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Who ya gonna call? -

Where do you buy your cruise tickets to get the best price? Should you buy from a traditional travel agent, an online mega-seller or direct from the cruise line? Surprisingly, when it comes to the base fare, it doesn’t make much difference. Price variation is more contingent on qualifying for a particular type of discount; promotional, seasonal, past passenger, military or last minute booking- than on where you buy your ticket. The real variables between booking channels are in the level of service provided during the process and perks offered. So read on to learn how to max the experience while making sure you are getting the best value.

When trying to determine actual price from the advertised price, cruise fares can be almost as maddening as airline pricing. Advertised cruise prices are often misleading and unnecessarily vague.

Published prices are always per person based on double occupancy. Additional people occupying the same cabin pay less…usually a lot less. Port taxes and other fees are considerable and are the same for everybody, regardless of category and whether they are the first or fifth person in the cabin.

The add-on fees and taxes when combined with the base fare have been known to add 20% to 50% to the total per person, especially on shorter, already deeply discounted cruises. Always remember to ask about price inclusive of all fees and taxes- or note the fine print if you are reading a brochure. Some cruise lines include the added fees in their advertised prices, most do not. Always ask.

Click here if you would like to see our comments superimposed over a typical cruise ad.

How to qualify for discounts -

The most common discounts are seasonal, last minute, military, geographical, past passenger, senior citizen, positioning itineraries, promotional and distressed categories.

Seasonal – Caribbean cruises are typically discounted in the fall. Alaska cruises will be cheaper at the beginning and end of the season (May, September and October). Ditto for European and Mediterranean cruises – avoid the peak months of July and August and you’ll probably snag a good deal.

Last Minute – Waiting to book can also lead to a great bargain, especially if you are prepared to depart on short notice, having no strong preferences on which ship or itinerary.

Military – Tell the agent that you won the Medal of Honor fighting alongside Sgt. York at the Battle of Verdun and you might get an extra 5% to 10% off.

Geographical – Sometimes small discounts will be available because of where you live – say in Paris, Texas instead of Paris, Tennessee. (Don’t ask why – it is something known only to cruise line executives.)

Past Passenger – lines will frequently offer discounts and/or perks to loyal customers -depending on the number of previous cruises with that particular cruise line.

Senior Citizen – If you are over age 55, ask if an age related discount is available.

Promotional – These kind of discounts can rear their pretty little heads for any number of reasons – again, some only known by cruise lines executives.

Positioning Cruises – These are necessary but less popular itineraries needed to get the ship from one seasonal station to another – say, from Miami to Seattle for the Alaska season. These itineraries are available mostly in the spring and fall and almost always offer deep discounts. But be forewarned – these positioning cruises involve long days at sea and fewer ports. This is especially true of trans-Atlantic positioning cruises.

Category Sale – Another frequent price promotion – a ship may be over-sold in one category and grossly under-sold in another; resulting in deep discounts on the latter.

How to get the most perks –

Many times it is as simple as asking! If you are working with a travel agent, have the TA quiz the cruise line reservations department about any and all available promotions and perks on the sailing(s) that interest you. A good, experienced agent will have a long laundry list of possible perks for which you might be qualified. Or, if booking direct with the cruise line, use what you have learned here about booking direct- but you will need to play the role of Grand Perk Inquisitor yourself.

People who are associated with a group of passengers traveling on the same sailing will automatically qualify for some combination of perks- such as category upgrades, onboard spending credits, free photo, bottle of wine, private meetings, a free shore excursion, etc.

Tip – What most would-be cruisers don’t know is that you only need to be associated with the group on cruise passenger list – not literally. Hence, you only need to find an agency or online consolidator that has group space reserved on cruises that match your desired dates and destination- and before you know it you’re cruising in Perk City. Additionally, if the group is a theme group lead by a celebrity- you might find yourself temporarily basking in the glow and glory of one of your all time idols. Imagine the thrill of being part of the Simon Cowell School of Charm Cruise – complete with an in-the-flesh tongue lashing and public humiliation by Mr. Warm & Fuzzy himself!

Many mega-agencies will have hundreds of departures available with blocked group space into which they can slip perk hungry purchasers.

How to keep costs low -

Cruises were once all-inclusive – one price paid for everything. Today the cruise fare can pale in comparison to the bill you receive at the end of your cruise. There are so many extra cost options – you need to manage those activities as you go.

