Senior Partner Manager at Hootsuite | Enterprise Alliances with MarTech SaaS | Head of Sales & Marketing at MyRisk | Board Director | Author of "Connect & Act - Systematic Social Selling"

I spend my days working with boutique marketing agencies across Australia, New Zealand and Asia Pacific helping them build businesses that feel lighter, clearer and more scalable.

Agencies don’t struggle because of a lack of talent; they struggle because they’re carrying too much alone. That’s where I fit.

ActiveCampaign gives them the tooling. I help them build the engine, the rhythm and the confidence to grow.

After moving to Australia nearly a decade ago, I found myself drawn to the agency world — the conversations, the creativity, the honesty, the challenge of wearing ten hats at once.

One thread that runs through everything I do is the belief that business moves at the speed of human connection. It’s why I’ve created my #42coffees series: slowing down enough to hear people’s stories, understand their direction and find the right doors to open for them.

The same energy shows up in the in-person events I run across Asia Pacific. When people meet in real rooms, things shift: ideas get clearer, partnerships form faster and growth feels more human.

Since then I’ve supported partners at ActiveCampaign and beforehand at Hootsuite, GoTo, Noggin, KeepItSafe and across the broader MSP and MarTech landscape. The work is always a mix of:
→ partnerships (finding the right doors)
→ automation & lifecycle systems (removing friction)
→ Social Selling (building visibility without becoming someone you’re not)
→ productised services (so the business stops feeling heavy)

What I enjoy most is watching agency founders realise they don’t need to grow through burnout — they can grow through structure.

Moving to Australia was not a straight line. A layoff opened a moment of pause which became an inflection point. I studied leadership using the time to understand the emerging SaaS ecosystem. That allowed me to transfer my experience into a new market, build a partnership-focused identity from the ground up, and develop the human-connection mindset that defines how I work today.

I’m also a long-time writer with 28 books from travel guides to Social Selling and personal development. Writing helps me make sense of things and help others do the same.

Outside work, I serve as a Board Director of Sydney’s historic Castlereagh Boutique Hotel. It’s a role rooted in community, heritage and looking after something that matters — values I try to bring into my work with agencies as well.

If you’re a boutique marketing agency founder trying to shape the next stage of your business, I’d love to hear your story. Every agency journey starts differently and no one builds it alone.

Gunnar Habitz

Collaboration rarely starts with a contract but with showing up, sharing the space, and building something together, one small step at a time.

Collaborating is one of the best #habits to develop - and the core of true #partnership.

Successful collaboration rarely starts with a big announcement or a formal partnership.
Most of the meaningful collaborations in my corporate work and my writing business didn’t begin with strategy decks or contracts.

Instead they started with curiosity, generosity, and a simple willingness to build something together before knowing exactly where it would lead.

Over time, I noticed something important: People who collaborate well don’t wait for the perfect opportunity, they practice collaboration as a habit in small and repeatable ways.

Here are some of my recent examples:

1. LinkedIn Power Lab: Since I added a co-facilitator into my webinar series with Natalie Tran (she is on the photo above) it opened broader opportunities for my network.

2. Company Events: Why should I talk during the whole event when I can introduce a fireside chat with a fellow expert as in my next event with Deanna Notice in Brisbane.

3. #42coffees: My networking series is running in its third season to showcase interesting people and their passions with my network on LinkedIn nearly every Friday.

Find more stories alongside mini-insights and actions in my latest 4-2-1 Habit blog here: https://lnkd.in/gU3hxJsh

What's your secret in winning collaborators for doing something together?

Helping boutique marketing agencies scale through human connection, automation & AI-powered workflows | Agency Ecosystem Lead @ ActiveCampaign (APAC) | Ghostwriting educational email courses for authority & conversion

🇦🇺 Agency Leaders: Join us in Brisbane for our Partner Event on Tuesday 10 February.

The marketing agency landscape is evolving fast. Are you keeping pace?

