May 15th, 2005

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PR and Marketing
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Step 1: Become Analyst, Step 2: Profit

Seth Godin points to a great idea in the form of The Winery Web Site Report:

Michael Duffy rates 2,767 winery web sites on effectiveness. He then sells a customized report to any winery that cares to pay for it.

This is the new sort of non-fiction publishing model that is going to demolish the old one (at least from an economic point of view). At $500 a copy, the report is almost certainly worth the money. And at $500 a copy, a customized overview is also quite profitable for the author. And finally, at $500, it’s an effective calling card that builds his business among a (very small but important to him) target market.

This idea can have some legs because common barriers to it have disappeared. Namely, online payment management and true print-on-demand.

Two questions immediately spring to mind:

  1. Who is Michael Duffy and how has he demonstrated his expertise? He’s got a near-empty FAQ and a weblog, but it’s not immediately apparent why I should trust his expertise. I’m not looking for a resume, just five bullet points saying “I’m x, y and z” to put my mind at ease (where x, y and z equal some compelling web marketing and, to a lesser extent, winery expertise).
  2. How did he do it? The number 2,767 suggests that it’s automated, and therefore of less value. I’d much prefer an analysis of the top 200, and be assured that a human spent time looking at each of them. A human may have looked at all 2,767. If that’s the case, they’re going to have to sell a lot of reports to break even.

Regardless, I think this is a great micro-business idea. Take some expertise, apply it an industry, generate a report and sell the report to the industry. There’s nothing new in that, I suppose, but I guess I don’t see it done by individuals like this very often.

Comments: One Response so far

Mike Duffy
May 17th, 2005
11:58 pm

Good questions, Darren. I’m working on a longer reply for our blog, which should address the 5 bullet points you asked for.

I just want to note that we’ve had five actual human beings looking at winery Web sites for a couple of months. There *are* some automatic components (checking site freshness, reliability, and availability), but I understand the value of having real people look at these sites. At the same time, we created an objective set of criteria for each evaluator to follow. So it doesn’t matter if one of them doesn’t like blue color schemes or pictures of vineyards.

That’s part of the value of the report. Wineries, large or small, don’t have the time or resources to conduct an in-depth look at best practice and how it applies to their own sites, and those of their competitors. For $500, our customers will get a lot of value. We get to build relationships and understand our market better. And have some fun doing it.

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