About Cory Kleinschmidt

Yep, that's me over there. Here's a brief biography of yours truly that gives you more insight into the creative gentleman you might be working with!

Some people see the world in color and shape. Some people experience the world in sound and vibration. Not me; I see the world as information: letters, words, sentences, paragraphs. I notice how the words relate to each other, and how they form new meaning depending on how you combine them. Every day I read countless of articles in magazines, online and books. I crave information and meaning, and appreciate how it forms the basis for human interaction and helps us make connections in life and make sense of the world.

When I was studying at the University of Missouri in Columbia, I was obsessed with writing. I didn't fear term papers; I relished them. I yearned to make a living crafting them into sentences, phrases, papers and poems. I was enamored with the idea that you could connect with people across the world with only a few simple words, and that your writing can have a real impact on the lives of other people. I even flirted with the idea of pursuing the life of a poet, but even my 10-year-old daughter knows you can't make much money doing that (but, hey, I did win several awards for my verse).

For me, it's certainly a blessing but a bit of curse that my brain is hard-wired to look for words everywhere I go and in everything I do. Sometimes it can border on obsession. But I also notice and appreciate the imagery surrounding them. It's a transcendent feeling to behold how words, when combined with appropriate colors and striking and photographs takes on a new meaning. In this way, this "content" is a reflection of who we are, and it reveals things about us. Content is the lifeblood of the internet, too. And I am fascinated by the ultimate intersection of content and technology: the internet.

After graduating in 1995, I landed my first job, as a copy editor at the Columbia Daily Tribune. For two years I served as copy editor and served alternate stints as assistant entertainment editor and assistant business editor. I was also the web columnist for almost a year, and in the course of writing my weekly column, I came to realize that I was obsessed with the internet. This was a big admission for someone who considered Henry David Thoreau to be his personal hero! This was in 1997, when the internet was just beginning to break across the beaches of the business and entertainment world. That interest in web technology gave me the opportunity to be the backup webmaster at the newspaper and opened the door to a career shift to web development.

In 1998, with my wife and a 2-year-old in tow, I left the newspaper to take on more gainful employment as a web-based training specialist at a Fortune 500 company in St. Louis. There I honed my web design skills and broadened my knowledge of web programming languages. Upon the completion of my contract, I took a position at a consulting firm and further developed my repertoire. Along the way I realized that I loved to have my hand in all aspects of the web development process, from architecture to design to programming to marketing.

That interest led me to become the director of internet services for a healthcare technology investment firm with offices in Atlanta and St. Louis. As I like to say, I did my time in the corporate world and gained a wealth of management experience and project management skills. But after five years of living in the belly of the beast, I yearned to get back to hands-on consulting work for small- to medium-sized businesses.

I've been working freelance gigs since 1998 under the nom de guerre of Siteopedia, a semi-clever pun on the word "encylclopedia." Over the years, my desire has grown to run my own company and have control over the types of projects and clients I took on, which is basically the dream of just about every creative person in the world.

In 2005, with three little kids and a mortage to go with them, I finally got my wish. I decided to leave the safety net of my cushy corporate job (and all the drama that came with it) to launch Siteopedia as a full-time business. I absolutely love my new career, and in less than two years I have achieved one of my life's ambitions, thanks to the many great clients who've selected me as their web guy of choice.

I hope that gives you a sense of who I am, and who you would be working with. Now here are some words about me from the people I've been honored to work with:

Testimonials from Some Past and Current Clients

• "Cory does great work in a timely manner that truly generates traffic."
  -- Ronn Wiegand / publisher, Restaurant Wine
   
• "Cory, the website and e-mail template look great. I love it and feel very proud of it!"
  -- Richard Kramer / owner, Heart of Country Antiques Show
   
• "Great work. We both feel you have done a great job. Thanks so much for representing something that is a passion for us."
  -- Larry Pampel / owner, Whyte Horse Winery
   
• "Cory, your ability to wear many different hats and to wear them well is a godsend for us and our clients. Thanks for everything you do!"
  -- Andrew Goodman, owner, Page Zero Media
   
• "Thanks for all the great work you are doing on our website."
  -- David Lowy, president, Maple Leaf HIFU Co.