Subscribe! Get Our Free Marketing Tips Via Social Media

Sell Your Wine On Our E-commerce Site

swo_homepage_image

Sell Overstock Wine On Our Case Club Site

wbtcc_image_for_l&vblog

Protect Your Privacy With Three Essential Facebook Settings

By Marketing at Leaf and Vine · Comments (1)
Monday, January 25th, 2010

safe_computerThe New York Times has an excellent article that clearly explains the new “privacy” settings that Facebook has instituted as a default for all users.

In a nutshell:

  1. Status Updates are now seen on Google, Yahoo, etc. search engines: So if you post any colorful updates that you wouldn’t want Mom or your boss to see, you can change  your Privacy Setting under “Profile Information” and “Posts by Me” to show your Updates to “Only Friends,” rather than the “Everyone” setting. Because “Everyone” means Everyone.
  2. Your “Personal Info” is also now set to default to “Everyone” by the new Facebook settings for family and relationships (relationship status) and your birth date (do you really want this information seen to anyone and everyone online? Think about identity theft here). You can change this setting.  Go to “Privacy Settings,” “Profile Information” and for each field listed on this page, change the pull-down menu (to the right). You can choose “Everyone,” “Friends of Friends,” “Only Friends,” and “Custom.”  The “Custom” field allows you to choose “Only Me,” which might be the best choice for your sensitive data like birth date.
  3. All of the above Personal Information, if it is checked or defaulted to “Everyone,” is also available to the search engines. Under “Settings/Privacy Settings/Search,” look to see if the “Allow” box is checked. If you do not want your Profile information to be search-able, uncheck this box.

For the complete article, and links to more information on protecting your privacy within Facebook, see the sourced article here.

Share and Enjoy:
  • Print
  • Digg
  • Sphinn
  • del.icio.us
  • Facebook
  • Mixx
  • Google Bookmarks
  • Blogplay
Categories : Marketing Tips/How To
Comments (1)

Telemarketers Now Have Your Cell Phone Number

By Marketing at Leaf and Vine · Comments (0)
Monday, January 25th, 2010

do-not-call-list

Cell phone numbers are being released to telemarketing companies this month (January 2010).  Depending on your cell phone plan, you may be charged for those unwanted calls.

You can call 888.382.1222 and tell the nice people at the National Do Not Call center to put your cell phone number on the list to be blocked from those unsolicited calls. Make sure you CALL FROM YOUR CELL PHONE. Your number will be blocked for five years.

Share and Enjoy:
  • Print
  • Digg
  • Sphinn
  • del.icio.us
  • Facebook
  • Mixx
  • Google Bookmarks
  • Blogplay
Categories : Marketing Tips/How To
Comments (0)

Take over the control of your website

By Marketing at Leaf and Vine · Comments (0)
Tuesday, January 19th, 2010

computer_oldThe quickest, most efficient way to take control of your website, so that you can update it yourself, is to convert it to a WordPress blog site.

You do not have to be a writer, or a blogger, to have a blog site. A blog site is just another website built on a platform that allows you to log-in to an administration panel in order to add pages, content, photos, product information, video, etc.

When you convert your static website to a dynamic website, or WordPress blog site, that will allow visitors to interact with your content by making comments, asking questions, purchasing product or downloading information you’ve provided. Blog sites offer many more opportunities for the visitor to take the call to action that will convert them from a visitor into a customer or new client. The communication that you have with the blog site visitor is what distinguishes a blog from a brochure-style, or static site; there is no such interaction between a static site and the visitor.

With a WordPress blog site, you do not need to know HTML or coding to build new pages or update your site. No more calling your site designer to make little changes that you can do yourself. You own your WordPress site, and can control everything in it.

A WordPress blog site can also be set up to connect to your social media accounts like Facebook and Twitter. Post your new content once on your WordPress blogs site, and that content can be posted, at the same time, to your Facebook/Twitter accounts. WordPress blog sites also support e-commerce, advertising, affiliate marketing – using widgets and plug-ins that you can easily install yourself, WordPress blogs have limitless possibilities and flexibility.

There’s a bit of a learning curve if you are completely non-computer literate, but the dashboard is a “What-You-See-Is-What-You-Get  (WYSIWIG) editor window, so if you know Word you should have no problem.

Converting your static site does not mean you have to lose your beautiful design…you can have a blog site that looks just like the existing site. But if the goal is to bring in lots of visitors to the site, you should consider using the blog, and it’s fresh, keyword-laden content, as your home page.

I’ve chosen to make our marketing blog the Home page for LeafandVine.com. I do it this way because when I post to the blog, it is indexed more frequently by search engines, so that my target market will find this site more easily. Using my blog in this manner makes my website an actual marketing tool, rather than a brochure site that just sits there looking pretty but doesn’t do much for bringing in traffic.

Make your static site a marketing tool that you can control, that contains built-in Search Engine Optimization (SEO), and that will attract new visitors and business by converting it to a WordPress blog site.

Write a comment to this blog post, ask a question, or send us an email for more information to:  marketing@leafandvine.com.

Share and Enjoy:
  • Print
  • Digg
  • Sphinn
  • del.icio.us
  • Facebook
  • Mixx
  • Google Bookmarks
  • Blogplay
Categories : WordPress Site
Comments (0)

Is your website a Marketing Hub pulling in a steady stream of prospects?

By Marketing at Leaf and Vine · Comments (0)
Wednesday, January 13th, 2010
blog_hub_wheel.jpg

If your website is not bringing in new prospects regularly, you need a site upgrade. Your website should be a center of activity, the hub of your marketing plan, as shown in the diagram to the right. A site that will pull new visitors to your site uses dynamic social media tools and online marketing strategies.

