As a Wine Professional, How Effectively Are You Using LinkedIn?

I have been using LinkedIn almost from the very beginning of the start of the website.?Originally it was designed as a place for recruiters to find professionals to fill job openings.?As a professional it quickly became important to have a profile available.

Like many things in life, over time LinkedIn changed as more and more wine professionals became members the opportunity to establish communications with other wine professionals was essential to opening new markets and promoting products and services.?

But the bottom line is always the same, sell more wine.?Basically everyone is a consumer, a potential customer.

As I have been telling winemakers and owners for well over a decade, if people don’t know your wine even exists how will they buy it??Obviously, a key utilization of the site is promotion.?Obviously, every day I see countless wine advertisements promoting different wines. BUT IS THAT ENOUGH?

But are you just trying to sell your wine or are you also trying to get consumers to buy your wine.?IT IS NOT TH SAME THING!

The art/technique of increasing sales volume has changed dramatically since the start of the internet and engaging individuals has also changed. ARE YOU TALKING TO CONSUMERS OR ARE YOU ONLY TALKING AT THEM?

From where I sit, every day I read countless articles that merely promote products/services.?Consumers are being talked at, not talked to.?I rarely read posts that specifically encourage conversations.?If you doubt me, count the number of wine posts that have comments.?Then count again only those posts with comments that are meaningful thoughts that are more than just simple support to the author.

Whether you are a producer (or work for them), importers, wholesalers, retailers, tour operators, or hospitality professionals who are closely aligned with wine tourism, the need to engage consumers in a profound way is only going to increase with time.?People are sick and tired of being talked at.?Look at the rising popularity of commercial less TV. ??There are websites that offer music without any commercials.?You can’t look at any product (or service) without getting immediately hammered with ads for that product while online. There are numerous websites that sell wine but very few that offer anything more.

Again, from where I sit, most wine professionals need to change the way they communicate if they want to increase their sales volume!