Wine Making Log
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Help Support Winemaking Talk - Winemaking Forum:
I have gather many logs from all of you and hope to have a rough draft for review by this weekend. Never seems to be enough time a day to get everything done but I am trying. The goal was to get this done for the April newsletter but I want it be a log that everyone can useand will want to use. I will be looking for lots of feedback on the draft to help get it done right!
MedPretzel
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We're eager to help!
How many people subscribe to the newsletter?
How many people subscribe to the newsletter?
geocorn
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I agree, but I do not know how to get more people involved. I always talk about the forum each month in the newsletter and mention to every new customer with which I speak.
I have offered discounts and coupons to get people to use the forum, and the number of new people this month is up, but outside of a handful of people, the forum is not being used by wine makers. I am open to any ideas you may have.
I have offered discounts and coupons to get people to use the forum, and the number of new people this month is up, but outside of a handful of people, the forum is not being used by wine makers. I am open to any ideas you may have.
MedPretzel
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Well, I've had a few websites/discussion forums flop, but I can tell you sometimes there's just no rhyme or reason to why it does or does not work.
I will try to give you some of the experience I have, although I am not a professional marketer, or website designer. Just did it for fun (and some profit) a few years ago. Please don't take this the wrong way - I am just trying to be honest (my husband and I did lots of this, but we were always about 2-3 years AHEAD of the times, and people just never got our concepts) about what works and what doesn't.
First of all, you are doing great with your newsletter. The more people who sign up and hear about the forum, the better. Now, I have signed up for the newsletter at the beginning of march, so I don't know what it all entails. I have read past newsletters on your website, and I thought they were very good. You might want to consider "reminding" people about the forum (and the i.e. March Madness or Awesome April that's coming up) about the middle of the month in a very brief 3-lined email. People (like me) don't like to read a lot of commercials, so keep it brief and to the point in the middle of the month.
Again, I've never received a newsletter yet, but do it in HTML format and jazz it up a little. Nothing more non-eyecatching than a text-only newsletter. I'd like newsletters that I don't have to pick out the info I want. It's like a newspaper: You see larger headlines that catch your eye, and you read that. If there is something you don't like to read, you see that in the headline as well. Just plain text makes it a little hard to do this. Easy website creation programs like FrontPage (not endorsing, it's just the one I use) is very much like Word -- very visually based. You can change things to look nice - and that's just about all you need to create a simple, yet eyecatching, newsletter.
I have seen "that other forum" post in other forums about that forum. I don't know how ethical it is, but it was done. Maybe look there.
I will tell you, quite honestly, that I prefer this forum and a forum called "VinTalk" (I'm not promoting, just telling you maybe to look there, combine ideas/thoughts and maybe you can win some over) which is geared to Canadian winemakers. These two forums (yours and VinTalk's) are better because you stick to winemaking. I am the first to admit that I easily get off subject, but we're always trying to stick to it.
The one thing I think that may scare people away from your forum is that you are also a store. They might be a little worried about having or not having to buy from your store, or they are worried that your store is pushing their products at all given times (which we all know is not true). The one thing you might consider doing is getting a different domain name for the discussion forum: "discussvinewines.com" or maybe something like "fvw-forum.com" You still can keep everything the way it is, but the domain name might generate more hits than if it is associated with a store.
I also think the most active members would all be more than willing to write a "testimonial" to the forum, i.e. how great it is, how simple it is to use, how it's "no-nonsense winemaking" and very non-commercial. Honestly, that is what surprised me the most when I went on here. I thought I'd be egged to buy stuff.
Well, enough of that. If you need anymore help, please let me know. I will be out of town for a while, but I should be online, but if you need anything whatsoever, let me know. It might take a while, but I'll definitely get back to you.
Hope this helps a little. I meant it only in kindness. (I've had discussion forums that I made up my own alter-ego that posted to show activity. This one is still small, but it is active on it's own. That's better than a dead forum - trust me. Give it time and offer your walk-in customers a preview of the forum maybe on a laptop. They'll be impressed for sure, also when they see you put abusiness card with the link on it in their goodies-bag!!!)
MartinaEdited by: MedPretzel
I will try to give you some of the experience I have, although I am not a professional marketer, or website designer. Just did it for fun (and some profit) a few years ago. Please don't take this the wrong way - I am just trying to be honest (my husband and I did lots of this, but we were always about 2-3 years AHEAD of the times, and people just never got our concepts) about what works and what doesn't.
First of all, you are doing great with your newsletter. The more people who sign up and hear about the forum, the better. Now, I have signed up for the newsletter at the beginning of march, so I don't know what it all entails. I have read past newsletters on your website, and I thought they were very good. You might want to consider "reminding" people about the forum (and the i.e. March Madness or Awesome April that's coming up) about the middle of the month in a very brief 3-lined email. People (like me) don't like to read a lot of commercials, so keep it brief and to the point in the middle of the month.
