Caressa Flannery: The Marketing Guru Behind Frederick’s Successful Businesses & Events

written by: Zanne Lamb-Hunt

Caressa Flannery, owner of Create-a-Pulse Marketing and Rely Local Frederick, holds seats on both the Board of Directors for Downtown Frederick Partnership and the Board of Directors for Celebrate Frederick. She’s currently on the Committee for the Alive @ 5 Series.

Caressa’s marketing firm specializes in custom-creating professional websites, SEO, event planning, advertising, print media and PR. The name of her company, Create-a-Pulse, reflects the fact that ‘the heartbeat of business begins with marketing’.

5 Benefits Of Putting Caressa’s Expertise To Work For You

1. Personal Customer Service

It’s possible to run a business while keeping a distance from clients today but it’s not the way Caressa Flannery runs hers. She takes phone calls, responds to e-mails and sets up meetings. Face-to-face meetings, that is!

In fact, she’s willing to drive to meet potential clients because she wants to get a feel for what drives the website content and the needs of the customer.

2. Affordability

Working from a home office eliminates the overhead that would go along with maintaining work space in a separate location. That savings is passed along to the customers, as bills are based on the amount of time spent on projects.

In some cases, the cost can end up a lot less than it would be with some competitors. And, Caressa is happy to work with small local people who don’t have deep pockets when it comes to marketing services.

3. Building Personal Relationships

There’s a relationship waiting to be created and developed. Carissa describes herself as personable, friendly and approachable – the qualities that allow her to build friendships from business relationships.

“Business is all business but there can also be a real-time social aspect and relationship.” Some of her long-term clients have been around since the start! And, there’s always room for new relationships.

4. Community Resources

Caressa is known as a ‘connector’, with a vast number of contacts in just about every arena you can think of. People reach out to her and ask for information about events, services, employment, opportunities and more.

“Building relationships to me is one of the most important things in life and in business that I have been blessed to be good at and to have in my life. I love it that people look to me as a resource for any of these things.”

5. Visibility – Online And Offline

Caressa is here, there and everywhere! In fact, some people refer to her as Miss Frederick because of her high visibility and community involvement. She’s out and about in the community volunteering, socializing and doing promotional work. She also maintains a presence on Facebook, Instagram and other social media.

“I am working hard for local businesses. I am working hard for my clients. I am working hard for non-profit organizations for the volunteer work that I do.” This degree of visibility is what every business wants and needs.

Caressa is a Frederick native who graduated from TJ High School in 1984 and then went on to the University of Maryland in College Park. The courses that were required for her degree in Family Studies set the groundwork for her future endeavors. “It gives you a lot of insight into people and building relationships, and how people interact with one another.”

Her marketing career trail started off with event planning. “My very first taste of entrepreneurial spirit was back when I used to plan weddings with my Mom.” At the same time, she was married, waiting tables, had her son (Dillon), was a sales associate for a home builder and a part-time media buyer for a prominent ad agency. Yes, all at the same time!

Every step beyond that added to her expertise in web development, marketing and advertising. As doors closed (companies going out of business), other opportunities became available. In 2004, it was time to open the door to her own business.

“I’ve never had to hold a job in addition to working my business from that point. I’ve been really blessed, kicking it into high gear and selling websites and other marketing services.”

Being A Successful Marketing Guru Is A Balancing Act

Caressa is quick to point out the greatest challenge of running her own business. It’s a balancing act. “Being on the computer, doing the work with prospecting for business and also doing the admin stuff like the proposals, paying bills and all the things that are necessary.”

Yes, those are the things that go along with entrepreneurial territory but that doesn’t make it seem any easier. It’s important to schedule time for volunteer commitments, as well as make sure there’s enough time to consult with clients. “Those are frustrating things for me, so I have to do time blocks and chunks.”

Caressa Recommends A Time-Saving App

Instasize simplifies posting quotes on Instagram and Facebook. The app instantly pulls quotes into the perfect square mode to put up without a fuss.

“You can put cool backgrounds on it, text and lots of different things. I’m a quote girl. I love inspirational messages.”

Contact this amazing, multi-tasking Frederick marketing guru to inspire a response to promote your business, grow your brand or support your next event.

Facebook/pulsemaster
301-631-0984 (business line)
301-606-8935 (cell # – the best way)
createapulse@comcast.net
createapulsemarketing.com
relylocal.com

Content provided by Frederick Advice Givers – Podcast #16