From Denver to London to Brisbane: the #EvolvingAgency Series consists of collaborative workshops designed for agency leaders who want practical strategies for scaling, retaining clients, and leveraging #AI without burning out.

What you'll gain by attending:
→ Learn how to productise your services for scalable, recurring revenue
→ Discover AI workflows to implement immediately (not just as theory)
→ Explore the agency partnership opportunities with ActiveCampaign
→ Connect with peers tackling quitesimilar growth challenges you face
→ Listen to the practitioner view in my fireside chat with Deanna Notice

Honoured to run this event in the HQ of the Institute of Managers and Leaders Australia and New Zealand which was my first professional organisation in Australia to be part of (nearly 10 years!).

The Details:
📍 Level 29/10 Eagle Street, Brisbane QLD 4000
🕙 10:00am – 3:00pm incl. lunch
💰 Free (limited to 2 attendees per agency)

🚀 Secure your spot: https://lnkd.in/gBWBMqRh

See you in Brisbane ☀️

#MarketingAutomation #AIAgents #MarTech #Marketing

Can you post the same content across multiple platforms? And can you simply repurpose the same by using email marketing?

You might think the simple answer is "no". But there is a better way.

Yes, you can be active on more than one platform if you position them well.

Like Facebook and Instagram have similarities so you know what to post one the one and how to tweak on the other side.

You can also position yourself on Substack from a personal side while keeping LinkedIn your professional self as the only serious reference checkpoint.

Preparing my webinar with public speaking expert Veronica Llorca-Smith🎤 next Monday about the LinkedIn Substack flywheel, here are my tips in this 373rd episode of #socialsellingmonday.

1. Position yourself with clarity on LinkedIn and on Substack, ideally in a different while congruent way attracting different audiences.

2. Define which types of content works best on which platform, sometimes it can be a different take of the same topic.

3. Engage with your audience in direct messaging on both platforms instead of just subscribing them to the other side.

4. Learn #emailmarketing on the Substack side by building your email list - your business or corporate role will thank you.

Want to learn more? Veronica and I are running a webinar "From LinkedIn Content to Substack Flywheel".
📅 Monday, 19 January 2026
🕖 7:00 PM Sydney/Melbourne time
🕖 4:00 PM Hong Kong/Singapore time

Please register here: https://lnkd.in/g8yej9QS

See you there!

Next week I’m restarting my #42coffees ☕️ - the series that connected people.

Before I do that, I looked back at what the previous 88 conversations have actually taught me (and my network).

Here are my top 8 learnings with patterns that keep repeating, no matter the industry:

1️⃣ Relationships compound: One coffee today becomes an open door two years from now.

2️⃣ Offline–Online–Offline works: Meet once, stay in touch online, meet again with trust already built.

3️⃣ Great connectors listen first: The superpower isn’t talking, rather remembering, noticing, and connecting dots.

4️⃣ Content should sound human: AI can help, but heart and story are still the differentiator.

5️⃣ Data without intent is noise: If you don’t know why you collect it, you can’t improve anything with it.

6️⃣ Change is the real job now: Whether it’s cybersecurity, hybrid work, or growth—strategy means choices + change.

7️⃣ Clarity beats hustle: The best operators turn chaos into simple systems people can actually run.

8️⃣ Trust is the real growth engine: Partnerships, referrals, community are all about that with different words but the same truth.

I’m bringing the series back because these learnings matter more than ever in a noisy world.

If you’ve ever met someone over coffee and thought “this conversation might change something”… you know exactly what I mean.

What’s the best thing a coffee conversation has taught you?

Do you also observe that many professionals post consistently on LinkedIn, yet everything disappears in the feed within hours?

At the same time, many of them heard that Substack could be the right place to build a real audience… but they struggle to connect the two together.

Are you on both platforms as well but never connected the dots?

This is where my new webinar episode comes in - delivered together with Veronica Llorca-Smith🎤, one of my favourite authors and public speaking experts.

