Wine Enthusiast: From Attic To Prestigious, $100 Mil A Year Brand – with Adam Strum
How did Adam Strum take Wine Enthusiast from a company that sold cork screws from his attic to a $100 million per year business?
He says much of the success comes from riding the growth of wine consumption. Even in recessions, the wine industry does well. But if you listen to the interview, I think you’ll see there’s more to it than that. Adam is a savvy salesman.
You’ll see it in the way he holds up his magazine and catalog during this interview. And you’ll hear about it in stories that go back to before he even launched Wine Enthusiast, like the way he used to sell wine to retailers by doing whatever it took to close the sale, from wearing funny hats to singing in the middle of the store.
Adam Strum is the Founder and Chairman of Wine Enthusiast Companies and Editor and Publisher of Wine Enthusiast Magazine. He heads up the largest group of wine commerce and media companies in the world. The Catalog/Web business is the leading inventor and seller of wine accessories and wine storage and the Publishing group provides authoritative reviews and ratings of tens of thousands of wines every year.
Three messages before we get started. If you’re a tech entrepreneur, don’t you have unique legal needs that the average lawyer can’t help you with? That’s why you need Scott Edward Walker of Walker Corporate Law. If you read his articles on VentureBeat, you know he can help you with issues like raising money or issuing stock options or even deciding whether to form a corporation. Scott Edward Walker is the entrepreneur’s lawyer. See him at WallerCorporateLaw.com.
Do you remember when I interviewed Sarah Sutton Fell about how thousands of people paid for her job site? Look at the biggest point that she made. She said that she has a phone number on every page of her site because, and here’s a stat, 95% of the people who call end up buying. Most people, though, don’t call her. But seeing a real number increases their confidence in her and they buy. So try this. Go to Grasshopper.com and get a phone number that will make your company...
Continue reading the transcript...