Friday, May 28, 2010

Support for Direct Wine Shipping Restrictions Builds in Congress

YIKESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS! This could be horrific!
Wine Spectator http://ow.ly/1Rfxp
More than 100 co-sponsors for H.R. 5034 has wine industry uneasy; wholesalers have made more than $11.55 million in campaign donations since 2005
Robert Taylor, Ben O'Donnell
Posted: May 27, 2010

Lines are being drawn in Congress in the fight over direct-to-consumer wine shipping. In the six weeks since H.R. 5034, also known as the Comprehensive Alcohol Regulatory Effectiveness Act of 2010 or the CARE Act, was introduced in the House of Representatives, more than 100 congressmen have signed on as co-sponsors, while others are aligning in opposition. While it’s unclear if the bill will pass or even come to the House floor, supporters and opponents are lobbying hard.

The bill’s leading proponents—the National Beer Wholesalers Association (NBWA) and the Wine and Spirits Wholesalers of America (WSWA)—are arguing that the bill is necessary to protect states' abilities to regulate alcohol sales. Those who oppose it, including winery owners, brewers, distillers and consumer groups, allege that the bill will end direct shipping of alcoholic beverages and provide government-sponsored protection of wholesalers’ turf. They're urging wine lovers to tell Congress that the bill would hurt small businesses and restrict consumer choice.

But a Wine Spectator investigation has found that wholesalers have been speaking loudly to Congress for several years now—in the form of campaign contributions. In the four years since a Supreme Court ruling eased restrictions on direct shipping, the NBWA and WSWA each increased their federal campaign contributions by 33 percent compared with the previous four years. All told, the organizations’ PACs have donated more than $11.55 million since 2005. That money may have made their voices impossible to ignore.

The CARE Act

Thanks in large part to litigation filed on behalf of wineries and consumers following the Supreme Court’s Granholm v. Heald decision in 2005, 37 states now allow some form of direct shipment of wine to residents. The Granholm decision declared state laws that discriminate between in-state and out-of-state wineries to be unconstitutional. The majority opinion cited the Constitution’s Commerce Clause. Suits challenging other direct shipping restrictions are pending in several federal courts.

Introduced on April 15 by Congressman William Delahunt (D-Mass.), the CARE Act, if passed, would erect large hurdles for anyone attempting to challenge a state’s wine-shipping laws through litigation by giving the 21st Amendment, which grants states the right to control alcohol sales, precedence over the Commerce Clause, the section in Article One that prohibits states from discriminating between in- and out-of-state commerce. The NBWA made the initial lobbying push for the bill. An early draft of the bill, obtained by Wine Spectator, was written by the NBWA’s staff and closely mirrors the language of the version now on Capitol Hill.

Since Delahunt introduced H.R. 5034, 103 representatives, from both parties, have signed on as co-sponsors. But the bill is not expected to make it to the House floor in the current session and there is no companion bill in the Senate. A judiciary committee hearing on the bill, however, is expected to be scheduled soon. Rep. Lamar Smith of Texas, the ranking Republican on that committee, is one of the co-sponsors.

California Congressman Mike Thompson, a proponent of winery direct shipping, is among the most outspoken of those opposed to the bill. A Democrat, Thompson represents California’s First District, which includes Napa, Sonoma, Lake and Mendocino counties, among others. “The National Beer Wholesalers are pushing legislation that would discriminate against wineries, breweries and distilleries, and would certainly hurt businesses in the district that I represent,” Thompson said. “I've met with the Speaker [Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.)], and she’s assured me she’s in opposition to [H.R. 5034] and that House leadership will do everything they can to make sure it doesn’t pass. But it’s important to get the word out there as to how devastating this could be for our areas.”

Thompson also explained why the wholesaler groups are so powerful a lobbying force in Washington. “There’s only a few of us who represent wine country, and there’s only a couple who represent distilleries,” Thompson said, “but every member of Congress has two, three, four, five, maybe six distributors [in their district].”

Money Talks

The CARE Act’s proponents insist the bill’s intention is to protect states from costly lawsuits attacking their alcohol regulations and to fortify both the three-tier producer-wholesaler-retailer system and states’ rights to regulate the sale of alcohol.

The National Beer Wholesalers Association is one of the five most generous political action committees in Washington. A Wine Spectator investigation of campaign finance records finds that in the five years since the Supreme Court decided Granholm v. Heald, both the NBWA and the WSWA have dramatically increased spending on federal campaign initiatives. The NBWA, through its political action committee (PAC), donated $4.84 million from 2001 through 2004 to federal campaigns. From 2005 through 2008, that rose to $6.45 million. The WSWA donated $1.57 million from 2001 through 2004, and $2.10 million from 2005 through 2008. In each case, these figures represent a 33 percent increase in campaign financing after the court’s decision. Since 2005, the NBWA has also spent $3.29 million on lobbying activities.

Much of that generosity has helped underwrite the campaigns of members of the House of Representatives, including the backers of H.R. 5034. Since 2005, the bill’s 103 co-sponsors have collectively accepted $1.52 million from the NBWA PAC and $247,358 from the WSWA PAC. Three legislators also received donations from state alcohol wholesaler interest groups, in the amount of $12,699. All told, alcohol wholesaler PACs have donated $1.78 million to the members of Congress who currently support the bill.

Organization 2001-2002 2003-2004 2005-2006 2007-2008

National Beer Wholesalers Association (NBWA) $2,221,210 $2,616,285 $3,162,189 $3,282,946

Wine & Spirits Wholesalers Association (WSWA) $658,973 $913,018 $1,026,005 $1,072,336

Total Federal Campaign Contributions $2,880,183 $3,529,303 $4,188,194 $4,355,282

Rep. Howard Coble (R-N.C.), who introduced the bill to the floor alongside Delahunt, has accepted $27,500 from the NBWA since 2005. Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) and Rep. Mike Quigley (D-Ill.), the other initial sponsors, are both freshman representatives, but each received $5,000 from the NBWA in 2009. The wholesaler associations invested most enthusiastically in Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.)—the NBWA sent him $42,500 in five years, and the WSWA contributed an additional $4,000. Additionally, 18 legislators were forced to return money to either the NBWA or the WSWA because the PACs had exceeded contribution limits. Delahunt returned $5,000 to the NBWA in 2009.

Rep. Tim Bishop (D-N.Y.) is another co-sponsor of the bill, even though his jurisdiction includes the entire Long Island AVA, home to 44 wineries. Among representatives of substantial wine regions, only Bishop and Congressman Smith of Texas, whose district encompasses the Hill Country AVA and its 24 wineries, have signed on. Both wine regions sell primarily within their home states, and it’s possible the two representatives believe laws restricting out-of-state wineries would help their constituents. (Neither congressman responded to requests for comment.) But opponents argue that the bill’s success would hurt all wine producers in the long term by making it more difficult for them to grow into out-of-state markets. And many U.S. consumers rely on direct shipping to purchase New York and Texas wines already, because few retailers in other states carry them. Bishop accepted $30,000 from the NBWA in the last five years; only one co-sponsor received more.

The bill's sponsorship is bipartisan—68 co-sponsors are Democrats and 35 are Republicans. Florida, Texas, Illinois and Pennsylvania are home to 39 of the measure’s 103 supporters, representing 38 percent of its support, though these states’ representatives constitute 22 percent of the House. Those four states have small wine industries, though Texas’ and Pennsylvania’s are expanding. But Florida, Texas and Pennsylvania have a large wholesaler presence. Pennsylvania wholesalers distributed $920 billion worth of beer in 2008. In Texas, it was $1.5 trillion. Florida is home base for Southern Wine & Spirits, the country's largest wine distributor.

The Opposition Organizes
Opponents of 5034 aren't completely silent when it comes to campaign cash. But few wineries are big contributors, and allied organizations such as the California Association of Wine Grape Growers, Allied Grape Growers, the Wine Institute, WineAmerica, and the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States have contributed only $745,000 through their PACs since 2005.

More powerful adversaries are brewing companies Anheuser-Busch and SAB MillerCoors, who have voiced dissatisfaction with H.R. 5034 and have put $5 million toward federal campaigns since 2005. (The major corporations on the other side, distributors Southern Wine & Spirits, Republic National Distributing Company, and Gerson Lehrman Group, Inc. have contributed an additional $521,000 to the wholesaler cause since 2005.)

The bill’s opponents have made educating House members on both current law and the effects of H.R. 5034 a top priority, and have met with some success. When Tablas Creek’s partner and general manager Jason Haas initially e-mailed Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), who represents Paso Robles where the winery is located, the Congressman wrote back to say, "According to the bill’s sponsors, H.R. 5034 is intended to reiterate the three-tier system of alcohol regulation in the U.S. and to ensure that states retain their traditional regulatory authority over alcohol distribution, which are areas that I support."

But later, when Paso Robles vintner Amanda Wittstrom-Higgins, whose Ancient Peaks winery has hosted fundraisers for McCarthy, arranged a meeting between the Congressman and a group of Paso Robles wine-industry supporters (including Wittstrom-Higgins, Haas, Alex Villicana, owner of Villicana winery and a member of the Paso Robles Wine Country Alliance board of directors, and Joe Barton of Grey Wolf Cellars), McCarthy seemed to be leaning toward the opposition, and assured those present that the bill would not pass in this session. “He clearly understood the issues at stake," Haas said.

“There are over 200 wineries in the 22nd Congressional district, and I am always concerned about legislation and regulation that would negatively impact such an important part of our local economy," McCarthy told Wine Spectator on Wednesday. "I met with a diverse group of wineries about H.R. 5034 recently, and smaller wineries, especially, told me this legislation would negatively impact their ability to sell to their customers directly, and I will continue to support their right to do so.”

