Charting the Wine Media Landscape w/ Natalie MacLean, nataliemaclean.com XChateau Wine Podcast

Natalie MacLean, a podcaster and writer based in Ottawa, Canada, has been bringing people into her wine world for over 20 years. With two books, a newsletter with over 300,000 subscribers, a mobile app, and the Unreserved Wine Talk podcast, Natalie’s main focus is on perfecting her food and wine pairing courses - The Wine Smart Course and an upcoming course on wine and cheese. Natalie tells us about how she built her personal brand, the most effective marketing channels she’s used, and where her primary revenue drivers are. If you’re interested in navigating how to be successful in the world of wine, Natalie’s journey provides key insights.
Detailed Show Notes: 
Natalie’s backgroundHas an MBA, did consumer packaged goods (“CPG”) marketing at P&G and techShe took a sommelier course and fell in love with wine, as a full-bodied experienceStarted as a writer - cold-called editors, then wrote books, and now publishes a podcast - Unreserved Wine TalkShe didn’t drink alcohol until she was in her late 20’sBrunello was the wine that got her into wineCurrent focus - online food and wine pairing coursesFocused on 2 courses only - believes in doubling down on the Unique Selling Proposition (“USP”), wants to perfect courses vs. add more#1 - The Wine Smart CourseLifetime access to materials5 modulesPre-recorded videos (on-demand, all “snackable” - 7-9 minutes in length, 70-75 videos)Live webinars via Zoom - bi-weekly tastings#2 - Beta: Wine & Cheese PairingAppeals to both consumers and hospitality and trade professionals b/c of the focus on food and wine pairingIt starts with food, then pairs the wineLeverages some research from Tim Hanni, MWFree wine and food pairing guideCore audience - vast, similar to the general populationNewsletter / website300k email subscribers - free to join, C$3/mo for access to wine reviewsHas pairing tips (more depth in courses), a lot of free videosIt started as an email to friends and familyUses LCBO pricingWine scoresPeople use them as a shorthand for quality, to calculate the quality to price ratio (“QPR”)People requested it, and now it’s a service for readersPassion is writingMobile appFree to downloadScans front label and bar codesIntegrated liquor store pricing and inventory across the country (Canada) via API’s to provincial liquor control boardsFeatures - virtual cellar, wishlist, buy listsUS wines in CanadaCA, WA, OR, NY well represented#1 export market for US winesDuring Covid - premium wines (C$20+) have done well, benefiting US winesCanadian wine palate - driven more towards cool climate wines, Canada’s heritage is beer and whiskeyMarketing Natalie’s brandBuilt over 20 years, started the website in 2000Started with the books (Red, White, and Drunk All Over; Unquenchable) - published by Randomhouse, book tour, Amazon’s bestseller list - led to broad reach and TV and other media appearances and “exploded” newsletter subscribersPodcast a core channel nowPodcast listeners stay with you, and most listen 80-100% throughPodcast listeners and paid online courses have the strongest overlapLeverage and cross-purpose content to broaden the reach to many channelsPodcast videos for FB LiveSocial media - gets people over to newsletter or free wine and food pairing guide, low commitment, usually not payingNothing beats emailAlways strives to deliver value first - drive to something free (e.g., free class/webinar), then promotes paid coursesMain revenue drivers#1 - online courses#2 - wine review subscriptions#3 - online advertising Get access to library episodes
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