Special consulting rates are offered to clients who provide Peet’s coffee served with cupcakes from Kara’s. (added 4/6)

Being a social media expert is like being a mail-merge expert in Microsoft Word. It’s nice, but there is so much more than just that one thing. (added 4/6)

The 4 stages of iPad: 1. Who needs it? 2. I agree, but I prefer my laptop. 3. Wow, that’s cool. Someday. 4. Do you take American Express? (added 4/6)

If you go to a party, don’t expect a round of applause when you first enter. Same with social media. People don’t hang out on Twitter or Facebook simply to talk to you or buy your wine. Listen, engage, be friendly. Over time, who knows? (added 4/6)

The Red Queen said: Now, here, you see, it takes all the running you can do, to keep in the same place. If you want to get somewhere else, you must run at least twice as fast as that! –Alice Through the Looking Glass (added 4/6)

There’s no downside to engaging your customers in dialogue.

If you don’t have time to talk to your customers, why do you think they have time to buy your wine?

Engaging with people requires time and effort. No time? Can’t make the effort? Retire already and sit on a rocking chair and watch the sunset.

Social Media is not another form of advertising. Greeting a person at the store entrance and saying “Hello” is also not advertising.

Being friendly and communicating with others won’t guarantee wine sales just as being friendly won’t guarantee you find a mate in life. But it sure helps.

You’re not the dentist or the funeral director. People are eager to buy your product. Don’t be unfriendly and send them away.

If you can’t greet potential customers at the door, greet them on their computers or iPhones.

You don’t show up at a party and say first off, “Hi. Join my wine club.” So why say it on Facebook or Twitter?

No matter how friendly or nice you are, not everyone will like you or your wine. Accept this in life too. But still be friendly and nice.

Don’t neglect the old-fashioned way of communicating via targeted email. People who have signed up for your newsletter are begging you to talk to them.

So you sell out all your wine by allocation and have a waiting list a mile long? Ok, indulge yourself. Be the nastiest person on the face of the earth. But one day this attitude will bite you in the ass.

Which is more important at dinner, the wine or the food? Neither. It’s the people you’re with—your friends and family.

Don’t make it difficult to buy your wine online. Developers do what they’re told. Learn what to tell them.

Everyone who chats about wine whether in person, online, on a blog, on social media, is a potential salesperson for you. Hire them all, and it won’t cost you a dime.

You can outsource your social media conversations, but why? You can hire me or someone else to do it, but will we care about your brand or just about the paycheck?

There are a lot of well-informed and knowledgeable people who blog about wine marketing. Reading them is free. Ignoring them may be costly.

You can mention you’re having sale when conversing on social media. But if that’s all you do there, goodbye. You’re boring.

Updates to this can also be found at www.ewinerysolutions.com/randomthoughts