Supporters of the CARE Act have trumpeted the support of most of the country’s state attorneys general, citing a March 29 letter signed by 39 members of the National Association of Attorneys General (NAAG). Addressed to Rep. Hank Johnson, chairman of a key subcommittee that held a hearing on the bill earlier that month, the letter stated, “We are writing to seek your help with the growing threat facing our states from unprecedented legal challenges that seek to eliminate our ability to regulate alcohol.”

But the letter did not specifically name H.R. 5034, and at least one signee has since announced his opposition to the bill. Washington state attorney general Rob McKenna wrote in a May 17 letter, “some proponents of H.R. 5034 have suggested that I support this legislation. Let me assure you that this is not correct. H.R. 5034 goes far beyond the general states’ right principle which was the focus of the NAAG letter. I have been a strong supporter of the wine industry and will remain one.”

That same day, Wine Institute president Robert Koch and WineAmerica president Bill Nelson co-signed a letter from the two wine-industry advocacy groups in opposition to H.R. 5034. “NBWA and WSWA are asking Congress to cede federal authority to the states so that wholesalers can pass discriminatory and anticompetitive laws,” the statement read.

This past Monday, the Kentucky Distillers Association (KDA) voiced opposition to the bill. In a letter addressed to Rep. Brett Guthrie (R-Ky.) and the Congressional Bourbon Caucus, KDA president Eric Gregory argued that the bill might erode federal rules on what can be labeled bourbon, allowing each state to craft its own definition, erasing Kentucky's geographical designation for the spirit. The Brewers Association also issued a statement this week saying that H.R. 5034, “invites states to enact inconsistent laws that needlessly raise costs and impede small brewers’ efforts to expand into new markets.” The Distilled Spirits Council announced its opposition to the bill as well.

Congressman McCarthy told his winemaker constituents that he thinks HR 5034’s chances of passage are slim—if Pelosi opposes it, the bill may never see debate. “With the opposition of the Democratic leadership and the fact that the House has way too much important stuff on their plate, he doesn’t think this is getting out of committee,” Haas said. But a fierce lobbying fight is still in the works. And the number of co-sponsors will undoubtedly rise above 103. “It's a scary, scary number,” Haas said. “I calculated that 21 percent of our revenue is wine shipped out of state. If the law were enacted, it would put a significant number of small wineries out of business in California.”

Kevin Brown
www.kbsinsight.blogspot.com

Thursday, May 27, 2010

Want more business from LinkedIn? Do these five things

A GREAT SET OF SUGGESTIONS-KB
Thursday, May 27, 2010
www.heinzmarketing.com/matt-on-marketing/blog/2010/5/want-more-business-from-linkedin-do

Want more business from LinkedIn? Do these five things

Like many social, networking and productivity tools for business, LinkedIn can deliver significant measurable value for your business and career, but also suck way too much of your time if you’re not careful. Finding the right balance between investing for results, and getting out to focus on real-world priorities, is key.

In a B2B context especially, LinkedIn can be a powerful tool to find new prospects, research competitors, passively nurture and stay in touch with those in your network, and quickly identify customers who are ready to buy. Here are five things you can do with LinkedIn, starting today, to improve your LinkedIn productivity and results.

Carefully consider the keywords in your bio and capabilities summary. Think like a prospect, who is searching on LinkedIn for someone who can help them with (fill in the blank). What do you know? What problems can you solve? What help can you provide? Think not just about solutions, but the pain/problems your customers and network faces, and the objectives/outcomes they’re seeking. They’ll search for those things, so make sure the right keywords are in your profile.

Add everyone you know to your network. The more connections you have, the more discoverable you are. LinkedIn search results are by default ordered by network proximity, meaning those who are closes to you (or closest to those who are in your network) show up first in search results. If you know someone, put them in your network. Make sure you are in theirs. The bigger your network, the more likely others can find you and reach you. I especially encourage the use of LinkedIn’s Outlook extension, which provides one-click LinkedIn invites right from inbound emails.

Join and actively participate in the right groups. The long tail of groups in LinkedIn is incredible. It’s a great way to meet people with similar business interests and needs, plus immediately provide value back to those communities in the way of answering their questions, posting articles and generally making yourself visible and available. There’s a fine line between being visible and dominating the group/conversation, but with value-added content (i.e. don’t sell unless you’re asked for a recommendation or solution) you can build trust & credibility in a one-to-many format focused on a very targeted audience.

Give testimonials to everyone who deserves it. Make a habit, every week, of giving a public testimonial in LinkedIn to everyone you know who you can vouch for. You’re doing this both to help them with their objectives and visibility, but also so that you’ll get a greater share of trickle-back testimonials in return. It’s not only the right thing to do, but more testimonials on your profile demonstrates to new people you’re someone they can trust, who has credibility with others. That goes a long way towards differentiating yourself and getting the benefit of the doubt when a trusted relationship doesn’t yet exist.

Follow (and respond to) network updates. The front page of LinkedIn.com is like a business-oriented version of Facebook. It’s full of updates from everyone in your network – things they’re saying, things they’ve published, changes to their careers, etc. Get in the habit of reviewing this information daily, and responding to those in your network with notes of encouragement, congratulations, responses with additional information related to something they’re seeking or researching, etc. You can follow these network updates via an RSS feed, or get a daily morning email with updates from yesterday, or simple get in the habit of visiting LinkedIn.com each day. It’s a treasure trove of excuses to reach out contextually to people, rekindle a connection, and spark a new opportunity on one or both sides.
Kevin Brown www.kbsinsight.blogspot.com

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Billabong To Acquire Becker Surf and Sport

http://business.transworld.net/37763/news/billabong-to-acquire-becker-surf-and-sport/
Kailee Bradstreet-

Billabong International has reached an agreement to acquire Southern California surf retailer Becker Surf & Sport. The stores and online business, co-founded by company president Dave Hollander, will both continue to operate as multi-branded retailers under Billabong. The Becker Surfboards portion of the business is not included in the agreement, and an acquisition price was not disclosed, according to an official release from Billabong:

“IRVINE, CALIFORNIA, 26 May 2010:
Billabong International Limited today announced it has reached agreement to acquire the Southern California surf retailer Becker Surf and Sport.

The acquisition includes Becker’s five brick and mortar retail stores and the www.beckersurf.com online business, but does not include the Becker Surfboards arm of the business.
Billabong North America president, Paul Naude, said Becker is an iconic surf retailer and holds a distinguished place in the surf industry.

“Becker is a name that has been synonymous with surf since the 1970s and, as both a brand and a retailer, it has helped shape Californian surf culture,” said Mr Naude. “Billabong looks forward to preserving the Becker heritage and growing the speciality boardsports retail channel to ensure premium brands can continue to deliver an authentic experience to the end consumer.”
Dave Hollander, co-founder and president of Becker, said Billabong and Becker had a mutual respect for one another’s place in the industry and a shared vision about the future of surf retailing. “Paul and I have been friends for years and we have always discussed the future of the industry and boardsports retailing and have a common goal to ensure specialty retail remains intact,” he said. “We were looking for a strong partner to take the Becker brand to the next level and Billabong is a perfect fit.

“Billabong, through Paul, understood that we wanted to keep the surfboard name and manufacturing. They understood how important it was to keep that part of our heritage in the families that have owned it for 30 years. That was a big deal for us and few others would have understood the dynamics of this in relation to the big Becker picture.”

Becker Surf and Sport and the online business will both continue to operate as multi-branded retailers. The acquisition price was not disclosed.”

Kevin L. Brown
www.kbsinsight.blogspot.com

Monday, May 24, 2010

French Study Concludes Wine Drinkers Tend to Be Healthier

http://www.winespectator.com/webfeature/show/id/42780
But lifestyle and socioeconomic factors may be the reason
Jacob Gaffney
Posted: May 24, 2010
The headlines for several newspapers and websites sounded like a dream come true: "People Who Drink Half-Bottle of Wine a Day Are Healthier," "Moderate Wine Drinkers Have Healthier Hearts ... and Minds," and "A Half-Bottle of Wine a Day Keeps the Doctor Away." The stories were crowing about a new French study, scheduled to be published in an upcoming issue of the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, that finds that people who drink moderate amounts of wine are healthier in several key categories than nondrinkers. But is the hype true?

Certainly, multiple studies have found links between wine and better health, particularly cardiovascular health. (They have also found links between wine consumption and increased rates of some cancers.) But scientists have yet to conclusively determine how wine may improve health. And a closer analysis of the French study shows that the lifestyle habits and socioeconomic status of those who drink wine may be bigger factors.

The study was conducted by a team of researchers at the Center for Cardiovascular Disease Prevention at various Paris public hospitals, who asked questions of nearly 150,000 people from the Paris area. They found that 13.7 percent of men and 23.9 percent of women did not drink at all. Drinkers were divided into four groups according to their alcohol consumption: never, less than one glass a day (low), up to three glasses daily (moderate) and more than three glasses daily (heavy). All the subjects also underwent a gamut of health tests.

The researchers found that women who drank moderate amounts of alcohol had lower body-mass index, waist circumference, blood pressure and blood lipids, including bad cholesterol. Men who drank moderately had lower body-mass index, heart rate, blood pressure and better blood sugar levels, plus lower stress and depression scores.

But rather than proof that wine should replace an apple a day, the study authors conclude that moderate drinkers tend to have healthier diets, balance work and leisure more effectively and exercise more. In comparing the groups of drinkers versus nondrinkers, study co-author Dr. Boris Hansel said in a statement, "Importantly, the findings showed moderate alcohol consumption is a powerful general indicator of optimal social status, and this could be a key reason for improved health in these subjects."

