7 Benefits of a Press Release for Every Business

For the business of every size and industry, press releases deliver exceptional results, which mean that they can work like a magic wand to grow your online presence and boost exposure. This brings us to the next question: what should you expect from a top-notch press release writing service provider?

It can be a crucial marketing element for a business because of the probabilities for free media coverage. The news release is a key weapon in the fight to make your brand get noticed by a large number of audiences. When you exploit them to the fullest extent you can count on these 7 benefits-

1. All businesses can benefit from press release distribution services. No matter how small or big your company is and no matter what industry you’re in, you can benefit from this distribution. Though you may not have that “Oprah story”, you surely do have stories that can help you get coverage online. Certainly, you won’t get that publicity unless you enlighten your story.

2. It is easy on the pocket. Most of the companies write down the PRs of their own. The only cost comes with hiring press release writing and distribution service is to get the story in the right hands of key media members. But even this is economical, and when compared with other advertising, especially paid advertising; it is almost always the most affordable option.

3. It boosts your company’s visibility and presence online. This is especially vital for small businesses, but even big businesses need to fight for user mindshare. By following a long-term PR distribution strategy, you make customers know who you’re, what you do, and how you can help them.

4. It can help establish you as an industry expert. Why is it essential to be seen as an expert? Firstly, expertise assists you to gain customer’s trust. Once they found you as reliable, they’re more likely to use your product/services. Additionally, being an expert is beneficial for media relations.

5. Use your news to acquire more customers. With today’s online PR, the media is no longer the only audience you are writing for. More than 80 million people read news online daily. Most of the, are your customers. So, you must consider your buyers when writing your PRs. But remember not to convert it into an advertisement.

6. Investors keep up with the latest news too. They show up the advancement and successes made by your company can be influential tools for attracting investors.

7. It can provide worldwide reach. Depending on the service offered and its target audience, it can boost your online reach and exposure worldwide.

How Should You Select a Press Release Distribution Service?

So, after knowing the benefits of effective PR writing, you may probably wonder how you can choose the most suitable and reliable distribution service provider for such type of content. In this case, it is recommended to select the one that is completely compatible with your goals, needs, and budget.

With numerous free and paid alternatives available for you, it is very important to filter your choice based on the exposure/traffic opportunities and SEO benefits offered by them. Also, you might want to go with a service provider with a high level of authority and credibility.

Benefits of Mass Media For a Business

Over the past 15 years, mass media has changed dramatically. Improvements in applications, technologies, changes in consumer needs and an explosion of new media platforms have all played a part in this unprecedented evolution.

Now one can flip back and forth between several websites on the World Wide Web, 24-hour cable channels and even radio programs to stay connected to business news. Access to products and services on the Internet is no more a complicated issue in today’s “informed” times. These changes in the business end of media marketing are just some of many factors that have altered the way media is now managed, reported and used.

Today, business communications are not immune from the appeal of mass media. Many businesses have already benefited from this kind of marketing. If you want your business to create a niche on the web map, it is advisable to go for thoughtfully planned media endeavors. It is always good to remember that communications work is not merely a way to advertise products or services for a business in the media or before the general public – it can also help a business to reach its programmatic goals without any hiccups. Such an awareness campaign can help attain good results when it comes to engaging the public. Giving importance to appealing web designs templates and web development sites can prove to be an excellent option for a business in the long run.

In addition to such awareness campaigns, social networking sites and Weblogs (blogs for short) can prove to be excellent options for a business interested in creating awareness about itself, its products and services. This is mainly because modern day customers spend a lot of their time on these web mediums.

To stay close to optimum marketing benefits, a business must always offer itself as a resource, ready and full of clear, precise and unambiguous information when going for small business website development. Moreover, this information must be relevant to the goals and vision of the business.

It is important to note that dedicated commitment and strategic thinking are required to make the most of mass media campaigns. If you really want your business to move ahead of competition then patience and thoughtful planning are the best virtues before expecting any long-term results.

10 Benefits Of Being An Entrepreneur

1. Being in control:

The best thing about an entrepreneur is that he is in absolute control of his life. He does not have to report to anybody. He can take a vacation any time he feels he needs one. He gets to decide what can happen in his venture. Best of all, nobody can fire him. It totally rocks to be your own boss and to create your own destiny.

2. Work becomes Fun:

Now, most people who work in 9 to 5 jobs always get exhausted at the end of the day and they dread the morning of the next day. Especially, after the weekends. Some call them “Monday Morning Blues”. Now, an entrepreneur works 24/7 and thus puts all of his energy into his work. By working this hard, he enjoys whatever he does and because of this, whatever venture he puts his effort into, will eventually turn out to be a great success. Work is what one is obliged to do while fun consists of what one is not obliged to do. (From Tom Sawyer-Mark Twain.) So now the equation is WORK=FUN.

3. Free from Boredom:

Arthur Schopenhauer, the great German thinker and philosopher says that there are two kinds of misery. One is the misery of the working class another is the ennui of the born-rich, the fashionable society.

Misery of the working class: Because these people are busy generating wealth for others, the only thing they crave for everyday is REST. They wish to enjoy life to its limits but they can’t. They are constrained by their work.