On board you have no need to carry cash, a credit card or even your wallet on your person - you are issued one card with a magnetic stripe that does triple duty as your room key, on board spending card and boarding pass. You can purchase anything on board with this little piece of plastic convenience in your pocket- alcohol, soft drinks, gift shop items, shore excursions, photographs, spa treatments, art work, surcharges for alternative restaurants, Internet access, ship to shore phone calls- you can even buy chips for gambling in the casino.

Tip – many ships now allow real time access to your on board spending tab at any time from the closed circuit TV in your cabin- displaying a current, up-to-the-minute running total – with details for each line item. So, you can rein in spending if it appears to be getting out of hand. Plus, you can call the front desk at any time to dispute an item if you think the charge is incorrect or excessive for any reason.

Tip toe lightly through the minefield of extra costs once on board -

Alcoholic beverages – Booze is always at extra cost with prices running about what you would expect to pay for similar service in a moderately upscale on-shore establishment.

Soda - priced from $2 to $4 per soda depending on ship and cruise line – if you consume soda daily best bet is to buy the flat rate “unlimited sodas” option for duration of the cruise.

Wine – always at extra cost with prices running about what you would expect to pay for similar in a moderately upscale on-shore establishment – there will be some “freebies” like at the Captain’s Welcome Aboard party or a complimentary bottle if it is your anniversary.

Specialty/Alternative restaurants – most have surcharges of $15 to $40 per person per reservation – the average being about $30. In our opinion the price is well worth paying for a night or two – especially if you want to experience elegant, high-end dining at a level that could easily cost $100 or more per person in a similarly upscale shore side establishment. (Click here for more details on the fine points of maxing the shipboard dining experience.)

Internet access – Available on most ships, you can purchase a basket of minutes for a fixed price. To economize on these dearly priced minutes, read and compose email offline – then log on just for sending and receiving.

Ship to shore phone calls – forget about it! Charges run $2 to $3 PER MINUTE! Buy the Internet access plan instead – then use Skype from your laptop. Plus, your regular cell phone will work on occasion – especially if you are departing from a US port and near land. My Sprint phone usually works just fine from the deck of the ship when within 5 or 6 miles of Miami, Ft Lauderdale or any US island like St. Thomas, Puerto Rico, etc.

Coffee bar – Although regular coffee at meals is included in the cruise fare, you are charged extra for specialty coffees such as espressos and cappuccinos – priced at about what you would expect to pay at Starbucks.

Photos/videos - They are grossly over-priced but it’s a captive audience, so they can get away with it. Even so, you might want to go ahead and buy one or two. My spouse and I always like to get a classy shot of us all dressed up in our matching pink satin bib overalls on formal night.

Shore Excursions – another huge profit center and usually way over-priced – but there’s good news; there are now highly reputable and reliable third party options that can save you a ton of money (Click here to see some alternative possibilities for Shore Excursions.)

Art Auctions – Usually held on days at sea to insure a captive audience, these events are intentionally set in a high trafficked public place to guarantee that innocent victims strolling by will be sucked in by the slick, silver-tongued Art Auction barker. You are cautioned to hold your hand firmly over your pocketbook when in proximity, as well as averting your eyes, humming loudly to yourself to drown out the beguiling sales pitch. It is our personal theory that these Pimped Up Picasso Pushers may be a contributing factor in the recent rash of suicides by jumping overboard. But, that’s just us.

Onboard Shopping – What started out years ago to be just a storage closet with a Dutch door - only open for business for an hour or two each day – primarily for elderly passengers to stock up on essentials such as Denture Cream and Preparation H (sold separately so as not to be confused) has now morphed into mega-malls to rival those of a small city. And, the deals have gotten better and better – with volume has come lower prices – sometimes even lower than shore side because of the lack of taxes.

Tip: Merchandise often goes on sale during port visits – if local authorities allow the onboard shops to stay open while in port – as well as on the last day of the cruise. If you can wait to buy that tacky tank top that says “I went down on the Titanic”, you might save a few bucks.

