50% off at Spa Willamina

This is just a friendly heads-up that Lunabean Media client, Spa Willamina, is currently in the midst of a huge 3-day sale: Get a $100 gift certificate for $50! Here’s more info:

Spa Willamina Super Special

Custom Facebook tab for the sale

Keys to a Successful Winery Website

Having recently launched the R. Stuart & Co. Winery Website I thought it might be instructive to go through some of the key elements that we feel all winery websites should have, using the example of the R. Stuart site.

While this is, by no means, an exhaustive list of every feature we packed into the site, it does cover the most important. I hope you find it useful!

Wine Detail Page

While it seems obvious, many wineries forget that their website’s primary purpose is to introduce (and sell!) their wines to a passionate audience. You’ll see sites that are so jumbled up with things like Flash splash pages, music pairings, and navigation systems that bury the wine pages that it’s almost criminal (a crime against the wine). We focus on the wine. Each wine detail page is easy-to-read and offers layers of information for both the wine newbie and wine geek alike. These include: a detailed description, a large “buy now” button, previewable and downloadable tasting notes, spec data for the vineyard, vinification, and final products, a Google vineyard map, and photos.

The Store

Speaking of selling wine, we created a custom Volusion store (the store used by both Barack Obama and John McCain in the 2008 election and by the new Kangaroo) for R. Stuart which gives users a standardized (Amazon.com-esque) shopping experience. The store can handle quantity discounts, free shipping, price groups for the wine club, and gives a number of opportunities for marketing including coupon codes. It’s also PCI compliant and hosted on Volusion servers so critical data and transactions are ensured to be safe.

Contact Information in Obvious Locations

There is nothing more frustrating that going to a winery’s (or any company’s) site and having no clue where they are located or how to contact them. You are then forced to find the “contact” dropdown item where they may or may not have what you’re looking for. With R. Stuart, we placed the pertinent info in the upper right of every page. It’s also at the bottom of every page, in the footer. Another bonus, pull up the site on an iPhone and the phone number is automatically a link to call.

Blog / Social Media

While wine is the product and, if it’s tasty can sell itself, a good dose of personality is also required. Enter social media and the blog. We place the social media all in one spot (the jquery drawer on the left of the site) so that users aren’t distracted by it, but can easily access it at any time. The blog is integrated into the site and is divided into three sections: winery postings (From the Winery), trade postings (On the Road), and recipes. We give the power to the winery staff to update the blog (and all content, for that matter) themselves. The more they blog, the more they look like a happy, vibrant business and the more it helps their searchability. Oh, and check out a recipes page and note the “Share and Print” button. You can easily print any page of the site (practical for recipes) and even instantly create a PDF of it. Very cool.

Trade Page

Every winery should be as accomodating to trade as it can. We gave trade a one-stop page for all necessary information. This includes: contact information, distributor list, winemaker bio, logo art, and tasting notes, label image, and bottle image for each wine.

Simple Navigation

This isn’t so much a wine-specific feature, but a website feature in general. We subscribe to the philosophy that less is more. This is particularly the case when trying to relay a large amount of information in an easy-to-understand manner. Navigation needs to be obvious and consistent. If a user doesn’t know exactly where a link is going to take them, they aren’t going to click (example, if you have a blog, call it a blog for goodness sake…don’t try to be cute or clever with its name).

Calendar of Events

Most wineries have a calendar of events but make two major mistakes with it: 1) It’s rarely updated so it looks like your winery doesn’t do any events and/or 2) The calendar is difficult to navigate. We created a simple and clean list of events which quickly gives the user all of the necessary details. If the user wants, she can click “Calendar” to see the classic calendar view. Clicking on any one event brings the user to a detailed event page where they can comment on the event or share it via their social networks.

#wamerlot Twitter Tasting – March 25

After the success of Rick Bakas’ #calicabs twitter tasting there has been much interest in similar events for other regions and varietals. We are happy to be part of the first ever Washington Merlot (#wamerlot) Twitter tasting which will happen on March 25th between 5pm and 7pm PST.

