“I spent $200 and a bottle of vodka.” How Richard Conway built NZ’s SEO empire.

Boxers & Briefs Podcast #17: Leadership and Imposter Syndrome with Richard Conway

Building a successful business requires more than technical expertise in the cutthroat digital marketing world. It demands vision, persistence, ethical practices, and genuine care for both clients and employees. Few exemplify these qualities better than Richard Conway, founder and CEO of Pure SEO, New Zealand’s most awarded search agency.

No one wanted to employ me

When Richard Conway arrived in New Zealand in 2009, he faced immediate obstacles. Despite his professional background, he struggled to find employment due to his lack of Kiwi experience. Rather than becoming discouraged, Richard spotted a gap in the market. With just $200 initial investment, a website built by a local developer, and a logo designed in exchange for a bottle of Grey Goose vodka, Pure SEO was born.

Digital marketing in New Zealand at that time was relatively undeveloped, with Richard noting that of the few companies offering search engine optimisation services, “at least two out of the sort of three bigger ones, two of them were dodgy-as and you could see they were dodgy-as and they never would have got away with what they did in the UK.” This observation helped shape Richard’s business approach, focusing on transparency and ethical practices – values that would later become central to Pure SEO’s success.

Winning awards as an introvert

Despite describing himself as an introvert who doesn’t naturally seek the spotlight, Richard recognised early on that building a successful business required putting “your head above the parapet.” This led to a deliberate strategy of entering industry awards to gain recognition and credibility.

The approach proved remarkably successful. Pure SEO has received accolades from David Awards, Google, Westpac, Entrepreneurs’ Organisation, AUT, EY, and IAB, earning its reputation as New Zealand’s most awarded search agency. Beyond external validation, these awards served multiple purposes: marketing the business, boosting team morale, and providing opportunities for reflection on business practices.

“It’s good business practice anyway because you’ve got to look at your business, you look at what you’ve done right and wrong,” Richard explains about the award application process. The experience forces entrepreneurs to pause and evaluate their achievements, something busy business owners rarely make time to do.

From speaking anxiety to Penguin author

For Richard, awards were just one facet of a broader visibility strategy. He pushed himself beyond his comfort zone to speak at events (despite initially struggling with anxiety before presentations), sought media coverage, and even authored a book for Penguin Random House in 2014/2015.

These efforts weren’t merely about self-promotion but reflected an understanding of how marketing works: potential clients typically interact with a brand multiple times before making contact. By establishing himself as an industry expert across various platforms and touchpoints, Richard increased Pure SEO’s visibility and credibility.

The results speak for themselves. From a one-man operation, Pure SEO has grown to approximately 80-90 employees across offices in Auckland, Melbourne, and Manila, serving several hundred clients. This remarkable growth trajectory stands as a testament to Richard’s vision and execution.

“We fired our biggest client”

Throughout the interview, Richard emphasises the importance of aligning business practices with personal values. A standout example was his decision to terminate a relationship with their largest client (paying $5,000 monthly during the company’s early days) because of how rudely they treated a staff member.

“Nobody needs to go to work to be treated like that… we’re all just people like we all should be equal,” Richard asserts. This unwavering commitment to treating people with respect has become fundamental to Pure SEO’s operations and culture.

The company culture embodies a ‘familia’ concept Richard learned from another entrepreneur during his visit to Richard Branson’s Necker Island. This family-oriented approach manifests in inclusive company events where children, parents, and partners are all welcome. This practice is particularly meaningful for immigrant employees who may not have extended family networks in New Zealand.

When cancer and betrayal strike

Like all entrepreneurial journeys, Richard’s path wasn’t without difficulties. He recalls a particularly challenging period when his wife was diagnosed with cancer in the same week his most valuable employee handed in their notice to join a competitor. During such times, Richard believes the difference between success and failure lies in perseverance: “When the hard times happen, you do still get out of bed and you do still face the world and you do not give up.”

Richard also acknowledges the emotional toll of business betrayals, particularly for someone who intrinsically trusts people. His strong sense of justice makes unethical behaviour particularly difficult to process, but he’s learned to experience those feelings, then “draw the line and move on.”

The front page test: one of Richard’s three rules for success

When asked about his top priorities, Richard identifies three key principles that have guided his business journey:

1. Delegation and trust: Recognising that growth depends on empowering others, Richard focuses on hiring exceptional people and allowing them to excel in areas where he’s less skilled. He observes that businesses often fail to scale when talented founders become bottlenecks by insisting that everything pass through them.
2. Ethical decision-making: Richard employs a simple test: if an action were reported on the front page of the newspaper, would you be comfortable with it? If yes, proceed; if not, don’t do it. This principle has guided Pure SEO’s operations and empowered employees to make decisions independently based on shared values.
3. Resilience: Understanding that difficulties are inevitable in business and life, Richard emphasises the importance of persisting through challenging periods rather than giving up. While acknowledging the need for occasional mental health days, he maintains that pushing through adversity creates a different, more positive narrative than surrendering to difficulties.

Hiring an American AI expert to stay ahead

As digital marketing continues to evolve, and fast, Richard remains focused on keeping Pure SEO at the forefront of industry developments. The company has hired a US-based expert in AI and search to guide product development and brought on a Chief AI Officer to ensure they lead rather than follow in the industry’s technological evolution.

Despite all his accomplishments, Richard still experiences impostor syndrome – a feeling that many successful entrepreneurs share. Rather than viewing this as purely negative, he sees it as something that “keeps you on your toes and it keeps you questioning things,” driving continuous improvement.

Richard’s wisdom for entrepreneurs

Richard’s journey offers valuable insights for anyone starting or growing a business:

• Staying true to your values pays dividends in the long run, even when short-term profits seem tempting
• Building credibility through awards, media presence, and thought leadership creates multiple touchpoints with potential clients
• Different stages of business growth (around 10, 25, and 50 employees) require different structures and systems
• Leading rather than following competitors’ strategies allows for genuine differentiation
• Creating a family-like culture can be particularly meaningful in diverse workplaces
• Doing what you say you’ll do and maintaining ethical standards builds lasting business relationships

From its humble beginnings with a $200 investment to becoming New Zealand’s leading search agency with international offices, Pure SEO exemplifies how principled entrepreneurship, strategic visibility, genuine care for people, and persistent evolution can lead to remarkable business success.

This article and podcast is proudly brought to you by Gilligan Sheppard, the problem solvers in business who believe in thinking differently.n thinking differently.