Today we’d like to introduce you to Abby Misegades.
Abby, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I was born and raised in Dallas, majored in Marketing and worked for two major retailers (Fossil and Neiman Marcus) here in the Metroplex fresh out of college. After I got married, my husband and I left Corporate America behind and moved to France to work with his family business, a hotel in Central France. While I was abroad, I started to become serious about social media and blogging since it was my primary way to stay in the loop with everyone back in the States. After our daughter was born, we moved back to Texas and I wrote for Dallas Moms Blog for two years. It was during that season I realized I could monetize my skill set.
In 2018, I decided to start my own freelance marketing business and Dear Abby Marketing Co. was born! Being married to a small business owner, I had a front-row seat to the small overhead that small to medium-sized businesses are working with. Many cannot afford (or justify) a full-time marketing person. Right out of the gate, I decided to target these smaller businesses as a way to offload all of their social media, blogging, and email needs without them having to pay someone a full-time salary with benefits. With this approach, we both win! I get to work from home around my kid’s schedules and my clients don’t have to pay me a full-time salary with benefits. I have continued to grow steadily over the past year and really do love the challenge of creating fresh and engaging content for each one of my clients while at the same time, never missing a school Field Trip or an opportunity to be the “Mystery Reader” at my daughter’s school.
Has it been a smooth road?
Honestly, so far it has been pretty smooth. I learned pretty early on that desperation can make you take on clients that might not be the right fit. Since then, I have become pickier about finding the RIGHT clients, not just any paying client.
I have also learned that I need to stick to my scope of work as a freelancer and make sure I have good boundaries in place so I don’t end up taking on more work than I am getting paid for. As a people-pleaser, it is hard to push back, but it is important to stick up for myself because nobody else is going to have my back the way that I do!
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Dear Abby Marketing Co. story. Tell us more about the business.
I am a freelance marketing company that predominantly focuses on content creation & social media strategy and execution. I love helping small to medium-sized businesses take their business to the next level through branding, creating quality, strategic content, and thinking of various creative ways to engage their niche audience. I offer everything from one-time “Dear Abby Mini Session” which is a 2-hour marketing brainstorm and consulting session to monthly retainer services where I create and execute monthly emails, blog posts, and social media posts for clients.
Something I have been working on for the past 6 months that I recently launched is an Enneagram + Business workshop. A good friend of mine and I created this to help teams explore how the Enneagram can actually shift the culture of their organization and boost team morale. This is super rewarding as we are helping not only improve company culture but also creating self-awareness and compassion in individuals.
As far as what sets me apart, I would say it is me! I have 13+ years in marketing experience in all different industries: beauty, high-end retail, nonprofit, real estate, and hospitality, to name a few. I have a great eye for design, I love to dream about out-of-the-box ideas (the more challenging, the better!) and I adore writing. I feel very lucky that I have been able to do what I love from home. My kids are little (6, 4, & 1) and we only get the little years once so I love that this job allows me to be a present Mom and also keep building my portfolio and career.
How do you think the industry will change over the next decade?
I think this industry is going to explode! In fact, since I started I have seen more and more content agencies pop up in the Metroplex. There is definitely a niche here. I also think more companies are waking up to the fact that they don’t only need pretty pictures to market their business, but they also need to cleverly engage with their audiences through storytelling and engaging and relevant content. As far as room for growth, I tell all of my clients that content might be “King” but VIDEO is the future. I have been challenging all of them to find ways to communicate with their audiences through videos and not just pretty pictures.
Pricing:
- I offer an affordable, one-time “Dear Abby Mini Session” which includes a brainstorm, brand board, and content strategy for $250. If you are local, I would love to meet in in person!
- I have monthly retainer packages that include everything from social media to emails and blog posts starting at $1,000/ month. Much more affordable than a full-time Marketing employee!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://dearabbymarketingco.com/
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: @dearabbymarketingco
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dearabbymarketingco/
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