That doesn't mean wine can't improve people's well being, but more study is needed.

Kevin L. Brown
http://www.kbsinsight.blogspot.com/

Friday, May 21, 2010

The Lowdown on Restaurant Wine Markups

http://ow.ly/1OnDo
Published on May 7, 2010
By Gretchen Roberts-Wine Enthusiast

The scene is all too familiar: glancing through a restaurant’s wine list you spot a Napa Cab you saw in a wine shop for $30; it’s listed at $80.

In a recent survey of consumers’ wine-buying habits in restaurants, Julie Brosterman, CEO of WomenWine.com, found that 70% of respondents felt restaurant wine prices were too high. “People are savvier about wine markups than they used to be,” Brosterman says. “They know retail prices, and they can look up wine prices on their Blackberrys while sitting in the restaurant.”

“Wine is a good profit item,” reads one restaurant management textbook. “It will average approximately the same cost of sales as food, but the labor and operating costs needed to present it are substantially less,” observes another.

Industry-wide markups average two and a half to three times wholesale cost, says Randy Caparoso, a restaurant wine consultant at Wine List Consulting Unlimited. A bottle priced at $10 wholesale might sell for $15 retail, but $25 to $30 in a restaurant. “Everyone knows you pay more in restaurants than at retail, but what really aggravates a lot of consumers is how wacky prices can be. A bottle may be $25 at one restaurant, $15 at another, and $40 at a third.”

So what really goes into wine prices, and why are they all over the map? Let’s dissect some of the factors.

State laws and taxes. Each state has its own alcohol laws and taxes that can affect the price of wine. Utah restaurants are required to buy wine from state-run liquor stores at retail price instead of wholesale price. Taxes are steep in some states—Tennessee tacks on a 15% tax hike for on-premise sales, for example—and fairly low in others.

Wholesale costs. Again, those Byzantine state laws make pricing a maze. In some states, wholesalers are required to price wine fairly to all restaurant customers; in others, large chain restaurants and those with bigger buying power are able to negotiate better wholesale prices.

Restaurant operational costs. “A neighborhood restaurant where you’re greeted at the door by the owner who also seats you, takes your order and cooks your food has two to three times lower overall expenses than a restaurant with fresh flowers, valets, five chefs and an army of waiters,” Caparoso says. “Wine is a commodity, a costed good. It’s the same as buying a pair of shoes. The nicer the store, the higher the cost of the shoes.”

Position on the list. Most lists follow a graduated markup, with the highest markups on the cheapest wines, and lower markups on higher-end wines. A $10 wholesale wine may be marked up to $30, but a $50 wine might be just $80.

Whim. Mike Shor, an economics professor at Vanderbilt University, did a personal study analyzing wine prices at 38 Nashville restaurants, rating the restaurants according to markups. “I teach a class in pricing, and a couple of restaurants I’ve been to have ridiculous wine prices,” he explains. “I wanted to see if that was true or just a feeling I had.”

His findings: markups varied widely. Some adhered to industry standards, but at least one merited this description from Shor: “If you search long enough, you may find a wine price that is merely insulting.”

Trevor Hertrich, a wine buyer for a large retail store in Denver and a former restaurant sommelier and wine program manager, says high markups are a matter of convention rather than good business planning. “To me, it’s more about the bottom line and selling more at a lower margin.”

Hertrich maintains that there is a magic number where a good restaurant wine manager can do a lower markup, sell more wine and make the same amount of profit. “If you pay $50 for a mid-range Burgundy, you can put it on the list for $200 and wait six months for someone to buy it, or you can charge $125 and sell it right away,” he says. “Meanwhile you’ve already paid for it and you have to store it.”

The good news is that restaurants are beginning to get the memo. Ten years ago, Caparoso says, wine markups were even higher, but that prices are moving down towards two times wholesale cost.

“Prices are coming down in response to consumer feedback. You couldn’t do that 15–20 years ago because not enough wine was drunk to make it worthwhile,” he says.

Ultimately, though, Caparoso begs wine lovers to stop comparing restaurant wine prices with retail. “You have an army of people serving you and cooking for you and washing your dishes. They aren’t doing it for free.”

Here are some ideas on how to get the best value from the wine list:

Spend more for a better value. Most lists have higher markups on the cheapest wines and lower markups on high-end wines, so often the more you spend, the better wine you’re getting for the money.

Order mid-list. The second-least-expensive wine on the list is often marked up the most. Why? “People don’t want to look cheap, so they order the second cheapest wine,” Shor says. Go one or two bottles higher for a better deal.

Beware brand names. Popular brand names always get the full markup because they sell no matter what, Caparoso says. “The restaurant is kind of punishing you for being a creature of habit.”

Be adventurous. “If there’s a wine I really want on the list but don’t think a lot of people will order, I put an even lower markup on it,” says Jay Frein, wine manager at Margot CafĂ© in Nashville, which had the best value wine prices in Shor’s study.



Kevin L. Brown
www.kbsinsight.blogspot.com

James Suckling Uncorked-Wine Spectator-Get to Know Bordeaux

Get to Know Bordeaux

http://www.winespectator.com/blogs/show/id/42712

People are saying that Bordeaux is losing its prestige, but there's a whole new world of inexpensive and interesting Bordeaux wines

Posted: May 19, 2010 12:00pm ET

I read with interest Eric Asimov's well-reported story in today's edition of the New York Times, "Bordeaux Loses Prestige Among Young Wine Lovers," and I felt sad that so many wine lovers in my country don't appreciate the good value that exists in Bordeaux. Moreover, most of these well-priced reds and whites are almost all made by people with dirt on their boots and wine stains on their hands. They are not suits. They are ragged jeans and t-shirts.

I understand many people's perception that Bordeaux is expensive. So much information on France's premier wine region is focused on the very top echelon producers. Many of them sell their wines for astronomical prices. So very few of us can afford to buy them.

I always tell the Bordelais that when I started visiting Bordeaux as a young reporter in the 1980s, they all said that the top estates of the region were the locomotives that pulled the train carriages. In other words, the top wines of Bordeaux grew the prestige of the region, enabling the lesser wines to be sold.

This has all changed. I argue that the top wines actually diminish the reputation of the region by giving the perception that all Bordeaux wines are expensive. Or looking at it another way, the top estates no longer promote the region as a whole, but only a tiny segment, maybe 2 or 3 percent of the total. In other words, the train left the carriage at the station a long time ago.

I am, of course, not talking about quality. The top names in Bordeaux are some of the best viticulturists and winemakers in the world. They have the knowledge and the resources to do just about everything to perfection. And they are examples to all premium winemakers in the world.

But it's a very small reality of Bordeaux. Most wine producers are struggling to make and to sell their wines, as prices for their simple reds and whites are at an all-time low. Something like 50 percent of all Bordeaux sells for $6, or less, a bottle from the cellar. Bulk wine is less, about $1 or $1.50 a liter. Bottles of French water cost more in the States. It's crazy.

Whatever the case, I am going to do my best to bring you closer to the reality of family-run, down-and-dirty winemakers from Bordeaux, and most of their wines cost from $20 to $40 a bottle. They are in areas such as St.-Emilion, its satellites, and a number of other less-known appellations such as CĂ´te de Blaye and CĂ´te de Bourg. I think these wines are worth knowing and worth drinking.

There's a whole new world in Bordeaux that's fun, interesting and making delicious wines, and they don't have to cost you a fortune.

Kevin L. Brown
www.kbsinsight.blogspot.com

Thursday, May 20, 2010

How to Improve Your E-mail Marketing

http://www.inc.com/


Your customers and clients are overloaded with e-mail every day. We asked experts for their tips and tricks for more effective e-mail marketing.

By Tiffany Black
May 13, 2010

Spreading the gospel of good e-mail marketing is what Justin Premick, e-mail marketing expert and self-proclaimed e-mail evangelist, has been doing since 2004. Premick believes that permission e-mail marketing works, and as director of education marketing at AWeber Communications Inc. in Huntingdon Valley, Pennsylvania, he works primarily with small businesses. "You don't have to tell the Proctor & Gamble account manager that e-mail works, but you might have to convince the independent retailer, or the local coffee shop, or art store," Premik says.

E-mail can be used by your business to market to customers, alert them to new product offerings, and offer loyalty discounts or promotions. At the same time, your customers can use e-mail to troubleshoot any problems they have with your products or services, provide you feedback, and ask questions.

Due to its multitude of uses, e-mail marketing is part art and part science. It takes a combination of know-how and creativity to get customers and clients just to open your e-mail. We've talked to experts and nailed down some of the technical knowledge of what methods produce positive click-thru rates and even purchases. And, want to know what not to do? We've got that, too.

Do: Keep it short and simple. Don't: Waste too much time crafting the e-mail.

"The message needs to be clear and consistent from the subject line to the e-mail headline and skimmable body copy," says Tim Watson, operations director at smartFocus Digital with offices in England and the Netherlands, as well as Newton, Massachusetts, and Denver, Colorado. If you put too much information or try to offer the reader multiple sales or promotions, you could overwhelm them and lose them.

"Don't cram too many messages into a single e-mail or send large attachments that may clog subscribers' inboxes," advises Monica Roldan, Internet manager at Citigroup.

"Readers are brutal with deleting e-mail," Watson says. "They are looking for reasons to delete and you have seconds to stop that from happening."