Misery of the fashionable society: Now, these are the few individuals most people desire to become. It really is a wonderful thing to be rich and do all the things that a typical “working class” person dreams of doing. Now let us look from a celebrities’ perspective. Because these “filthy rich” people get to do any thing they desire, they actually come to a state where, nothing much else gives them a “high”. Parties sound like fun and having physical pleasures very tempting. Now imagine doing the same things over and over again in a dull monotony. Then you come to a state of “ennui”, a state of absolute boredom. The other end where the “pendulum” of life swings to, according to Schopenhauer. So, to stimulate their senses further than that which is natural, the typical celebrity resorts to drugs, which is just the beginning of a complete destruction for them.

Now, an entrepreneur, though gets to be really rich, is not in this primarily for enjoying the pleasures of the rich. Getting to execute his ideas is what satisfies him. For a true entrepreneur, work is not a means to an end. It is an end in itself. The process is as rewarding to him as is the end product. Because an entrepreneur is consumed by his desire to work hard, he gets really no time to engage in trivialities of everyday life. Now, how can he get bored?

4. Better relations with other people:

Because an entrepreneur is very busy, he will have very little time for others. Because of this, he will not become “Over Familiar” with others, which is the root cause for finding faults in others resulting in mischievous gossips. He will have only contact with people of his own caliber and usually this kind of friendship lasts for life.

For example, take George Washington Carver, the great American scientist. He was self educated and was the man behind peanut butter. It was he who discovered natures secrets by the hundreds. He singlehandedly changed the course of many agriculture based industries through his hard work and dedication. And the more familiar Henry Ford. These two great men who worked hard all their life, forged a great relationship and were there for each other till the end. Or take the case of Bill Gates and Warren Buffet. Bill Gates thought he had nothing in common with Warren Buffet who was an Investor.Bill Gates had scheduled his meeting only for half hour. But when Gates met him, the meeting lasted for Ten Hours! Such is the power of those who work hard on their own free sweet will!

5. Self Confidence:

Because an entrepreneur trusts in himself more than anything else, it unlocks the Giant that is present within himself. Coupled with the tremendous effort that goes with the task of getting an enterprise up and running, an entrepreneur is sure of success. This success breeds more success which in return instills greater faith in himself. After all, who does not wish to be self confident.

6. Giving back to the Society:

It is truly a great privilege to be given an opportunity to give back to the society. Entrepreneurs create wealth and job opportunities for others. This way, many lives are touched and changed for the better. By giving back to the society an entrepreneur experiences a sense of meaning and purpose in his life, which others, merely by accumulating wealth will never get to feel. Money to a real entrepreneur is merely a tool and never an end in itself.

7. Free from wants:

A passionate entrepreneur will not have the desire for any thing material because he has so little time for frivolities. Because he is completely immersed in his work, he is satisfied with whatever physical comforts he already has.

8. Being original and true to oneself:

Most people do things to please others. They do not have any thoughts of their own. Instead, they live the lives that others dream up for them. They want to please their children or friends or their parents and sincerely do what is expected of them to do. They live double lives all the time. Doing things they don’t want to do, talking stuff they don’t believe in just so as to fall in line with others. As the saying goes, “No man is an island unto himself”. Entrepreneurs however are a rare breed. They do exactly what they want and say precisely what they believe in. You may criticize them, show them their defects or mock at them, but the one thing you cannot do is influence them. Entrepreneurs are whole souled beings who think their own thoughts and live their own lives. Thus they are not split in their minds between their inner and outer lives.

9. Enjoying time-out:

An entrepreneur will in all likelihood enjoy every second of the time they spend outside of their work. Events like movies, trekking or simply chatting with friends become very special because of the little time they get. They understand that they might not get an opportunity for indulging in these activities frequently and so enjoy every moment of it.

10. The Exhilaration of Success:

Very few get to experience the sweet taste of success. An entrepreneur accepts the challenges, works hard to overcome them and when victory results, he savors the moment. Even when he fails in the beginning, he does not lower his head nor does he give up because he believes in the essence of what Theodore Roosevelt once quoted

“It is not the critic who counts, nor the man who points how the strong man stumbled or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena; whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly, who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, and spends himself in a worthy cause; who, at best, knows the triumph of high achievement; and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.”An Entrepreneur is, by his very innate constitution poised only for success.

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Branding a Winery and Its Wine Is Expensive, Necessary and Benefits the Consumer No Matter the Size

A discussion about branding is generally not a conversation anticipated with excitement. If you’re a marketing type it can be characterized as maybe interesting. But, promising most people an indepth discussion on the subject of wine branding; heck, we might have no one accepting an invitation to our dinner party. In reality, creating a brand image for wineries and wines can help the consumer to be smart buyers.

Because margins can be small for producers and a perponderance of producers are small, small margins impact the small producer profoundly. Branding can be expensive. So what can be done to entice consumers to try a brand they have never heard of before? Now we are talking about branding and it can be risky, even with great planning. Further, it is a lot of compromising.

