The following letters were penned by innkeepers regarding the works of
Christine Gustafson, marketing specialist and owner of InnLight Marketing.

Considering hiring Christine Gustafson, InnLight Marketing? Please read on ...Being in the advertising/marketing industry exposes our company to an extremely large number of website designers. By far we place InnLight Marketing at the head of that list in terms of concept, creative design, and follow-through when it comes to travel websites. We are continually receiving compliments on the travel website we hired InnLight Marketing to create and its financial success has far exceeded expectations, due to a large part on the insights of InnLight Marketing prior to actual production. Not only was the design good looking, the thought process that went into its design was extremely effective. We strongly recommend InnLight Marketing if you are ever considering having a travel website designed.

Sincerely,
Gerry Rose
Vice President
May/Partners

Hello Christine: We want to thank you for all the hard work you put into our site and the speed with which you accomplished it. It all looks great. With kind regards, Derek and Roxann - La Belle Epoque, NapaBoutiqueInn.com

To any perspective clients considering hiring Innlight Marketing: Christine has been instrumental in helping me and my business grow. I continually calling on Christine to help with an idea or some advice. She is up-beat and positive when offering well thought out solutions. Christine makes sense out of some of my crazy marketing ideas. I find her to be responsive to the Inns needs and patient helping me understand the ever changing web world. Christine knows how to market Inns as well as teach Innkeepers.

Bobby Richards G.M./ Co-owner Lamp Lighter Inn - Sunset Suites and The Forest Lodge

Dear Christine:

You are truly amazing!! I have received so many compliments on the New web site you designed. Your attention to every detail, color scheme and just the way you put it all together. Your experience in creating a Bed & Breakfast web site is fantastic. I highly recommend InnLight Marketing to all perspective Bed & Breakfast Owners. I had so much fun working with you and look forward to working with you in the future. Thank You.

Sincerely,
Giuliano Giannone, Innkeeper
The Pack House Inn
(thepackhouse.com)

I have worked with Christine Gustafson for over ten years now, first through her association with CABBI and now through InnLight Marketing. She designed and maintains our web site, which gets rave reviews. I rely on her expertise about what works and what doesn't in marketing as she has a unique understanding of the bed & breakfast industry. Because of her efforts, our web presence is much stronger that it has ever been, which means more guests coming through our doors. Christine has an easy, warm demeanor which makes her very comfortable to work with....she is prompt and responsive and very professional as well. I have highly recommended Christine's services to several associates, and would not hesitate to do so again and again.

Kristi Hallamore Jeppesen, Owner
Glenelly Inn & Cottages
www.glenelly.com
e.mail: glenelly@glenelly.com
707.996.6720

From Santa Nella House, Guerneville, CA
We both want to thank you for designing a great web site. It has really been a big plus in our business and has made this a great experience. We have many comments about how well designed it is. You should feel complimented because some of these comments come from guest that are in the business for well established companies.

Sincerely,
Bob and Betsy

A recommendation from Michael & Stephanie McCaffrey, McCaffrey House Bed & Breakfast Inn - Pure Elegance in a Wilderness Setting:We have been working with Christine Gustafson for four years. In the first month Christine worked with us, she helped us write our mission statement, form a marketing plan which included updating our web site, web site marketing, rack card and post card designs, a return guest program, media marketing, and setting up a small gift shop. Needless to say she works tirelessly for her clients. Although we know Christine has many clients, we sometimes feel we are her only one. She finds time to listen, seems to always be in touch, answers emails and phone calls almost immediately, comes up with great ideas to promote our inn and has a calming effect during times of stress. Christine has a good eye for design and can turn around a project quickly. Our guests are always complimenting us on our web site They find it easy to use, comprehensive in content, and user friendlyWe love working with Christine and find her energy, creativity and love of what she does uplifting. She is a big part of our success and we appreciate all she has done for us. Christine believes in the clients she chooses to work with and helps us believe in ourselves. We are members of a regional association of bed and breakfast inns. Last year we recommended that our group hire Christine to design the association web site and to help some of our struggling members as well. She has since met with our group, redesigned the web site and helped some of our member inns. Over the years Christine and her husband / photographer - Frank Marshall - have become very good friends of ours and we look forward to working with them for many years to come.

Dear Innkeeper:

Christine Gustafson has done public relations for the Martine Inn for several years. She is very creative and we have had articles about the Martine Inn printed in 12 newspapers and magazines. She worked up our annual publicity campaign that includes special events and maximizing the use of our web site. She produced our first newsletter and it has been received extremely well. She has designed advertisements, undertaken photography projects, worked individually with members of our staff, and has added to the positive experience of our guests. Christine is reliable, timely and has wonderful contacts. She represents the Martine Inn currently and will continue to do so. I recommend her to you without reservation.

