Larry fishing!
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About Sawfish OnlineGrowing up in a small town surrounded by cornfields west of Chicago, the rare times we made it into the city I immediately recognized there was a different energy. The landscape was different, the pace was different, the smells were different and the attitudes were different. The one thing I equated to all of that was the billboards. Whether it was along the expressway or in the terminal corridors at one of the airports or on top of the buildings across the street of Wrigley field, the messages, the colors, the designs and the people on the billboards meant the big city, adventure and excitement.
That creative energy escaped me only once – when at the age of 17, I entered the collegiate world of electrical engineering. I had no idea what I was thinking, but distinguishing the colors on the tiny little bands on the tiny little resistors was near impossible, and many things in the lab start to smoke or start fire. Before I flunked out, I bowed out disgracefully and headed home. |
"We're not only about content and online business. We're just as much about customer service and building good relationships." |
Licking my wounds and an Animal House-like GPA, I chose the only thing I could think of that was pure black and white with only touches of gray here and there – journalism. Sure, I never wrote anything before in my life except for compelling eight-word sentences in English class in high school, but I was bound and determined to make my way (look out world!) through junior college.
And indeed I did. I found I had this voice that was pounding on the walls to get out and a style that was unique enough it grabbed attention to readers but normal enough it didn’t freak anyone out. Before I graduated, I got my first job at a real newspaper writing sports. When I graduated in two years, that small town newspaper gave me more responsibility and paid more, too. It was great. When they needed to write a radio ad, I volunteered to write it. When they needed some PR piece done for a local magazine, I wrote it. They needed a catch phrase for the cards in the old newspaper bins on the curbs, I came up with it.
All of these things were way more fun than being an editor and reporter. It fulfilled the creative energy I needed and craved. There was such a rush to it.
That rush pushed me into mid-market newspapers where I got into more of an editorial and columnist role where my creative writing really took off along with my story telling. It was no longer about “he said, she said” but more about engaging and drawing readers in, building them up and either letting them down slowly or dropping them like a rock. I never knew which I was going to do until I wrote it, either, which was a blast.
When the glow of that dimmed, and the digital world started to put the livelihoods of journalists in question, it was easy to see where my career path was headed. I finally decided to just do the ad and marketing thing on its own an ended up doing ad, marketing and online content and content marketing for some of the largest e-commerce and multi-channel corporations in the United States. I’ve worked with and for some of the most brilliant minds you could imagine, and I’ve learned an incredible amount. I also learned there’s only one way to be truly creative and truly happy, and that is to truly own.
I created Sawfish Online to bring that child-like energy to any business that may need it, to tell the story and broadcast it to the world and let the people read it and live it. I created Sawfish Online to deliver a professional, personal experience to our customers where you’re just as important to us as every customer is important to you. I don’t care if you sell $1 bottles of hot sauce, that’s important to you, so that’s important to us and we will market the living daylights out of it online – and the same goes for mustard!
Anyone can write. Anyone can be fancy and creative. Not everyone can write, be creative, engaging, customer-centric, mindful, energetic, more engaging, spicy and patient like Sawfish Online. That’s what makes us different and better.
And indeed I did. I found I had this voice that was pounding on the walls to get out and a style that was unique enough it grabbed attention to readers but normal enough it didn’t freak anyone out. Before I graduated, I got my first job at a real newspaper writing sports. When I graduated in two years, that small town newspaper gave me more responsibility and paid more, too. It was great. When they needed to write a radio ad, I volunteered to write it. When they needed some PR piece done for a local magazine, I wrote it. They needed a catch phrase for the cards in the old newspaper bins on the curbs, I came up with it.
All of these things were way more fun than being an editor and reporter. It fulfilled the creative energy I needed and craved. There was such a rush to it.
That rush pushed me into mid-market newspapers where I got into more of an editorial and columnist role where my creative writing really took off along with my story telling. It was no longer about “he said, she said” but more about engaging and drawing readers in, building them up and either letting them down slowly or dropping them like a rock. I never knew which I was going to do until I wrote it, either, which was a blast.
When the glow of that dimmed, and the digital world started to put the livelihoods of journalists in question, it was easy to see where my career path was headed. I finally decided to just do the ad and marketing thing on its own an ended up doing ad, marketing and online content and content marketing for some of the largest e-commerce and multi-channel corporations in the United States. I’ve worked with and for some of the most brilliant minds you could imagine, and I’ve learned an incredible amount. I also learned there’s only one way to be truly creative and truly happy, and that is to truly own.
I created Sawfish Online to bring that child-like energy to any business that may need it, to tell the story and broadcast it to the world and let the people read it and live it. I created Sawfish Online to deliver a professional, personal experience to our customers where you’re just as important to us as every customer is important to you. I don’t care if you sell $1 bottles of hot sauce, that’s important to you, so that’s important to us and we will market the living daylights out of it online – and the same goes for mustard!
Anyone can write. Anyone can be fancy and creative. Not everyone can write, be creative, engaging, customer-centric, mindful, energetic, more engaging, spicy and patient like Sawfish Online. That’s what makes us different and better.
