Show me the Money…Are you kidding me???

Ok, I want to take a moment and address something that has bothered me a lot about doing a blog. I did not want to do this website until I could do it with interaction from my readers and to really make it more their site than mine. I wanted to do it so that I could encourage great customer service and experiences at wineries. I wanted to do it so that customers could have a venue to praise the great and to have a voice to change the bad. I also did it to give the industry the feedback that they really need to hear both the praise of wonderful staff but also the things that need to be fixed so that they can grow. I have been amazed at the wonderful industry support.

But it seems to be a lot of times when I meet someone and the first thing they ask “How are you going to make money with it?” To be very honest I have thought ahead that somewhere down the road I might be able to sell some sponsorships or ads on my site. But this was not done on the idea of making a living or even for anytime soon making income off of it. I doubt that most of the hundreds of bloggers out there are making a living at what they do. Most of the great blogs I follow started years ago, and now are making some income but would probably laugh if you asked if it is how they make a living. It has been a venue to bring some great writers into the light and land them some jobs with in print magazines.

For all of my fans on Facebook or Twitter or those of you that have been so kind in putting your reviews up on the website I wanted to set the story straight that I am not doing all this to make money off of you. I want to do a service for you and the industry. If I make some money …great I would not refuse (except when it would make the site biased) but for now it is a hobby based in the love of the industry and the great people on both sides of the counter!