Dig Deeper: Stop E-mail Marketing from Resembling Spam

Do: Qualify the e-mail addresses and information about the people and the organizations they represent. Don't: Carpet e-mail blast every address in your database.

The experts could not emphasize enough the importance of a targeted database with accurate information. "I live on the 5th floor of an apartment block. If I get an e-mail offering me a $50 discount off lawnmowers, it's spam," says Nigel Rayner, a marketing and advertising professional at NJR Consulting in Stockport, United Kingdom. "It's all down to accurate targeting and segmentation."
Dig Deeper: Market Online Without Spamming

Do: Create value in your e-mailing. Don't: Attempt to sell with no utility for your subscribers.

It's easy to use your newsletters as a means of selling your products or services. It's harder to offer a value to your subscribers whether they make a purchase or not. "Give people a reason to subscribe and to remain subscribed," Premick says. "Understand it's not 'free' to people to be on your e-mail list; it costs their time and that is arguably the most valuable and irreplaceable resource people have."
Your goal should be to have a mix and balance of both and offer content that is useful and that the reader can't get anywhere else. You have to figure out ways to engage your subscribers. "E-mail one part of a three-part story and follow-up with the other parts in later e-mails," suggested Steve Cates, VP of multichannel marketing at Carrot-Top Industries in Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina. "Have polls or solicit open-ended questions and give them a place to respond."

Dig Deeper: How to Send E-mails Your Customers Will Love

Do: Allow users several ways to opt-out. Don't: Neglect preferences.

All the experts agreed that offering an opt-out option is essential to not annoy customers and clients, but also as a measure of protecting your brand. You don't want your company e-mails to be associated with being spammers. "Recognize and understand the importance of permission. It isn't taken, it's given," Premick says. "Subscribers will revoke permission, one way or another."

An e-mail preference center is a Web page you create for customers who sign up for your e-mail program. Here, you give them a chance to tell you what they want by letting them choose and manage the types of messages they receive from you. While preferences can create a little bit more work for you, they improve the experience for your customers by ensuring they only receive the kinds of e-mail from you that they want.

Dig Deeper: Building E-mail Relationships with Preferences

Do: Strategically promote your e-mail newsletters. Don't: Buy or rent e-mail lists.

It's not always about the size of your e-mail list, but the quality of your list that matters. You want customers or clients who are more likely to purchase your product or service. The way to get those people is to build your own list.

Encourage customers to sign up directly from your website, where they can quickly provide their information and choose exactly what kind of information they want to receive from you. Also, have sign-up sheets at your retail counter, conference, workshop, or presentation. "You can create a blog for your business, offer something of value such as a guide or e-book and provide it for free to anyone who opts in with his or her e-mail addresses," said Mike Matson, a freelance copywriter based near Tampa, Florida, who works on the blog Marketing InfoWrangler. "Get a list-management system such as aweber.com and provide regular e-mails to your list of prospects."

You want subscribers that want information about your company, product or service. "Don't buy or rent lists," says Dave Ewing, an e-mail expert at SpinnakerPro, which has offices in San Francisco and the United Kingdom. "I know they seem like an easy option, but they don't know you and don't want to hear from you." Ewing also explained how purchasing or renting e-mail lists can hurt your companies credibility. "If enough people on those lists hit the Junk/Spam button, they will damage your company's domain reputation. They're not worth it!"
Dig Deeper: Should I Buy an E-mail List?

Do: Use a third-party e-mail system. Don't: Try to manage your e-mail lists yourself.

The experts agreed that third-party e-mail companies are essential for managing your e-mail lists and maintaining the quality of the lists and the e-mails you send. They will help to verify the e-mail addresses and information about your subscribers. They also offer valuable information about bounce-backs, which opened and clicked on what, subscriptions and opt-outs, getting your company on white lists and checking your e-mail messages against spam filters.

Dig Deeper: See a Comparison of E-mail Management Companies

Do: Include advertising in regular company e-mails. Don't: Miss a marketing opportunity.

Most companies ignore the most obvious way to advertise and promote the company – e-mails sent regularly by employees during the course of doing business. You can make every e-mail that an employee sends out a part of your marketing effort by including ads and embedded links. The e-mails are more targeted because they are between people that know each other or who are doing business with each other. There are several companies that provide these e-mail enhancement services for as little as $5 a month.

Dig Deeper: E-mails That Sell

Do: Sign-up for competitors e-mails similar to your own. Don't: Underestimate the competition.

"Competitive intelligence should be part of the process, as it may save you valuable time and resources," says Lee Traupel, CEO of Linked Media Group based in Penn Valley, California. The easiest and most cost effective way to do that is to sign up for your competitors' newsletters. You should keep track of what they are saying, how they are crafting their e-mails and implementing best practices in to your own e-mails.
Dig Deeper: How to Keep Tabs on the Competition

Do: Include strong calls-to-action. Don't: Make it difficult for subscribers to get more information or act on it.

First you want your subscribers to open the e-mail but after they open it what they do next is the most important. "Using links in calls-to-action that take readers to custom landing pages with more information - and more calls-to action - can be very helpful," said Heidi Cool, owner of the Web design and strategy company HeidiCool.com. "They guide the reader forward – towards your goal – and make it easier to track your success." Sherrie Mersdorf, database marketing analyst at Cvent in McLean, Virginia, warns, "You don't want your calls-to-action to only be in pictures since many clients block images by default. Your message is likely to be deleted before it is even read."

Dig Deeper: 14 Common-Sense E-mail Marketing Rules

Do: Test, test, and test again. Don't: Get complacent.

What works for one company may not work for another. Also, your clients' and customers' responses to your e-mails could change over time. You have to continue to test and make changes to your e-mail strategy to optimize success. Experts advise testing everything from the time of day you send e-mail, what days of the week they are sent, display in different e-mail clients to which subject lines you use. Gerry Black, a marketing consultant and writer and based in Toronto shares his method for testing e-mail subject lines and increasing open rates.

"Create your e-mail promotion and write out three subject lines. Take your best subject line and include it with your first e-mail. Let's say you e-mail 1,000 people and 150 open it. Delete those names off your "send" list and re-send the e-mail using a different subject line. Once your open results come back from the second e-mail, delete those names and do your third e-mail using your third subject line. You could triple the amount of people who open your e-mail by using this strategy."

Black did this with a client and he shared the actual results. The first e-mail was sent to 306 recipients of whom 84 people opened it. The second e-mail was sent to 222 recipients of whom 38 people opened it. The last e-mail was sent to the remainder of the e-mail list. Twenty people opened that. The same e-mail with different subject lines was sent to 306 people and was opened by 142 people for an open rate of 46 percent.

The caution in doing this is that you have to carefully time when you send the e-mails. You don't want all the e-mails to be sent on the same day as your customers and clients might notice your strategy.

Of course, some effective tactics vary from business to business.

"When it comes to e-mail, there are lots of dos and don'ts, although the No. 1 don't is don't take anyone else's word for what works and what doesn't," Premick says. "Test for yourself."

Dig Deeper: The Most Important E-mail Marketing Tactic of All

Dos and Don'ts of E-Mail Marketing: Additional Resources

E-mail Marketing Reports, edited by independent journalist Mark Brownlow.
Permission Marketing: Turning Strangers Into Friends And Friends Into Customers by Seth Godin.

The Constant Contact Guide to E-mail Marketing by Eric Groves.
Web Marketing All-in-One Desk Reference For Dummies by John Arnold, Ian Lurie, Marty Dickinson, and Elizabeth Marsten.



Kevin L. Brown
www.kbsinsight.blogspot.com

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Diversity as a Strategic Advantage

Alaina Love May 14, 2010, 3:15PM EST text size: TT

http://www.businessweek.com/managing/content/may2010/ca20100513_748402.htm

It's about more than filling quotas, as such companies as Turner Broadcasting, IBM, and Pfizer have discovered

By Alaina Love
Since the establishment of affirmative action in the early 1960s, organizations have struggled with shifting their focus on diversity from a numbers exercise of quota achievement to leveraging the benefits that can be derived from employees with different backgrounds and perspectives in a way that provides a commercial advantage.

While we've seen startling advances in technology and radical shifts on the political, cultural, and demographic fronts over the past 50 years, the utilization of diverse talent in organizations has not kept pace. Leaders often intuitively understand the advantage of a diverse workforce, especially in today's global economy, yet many organizations grapple with how to develop and apply diversity principles in a way that will affect revenue and market position, as well as reputation.

For companies to capitalize successfully on diversity, they must develop a robust and comprehensive strategic framework that not only considers how to attract and retain diverse employees but also is anchored in a culture of inclusion. In the 16 years I have consulted to multinational companies on issues of leadership, including diversity, some common characteristics have emerged among companies that utilize diversity as a strategic lever for growth and innovation. These are the hallmarks of organizations that have successfully moved beyond the numbers:

1. A Prepared Leadership and Workforce

Leaders and managers of cutting-edge companies are exposed to training and development that enhance their understanding and valuing of differences and allows them to examine the tenets of race and ethnicity that have shaped their perspectives on diverse groups. Accountability is key in these organizations, so diversity goals are built into annual objectives and progress is measured. Diversity results are linked to rewards and recognition, and there's a consistent process for promptly addressing intolerance and inequities. Diversity competency among senior and emerging leaders is achieved through stretch assignments, project participation, and opportunities to interact with and lead diverse groups and operate in diverse cultures.

2. Sophisticated Programs to Attract, Engage, Develop, and Retain Diverse Talent

The best companies actively seek diverse talent and foster relationships with potential recruits at an early stage through internships and, after hiring, through talent-development programs. The road to career success is clear and unambiguous, with required competencies and skills for every position widely communicated across the organization. Management invests in nurturing relationships with diverse individuals who might be recruited to their organization. Also, top companies require that the composition of their boards and management committees reflect their goals, which provides added credibility with potential new hires.