Gratuities – This is another aspect of cruising that has changed drastically over the years – from no tipping, period…to no tipping required…to “you’d better tip if you ever want to see your luggage again“…to prepaid tips. On cruises today you can expect to tip – but our preference is to maintain control over who and how much. So we stick with the old fashioned method. Pretending to be Congressional lobbyists, we go around the ship on the last night passing out envelopes stuffed with cash. However, if you are into convenience – go the prepaid route. You can always give a little extra on the side at the end of the cruise.

Gambling – There is a reason why the English blackjack dealers refer to customers in the casino as “punters”. For that same reason, our advice is to STAY OUT!…especially if you are easily mesmerized by loud noises, flashing lights and shiny objects going around in circles (NASCAR fans…are you paying attention?)

Tip: Occasionally people just have to test Lady Luck. If this is the case, set aside a fixed amount of money – an amount that you can afford to lose – and when that is gone, casually sip the last of your drink – but NEVER eat the ice; nervous, out-of-control ice eaters have been known to snow in their pants – then slowly but humbly stagger away from the table with downcast eyes, pockets turned inside out. Your dog will still love you.

How to earn a free cruise -

It is a well known secret that cruise lines offer a “TC” – or Tour Conductor berth – to travel agencies booking groups. With most cruise lines the ratio is one free for every fifteen full fare paying passengers traveling on the same cruise. The sixteenth person pays only the taxes and fees. (Note that only the first two people occupying a cabin are credited towards the TC- third and fourth people sharing a cabin at a discount rate don’t count- so you can’t stack-the-deck by cramming five people into each of three cabins.)

Tip - There several ways to leverage this offer – and most travel agencies will work with you on this. Give the credit away to a fellow cruiser; use it to defer your own cost of cruising; tell your travel agent that you want the credit to be an overall discount for the group- or, like a bankrupt CEO bailed out by tax payer money – skip the cruise, pocket the credit as a cash bonus and retire to your deluxe double-wide on the shores of Lake Titicaca.

Pros & cons of booking direct with the cruise line -

Pros – If you know exactly which line you want to take, the cruise line should be able to answer all your questions in great detail and will take your booking direct. You can access a cruise line’s online booking engine 24/7 and not have to wait for the travel agency to open for business.

Cons -The cruise line is going to offer the same price as travel agents – you won’t save any money on the fare. However, they are not going to tell you about any other cruise line that might match your needs – or have lower prices for the same itinerary. If you register on many of the cruise lines own sites for information, the lines will contact you often. One can receive weekly phone calls and emails for months or years!

Once you’ve talked with a travel agency, you need to let the agency handle the cruise booking details, follow up questions, etc. (although other cruise related add-ons such as airfare, hotels, car rental, travel insurance, shore excursions, etc. can still be handled on your own – or online if you are a “do-it-yourselfer” and wish to avoid agency service fees.)

If the cruise line knows that you have already reserved space through an agency they are not likely to provide further information. In such case, when called directly, the cruise line will stonewall – relentlessly referring you back to your travel agent for any more details.

Now you are ready to cruise – to max the experience while controlling the costs. But there’s more. Coming soon – articles on getting the best airfare; the best stateroom, maximizing onboard experiences such as dining, activities, entertainment, as well as how to get the best deal on travel insurance (hint: it is usually NOT the coverage offered by the cruise line).   – Lyn Edwin Cathey

Lyn Cathey
http://www.articlesbase.com/cruising-articles/the-perfect-cruise-vacation-how-to-spend-less-for-the-very-best-1134332.html

It’s Saturday afternoon. Your children are home from school, and thankfully, there’s no work to distract you and your partner from your weekend fun. You’re getting ready for a fun day full of outdoor excitement when, upon opening your house door, you see nothing but rain.

It looks as though your afternoon plans have to be cancelled. What now?

When you’ve got a handful of children who are itching to get out of the house – even if you only have one child! – you know how tortuous a rainy day can be. Even an hour stuck inside can feel like a day when your children are practically bouncing off of the walls! So what can you do in order to keep your children entertained during a rainy day – and keep your house from being torn down by bored children? Easy: just use a few of these activities to keep your children entertained, and the rainy day will pass by before you even know it!

1. Turn your living room into a creative den. Lay out newspaper to spare your carpets from your child’s creative streak, and pull out coloring books, construction paper and paint. Ask your child to draw or paint you a picture, and praise his or her efforts. Who knows – you may have a little Picasso on your hands!

