Today we are joined by Harrison Schaen, the director of e-commerce for Targus. Harrison talks to us about his high school basketball days and how that experience propelled him into a successful businessman. He talks about how Targus does business, its products, and its marketing strategy. Tune in today to learn more about SEO and how implementing keywords into your website and marketing can move the needle in your business. 

IN THIS EPISODE:

• [7:57] Harrison gives a summary of his background and experience. 
• [9:33] What does Harrison do at Targus? 
• [11:46] What are the main products that Targus sells?
• [14:35] Are all Targus products sold over the internet?
• [15:32] How does Targus market its products?
• [16:35] Harrison’s experience at Princeton. 
• [19:34] How did Harrison’s basketball days help with working in the business?
• [20:27] What was the biggest challenge Harrison had in business?
• [22:08] What is the best thing you can do for SEO? What should your website have? 
• [23:58] Can you SEO your company using a free platform like Wix, Weebly, or Squarespace? 
• [25:06] Does SEO go with the domain or the platform? 
• [27:24] How does Harrison deal with health issues and his business success?
• [33:31] How much money do you need for a PPC campaign?

KEY TAKEAWAYS:

• Speed wins! Ensure your website is optimized before you focus on SEO so that you know the speed is fast enough for a high volume of audiences. 
• Take 30% of whatever your revenue is and invest that in marketing.
• As a new business, start with a free website. Use SEO and keyword phrases to gain traction on your website, then convert over to your own platform.  

BIO:

As a varsity and professional basketball standout, entertainment and computer science entrepreneur, and graduate of Princeton University, the last decade has been a series of strategic steps on a path towards growing the community through art, entertainment, and science.

Since moving to San Diego, I have acted as Communications Co-Lead for Startup San Diego and Executive Director of San Diego Startup Week, Speaker at San Diego Startup Week, Guest speaker at the Collaboratory for Downtown (San Diego) Innovation program, Mentor at Startup Weekend and the ConnectAll program, and Professor of Web Development at UCSD and LEARN Academy, and Professor of User Experience and User Interface design at IgniteMe, and Board Member of the Central San Diego Black Chamber of Commerce.

My passion has been finding patterns in technology, teams, and testing theories until they can be proven over and over again with minimal optimization. As the creator of the LADDER development methodology, co-creator of a system for rapid prototyping known as JETFEUL, and co-creator of the workshop for communicating complex ideas inter-departmentally (the MARS Model), I have helped grow hundreds of businesses, including Issue Fixers, a company which grew to over 60 employees in over 14 countries in the last 6 years.

In my professional career, I have been a Salesperson, Designer, Product Manager, Account Manager, Marketing Manager, Web Developer, Sr. Developer, Technical Director, Director of Engineering, Professor, Founder, and CTO. I have been a resident of San Diego since 2011, working for companies such as NTN Buzztime, Mirum, Bask Digital, Smashtech, GoMeta, UCSD, and LEARN Academy.

LINKS MENTIONED:

Targus.com

Email: hschaen@targus.com

LomaLindaLivingDonor.org – Kidney Donor Site to see if you are a match for Harrison Schaen

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