If you're looking to buy some high-quality promotional marketing materials, we have your go-to spots from all around the nation! We've teamed up with our friends on our favorite Facebook group, Marketing Link Up, to bring you some awesome choices that provide custom promotional pieces from paper products to office products to apparel. Take your pick and enjoy!

• Brilliant Marketing Ideas 
• Brown & Bigelow
• Boundless Network
• Casa Del Mar
• Complete Office
• Custom Logos Inc.
• Eagle Print Dynamics
• Galison 
• Gouda, Inc. 
• MarkIt Promotions
• Promoventures
• San Diego Business Supply

Have a favorite that we left off our list? Leave a comment below and we'll be sure to share it with our friends!

By Sherin Tebbi

At Out & About, we love getting out and about San Diego as much as we can. We’ve made it our local duty to find some of the hidden gem coffee shops to spend some time at; whether it be to grab a cup of joe or spend endless hours working with our computers -- here are a few of our (current) favorites:

Young Hickory - North Park

Young Hickory is the perfect mix of local coffee, food and bar. If we had the time, we’d probably spend the entire day here. The atmosphere is super chill, open, and electrically charged with outlets and WiFi. It’s easy to work at with minimal distractions and some awesome company. With fun grub names like “The Snob” and “The Chimp,” we highly recommend spending some time at Young Hickory the next time you’re around North Park. Bonus: Try the espresso + beer to get the best of both worlds!

Turquoise Cellars - Pacific Beach

Turquoise is a hidden gem that can be found in north Pacific Beach. It defines itself as a, “Relaxed coffee shop with light fare by day, intimate wine bar with refined small plates by night.” We love spending time at Turquoise because it captures the true San Diego vibes. It’s a few blocks from the beach and has huge open windows to let the air in. Time flies when you’re working here and it’s a hit amongst the locals. Get there early to snag a spot by an outlet if you’re planning on working! Bonus: A huge wine collection to try at night!

UPDATE Sept. 2017: Turquoise has closed! (sad face)

Le Parfait Paris- Downtown

Another coffee shop with cocktails and wines, Le Parfait Paris is a fairly newer spot in Downtown but it captures the beauty of coffee and San Diego perfectly. It was voted San Diego Magazine’s Best Bakery for 2015 -- and let us vouch, they aren’t lying! Grab a coffee and a sweet treat here and you won’t be disappointed! Bonus: They offer speedy wifi with many outlets!

Holsem - North Park

Holsem (wholesome, get it?), is another awesome (and newish) coffee shop in the North Park neighborhood of San Diego. The coffee at Holsem is carefully and craftfully brewed to perfection. Their brand cultivates pure ingredients with no preservatives, colors or additives. Their unique coffee concoctions make us itching to go back all the time. Bonus: Must try the nutella coffee drink!!!

A photo posted by Out & About Communications (@outaboutcomm) on Jan 18, 2016 at 1:16pm PST

Better Buzzed - Encinitas

A San Diego favorite! Better Buzzed has gained quite the reputation around San Diego and it quickly has captured many hearts. This location, specifically, is by far the favorite in our books. It is absolutely adorable with an awesome staff and even more delicious drinks. They have wifi to be able to work at, however, we recommend just going to enjoy the atmosphere and coffee! Be careful, it gets busy! Bonus: You can get all of their yummy drinks with half the sweetener to avoid any extra sugar highs.

Did we miss somewhere? Share your favorite San Diego coffee shop in the comments below.

By Mandy Fisher

We don’t buy the $5 latte from Starbucks on a daily basis because their coffee is better. We pay double what we could elsewhere because of the experience: the brand, the service, and the atmosphere. The same theory should apply to financial advisors combatting robo-advisors.

In the formal explanation made by Investopedia, a robo-advisor is an online, automated money manager, providing portfolio management with minimal human intervention.

Robo-advisors can be convenient, sure, but let’s remember that they’re hardly the cat’s meow. Here are two main areas where they lack:

1. Robo-advisors don’t get to know the client personally. Tell us: how do you manage someone’s portfolio intelligently when you don’t know their personal situation -- their job changes; their family; their lifestyle? You, financial advisor extraordinaire, understand how these factors play into the needs of the clients you’re serving.

2. Robo-advisors don’t service clients beyond a basic portfolio. If there’s a trend for things moving online, there’s also a trend for people going to a one-stop shop for all of their needs. Robo-advisors can’t satisfy this desire.