2. Transform your kitchen into a bakery! Take the opportunity to teach your son or daughter about a favorite recipe that was passed down to you, or bake a cake for dinner that evening. Your child will enjoy the constructive activity – and you’ll both enjoy how tasty your efforts turned out to be!

3. If you don’t mind the noise – or have a great pair of earplugs – pull out all of the pots and pans in your kitchen and “make a band”. Encourage your child to come up with a beat, and make up funny lyrics to a song. Just be sure you have a bottle of aspirin nearby if your child turns out to be a keen drummer!

4. Use spare balloons from your last birthday party to make some hilarious faces. Take a market and draw a face onto a deflated balloon. Then blow up your balloon and watch as your child bursts into a fit of giggles!

5. Devote your afternoon to watching your favorite movies! Take a bunch of blankets and lay it out on the living room floor to make an impromptu picnic area. Pop lots of popcorn, get out the drinks and put in a family-friendly movie that will make the time fly right on by!

6. Take old socks and turn them into puppets. Use glue to stick on buttons for the eyes and draw on a mouth with markers. Then ask your children to come up with a play to act out. Act out the play for your partner, or have you children perform it for you – you’ll have a great time with watching how creative your children are!

7. If it’s not rainy too hard, get your children dressed up in waterproof clothing and go out to enjoy the rain! Jump in the puddles, dance in the rain and enjoy being outdoors – just be sure that your rain gear doesn’t leave a wet mess in the house!

Rainy days don’t have to result in cabin fever. With a little bit of imagination – and a whole lot of creativity! – you can turn that rainy afternoon into a chance to let your child’s imagination to roam free. Just make sure you get your children to clean up before they’re done!

Gareth Williams
http://www.articlesbase.com/parenting-articles/keep-your-kids-entertained-on-a-rainy-day-748826.html

Consider the space you have to work with, the size and weight of the unit and make sure to add the additional weight for the wine which averages about 3 pounds per bottle. When building a new home the best time to think or install a wine cellar would be when the home is being built, make sure the specs include such things as a cooling system, shelving and storage, if you live in an existing house find a space and make sure you plan it out well.

The degree and the speed of the temperature change are critical to successfully storing and aging wine. Expertise lies in getting the temperature just right. Temperature is at the top of the list for the reason that it is the single most important factor to consider when planning or installing your own wine cellar.

Modular wine racks are a great investment because they can be modified to fit anywhere plus they are not expensive and they come in many different finishes and grains. Decorative racks are available in a number of different styles, ranging from metal racks to wrought iron racks. There are many different types of wine cellar racks to install in your wine cellar, the types are wooden, metal and there many others. It is extremely essential to carefully store the wine bottles in the cellars and wine racks seem to be the only possible solution to this need.

Having a system that can cool wine is very important especially in a wine cellar, if you don’t have a wine cooling system the wine cellar is not worth the bottles in the cellar, the cellar needs to be cool to operate correctly. Wine coolers can be either free standing, built in with the wine cellar or can be hidden under the counter. To keep the correct temperature in your wine cellar you need to invest in good cooling system, the cooling system will maintain the temperature and humidity and keep the wine tasting perfectly. The coolers vary in size, some having the capacity to hold two to four bottles, while others have larger capacities of up to 50 bottles.

Wine cellars and racks for the home allow the individual wine lover to convert any space in their home into an instant cellar in a matter of moments. There are many different kinds of wine cellars, there are case storages, triangular shelves, curved corners, half weights and many others.

The advantage of having a wine cellar is that you don’t have to go out and get a bottle of wine every time you are ready to sit down and eat, or want to enjoy a glass. Some of the popular wine cellar accessories are metal racking, kneeling butlers, wine chillers, wine coolers, decorative bottle corkers, corkscrews, wine tags, bottle openers, and wine markers.

The great thing about wine cellars is that you can sit back and enjoy a bottle of wine that you chose from you wine cellar. Bottles should be stored on their side so that the cork remains moist and they should also not be exposed to vibration or temperature change.

David Fishman
http://www.articlesbase.com/home-and-family-articles/keeping-your-wine-cool-with-wine-cellars-124433.html

Consider the space you have to work with, the size and weight of the unit and make sure to add the additional weight for the wine which averages about 3 pounds per bottle. When building a new home the best time to think or install a wine cellar would be when the home is being built, make sure the specs include such things as a cooling system, shelving and storage, if you live in an existing house find a space and make sure you plan it out well.