RSVP to the Event

If you’re not familiar with the concept of a Twitter tasting, just think of the good old days (c. 2001) of chat-room tastings where a winery’s customers would all sign in and taste wine along with the winemaker on AIM (or some now irrelevant service). Well, the year is 2010 and chat-rooms have been replaced by Twitter. In this case, the goal is to get some delicious Washington Merlot into the hands of as many people as possible and then have them all talk about it on Twitter between 5pm and 7pm PST on March 25th.

For those of you worried about the juxtaposition of something “social” yet seemingly done in a dark room in front of your computer, do not fret. Many wineries will be hosting TweetUps during the event where you can meet up with some real life Twitter-folk and tweet from your laptop or phone, while of course engaging in some real-life conversation and sipping some amazing wines.

For more information about the event, please visit @drinknectar’s website: http://drinknectar.com/.

If you are a winery and would like to participate, please check out the information here.

Oh, and we’ll both be there…well, here, but there. Can’t wait!

Three important and interesting social media trends for 2010

John Bell, managing director of Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide has written a good article distilling many social media predictions for 2010 into three very important ones. Pay particular attention to the third prediction, “Blogs Will Resurface As The Popular Hub for Brand’s Social Media Effort.”

This year blogs will redefine themselves for brands. They will be the fast-publishing and ‘voice of the brand’ option for many brands who now have experience in social media via Twitter and Facebook and have a new confidence in expressing themselves socially. It is likely that many brand web sites will merge with their blog. Rather than the awkward examples of this to date where the blog no longer looks or behaves like a blog (more like just another page within the Web 1.0 Web site), we will see Web sites that bear many of the attributes of blogs and Web 2.0 (spontaneous, shareable, subscribable, etc…).

Blogs are not passe. Quite the opposite. They will become a valuable “get more” destination that corporate Twitter handles and Facebook “walls” can point people to.

A few thoughts…

1. We’re seeing, and have been seeing, the need for brands to merge their “web site” with their blog. I say “web site” in quotes because, truthfully, your web site these days should basically be a blog. That is, it needs to have social media and blogging built in with the attributes listed above, “spontaneous, shareable, subscribable.” I would add to that list a clean design with a low user learning curve (standardized navigation, buttons, etc.) and an editorial calendar to keep regular content flowing, which is then supplemented by the spontaneous postings.

2. There is a myth out there that making your web site a little more Web 2.0 (meaning a blog and social media features as a back bone) means that your site will be ugly, basic, square, and text-based. While it certainly can be and that would be perfectly fine as long as the content and messaging are good, it doesn’t have to be. In fact, many company sites can be redone with a CMS (content management system) and blogging built in, yet still look basically the same. In other words, just because your site is blog doesn’t mean it has to be stripped down, basic, or ugly.

3. I agree with the assertion that blogs can be valuable as a “get more info” tool via Facebook and Twitter. There is no harm in promoting your brand, product, etc. via the popular social media channels and then saying, “for more info, visit this page on my site.” With that being said, there are some philosophical and theoretical questions to be asked in regard to driving traffic to your FB page for more info, or to your site for more info, but that’s another discussion altogether.

4. One important use for company blogs, which is not directly mentioned in the article, is that blogs provide a central place for your info, promotions, communications, etc. It’s truly where you own your message and brand. Granted, once that message is out there in the social media ball pit, you will lose a bit of control, but your blog is a safe harbor in a violent sea.

The company blog is also important as a central place for postings because those postings, via an RSS feed, can be sent out to Facebook, Twitter, et al. without you having to do a thing, thus saving a good amount of time. This is particularly important for many of the small businesses with whom we work, who do not usually have dedicated social media and/or PR teams.

