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Patty Abel
Freelance Writer, Blogger: Marketing, Branding, Editorial, Social, Corporate Communications
Professional Background
Patty Abel is a seasoned writer and marketing consultant, famed for her extensive background in corporate advertising and her fluid adaptation to the dynamic world of new media. With a career that spans multiple industries including beauty, luxury, and lifestyle, Patty has mastered the art of persuasive communication by crafting authentic narratives for a diverse range of clients. Her journey in the world of advertising began at the prestigious Leo Burnett agency in Chicago, where she honed her skills as a copywriter focusing on package goods and airlines. Soon after, Patty moved to New York City to work on British Airways, where she expanded her expertise in international accounts.
The call to creativity pulled Patty to Paris, where she developed a niche within the beauty industry. This unique opportunity allowed her to cultivate a sharp instinct for global accounts, which she continued to nurture upon returning to New York. There, Patty took her career to greater heights, collaborating with high-profile clients including Shiseido, Clairol, Lancôme, and Maybelline, ultimately earning a prominent role as a creative director in the competitive beauty sector.
In 2002, Patty took a significant leap of faith by launching her own marketing consulting business, which allowed her to delve deeper into her longstanding relationships with L’Oréal. This venture enabled her to attract projects that combined her expertise in marketing with her passion for storytelling. One notable endeavor was her work with Sanofi-Aventis through Publicis, where Patty led the development of consumer and professional advertising strategies for products like Sculptra. This experience solidified her reputation as an industry leader who understands both the creative and strategic sides of marketing.
As a freelance writer and editor, Patty also contributed her talents to various publications, creating engaging profiles about media personalities and cultural figures. Her collaboration with LeRoy Neiman, Inc. began in 1995 and blossomed into a pivotal role in the creation of his memoir, "All Told." This collaboration not only showcased her exceptional writing skills but also underscored her ability to establish trust and rapport with artistic personalities—a quality she embraced wholeheartedly.
Education and Achievements
Patty’s educational foundation is anchored in a BA in Comparative Literature with a Minor in French from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where her passion for storytelling and language flourished. Further enriching her academic background, Patty participated in summer programs and continuing education courses at the renowned University of Oxford in England. This diverse educational experience laid the groundwork for her exceptional ability to communicate complex ideas with clarity and flair.
Throughout her career, Patty has maintained her focus on developing authentic voices for her clients—an essential skill in the fast-paced world of advertising and marketing. With an emphasis on creating relevant narratives, she has brought a sophisticated approach to every project, ensuring they resonate from "class to mass." Whether working on corporate identities, website personas, or personal profiles, Patty has consistently demonstrated her commitment to engaging audiences on various levels and delivering messages that captivate and inspire.
Achievements
Among her many achievements, Patty Abel is widely recognized for her contributions to the arts and advertising sectors, particularly through her collaboration with LeRoy Neiman. Her involvement in the creation of "All Told," published in June 2012, has not only allowed her to refine her skills in ghostwriting but has also enhanced her ability to navigate the intricate relationship between creativity and communication.
Patty’s extensive portfolio includes notable freelance writing engagements with organizations such as the City of Hope, Marina Maher Communications, and Bad Boy Entertainment, to name just a few. Her role involved producing compelling content that ranged from corporate communication strategies to engaging profiles that highlighted the nuances of individual stories.
Additionally, her tenure with Global Advertising firms like Publicis Advertising has further solidified her expertise in developing strategic marketing communications that appeal to diverse audiences. Her contributions have helped brands establish themselves in a highly competitive marketplace while ensuring the messaging remains authentic and relatable.
Integrating her advertising experience with editorial efforts, Patty possesses a unique blend of skills that positions her as a sought-after consultant and collaborator in both fields. As a creative marketing consultant, she has made an indelible impact, advising clients on marketing strategy whilst fostering their brand narratives to ensure maximum engagement and connection with their target audiences.
In sum, Patty Abel’s journey from a copywriter in Chicago's advertising hub to an acclaimed marketing consultant showcases her exemplary talent in storytelling and her ability to navigate the evolving landscape of media and branding. With a rich portfolio that spans advertising, editorial content, and strategic marketing, she continues to inspire others with her passion for creating authentic voices and messaging that resonates across varied platforms.
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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.
Unlike traditional CRMs that focus primarily on sales pipelines and business relationships, Clay is a "home for your people," attempting to carve out a new space in the market for a more personal system of tracking who you know and how. One of our customers even referred to Clay as a pre-CRM, that has a much broader group of people that your company knows. Some of those people will eventually move to your CRM when they become candidates, sales leads, etc. Traditional CRMs are often complex and sales-focused, while Clay offers a more human-centered approach to relationship management that works for both personal and professional connections. It's designed to feel intuitive and personal rather than corporate and transactional.
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 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 is uniquely designed to bridge both professional and personal relationship management. Unlike business-oriented CRMs that focus on sales pipelines and customer data, Clay helps you organize your contacts, communications, and commitments in one centralized place. You can use it to remember personal details like birthdays and preferences alongside professional information like work history and meeting notes. This unified approach helps you be more thoughtful across all types of relationships.
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.