What’s Been Keeping Me So Occupied Lately!
January 26, 2013
Alrighty! Wow! It seems like so long since I’ve been on here!
Don’t worry I haven’t abandoned ship! I know my posts have been extremely scare these last few weeks, but I have a very good reason (actually about 50 different reasons) for my absence. But before I get into that, let me run something past you real quick…
The first major change I would like to report is that I’m switching-up my approach with the Blog Your Wine network (i.e. this website and the four other websites that link to it) a little.
The ultimate goal when I setup shop as a wine blogger/writer/reviewer (what ever you want to bloody call it) was to make this my living i.e. being paid to review wine. Some people called me crazy, saying that blogs will never generate any considerable amount of revenue, I even had one winery tell me that “bloggers should work because of a passion, and should never accept money” and that what I was doing was “unethical.” That’s ok. I think her plastic surgeon was “unethical.” :) (Buy me a glass of plonk and I’ll tell you the winery.)
What I will say is that proved all of them wrong. Over the past couple of years I’ve worked with some of the most amazing wineries (and indeed none-wine sponsors). Some producing under 50 cases a year, some wine brands producing over 1 million cases of a year. Never once did my integrity come into question, because..to be truthful…I don’t review wine the same way as too many others. I don’t care of you like a wine or not, and your shouldn’t care about my opinion. My goal has always been to tell the story of a winery, giving the reader as many facts as possible, and letting them be the judge.
Q&A Time!
So what’s the problem?
Well. It’s very simple. The work that goes into featuring a wine and telling their story online is exhausting, incredibly time-consuming and started turning into more of a labor of love. Literally, featuring a winery in exchange for the money I charge puts me at about minimum wage. Believe it or not, I actually don’t mind that…even though my bank/wife/cat will start to get pissed sooner or later…but it can’t be a full-time job.
Are you getting out of the wine industry?
What?!?! Are you kidding!?!? Never!!! I love wine, always will, and will tell you that if it wasn’t for me getting into the wine industry, which lead to me starting this website, I wouldn’t be doing a single one of the jobs that’s been keeping me active on a weekly/monthly basis. Also, the amount of free wine samples I receive is mind-boggling! :) A great perk of the job, no-doubt…but you can’t live on wine samples alone…not matter how hard you try!
So is this the beginning of the end?
Nope! Quite the opposite in-fact. The only difference is that I’m going to stop actively pursuing wineries/wine brands to talk about their wine online….although they’re more than welcome to approach me. The perusing was actually the hardest (and most unpleasant) part…
What this means is that, although the posts on this website will start to become a little more “sparse” in nature, it will allow my true voice to come out a hell-of-a-lot more, since I’ll have few accountabilities in terms of who I’m working for….not that I ever really censored myself anyway…
What’s been keeping you so busy lately then?
Rather than going into too much detail, and dragging this post out any further than I feel it necessary to, I’ll just give you a bullet-pointed list:
- In the past month I’ve been focusing the vast majority of my time on website/mobile website development. In-fact, I’ve taken on so many clients in these last 4 weeks, that I’m actually working alongside a full-time developer to help me out with my workload. I’m of the firm opinion that at some point I’m going to have to give this website an overhaul…but it’s doing the job it needs to for now.
- In February and March, I’m going to be the guest speaker at the TWGGA and EWE wine conferences. To say I’m excited about both of these conferences is a huge understatement! However, the prep has been a huge time-suck. Needless to say, I’ll be giving you a play-by-play of my travels, so make sure you’re following me on the relevant social media networks.
- My “behind-the-scenes” work with wineries/businesses on their social media and online optimization continues…not that you’d ever know it…because I can’t reveal who I work for/post on behalf of.
Thanks to everyone for following my progress over the past couple of years. It means a huge amount, and I’m glad that you’re here to see this transition! :) The best is yet to come.
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