Something To Shout About: A Checklist

If my wines were listed here or here, you can bet that I would do all of the following:

1. Create a high-quality image of the bottle with the award (suitable for the media to use)
2. Update the front page of my Web site  
3. Update the product page(s) for my award-winning wine(s) 
4. Write a post for my winery blog
5. Tweet the news to my followers on Twitter 
6. Send an e-mail to my mailing list 
7. Make sure I mention it in my next newsletter 
8. Do a press release (along with a nice bottle+award image)
9. Let my distributors, retailers, and restaurant know about it with a updated product PDF and shelf-talkers
10. Make sure that everyone in the tasting room knows about it (employees and visitors)

In every case, you have the opportunity to make a special offer to the people you are contacting.  For example, people who have already bought the wine might want to add to their cellar.

I can almost bet, though, that most of the award-winners won't do any of  these things.

Winning an award isn't just a time to feel good, it's an opportunity to advance your brand.

(Thanks to the Harney Lane blog for inspiring this post)