What impact did branding have on the last bottle of wine you bought? Did you buy that wine because you knew some enticing fact about the winery, winemaker or their wine making processes? Did you buy a wine based upon a friend’s recommendation because they knew your preference for a certain varietal? Have your preferences for a wine changed over the past few years? Do you buy your wine based upon a random trial and found you liked that particular wine? Whatever the process you went through in buying a wine you have been impacted, to some degree, by branding. If you simply selected a wine based upon its price or label design, branding was involved.

Recently, I have had discussions concerning the process of business branding from a corporate perspective and a product perspective. Most of the emphases of these discussions have been specific to the value of branding a winery and their wines; predominately with small producers. Like most everything in business, decisions are generally based upon compromises in budgets, approach, etc. Obviously, the product of a winery is bottles of various varietal wines which are a disposable product that is consumed based upon ever changing sensory perceptions–mostly taste. I submit that the juxtaposition in branding a winery and their products makes this discussion difficult. For example, many wines I like and buy frequently, I don’t even know who produces them. Further, winery brands I recognize, some of their wines I don’t like for various subjective reasons.

Point being, in most branding discussions relating to the wine industry become convoluted. Wineries produce multiple labels and these labels are subjected to consumer reviews that are based on innumerable personal influences. With so many variables, the task of presenting a positive image about a corporate winery brand is difficult.

We all are influenced by branding to some degree, even minimally. For example, a few years ago Tide was going to stop sponsoring NASCAR races. Surprisingly, they found that Tide had a rabid and loyal following with female NASCAR fans and Tide is still a sponsor. The brand had made a commitment and now wanted to change it.

Another example of branding impact is Schlitz beer. In the late 1960’s Schlitz decided to change their formula for brewing their beer. Immediately they went from a premier label, ahead of Budweiser, to being virtually extinct. In 2008, they went back to their original formula of the 1960’s, but the damage to a great brand was permanent.

These examples of powerful brands are obvious. In the case of Schlitz it shows how fragile a brand can be if the consumer is betrayed. However, wine is not a mass market product (like beer) that is as ubiquitous as beer or a laundry detergent. Compared to wine, consumers do not build beer cellars in their home and collect beer. So, wine is a very unique product that is expensive to brand on a per customer basis (this is especially true when consumers understand the discounting needed for distributors to sell and promote a label (discounting is part of the branding strategy).

The demographics for the wine market are broken down into 5 segments with some under 21 years old in the millennial category. This is according to a Wines and Vines Newsletter. The largest segment of wine drinkers are the millennia’s and Generation xers making up 70% of the 5 market segments (Baby Boomers included). Wine Business Monthly estimates 1 of 4 drinking consumers do not drink wine but prefer beer or spirits. Of the 130 million adult populations it is estimated 35% drink some wine, according to Live Science. This illustrates the finite size of the market and the precision required in branding to be effective in developing a consumer’s perception of a corporate winery brand.

For this discussion on winery branding, Wines and Vines tells us that the average price of a bottle of wine keeps inching up and is now approximately $12. The real sweet spot is in the $10-15 per bottle range. When a winery looks at the cost of raw materials, marketing, packaging, sales/discounting and facilities and G/A the margins are restrictive when planning a new or improved branding program. Wineries in this position need volume and a 5,000 case run makes branding challenging, but not impossible.

Using the best information available for this discussion, we assume there are about 44% of the populations who do not drink any alcoholic beverages. Based upon population distribution within the 5 demographic segments there are approximately 65 million people who drink some wine at least monthly. We will assume here that they will buy approximately 3-4 bottles of wine per month (probably a generous assumption). This information could account for the purchase of approximately 220 million bottles of wine in the US. These purchaseswould be for home consumption with an additional amount for restaurant sales and meeting/convention sales.

Here is where the branding issues become real. There are 8,500 wineries in the U.S. 80% of these wineries produce 5,000 cases or less of wine. To add perspective, Gallo produces in excess of 80 million cases of wine in a year for worldwide sales. Keeping with the small producer for the moment, this wine is sold via the winery tasting room, winery wine clubs, on-line (Direct to Consumer), retailers (which includes grocery stores) via Three Tier Distribution that requires discounting to the distributors for retailer discounts, sale commissions, promotions and their advertising.

Remember, there has been no discussion of the wines that are imported from Italy, France, Chile, Argentina, Spain, Portugal, South Africa, New Zealand and Australia. This is important because these producers/importers are worried about branding their products also; this causes a lot of clutter in the market.

It is probably apparent there are large producers, from all over the world, selling wine in America. Some wines do enjoy strong brand recognition such as Yellow Tail from Australia or Gallo from Lodi, CA. Beringer, Mondavi, and Coppola in Napa Valley are also high in brand recognition. In Sonoma we have Kendall Jackson and Rodney Strong. Interestingly, it takes strong revenue and profits to build a brand and if you are a small producer the money it takes for consumer branding activities is prohibitive. We need to always remember every brand (corporate or product) must be positioned differently as an image.

We see that sales of 4 or 5 bottles of wine per month to U.S. consumers is a daunting task just to get trials of the product. This is one of several reasons why wineries are spending more on improving direct sales through their tasting rooms, wine clubs, on-line (Direct to Consumer) sales and social media.

