Maverick Digital

Case studyUpdated as it happens

Building Maverick Digital from scratch

What one person achieved less than a week after leaving his old job to start something new. His knowledge worked on the business while AI worked in it, so he could keep moving forward.

After 28 years in adventure travel, Brad started Maverick Digital with under $3,000 and no team. This is the honest record, kept up to date as it happens.

At a glance

Started
13 Oct 2026
Website live
Day 2
Site updates, first 2 days
75
Initial investment
Under $3,000
Team
One person, plus AI

It's not just AI. It's the 10/80/10 rule in action.

Call it 80/20: AI does 80% of the work, Brad does the 20% that matters.

  1. 10%: Brad asks. A clear problem and the right context. Rubbish in, rubbish out.
  2. 80%: AI does the grunt work. Drafts, code, research, video, the first pass at everything.
  3. 10%: Brad checks. He reads it, tweaks it, and nothing goes live until it's right. Then repeat.

The speed comes from the loop, not the tool.

It works in the business. Brad works on it.

AI obviously helps with speed. The bigger win is where Brad's time goes: Team Smarketing works in the business, so he can work on it.

Everything is logged. Every decision is saved into an instruction file, so Brad never has to tell anyone on Team Smarketing the same thing twice.

A smooth, efficient team that never forgets. The team every business owner is chasing.

Why move this fast?

Search engines and AI tools take time to find a new website and trust it. So Brad moved fast: got the site live, structured and submitted in days, then let the internet do its thing.

The plan: take a few weeks off, then come back to content already showing where it needs to be.

Running it like a real business

Fast doesn't mean loose. The governance Brad would ask of a client, he applies to himself.

  • In progress KPIs (key performance indicators) set before the work starts, measured from an independent source
  • In progress A risk assessment before anything goes live
  • In progress A business plan and a marketing plan
  • In progress A budget, with every spend tracked
  • In progress Insurance, registrations and compliance

Timeline

What got done, day by day, newest first. Not a how-to: the level of detail is the point.

Day 3 15 Oct

  • Verified the site with the two big search engines and submitted the sitemaps. The blog was indexed the same day.
  • Made three 15-second launch videos, then put them on the site, each one linking to a game that captures data.
  • Rebuilt a tool that wasn't good enough into Jargon Johal, with 100 terms. Rebuilt, not patched.
  • Found a new local competitor in the morning. Positioning and SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats) updated by lunch.
  • Posted on the business's map listing, to start sending local signals.
  • Launched a monthly Green AI report, and this case study.
  • Audited the whole site against every decision made so far, and fixed what had drifted.

Day 2 14 Oct

  • ABN (Australian Business Number) active and business name lodged.
  • Rebuilt the site properly: every change saved, versioned and live within a minute.
  • Linked an automation tool to every form, so each enquiry starts a conversation, not a pile.
  • Structured every page for SEO (search engine optimisation) and for AI tools (LLMs (large language models)): labels search engines can read, a plain-English summary written for AI, and answers to the questions customers actually ask.
  • Published the first Nerd posts, and the Knowledge Drift Test, with every result logged.

Day 1 13 Oct

  • Bought the domain, and had a live site within 30 minutes, made straight from his chosen AI tool. Not a good site. A live one.
  • Wrote the mission, values and voice, one question at a time, into a brand file every later job reads first.
  • Named the first members of Team Smarketing.

Noticed along the way

Habits worth stealing, logged as they happen. Newest first.

  • 15 Oct One source of truth. When a decision changes, like dropping a discount, the whole site is checked against it the same day. Nothing contradicts anything else.
  • 15 Oct Test it, then trust it. A tool looked finished but gave nonsense answers. It was rebuilt properly, not patched, and checked in a browser before going live.
  • 15 Oct Every button feeds the machine. The videos link to the Drift Test with a tag on each link, so Brad knows which message brings people in.
  • 15 Oct Competitors are information, not a threat. A rival turned up in the morning. By lunch there was a plan: answer a different question, and never name them in public.

So, how does he look?

You're looking at it. Brad built all of this in a few days, for under $3,000, while watching TV in his pyjamas. You wouldn't know it. The proof is in the pudding.

If this site helps you more than his competitors' do, imagine how much more he can help your business.

Take the Drift Test Book a chat

Last updated 15 October 2026.