Sincerely,
Don Martine, Innkeeper & Co-founder of CABBI
California Association of Bed & Breakfast Inns
Martine Inn, Pacific Grove

Christine Gustafson has provided invaluable insight into marketing. First, she is knowledgeable and our most valuable interaction is in discussing what works and what doesn't. Second, she understands marketing to different tiers in the market. Third, through the conversations, we are able to craft a marketing plan that is not overly expensive. Marketing on the Internet can be extremely expensive, consuming not only dollars but also time, while, traditional marketing is in disarray. Even feature articles in major newspapers and magazines are not necessarily driving guests to inns.

Jeff Stanford
Stanford Inn & Spa, Mendocino

Dear Christine,

We have been working with you for over 6 years now. Your experience and knowledge of marketing as it applies to the Bed & Breakfast industry is truly amazing! Your focus, energy and enthusiasm keep us on the path to success. Your guidance produces results. It is consistent with our goals and takes advantage of the unique aspects of our property and personal strengths. We sincerely appreciate that you are both professional and fun to work with. Thank you!

Sincerely,
Ann & John
J. Patrick House Bed & Breakfast
Cambria California

Dear Christine:

It is my pleasure to highly recommend you and your marketing company. As we have multiple inns, all with different styles and needs, it’s been a bit of a puzzle to figure out what works best for each, but you made it look easy! It is much appreciated to have someone with your expertise to turn to in this world of ever changing technologies. Our inclusion in national publications and great presence on the web are to your credit.The ability to have a full service marketing company, complete with great photographer, has been a real plus. Our meetings have always been insightful, productive and pleasant. Your recommendations regarding publications, hosting services and web site services have always been right on and well received.We hope to have the pleasure of working with you for many years to come.

Cordially, Dawn Dull, Vagabond House Inn, Carmel, California

We have been working with Christine Gustafson for over a year now and what a difference we have noticed. We have an excellent web presence that we do not have to worry about or constantly change. Christine monitors and adjusts it for us and then lets us know what she has done. She is constantly coming up with ideas for us to try out and they all are very successful. Advertising for our Inn has become more focused and our increased occupancy reflects this. Anna and I love to work with Christine as she has become a special friend that truly cares about helping us grow as Innkeepers as our business grows. We look forward to a bright and prosperous future with Christine’s guidance. Christine understands our needs and knows what works due to her vast experience in the Bed & Breakfast Marketing Industry. Christine is friendly, responsive, enthusiastic and we just love working with her. We are anticipating a constant increase in our business directly due to Christine’s hard work and dedication. Thanks Christine, you are helping us make our dream a reality right before our eyes.

Stan and Anna Smith, Owners/Innkeepers
The Shelford House Bed and Breakfast Inn
Cloverdale, California
www.shelford.com
e-mail: info@shelford.com
707-894-5956

Dear Christine:

I want to thank you for all of the effective help and expert advise you have given us at La Belle Époque. From the moment we started working with you, you have been thoughtful, innovative, have clearly listened to what we wanted to accomplish and have been key to our achieving it. Your guidance and process in setting up an ongoing marketing calendar and monthly marketing goals is a significant key to our success. I look forward to continuing our positive and successful relationship. Should you need a reference or testimonial, please do not hesitate to ask for it.

Sincerely,
Lynnette Sands
www.labelleepoque.com

Dear Christine:

Thanks so much for all the effort you have put into the marketing of my little, but wonderful inn. I have just the three suites, but as you know I have put forth a great deal of love and effort into achieving a highly rated Bed and Breakfast in St. Helena. You have certainly helped me in this quest, you have helped me to realize very good traffic flow, and a great web site that finds its way to either the first page or the first three pages in many google search. Plus, I must say you are great fun to work with, always available to update my site or to give suggestions for promotions, or to take a new photo or two. I love your visits every year, and look forward to a strong continuing relationship!

Warm regards - Polly
Polly Keegan, owner/innkeeper
707-963-2238
www.adagioinn.com

Working with Christine has been an answer to a prayer. Innkeepers of small bed and breakfast businesses have many responsibilities that we may not be an expert at performing. It was a pleasure to find and work with a person that has an outstanding reputation in the field of web designing especially as it pertains to the bed and breakfast industry. Her marketing expertise, up-to-date packaging suggestions, and understanding of the unique intricacies of the bed and breakfast field has made her an invaluable part of our small business team. Christine is timely, responsive, and respectful of the people she works with while developing a professional product. She started developing our web site in July, it was up and running in August, and our monthly statistics for the past three months have surpassed all previous stats for the same time period. Also, a special added bonus in that Christine is a truly nice person. What more could a small bed and breakfast owner ask for!