Remember: as cool as a robot is, you have a lot of things it doesn’t: an ever-expanding knowledge base, a history of experience, and the ability to communicate and be there when your clients need you most, no matter the situation.

Market your strengths

With your strengths in mind -- especially as they relate to what robo-advisors lack -- it’s time to market your differences. After all, the millennial investor (who is the future of your company), needs to hear how you can help them better than a robo-advisor can.

Here are three steps you can start taking today:

1. Develop a strong, relatable brand. Go beyond your logo and color scheme and write down your brand goals -- consider your potential clients and how you want to be perceived by them. This is what Starbucks does. They tailor their service offerings and their marketing message around the trend of individualism. Today, you can go into Starbucks and completely customize your drink order. Individualism is one of Starbucks brand goals only because it is important to their customers. Your brand goal might be to be the firm that brings families closer together. Keep in mind that your brand goals should inform the tone, the messaging and the images related to all of your marketing.

2. Build service around convenience. If there’s one thing that robo-advisors can challenge you on, it’s convenience. So you might have to work a little harder here. How can you consistently be available to your potential clients and current clients in the easiest way possible?

Starbucks recently added a new feature where you can order on your mobile and pick up your drink at the store without having to wait in line. This was built around the idea that people are short on time.

Are your potential clients short on time and if so how can you streamline your services them? For starters, build a website that works for you. Then utilize your website as a launch pad for your services. Make it easy for people to sign up or request more info. Add a client login to your home page so that clients can easily log in to their accounts. The key here is to make the client experience as pleasant as possible and use your marketing to promote those conveniences.

3. Create an engaging online atmosphere. Engagement can make or break a company since not engaging is a missed opportunity. Use your online channels such as your website or social media to listen to your potential client's needs and then respond back to them. For instance, follow your Google Analytics trends to see what blogs have the most views and then post more blogs on that topic.

Your online community should be a place where people want to hang out. People view Starbucks as a place to gather. Make your online community function the same way. You do this by making your website and social media platforms user-friendly, post content that relates to your readers and open lines of communication by responding to people who comment on your posts.

Think of your online atmosphere as your community of friends where you communicate openly with one another.

Be the answer for your clients

Starbucks does not succeed because of the quality of their drink, but because of the quality of their marketing combined with their ability to listen to their customers and potential customers needs and desires. So there is no reason that you cannot beat out the competition of a robo-advisor. Just remember to create your marketing message based on the competitive advantages you have over robo-advisors and then promote the heck out of them-- this makes the choice obvious for your target market.

By Lauren Hong

Together, B2B and retail e-commerce are projected to reach $12 trillion nationwide by 2020. While B2B e-commerce is the oft-overlooked half of that duo, here’s where it shines: B2B is expected to have the greatest overall growth, leaping ahead at a compounded annual growth rate of 7.7 percent.

And where there’s growth, there’s opportunity. But only for those online e-commerce sellers who are doing it right. Want to be the leader of the pack? Try these five tips on for size, and watch product sales follow that growth trend.

1. Build a beautiful site

If you scoff at the word “beautiful”, consider this: your online visitors might not say they’re looking for a “beautiful” site, but they are looking for a seamless, clean, and easy-to-navigate experience. And that’s just beautiful.

When your website is your storefront, the first thing you can do to increase product sales is to give your site some attention. Here are a few questions to ask yourself as you evaluate your site:

• Is my site user-friendly?
• Does my site have a modern design?
• Is my site an accurate representation of my brand?
• Is it easy for my customers to find what they need and make a purchase?

This most often comes down to UX -- user experience design: the process by which designers and developers improve the usability, accessibility, and pleasure provided in the interaction between the user and the product (your site). A UX-optimized site will welcome customers, lead them through the discovery process to find what they need, and make the buying process seamless.

Your website is the base of your online sales. Take the time to make it right.

2. Let others tell the story: product reviews

Word-of-mouth marketing is the most valued form of marketing because it’s experiential: it’s real people telling your story and giving reviews of your products because they’ve interacted with you and used what you’re selling.

Leverage product reviews by including them directly on the site, so customers can read reviews before they buy. Prompt them for specific information that you know your customers care about: if you’re selling paper supplies, for example, have them rate the quality and durability of the paper, which type of printer they used, etc.

