How Newsworthy Are You?

Find out if you have what it takes to get international media coverage.

Harry Sanders, Director, StudioHawk

How did you get your start?
I got my start while doing SEO for my fathers business when I was 13, before getting a part-time job in SEO at 14, while working agency I realised that I couldn’t do SEO the way I wanted to, and at 17 started my own company called StudioHawk in an effort to change how SEO is done and perceived.

What motivates you?
What motivates me is the opportunity that we give to both our staff and our clients. There is nothing better in this world than making a life-changing difference to the staff that work for you, many of which don’t come from the agency and didn’t think that they would ever have a chance. Some of those same people are now the most highly sought out SEO specialists in Australia. Getting calls from clients in tears about how we have helped their business also means the world to us, and is why we still do SME’s and not just massive enterprises.

What is one piece of advice you would give to those thinking of starting their own business?
Don’t start a company for money! It might sound counter-intuitive but when I see people starting companies centred around mass profit they struggle, as unlike in games like Mario where following the coins gives you direction, in real life, it will drop you down a hole.

What are you doing to change the world for the better?
Our mission statement ‘Sieze Opportunity’ is about helping people realise the immense amount of opportunity that is already out there. We help people see that and work towards it, while we will never have an impact on billions, having a strong impact on just thousands will be enough for me :-).

Did you experience failures? If so, what did you learn from them?
All the time! What a liar is an entrepreneur who says he has never failed. I fail daily, weekly, monthly, it’s about rolling with it and learning from there. Some of the biggest failures have been born out of arrogance or ignorance, so I try my best to avoid those pitfalls by surrounding myself with people who won’t just say yes to me.

What were some mistakes you wish you could’ve avoided?
I wish I could have avoided mistakes about organisational structure, which impeded our growth and stressed individuals out. Having said that we learned from those mistakes in the early days to ensure that we are always 10-15 people ahead in our organisation charts and have the next one ready to roll out already tested. The biggest lesson there was to always think about scale.

How can people connect with you? (Website, social media handles, etc)
Connect with me on our website https://studiohawk.com.au

Instagram at @harrysanderseo, or my Facebook at facebook.com/harrysandersseo

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