Comments on: Meet the new boss. Same as the old boss.

By: larry schaffer

larry schaffer — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 16:10:31 +0000

Interesting . . . and one that should make us all ‘think’ a bit about the past, present and future.

The big (or strong / popular/ etc) just get more so in this world . . .Period. It IS difficult to break into the space occupied by those who have already developed a following and the bigger they grow, the harder it will be for others . . .

And as all talk about the ‘democtatization’ of information via social media / the internet, the reality is that a vast majority of folks STILL only listen and follow a handful of folks . . . period.

This does NOT mean that everyone else should ‘give up’ – on the contrary, it should make everyone else either a) work harder to break through or b) find niches not covered by the others to get a foothold . . .

Thanks again!

Cheers!

larry schaffer
tercero wines
larry@tercerowines.com

By: dean guadagni

dean guadagni — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 15:55:25 +0000

Hi Steve,

Well done article–here is my take as a Director for a direct marketing driven social media strategy firm.

I attended my 30 yr. high school reunion last year which inspired a look back at 1978 for me. When doing this retro, I realized that a few things were in place that made sharing information or creating exposure for you or a business very difficult:

1. Mass media controlled our information and the flow in which it was delivered

2. Technology aka the platform was in the hands of mass media via radio, print, & TV

3. Unless individuals or companies knew insiders in the mass media, or they were willing to pay large advertising fees, they were unable to deliver their messages to a large audience

Today, Social media is the revolution and evolution that allows us to create our own audio, video, or written content. To control our messages and information. And it allows us to proactively deliver this information to our strategically targeted audience.

In my opinion, social media is the greatest opportunity for businesses today–yet many (including the wine industry) fail to recognize why this is a fact. . .

The fact is social media networks (blogging, Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, bookmarking) are simply the new sales and marketing channel for individuals or businesses to leverage.

This is not a hip, trendy, or passing phenomenon. This is the evolution of communication that is here to stay.

By: Theo

Theo — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 12:36:35 +0000

I think what is always overlooked with the supposed replacement of Parker is that Parker reviews over a thousand wines each issue. Vaynerchuk probably leads the way as a blogger but what does he review a year? A thousand (3/day, 5 days/wk= 780)? While people always want to depict Parker as the emperor for his control over people’s taste, he is actually quite egalitarian in promoting many more different wines than anyone else.

By: Erwin Dink

Erwin Dink — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 02:12:35 +0000

Cable TV is largely dreck.

“Isn’t Gary V actually the new Wilfred Wong?”

No, he’s the new (or old) Crazy Eddie.

By: steve

steve — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 20:24:48 +0000

El Jefe, yes, except for this: almost as soon as something is uttered in social media, it’s immediately swept away by hundreds — thousands — millions — billions of new words. Magazines have a lifespan of a month or a week or two — the old networks had a lifespan of 24 hours — the cable networks have a lifespan of perhaps a few hours — but the lifespan of a tweet can be counted in milliseconds.