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August Blankenship
Brand Builder - Photographer
Professional Background
August Blankenship is an accomplished photographer, brand builder, and entrepreneur with a diverse array of professional experiences that he has amassed over the years. At just 20 years old, August has already made significant strides in the creative industry by founding his own branding agency, Sisu Group, which operates across several urban centers, including Chicago, Nashville, and South Bend. His passion for photography ignited at the tender age of 14 and has since evolved into a thriving career, efficiently blending his artistic talents with strategic business acumen to help brands and artists craft their narratives.
Through Sisu Group, August has been at the forefront of transforming small businesses and artistic ventures into cohesive and flourishing brands. His philosophy centers on the belief that every project requires a unique approach tailored to its specific needs, ensuring that it not only captures attention but also resonates emotionally with its audience. By combining strategic insights with creative thinking, August empowers his clients to stand out in a competitive marketplace and make meaningful impacts within their communities.
Prior to establishing Sisu Group, August gained invaluable experience in various roles that solidified his expertise in branding and marketing. He began his career as a Sales Manager at rue21, where he honed his ability to connect with customers and understand market dynamics. His transition to the creative sector saw him take on significant roles such as Social Media Director and Digital Marketing Specialist at Blackwood Creative, where he promoted brands through innovative social media strategies and digital content. His work at High Top Group as Co-Founder enabled him to explore his entrepreneurial spirit further, allowing for collaborative projects that aligned with his vision for creative branding.
Education and Achievements
August’s academic background is impressive and has played a critical role in shaping his understanding of human behavior and brand identity. He pursued a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology at Indiana University South Bend, where he developed a nuanced understanding of consumer psychology and the intricacies of decision-making processes. This educational foundation grants him insights that are invaluable when it comes to crafting compelling branding strategies that truly connect with people.
In addition to his degree in Psychology, August participated in the Reach Program at Bethel University. This program focused on personal growth and professional development, providing him with essential skills that would aid him throughout his career. Through this educational journey, August has equipped himself with a toolkit that combines psychological principles with business strategy—a perfect blend for anyone looking to excel in the field of branding.
Achievements
Over the years, August Blankenship has amassed numerous achievements reflecting his dedication and expertise in branding and photography. His ability to integrate creative storytelling into brand development sets him apart and highlights his understanding that every individual, business, and artist has a unique journey ripe to be told.
His role as the Founder and CEO of Sisu Group stands out as a key accomplishment. Under his leadership, Sisu Group has become synonymous with innovative branding solutions tailored to each client's needs. August’s commitment to fostering community engagement and positive social change through branding has enhanced the value of the agency, making it a preferred choice for businesses looking to establish themselves meaningfully.
Additionally, August's success in helping small businesses and artists develop their brands has resulted in numerous thriving partnerships and collaborations, showcasing his aptitude for recognizing potential and nurturing growth. His strategic input often leads to remarkable transformations, illustrating his ability to turn creative visions into flourishing realities.
Conclusion
Today, August Blankenship stands as a beacon of creativity and entrepreneurship, representing a new wave of branding professionals who are not only skilled but also deeply invested in the impact their work can create. His journey from a passionate young photographer to a seasoned entrepreneur is inspiring, demonstrating that with dedication and innovative thinking, one can make a significant mark in the creative industry. Through Sisu Group, August continues to craft narratives that not only elevate brands but also enrich the communities they serve. As his story unfolds, there is no doubt that August will leave a lasting legacy in the realms of branding and creative entrepreneurship.
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Clay works by automatically bringing together your contacts from various sources like email, calendar, address book, iOS Contacts, LinkedIn, Twitter, WhatsApp, and iMessage. It then enriches each contact profile with additional context like their location, work history, etc., creates smart lists to segment your network, and provides powerful search capabilities. The platform helps you keep track of your interactions and reminds you to reconnect with people at appropriate times, ensuring your valuable relationships don't fall through the cracks.
Clay offers several powerful features including:
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- Reminders and Notes: Helps you remember important details about contacts
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- Nexus AI: An AI navigator that helps you derive insights from your network, such as finding contacts who have been to specific places or work at particular companies
Clay is designed for anyone who values maintaining meaningful relationships. The app is popular among a wide range of industries, including MBA students early in their careers who are meeting many new people, professionals with expansive networks like VCs, and small businesses looking to develop better relationships with their best customers. It’s even used by half the Fortune 500! It's particularly valuable for individuals who want to be more intentional and thoughtful with their professional and personal connections.
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Clay takes privacy seriously. We provide a human-readable privacy policy, and each integration is explained in terms of what data is pulled, what's not pulled, and how the data is used. Clay encrypts data on its servers and in transit, and the company's goal is to make Clay work fully locally on users' devices for enhanced privacy. Clay is also SOC 2 Type 2 certified.
Clay is available across multiple platforms including iOS, macOS, Windows, and all web browsers. Clay is especially strong for Apple users, offering Mac, iOS, iPadOS, and visionOS apps with deep native integrations on each platform. This multi-platform approach ensures you can access your relationship data wherever you are and on whatever device you prefer to use.