📅 Monday, 19 January 2026
🕖 7:00 PM Sydney/Melbourne time
🕖 4:00 PM Hong Kong/Singapore time

This is what we will cover in this episode:
1️⃣ LinkedIn: How to write content to spark curiosity
2️⃣ Substack: How to turn curiosity into a community
3️⃣ The Flywheel: How to leverage both to your advantage

Please register here to receive the Zoom link and the recording afterwards.

See you on Monday 19th!

Veronica & Gunnar

View event: From LinkedIn Content to Substack Flywheel

From LinkedIn Content to Substack Flywheel

What can #marketing agency leaders expect from our #EvolvingAgency Series event in Brisbane on 10 February?

Yesterday I announced my upcoming ActiveCampaign event calling for marketers from Byron Bay and Gold Coast up to the Sunshine Coast.

Already hosted in multiple cities on the globe, I will cover what matters to our existing and protective partners for wining clients in the age of AI such as:
- Scaling and sustaining agencies
- Productising tools & services
- AI for agencies

One of the highlights will be my fireside chat with our regional specialist Deanna Notice.

We will take our initial discussion from Sydney to the next level for 2026. Deanna works closely with clients and fellow partners to ensure everyone can make the best out of the technology we all use.

Now to forget: the best software won't help achieve anything when it is not implemented properly. She and her team optimise #marketingautomation success at every step to ensure clients improve their business.

The Details:
📍 Level 29/10 Eagle Street, Brisbane QLD 4000
🕙 10:00am – 3:00pm incl. lunch
💰 Free (limited to 2 attendees per agency)

🚀 Secure your spot: https://lnkd.in/gBWBMqRh

See you in Brisbane ☀️

Starting the year with a bit of fun...

Most people connect AI with unlocking creativity or efficiency.

But there is more to it - at least when it comes to Active Intelligence.

What ActiveCampaign built over last year is a stunning example that AI can be a true, proactive companion - a really good mate!

I use it regularly for activities as described in the bingo card below, such as:
- setup a 5-day welcome sequence
- figure out how I can connect a certain app
- find out if my 56% open rate is actually good or not

Gone are the days where I would go to Unsplash for selecting a base image, then to ChatGPT for crafting some copy and finally to Canva for merging that together.

It's all there - within one platform.

That's why I love working with marketing agencies - doing by myself helps to understand their challenges.

How do you use #AI in #marketing?

KU Legal

Owner 

Lawyer | Registered Migration Agent #1281617 (Kite Union Migration)

ASG Immigration

Senior Consultant

Senior Advisor / Practice Manager

Bravo Migration

Registered Migration Agent, Solicitor, Client Division Manager

Ernst & Young

Migration Consultant

Strategic Migration

Immigration Lawyer

JCI Australia

National Marketing Director

Member

Foys Solicitors

Commercial Property Solicitor

JCI Doncaster

President - JCI Doncaster

Trowers & Hamlins

Trainee Solicitor / Assistant Solicitor

I am a dual qualified (UK and New South Wales, Australia) solicitor with 14 years of experience in Australian Immigration Law and 8 years post qualification experience in UK Commerical Property Law. 

I set up and run my law firm KU Legal (Est.2022), specialising in corporate and skilled migration in Sydney, Australia. Prior to that, my migration agency - Kite Union Migration - ran from 2017 to 2022. 

I am passionate about JCI (Junior Chamber International) and have been involved with JCI in both Australia and the UK. JCI has given me so much confidence in myself and so many opportunities - to organise nation-wide events, to improve my debating and public speaking skills, to people-manage, to run a growing organisation in a democratic manner  - dealing with the finances, admin, marketing, etc etc. I highly recommend the organisation. I would not be where I am without my connections in JCI. 

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Gunnar Habitz

Joanne Baldwin

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The Battle

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Joanne Baldwin

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Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Gunnar Habitz's LinkedIn Performance

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