Again, I've never received a newsletter yet, but do it in HTML format and jazz it up a little. Nothing more non-eyecatching than a text-only newsletter. I'd like newsletters that I don't have to pick out the info I want. It's like a newspaper: You see larger headlines that catch your eye, and you read that. If there is something you don't like to read, you see that in the headline as well. Just plain text makes it a little hard to do this. Easy website creation programs like FrontPage (not endorsing, it's just the one I use) is very much like Word -- very visually based. You can change things to look nice - and that's just about all you need to create a simple, yet eyecatching, newsletter.
I have seen "that other forum" post in other forums about that forum. I don't know how ethical it is, but it was done. Maybe look there.
I will tell you, quite honestly, that I prefer this forum and a forum called "VinTalk" (I'm not promoting, just telling you maybe to look there, combine ideas/thoughts and maybe you can win some over) which is geared to Canadian winemakers. These two forums (yours and VinTalk's) are better because you stick to winemaking. I am the first to admit that I easily get off subject, but we're always trying to stick to it.
The one thing I think that may scare people away from your forum is that you are also a store. They might be a little worried about having or not having to buy from your store, or they are worried that your store is pushing their products at all given times (which we all know is not true). The one thing you might consider doing is getting a different domain name for the discussion forum: "discussvinewines.com" or maybe something like "fvw-forum.com" You still can keep everything the way it is, but the domain name might generate more hits than if it is associated with a store.
I also think the most active members would all be more than willing to write a "testimonial" to the forum, i.e. how great it is, how simple it is to use, how it's "no-nonsense winemaking" and very non-commercial. Honestly, that is what surprised me the most when I went on here. I thought I'd be egged to buy stuff.
Well, enough of that. If you need anymore help, please let me know. I will be out of town for a while, but I should be online, but if you need anything whatsoever, let me know. It might take a while, but I'll definitely get back to you.
Hope this helps a little. I meant it only in kindness. (I've had discussion forums that I made up my own alter-ego that posted to show activity. This one is still small, but it is active on it's own. That's better than a dead forum - trust me. Give it time and offer your walk-in customers a preview of the forum maybe on a laptop. They'll be impressed for sure, also when they see you put abusiness card with the link on it in their goodies-bag!!!)
MartinaEdited by: MedPretzel
MedPretzel
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Okay, I just went on the site and looked at the March 2005 newsletter only.
These are just my sugesstions: You should put the Forum part up at the top - right at the beginning. There's a lot of text in the newsletter on the whole, and lots of people may fizzle out by the time they get to the forum part.
Use 2-3 different colors. All headlines should be a couple of font sizes larger, they should be bolded, and they should all be in black.
The parts "
<LI>Call Us!
<LI>Customer Appreciation Program
<LI>Customer Referral Program
<LI>Customer Feedback
<LI>Unsubscribe </LI>
"
maybe should all be under one title "Customer support" or similar. Can't think of the right word right now, but make it stand out: "Customer Kickbacks" or similar. Everyone loves to save money. I would try to write it with a bit of mystery so that people wonder what actually are the kickbacks. There you can write your phone number, feedback, specials, price reductions, etc....
I really like the bullets at the top, but I wouldn't offer the opportunity to link down to the title. I know it's easier for people to get to the topic they'd like to read, but I think if they are sort of forced to skim the rest, something might stand out and they'll get hooked on another topic (like the forum). If you have the oppotunity to link to "How to sweeten your wine" you might miss reading the part about free stuff on the forum.
These are just my thoughts/sugesstions.
These are just my sugesstions: You should put the Forum part up at the top - right at the beginning. There's a lot of text in the newsletter on the whole, and lots of people may fizzle out by the time they get to the forum part.
Use 2-3 different colors. All headlines should be a couple of font sizes larger, they should be bolded, and they should all be in black.
The parts "
<LI>Call Us!
<LI>Customer Appreciation Program
<LI>Customer Referral Program
<LI>Customer Feedback
<LI>Unsubscribe </LI>
"
maybe should all be under one title "Customer support" or similar. Can't think of the right word right now, but make it stand out: "Customer Kickbacks" or similar. Everyone loves to save money. I would try to write it with a bit of mystery so that people wonder what actually are the kickbacks. There you can write your phone number, feedback, specials, price reductions, etc....
I really like the bullets at the top, but I wouldn't offer the opportunity to link down to the title. I know it's easier for people to get to the topic they'd like to read, but I think if they are sort of forced to skim the rest, something might stand out and they'll get hooked on another topic (like the forum). If you have the oppotunity to link to "How to sweeten your wine" you might miss reading the part about free stuff on the forum.
These are just my thoughts/sugesstions.
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