3. Measuring and Demanding Inclusion

In companies that leverage diversity, the process does not end with recruitment; it shifts to including diverse views and perspectives in developing business strategy and meeting challenges. How well diverse groups are included across the organization in both formal and informal networks is examined and efforts are made to enhance those opportunities. There is also a commitment to and a process for addressing pay inequities.

Often, employee resource groups (ERGs)—which are support and career development groups of employees with common bonds, such as race, gender, sexual orientation, and even parenting—become a formal structure for inclusion. Beyond that, these groups are offered a seat at the table when they demonstrate a willingness to lend valuable input and relevant perspectives about important business decisions. Finally, mentoring programs and informal mentoring processes contribute to inclusion initiatives.

4. Giving Everyone a Voice

The best organizations recognize that beyond race, gender, ethnicity, and sexual orientation, diversity also applies to thought, skill, and passions. Differences are appreciated, but the corporate culture provides space for challenging differences in search of the best business solutions. In this environment, people are able to advocate their point of view passionately, even if it differs from the status quo. Ultimately, diversity includes everyone, regardless of background.

5. Diversity Is a Core Operating Principle

With the realization that diversity can bring about competitive advantage, partnering occurs among diverse groups across all functional areas and is anchored by common goals. This reduces silo mentality and allows for increased creativity and innovation. Beyond being a moral imperative, diversity in top companies is a key plank in the platform for business success.

Consider for example, Turner Broadcasting (TWX), whose businesses include CNN, TNT, Cartoon Network, and seven other networks. According to Michele Golden, vice-president for talent management and diversity, the company defined diversity as a core operating principle in 2005, which has influenced the programming Turner has developed. This commitment to giving viewers a wider variety of perspectives has allowed Turner to attract an array of new advertisers through sponsorship for such programs as the highly acclaimed documentaries Black in America and Latino in America.

To partner with the business around strategic issues, Turner utilizes nine ERGs, which they call Business Resource Groups. The BRGs influence programming, support Turner's activities within the community, focus on culture and hiring, and offer input on their culture and the viewing habits of individuals from their specific affinity group.

Each BRG operates with a well-defined mission and value proposition that includes how they will contribute to Turner's business, and each is supported by a senior executive who offers guidance and acts as a champion. Throughout 2009, one such group, Turner Parents, served as an internal focus group and generated new ideas for broadband products for mothers in support of Turner Entertainment Network and its new products group.

More Original Programs

Turner Parents also provided feedback to Cartoon Network about an online game for children and worked to develop new programming ideas on family and children's health issues for CNN FitNation. "We could not have had the programming success without the Business Resource Groups," Golden asserts.

IBM (IBM) is leveraging diversity through affinity channels as a mechanism to encourage innovation at every level. When Systems Management Specialist Pam Nesbitt filed her first patent in 2003, she became acutely aware of how few women at IBM were patenting their work. "The company has Invention Development Teams [composed] of volunteers who help individual inventors navigate the patent disclosure process," Nesbitt explains. "I noticed that there were almost no women on these teams and none submitting patents."

Sure that she could change this trend, Nesbitt contacted 20 female co-workers who were in technical roles and founded IBM's Women Inventor's Community. The group, which was formed in late 2006, now has more than 1,000 women worldwide. Collectively, these women have submitted nearly 900 patent disclosures internally and have been granted almost 300 patents.

Not all large companies are as advanced in their strategic application of diversity, but some are recognizing the advantage that a shift in focus might provide.

Tapping the Resources of Colleagues

Eighteen months ago, pharmaceutical company Pfizer (PFE) began to intensify its diversity program. Says Karen Boykin-Towns, chief diversity officer: "We asked ourselves, is it really all that it could be and are we capitalizing on diversity? We said, 'We can do more.'"

The company has now established 53 ERGs worldwide called Colleague Resource Groups, whose focus is creating an inclusive culture and contributing value to the business. These groups are open to everyone and are supported by senior executives who act as sponsors, including those who are ethnically or racially different from the groups they counsel. Some CRGs act as focus panels for corporate advertisements. Others serve on the Business Maximization Subcommittee, providing input on business issues that might affect diverse customers.

Moreover, Pfizer conducts an annual pay-equity analysis to ensure that women and people of color are not discriminated against in compensation—which is often a thorny issue in the battle for true inclusion.

The company is now expanding its diversity focus to relationship building with customers. Recently, in a pioneering effort to support the development and retention of women in India, Pfizer India conducted focus groups of leading women in sales and high-profile female physicians to discuss career goals, challenges, and opportunities. This provided a platform for both strengthening customer relationships and building a community of accomplished women who could develop an ongoing support network.

As organizations embrace the power of diversity to drive business results, it clearly positions them for growth in a flatter world economy, where the composition and complexion of the workforce and customer base is increasingly shifting. Changing the lens through which diversity is viewed moves leadership perspectives on the issue from tacit compliance with government mandates to true recognition that diversity is a partner in business success. Organizations that are not making the most of their diverse talent will find themselves in the unenviable position of watching competitors take the lead.

Alaina Love, President of Purpose Linked Consulting (www.thepurposelink.com) is a nationally recognized leadership expert and speaker. She is co-author of The Purpose Linked Organization: How Passionate Leaders Inspire Winning Teams and Great Results (McGraw-Hill, 2009).

Kevin L. Brown
www.kbsinsight.blogspot.com

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

SMSS: How to use LinkedIn with business savvy

.SMSS: How to use LinkedIn with business savvy
http://smartblogs.com/socialmedia/2010/05/12/smss-how-to-use-linkedin-with-business-savvy/#

By Mary Ellen Slayter on May 12, 2010
This post is by Brooke Howell, SmartBrief’s small-business editor. http://www.twitter.com/sbstartup

When Lewis Howes crushed his wrist, along with his dream of making his fortune playing football, and ended up bedridden on his sister’s couch with no college degree and no job, he could have made best friends with Ben & Jerry and whiled away the hours watching TV.

Instead, he spent six to eight hours a day experimenting with LinkedIn — tweaking his profile and learning the ins and outs, often through trial and error. After he was able to get up and about, he cut back to about three hours a day and kept on learning.

Sound like a waste of time? Nope. We’re not talking about Facebook here. Howes wasn’t posting pictures of the people who came to sign his cast and taking quizzes to find out which Disney princess he’s most like. He was doing business and growing into a business pro.

“I believe that LinkedIn is the No. 1 social-networking medium on the planet today … for anyone looking to build their business,” Howes told participants in the Social Media Success Summit on Tuesday afternoon.

For Howes, LinkedIn has been just that — and he says it can do the same for you, too.

“Start using it aggressively every day and testing and tweaking to see what works for you,” he suggests.

Luckily, you won’t have to spend quite as many hours learning LinkedIn as Howes did, because he’s happy to share what he learned, not only at SMSS, but with co-author Frank Agin in their book “LinkedWorking: Generating Success on the World’s Largest Professional Networking Website.”

Howes says LinkedIn is so powerful for a number of reasons, including:

•You can export your contact list into a file that you can keep and analyze.

•You can have an unlimited number of contacts.

•Its members are largely business professionals, many of whom are decision-makers.

Like any powerful tool, though, you have to put some thought into how you use LinkedIn, starting with your profile. And every profile, says Howes, must start with a keyword or two. For Howes, the word is “sports.” For you it could be “kitchen contractor,” “tax expert” or “French chef.” What’s important is that it gets at what you are all about.

That keyword needs to appear in five places in your profile:

1.Headline

2.Current experience

3.Past experiences

4.Summary

5.List of specialties

Putting the keyword in those five places will help move you up in LinkedIn searches and help people who are looking for experts in your field find and connect with you, says Howes, who is often at the top of searches for “sports.”

In addition to putting your keyword in your summary, he says, you need to be sure that summary answers three important questions:

1.Who are you?

2.Who do you want to help?

3.How are you going to help them?

Answer these questions and write them in a narrative format, not in formal bullet points as you would in a resume, Howes says. He gave more good tips and referred SMSS participants to check out free instructional videos on his website for more information.

It is worth your time to get on LinkedIn and learn to use it with savvy as an important business tool. The great thing about the medium is that you can use its best features for free, which is great for everyone and especially useful to entrepreneurs, independent contractors, solo businesses and small companies that may not have the bucks to spend on marketing and other outreach efforts.

Have you achieved business success with the help of LinkedIn? Tell us about it and share your tips.

Kevin L. Brown
www.kbsinsight.blogspot.com

Networking Vs.Picking Ones Brain

I was listening to my friend Terry Brocks video interview this morning @ http://www.terrybrock.com/ and Terry had a very intriguing conversation with Susan Roane http://www.susanroane.com/ .  Their conversation was based on the difference between networking and picking someones brain.  Got me thinking about how many calls or emails I get (and sometimes make or send myself) asking, "can I pick your brain real quick" or " hey, I've got a quick question". 

What I am realizing is that when I do that or others do that to me what I am really asking for is "can you please give something to me for free that you have worked long and hard to know and and probably spent a lot of money getting to know".  Is that fair? 

I don't think Susan, Terry or I are suggesting that friends and colleagues don't help each other out however there may be a lot to be said for reciprocating. 

How about something more like the idea Terry and Susan bring up about honoring someones knowledge by finding something we can do in return for them. Not just sucking one dry for info and leaving til next time thinking "oh, they know they can call on me anytime".

