Join us as a beverage industry contributor for our blog, books and blog talk radio


You’ll be seen by thousands of beverage industry executives, buyers, and distributors



As a beverage industry contributor to our blog you will also have the opportunity to participate in our beverage industry blog talk radio and possible in the second edition of the book “Build Your Beverage Empire” or the upcoming book “Wholesale MBA”. You will post articles, notes, posts, videos or other content every two weeks (every week is super!).  You get all credit and own your content.

Contributors can post about sales, distribution, strategy, marketing, development, case studies, problems, business solutions, personal experiences, trade shows, merchandising, mergers and acquisitions or just talk about beverage news or trends.

Don’t worry if you don’t know how to use our blog software. We’ll help you every step of the way.



Advantages of being a Case Study Contributor:

• Your Biography will appear in all of your content posts
• Great for your career and your business
• We send your case study to more than 10,000 distributors
• Our blog is the No. 1 beverage blog in the industry
• Your content could appear in the book “Build Your Beverage Empire”
• Get “expert” status in the industry
• We have more than 55,000 subscribers to our content including distributors

Who should apply to be a Permanent Contributor?

Beverage executives that want to better their career develop their personal branding and become industry experts all by raising their “beverage personality”.



Once you sign up by filling up the application we’ll review it and you’ll get further instruction by email in just a day or two. After that you’ll start writing.

Even More Information for Beverage Industry Contributors



 The book “Build Your Beverage Empire” is the no. 1 beverage book on the market. Did you know it is also in the top 20 books for entrepreneurship, business start-ups and marketing?

Would you like to be part of the top content creators for the beverage, retail and wholesale industry?  This is the best self-promotion you can do. It will help you as an executive, as a business owner, and catapult your personal brand ski high.  You just need to provide good content and we’ll provide the technology, webinars, seminars, blogs and readers.

Your articles and blog posts can be seen by more than 20,000 visitors per month, 40,000 RSS subscribers and 15,000 beverage and wholesale newsletter subscribers.  We’ll also collaborate with you to create and sell audio programs, webinars and maybe even have you in our next books.

This is not just for the beverage industry; it’s for the entire consumer packaged goods industry. Everything that can sell at a supermarket, convenience store, internet store, direct sales, foodservice, specialty store or department store.

You don’t have to be a professional writer. You just need to have knowledge of the subject. We’ll help with some of the writing and the marketing of the content.  We’ll also coach you with free webinars on how to write your posts to get the most web traffic and exposure.  All of my websites rank in the top 1% of all websites in the world.

You will be required to write a 400 word or more blog post every week or every other week. You can use articles, personal stories, videos, presentations, audios, everything.  Your biography as well as any books you sell will be displayed in the blog.  We’ll even partner to sell your products and services in the beverage industry if you wish.

We have your form and information.

Give us a day or two to review your information. You’ll receive more information from me by email for the next steps, registration to the blog and training as well.

Thanks,

Jorge Olson

This recording covers everything you need to know about beverage business funding, venture capital and private equity.

On the call you have 2 venture capital experts and investors and executives at the largest angel investment network in the USA.

If you need help with your beverage business plan or general beverage consulting you can contact me at 619 852 6942

You need beverage consulting if you are starting a beverage and want to save time and money. You also need it if you are ready for branding, marketing, sales and distribution into convenience stores and supermarkets through beverage distributors.

I’ve been involved in beverage consulting projects with more than 300 products in the USA and in Mexico. Up to now I’ve seen 2 basic levels of beverage consulting: Beverage Development and Beverage Sales and Distribution. Yes, I’ve done projects in strategy, business planning and for investors. However the majority of entrepreneurs are looking for ether beverage development or beverage distribution.

Beverage Consulting for Development

Beverage Development is not only formulation, artwork and bottling. Beverage Development has to do with creating a product with a substantial selling proposition and differentiator. Even more important, a beverage marketed correctly to the perfect consumer. This is easier said than done as most entrepreneurs forget the consumer and the distribution supply chain in reaching the consumer.

Beverage Sales and Distribution

This is someone everyone has in common. Good beverages and bad beverages, big companies and small ones all need and want more sales and distribution. I use in my beverage consulting different ways of getting more sales. I use my current distributor network, my current broker network, new sales and direct sales to retail accounts.

I’ve worked with small start-ups as well as fortune companies launching new and existing products into market, on beverage development or simply s an advisor. I’ve made every mistake on the book and worked on more than 300 products selling to more than 200,000 retail stores. Call me to get that same experience under your “business belt”

You can read more about my beverage consulting services

Call me with any questions on my beverage consulting services including costs for consulting or for beverage development, projects, distribution models or other beverage strategies you’re looking at.

You can reach me at (619) 852 6942.

Thanks,

Jorge Olson, Beverage Consulting Specialist

A great new beverage business fail primarily because entrepreneurs were not prepared with the right knowledge and strategy.

To create a successful beverage business and product it takes marketing, distribution, and adoption. Marketing targets the right consumer in the right way to ensure the product was developed correctly from the start. Distribution will ensure the product is in the right place: it could be a convenience store, supermarket, natural food store, or restaurant. Adoption is where the hard work shows and the empire begins. Adoption by the consumer gets repeated sales in the retail store and allows you to grow exponentially.

