning curves at every stage of growth – and Accelerator has been a helpful tool in managing those dramatic changes.

On his first day of Accelerator, right after having just doubled The Attention Seeker’s staff, Stanley took home ideas for restructuring internal communications for the company. Adding daily briefings, weekly meetings, and setting out avenues to discuss challenges has been transformative for the growing team.

“Before, because we were moving so quickly, our meetings were wishy-washy, and to be honest, they were usually unproductive. What I came out with after that first day of Accelerator was a really helpful groundwork for creating structure where we needed it.”

The meeting framework has helped with task delegation, defining action points, and measuring progress in a more effective way.

The network developed through Accelerator’s monthly meetings also provided a good space to talk through the process of hiring a senior role. While Stanley has experience managing large staff of 200, other areas of the business are less familiar. “With that person now hired, it was hugely helpful to have a present, knowledgeable team to discuss points of growth that were new for us.”

Ambition at the forefront of business

Ironically, Stanley admits, he’s not much of an attention seeker in real life. The name, chosen through a vote, has become somewhat of a self-prophecy.

The horizon for The Attention Seeker shows growth into international markets, especially the US.

“We provide organic content at scale for individuals, and that niche is not easy to find,” says Stanley. With clients in the UK, Dubai, and the US already, The Attention Seeker has already started networking their way around the globe with no signs of slowing down.