My friend Geoge Kellerman (www.twitter.com/georgekellerman) always says in his correspondence or conversation "how can I reciprocate".  By that George is telling me "I value what you have shared-can I do something of value for you" 

I know I need to do that more myself - so if I ever ask you, "can I pick your brain" remind me to either change that thought to a networking conversation that is give and take or ask me to reciprocate! 

Susan and Terry suggest come cool ways to show how you value the info you gain from others.  Check out the video interview at http://www.terrybrock.com/

you can follow me on twitter @brownkevinl or my friend Terry @terrybrock

Kevin L. Brown
www.kbsinsight.blogspot.com

Sunday, May 16, 2010

A bit behind but some good Outlook 2010 Features!

Outlook 2010: 5 Handy Features

http://www.inc.com/nadine-heintz/5-handy-outlook-2010-features.html
By Nadine Heintz
Apr 21, 2010

Yesterday, representatives from Microsoft visited the Inc. offices to give a detailed preview of the Office 2010 suite, which is due out this spring. Here are some highlights of the new Microsoft Outlook:

1. Outlook’s new Social Connector feature allows you to view profile information for e-mail contacts below each message, including a profile picture and feeds from Facebook, LinkedIn, and MySpace. (Microsoft is currently in talks with Twitter to add those updates as well). Companies can do some extra work and customize feeds to aggregate other people-centric information, such as CRM data.

2. For de-cluttering inboxes, a handy Clean Up button lets you delete all redundant messages in a long e-mail thread.

3. Not interested in reading a chain of e-mails about the company picnic? An Ignore button lets you automatically move an entire conversation, including future messages, to your deleted items folder.

4. New Quick Step buttons can be customized to do multiple actions in one step. For example, if you are receiving e-mails for a project you are no longer working on, you can create a button that automatically replies all, forwards the message to the appropriate contacts, and deletes the e-mail from your inbox.

5. Using the new Outlook and Exchange Server 2010, you can now receive voicemail recordings in your inbox, along with a one-line voice-to-text preview of the messages (though even the Microsoft rep doing the demo admitted the transcriptions are less than perfect).

Pricing: $149.99 for Outlook 2010, or $499 for the Professional edition of Microsoft Office 2010, which includes the new version of Outlook.

Availability: The new Office suite will be available to businesses in May and hit retail stores, including Best Buy, in June. Read more about Office 2010 in The New Microsoft Office Suite.

Kevin L. Brown
http://www.kbsinsight.blogspot.com/

Thursday, May 13, 2010

How to fix you FaceBook Privacy Settings in 2 Minutes

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/video/video_2475.html?1273792426


Kevin L. Brown

http://www.kbsinsight.blogspot.com/

More on Domaine de la Romanée-Conti story below

If the average price per below @ current retail below is 12,000$ (excluding the Christies auction pricing) per bottle had the extortionist been successful he would have had enough money to buy 105 bottles of the 2005 DRC! 
The big question holds.  What would he, or you, have done with the money? 

I will continue to leave DRC on my "bucket list" wondering if it was on the extortionists?

Kevin L. Brownhttp://www.kbsinsight.blogspot.com/

Domaine de la Romanée-Conti and French Police Foil Extortion Plot

http://www.winespectator.com/webfeature/show/id/42675
An ex-con threatens to poison all the vines in the Romanée-Conti monopole

Mitch Frank
Posted: May 13, 2010
The letter threatened to poison all the vines in one of the most prized vineyards in the world. When Aubert de Villaine, co-director of Domaine de la Romanée-Conti, opened it earlier this year, he didn't know what to make of it. "But when a second arrived shortly afterward," de Villaine told French media, "I took the affair very seriously."

De Villaine realized that Romanée-Conti was the target of a 1 million euro (about $1.26 million) blackmail scheme. In the second letter, the man provided detailed knowledge and maps of the grand cru Romanée-Conti vineyard, a DRC monopole, and threatened to pour poison onto the roots. De Villaine contacted local police, and the extortionist was nabbed in a cemetery trying to pick up a fake ransom.

Located in Vosne-RomanĂ©e, in the heart of CĂ´te de Nuits, DRC is the most famous Burgundy producer in the world, making it a tempting target. DRC's RomanĂ©e-Conti 2005 was released in 2008 for $3,650 to $4,300 per bottle; at retail, it now ranges from $8,000 to $16,000. Just last weekend, Christie’s sold six bottles of RomanĂ©e-Conti at auction in New York for a record high $26,000 per bottle. Wine fans looking for vine cuttings have jumped the walls of RomanĂ©e-Conti's 4.4 acres before, but no one had ever threatened poison.

"The letters were well-written, with a really good knowledge of our vineyard, and you never know, I didn't want to risk a hostage situation," said de Villaine. "It could have been an organized crime gang."

The police hatched a scheme to trap the letter writer. They had de Villaine write back, setting up a ransom drop in a cemetery in nearby Chambolle-Musigny on the night of Feb. 22. When the man, accompanied by his son, arrived to pick up the bag, actually filled with fake euros, the police moved in.

According to de Villaine, the extortionist is a trained vineyard worker from Marne, to the North, who spent two years in Burgundy but never had contact with DRC. He also has a criminal record. A trial will be scheduled during the next 12 months. De Villaine would not comment on whether DRC will explore security options for its prized vines.

Kevin L. Brown

http://www.kbsinsight.blogspot.com/

The Secret to Beating Grainger

By Ian Heller
May 10, 2010  http://www.mdm.com/article/print?articleId=25979
Many distributors are losing business to Grainger that they could win back with some changes in how they operate and market themselves.

My last blog called The Secret to Being Grainger drew a lot responses, and the gist of many of these was, “Thanks for telling me how they win – but how do I beat them?”

The bad news is that only a handful of distributors have both the systems and scale to compete directly for the “speed and convenience” business that Grainger has, as I explained. However, many distributors are losing business to Grainger every day that they could win back with some smart changes in how they operate and market themselves.

The best thing about these recommendations is that they each require little or no capital. My focus is on helping you compete more effectively without changing your business model.

Make Your Inventory Highly Visible

Customers perceive that Grainger carries just about everything and are highly confident it will be in stock. Why is this? Because between Grainger’s huge catalog, marketing flyers, easy to use website and extensive, professional branch displays, customers are constantly exposed to their product line. When you interact with Grainger, you see overwhelming numbers of images of products and brands. You get the sense that no matter what you need, Grainger has it.

In contrast, how visible is your product offering to customers? I work with a lot of distributors, some of them very large, and for the most part, what I see is a very old fashioned merchandising approach. Branch displays are unattractive, unimpressive and incomplete, website inventory is sparse, hard to find and often lacks images; catalogs and flyers are either poorly done or missing entirely.

Distributors are primarily in business to market products – how good are you at this core task? If you aren’t continuously educating your customers about what you carry and presenting your merchandising attractively and aggressively, who do you think customers will call when they don’t know where to buy a product? Grainger, that’s who.

Build a Great E-Commerce Website

There is simply no excuse anymore not to have all of your products online, with available inventory. Strive to make your website easy to use, with quick product look-up, quality images and very fast transaction processing. Don’t require new customers to register to place an order (Grainger does this). Extensive research shows that customers will often abandon a purchase at this step. Instead, let customers complete the order without registering. By the time they’re done, you’ll have all of their registration information anyway.

But that’s just a start. When you begin selling on the web, you automatically expand your geographic reach as a distributor because everyone in the world can find your products. Over time, this will allow you to stock items you couldn’t afford to carry prior to being in the web business. This allows you to expand your product range, making you more competitive with Grainger.

Remember that building a great website is just the beginning. You must do “search engine marketing” effectively so that Google, Yahoo, Bing, et al, refer customers looking for your products to your site.

Send out “Offers”

One of the best ways of educating customers about your product lines is to promote them with paper and electronic flyers. Developing and implementing a long-term, profitable database marketing strategy takes time and investment, but if you are disciplined in your measurement and testing, this can become a significant new revenue stream for you. This strategy also educates customers continuously about your product and service offering. That means customers who have seen your promotions for awhile will begin calling you more often because they have a better understanding of what you sell. That’s why long-term database marketing initiatives don’t just drive sales of promotional items – they grow more frequent transactions of all types.

You may need a catalog. I say, “may” because catalogs are vital in some kinds of distribution (MRO, a la Grainger, MSC, Fastenal, McMaster Carr, etc.) and are not as important in others (e.g., electrical supplies). The reasons for this are too complex to explain here, but suffice it to say that if your competitors have catalogs, you probably need one, too.

Lately, I’ve encountered sizeable distributors who send out quarterly or monthly “newsletters” but no direct mail flyers. I tell them, “If your customers like you enough to read your newsletters, they won’t mind you offering them products to purchase.” Customers know you exist to sell products. Give them a reason to buy.

Price Everything

I often meet with distributors who don’t put pricing on their promotional materials, websites and branch displays. Their logic is that since they have multiple of levels of pricing that vary by the customer and even by the transaction that it’s impossible for them to publish pricing.

I encourage them – and you – to price everything. It’s important for customers to have some idea of your products’ costs. Customers who have discounts will know that they do and so you won’t scare them away with the pricing you publish.

Not publishing pricing on your promotions, website and displays has the same effect as a menu without pricing posted outside of a restaurant: everyone assumes the reason there is no pricing is because it’s extremely high and the proprietor doesn’t want to scare you away before he rips you off.

