March 1, 2011

Authentic Branding for Wine Educators: Savor The Spectrum of Who You Are, by Gilat Ben-Dor, MBA, CSW

Authentic Branding for Wine Educators: Savor The Spectrum of Who You Are

Gilat Ben-Dor, MBA, CSW

Greetings, fellow SWE wine educators! I am delighted to be the Society of Wine Educators’ Educator of the Month for March 2011. This week, I share with you the benefits of using what I call the Full-Spectrum Disclosure approach to your wine education career. This is a more strategic topic that I hope you will find helpful from a professional development vantage point.

Many of us have entered into the profession of wine education as a second (or third, or fourth) career, which means that we bring a wealth of prior experiences—as well as other established passions—into our work. This is highly valuable, both to ourselves and to our clientele. By incorporating a varied array of knowledge and cultural approaches into our curriculum, we not only keep the interest of those who attend our educational sessions but we can also establish a strong rapport with them through authentic connections.

The Myth of the Specialist

Modern society values those who have a laser-sharp focus, and are an expert on “just one thing.” From our first meeting with a guidance counselor in high school through various stages of adulthood, we can feel pressured to “pick a path and stick with it.”

This may be necessary—and beneficial—when establishing a main focus in one’s career. For example, when deciding on becoming a wine professional, that in itself is a process of focusing, drilling down to wine education and then perhaps even an area of expertise by region, wine varietal, and so forth. But all too often, the pressure to be perceived as a single-focus specialist drives many professionals to hide or downplay their rich, broad spectrum of talents and interests.

For a while, I was guilty of this myself. Years ago, upon first establishing my own wine education firm, Renaissance Wine Academy™, I remember trying to “ignore” my past in an effort to project my new market focus on wine education. I hardly ever mentioned the years I lived in Japan (since there was little I did with wine there except savor it as a fan); I did not mention my multi-lingual abilities, since they rarely came up except to pronounce certain wine terms with annoying precision; and I did not mention the fact that my passions for traveling, for creative entrepreneurship, and for the arts, were equally strong.

Why? Because I thought that if people were going to hire me as a wine educator, they wanted someone who only ate, slept, and breathed wine, all the time, 24/7.

The Benefits of Full-Spectrum Disclosure

Boy, was I wrong. Over time, as the other sides of me came into light, I realized that clients (and potential clients) were delighted to learn that I also paint, that I have taught at universities (not about wine), or that I offer additional services that complement the wine education component. Many clients even loved that I have an MBA, a fact that at first I thought was completely irrelevant to my “new career in wine,” but that proved to be a strong connecting factor to my corporate clientele.

In addition to rapport-building, and becoming a memorable and well-rounded figure for those that I meet, revealing my many sides has opened up even more wine education opportunities. I found that my networking circles grew, the more I branched out and shared the entire spectrum of myself (as opposed to my first year in wine, which was only about wine groups and wine magazine subscriptions!). From a business standpoint, revealing all that I am has resulted in new and innovative ways to cross-market the wine education piece with other complementary endeavors, be it my own or those of my professional contacts.

The benefits of using the “Full-Spectrum Disclosure” approach include:

· The ability to incorporate past skills and experiences into your current wine career

· Added business networking exposure by branching out beyond traditional “wine groups”

· Lucrative opportunities to cross-promote your wine education with complementary offerings

· Leading a more rich, varied, and fulfilling professional life by honoring the many sides of yourself

YOU Are the Brand

Remember: by letting other parts of yourself peek through, you are no less of an expert in the wine education arena. If anything, you are increasing your chances of speaking the language of your clientele, based on the discovery of additional shared interests, educational backgrounds, hobbies or work histories. This statement, while overused, remains true: people like to do business with those whom they like, trust, and can relate to.

The wine credentials you have earned, such as the Society of Wine Educators’ CSW, CWE or CSS designations, are the direct result of your hard work and knowledge. You are no less of an expert in something if you are also interested in something else. This can only help you stand out from the sea of those who define themselves in one dimension.

Branch out, and see what the benefits of working under “Full-Spectrum Disclosure” can do for you. After all, as a professional wine educator, no matter the wines and no matter the educational materials, at the end of the day your brand is YOU.