In addition to maximizing use of reviews from current customers, expand your network and garner more reviews on different networks. Here are two ways:

• One-to-one outreach: individually define influential bloggers in your industry and send them your product to try out in exchange for a candid review on their site. For example, if you’re building a mobile hotspot for business travelers to carry with them on the road, identify influential bloggers to try it out, like a financial blogger who travels frequently.
• Build a blogger/media relations campaign: leverage the networks of other like-minded individuals with a similar style by building a campaign that includes certain standards: your press kit, a product sample, and what you expect in return.

By identifying the right networks to reach out to, you have the potential to get your product in front of new audiences on the regular. Utilize reviews on your site, as social media fodder, and in email marketing campaigns.

3. Get social

Speaking of social media fodder: social media integration on your e-commerce store is pivotal. But remember: social is a two-way street, not only in communication but in linking to your site. Here’s how to use social to its fullest:

• Create compelling social media content (graphics are important!) that will inspire clicks back to your site. A few good rules of thumb: choose 1-3 social media platforms and do them right, especially if you’re a small business with an overstretched staff, and create social content that is 80% other people’s content and 20% your own, so as not to overdo on promotion. Creating short links based on the social media platform will help you track where traffic came from, as will referral traffic you can glean from Google Analytics.
• Make it easy for people to share your products and site info on their social media platforms by integrating social share buttons on product pages, Click to Tweets and pinnable images in blog posts, and generating easy share buttons after they’ve bought something.

Social media is a big part of the online shopping world these days, and the good news? It’s inexpensive, easy to get started, and effective when done right.

4. Show and tell

You might know that content marketing is king, but that doesn’t necessarily mean you know what to do with it.

When it comes to product sales, here’s one of our favorite ways to leverage content marketing: use your blog and social media channels to show and tell. Bring your product(s) to the forefront and provide tutorials, case studies, and stories that put them in the context of your potential customers’ daily lives.

We’ve got one more tip for you, then we’re going to do some show and tell ourselves.

5. Email

The beauty of email marketing is that those on your email list are there because they chose to be. This permission-based marketing means they’re already on your side -- now, it’s up to you to use the channel effectively to sell more products. Here are two ideas to get you started:

• Set up a consistent campaign (weekly, bi-weekly, etc.) that includes sneak peeks, coupons, and product features.
• Design an e-magazine that matches the branding of your site. Send it out in regular intervals -- perhaps quarterly if your business is seasonal -- and make it easy to click through to search and find products on your site.

Remember, customers have given you permission to drop by their inbox -- but they can just as easily take it away. Make your emails valuable by sharing information that helps them understand your product and how it fits into their lives.

B2B e-commerce sites that do it right

Like we said: we’re all about the show and tell. Here are a few e-commerce stores that are getting it right:

Blake Envelopes

As their name suggests, Blake Envelopes is an envelope maker out of the UK. Here’s how they’re getting their e-commerce store right:

• Prominent search function on a clean design directs you to exactly what you need
• The store itself has excellent filtering option, plus a “compare” feature that easily allows you to see choices side by side
• They have a prominent video page and social sharing buttons so you can spread their story

Square

Square sells one predominant product: a point-of-sale kit that allows you to read credit cards and accept sales from your mobile device, anywhere. Here’s how they’re getting their e-commerce store right:

• The shop is organized by the type of business you’re running, so it’s easy to self-identify
• Devices are laid out by function and shown in use
• Tech specs are made clear, but not overwhelming, so you can be sure you’re buying the right product

Blake Envelopes and Square are focused on making it easy -- for customers to find them, buy from them, and then share.

Boost product sales at your storefront
E-commerce isn’t going anywhere but up in the next few years. Stay at the front end of that curve by following the five steps above to optimize your site, expand your reach, and deliver the best experience to your customers.

Ever feel overwhelmed or confused when your designer or Marketing team asks you for a logo file with transparency? What about a high resolution image? We will be the first to admit that there are so many different elements that go into a stellar graphic design file.

Don’t worry—we’re here to break down the must-know lingo for basic graphic design knowledge, here we go…

Vector files are excellent for creating graphics that frequently require resizing. Vector files such as AI and EPS can remain editable so you can open them back up in Illustrator and edit any text or other elements within the graphic. With images that contain text that are saved as a JPG, PNG or GIF, you would not be able to reopen and edit the text.
Web Use: Source files - for logos, charts, icons, or any hard edged graphics
Print Use: Source files - to be sent to the printer
Popular File Types: .ai, .eps, .pdf, .svg

Raster files use many colored pixels or individual building blocks to form a complete image. They can’t be dramatically resized without compromising their resolution. It is important that you save raster files at precisely the dimensions needed to eliminate possible complications.
Web Use: Output files - for most web graphics displayed on the screen
Print Use: Hi-Res files - can be printed at 300 dpi
Popular File Types: .jpg, .gif, .png, .tif

File Types

.ai (Adobe Illustrator)
Default file type of Illustrator, a popular vector-based program.

