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.

Not only are we Out & About San Diego, but we love finding new favorites all around the web! With 2016 around the corner, we figured you might want to buff up your resolutions with some of our favorites. Keep in mind, these are just a few sites that make our inner-nerd freak out over. Sharing is caring!

Time Management & Productivity
Right Inbox: Send scheduled or recurring emails and set reminders.
Remember The Milk: Prioritize and organize your daily, weekly and monthly tasks.
Acrylic App: Store all your personal information, i.e. passwords, credit card numbers, and much more with wallet!

Email
MailChimp: Send styled and professional e-mail campaigns with easy data reporting.
WiseStamp: Create your own stylized e-mail signature. For up to 5 users ($99/ yr) click here or for up to 10 users ($199/ yr) click here.
Google Apps for Business: Use the Google interface for your email with your customized email domain (@yourcompany.com).

Online Tools
Word Counter: Literally counts your words for you.
Feedly: Get all the information and news you need in one personalized web page.
0 to 255: Color cards with web safe color hex codes.
Eye Dropper: Snag the hex color code on any open Chrome web page.
Dropbox: Share and store all your documents and files in one online database.

Online Classes
Open Culture: Free online courses you can take according to interest and passion.
Yale: Free and open access to introductory courses taught by Yale professors.
Khana Academy: Easy to understand tutorials in basic academia and relevant subject matters.

Let us know some of your favorite resources! Part 2 of our favorites, including social media, images and music tools will be posted next week. Stay tuned!

By Sherin Tebbi & Kyle Magee

Let’s face it -- your computer is your Partner in Crime (P.I.C.). It’s there with you through work and leisure. You continuously count on it for answers, communication and hilarious videos. Even though you might spill some crumbs or coffee on it here and there, you know, that in reality, you would be nowhere without your computer.

But what happens when this so-called P.I.C. starts flashing an unexpected and very official error message? You can’t seem to get off of the message so you find yourself following its prompts to call the help-line. Soon enough, you’re speaking to a friendly and knowledgable representative pointing out exactly what is wrong with your computer in surprisingly accurate details. Finally, the rep gives you two options:

1. Take your beloved P.I.C. into your local OfficeMax/Staples/computer store to fix. This option could take 5+ business days.
2. Let the representative remote in and solve the probably immediately for a hefty price.

So, you agree to have him solve the problem immediately. Why not, right? The rep knew exactly what was wrong and thoroughly explained the process to you -- handing over your credit card information is a no-brainer. Remote away, Representative. Relax, your partner in crime will be back in no time to finish binge-watching your latest Netflix addiction.

Stop Right There

You’ve become a victim of social engineering. This is a tactic that scammers/hackers use all the time. False pretenses are established so that the victim is lead to believe that they're talking to: a remote repair service, a customer seeking personal info or a department within the same company who needs some authorization information. All of these are lies that the hacker will tell an unsuspecting victim. All of these are real things that happen all the time.

First off, know that we don’t think don't think less of you! It sucks but it happens all the time. The reason people do stuff like this is because it works. And they only need it to work once on someone. Unfortunately, everyone learns this lesson at some point in their relationship with their computer.

So, what now?

If someone had access to your machine or if you installed something to get someone else into your machine and you continue to have full access there is a number of things that could have happened. We’ll leave out the nitty gritty details, but let’s just say it could take a very long time to find and fix. Many times the machine is first infiltrated and then the attacker waits several weeks to ensure any good backups are non-existent. But it totally depends on the level of sophistication of the attacker/when they first compromised the system.

Our Advice

Invest in a defender that will protect you. You should be relying on something to keep your precious sidekick protected! Think of all the information on your computer that someone could have access to -- your identity, bank info, address, etc. -- you wouldn’t give this information to a stranger, don’t let a stranger take it from you. Many products provide excellent protection that stop you from going on sites that are infected. In many cases they also warn you (before you get to the site) if something is fishy.

Please, please, please be cautious about the sites you are going on. There is no substitute for a simple understanding of how, when and why people might try to psyber burgle you. Take a minute to Google search on what behavior is most likely to leave you vulnerable to online scammers.

By Lauren Hong

There are a lot of “necessary” line items on your expense report as a small to mid-sized business owner. There’s your staffing; your utilities; your travel; your... marketing. Unfortunately, when it comes time to budget, it’s the marketing category that often draws the biggest question mark next to it.

