Wineries, don’t start a blog… start a Community!

I read this post today where Paul Boutin says that blogs are dead and I agree, sort of…

<pIf you are considering starting a new blog now, the wrong thing to do would be to create one of those static boring blogs that everyone else has.

<pHe mentions sites like Flickr, Facebook and Twitter as better options. I say, YES use Flickr, Facebook, YouTube and Twitter by all means, but use them to drive people to the new community that you build on a Web 2.0 platform around your brand.

<pHere are two example of wineries <a href=”http://www.eaglesnestwinery.ning.com”>”Eagles Nest Winery”</a> and <a href=”http://winespace.donatifamilyvineyard.com”>Donati Family Vineyard”</a> that have taken up this community concept, truly internalized it and really made it their own. You can see each “natural voice” shines through.

<pHere are two example of wineries “Eagles Nest Winery” and “Donati Family Vineyard” that have taken up this community concept, truly internalized it and really made it their own. You can see that each “natural voice” shines through.

<pSome of the benefits are:

• Build an active, vibrant online community
• Cultivate and strengthen lifetime customer relationships
• Create a channel of trust through word of mouth interactions
• Expand your online digital brand
• Build brand loyalty by communicating WITH customers instead of AT them
• Publish and manage effective winery blogs and forum discussions
• Augment your marketing efforts with targeted campaigns to your community

This is so much more than a blog… It is video, photos, blogging, social networking all rolled up in one wonderful community for your customers to enjoy.

Tagged as: @MyVineSpace, attract customers, branded community, cheryl wolhar, enjoy wine, interact with customers, learn about wine, social media, social networking, Web 2.0, Wine Blog, wine brand loyalty, wine industry, wine marketing, winery blogs