Think about a customer entering your branch and seeing a 3/8” drill for sale. He doesn’t know if it costs $50 or $250. However, if it has a sign displaying a price of $99, he at least knows the ballpark cost to purchase the tool. If he’s used to getting a 10% discount, he’ll come up with a rough estimated price in his head. Without some benchmark price, he is very unlikely to bring the drill to the counter.

Grainger probably has higher pricing on most items you both carry than you do, and they price everything. If you don’t display a price, you create a sense of doubt about your competitiveness and allow customers to assume you cost more than Grainger.

Establish “street prices” for all of your items and then use them in your flyers, on your displays and on your website. Your response rates and incremental sales will jump up substantially. Going priceless simply announces to the world that you have prices so breathtakingly high that you don’t dare show them.

Simplify Your Transaction Process

Whenever I take on a new distributor client, I ask to sit with customer service people as they talk to customers. In one recent engagement, I worked with several phone reps and was horrified to see they wrote down every order before typing it into the system. This introduces enormous opportunity for error. I worked with another major distributor who didn’t use any phone call statistics to analyze wait times, abandon rates, etc.

I watch out for situations where the customer has to offer the same information twice (“What’s your company name again?”) or data that should already be stored in the system. Complex, error-prone transactions greatly reduce your ability to compete with Grainger’s bullet proof operational excellence.

When’s the last time you analyzed what it’s like to interact with your company from the customer’s point of view? Have you done “mystery shopping” to benchmark how easy and accurate your process is compared to Grainger or McMaster Carr?

Having a robust, state-of-the-art, intuitive and fast ordering process will result in customers choosing to call you more often. Grainger can process orders quicker than just about anyone. By reducing the gap in this area, you will offer faster, more accurate transactions, thereby increasing sales and reducing your costs.


Technical Support

I really view this as an Achilles’ heel for Grainger. I’m convinced that every customer service and sales person who works for a distributor understands how vitally important technical competence is in doing his job. Grainger simply doesn’t get this. Even when I was their Marketing VP, I couldn’t seem to get executives there to understand how important it is for front line personnel to understand what they are selling.

Grainger has a great technical support group in Chicago, but that’s no substitute for having well-trained people on the counter and phone. It is not difficult to have better technical prowess than Grainger, but most distributors don’t take credit for it. Train your people well, brag about it in your sales and marketing literature and prove it everyday and you will win customers.

By the way, this is one reason Grainger has such a terrific catalog and website. In some ways, these are a “crutch” to augment their dearth of technical knowledge. Some Grainger branch managers used to joke that we should start answering the phone with the phrase, “Stock number?” just to drive home the point that customers should look up the item in the catalog before they call.

These are straightforward, simple ideas to help you compete more effectively with Grainger without making fundamental changes to your business model. They won’t necessarily help you beat Grainger at what they do best – but they will help you earn more of the transactions you should be getting anyway.

Ian Heller has worked with distributors for more than 20 years, serving as VP, Marketing for Grainger, Newark Electronics and Corporate Express. As the founder of Real Results Marketing, he has consulted for many leading distribution companies, focusing on strategic planning and multi-channel growth initiatives. He holds an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

OK, I'm still a skeptic but willing to try! Long Island Wines

May 6, 2010, 11:29 AM ET.Long Island Wines Shine in Brooklyn

http://blogs.wsj.com/wine/2010/05/06/long-island-wines-shine-in-brooklyn/?mod=rss_WSJBlog&mod=WSJ_LifeStyle_Wine

Long Island, a 118-mile long strip of land wedged between the Atlantic Ocean and Long Island Sound, is home to a moderate climate, maritime conditions and fertile, loamy soil that provides for great winemaking. In geography, “it’s similar to the Bordeaux region,” said winery representative Scott Pflug as he poured for guests sampling a taste from the Macari Vineyards & Winery. “Though the weather is very finicky. We have to kind of play it by ear,” he added.


Some of Long Island’s best and brightest wines were centerstage at the Brooklyn Academy of Music yesterday evening, for Brooklyn Uncorked 2010. In its fourth year, this annual wine and food event is produced by Edible Brooklyn (whose editor Rachel Wharton just won a James Beard award for her column) along with the Long Island Wine Council and the New York Wine and Grape Foundation.

There have been vineyards in Long Island for almost 40 years now (the first one was founded in 1973, according to the Long Island Wine Council), but it wasn’t until recently that the region has gained momentum and began to build a reputation in the wine world. “It’s really coming along,” says Mr. Pflug about Long Island wine country. “We’ve seen a lot of growth over the past couple of years.”

The growing popularity of Long Island wine also owes something to the rise of the local food movement, noted Peggy Lauber, sales manager for the Wölffer Estate Vineyard. “The open-mindedness of the younger generations [for local wine] in recent years has been a big factor for us,” she says. “There is more acceptance of Long Island wines now.”

Yesterday, the BAM Cafe in Fort Greene bustled with attendees casually wandering from table to table to sample the offerings of more than 20 Long Island wineries. Each winery was paired with appetizers and snacks from New York restaurants, including Gramercy Tavern, Good Fork and D. Coluccio & Sons, to compliment the wine. Guests enjoyed the evening of food and wine for $40 a ticket.

RosĂ© was a theme of the event, with many wineries presenting their 2009 bottles. Evidence seems to be mounting to prove that rosĂ©s are more popular than ever now. More Long Island wineries are producing rosĂ© and American sales of rosĂ© wines surged more than 50% last year, according to a recent post on Edible Manhattan’s blog.

Michele Weisman, sales consultant at Borghese Vineyard & Winery, agrees that the rosĂ© trend is booming. “A lot of good rosĂ©s are coming out of the region,” she says. “People are now more interested in exploring different kinds of wines. Once they taste a rosĂ©, they will realize how good it is,” she explains while pouring On Wine a glass. We think she’s on to something

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Quitting Facebook: What Happens When You Deactivate?

http://abcnews.go.com/print?id=10607753

What Happens to Photos, Wall Messages, Games If You Deactivate Facebook Account?


By KI MAE HEUSSNER
May 11, 2010

For most of us, it will likely never be more than an idle threat. But what happens if you actually do decide to sign off from Facebook -- for good?

Frustrated by privacy changes or perhaps simply overwhelmed by the non-stop online chatter, Facebook users sometimes say it's time to go cold turkey. But a few really do follow through.

After Facebook's most recent changes and the discovery of a (now-fixed) security hole that let users see friends' chats, complaints from Facebook users erupted last week in comment threads and even a dedicated protest page on the site.

But Peter Rojas, co-founder of the popular user-generated gadget site gdgt, announced on Twitter that he was actually going to cut the cord.

"I was spending more time managing my account than actually using my account," he toldABCNews.com. "Having to constantly monitor the privacy settings was way too complicated. You can never be sure if you actually caught everything."

Before Deactivation, Facebook Lists Friends Who Will Miss You

Rojas said that though he never expected others in the tech community to respond to his action, he thinks the Facebook privacy issue is a big one.

"I'm happy to use the site, but I don't want to be sharing my private updates [and] personal information with other Web sites," he said.

After hitting the "deactivate" button listed under "Account Settings," he said the site tried to convince him to stay.

Before completing the process, Facebook asks the question "Are you sure you want to deactivate your account?" and displays pictures of a few friends, captioned with the lines "[Friend's name here] will miss you."

"It just seemed really desperate in a way that Facebook doesn't need to be desperate," he said.

Maybe someone at Facebook thought it might be a clever way to bid departing users farewell, he said, but it "just seems kind of weird to be so almost pathetic. They certainly don't need to do that. It's not like they're hemorrhaging users."

But according to the tech blog Search Engine Land, more and more people seem to be at least curious about how to delete their Facebook pages.

Tech Blog: More People Searching for How to Delete Facebook Accounts
In a blog post Monday, editor-in-chief Danny Sullivan said that while doing a "how do I" search on Google he noticed that "how do I delete my facebook account" was one of the top suggested search topics.

According to Google, suggested search topics are based on the queries of others and are determined algorithmically without human intervention. The popularity of search terms is one of the factors used in the algorithm.

To see how recent the Facebook trend was, Sullivan used Google Trends, which shows the popularity of certain searches over certain periods of time.

Although there was not enough search volume for "how do I delete my facebook account," he said he found something interesting when he entered "delete facebook account."

"Yes, there is definitely a rising trend," he wrote. "Over time, more and more searches at Google have involved it, it appears."

Facebook Users Can Deactivate or Permanently Delete Accounts

He also wrote that if you start typing in "delete" into the Google search box, the first suggested topic is "delete facebook account."

Facebook gives users the option to deactivate or delete their accounts, though listed under "Account Settings," the deactivate option is much easier to locate. To find the delete option, users have to search for the option in the site's "Help Center."

If a user decides to deactivate an account, the profile information is no longer available on Facebook, but the site still saves all of the information in case the user returns.

"We preserve the account in its entirety. People often deactivate for temporary reasons and expect their content and information to be there for them when they return," a Facebook spokesman said in a statement.

The user is taken off Community pages, photos tagged with her are de-tagged and status updates or other information posted to her own page are taken down. Posts on friends' walls remain, but the person's name appears in unclickable text.

Facebook Waits 14 Days Before Deleting Account

Still, Facebook said third-party applications or sites might be able to hold on to that information "to the extent permitted by our policies." If a user turned over credit card information on Facebook to buy virtual gifts or make other purchases, that information is also retained by Facebook.

The social network said there is no limit on how long a user can keep her account deactivated.

But if a Facebook user really wants to make the separation permanent, she can choose to delete the account altogether. If a user goes to the "Help Center" and searches for "delete account," she is directed to a link that lets her send a deletion request to Facebook.

Once they receive the request, the spokesman said the site waits 14 days before deleting the account.

