Dai Baker started her first business inside of her college apartment on September 30, 2015. Before becoming a business owner, Dai was a lifestyle blogger and micro-influencer. Looking for a new challenge during her junior year, she began her creative agency. Dai Baker Creative Group LLC is a virtual marketing, branding and public relations agency. She work on clients’ projects mostly from her home office. The agency specializes in brand development for new businesses.
“I was inspired to start my business based on my childhood. I grew up watching my father operate his own small business and it inspired me to want to start my own business when I got older,” Baker says. “Naturally it made sense for me to start a creative agency as it allows me to use my skills and feed my passion.”
Using money from her college job, Dai was able to file for her L.L.C., purchase web hosting and website domain and get business cards printed. Since Dai has creative abilities she was able to design her own website and marketing materials, which saved her money.
This experience gives her an advantage when she is pitching clients or negotiating influencer deals.
“My favorite client to work with is a first-time small business owner. Working with this type of client allows me to be a part of their dreams becoming their reality,” Dai states. Her agency primarily works with first-time small business owners in the pre-launch stage of their companies. The agency also serves freelancers, influencers and established business.
Although Dai retired her lifestyle blog and micro-influencer career, she was still able to carry those experiences into how she serves her clients. Since she was an influencer for national brands and a book reviewer for authors, she has the “other side’s perspective.”
In Fall 2017, Dai was finally able to hire a staff for her agency. Her staff also works out of their homes or coffee shops, as the agency is currently virtual-based. Dai counts posting her first job opening as a major milestone in her agency’s history. Even though she has been running a small business, hiring two additional team members makes it feel like she’s running a company. Having a staff allows Dai to attend more networking events to recruit new clients and form profitable partnerships.
With her staff, the agency has been able to grow towards becoming a full-service digital agency. Having a staff allows Dai to be able to take on more clients and pass along projects she does not enjoy the most. Dai enjoys developing new brands and designing websites the most out of the creative services her agency provides.
Being a millennial, having a bachelor’s degree in public relations and now currently studying marketing as a graduate student has helped Dai successfully navigate through social media. Instagram is the main platform that the agency advertises on. Despite the constantly changing algorithm, the agency’s Instagram has been able to maintain a high engagement rate and even have had content reposted on larger industry platforms. Dai makes sure the Instagram feed follows the 80/20 rule by providing more educational tips than sales posts.
In the next three years or less, Dai sees her home-based business moving out of her home and into an office space. Dai would love for her team to be able to work out of one office and have client meetings there instead of renting conference rooms or visiting coffee shops.
Now that Dai has been running her agency for the past three years, she’s ready to take on the next challenge. She is currently recording a podcast for the agency, writing two e-books and getting ready to launch her second business, which will be geared toward young mothers.
