Lazy Man and Money

Selling Wine – Almost Like Blogging

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This past holiday weekend my wife, my dog, and I headed down to the wine country of Paso Robles, California. Each year a group of 17 vineyards called the Far Out Wineries get together to host a wine tasting event. For a price of $35 you can spend 4 days visiting any of the wineries and taste their wine for free. To make it even a better deal the money goes to charity (tax deduction!) and you can win some prizes as long as you go to at least 8 of them. It’s a brilliant marketing plan to get people down there and buying their wine.

This was our third trip down to Paso in the last two and half years. One thing we noticed this time is that there are a number of new wineries popping up. I don’t know if it’s the economy picking up, but it seems like the wineries have doubled in number. When we got to Carmody McKnight I had to ask, “With all these wineries popping up, can I expect this annual wine tasting event to expand from 17 to 30 and go on for a week?” I feel like I should have known the answer…

The sommelier explained that the 17 wineries that participate are good friends and that they’ve been doing the event for nearly 30 years. It’s an exclusive club. Though the newer wineries are quite good, it’s not practical to let everyone in the club. As you start adding more people the value of being in the club actually goes down. It would be difficult to coordinate events like the annual one around Presidents Day and probably lead to the whole group collapsing under its own weight. The sommelier also pointed out that there is a delicate balance to strike. For instance the new wineries could get together to form their own network and compete with their own program.

It struck me that this is very much like blogging networks. I’m part of The Money Writers which is a group of ten bloggers. We have the same issue of newer bloggers asking to be part of our network. We feel we are a good size and adding new people would increase the complexity. And often other bloggers will go out and join other networks. The only difference is that I encourage bloggers to join networks and don’t view it as competition in the same way that the wineries do.

Can you think of some other area where this concept of a limited network enters your life? (Outside of blogging, I couldn’t think of any.) Let me know in the comments below…

Murphy-Goode’s Smart Marketing with New Media

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Murphy-Goode Winery has an interesting job opportunity that you may or may not have heard of… a 6-month contract to be a “Lifestyle Correspondent” for Murphy-Goode Wine. It pays $10,000 a month – a fairly impressive salary considering that you get free rent on top of it. Oh you also get to learn how make wine.

What does the job entail? It’s simply marketing the lifestyle of wine country via the Internet. You’d be expected to connect with Facebook and Twitter users, create videos of your experience on YouTube.

What makes this such a fabulous idea? A couple of things:

  • The Publicity of the Job Itself – What’s it worth getting news coverage for this job? Hell, in a tiny, tiny way I’m contributing to the value that Murphy-Goode is getting by writing this post. I’d bet they received more than $60,000 worth of free advertising before they even choose the Lifestyle Correspondent.
  • Getting the Brand Spread Consistently – Part of me can’t imagine people will follow the correspondent. However, I can imagine the correspondent will have a lot of Twitter followers and a lot of Facebook friends. This is surely a quality asset for Murphy. They’ll increase their mind share, especially if they can keep it going with promotions it’s followers.

I work with a company that employs a social media consultant. I don’t have any firm statistics, but I’m fairly sure that the company doesn’t get the same value for it’s dollar as Murphy-Goode is going to. Then again, the product isn’t quite as sexy. It’s not very obvious to me how they could extend a similar type of promotion.

For a little while, I thought of applying for this position. I ended up skipping it because I’m not very good with the video camera. Also, it would be about 3 hours away from my wife and puppy. While they may be able to come with me, I’m sure my wife wouldn’t appreciate that commute. However, it’s not too late for you. If you hurry, there’s still time to apply for the job. It ends on midnight Friday night.

Can I Pay Less for Something of Similar Value?

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Pay less and win the game of personal finances.

pay-less.jpgTodd at Harvesting Dollars contacted me today to tell me about a new meme he’s starting. With the upcoming summer Olympics, what financial games or tricks do you use to keep your finances in order? He saves his raises and doesn’t buy into lifestyle inflation. If you are good at that game, you are going to do pretty well. It’s a tough game to play and requires a lot of self-discipline.

My game: Can I Pay Less for That?

I don’t know too many who subscribe to the philosophy of “I like to pay full price whenever I can.” I honestly know a few, but they are pretty rare people in my circle. I’m very firmly looking to maximize my dollar in every area of my life that I can. Here are just some ways that I play the “Can I Pay Less for That” game:

  • Books – Library or Paperback Swap have the same books.
  • Movies – Netflix, RedBox, DVD Play, your cable’s On Demand (if you already have it) are fantastic alternatives to movie theaters if you realize that you are simply time-shifting the viewing of the movie. Plus I’d rather introduce my wife to The Godfather than run out to see Mamma Mia.
  • Transportation – I’ve already written about how I save money on cars. Now you can add save on gas to the list.
  • Clothing, Homes, and even Alcohol? – Want to pay less on other things? I covered a lot of my major savings in my save money round-up.

Despite the picture I chose to include, the key to almost all these tips to pay less is that I give up very little quality (at least in my mind, do what’s right for your mind). The books and movies tell the same stories. The cars get to me the same location. I have decent clothes for when I need them. I can trick my friends into thinking that my wine is expensive, since it’s actually good quality. It really adds up over time.

Photo Credit: St.VincentVolunteers

Amazon Friday Sale – Unicycle Edition

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For some of you, I’m coming out with this a little late in the day. I apologize. If it’s still Friday, you’ve got a chance to take advantage of the following deals:

This week’s highlight for wacky pick is:
Unicycle – The savings of $10 isn’t that breath-taking, but I have to wonder how many unicycles Amazon sells. Aren’t you dying to know this? I’m can juggle a bit, but I’m not to adding a unicycle any time soon.

Best Value of the Week?
Bluetooth Portable GPS Navigator – I made that a question because I haven’t looked a GPS Navigators in some time. I know the prices are dropping fast, so the $600 list price might been from a year or two ago. To top it off this product is refurbished. Nonetheless, a GPS Navigator has become an indispensible part of my life, so for $180 I find a good overall value for me.

Best Healthy option (tie):
Kashi Go Lean Crunch – I eat this cereal at least every other day. There’s a lot of protein and fiber in it. I recommend it as part of my cheap and healthy breakfast

Swim Googles – I have been swimming a lot more lately. I could use a pair of Goggles goggles to go with that. (That’s what I get for trying to publish quickly).

For those planning a bacchanalian party for the upcoming 4th of July (tie):

Electric Wine Opener – I’m a pretty Lazy person, but even I believe in having to work for your wine a little bit.

Thermal Beer Glasses – Though I often take the prim the proper road on this blog, I love that science is being used to make beer colder. This is a project that should receive more funding.

Ask The Readers: Did You “Staycation” to Save Money on Gas?

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gas-pump.jpgMemorial Day weekend is over… *Sigh*… back to work. The local news last night interviewed a number of people about how they spent their Memorial Day weekend. I was surprised by the number that were really cutting down their driving to save money on gas. One family decided to cut down their vacations from 3 to 1.

My wife and I don’t drive very much for vacations. We might go 45 miles north to Napa for some wine tasting this summer. When/If we do, we’ll hopefully find a cheap motel or perhaps even camp out. We also might look into more activities in the nearby San Francisco. Even thought we’ve lived here almost two years, there’s still so much we haven’t seen.

So let’s turn the questions back to you… are you reducing your driving this summer? What is your budget for travel this summer? Do you want to punch me in the face for using a cutesy term like “staycation” in the title? Let me know in the comments.