"Because deletion is irreversible, this allows people who mistakenly submitted a request to let us know so we can cancel it," the Facebook spokesman said.

After the 14 days, Facebook said it purges the user's information from the site. The policy says copies of some materials may remain for "technical reasons," but Facebook did not immediately explain this further.

Though Facebook said it collects information about how many users have deactivated or deleted accounts, the spokesman said it generally does not publicize that information.

Industry Watcher: Facebook Continues to Grow

Still, despite user complaints and possible curiosity about leaving the site, industry watchers say Facebook appears to be attracting even more people.

"The site is still growing really fast as far as we can tell. It's growing fast, especially some of the younger [users], men and women in their 20s," said Eric Eldon, co-editor of the Inside Network, which runs the Inside Facebook blog.

He said Facebook grew by at least 4 million U.S. users in March to reach 117 monthly unique visitors and added about 20 million global users to reach more than 400 million users worldwide.

"One concern at this point is that Facebook can do so many changes that eventually people get fed up and delete their accounts, or at least stop using the site regularly," he said. But "that's always a concern but it hasn't happened yet."

"Maybe Facebook is so ingrained in people's lives so it's not a risk," he continued. "This is all such new territory."
Copyright © 2010 ABC News Internet Ventures

Kevin L. Brown
www.kbsinsight.blogspot.com

Inc Mag- How to Build a Loyal Blog Following

http://www.inc.com/guides/2010/04/build-a-loyal-blog-following_Printer_Friendly.html

How to Build a Loyal Blog Following

A blog can be an effective tool to grow your business, but not if no one’s reading it. Find out how to cultivate a tribe of dedicated readers.

By Peter Vanden Bos
May 10, 2010
It's no secret that blogging can be a great way to expand your business, reach out to new customers, and form a closer dialogue with existing ones. There are an extraordinary number of bloggers out there trying to do just that, but without an audience of loyal followers, it's unlikely a blog can become a significant growth tool.

Driving new traffic to your blog is a start, but the trick is to turn first-time visitors into repeat readers who can build your social network and add credibility to your brand. So what's the secret to transforming your blog into one readers want to come back to?

"I actually think there's a myth that there's one thing they can do to drive traffic," says Maisha Walker, president of message medium, a New York-based Internet marketing consulting firm, and an Inc.com blogger. "It's a combination of things that all work together and feed into each other, especially if you're just starting out trying to build a name for yourself."

This guide will help you turn the blogosphere into a loyal audience.

Building a Loyal Blog Following: Be Interesting

At the root of a good blog is good writing. No matter how many other tools you use to drive traffic, readers will keep coming back for one reason: they're interested in what you have to say. So your first step to building your tribe of followers should be focusing on delivering engaging, high-quality content on the topic you've chosen to write about, and people will find their way to it.

"You have to have a topic; it's a contract with your reader so they know what to expect from you," says Penelope Trunk, founder of web-based startup Brazen Careerist, a career network for young professionals, who writes a blog of the same name with 40,000 subscribers. "But write to the edge of that topic, because your job is to surprise them. Think of a new intersection of old ideas." Trunk's blog focuses on career advice, and she says posting about the rules of resume writing would be the center of the topic. The edge of her topic, she says, would be writing a post about what resumes and The Canterbury Tales have in common, for example.

It's true that some of the blogosphere's biggest names can afford to focus the majority of their time on writing, paying less attention to other tools and ways to promote themselves. But people like Trunk and Seth Godin, bestselling author and founder of web-based recommendation site Squidoo, whose Seth's Blog is one of the Internet's most popular marketing blogs, have found that not keeping track of subscribers has actually helped them get where they are.

"It's pretty simple," Godin says. "I try to post things that people want to tell other people about. The reason I don't want to know my number of subscribers is because I'm not trying to make my numbers go up so I can transform people into numbers I can sell ads to. I am trying to make change."

When you focus on creating strong writing, you shouldn't forget an important part of that process: editing. Strong writing is concise. Your readers will appreciate it. "The New York Times launches the biggest ideas in the world in their Op/Ed column," Trunk says. "You don't have any idea that warrants more than 700 words. It becomes disrespectful to the reader that you're not editing yourself."

Dig Deeper: Maisha Walker on How to Get Repeat Traffic

Building a Loyal Blog Following: Be Consistent

Writing a post people want to read takes time, but try not to take too long. It's important to update your blog regularly and predictably, with at least two posts a week. Make it a habit. "If people view it as a habit, they will visit," Godin says.

Updating often will help build your readership and could drive ad revenue, but that may only be true to a certain point. Setting an arbitrary number of posts you must hit each week can sometimes sacrifice the quality of your posts. Ultimately, it's about finding a number you can be comfortable with, knowing you're continually producing your best content and that the frequency suits the nature of your topic area. "For me, in general, I find that it's two post per week," says Deb Perelman, founder of the award-winning food blog Smitten Kitchen. "But, obviously, if I were writing a political blog, that wouldn't cut it."

Spend some time getting to know your audience so you can consider too what they're comfortable with. Jacob Morgan, co-founder and principal of the San Francisco-based Chess Media Group, a social media business consultancy, started out by posting on his Social Media Globetrotter blog each night at midnight, but later discovered this wasn't the ideal number for his audience. "Actually, updating every other day for my site works a little bit better," he says. "Not everyone checks their RSS reader everyday because they don't have time. This way, it gives everybody a little more time to read the content and comment on it."

Dig Deeper: An Interview with the Founder of Media Takeout

Building a Loyal Blog Following: Be Involved in the Conversation

A great blog should be a real, engaging conversation on an interesting new idea or opinion of a topic of common interest. As the writer of a blog post, you start that conversation. Starting the conversation isn't enough, however. Playing an active role in the discussion happening about each blog post is essential, so you're not "creating a black hole at the bottom of the page," as Perelman puts it.

David Spinks, who manages a community of blog reviewers at web-based Scribnia and started the Spinks Blog on how businesses use social media, responds personally to each comment. That may not always be practical, but be sure to respond if someone is asking you a question or has clearly took the time to craft a well-thought response. It's a sign of respect to your readers, and it will help drive repeat readership. "Whether you've read every post or you're coming to my blog for the first time, I want everyone to feel like I'm listening as well as that I care about what they have to say," Spinks says.

Dig Deeper: Nineteen Blogs to Learn From

Building a Loyal Blog Following: Participate in Different Contexts

The conversation started by a blog post often transcends the comments section. So, meet people where they are. These days, they're on social media, at sites like Twitter, Facebook, and Digg. Those sites give your content exposure in different contexts and can help build your credibility, Walker says.

"Twitter is the most valuable tool not just for promoting content, but for allowing me to reach out to people and continue the conversation," Morgan says. "They help share the content. You can tell they're your regular readers."

Including social media badges on your posts easily allows your readers to share them. Don't underestimate the importance of e-mail, either. If you notice a particularly engaging comment, take the time to e-mail the person who wrote it. Or, if you have written something particularly relevant for certain readers, Walker says, e-mail them.

You should also be an active participant in the community of blogs on your topic. "It's really important to join the conversation on other blogs," Trunk says. "If you're not a part of the community of people writing on your topic, then it's not an honest effort."

Dig Deeper: Four Keys to Success with Social Media

Building a Loyal Blog Following: Promote Yourself

In order to build ourselves a name, a little self-promotion never hurts. One of the best ways to do that is to tap into that community of blogs on your topic. After posting a thoughtful comment on the content of other bloggers, include a link to your own blog. Another way to drive repeat traffic is to offer to guest post on those blogs that have a similar readership to yours.

Promote yourself through all of your "owned venues," as Walker puts it. These include the more obvious ones, like including the URL of your blog on your business cards and e-mail signatures. If you're at an event, include it on the event handout. Continually promote your blog through all the social media you use, including it in your Facebook profile, for example. Include your blog, or a link to it, on your company Web site. The point is to remind people that the blog is there, and make it easier for them to find it, Walker says.

It's important to exercise caution when promoting yourself. Spamming other related blogs with comments that are simply a plug for your own blog, without a meaningful comment attached to it, will do more harm than good to the credibility of your blog. Including a link to a bigger blog on your own blog, a practice called "link bait," also doesn't usually work because big bloggers will rarely link back to you.

Dig Deeper: Drive Traffic to Your Business Blog

Building a Loyal Blog Following: Make Use of Available Tools

By now, you've put in a lot of work on your end. Make sure you take time to see what's happening on your readers' end, to see if your work is paying off. There are plenty of tools available online (many of them free) to keep track of stats such as number of pages views. One of the most popular is Google Analytics, a free and comprehensive tool which allows you visualize and track a wide range of metrics and data.

Other useful tools include:

RSS Feed, a basic but essential tool to manage reader subscriptions

FeedBurner, which enhances your RSS feed by adding functions like automatic links to Digg

LinkWithin, to link to other related posts in your blog and keep readers more engaged with your site

Disqus, to organize comments and join the conversation more easily

Crazy Egg, to see where people are actually clicking on your blog

Site Meter, to see how people found your site and where they came from

Chartbeat, to set alerts that your site is down or experiencing a spike in traffic

You should also master Search Engine Optimization (SEO). It's a tricky topic within itself, but you want to make sure you write strong headlines, have high value links, include relevant meta descriptions, and have a clean site code.

There are many tools out there that will help you optimize traffic, but don't get too caught up in the numbers. "I really don't spend too much time looking at the analytics," Morgan says. "If my readership increases by 10 or 15 percent, that's great, but if I'm able to build ten more valuable business or personal relationships, to me that's more valuable."