Let’s talk about corporate winery branding. The industry needs an honest relationship with consumers. Otherwise the customer belongs to the 3 Tier Distributor or wine store and the sale becomes exponentially expensive going forward. A winery must define their image, product niches, consumer profile and be targeted to the consumer with a message specific to their targeted consumer. Wine Business.com reports that the vast majority of wine consumers buy wine based upon taste. But, taste is only one of the differentiators. Obviously, wineries have to get the taster.

Branding

Effective branding is about bringing a corporate name, the company’s products, or the services to be top of mind awareness for the customer. A product may even have more recognition/branding than the company name. For example, Kleenex is more recognized than Kimberly Clark which manufacturers Kleenex. That is fine.

Wine is mostly sold, not by a winery name or a label but first through price. Of the 10,000 plus varietals in the world, California has mostly focused on maybe 25 varietals for wine and wine blending. This fact makes it even harder to brand a winery when people look for price first and varietal in third place according to Dr. Thach and Dr. Chang. Number two is branding.

Now consider the changes impacting the wine business. The industry is now impacted with labels and brands announcing: organic wines, sustainable wines, and bio-dynamic farming wines.These add a new twist to branding considerations. Over the past few years there are some trying to brand lower alcohol levels, and medals. Talk about branding overload.

Branding Impact

Wineries must recognize, after the decision is made to add focus to the company and/or its products, the company branding effort must be impacted throughout the organization. It will require constant development, refinement, monitoring, and administration. Finally, a corporate identity must become the culture at the winery. In Dr. Thach and Dr. Chang 2015 survey of: American Wine Consumer Preferences, 61% of their respondents had visited multiple wineries in California alone. This means, if a branding message being put out into the marketplace is not part of the winery culture the brand will be diminished. Consumers will see that culture in action at the winery.

Marketing is not all there is to branding, but it is significantly ahead of number two. Marketing is part of branding because it touches and introduces the brand to consumers, retailers, vendors and the community. There are many large companies that spend vast sums of money on building corporate brand without selling specific products. Boeing is such a company; consumer does not buy $300 million airplanes however they do respond to image.

Finally, companies/brands must protect their image at all costs. Once the Branding Plan (akin to a business plan) is developed, with a good foundation of research and winery metrics, that plan will dictate many things. For example: product launches and new product launches, dictate the messages coming from the company, employee hiring, PR, packaging, and the list encompasses every department is a winery.

Elements to Illustrate Branding Tasks

· Bottle labels and winery logo-Label creativity is still at the mercy of the TTB (Alcohol & TobaccoTax and Trade Bureau) relative to label content. Still it is part of the image that appears to the consumer on the shelf; it’s an identifier.

· Marketing/advertising/sales/collateral materials/PR/Sponsorships are front and center. The consumer facing image is throughout–club, on-line and tasting room sales and mailing list. Give consumers value beyond just the product.

· Training plan-Training must be centric to developing and reinforcing a new branding strategy. Employees at all levels must buy into the corporate and product positioning, not just public contact employees.

· Packaging is an element that ties the label and logo message together. In wine branding even the bottle shape and weight, closures (screw caps/cork/synthetic cork), capsules/foils, all go into the branding perceptions.

· Product consistency-Consumers who eventually accept a brand expect consistency. As the saying implies-If it isn’t broke, don’t fix it.

· Website, blog and social media are major elements to create, reinforce and maintain branding for products and corporate. Customer feedbacks will give almost immediate indications if the brand strategy is generating desired results and achieving benchmarks.

With wineries producing many varietal and blended wines under their corporate brand it is probably more important that the winery brand be face forward. This is a personal opinion and probably will vary based upon ownerships’ strategies for the business. For example, if a winery wanted to position the property for a sale then branding would have a different approach than a launch of a new label.

If you are a wine consumer the branding activity can be entertaining and enlightening. For example, as a consumer we enjoy winery tastings, but the chances of visiting more than a handful of wineries may be out of the question. But with so many wines and so little time, part of the fun is exploring new wines. For a winery, branding really becomes important and especially if your small but want to create a brand that meets your business expectations for a 5, 10 or 20 year time frame.

There are many occasions when I go into a Total Wines or BevMo or our grocery store, just to do fun research. With a note pad and a magnifying glass (required because of age and fine print) I will read labels for information-winery, blending, and a little of the hype. Coming home I will look up the winery website, read about their wines and form an opinion about the brand simply based on the feel of the site, label designs, the winemaker, and past awards (although that is not all that important). If I am interested I sometimes even call a winery to ask questions about the winery, owners and style of winemaking.

Amazingly, the majority of the time the people answering my questions are ill prepared.

Importance of research is not appreciated by consumers and producers. Research focuses on industry matters, winery/winery products and competition concerning the following: image, price, products, promotions, lace, historical data and competition (brands). This data will eventually direct the Branding Plan efforts.

Knowing the consumer, defining the future plans of the winery and product directions, now is the time to get to work on the business of branding. Half of the effort is about where the winery wants to go and how the winery gets there. Research gives a path. A branding without a written plan bought into by employee implementers is called gambling.

For the purpose of discussion we will assume a winery has not really focused on branding and this would be an early effort at branding. Or, maybe the current branding is not generating the desired results; then a change is in order. Sometimes branding is only to build awareness or it is image branding. If a customer can’t tell a winery’s researcher their perceptions/attributes of a wines brand then branding efforts have weaknesses.