The degree and the speed of the temperature change are critical to successfully storing and aging wine. Expertise lies in getting the temperature just right. Temperature is at the top of the list for the reason that it is the single most important factor to consider when planning or installing your own wine cellar.

Modular wine racks are a great investment because they can be modified to fit anywhere plus they are not expensive and they come in many different finishes and grains. Decorative racks are available in a number of different styles, ranging from metal racks to wrought iron racks. There are many different types of wine cellar racks to install in your wine cellar, the types are wooden, metal and there many others. It is extremely essential to carefully store the wine bottles in the cellars and wine racks seem to be the only possible solution to this need.

Having a system that can cool wine is very important especially in a wine cellar, if you don’t have a wine cooling system the wine cellar is not worth the bottles in the cellar, the cellar needs to be cool to operate correctly. Wine coolers can be either free standing, built in with the wine cellar or can be hidden under the counter. To keep the correct temperature in your wine cellar you need to invest in good cooling system, the cooling system will maintain the temperature and humidity and keep the wine tasting perfectly. The coolers vary in size, some having the capacity to hold two to four bottles, while others have larger capacities of up to 50 bottles.

Wine cellars and racks for the home allow the individual wine lover to convert any space in their home into an instant cellar in a matter of moments. There are many different kinds of wine cellars, there are case storages, triangular shelves, curved corners, half weights and many others.

The advantage of having a wine cellar is that you don’t have to go out and get a bottle of wine every time you are ready to sit down and eat, or want to enjoy a glass. Some of the popular wine cellar accessories are metal racking, kneeling butlers, wine chillers, wine coolers, decorative bottle corkers, corkscrews, wine tags, bottle openers, and wine markers.

The great thing about wine cellars is that you can sit back and enjoy a bottle of wine that you chose from you wine cellar. Bottles should be stored on their side so that the cork remains moist and they should also not be exposed to vibration or temperature change.

David Fishman
http://www.articlesbase.com/home-business-articles/using-wine-racks-in-the-wine-cellar-125381.html

Lately, people are debating about which type of water to drink spring water/bottled water or tap/well water. Since water is a key component in flushing out impurities and toxins in the body, it is very important to know what you are drinking. Sometimes spring water and bottled water could be safer than your drinking water. In addition, spring water tastes much better and is more convenient.

Spring water may be safer than your drinking water

Bottled water or spring water is definitely the drink of choice especially if you live in a neighbor with lousy and unsafe tap or well water. Tap or well water could be contaminated with high levels of chemicals (lead, arsenic and benzene), micro bacteria (bacteria, viruses and parasites), and hazardous materials (glass chips and metal fragments). Imagine drinking all of those disgusting inhabitants every day. Yuck!

In addition, bottled water is also regulated by the FDA which means that the federal government oversees any health risks. However with drinking water, only state governments would monitor it, which could mean that the quality of drinking water is not as good as bottled water.

Spring water is tasty

Have you ever performed a taste test between spring water and tap water? For some reason, spring tastes much cleaner than the typical tap water. Reason being, spring water companies are always competing against tap water. Of course, they want to make it much taster. What would you rather drink on a hot day a nice bottle of spring water or some strange tasting tap water with abnormal impurities?

Spring Water is more convenient

When going to the beach, pool, gym, or traveling locally or further away, you should always bring water with you. Especially since we need 8 glasses a day, it is so important to hydrate yourself. It is much easier to go into the refrigerator and grab the nearest bottle of water than to kneel down in your cabinets and look for a bottle to carry tap or well water.

Also, you can even have spring water delivery give you a supply of spring water, so you never run out. At Water.com, they have spring water delivery sent to your home every month. If you try Water.com, you would get 1 month free service, 3 free 5-gallon bottles, and 1 free case of 1/2-liter single serve bottles. Visit this link below for more coupons and savings from Water.com.

http://www.onlinestorecoupon.com/ShopbyStore/spring-water-delivery.htm

Get the convenience of spring water delivery to your home or office and select from popular brands such as Alhambra spring water, Belmont spring water, Crystal spring water, Hinckley spring water, Kentwood spring water, Sierra spring water and Sparkletts spring water at Water.com.

