Seminars for Willamette Valley Wineries Association in September

Driving Sales with Marketing-Driven Strategies– Tips on What You Can Start Implementing Today to Increase Demand for Your Wines

Members of the Willamette Valley Wineries Association are invited to attend my interactive, action-oriented two-hour seminar to help stimulate demand for your wines. We're hosting two sessions per day on Wednesday, September 23 and Thursday, September 24 in Dayton and Salem, respectively. Click here for registration information.

We will asses your winery’s particular situation and learn actionable ways to improve your positioning and sales. During the workshop we'll focus on how to do the following:

* Create a consistent and compelling image and story
* Make your web and social media sites work harder for you
* Build stronger wholesaler, customer and consumer communication and manage information flow more effectively
* Avoid top 5 marketing mistakes

Shoe Leather, Really Good Wine and a Smile

With all of the technology, social networking and events out there, sales and marketing can be overwhelming for any winery. While all of these and more -- business plan with strategies and tactics, the right people, great location, beautiful and functional website, consistent and compelling communication are necessary, it does make sense to make sure you're doing the most basic of things.

When it boils down to it, there are 3 basic "musts" for anyone marketing wine:

1. Shoe leather - buyers do not appear just because you've announced a launch, built a website or even gotten some good reviews. Selling wine still takes a hearty does of "shoe leather," or "pounding the pavement". Those most successful work the market.

2. Really good wine - good quality is obvious, but the wine must be really good, not just in terms of its quality, but when considering the interrelationship between quality, packaging and price. A $20 wine must taste and look like at least a $30 bottle, not the opposite -- a $30 bottle that tastes and looks $20, or worse. If you don't have really good wine, it's going to be more difficult. Period.

3. A smile - manners are still important! Never forget to be polite, say please and thank you, act the way your wine would want you to and smile.