Moving forward with the data points from industry research and the research initiated by the winery, a branding plan must be developed that focuses on the corporate brand image as well as the wines (products).

Mission Statement versus Objectives is always confusing. Some companies want a Mission Statement as a starting point of a branding plan. I am the exception to this rule; most Mission Statements I have been involved with are actually too esoteric and enigmatic to be useful throughout the organization. However, most everyone can relate to an “objective” statement as opposed to a “mission”. Here is the Mission Statement from Constellation Brands who owns Robert Mondavi-“Building brands that people love. “Their Vision statement reads-“To elevate life with every glass raised.” Do these statements resonate with you as a wine drinker? (By the way, this is not meant as a slight to Constellation Brands which is a highly successful company that has an impressive portfolio of brands) Answer this question relative to the Vision and Mission statement of any of their brands or the corporate brand image: What is your top of mind awareness of Constellation Brands after reading these statements?

In developing a branding plan objective and strategy, be focused on what the all encompassing goals are so that along the way most employees and consumers understand the message.

If this is the first time to work on a branding plan it might be best to focus on a Corporate/Winery branding strategy and let that strategy support branding objectives for the wine products. Branding is ultimately building the public’s (wine consumers) impression of the winery and the products.

For example, in the 1980’s whenever someone mentioned Robert Mondavi Wines I thought instantly of a winery with community involvement, arts, food, innovation and quality control. I drank a lot of their wines because of that image. After some turmoil, of which I know little about, I started buying other brands because my perception of the image became tarnished (to me). After Mr. Mondavi became distant for the brand it just lost some appeal. Point is a corporate brand built my perception of the wines.

After a Brand Plan objective is determined, based upon research results and the vision of the owners/managers, the specific strategies and plan-of-action items are developed by all winery departments. Think of the Objective as a military operation. Taking a hill is the objective, no more specific than that. Strategies are the options to achieve that objective.

There is always a cost associated with any launch of a branding program or even maintaining a brand. The impetus of the effort is marketing driven as that is the face of the company. Based upon revenues, cost of distribution (wine club, direct to consumer, distributors, on-line, tasting room), and product associated costs, the branding effort will dictated by a series of complex decisions; not all of which will be revenue or profit motivated.

The branding campaign can simply start off by maximizing existing marketing programs to incorporate new branding ideas. For example, add an updated logo to collateral materials or posters or point-of-sale cards. Improve e-mail communications to mail list, club members, retailers and even editors/bloggers at trade publications.

Not that the importance of branding needs further reinforcement, I digress. There was a research study conducted by Dr. Liz Thach and Dr. Kathryn Chang and published in WineBusiness.com. A question in that study ask respondents: When making a decision on which wine to purchase what were the two most important factors? 72% said price was the most important consideration, followed by brand as the second most important consideration at 67%. Interestingly, varietals were about half as important (36%) as price. The most common price range for wine bought for home consumption (32%) was $10-15 with 19% purchasing wine averaging $15 to 20 a bottle. For branding purposes 51% of the wine consuming market is buying wine in the <$20 per bottle. Point is, price is a driver in any branding.

“Wine is regarded as an “experience good (sic)” in that wine purchase of a specific brand is a personal choice and usually made after tasting. However, many consumers do not have the choice and often rely on experts and friends to help decide which wine to purchase, Nowadays, they are more likely to use social media,” as reported by K. Newman in “How Wine Lovers Use Social Media and K. Breslin in Presentation of Constellation Digital Marketing.

Just remember the old axiom-The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry. Here is an example of plans that don’t work out. Reported in Wines and Vines on November 11, 2015, Truett-Hurst Winery posted $800,000 in charges related to its Paper Boy brand, which had sought to use a unique bottle composed of cardboard with a plastic liner. This is the primary reason why making sure progress toward benchmarks are monitored and tested with good research.

Dr.’s Thach and Chang summarize branding precisely, relative to wine:

· Focus branding message on relaxation and social benefits of a brand.

· Adopt social media platforms to interact with consumers and get their feedback. There are conflicting views on the value of social media in marketing wines, but it is probably wise to pay attention to trends and how to use the phenomenon.

· Work with distributors to make sure wines are available in outlets. Distributors need care and attention so they understand the branding direction a winery and enforce a branding strategy with retailers.

· Whatever the price point a winery wants their products to be in, the brand must support that message. The sweet spot is $10-15 but if the cost structure in the product does not allow that pricing then there are obvious choices a winery must make.

· Wine tourism is a great way to brand which spills over into the social media, peer reviews and recommendations and word of mouth promotion.

· Through research, keep abreast of competitive tactics.

Here are some thoughts that pertain to social media branding.

“A lot of mediocre wine is being sold on the basis of a ‘story’.” (Transpose “story” with “branding”.) “That’s a quote from a New York somm, Jason Jacobeit, cited in Lettie Teague’s latest column in the Wall Street Journal,” says Heimoff a wine writer.

