Social Media and the Underdog

The modern development and rise of social media has been probably the greatest boon to the small business owner. A recently formed global expansion, extension, and amplification of the most effective and oldest method of advertising, word of mouth. Not like the original way of telling one person, then telling another, and having the positive word spread slowly social media has the opportunity to rapidly spread the word of a business, product, or service. In the past the mass communication to potential customers was only possible by way of advertising dollars through one of the media choices of print, radio, or television. This made the playing field for the small business owner a bit unbalanced since the costs of those media outlets may be out of reach financially. Social media in stark contrast to the old media outlets is often free, on a basic level, for businesses to use. The networking capabilities of these sites allow a business to send announcements to people who are connected to them. This person can then send that message to the others that are connected to them. Those people can then resend and so on reaching a potentially large audience via a digital word of mouth in a relatively short period of time and for minimal cost.

In the big business of alcoholic beverages the playing field is well stacked against the small producer. There are the control states, where a producer has to sell their product to the state and they in turn sell it. Then there are states with the three tier systems where a producer by law has to sell to a distributor who then sells their product to retailers. Money and influence from mass producers can make it very difficult for a smaller producer to secure a foothold in a very competitive market. This is where the benefits of social media can really be the steps for which the smaller producer can stand. Using the network to promote products can be the difference between success and failure. Two small producers who have embraced social media are Koval Distillery of Chicago and Wisconsin’s very own New Glarus Brewing Company.

Koval Distillery of Chicago, Illinois is a small operation founded and operated by Robert and Sonat Birnecker. Casting aside their careers in academia they, as many entrepreneurs do, plunged in to open the first distillery in the Chicago city limits since prohibition. As with any smaller operation entering a well established market, making yourself known is the real challenge. You can have the best product, but if consumers do not know who you are then it is all for naught. Distributors, necessary by law, do not like an unknown and have reservations about taking risks on products that will not move. Well, this was 2008. MySpace had fallen to this new networking site called Facebook which fit the bill for promoting this young company. Promotion is key to a startup like Koval. Word needs to spread quickly about events such as tastings at local bars or liquor stores. Facebook was perfect for what they needed. This allowed them to post events, recipes using their products for new cocktails, and information on upcoming new products. Fast forward five years and they now have over 5,000 likes on Facebook, 4,576 followers on Twitter, and also now use Instagram to post photos. They key here is five years. Five years! As much of a risk as they took hitting the five year mark means they have reached a major milestone. They have been able to expand their operation and in part thanks to the promotional power of social media. Congrats Koval! Please visit www.koval-distillery.com/ to learn more.

For those of us that live in Wisconsin, and maybe some of you who don’t, we know how serious we take our beer. That is the GOOD beer. We won’t even discuss that swill which spews from the Menomonee Valley of Milwaukee. That said, we will head out towards our state capitol and visit a small town of New Glarus, home to New Glarus Brewing Company. The husband and wife team of Deb and Dan Carey formed this small brewery in 1993 when Deb produced the funds to found the brewery as a present to her husband, a well educated and experienced brewer. This established New Glarus Brewing Co. as the first female owned brewery in the United States. New Glarus Brewing Co. had about a 15 year head start on the rise of social media so they were already well grounded in their Wisconsin-only market. Still, the value of promotion in this digital word-of-mouth system found use. Promotional announcements of products as well as pictures of events, rural Wisconsin, friends, staff in action, and those submitted from happy customers really creating a down-home type feel to their business. In addition to their home site, which currently has over 77,000 followers, they have also created a Facebook profile for their signature beer, Spotted Cow. The Spotted Cow profile has an additional 11,702 followers. One small, well now mid-sized, brewery who only sells product in one state has almost 89,000 followers on two different profiles. Considering the scope of the business that is quite good and a lot of mouths to spread the word. To this date New Glarus Brewing Co. does not have an official Twitter account, but that does not mean they are not represented. There is an unofficial account set up by fans of the brew with 5,799 followers. That is the epitome of free advertising. Take a look at one of Wisconsin’s award-winning breweries at http://www.newglarusbrewing.com.

