Blog Advertising

I turned on Google's AdSense out of curiosity (and to pay for my heat). I went to dinner with five ex-Affinnova employees during my visit to Massachusetts. One has created a blog empire and is doing very well. He was interviewed by the Wallstreet Journal recently. His hook is that a blog must be a vehicle for advertising and if he can corner the information market on a type of product, then he will do very well. Cornering the market on information about my adventures in New Zealand will not make a lot of money but that will still be the focus of my blog.

I will talk about products once a week and the product that I will specialize in is New Zealand wine. I will pick up a new brand at the grocery store. I bought a bottle of Villa Maria Merlot-Cabernet Sauvignon from Hawke's Bay. Strangely, it prominently featured awards that it won on the label and the fact that it was recommended by Cuisine Magazine. My truism of if it needs advertising, you don't need it holds true for this brand. It's very drinkable but very bland. Hawke's Bay appears to be the Charles Shaw (two buck chuck) region of New Zealand. Most New Zealand products are priced exorbitantly high and it's cheaper to go with Australian products. Makes sense since New Zealand's population is small. You can't make big money on small margins here.