.eps (Encapsulated PostScript)
Vector file which can be opened outside of Illustrator.

.pdf (Portable Document Format)
Self-contained document which preserves vector images as well as fonts or graphics needed to display correctly.

.svg (Scaleable Vector Graphics)
XML-based vector image format supported by modern web browsers.

.jpg or .jpeg (Joint Photographic Experts Group)
This raster image format is best for displaying photographic images on web browsers.

.gif (Graphics Interchange Format)
Raster image format best for simple images made up of solid colors without gradients.

.png (Portable Network Graphics)
Raster image format best for displaying simple images, supports transparency.

.tif (Tagged Image File Format)
Raster image format best for high-resolution photos.

Dots Per Inch (dpi)

Web - 72 dpi
Images intended for the web only need to have a resolution of 72 dpi, which is the maximum resolution of monitors.

Print - 300 dpi
Images intended for print need to have a resolution of 300 dpi, as the printing process allows for much greater detail.

Printer Mark’s

When you prepare artwork for printing, a number of marks are needed for the printer device to register the artwork elements precisely and verify correct color.

Trim Marks
Very fine horizontal and vertical rules that define where the page should be trimmed. Trim marks can also help register (align) one color separation to another.

Registration Marks
Small targets outside the page area for aligning the different separations in a color document.

Color Bars
Small squares of color representing the CMYK inks and tints of gray (in 10% increments). Your service provider uses these marks to adjust ink density on the printing press.

Page Information
Labels the film with the name of the art board number, the time and date of the printout, the line screen used, the screen angle for the separation, and the color of each particular plate. These labels appear at the tops of the images.

Bleeds
Bleed is the amount of artwork that falls outside of the printing bounding box, or outside the crop area and trim marks. You can include bleed in your artwork as a margin of error—to ensure that the ink is still printed to the edge of the page after the page is trimmed or that an image can be stripped into a key-line in a document.

You’re on your way to becoming a graphic designer! This information comes in handy when you’re working with a designer, printer, or Marketing firm and certain files are requested. Knowing what you are going to do with the file or where it will be used helps tremendously to guarantee you’re receiving everything you may need (for the future, too)!

By Sherin Tebbi & Emily Jang

A photo posted by Out & About Communications (@outaboutcomm) on Dec 1, 2015 at 4:19pm PSTVSCO, created by Visual Supply Co., is the latest and greatest way to shoot, edit, discover and share digital photographs. Through the beautiful yet minimalist app, VSCO allows individuals to let their inner-artist shine while pursuing possible insta-fame.

To help ease the transition into a photographer's world, VSCO has a series of preset filters that adapt to any type of photography in whatever, whichever way that suits you. Create clean, dark, bold or vintage-inspired photos to highlight your creative expression. Let this post be your simple starter’s guide to learning about basic filters, functions and endless editing bliss.

Preset Filters

B1, B5: Black and White
These are the perfect filters for giving photos a classic vintage or antique feel. Black and white filters suit a range of photography subjects from portraits to landscapes. Ideal for photos that have distracting colors, these filters create a more toned-down, chill vibe, and help the eye focus on the details of the image.

C1: Very Chromatic
The hint of red highlight in this filter warms up the image and emphasizes the bold colors of the photograph at the same time. Perfect for photos taken with warm light sources like natural sunlight, this filter can add an autumn/fall semblance.

A photo posted by Out & About Communications (@outaboutcomm) on Nov 14, 2014 at 12:31pm PST

M3, M5: “Vintage”
By adding a cooler temperature and a bit of fade, these two filters generate a “vintage” feel. Try this filter on monotone or minimally colored photographs for a unique out-of-time look. Fading the image ages the photo, creating the vintage look that is a favorite amongst the Instagram community.

P5: Cool-Toned
This filter brings down the temperature of the photo significantly, giving off hints of blue highlights. Works best with landscape photos, bringing out blue skies and bodies of water. The filter can be difficult to use for capturing your meal because it significantly kills the natural color of the image, making food appear a bit less appetizing.