The following is another perspective on the value of social media in branding from Steve Heimoff. “I don’t think these top 30 wineries consider social media as the most important of their “how to sell” strategies, rather, they focus on such traditional things as a trained sales force, pricing strategies, paying attention to consumer trends, forging good relationships with distributors and key accounts (on-premise and off-premise), courting wine writers (including bloggers) and a host of other proven best practices that social media has barely any impact on.” The 30 top wineries referred to in Mr. Heimoff’s blog come from Wine Business Monthly. The 30 companies represent nearly 90 percent of the domestic wine sold annually in the U.S. by volume.” In fact, “The top companies themselves represent more than half of U.S. case sales,” notes Wine Business Monthly.

“Mass advertising can help build brands, but authenticity is what makes them last. If people believe they share values with a company, they will stay loyal to the brand.” ― Howard Schultz. I would add, brands are built from the ground up by all hands being on deck. Recognize that Howard Schultz’s coffee sells at about 5X the price of a gallon of gas. That is great branding.

At the bottom-line, a wine brand is difficult to achieve because of so many variables: cost of the product, cost of marketing/advertising, government restrictions, distribution, and plethora of producers (domestic and import) and producers putting out competing labels under their corporate brand. But, once a brand is built it must be protected and therein lays the real value to consumers and the company.

Top 5 Benefits of Online Networking

Networking is becoming increasingly popular among entrepreneurs in this day and age. It is an amazing means of allowing professionals to build relationships, grow their businesses, tap into resources, develop business skills and brand themselves within their industry or profession. Entrepreneurs can network in their jobs, clubs, organizations, associations and now online. Internet networking proves to be just as effective as regular networking while adding several benefits for professional and social success.

Online networking is an excellent tool that entrepreneurs should consider investing in for developing their businesses. There are several advantages to online networking in comparison to the traditional networking. Listed below are five significant tips that will open your eyes to a host of endless opportunities:

#1 Online networking increases and diversifies your network.

Online networking gives entrepreneurs a chance to develop relationships with several contacts at one time. Professionals can meet several people and communicate in a broader way than face to face or at a networking event. Business people are able to meet a wider variety of people through online networking. Usually, networking events will attract certain groups of people, depending on who is sponsoring the event. But with online networking, many different industries are represented within the group.

#2 Online networking makes you more accessible to others.

Having a virtual business presence allows professionals an opportunity to be reached much quickly than by phone and mail. Your ability to be accessible and reached easily makes you conduct business is an efficient and productive manner. You are able to organize and execute projects and agendas in an efficient method which can greatly affect your bottom line and give you a clear advantage over your competitors. It will also improve your credibility and image for your company, brand or service.

#3 Online networking shatters time and geographical boundaries.

By networking online, entrepreneurs are able to reach the world from their computer. Using the internet and email allows professionals to send messages to business counterparts during any time of the day from any location to be received anywhere around the world. The flexibility and practical aspects of connecting and building relationships expands target audiences, clients, customers, colleagues, vendors, partners, investors and even employees.

#4 Online networking can be an excellent low-cost marketing tool.

One of the best advantages of online networking is the ability to showcase yourself, company, product, services or brand. As entrepreneurs, we are constantly looking for ways to create awareness and online networking offers that unique feature. Many websites allow members to post pictures, profiles, articles, books and various marketing materials for advertisements and announcements. Entrepreneurs can display these features from online networking to their clients, customers and business colleagues.

#5 Online networking allows entrepreneurs to develop professional skills.

Many online networking groups or companies offers incentives and benefits to their members which can be extremely valuable to business and personal development. Blogs, articles, book recommendations, online seminars, teleseminars, announcements of local and national business events and discounts on business publications or services, are just a few resources that entrepreneurs can use for success.

Entrepreneurs should consider investing in online networking for their professional and social endeavors. Online networking can create many resources for businesses and gives entrepreneurs flexibility in their business dealings. It is just one more effective tool that can used to accomplish business and social goals.

The Benefits of a Marketing Plan

What is a Marketing Plan?

Marketing is to do with matching the features and benefits that your products and services are able to provide with specific customers and then telling those customers why they should buy them from you. Your marketing plan details how to do this. A Marketing Plan is a document that supplements your business plan and brings together all your market research so that you can work out exactly where your business is going and how it is going to get there.

Your plan should include:

  • Objectives.
  • Details of the current market.
  • A full analysis of your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. (SWOT Analysis.)
  • Your plans for achieving your objectives.

The plan should be flexible and able to be adapted to meet the changing conditions in the market place.

Benefits of a Marketing Plan

Having a marketing plan will help you to focus on your target market and to find if there are any gaps in the market that will provide new opportunities for you. Your marketing plan will also provide you with something that enables you to measure how you are progressing. This can then highlight strategies that are working for you and those that are not.

A good marketing plan will also benefit you in that it provides your outside financiers with confidence that you know your market and that you know how to achieve your objectives.

A good marketing plan will deal with the matter of sourcing new leads as well as creating new networking opportunities for your business. The bottom line means your plan will define your business as well as your customers and your future plans.

What is a Good Marketing Plan

A good marketing plan is really a blueprint for the action that your business needs to take in order to achieve certain goals. It will identify the most cost effective ways of performing certain functions and should show the best way to present your business to your target audience.

