Comments on: Whose blogs are relevant?

By: The Most Influential Wine Blogs | Acan Media

The Most Influential Wine Blogs | Acan Media — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 23:07:56 +0000

[...] would help wineries pick who they should engage in their marketing and PR outreach. Steve Heimoff took this a bit further suggesting that, “…you know it when you see it,” when it comes to relevant wine [...]

By: jeff(wineswire.com)

jeff(wineswire.com) — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 12:05:52 +0000

I would expect that young marketing gal would have said, “No. Twitter is so 2008!”

By: steve

steve — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 05:45:11 +0000

Larry, I am humbled by your comment. My deepest thanks. I work very hard on every post and try my best to keep
readers in mind. All my years in journalism have taught me that what I write ain’t worth diddly if people don’t like
reading it. Again, thanks. You made my day! (or my night: I just got back from NYC after a fairly grueling flight.)

By: Larry Stanton

Larry Stanton — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 02:26:49 +0000

Yes, Steve, your blog is BOTH informative and entertaining, and your efforts are greatly appreciated. You and Eric Asimov are my two favorite bloggers, and while I have not been able to review all 800 plus sites(several hundred left to go) , you two make blogging fun, interesting , and a learning experience. Some folks can make a metal can into an interesting discussion. Others can’t make a discussion of the Louvre into anything but boring. You are very much in group one. We all appreciate your efforts… and look forward to tomorrow’s blog. Thanks.

By: el jefe

el jefe — Sat, 24 Jan 2009 09:12:25 +0000

I send samples to bloggers. I don’t send them to all bloggers. I base my decision on whether to send samples as follows:

1. Can they write? Yes this takes time, but maybe no longer than figuring out what “Quantcast” is and how to use it. I’m no English professor by any means, but I take the time see how the blogger writes. A sloppy, wandering, and/or vague writer isn’t going to do me any good.

2. Age of the blog and posting I prefer someone who has been at it for more than a year, but I have been known to take a chance on less. When I started this many of the good ones were still kinda new. And they need to post with some regularity.

3. Comments. Not just how many per post, but the number of different commentors and how thoughtful their comments are. Again, you have to take the time to read the blog and reach an intelligent decision on whether to engage with them.

I find it curious that those five criteria say nothing about relevance or ability. A blog about White Zin could score high in all of those criteria and yet be completely irrelevant for sampling my Tempranillo. Numbers aren’t enough, you have to think!