    In business stepping onto the field can be a major risk for a smaller company. Promotion and advertisement is key to spreading the word about your business or products. What was old has now been newly revitalized with the implementation of new technologies and word of mouth advertising now regains the spotlight as a driving force of advertising.

Neutral Drop!

These past few weeks have been something else. For those of you who were reckless teens with a car you may know what a neutral drop is. For those of you that don't, well, let me explain. It is when you put the transmission of a vehicle in neutral, rev the engine, then slap in into gear. Of course, the result is squealing tires and the unleashing of a whole heap of stupid on a transmission. Well, my brain has really felt like that poor transmission. From a state of rest it has been ignited, throttled forward, gears grinding, smoke billowing and has begun to burn out the dust from years sitting idle.

A lot has changed since the last time programming was done. It is no longer just one big sheet of code. As the first programming course in C# has introduced me to the object-oriented method there has been a bit of a period of adjustment from the old procedural mindset. Casting off the old BASIC, FORTRAN, and VB methodologies and delving into the new ways of organizing blocks has been a bit of a jolt. The way things are organized in classes and packaged into objects is really nice. It will still take some more getting used to, but I think I will really appreciate the structure. All in the name of progress!

Then there is the social networking class. Years ago social networking was actually getting up and going places to meet people and network face-to-face at functions. Now you just use your computer, or other device to post and hope someone stumbles upon your work via connected people. Personally the old way was much more fun, but the value of the use of technology has some big pluses. Using social media to promote yourself is wise if used well. You can really put yourself out there for people to see, for better or for worse as some find out the hard way. Though Twitter for personal messaging use still seems a bit silly to me. This will most likely just turn into a news feed for me since that seems to be the strongest use for it, as others clearly show. A hinting, looming aspect of this class though, is the cloud computing concept. This not something I advocate. It seems about as good idea as giving all your patents and design plans to the Chinese government to begin manufacturing, then wonder how the hell a product exactly like yours has made it to their markets before you have even begun rolling yours out. This is from a mindset of owning your stuff and your own intellectual property. You created it is yours, you should hold onto it on your own equipment. Read through some of the legal mumbo-jumbo of a lot of these sites, which is a terrible read yet a great lesson in legalese. Heck, my main workstation is not even online, nor will it ever be. Then there are the backups of the backups of the backups. Hard drives and storage is cheap, and what hides in those clouds..... may not be angels.

MATC, the first step on the Code Road.

   Years ago if you had told me I would end up working the same type of job I had in High School I would had laughed in your face, probably made some crude remark, and dismissed you for a complete idiot. Well, how things can change in a moment in an ultrasound room. Once the determination that the life of my first son was in jeopardy a decision had to be made, and plans set aside. Thus began a headfirst plunge into the realm of unskilled labor, minimal pay, and some of the best benefits a person could ask for to aid in saving this tiny life. This road however just leads on and on going nowhere. As rough as that road has been and the obstacles that had to be overcome it was time to chose a new path.

  After putting life on hold which path does one take? The original road once desired has long since overgrown, still there, still beckoning, but to cut some new ruts and travel there is just not a reasonable choice for the time being. Standing at the forks gazing, the Code Road seems a logical answer. Being no stranger to the Code Road and having wandered onto it ever since grade school it always seemed a place of comfort. It was once a path I looked down but passed by.  Cold logic, problem solving, non-box thinking, a real endeavor that can grind the gears of the brain like non other. Then there, MATC, an old friend who had thought me so much in the past and still has so much to offer in so many different arenas stands. There is little like a comfortable face that can set a person at ease when entering new territory. As I dust off the gears in my head and wrestling it from the atrophy of the mind-numbing  years of unskilled labor, MATC gives a nod and the first steps are taken onto the road. Thus begins a new chapter in my life.