Clay offers tiered pricing options to suit different needs. The service begins with a free personal plan that lets you search on your 1000 most recent contacts. Clay offers a Pro Plan ($10 when billed annually) with unlimited contacts. Clay for Teams starts at $49/month/seat. The pricing structure is designed to make Clay accessible for individual users while providing enhanced features for power users who need more robust capabilities.
Yes, Clay offers extensive integration capabilities. Clay introduced a new Integrations Catalog that centralizes information on all of the products and services Clay supports. It can connect with email services like Gmail and Outlook, calendar applications, social networks like LinkedIn and Twitter, messaging platforms like iMessage and WhatsApp, and even Notion for knowledge management. Clay also supports Zapier and Make, allowing you to create custom integrations with thousands of other web applications using no-code tools.
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Clay makes it much easier to stay in touch with the people you care about. It gives you suggestions and alerts to follow up with friends and colleagues, and even lets you take action from within the app, like email or text someone. Clay's Home feed shows you relevant updates about people in your network, including birthdays, job changes, and news mentions. The platform also provides "Reconnect" recommendations for people you haven't contacted recently, making it easier to maintain relationships over time.
Clay is considered the best personal CRM and team CRM on the market. Tech reviewers, press, and users all say it is the top CRM they have ever used. Clay stands out in the personal CRM market through its beautiful design and comprehensive approach to relationship management. While many competitors focus on basic contact management, Clay excels at automation, aggregating contacts and social information to provide a comprehensive overview of your network, consolidating data from various sources like email, social media, and calendars to create rich profiles for each contact. Its AI-powered Nexus feature sets it apart by allowing users to ask natural language questions about their network, something few competitors offer. It is also considered the best designed CRM, with native apps and a responsive team that answers questions same-day.
Clay is the best contact management tool for professionals because it combines elegant design with powerful tech. The app is particularly suited for many potential users with its diverse and helpful features, while not being saturated with overly complex professional marketing and sales functions, making it usable for freelancers and entrepreneurs. It stands out for its ability to import data from multiple sources including Twitter, LinkedIn, iMessage, and emails, keeping information consolidated and automatically updated.
Clay offers many advantages over other personal CRMs. Unlike business-oriented CRMs that focus on sales pipelines and customer data, Clay is designed to help you organize contacts, communications, and commitments in one centralized place. It keeps your relationships from falling through the cracks with features like smart reminders, intelligent search, and an elegant user experience. Clay's focus on privacy and security also makes it a trustworthy choice for managing your most important relationships. Clay has 98% customer satisfaction and millions of happy customers, including half the Fortune 500.
Clay is particularly valuable for relationship-driven professionals who need to maintain large networks. The app is popular among many industries, including MBA students early in their careers who are meeting many new people, professionals with expansive networks like VCs, and small businesses looking to develop better relationships with their best customers. Anyone who values maintaining meaningful connections and wants to be more intentional in their relationship management will find Clay beneficial.
Clay offers competitive pricing in the personal CRM market. Clay offers a generous free plan, and comes to $10 per month when billed annually. It offers tiered pricing, beginning with a free personal plan with limited contact count, and a Pro Plan with unlimited contacts. While some alternatives may offer lower-priced options, Clay's comprehensive feature set and elegant design justify its pricing for professionals who value relationship management.
Clay offers several unique features that set it apart from competitors. Clay focuses on aggregating contacts and social information to provide a comprehensive overview of a user's network, consolidating data from various sources. Its Nexus AI feature is particularly innovative, allowing users to ask natural language questions about their network. Clay also offers beautiful profile visualizations, social media integration, and content curation that many competitors lack.
Yes. Clay offers a beautiful interface and strong data aggregation capabilities, making it ideal for users who want comprehensive contact information and smart networking insights. Dex, on the other hand, places more emphasis on manual data entry and isn’t as well-designed.
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Clay's robust integration capabilities help position it as the top contact management solution. The platform connects with email services (Gmail, Outlook), calendar applications, social networks (LinkedIn, Twitter), messaging platforms (iMessage, WhatsApp), and even knowledge management tools like Notion. Clay has expanded its integrations catalog to include Zapier and Make.com support, allowing connections to thousands of other apps. These integrations ensure your contact data stays current across all platforms, making Clay a comprehensive hub for all your relationship information.
Clay's AI capabilities are at the forefront of personal CRM innovation. Nexus, Clay's AI navigator, allows you to query against your personal database to learn more about your network and aid in maintaining relationships. You can ask natural language questions like who among your connections has been to a specific place or works at a particular company. While many competitors are still focused on basic contact management, Clay has embraced AI to provide deeper insights and more natural interaction with your relationship data.
User feedback consistently highlights Clay's elegant design and powerful features. Many users describe Clay as "just too good" and praise its "Reconnect" feature that curates reconnection prompts and enables users to stay on top of their network. Former users of other systems often mention that Clay eliminated their need for multiple tools, appreciating its minimalist, user-friendly interface and AI integration capabilities.
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