T1: Faded Effect
T1 is a very popular filter amongst photographers and admirers as it creates that iconic hipster look sought out by the “#Instafamous.” To do this, T1 fades the image dramatically, while still preserving the vivid colors of the image. This is a versatile filter that works well with any subject matter.

A photo posted by Out & About Communications (@outaboutcomm) on Aug 26, 2015 at 1:01pm PDT

X1: Extra Black and White
This filter is a darker version of B1 and B5 since it contrasts the black and white more clearly than the B1 and B5 filters. By adding a darker finish and contrast to your photograph, create gloomy, macabre images. Refrain from using this filter for food photography, as brilliant colors and natural lighting make food look the most appealing and scrumptious.

HB1, HB2: Pigmented Yet Faded
Although HB1 and HB2 are not stock filters, they are available as free downloads through the app. Similar to the T1, these two filters both slightly fade out photos while at the same time accentuating the pigments and colors that are already embedded within the image. Great for giving photos a more monotone vibe by balancing the warmth and coolness of the photo’s temperature. Ideal for landscapes, food and still life.

The ease, creative nature, and accessibility make VSCO (Download now for Apple or Android) one of our favorite apps.

Follow us on Instagram to see our favorite filters in full action.

By Chelsea Alves, Associate Content Writer at Classy

The concept of “need to know” has taken a dramatic shift in the past few years. The rise of social media—and the increased sharing of information—has demanded more of businesses than ever before. In fact, their success often hinges on how accountable they are to the public. But what does it mean to be transparent in business?”

Transparency can mean different things to different companies. To most, however, it means sharing information in a real and genuine way. Withholding or strategically misconstruing information is no longer acceptable for this new era of customers who are savvier than any generation before them and who err on the side of caution when it comes to rallying around a brand.

Transparency is something that a business must work at over time to perfect, but it can pay off big in the long run. Take a look at how transparency can help your business.

1. Builds Trust with Customers

Perhaps the greatest benefit of transparency is it produces trust. Just as with personal relationships, a business relationship is strongest when built on a foundation of honesty and truthfulness. It is difficult to establish trust when a company does not disclose information, keeps everything close to the vest, and remains closed off. By giving people a window into its workings, a company can prove it adheres to ethical business practices, and thus build trust with their customer base.

Martha Rodgers, a writer of Extreme Trust, points to a good example of an organization that lost the trust of their customers and in turn went bankrupt. “Look at Blockbuster. Their customers hated late fees more than anything. When Netflix came around and didn’t have late fees, Blockbuster dragged its feet. After all, customers could always avoid late fees by turning in their movies on time. By the time they tried to change their model, it was too late. They’d lost their customers’ trust.”

2. Engages Employees

Transparency isn’t just a public-facing practice. A culture that values transparency breeds engaged employees. Allowing employees to see where the business performs well, and in which areas it struggles, binds each employee closer to the company’s strategic goals. Openness and trust help to create a comfortable environment that spurs innovation and experimentation while revealing early failures and oversights. The more a company trusts their employees with their wins and shortcomings, the greater the personal connection is to the company and the more dedicated your employees will feel about working there.

One company that has done a great job of encouraging open, honest communication is SAP, a provider of enterprise application software. Their employees understand the “why” behind their jobs—what they’re expected to achieve and why it’s important to the greater good of the organization. Collaboration is encouraged and teams communicate with other SAP offices around the world to get projects done. Additionally, leaders encourage all employees to engage in the conversation and offer their own feedback.

3. Improves Customer Service

Information moves fast and that means you need to respond quickly to both positive and negative press. In an age where a story can become viral in a matter of minutes, the timing of a business’ response is more important than ever.

If you don’t know how to respond to the public conversation initially, a simple three-pronged “aware, working, and update” post is sufficient. It shows you are aware of the situation, are working on the problem, and will update people once you know more. If you cover these three bases, it stops people from drawing their own conclusions. It tells them that you are both listening to the conversation and working to solve the problem.

The Internet can be a cruel forum for disgruntled customers. They don’t take kindly to people who make excuses or stay quiet. Companies should instead own the problem, respond to it, and let people know they are working on a solution.

JetBlue is a business that aims to be responsive and transparent. In an industry that’s rife with angry customers due to airline delays, JetBlue responds quickly to both satisfied clients and frustrated ones.