Gail Golding
Lavender Hill Bed & Breakfast
Sonora, California

Dear Christine:

We must tell you we can see a major difference in our operation since working with you. We are more focused in our goals and objectives and are able to think in terms of how our decisions impact/help our goals and vision. You have provided invaluable advise that has helped us make our bed and breakfast a star attraction on the Central Coast.Before you redesigned our web site, our guests would comment during their stay that our web site did not do our inn justice. Since your redesign we now hear compliments that our inn is everything (and more) than they expected from the web site. Thanks to your help, we have been able to effectively increase our visibility on the internet and this has paid off in more bookings (with lots of repeat guests).Your tips on how to get publicity have also been very beneficial. We have now won first place in Inn Traveler’s Book of Lists for Best Breakfast in the USA for two years in a row. We also used your advise in reaching out to the community and it has paid many dividends for us.We enjoy working with you, enjoy your visits and also enjoy our friendship with you. You truly care about your clients and the bed and breakfast industry.

Sincerely,
Marjorie Ott, Owner
Olallieberry Inn
Cambria, CA

Hi Christine,

Just a note to tell you how much I truly appreciate you and the advice you have given me. So much has changed during the past 2 years that we have been working together. The direction that you have taken my inn, from the web site design and the ease in navigating the site (daily I receive compliments on that fact). My inn is also enjoying the fruits of your advice as to advertising and the closeness that you have worked with me not only to advise, but to the direction I wanted to take my business. Just to mention a few: webervations, gift certificates and the advertisers that I needed to add and those I needed to drop. It truly does make a difference to have professional guidance.

Even though I have owned and operated my inn for 20 successful years, I have found that marketing has changed radically from when I first started. Especially advertising and the entire marketing concept really does need to be left to someone with experience in that field.

Again, thank you and I do so are appreciate your advice and upbeat style.

With kind Regards,
Marlene McIntyre, Owner
Sea Gull Inn, Mendocino

I have been working with Christine Gustafson for three months now and she has saved my life! There were so many marketing projects which I wanted to get off the ground but did not know where to start. Christine adeptly and painlessly helped me to define my goals for the Inn. I quickly realized how little time I had been spending on marketing and how much I needed her expertise. She quickly went to work optimizing what marketing I had done and the difference was immediate! What I thought was going to be a mediocre year has turned into one of my best. It can be hard to have a working relationship where you are on opposite coasts but Christine makes it easy! She is enthusiastic and always interested in my life and my business; always responsive to my needs when I know she has tons of other projects going on at the same time. I feel like I am her only client. I look forward to continuing to work with her. We still have a lot of projects to tackle!

Heidi Senkler Godbout, Innkeeper
North Bridge Inn - Concord, MA

From: Georgia Jump, Owner / Innkeeper
Former Owner of La Belle Époque
Napa, California Dear Christine: I want to thank you for all your help and expert advise you have given us at La Belle Époque. As you know, I wanted a "Publicity Program" for our inn for some time but really could not personally afford to give the time necessary or the money necessary to have an outside firm do the work. Then CABBI came up with your program which was both affordable and excellent. Through you guidance we have set up goals and a time schedule to accomplish those goals. That alone has helped me focus on the job at hand. The press release you wrote was excellent as were the photos. We were featured on the front page of a local paper who used your press release WORD FOR WORD along with the photos. The phone is still ringing with the mention of the FRONT PAGE ARTICLE thanks to you. In closing, I can only tell you I look forward to the continuation of our ongoing project.

Sincerely,
GEORGIA JUMP

Dear Christine:
Sandy and I would like to take this opportunity to express our appreciation for the work you've done on behalf of the Eureka Street Inn. We originally considered that your involvement in the marketing/advertising aspect of our business would be somewhat limited because of Sandy's extensive marketing background. We were wrong on several points. First, there are unique requirements in effectively marketing in the Bed and Breakfast industry, i.e., not only specific marketing skills but intimate knowledge of varied media/marketing resources. And, like many small businesses, regardless of how much experience you have in your own industry, it is always difficult to find the time to organize all of the projects into a cohesive, achievable plan. In addition to the industry specific information you provided, your creative talent combined with your organizational skills enabled us to develop a marketing plan, tailored to our inn, which is organized, prioritized and infinitely achievable within a specified time frame. Secondly, as a marketing plan is developed, there must be ready access to the developer. How many times have we all become enthusiastic about a given project only to be disappointed by an inability to remain in constant communication with key resources? How refreshing it was to be able to call, knowing that you would be readily available with sound advice and quality input. Anyone enlisting your services will benefit far beyond the initial cost, regardless of how long they have been in the innkeeping business. We believe that this is the best resource that CABBI has to offer! Your enthusiasm, dedication and special talents will serve to increase business exposure and revenue better than any other marketing idea that we have seen. Truly, we thank you not only your creative inspiration, but for providing the Eureka Street Inn with a marketing and media plan that we believe will well support the growth of our inn.

Sincerely,
Chuck and Sandy Anderson
Eureka Street Inn
Sutter Creek, CA 95685