Victoria
http://www.articlesbase.com/nutrition-articles/the-benefits-of-drinking-spring-water-134301.html

Among the many types of wine available, red wine is among the best. There are many types of red wine available, although most are made using the same methods. This very exhilarating type of wine is made from black grapes, drawing their color from the skins of the grapes. 

During the beginning stages of making red wine, the grapes that have been picked are put into a crusher. Here, the crusher will gently break the skins of the grapes. Depending on what type of wine is being made and the tannin that’s required, the stalks will either be used or discarded at this point. Next, the grapes are put into a fermentation vat with the skins. This can be a long process, taking several weeks to complete. If a higher temperature is used, more tannin and color will be extracted from the grapes.

When making soft wines, the whole grapes are fermented using sealed vats. The carbon dioxide that becomes trapped in the sealed vats ferment the grapes under pressure, which is normally a quick process, taking only a few days. Keep in mind, the color and tannin content of the wine is based on how long the fermenting process takes. If the fermenting process takes a long time, the wine will generally hold more flavor and color.

The remaining bulk of the grapes will go through a press, being crushed to create a tannic wine. Sometimes, this tannic wine is added with a free run wine in order to add a bit more structure to the wine blend. Both the press and vat wine are then mixed and transferred to either tanks or barrels for a second fermentation. The second fermentation will take the longest, although it brings out the quality and taste from the wine.

All types of fine red wine will spend a minimum of a year in the barrels. Some types of red wine will spend a lot more time in the barrels, possibly several years. Red wine is also fine tuned with egg whites, which will suspend the yeast and other solids found in the wine downwards, before the wine is racked, filtered, and eventually bottled. Once the wine has been bottled, it is then shipped off and sold. Some wine however, will be stored for a period of time in the bottle before it is offered for sale.

The time a wine spends in the bottle is very important, although not every wine needs to spend a lot of time in the bottle. The more complex and more expensive types of red wine will benefit the most from aging in the bottle, to preserve flavor and color. The simple types of red wine however, don’t need to spend much time at all in the bottle.

Jerry Shannon
http://www.articlesbase.com/food-and-beverage-articles/how-to-make-red-wine-711652.html

Your colon transient time is the time it takes the food you eat to travel from your mouth through your rectum. A healthy time is 18 to 25 hours. This time relates to how long the food you eat stays in your intestinal tract and colon. Food, fecal matter or chyme in your colon should not stay longer than 12 hours otherwise you have constipation. The other 12 hours, your food is in your stomach and small intestine.

Many doctors and others in the health field may tell you that it is ok not to have a bowel movement everyday. This really goes against common sense. If you eat every day, you should have a bowel movement everyday or 18 to 25 hours after you eat.

Long-term constipation is responsible for the start of practically all body illnesses and diseases. For this reason keeping regular is critical for your health. Constipation leads to auto-toxicity or self-poisoning of your body. When toxins move into your blood stream instead of out of your body with the fecal matter, the liver and other body organs become overwhelmed and become sluggish. With a toxic colon, you will have a hard time keeping free of disease and you will find it very difficult to lose weight.

Slow moving fecal matter in the colon causes re-absorption of fats and cholesterol back into your blood stream and liver instead of out of the body. This can lead to a “fatty liver”, which cannot digest fats properly and has to store them in its own cells, other organs, and body cells as pure fat.

Determining Your Transient Time

Here’s how to determine your transient time. First thing in the morning, drink one of the following drinks.

· one ounce of liquid chlorophyll, the juice of one lemon and 8 oz. of distilled water.
· or if you like beet juice, use 6-8 oz. of beet juice. You can buy the juice or make your own if you have a juicer.

Buy a small bottle of liquid chlorophyll that does not have peppermint added. The peppermint added has to strong of a taste for me. The cost is around $8.00

Check to see how long it takes to see green or red in your stools. This is your transient time. Average transient time is around 21 hours.

If your transient time exceeds 26 to 30 hours, then you have a mild case of constipation. If your transient time 31 to 36 you are constipated. If your transient time is 37 to 48 hour you have chronic constipation.

Check your transient time now. Go get a bottle of chlorophyll and do the transient time test, then use the chlorophyll for a morning green drink that I describe in another article.