Source: 3 Helpful Social Media Marketing Predictions for 2010

Social Media for Small Business (Training Kit)

Lunabean Media’s Social Media Training Kit for Small Business

It’s time to join the conversation. Features Instantly downloadable 117-page eBook. Read it on your computer or print it out and create your own hard copy. Written by 10-year social media veterans who specialize in small business. More info… Broken into three sections: Strategies, Facebook, and Twitter. 9 how-to videos. Actionable marketing ideas that you can implement now! More info below $29.99

Details

Included in Lunabean Media’s “Social Media Training Kit for Small Business” is everything we offer in our small business media training sessions with the exclusion of our happy faces. Training comes in the form of Downloadable PDF documents and several easy-to-access training videos.

Whether you are completely new to social media or you just aren’t getting the results you need with your current social media campaigns, this Training Kit will help you!

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

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Included you will find:

Social Media Strategies for Small Business (eBook – PDF).

This manual provides an overview of social media, best practices, brand reputation management, how to measure success, and most importantly over easily executable social media marketing ideas that you can use at your small business to engage customers, build a fan base, and create brand evangelists.

Facebook for Small Business (eBook – PDF).

Facebook is a powerful tool for small business, but you have to know how to use it effectively. This manual covers every detail of Facebook from creating a Fan Page to adding custom applications to creating a Facebook ad. Most importantly it details the type of content to post and how to effectively post it. In addition, it includes best practices and 7 how-to videos that will save you time and help to focus your efforts.

Twitter for Small Business (eBook – PDF).

Twitter provides small businesses a unique opportunity to not only engage their customers but, perhaps more importantly, to listen in to conversations about their product or service and your industry in general. The problem is there are many misconceptions about Twitter and many businesses get overwhelmed by the plethora of Twitter options and opinions. Our Twitter manual for small business explains Twitter and teaches you how to use it. You’ll be retweeting, tagging with hashtags, and using Twitter advanced search faster that you can say treding topic. In addition, it will teach you how to search effectively, create a following, and use tools that will help to manage and simplify your Twitter efforts. This manual also includes 2 how-two videos (Twitter basics and advanced practices).

Testimonials

International Pinot Noir Celebration (IPNC)

Services Performed Site Design eCommerce (Miva Merchant) SEO Google Analytics Ongoing Consulting

Testimonial

We have had the pleasure of working with Lunabean Media for nearly a decade. Over the years, they have helped us develop our website into the great resource it is today, most recently consulting on and installing our online store as well as assisting us in utilizing website analytics. They have helped us navigate our way through all of the current technologies, keeping our website up-to-date and relevant, while continuously optimizing our online protocol and strategies. Words like friendly, available, instructional, and professional only begin to describe Lunabean Media’s level of top-notch customer service.

-Katie Kamilos, Assistant Director, IPNC
ipnc.org

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EKP Media

Services Performed A variety of consulting for EKP Media’s clients Social Media Training Ongoing Consulting

Testimonial

I have been practicing PR for over 15 years. In the last few years it is clear social media has exploded and the need for businesses to keep up is imperitive. No longer can businesses rely solely on mere magazine or newspaper exposure. My clients are seeing that there are deep implications for the way businesses adapt to technology innovations.

That said, Lunabean Media has a vast knowledge of the internet and web marketing that has proven to be invaluable to many of my clients. Time and time again Lunabean Media has identified and fixed problems with my clients’ websites that my clients didn’t even know they had. These fixes have increased both traffic and profitability, making their sites more powerful tools in their marketing endeavors.

-Emily Petterson, CEO
ekpmedia.com

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Ron Kaplan Photography

Services Performed Site Design Photo Gallery Social Media Training Movable Type Blog eCommerce (PayPal) SEO Google Analytics Ongoing Consulting

Testimonial

I’ve been working with Lunabean Media for a number of years on a number of projects. Most recently, they installed blogging software, added a PayPal store, and created a newsletter campaign to promote my site. Perhaps more importantly, they optimized my site and taught me how to blog effectively for search engine recognition, producing significant results. Lunabean has consistently provided exceptional services at very reasonable prices.

-Ron Kaplan
ronkaplanphotography.com

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Panther Creek Cellars

Services Performed Site Design Navigation Suggestions eCommerce (Miva Merchant) Marketing SEO Google Analytics Ongoing Consulting

Testimonial

Testimonial coming soon.