Rich Brooks of Flyte New Media has a great post on the pros and cons of having a business blog.
There's a value vs. cost equation that only you can answer. Will the time and effort you put into blogging be returned in business gained? Can the time you spend on blogging be better spent elsewhere? How can you measure success with blogging?
Cost: time, stress, and money. Value: demonstrates expertise, raises search engine visibility, generates leads, leads the media to your door.
I really think blogging is a great way to stay in touch with people who are interested in your winery, but it takes effort, and probably appeals most to people who are closet writers to begin with. If only that pesky wine would sell itself!
John Jantsch is more succinct: Blog, dammit!
While you're at it, check out Rich's post on Your 2008 Web Marketing Plan.
I blog for my family's new winery - Foursight Wines (www.foursightwines.blogspot.com). In fact, I started the blog before we even had our Web site up (by at least 6 months).
The purpose was to keep all our friends, family and misc. contacts in the loop about how we were progressing and what it was really like to launch a winery. I've found that there's a core group who check back with the blog every week or so just to keep up-to-date on our happenings. It's a nice way to avoid over-sending e-blasts and newsletters and people can check in as often or as little as they want. As a new brand, you "Christmas Card List" ends up being your best, earliest customers anyway, so the return in business is great.
Posted by: Kristy | May 14, 2008 at 01:47 PM