What happens when a no-BS founder builds a brand around creativity, momentum, and making content people actually care about? You get Stanley Henry — and The Attention Seeker.
Stanley Henry, founder and CEO of The Attention Seeker, is building more than a social media agency — he’s creating a movement. With a fast-growing team, viral content hits, and a presence that now spans New Zealand, Australia, and the U.S., Stanley is living proof that attention isn’t just an outcome — it’s a business model.
In this conversation, he breaks down how short-form content can scale a brand, why testing beats hoping, and how building cool stuff with your team might just be the best growth strategy of all.
Highlights
From Followers to Funnels: How to Scale with Short-Form Content
Q: What’s your framework for turning short-form content into real, scalable business impact?
A: First, you’ve got to understand your audience — and what your actual goal is at every stage of their journey with you.
Are you trying to build a following? Drive comments and engagement? Get people to share your content? You have to be crystal clear about your goal, because that determines how you approach everything.
Once you’ve got that, you need to make good content. For us, that comes down to three pillars:
- Relevance
- Structure and storytelling
- Human truth
You then match those pillars to the mechanism that achieves your specific goal.
But most importantly — listen to the audience. What they’re saying should inform how you move them forward, what you ask them to do next, and how you shape the next piece of content.
And please — do one thing at a time. Don’t get greedy. Use social content to build the audience. Don’t try to sell in every post. Save that for your newsletter, your ads, or your backend systems.
Why Most Brands Still Don’t Get Attention Right
Q: What do most companies get wrong about capturing attention in today’s algorithm-driven world?
A: They chase a viral moment without actually knowing how to make good content in the first place.
In our agency, we put out a lot of content — but that’s just the starting point. Then we test everything. What’s working? What’s falling flat? We use data, we tweak, we try again.
Sure, our starting point is probably stronger than most because we’ve done this for a while. But we’re still students of the game. It’s not about getting lucky once — it’s about iterating until it works consistently. Most people don’t do enough of that.
Creative Culture with Commercial Intent
Q: You’ve built a culture that’s equal parts creative and commercial. How do you keep your team doing “cool shit” while still delivering ROI?
A: Luckily, I’m not too focused on traditional ROI right now — I’m looking at the business through a growth lens, not a profit lens.
So my return is seeing how fast we’re growing, how much we’re expanding, and whether we’re building something we actually enjoy.
“Cool shit” for us is:
- Making content we love
- Travelling
- Hosting events
- Running a team run club
- Just doing fun, energizing stuff together
And all of that still builds the brand. People see it. They talk about it. It drives awareness and growth — even if it doesn’t always show up on a spreadsheet right away.
Eventually, yeah, we’ll hit a point where the business is big enough and we can take profit more seriously. But right now, I just want to build something people love being part of.
Virality Isn’t a Moment — It’s a Mindset
Q: If attention is the currency, what’s the long game? How do you help brands stay relevant after the virality fades?
A: You just don’t let it fade.
Sure, the intensity can dip — but only if you stop showing up. If you regroup, reflect, and get back to what made you pop in the first place, you can go again.
The truth is, virality only dies if you stop trying. You have to:
- Stay humble
- Stay curious
- Keep listening to your audience
- Keep experimenting
No one knows everything. We’re all still learning. But if you keep asking, “What does my audience want now?” and then give them that — you’ll stay relevant.
Milestones That Matter: From Global Growth to Personal Wins
Q: What are one or two achievements, milestones, or parts of your journey you want us to highlight to reflect your current focus and impact?
A: One of the biggest milestones for me is expanding overseas. We’ve now gone to New York and Australia, which is wild. It’s been a powerful way to show that we can actually do this. Not just as a team from New Zealand, but as a creative agency competing on a global level.
And the second one? Honestly, it’s personal. Claire and I got married — and we had the wedding we always dreamed of. That might sound like it’s not business, but it absolutely was.
We turned it into a full content series, our team backed us 100%, and our audience came along for the whole ride. It was one of those rare moments where work, life, and love all came together. And the truth is, we wouldn’t have been able to do any of it without the business we’ve built.
It was pretty f%&king cool.
Closing Reflection: Building Loud, Living True
For Stanley Henry, growth isn’t just about reach — it’s about resonance. Whether launching in new markets or getting married on camera, his journey shows that when you lead with authenticity, the brand follows naturally.
He’s not interested in polished perfection or corporate polish. He’s interested in real people, real stories, and real connections — the kind that makes someone stop scrolling, lean in, and say, “I want more of that.”
The Attention Seeker isn’t just a company name — it’s a philosophy. Earn the attention. Respect it. And use it to build something worth remembering.
Highlights
Read the Chinese article here.