JetBlue is also known to be extremely responsive to customers who mention their brand online. Whether they send a public @reply or a private Direct Message to answer a question, they interact quickly.

4. Increases Credibility

Some businesses realize the importance of transparency only after they’ve been involved in a scandal and have had to publicly defend themselves or otherwise explain their actions. Having a transparent approach to business even before an extreme situation occurs proves to the public that you have nothing to hide. If your business constantly practices accountability, it will, in turn, develop a sense of credibility among your audience.

One organization that has become a credible source in an industry plagued by “false accusations” is The New York Times. The New York Times has taken measures to ensure their reporting is credible by:

• Showing the report and sources that support their work
• Curating and attributing information responsibly
• Offering disclosures
• Correcting website and social media errors

By doing so, they have become a trusted news source in an age where ethical journalism is often questioned.

5. Builds Loyalty

Companies that practice transparency in today’s society is certain to build loyalty with their customers. This type of honesty is difficult to find in the modern age, which is why customers tend to stay committed to a transparent organization when they find one.

In 2008, Domino’s Pizza surveyed its customers asking what they loved and hated. The customers spoke: They didn’t love the crust, the sauce, or the cheese. Domino’s publicly shared the survey results, asking customers to help fix the problems. They spent 18 months reviewing thousands of messages through social media and invited regular customers to try their pizzas, making changes along the way.

When the company re-launched its product at the end of 2009—with a series of commercials featuring its troubles and solutions—the response was overwhelmingly positive. Domino’s continues to ask their customers for feedback and now has more than 10 million fans on Facebook and over 900 thousand followers on Twitter.

Conclusion

There is no better way to build trust among employees and customers alike than by maintaining transparency in your organization. If you are honest, open, and accountable, people will know what to expect from your company up front. Start practicing transparency today so you can build meaningful and long-lasting relationships with anyone who touches your organization.

Classy is an online fundraising platform for the modern nonprofit headquartered in San Diego, California. We're thrilled to share this fine city with other amazing start-ups that continuously do good! If you'd like to learn more about Classy, be sure to check out their website and follow them on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn!

Mandy Fisher, our Marketing Manager, was recently featured in an awesome article on Financial Planning by Bob Veres discussing financial planners and their potential clients.

Click here to read the entire article.

By Lauren Hong

Sales. As a B2B marketer, you know that sales are crucial to increasing revenue. Bringing more money in the door means a steadier cash flow, a higher profit margin, and happier management that can reward its employees. In the words of billionaire investor Mark Cuban, “sales cure all.”

Yet sales are dependent on clients to sell to. So while sights can be focused on sales, in the long run, it’s the clients that deserve your focus in the here and now. What’s a B2B marketer to do?

Get more clients. Easier said than done, right?

The top three ways to gain more clients as a B2B firm

Fortunately, in our digital age where connection is constantly at the tip of our fingers, knowledge can spread with the click of a button, and analytics abound, gaining more clients isn’t as elusive as it once might have been. It all comes back to three pillars that your B2B organization simply has to be the best-of-the-best at:

1. Relationship building

At the risk of sounding like the masses, marketing and business building is all about relationships in the B2B world, no matter the industry. Cultivating new relationships and nourishing the ongoing ones is crucial to retaining customers and generating referrals: two of the most effective customer acquisition methods. How exactly do you cultivate and nourish relationships? We’re glad you asked:

Build trust as an authority

Every meaningful relationship is based on trust. When it comes to being trusted by your potential and current clients, you can build trust by claiming your thought leadership and acting as an educator. Here are just a few ways to do just that:

• Seminars and/or webinars: Host in-person or digital events that cater to your audience’s needs. What questions, concerns, or problems do they have? For example, if you’re an investment manager for institutional businesses, hosting a quarterly economic review where you present alongside relevant guest speakers and influencers will establish you as an educator and a resource.
• Editorial calendar planning: Content marketing is the key to establishing thought leadership. Sharing your knowledge via blog posts, case studies and white papers offers your community free access to your knowledge, further establishing you as an authority. Create an editorial calendar on the topics that matter most to your desired clients, and develop and distribute that content via different media, from videos to blogs and case studies to podcasts. Take their questions and concerns and think outside of the box here. For example, as a furniture supplier, you might not need to spend as much time on education, per se, but you can develop content based on how your furniture is made, why it’s better for the office, and more.