A good marketing plan will save you money by cutting out unnecessary expenses while at the same time presenting you with new marketing opportunities. A good plan will work for your business to make sure that what you do fits into your budget and that your marketing drive reaches your target audience.

It will essentially keep all your activities and your budgets on track. If you don’t have a good marketing plan it is possible that you are not taking full advantage of all the ways to reach your target audience. This will result in decreased sales.

A Marketing Plan must Reach People

Your marketing plan will provide you with a track upon which your business needs to run. It is similar to a flight plan for pilots. Their flight plan tells them the direction along which their plane is going to fly, where they are leaving from and the path they have to take to get to their destination.

A sports coach will have a game plan that sets out how the team is going to play the game that particular day. The coach will work on strategies that will effectively frustrate and win out over the competition so they can come out on top.

Your marketing plan should be designed in a similar fashion.

  • It has to be built with an end result in mind.
  • It should fit the specific markets you are aiming for as well as the people in those markets.
  • It has to be flexible to meet the needs of the people in the markets because those needs are constantly changing.
  • It must focus on people rather than on products.

Remember to always develop a marketing plan that is specifically designed to reach people.

BB Chart: A Method for Targeting Benefits and Barriers in Business Opportunities

Business leaders are always looking for new opportunities to reduce costs or increase profits. However, these opportunities may only be discussed during strategic meetings, often by doing an analysis of Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats (aka SWOT). SWOT is a great tool for leaders to see where the business has been, where it is now, and where it could go. However, the result of SWOT falls short when some of the opportunities identified may not be immediately pursued. This can be due to management feeling they need to do further research before proceeding with an opportunity. This follow-up research can take lots of time, effort, dollars, and possibly result in lost opportunities. Instead, decide if additional research is necessary and which opportunities are immediately implementable by following the SWOT exercise with a quick Benefits and Barriers (BB) review.

To do a BB review, simply make a T-chart with each opportunity listed on the top of a separate page. Then put the words “Benefits” on the left side of the T and “Barriers” on the right. Once the chart template is ready, leaders can begin to brainstorm ideas to place into each side of the chart.

  • Benefit examples: rapid influx of cash, easy to do, profit increase, already have expertise, low cost to implement, matches long-term goals/objectives, can use existing equipment, cost savings, strong market for product, easy to sell, fits into corporate values, improves customer satisfaction, etc.
  • Barrier examples: costly to implement, do not have expertise, requires training, quality concerns, special equipment is necessary, expensive to implement, takes too much time, government restrictions, outside current customer base, legal issues, requires additional insurance, more space needed, etc.

Once the ideas for the chart are exhausted, leaders can easily see where benefits outweigh barriers to quickly implement some opportunities. If barriers are much larger than benefits, those opportunities may not be worth pursuing at this time. Where benefits and barriers appear equal, further research may be warranted to make a decision and determine potential for return on investment. For those opportunities that will not be immediately implemented and still look promising, the leadership can now make a plan for overcoming the barriers so that the business can reap future benefits.

An alternative method to quickly analyze each opportunity during a strategic meeting is to break the leadership team into sub-groups of three to four people. Each sub-group would be assigned two or three of the most interesting opportunities to do a BB chart for in a short period of time. Once the charts are complete, the sub-groups would re-unite into the larger leadership team to vote on which opportunities to pursue, which to research more, and which to abandon for now.

SWOT analysis is a useful tool for business leaders to determine where the business is and where they want the business to go. However, do not stop there as it can let easy opportunities slip through the cracks by trying to do too much research before starting them. Instead, use the BB chart to target the benefits and barriers of potential opportunities. This charting method allows for quick execution of those opportunities that will quickly result in immediate benefits to the business. As well as identifying which opportunities are worth the time and effort of additional research versus those that may not be as advantageous as they appear when brought before the business leaders.

Benefits Of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Systems

Business owners demand instant and low-cost solutions that are easy to upkeep and maximize return on their investment. Enterprise resource planning – ERP systems fit the bill perfectly and hence have become popular with many businesses, especially in implementing the the resource efficiency lessons learned during recent recessionary periods. In fact, now not only multi-million dollar businesses that deploy such systems, but also small-sized units and even start-ups.

So how will your business benefit from an Enterprise resource planning software system? Here are the lures that have prompted business owners to walk the ERP road:

Reduction in Operational Costs: Deploying an ERP software system holds benefits for all three process streams of an organization-strategic planning, production control, and management control. Such a system integrates varied business processes across the myriad of departments in an organization into a single and comprehensive information repository. This integration makes communication smooth in-between departments and this improved communication, in turn, imparts a degree of efficiency in the production, planning, and decision making processes. This efficiency is manifested in various ways-lower production costs, less marketing expenses incurred, and less need for securing help desk support.

Facilitating Inventory Management: Businesses these days are located in various geographical regions. Administrative units, warehouses, and back-end support offices are spread all over the world and this leads to complexities in managing the inventory in these locations. An Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software system lets you maintain detailed inventory records, keep a track of materials and lot, thus simplifying your inventory transactions. With an ERP system empowering you, you can keep inventory volumes at optimum levels.

