Category — AmericanWinery.com News

So, if you’ve been living under a rock the last 18 months, you would not know who Gary Vaynerchuk is. He’s the guy with a crazy popular wine video show that you need to check out.  But for all who have heard of Gary, I have an offer for you…AmericanWinery.com is begining a promotion as of today. We bought a truck load of Gary’s new book, “101 Wines: Guaranteed to Inspire, Delight, and Bring Thunder to Your World” maybe not a truck load but our accountant was puzzled.  Scheming to sell the books for record profits was quickly shot down in board meetings, and then Erica Sharp our Customer Service Evangelist said she’d quit unless we give the books away.  Erica’s value far outweighed the profits to be had and the “101 Wines in 101 Days AmericanWinery.com Promo” was born. 

Thats right, getting your hands on one is as easy as creating a free account at AmericanWinery.com, no purchase neccesary to keep the ABC folks at bay, but every day for 101 days we are giving these books out in droves, or maybe a steady book a day, we dont know yet but we got a bunch of them to get out there, see for your self!  Check out how you can get a free copy of the book head over here

To check out my official review as well as two other awesome reviews of Gary’s book go here

Cheers,
Lloyd Benedict

What a fantastic Thursday.  Today AmericanWinery.com reached a new milestone that further establishes AW as the premier location to browse, search, and purchase premium wines shipped directly from the source.  Since we began the marketplace in November 2007, nearly 8 months ago, American Winery has paved new territory and redefined what is possible in the domestic wine scene.  2,000 offerings, wines that range from extrememly rare and hard to find, to boutique estates, to good value offerings–AmericanWinery.com is an extremely efficient site that helps winemakers make more cash for their wine while ensuring buyers get access to all the good stuff you can’t find on the grocery shelves–its all about access, I will write more on that later…

So how exactly did AW build a base of over 350 wineries, 2000 wines, in the marketplace and nearly 1300 for the profile service in just over one year?  The anwer is simple.  We are a value inspired company, driven by results.  The fact we don’t put the winery in the hole when they begin our service is not a coincidence.  I firmly believe that making wine in the US is one of the most difficult pursuits, requiring levels of determination and hardships that go beyond just “running a business.”  In a industry driven by a tryranny of middlemen that squeeze pipelines and funnel millions to keep their unwarranted strangle holds on the American winemaker, Wineries are stretched dry.  When it comes to the web and a winery’s opportunity to sell wine direct over the web, I felt that there had to be a better way.

Marketplaces and the “power in numbers” shopping mall approach are tested and proven methods of bringing buyers and sellers together to drive commerce.  Think Amazon, think Ebay, and think your local malls that house a JC Penny, Sears, Macy’s and Bloomingdales.  Textbook competitors but they know when they sit in the same mall people come to this place and spend money on everyone.  This is the same mentality I maintained when building AmericanWinery.com.  Give Wineries a place to express their brand, present their products, and give buyers a consolidated, streamlined, beautiful and guaranteed shopping experience.

Goals.  2000 wines is great and all, but if there are no buyers, there is no value.  I am thrilled to see the % of wineries making sales on AW going up.  As of the date of this blog post, every month 20% more of AW wineries receive orders that would not have existed otherwise.  However this is just the itty bitty tip of the iceberg for this group.  Unique views to AW are growing and AW is averaging 15,000 uniques a month with a goal of averages between 35 and 50 thousand within six months.  AmericanWinery.com and the dedicated group behind it are fired up and on the path of establishing the greatest American wine based site out there!  Watch out!

Cheers,

Lloyd Benedict

Founder | Ceo

AmericanWinery.com

I was lucky enought to be invited to speak at the Walla Walla Wine Marketing Summit being held at the Walla Walla Enology and Viticulture Center.  I will be speaking about “Innovative Ways to Market Wine on the Web.”

I am so stoked to do this because I have so much to say.  With FREE sites like Twitter, Facebook, Digg, My Space, and many more, marketing and building relationships to consumers has never been cheaper–for the first time your resulting sales made through this channel are only dependent on how much effort you expend.

This is a big deal because the net levels the playing field in so many ways for small wineries…the type of wineries the make up the majority of WW producers.  

Some areas Im going to explore in my hour and fifteen minutes.

Basic “Best Practice” web marketing initiatives–from emai aquisition programs, frequent communications, blogs and video journals.

The Facebook and Google Phenomenon–What this means to your winery and the future of marketing.

SMO–Social Media Optimization, FREE ways to get the word out about your wines and let your wine lovers sell your wine!

SEO–Basic Introduction to Search Engine Optimization and the importance of being the top results on Google.

This is sure to be a great event for northwest wineries looking to build bulletproof marketing plans.

Cheers,

Lloyd Benedict

Details For The Walla Walla Wine Marketing Summit

When? 
June 15.16.17, 2008

Where? 
Center for Enology & Viticulture
500 Tausick Way 
Walla Walla, Washington 99362

Who Should Attend?
Wine marketers, wine sales, concierge staff, tasting room staff, winery owners and anyone desiring a professional understanding of the marketing and sales of wine from the Pacific Northwest.

What will you learn? 
Participants will learn about new channel focused methods and tools for selling wine direct, to retail and to on-premise accounts. Industry experts and innovators will lead informative sessions that include:

• Finding New Markets for your Wines
• Marketing Sustainability – Understanding Consumer Market Trends
• New Ways to Rethink Your Direct Sales
• How to Maximize your Selling Potential with Wine Club Members
• Get Your Wines on the “List” – Working with Restaurant Wine Buyers
• How to Partner with Retail to Extend Your Brand
• Distributors, Agents and the Likes… Understanding the World of Distribution
• Plus much more!

Cost 
$295 for the two day conference. Cost includes Welcome Reception, lunch each day and comparative tasting (must be 21 years old).

Register Now!

Next Wednesday I am off to San Francisco for Wine 2.0, this will be my second year in attendance and I am as stoked as ever about this event. This year over 200 leaders in the web and wine sphere will rendezvous for what will sure to be a banging time. Last years highlights were panel discussions from top leaders succeeding on the web with their current wine tech ventures. Panelists included Cameron Hughes, CEO Cameron Hughes Wine, Gary Vaynerchuk, Star of Wine Library TV, Michael Brill, Founder of CrushPad, and many others.

This years venue is being held at CrushPad and the event will be without the panel, and will take shape as a more informal networking party. This year there will venture capitalist groups in attendance making the event a possible opportunity for newer companies to score some funds. I look forward to this event for so many reasons. Firstly it gives me the opportunity to connect with many folks in the industry that I dont see nealy often enough due to the fact my company is based in Walla Walla, WA and most of these companies are located in SF or Napa. Secondly this trip allows me to see what developments are being made on all fronts in this industry. Last year I took so many insights back to WW with me that directly turned into features and service on AmericanWinery.com, ultimately benefiting my winery partners. Wineries are encouraged to attend this event.

AmericanWinery.com is a proud sponsor of this event.

For more information and registration info go to www.winetwo.com

WHEN:
Thursday
April 24th
7pm - 10pm

WHERE:
Crushpad, Inc.
2573 3rd Street
San Francisco, CA 94107
DIRECTIONS

Lloyd | lloyd@americanwinery.com