Turn your current static site into a dynamic blogsite or marketing hub, and start using that blogsite as a powerful marketing tool that you control. (note: a blogsite is just another word for a website that either contains a blog, or is built on a blog platform. You do not have to be a “blogger” to have a blogsite.)

When you control your own blogsite, here is how it can function as a marketing tool for your business (start at the top of the wheel, in the diagram):

  1. Blog/Posts/Content: You update your own content – or the information about your product/services, often and regularly (blogs are designed to be updated or posted to easily);
  2. Your consistently updated website results in increased Search Engine Optimization and more traffic (blogs have built-in SEO because they are built upon content – which you are updating regulary (see #1 above);
  3. Your social media (Facebook, Twitter, etc.) leads TO your blogsite, and your blogsite can lead visitors to your social media communities and your followers;
  4. Your email campaigns, print materials and other advertising link to your website;
  5. Your blogsite allows customer input and feedback, resulting in better customer relations/customer service and customer loyalty – and your loyal customers will spread the word via their own social media communities;
  6. You gain increased traffic to your blogsite as a result of all of the above, where your online presence helps your site Sell Product or Services, become a Brand Leader in your industry, gain more new customers, and more sales.

Leaf and Vine Marketing can help turn your site into a marketing tool

For a FREE website evaluation to see how a blogsite and social media marketing plan could
increase traffic and new visitors to your current site,
email us at: marketing@leafandvine.com
or call Leaf and Vine Winery Marketing at 707.225.1895.

We have been using the WordPress platform to create blogs for clients, and ourselves, for a couple of years now. Many major corporations use WordPress to manage huge amounts of content (the New York Times, and CNN are two of the largest). Recent advances in the way WordPress can be used for websites, e-commerce, social media, video, photo galleries etc. are leading millions of website owners to convert from a static site to a dynamic blogsite/content management system.

Here is a sample of our own WEBSITE REDESIGN from

STATIC SITE         to              BLOG SITE:

leafandvine_old_page_screenshot.jpgleafandvine_new_blog_screenshot.jpg
Share and Enjoy:
  • Print
  • Digg
  • Sphinn
  • del.icio.us
  • Facebook
  • Mixx
  • Google Bookmarks
  • Blogplay
Categories : Uncategorized
Comments (0)

Sell wine on-line without breaking the bank

By Marketing at Leaf and Vine · Comments (0)
Thursday, January 7th, 2010

wine-glass-computerYou’re a wine-maker or business owner, not a techie, right? So you may need some help learning what your options are for selling wine or products using online tools. If you have a limited budget for set-up, and/or not enough staff to manage a site for you, do some preliminary research about what’s available, affordable, and most important, what you will be able to maintain and use as a marketing tool for your business.

You have a few options for your online website, but here are two that Leaf and Vine Marketing recommends:

  1. Do-It-Yourself blogsite (which can serve as your corporate website as well as your e-commerce cart, blog, and social media hub). Leaf and Vine employs this option in addition to a static e-commerce site., and here are the benefits to a blogsite:
    1. Your blogsite can be your Content Management System that you completely control. No more contacting your web designer for simple changes. Upload product, images, blog posts, recipes…anything that supports your product brand.
    2. Your blogsite serves as your Social Media Hub. In fact, any time you update your blogsite with new product or articles, events or promotions, you can automatically disperse that information to Facebook, Twitter, Yelp!, other industry forums.
    3. Blogsites engage your customers, and bring in new ones. You can set your blogsite to accept comments and suggestions from visitors (and you control which comments are accepted/rejected, etc.); this is a great way to engage your customers and keep them. And because blogs are highly Search Engine Friendly (because they are content/keyword-based), you can drastically increase traffic to your site.
    4. No expensive software to purchase: We really like the WordPress platform for blogsites, which is free and open-source. It is very easy to manage once it is set-up and it is the industry standard for blogsite production.
  2. Hosted E-commerce Site (your corporate website, with compliant e-commerce engine, hosted on a company serve that manages it for you, charges monthly fee and initial set-up fee).
    1. This is a great option if you simply can’t or do not want to manage your online presence yourself. This type of site can serve as your corporate online presence, a shopping cart for your wine and/or products, a blog, and can also connect with social media sites like Twitter, Facebook, etc.
    2. Use a reputable, compliant e-commerce site developer. We have one in particular we highly recommend (no, we do not work for them!); contact us for more details; we can help you get set up with them.
    3. There are many companies offering shopping cart solutions. Since this is one of the most important components of your site (after traffic building), you want to make sure to ask some very specific questions when hiring a company to provide a hosted site for you; the cart should offer:
      1. - Built-in Compliance
      2. - Search Engine Optimized/Placed Site
      3. - Marketing tools for your winery and brand
      4. - Your wines search-able by vintage, price, region, and more
      5. - Wine Club offering your wines
      6. - Secure Credit Card Processing
      7. - Shipping Carrier Integration
      8. - Sales Reporting

Feel free to comment on this post, ask questions, or send us an email for more info to: marketing@leafandvine.com

Share and Enjoy:
  • Print
  • Digg
  • Sphinn
  • del.icio.us
  • Facebook
  • Mixx
  • Google Bookmarks
  • Blogplay
Categories : Uncategorized
Comments (0)

Receive Our Marketing Blog Via Email

Your email:

 

Leaf and Vine Marketing
Copyright © 2010 All Rights Reserved
iThemes Builder by iThemes
Powered by WordPress