This Is Not Your Hobby

Julie Rhodes
  • 5.0 (6)
  • Business
  • Updated Biweekly

This Is Not Your Hobby is the no-fluff podcast for independent beverage brands that want to scale smarter, not just hustle harder. Hosted by Julie Rhodes - beverage business consultant, educator, journalist, and brand co-founder - this podcast dives into the real-world sales, marketing, and distribution strategies that small craft beverage companies actually need. Each episode tackles common business bottlenecks with practical solutions, straight talk, and the occasional guest expert. Stop winging it and start building something sustainable. Because your business? It’s not your hobby.

  1. 2h ago

    Episode 27: Find A Smaller Pond - The Niche Marketing Channels Everyone Else Skips

    The most common question Julie hears at conferences is "how do I make more money through social media," and it's the wrong question. Social is an awareness tool, not a cash register. You don't control the algorithm, it doesn't reach every customer, and everyone else is already there. If it's your whole marketing plan, you're one algorithm change away from invisible, and you're competing for attention next to brands that can outspend you a hundred to one. In this episode, Julie makes the case for diversifying into niche marketing channels most beverage and hospitality brands never consider, walks through four worth a look, and gives you a simple way to pick the one or two that fit your brand. Best For: Small craft beverage and hospitality brand owners (beer, cider, wine, spirits, NA, hemp) who've built their marketing on social media and are ready to stop renting. What you'll learn in this episode: Why "how do I make more revenue through social media?" is the wrong question, and what Julie asks insteadThe four reasons social can't be your whole plan: you don't control the algorithm, it's not a cash register, it doesn't reach everyone, and everyone else is already thereThe small fish, big pond problem— and why an emerging brand can't win a spend war with the giantsPinterest as a private event revenue channel, and why the event planner is on it months before they bookBranded mobile apps as a retention and loyalty channel you actually ownStreaming and programmatic ads for reaching the under-35 customer who's skipping everything elseSpecial interest partnerships (travel, food, sports, hobbies) as a pre-qualified audience the big brands ignoreA five-step way to pick your one or two niche channels and give them a fair ninety-day test Mentioned in this episode: Episode 26: Stop Boosting Your Posts Craft Brewers Conference Em Hutto from RadCraft, Episode 28 guest Great American Beer Festival, Denver Mass Brewers Conference, November 2 Vermont Craft Brewers Conference, November 12-13 North Carolina Craft Brewers Conference, Winston-Salem, November 15-17 Proof, the NYHMS dashboard hub GuestWork waitlist RouteWork waitlist Links: Submit your bottleneck Join The Bottleneck newsletter Barrel 2 Business Collective All episodes

  2. Sep 22

    Episode 26: Stop Boosting Your Posts - The Platform Loves It, Your Budget Doesn't

    Meta and Google ads still work, and for a small beverage brand they're still some of the cheapest ways to get in front of the right people. But the platforms changed the rules this year. AI "enhancements" are on by default, the opt-out switches are buried, the boost button is a cash grab with a friendly font, and if you're not watching, the robots will rewrite your ads and spend your money doing it. Julie walks through what changed, what to turn off, when boosting is actually okay, where the AI helps, and the four numbers that tell you whether or not any of it is working. Best For: Small craft beverage brand owners and operators (beer, cider, wine, spirits, NA, hemp) who are spending money on Meta or Google ads, or about to. What you'll learn in this episode: What changed on Meta and Google in the last six to nine months, and why both platforms are pushing you toward handing them the keysThe real story of Meta's AI rewriting a taproom's ads to promote food trucks and live music that don't exist, and why it's happened to Julie's own brands tooThe 3 kinds of damage AI ad enhancements do (fake copy, fake images, overspend) and where the off switches actually live in Meta and GoogleGoogle keyword match types explained, and why broad match is a budget leak when you're starting outWhy boosting a post is for emergencies only, and what a real campaign gives you that a boost never willWhy beginners should run everything manually first, and which AI features are worth handing back to the machine laterThe 4 numbers to check every weekWhy your state guild membership is an investment, not an expense Mentioned in this episode: Meta Ads Manager: Advantage+ creative enhancements (ad set and ad level), Advertising Settings dashboard, campaign and account spending limits Google Ads: keyword match types, negative keywords, automatically created assets, final URL expansion, AI Max for Search Episode 19: Use AI Like a Grown-Up Episode 24: Your Distributor Wishes You Knew This with Melissa Johnston of Tryon Distributing Virginia Brewers Conference, Richmond Wyoming Brewers Summit Great American Beer Festival, Levitt Pavilion, Denver, first weekend of October Proof, the NYHMS dashboard hub GuestWork waitlist RouteWork waitlist More Links: Submit your bottleneck Join The Bottleneck newsletter All episodes