Thought leadership isn’t built in a day, but with a dedication to educating your community, your trustworthiness will no doubt attract customers to learn more about you.

Be a matchmaker

Sometimes building relationships require being resourceful. Even the most renowned thought leaders can’t know everything. So how can you further enhance the trust required to build relationships? Be the resource who connects people.

Perhaps you sell design services to fellow businesses. You get a prospect who’s looking for not just a designer, but a printer who can take that design and bring it to life. Connect them to the best printer you know. As a matchmaker, you’re the trusted resource they’ll come back to.

Play host

When it comes to offline marketing tactics, events steal the show. In fact, 84 percent of B2B marketers view events like exhibitions, trade shows, and conferences as effective in reaching their marketing goals.

Events work because coming face-to-face with potential and current clients further builds a relationship that may have only lived online or over the phone. Don’t just attend events, though, be the host who makes the event happen: host clients in unique spaces like an opera house tour or a batting practice meet-and-greet at a baseball stadium.

Relationships are built on trust, and trust requires getting personal: sharing your knowledge; connecting people as a matchmaker; and playing host as you, yourself, take those relationships to the next level.

2. Making your website work

When you can’t personally be building relationships, let technology work for you. We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again: your website is your 24/7 salesperson that’s greeting clients on the front porch and inviting them in when your actual sales team can’t be.

Furthermore, company websites remain the top digital channel for B2B marketers, with 81 percent rating their sites as effective in helping them accomplish key marketing goals.

Still unsure of whether or not you need a website? We’ll be straight with you: you do. Websites aren’t just crucial for B2C marketers; your B2B clients use Google as well, and it’s the first place they’ll go when they want to learn more about your business. What does your website need to greet them with?

• An intro to your business: an about page and company story that resonates with the audience you want to connect with.
• Responsive design: your clients might be coming to your website via desktop, tablet, or mobile. You want the site that greets them to be optimized for the device they’re viewing it on.
• Accurate information: you might think this goes without saying, but keeping your website up-to-date is key, from your contact information to your service offerings and your team bios.
• Free resources: send your potential clients down the rabbit hole by providing concise, compelling copy and free resources like blogs, videos, or downloadable resources where they can learn more about you.

Calls to action: let them know what you want them to do. Include clean, prominent calls to action that encourage potential clients to book a call, download a resource, or sign up for your mailing list. Capturing their contact information is one the key functions of a website; make it easy for them to get there.

Your website is your online home. Make it as welcoming as you would your physical one.

3. Becoming an inbox hero

Email marketing ranks second amongst digital marketing tactics, with 71 percent of B2B marketers reporting it as effective. But when inbox overwhelm is prevalent, your community’s inboxes are sacred spaces that need to be treated with care.

For you, that means developing an email marketing strategy that serves your potential and current clients, while strategically keeping you top of mind.

Make the most of your email marketing by establishing a set frequency, making it clear what you’re promising your subscribers (perhaps it’s coupons; sneak peeks of product launches; updates on product features; event invites; or more), and keeping emails to-the-point and actionable, leading them back to your website.

Sales require clients; now you know how to get them

Build relationships. Make your website work. Be an inbox hero. All the while, keep in mind that you’re out to serve your customer. In doing so, you’ll not only increase the amount of new leads in the door; you’ll retain the clients whose relationships you’re already nurturing.

Happy 2016!

Have you made any Marketing resolutions that could use some extra lovin'? Last week, we covered a few of our favorite resources for time management, productivity, email, online tools, and online classes. Here are a few more helpful resources that we totally dig!

Social Media
Hootsuite: Manage and schedule all of your social media content in one place.
Rafflecopter: Easily run giveaway campaigns online.

High-Quality Free Images
500px.com: Upload and explore free photos and the works of other people.
FreeImages.com: Search high quality photos.
Morguefile.com: A free photo archive.

Image Editing Tools
Pixlr: User-friendly photo editing site.
VscoCam: Create eye-grabbing Instagram photos with these vintage filters and editing tools.
Afterlight: Utilize photo editing tools and customized filters all from this convenient app on your phone.

Music
8Tracks: internet radio based on your genre preferences.
SoundCloud: Explore different music that people upload, make your own playlist, search for your favorite music!
Pandora: Pick a genre or artist you love and create personalized stations based on your preferences.
Spotify: A free music database where you can listen to your favorite songs, make playlists and share your songs with friends.