Rudy Silva
http://www.articlesbase.com/alternative-medicine-articles/check-your-colon-transient-time-727341.html

With the vast selection of quality wines in Portugal, how can a small or lesser-known wine brand stand out from the pack, be visible and increase sales?

This was the “million” dollar question looming over the minds of the producers we met at the Lisbon Wine show in November. We’ve had these folks on our mind and thought we’d focus on a few key marketing points that could help this important industry.

The New Playbook selling wine

{note: you can read the original article here}

The 6 Key Points:

First and foremost, two necessary ingredients must exist: You have to love what you do: making great wine. And second: You need to communicate and share the quality of your craft.

Since Portuguese wines have quality, uniqueness and diversity, they’re able to compete against many international brands, so quality is not the issue. Recognition however is another story, and this unfortunately comes down to lack of good marketing. So the real issue isn’t the product, but the right marketing and communication strategy for our new, highly informed and connected generation.

Once the first two ingredients are in place, here’s what’s next:

01: Understanding your ideal customer
02: A creative name
03: Label design
04: Website
05: Blogging
06: Adegga.com

1) Your Ideal Customer
First and foremost, consumers are looking for good wines to pair with food. Today, consumers are more sophisticated and informed than ever before, hence their food choices are more dynamic and experimental. So, small and lower priced wine producers need to throw out the old playbook – and assess the right market for their wine. A good example are the folks behind Wine That Loves

Producers need to decide what type of customer they want to appeal too, and who they don’t. What got my attention at the Lisbon Wine Fair was that 95% of the wines had the allure of a high-end snooty type (the likes of 100+ Euro bottles), yet a large percentage were very reasonable and wonderful. This clearly demonstrates few wines are marketed at younger drinkers who buy reasonably priced bottles, but buy often. So a strong market who is ready and looking to buy regularly, is over looked – for one that’s highly competitive, limited and already saturated.

As a wine enthusiast, with some wine-jargon, and a customer of “reasonably” priced bottles, I would use these words to describe wine in more modern terms: fun, sexy, spicy, fresh, adventurous … however at the fair, 99% of the wines communicated:

Serious, traditional, stuffy, snooty – from branding message to wine name and labeling. Few deviated from the “traditional” theme, but the few who did, definitely got noticed! So let’s be honest, not every wine is “serious, traditional and stuffy” and that’s ok — some wines should be wonderfully bold, fresh and new to appeal to a new customer. Communicating individual character in creative new ways is the path to the new wine drinkers lips, and the parting of the red wine seas of “serious” wines.

Here’s a solution: When marketing wine, producers should look at their ideal drinkers through personas, then make sure they communicate to the needs and wants of this group.

2) A Creative Name
Choosing the right name is a delicate science similar to producing the wine. The wrong name on a bottle could completely turn off the targeted customer.

Today’s customers tend to be more traveled and informed, yet less formal. We want to be surprised, delighted and have our pallet tickled with a creative edge and freshness, so naming and labeling a wine is vital to its marketability.

Here’s three examples:

1. Fat Bastard Wines
2. Dirty Laundry
3. Dancing Bull

Two key points when it comes to naming:
01: individual and unique
02: not overly difficult to pronounce.

3) Bottle design and story
Imagine standing in front of a shop, with endless rows of wine bottles and having to pick a wine for dinner. This is a nerve wracking experience for most people, so one of two things happens:

01: they pick up the same bottle they always do or
02: take a huge leap of faith and bet on something new.

Part of the goal in marketing a wine is seducing the customer. Since potential buyers can’t taste the wine, the bottle design and labeling needs to communicate cues of visual sensory to help attract a potential customer. If a customer isn’t seduced by the bottle, branding and label, then the sale is lost, and only hope is personal recommendations.

As cost is always a factor, we recommend a simple bottle with a creative, clean and beautifully designed label. This doesn’t have to be expensive. For example, see how a successful Portuguese producer turned his children’s art work into a wonderful wine label:

Wine Label

Key points to remember for bottle labeling & design:

01: Tell a story about the wine
02: Help solve the shopper’s problem by giving suggestions for food pairings
03: Don’t assume the customer knows how to pair wines with food
04: Label design should be fun, different and aimed at the ideal market group

4) Web Strategy
To date, Portuguese wines haven’t taken advantage of promoting themselves through the web. This is a mistake! The web is the key source of information for today’s culinary aware and those looking to learn more. This is an invaluable sales and marketing tool.