Why is it so frequently the most disputed category? Most often, it’s because there’s not a clear idea of the return you’ll receive on it. But here’s the thing: when you budget and delegate those dollars correctly, your marketing spend will come back to your business in spades.

Where to start when budgeting for marketing

It’s tough to say what’s best for your business without being close to it, but in general, the U.S. Small Business Administration recommends spending 7 to 8 percent of your gross revenue for marketing and advertising, if you’re doing less than $5 million a year in sales and your net profit margin (after all expenses) is in the 10-12 percent range.

There’s a benchmark from which you can start, yet the truth is you’ll find marketing experts report recommendations all over the board when it comes to average spend -- anywhere from 2-3 percent for startups to 20 percent for highly competitive industries. The key to finding your sweet spot? Knowing the right questions to ask, tracking results, and adjusting until it works for you. Let’s get started.

(Believe us: if we could give you the answer in one sentence, we would. Bear with us!)

Questions to ask to decide where to spend your marketing dollars

Asking the right questions about where to spend your marketing dollars can unearth answers that will help you determine your overall marketing spend. Here’s a list of questions to get you started:

1. What are your most important lead-generation tactics? This is a good time to look at historical results to see which of your lead-generation tactics have performed best. Did last year’s email marketing campaigns see the highest conversion or was it the yearly gala that drew the most leads?

2. If you were forced to choose just one lead-generation tactic to focus on in growing your business, what would it be? Where do you get the most bang for your buck when it comes to the high-performing tactics you listed above?

3. How do you implement that tactic? Take a look at the strategy behind the actual implementation of that tactic. What goes into it? Consider the cost of it, including time spent by you or your staff.

4. How do you package the process around that tactic? It’s not uncommon for businesses to say they “do” content marketing or in-person networking. But when’s the last time you documented the process around it? It’s only when you detail out the steps it takes that you can eliminate the unnecessary and streamline for the best outcome.

5. How do you measure both the process as well as the results? You can’t improve what isn’t measured. Measuring the process and the results it gleans is what will allow you to refine it and save time and money in the long run. (Keep reading to learn more about how to measure those results.)

So, we just threw five seemingly simple questions your way that will deceivingly take some time to answer, and may inspire some work on your part. In case you’re wondering why, here it is: it’s the answers to these questions that will allow you to set some standard benchmarks and spend your money where it counts most.

Ways to measure the results of your marketing efforts

Once you’ve identified your highest performing marketing tactics and the cost it requires to make them happen, you can take the following measurements to truly benchmark effectiveness:

Cost per lead

Cost per lead measures the total spend versus the amount of leads generated, allowing you to compare which lead tactics are the most cost-efficient. (Keeping in mind that cost efficient and “cheapest” are not always synonymous.)

Marketing Tactic*Total Cost(6 months)Total Leads(6 months)Cost Per Lead(Cost/Total leads)Trade Show$10,000100$100

Cost per sale

Cost per sale measures the total spend versus the amount of actual sales generated, proving which marketing tactics attract buyers

Marketing Tactic*Total Cost(6 months)Total Sales(6 months)Cost Per Sale(Cost/Total sales)Trade Show$10,00010$1,000

Return on investment (ROI)

Your return on investment is based on your gross sales divided by the total cost of acquiring those sales.

Marketing Tactic*Total Sales(6 months)Total Cost(6 months)Gross Sales(Total Sales x Total Cost)ROI per $1(Gross Sales/Total Cost)Trade Show10$10,000$100,000$10

While determining the ROI is the overall goal of any marketing measurement, the way you go about getting there will largely depend on the goal of your marketing, and how it aligns with the overall goals of the business.

Why the work? Zeroing in on your most effective lead- and revenue-generating tactics will allow you to systematize and measure them, so you can factor in the total cost when determining that dreaded marketing budget.

Don’t ignore inbound

Let’s take a little detour: your marketing budget will likely include a mix of outbound marketing (think: print media; TV  advertising; etc.) and inbound (i.e.: content marketing and social media). These days, with our constant access to the internet and consumers’ desire for permission-based, earned marketing rather than that which is pushed at us, your budget will likely include more of the latter.

The good news? Not only are inbound tactics more likely to keep prospective clients, referral sources, and current clients top of mind, but they also generate an average of 54 percent more leads at half the cost.

Planning for a (profitable) future

The most important thing in budgeting for your marketing is that all of your tactics -- both inbound and outbound -- support an integrated marketing strategy that supports the overall goals of your company. Market with a purpose so you can budget better. It’s what we help you do at Out & About.