Streamlining Day-to-Day Management: An Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system streamlines the process involved in carrying out the day-to-day tasks of managing a business. This is primarily because an ERP software system facilitates the creation of a backbone data warehousing system. This makes it easy for the employees of an organization to easily gain access to updated business-related data. This ready access to data eases the process of decision-making and exerting managerial control over key factors of production.

Support to Resource Planning: Resource planning forms an integral component of the strategic planning process that is carried out in an organization. Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems are therefore designed to take on the tasks involved in planning resources effectively and efficiently, and over the years, this functionality has improved in leaps and bounds.

So where can you obtain an Enterprise Resource planning (ERP) software system that will provide you with all these strategic benefits? ABAS Software Partner has ERP software solutions that will take care of the varied resource planning needs of your business.

The Benefits of PSD to Magento Template Conversion

Electronic business is getting more and more popular, one effect of which is increased competition. To differentiate and make their venture stand out among others, business owners strive to add more useful functionality and design features to their sites.

But many of them face various hurdles in the way for being not much tech-savvy. This results in implementation of various actions that cause only harm to their business, quite often what made with good intentions turn out to be time-consuming and expensive. So when it comes to web development, it’s better to find a reputed company that can professionally guide you through the jungle of e-business insides.

As a leading ecommerce development platform Magento offers multiple opportunities to its users. It’s the most widely used CMS (content management system) and many businesses have already fully enjoyed its advantages. Magento is an open source framework, which determines a huge amount of useful tools, plugins and overall flexibility it offers. Online stores developed on this platform are not only attractive for visitors but also cross-browser compatible and SEO-friendly.

If you have specific design requirements it’s a high time to benefit from PSD to Magento conversion. Besides the fact that this process is a fast way to refresh your site, among the important reasons to add PSD transformation to your e-business development plan is that it helps to increase conversion rates.

As for other weighty benefits, check a few ones below:

  • Unique design. There are a lot of Magento themes and templates available on the market. But as business owner you know exactly who your target audience is and can say for sure what should your store look like. Converting your PSD design files into Magento you get absolutely exclusive theme that will make customers come back.
  • Lift up on search engines. Properly implemented conversion is impossible without SEO-friendly codes. Well structures and clean coding that corresponds all basic standards ensures top page rank in search engines.
  • Speed optimization. Online stores contain a lot of data and changeable content, which influences pages load speed. Adding more and more functionality and design elements can affect loading speed and as a result users will leave your site without making a purchase. PSD to Magento theme conversion helps to avoid this problem by splitting Photoshop files into different design layers.
  • User-friendly interface. Ecommerce site are made for people, so user-friendliness is crucial for them. PSD to Magento conversion helps to make functioning web pages out of regular picture. Sites created on Magento are easy to navigate and as a special advantage its coding allows to implement media files upload such as video and audio.
  • Pixel-perfect dynamic interface. The conversion of PSD files into Magento requires solid expertise from developers and entails a long-term process. Only skilled programmers are able to provide really smart and totally hand-coded markup. Such a smart and clean conversion allows to add JS and attach images later.

Magento is a powerful framework and it’s getting more and more popular everyday. The benefits above are just a few major reasons to act in this direction. In fact due to its popularity the platform is being constantly upgraded and a significant amount of programmers all over the world create the new features and modules for it every day. Start your own online ecommerce business or enhance the existing one with the help of professional PSD to Magento services.

Benefits of Opening a Google AdWords My Client Center

For those that have run an AdWords account in the past for their own websites, the mention of a separate, more advanced account for those who work as consultants might seem a little foreign. But it is important to find out more about Google’s “My Client Center” as it is a vital part of the process required to take the AdWords Professional Exam and become certified by Google.

My Client Center is essentially the tool that Google provides to advanced AdWords users who currently manage more than one account at a time. It allows larger advertisers who either run multiple accounts for their own business or who work as consultants for multiple companies to keep track of every AdWords account they have open from one simple interface.

It is an ideal tool for search engine marketers and optimizers, as well as bidding managers who only keep track of advertising accounts. Think of it as a master program that compiles all of the data from every one of your AdWords accounts to speed up the process of going through each of them.

Within the My Client Center interface, you can do multiple things. You can view and work within multiple accounts, even other My Client Center accounts, directly through the interface you are provided. Additionally, you can run reports for a single account or for all of your accounts, across the board with the My Client Center report feature. You can assign a single login name for your account and quickly and easily create new AdWords accounts or link existing accounts together through this interface.

Your regular AdWords interface will still work as well when you start a My Client Center account if you only need to access one account at a time, but with so many integrated features at your finger tips it is rare you will ever need to do so.

It is important, even if you do not currently need a My Client Center account, to both understand what it is for and how it operates. You will be tested on it and need to have an operational account when you try to get your Google AdWords certification. Additionally, you will be permitted minimal leniency on questions regarding this part of AdWords. The interface, how it works with each account, how you start a new account, and how you can communicate with clients or profiles through it are all important aspects that you will need to know.

For anyone that has multiple AdWords accounts or who has thought about considering the starting a career in AdWords consultation, it is vital that you start your My Client Center profile right away. You will need to acclimate yourself with the features, how to use it, and what you will be required to do when you want to perform a specific function now instead of trying to figure it out later when a client’s livelihood relies on it, and in turn your own livelihood.

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