Today we’d like to introduce you to Jared Lemos.
Jared, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
While pursuing my business degree at the University of New Hampshire, I took a marketing internship at Cabletron Systems, where I first met my now business partner, Michael Packard. Soon after graduation in 2000, my internship eventually became a full-time position as Marketing Webmaster, by which time Mike and I had become close friends and colleagues. We would work together for a number of years before eventually moving on to new positions with different corporations. But we remained friends and both being in corporate marketing roles meant our careers aligned closely.
It was during Salesforce’s 2006 user conference in San Francisco that we came up with the idea to start a creative agency. Mike and I had already begun working together on various creative projects separate from our full-time commitments. We felt our combined expertise and experience would be extremely marketable given our unique backgrounds in both marketing and technology.
When we opened Fishnet in 2006, we had already spent years cultivating strong relationships that we were lucky enough to turn into our first client business, and that helped up drive our initial growth. In the 11 years since inception, we’ve experienced an average annual growth rate of 12%. We’ve moved to three different office spaces in downtown Portsmouth as we took on more employees. We’re hired more than 20 creative professionals and our client list has grown to more than 150.
Through the entire experience, there are many reasons why our business has continued to thrive in Portsmouth, but one key pillar of our business that’s kept our growth strong is a constant willingness to evolve with the technology and trends that will help our clients remain competitive and successful.
Has it been a smooth road?
It certainly hasn’t always been a smooth road, but I don’t think either of us expected it to be. The biggest challenge, however, wasn’t one we saw coming. We were two passionate guys basically owning the relationships, managing the work and often doing the work. But as demand increased, we transitioned to hiring people and experienced the inherent challenge was building a team that was aligned with our views and vision for how we wanted to work, and committed to the same level of product and quality of service. Initially, that shift was difficult.
We were the go-to resource for clients whose trust we’d earned, so it was imperative we maintained the same work ethic and approach. Going from wearing all the hats to wearing less hats meant giving some of it away and learning to delegate, as well as keeping an open mind about approaches to the work that may be different from how I or Mike would have done it.
Another challenge was making the business decision to not focus on a specific industry. We both came from networking and telecommunications so we could have easily gone that route and become a niche agency. But it’s truly become a differentiator for us. We’re able to see what works in one industry and try applying it to another where applicable. It’s also a great way to stay on top of a fast-moving industry.
Digital marketing has evolved so quickly and it’s our willingness to embrace technology across a wide landscape that has allowed us to stay relevant and competitive. Right now, we’re reading about artificial intelligence and what’s next for technology that will change the way we do things because we want to be able to offer these technologies to our clients and transfer their benefit to their business. We want to help our clients spend their time and budgets in the right places and understanding which technologies are best for which industries allows us to deliver the most effective strategies.
So, as you know, we’re impressed with Fishnet Media – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
Fishnet Media is a digital creative agency that specializes in using technology-driven marketing tactics to help grow businesses. We work with both business-to-business and business-to-consumer clients in a multitude of industries. It’s important to us that we’re not a niche agency–we believe effective marketing is about the approach, strategy, and tactics, not the industry.
We specialize in using creative and digital solutions to analyze the digital and competitive landscapes. Identifying opportunities for business growth and enhanced audience experiences. Overall, our goal is to help our clients provide more personalized, relevant and impactful customer experiences by giving them the insight to give their audience what they want.
While Fishnet took home a 2017 MITX Award for the website redesign and has executed on some amazing projects for our clients over the years, what we’re most proud of is establishing a work environment that harnesses everyone’s capabilities and allows our clients to experience the benefit of our collective talents. There are always multiple voices in the room weighing in on projects — and we encourage collaboration at all stages to ensure clients are seeing our best work, not the work of one of two individuals. That kind of offering is very important to me and Mike.
Fishnet exists in a unique area that is heavily populated by creative agencies, but also by a diverse client base and wealth of opportunity. Every agency brings something different to the table, and our core differentiator is our ability to leverage the right technologies to really define that digital and competitive landscape for our clients.
Let’s touch on your thoughts about our city – what do you like the most and least?
As we’re located in Portsmouth, NH, we are uniquely able to experience both the Boston and Seacoast business communities. The Boston, greater Boston and Southern New Hampshire areas are wonderful for businesses, as they’re exposed to such a vibrant culture, history and professional diversity. The sheer number of creative agencies demonstrates that this is a thriving business geographic, and from personal experience, I can say it is a friendly place to start and operate a business. As with any city experiencing explosive growth, Portsmouth presents some challenges. Those that have impacted us as a business are parking and affordable housing for employees.
Contact Info:
- Address: 51 Islington Street, Suite 4
Portsmouth, NH 03801 - Website: fishnetmedia.com
- Phone: 603-373-8792
- Email: sales@fishnetmedia.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/fishnetmedia
- Facebook: facebook.com/fishnetmedia
- Twitter: twitter.com/fishnetmedia
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