  3. Sep 8

    Episode 25 — Turn Your Data Into A Decision — Dashboards Don't Run Your Business, You Do (Introducing Proof)

    Docs, sheets, exports, and dashboards scattered across the cloud, all of it looking great and none of it telling you what to do. This episode, Julie gets personal about the data overwhelm that pushed her to build Proof: a new analytics-plus-action tool that pulls your whole beverage business into one live dashboard, tells you the story your numbers are actually telling, and hands you the moves that matter. It's technology and human insight together, minus the tech-bro and minus the chatbot. Best For: Small and emerging craft beverage brands buried in data with no time to make sense of it. What you'll learn in this episode: Why consolidating your data is only half the job — and what's actually missingThe three traps every brand falls into: scattered tools, gut-call decisions, and useless robot summariesHow Proof consolidates, guides, and clarifies your numbers into a Monday-morning planWhy this isn't another AI dashboard, a tech bro who's never worked the industry, or generic chatbot adviceHow it works start to finish: discovery call, view-only access, dashboard build, and the readThe three ways in — The Read, The Debrief, and The Huddle — and how channel-based pricing works Mentioned in this episode: Proof — See It All, Pricing in the Open Book a Discovery Call Submit a Bottleneck The Bottleneck Newsletter Barrel 2 Business Collective All Episodes

  4. Aug 25

    Episode 24 - Your Distributor Wishes You Knew This with Melissa Johnston of Tryon Distributing

    Most brands pour everything into consumer marketing and then go quiet to the people who actually decide their fate at wholesale — the buyers, the reps, the accounts. This week Julie sits down with Melissa Johnston, VP of Strategic Development at Tryon Distributing and a 20-year veteran across all three tiers, to hear what the buyer's seat actually wants to see. If you sell into distribution, or you're trying to, this is the B2B marketing wake-up call you didn't know you needed, plus how to do it all without tripping a single compliance rule. Best For: Small and emerging craft beverage brands selling — or trying to sell — into wholesale and distribution. What you'll learn in this episode: Why marketing to buyers and reps is the gap almost every small brand is ignoringWhat a distributor's brand-picker looks for before they ever taste your productHow to make your distributor reps actually want to sell your brandWhat separates a sell sheet or buyer email that gets read from one that gets trashedThe TTB compliance line for using social media and digital ads to support wholesale sales — what you can and can't sayHow to market a brand-new category (like hemp beverage) to a distributor who's never carried oneThe one or two wholesale-marketing moves to start this week, even with no time and no budget Mentioned in this episode: Melissa Johnston, VP of Strategic Development, Tryon Distributing (@tryon_distributing) Kick Fizz, distributed statewide in NC by Tryon Distributing Proof — Julie's New Offer Submit a Bottleneck The Bottleneck Newsletter All Episodes

  5. Aug 11

    Episode 23: Choose A Modern Sales Rep Model– The 2013 Playbook is Dead

    There is something out there for every brand at every budget and every stage, so let's walk through some modern models to help you get to work. Five of them, to be exact! In this episode, Julie breaks down sales representative strategies and how to choose the best one for your brand. Best For: Small, emerging craft beverage owners and decision makers assembling sales teams on a budget. What you'll learn in this episode: Julie's five sales representation models, and what kinds of brands they work best forHow to choose a sales rep model. Hint: The choice should reflect your current business climate, not the one you're striving for.Questions to ask before you make hiring moves Mentioned in this episode: Got a bottleneck? Submit It Join The Bottleneck Newsletter Hemp Beverage Alliance Action Center - Send a message instantly and directly to your local representatives. More info about what's happening in hemp beverages at the federal level US Hemp Roundtable Petition

  6. Jul 28

    Episode 22: Treat Your Wholesale Customers Like A Different Kind Of Customer— Because They Are