The good news – the web is here to stay, so wine producers can turn the web into their best friend and take advantage by quickly reaching millions of people…real people, who love to drink wine! It all starts with a dynamic website and visibility strategy that is loved by humans and respected by search engines.

5) Blogging
Blogging doubled Stormhoek sales in less than twelve months.

Blogging scares and intimidates many, but it shouldn’t. A smart producer has two options: become friendly with the wine blogging community, or start one himself, we actually recommend both. This is a fantastic way to get closer to customers first hand.

A well-designed blog can be an invaluable marketing tool:
01: Help build a community around your wine
02: Higher search engine rankings
03: Media & press exposure
04: Better brand recognition
05: Low cost

If you’re unsure about blogging and would like to know how to star a blog, or would like us to set one up for you, contact us. We also recommend, you read this article.

Here are examples of good Wine blogs:
01: Pinot Blogger
02: Stormhoek.com

6) Adegga.com
Adegga is a play on the word “adega” (only one “g”) which means cellar in Portuguese.

It is a place where friends come together to talk, share and learn about wine.

For Portuguese wine producers, here you have a captive audience of Portuguese wine drinkers and this would be an opportunity to get feedback about your wine, build a relationship with a group of influencers and naturally from this will come word of mouth. If your wine has all the ingredients in place, then naturally it will be talked about and people will carry that conversation offline at cafes, dinners, lunches and etc.

If you don’t know where to start, go to Adegga.com and get your wine’s listed for free.

If you’re serious about selling more wine nationally, across Europe or around the globe, then by all means get started on the above. And if you need our help, we will be more than happy to advise and help you with each step.

Moses Mehraban
http://www.articlesbase.com/marketing-tips-articles/top-6-marketing-tips-for-selling-more-wine-402094.html

1. Advertising beekeepers produce
Initially some beekeepers start their business on a small scale and at this time they sell their products locally. Some of them even set up a wayside stall and put up some of the other products from their farms like apples, and other fruits and vegetables for sale. This way they create a market for their products and their stuff gets advertised by word of mouth. If the sales increase and people find that the quality of their products is good, then they could even start putting their stuff in the local stores and markets too. The beekeepers get to know most of their customers personally as they meet them regularly when they come to buy the honey and other products from their farms and this creates a good rapport between them. So not only do they make a good sale they also end up with good friends.

2. More ways of increasing sales
The way their wares are packaged is another important aspect of increasing their sales. Making the labels and containers attractive also attracts the customers. The labels should be legible and catch the buyer’s eye and the bottles clear so that the honey can be seen in them. The labels should give details of the name and address of the farm where it is produced and the date it was packed on. The bottles should be of a quality that the customer would want to retain and put on his kitchen shelf. The beekeepers should make sure that they keep their stall spotlessly clean and arrange their display attractively too.

3. Signboards for road side stalls
To make the roadside stall more noticeable the beekeeper should put up a signboard which can be seen clearly by those who are driving by and should mention in bold letters that they have put up farm fresh produce and honey for sale. There should not be a jumble of words and colors on the signboard but it should state the facts in bold and clear letters. A canopy or some sort of sunshade would make the customer more comfortable instead of their standing in the sun. This way they will not be in a hurry to get out of the sun and into the comfort of their cars.

4. Ensure top quality products on the shelves
Make sure that what you put on the shelves in the stall is always of good quality. If you notice the honey in any bottle crystallizing immediately replace it with a fresh bottle of honey. Do not let anything that is not in good condition be seen by the customers.

5. Give out pamphlets at the stall
No doubt the roadside stalls do increase the sales of the beekeeper’s produce, but to gat a still better response giving out cards and pamphlets would be helpful too. It would be nice for the customers if pamphlets with recipes using honey are given to them and also a list of all the other products that they are selling here. A few small free samples being handed out is another good way to create a good rapport with customers too.
While pricing the honey take into consideration the time and effort spent on the whole job and do not under sell or over price your commodity.

Abhishek Agarwal
http://www.articlesbase.com/small-business-articles/marketing-your-honey-locally-5-tips-for-top-sales-702852.html