The range of opportunities to promote your brand and your business are limited only by your imagination and your budget. However, some of the most imaginative promotions don't necessarily cost a bundle of cash. Remember also that the best selling tool in the world is word of mouth - and it just happens to be the cheapest. Take the time to educate everyone who is in a position to promote and sell your services: visitor centre staff, local businesses, other wineries, tour operators, tourism attractions, and the list goes on. A well-executed "famil" (familiarisation) can be extremely cost effective and ensures you get the right message out.

Many cellar door operators have (or had) a completely different business life before they commenced life on the vine. Use those networks to spread the good word. If your production is relatively limited, that may be all you need to do in the early stages.

Once a visitor does get to you and enjoys the experience, they might want to take a reminder with them in addition to bottles of wine. Brochures are not necessarily the most effective reminder. Try a tasting guide that they've used during their tasting, which doubles as an order form for later use. Or a postcard featuring a spectacular photograph, with a personal note on the back from the winemaker.

Communication is the Key
The purpose of marketing is communication - the opportunity to communicate your message and your offer to your potential customers.

There are several different methods of communicating with your customers and some of these are more geared toward building a relationship and others toward making a sale. Your most often used communication methods are likely to be face to face, telephone, email, print, websites and through the media. Generally you will need to use a mix of methods to reach your customer, respond to their needs and reflect your own resources.

First of all, consider the style in which you are going to communicate with your customer. Forget technical jargon and long-winded paragraphs beating your chest, because your customers simply won't get it and you'll likely insult them in the process. You are reading these words through exactly the same filter your customers apply: "What's in it for me!!" And if you don't find something pretty soon, you will click somewhere else until you do.

Once you've got that point clear, your language style will adapt naturally to suit your reader and reflect your image. Keep it conversational, in a style similar to the way you would converse with them in person. Many of your customers will have met you and your staff, so it makes sense to continue the relationship in a way they remember and relate to.

Remember, customers first buy you, then your ideas and finally your product or service - and it's always in that order.

Next time you write a promotional piece check out something very important as you review the copy: how many times have you used the words YOU and YOUR versus WE and OUR? If the former doesn't outnumber the latter by around 6:1, then you're not speaking in the language of benefits and "What's in it for me!!"

Another way to think of this is to put yourself in your customer's shoes, commonly called empathy, so that you think like they do and respond accordingly.