    Consumers and wholesalers are two vastly different audiences, and your brand should communicate to them as such. In this "tough love" episode, Julie breaks down the basics of a wholesale newsletter, and identifies the elements you're probably getting wrong. Best For: Small craft beverage brand owners, salespeople, and marketers who support the brand's wholesale efforts. What you'll learn in this episode: The difference between wholesale and consumer audiences and their email behaviorsWhat NOT to include in your wholesale newsletter Julie's five tactics for glowing up your wholesale newsletter that get resultsSuggestions for places to include brand storytelling in your sales strategy (Hint: It's not in your wholesale newsletter) Mentioned in this episode: Not Your Hobby Marketing Services Got a Bottleneck? Submit It Join The Bottleneck Newsletter

  7. Jul 14

    Episode 21: Get Found in an AI World with Scott Kolbe of Market Your Craft

    Everybody keeps yelling "AI is coming" and most small beverage brands still have no clue whether they even show up when a drinker asks ChatGPT where to grab a local beer, cider, or canned cocktail. In this episode, Scott Kolbe of Market Your Craft breaks down answer engine optimization — basically the AI cousin of SEO — and the cheap, low-tech moves any small brand can make to actually get found. No big budget, no dev team, no computer science degree required. Just a few smart tweaks to the website you already have. Best For: Small craft beverage brand owners who keep hearing "AI" and want to know what to actually do about it instead of nodding along nervously. What you'll learn in this episode: Why AI search hands people a short, credibility-ranked answer instead of ten pages of blue links — and what that shift means for whether your brand gets named at allThe authority signals AI actually reads: reviews, press mentions, and social proof (and how to stack them in your favor)How to write event descriptions and FAQ pairs on your top landing pages so AI can find and quote youThe one file (LLMs.txt) you can drop into your website's root directory to point AI models at your best pagesWhy an out-of-date retail locator might be quietly costing you sales in AI resultsHow to get customers reviewing you on Google, Untappd, and Reddit — the platforms AI leans onWhich AI model to start with, why Scott leans toward Claude for data protection, and why the $20/month tier is plenty for most brandsThe "treat it like a new intern" mindset that keeps you out of trouble — including what financial info to keep far away from it Mentioned in this episode: Scott Kolbe, Market Your Craft RadCraft Claude ChatGPT Gemini StoryBrand AI From the Not Your Hobby world: Got a bottleneck? Submit It Join The Bottleneck Newsletter Barrel 2 Business Collective All Past Episodes More Free Tools and Everything Else

  8. Jun 23

    Episode 20: Simplify Your Tech Stack (Just Because Your Neighbor Uses It Doesn't Mean You Need It)

    Most small craft beverage brands are either paying for too much software, paying for the wrong software, or paying for software they signed up for once and never actually used. The comment section on Facebook is great for vibes, terrible for tech advice. The tool that works for the brand triple your size is almost never the right tool for you. In this follow-up to last week's AI episode, Julie lays out the four-layer framework for building a craft beverage tech stack that actually serves your business — and walks through how to evaluate any new tool before you buy it. Plus the homework assignment every small brand needs to do this month: the software audit. Best For: Small to mid-sized craft beverage brand owners and operators who suspect they're spending too much on the wrong tools and want a clear framework for what they actually need. What you'll learn in this episode: The four-layer tech stack framework — foundation, revenue-touching, marketing, and optimizationWhat every brand needs at Layer 1, and why nothing else matters until that's in placeHow to right-size your POS, production, and wholesale tools to your actual operationWhere most brands over-invest in marketing tools they don't needWhy a lot of Layer 4 tools are being replaced by AI capabilitiesThe seven-question filter for evaluating any new piece of software before you buy itYour homework: the three-month software audit that will probably save you hundreds a month Mentioned in this episode: Episode 19 — Use AI Like a Grown-Up Book a Consulting Call with Julie Submit Your Bottlenecks Join The Bottleneck Email Community Barrel 2 Business Collective All Podcast Episodes

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Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
6 Ratings

About

This Is Not Your Hobby is the no-fluff podcast for independent beverage brands that want to scale smarter, not just hustle harder. Hosted by Julie Rhodes - beverage business consultant, educator, journalist, and brand co-founder - this podcast dives into the real-world sales, marketing, and distribution strategies that small craft beverage companies actually need. Each episode tackles common business bottlenecks with practical solutions, straight talk, and the occasional guest expert. Stop winging it and start building something sustainable. Because your business? It’s not your hobby.

Information

  • Creator
    Julie Rhodes
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    27
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Julie Rhodes
  • Show Website
    This Is Not Your Hobby

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