Becky's Page

Hi Becky and thanks for the friend request. I am working on my own website (enocentric.com) that I hope to have up and running in a month or so. Congrats on your new site. I am about to find out how easy/hard it is! LOL.
Ciao,
Susan Guerra

Thank you Becky for your friend request. Your food looks absolutely delicious!
Cheers,
Judit & Corina
WineDineTV.com

People are being bombarded with emails and solicitations about wines. It's quite difficult to gain the customer's attention. Facebook and Twitter certainly have their place, but nothing beats tasting the wines and getting consumers to enjoy the experience. That's not always possible, though.

Wine Clubs are tanking. I actually cancelled four wine clubs today. Two of them asked why, one offered to keep me as a member for 6 months without receiving wine but still getting benefits, so I'm staying with that. Two of them merely asked for my name and address and then hung up. So there's a lot to learn too. Many wineries simply do not know what to do.

Hi Becky,
Small wineries certainly can't market their product the way the big companies do, and they shouldn't! The appeal of small wineries is that they are special. They make a product that is given extra attention throughout the wine making process. Full page ads in national lifestyle rags do not say "This is a special wine". Because of this, I don't see the, "slice of the marketing pie" getting smaller. It's just not the same pie.

Small wineries need to be savvy with their marketing budget. They need to be acutely aware of who their customer is and target that market ferociously. Straying outside their demo is just a waste of money unless there is clear and measurable plan to win a new market. The "carpet bomb" approach is clearly unsustainable for a winery with a limited budget! Knowing exactly who your customers are will allow you to focus those marketing dollars accurately and get your message in front of the right eyes.

For the money, there is no better medium to reach your specific audience than the internet. Every demographic is represented with thousands of sites where advertising is relatively cheap on a click-through basis and social networking sites like Facebook and Myspace have hundreds of thousands of members. Small wineries can make their own "groups" and invite people to join them. Soon a community will form and your brand is getting noticed. This e-Marketing approach is not for everyone. It's far less expensive than print, but It takes time and dedication. Like the vine, your on-line community needs to be tended to if you want it to grow. If you think you can plant a few seeds and then sit back to watch you’re going to be less than amazed at the results. But with the right effort your e-Marketing will bear fruit.

Hi Becky, in response to your question. There are lots of wine drinkers in NY that are looking for something different (small production wines, value/undiscovered regions, etc.). Price will always be an issue, but critic scores are less important if you can build trust with your customers. I try to stock my store with wines that offer a great quality-to-price ratio (regardless of price point). In most cases if you offer the customer a wine that drinks better than it's respective price point, and you have appropriately guided them through the shopping experience (i.e. listen to them and give them a product that makes sense), they'll keep coming back.

http://www.valley-vineyards.com/

Check them out!

Thanks for reading, Becky!

The Concord is a sweet wine that is plentiful and cheap here. The juice can be turned into jellies and jams by Smuckers in NE Ohio or wine. Other than a communion wine or as a mixer for some kinds of punch drinks, I don't see much use for it myself.

That's nice to know - maybe we can do something together. My wife is from Macau and Hong Kong, and still has family there. Who knows. Thanks