Hi Joe!

Just chiming in here that these types of infuriating PR pitches (which we call the "spray and pray" method) have been happening in all industries, among all bloggers -- sadly, it's not limited to wine bloggers in the least.

And this has been happening since at least, mmm, let's say 2005.

In fact, the entire reason we launched our agency was to fix that very problem. We work with PR agencies to figure out what they really want and need from influencers (regardless of niche/expertise) and then work with our network to find the right people to participate in whatever programs will make sense for them.

So cheers to you and your panel. Go get 'em!

-kristy/Clever Girls

Hi William,

I get what you're saying, and I know I have *absolutely* no grasp of what a 1-2 person team is up against on a daily (or seasonal, or yearly) basis.

It seems like what you -- and maybe others? -- are saying is that MARKETING is a giant challenge and resource-drain altogether. And that's a big problem to overcome, with or without social media.

So maybe we have two different issues at play here:

1. What role does marketing play, period?
2. How much of that role should social media take up?

And I think a non-wine-industry person can weigh in on how to decide #2 (because it's NOT the same answer for everyone), but that's only after the company/label is on-board with #1.

As a complete wine-industry outsider (but a career social media person, for whom, perhaps, NEVER THE TWAIN SHALL MEET), here's what I don't get and what Joe and I (hi!) recently discussed at length:

I don't understand why small wineries with limited budgets insist that they can't afford to engage in social media, but other small companies, in other industries, can. Is the wine industry SO exceptional that the same rules simply cannot apply?

There is no shortage of case studies from small business and small retail shops who've become successful through their use of social media -- or who, at the very least, have used social to increase brand awareness and sales to some degree.

(Here's an example from a boutique retailer: http://www.usatoday.com/money/smallbusiness/story...

Is wine really so different? What am I missing?