Marketing is the start and the end of the road for a beverage business. If you develop your product from day one using a sound marketing strategy it will be hard to miss the target. The number one mistake in the industry takes place here. Companies start with just the idea, maybe the formula or the name or package, and launch a product. In reality it should take a much different approach. It starts with the idea, then it stops and goes all the way to the end of the sales process and then works its way back to the product again. In the process we’ll find the target consumers, right retailers, distributors servicing these retailers, pricing, packaging, positioning, everything. In short, listen to the consumer! This easy exercise of starting with the consumer will avoid most mistakes and heartaches.

Once we find who the perfect consumer is for the product we can start the exercise. You’ll have to ask yourself who this person is, male or female, age, type of job, income, and go as far as imagining who this consumer looks like and how they will reach out for the product. How big should the bottle be? What color? What taste and function? Once we have this we’re golden! We can now reverse engineer the beverage. We start by finding out where the consumer buys, how much they’ll pay, how they like to be promoted and sold, can we do sampling? Should we do advertising? After we know how we’ll promote the beverage we’ll jump into distribution. What types of retail accounts should we target? How will we market to these retailers and open the accounts? What types of distributors service these accounts? How can we contact, sell and support these distributors so they can service the retailers we help open? Now we’re ready! Let’s start with beverage development.

Distribution is the hardest part of the equation for a beverage business. It is the job of the beverage company to sell products to the distributor, the retailer, and the consumer, not just the distributor. Distributors in the beverage industry are local to one town or city. A large distributor is usually a beer distributor in a large metropolitan area servicing 2,000 retailers. Targeting them is best by phone and then in person. Distributors require territory exclusivity across all channels of distribution and will not commit to minimum purchases unless you already have existing sales you’re handing over to them. I know, it’s not the best deal, but it’s the beverage deal!

Adoption is the final step in the beverage business equation. By now we already opened a distributor, we already worked with the distributor to open accounts, maybe 200 or 300 accounts and we executed our promotional strategy. The best results come from in-store sampling events at point of purchase. Now we’re working to get adoption. Talking to customers in stores and communicating our best selling proposition. Why we’re better, why they should buy it and all the benefits they will get from this wonderful beverage. Adoption comes next and with it “store turns”; the pleasure of seing the same consumers coming back the retail store every week and buying the product every day. An excellent target is to have at least 2 cases sold per store per month for the first 6 months with a long term target of 4 cases of product per month (each case having 24 bottles or cans).

As you can see it takes more than a great tasting beverage to create a beverage business empire. Actually, making a great tasting beverage is the easiest, less expensive and fastest part of the whole beverage process.

The beverage business industry tops $100 billion per year in the United States alone. The beverage industry is made up of several categories, including:
• Carbonated soft drinks
• Bottled water
• Beer
• Wine and spirits
• Functional drinks (such as sports drinks)
• Ready To Drink (RTD) teas
• New Age Beverages

As you can see, New Age Beverage Business is just one category within the market. While it might seem that the old favorites of soda, beer, water and wine are too ingrained in the marketplace to leave room for opportunity, statistics show that just the opposite is true. Sales figures show that people are turning to new forms of refreshment, and drinks that can give them more. The New Age Business model is only a fraction of the overall industry, but this is the category, almost the only category, that is growing and showing greater potential for future growth.

A New Age Beverage Business Can Grow at 50 Percent per Year

The New Age Beverage Business category has been growing tremendously in recent years, seeing up to 50 percent growth per year. Sales and projections continue to show that New Age Beverages are a solid business to be in—one that grows even as some perennial favorites start to dwindle. As those products fade they are being replaced by something bigger, something better, and something consumers just can’t get enough of: a whole new category of New Age Beverages that includes energy drinks, vitamin water, high-end water, iced coffees, natural sodas, energy shots and many more. With companies like Fuze, Red Bull, Monster, Rockstar, Izze, Fiji Water and others leading the way, it’s easy to see how profitable a path exists. All that new beverage developers have to do is find their way along that road.
The New Age Beverage market has grown to be a serious competitor in the industry. New Age Beverages are one of the only categories enjoying double-digit growth. In truth, it is the New Age Beverage market that is sustaining big beverage companies like Coca-Cola and Pepsi as their carbonated drinks see declines or miniscule growth.

How Can Your Beverage Business Succeed?
Success depends on your personal definition but for clarity’s sake let’s set three levels of success: Level No.1is not going out of business, Level No. 2 is growing a good regional company and Level No. 3 is building a beverage brand with national sales that will eventually be acquired by one of the big fish in the business (hopefully paying up to 10 times gross sales as they’ve done with others). In the end you will have successfully built your beverage empire!

Success No. 1: Let’s Stay in Business

There are around 300 new beverage products that actually have some money and make it to production each year. There are another few hundred that never make it off the ground. I personally see around 100 beverage projects and per year. Most of them go out of business for one reason: they don’t sell. What do I mean? They don’t have a good sales strategy? They lack the funds to execute in supporting distributors? No. They never focused on sales. “How can that be?” you might ask. In this industry the monetary barrier of entry is very low—around $200,000—but the second barrier, the sales barrier, is very high. Most companies, even well-funded ones with $4 million or more fail at the simple task of selling to a distributor and opening 100 or 200 retail stores.
To stay in beverage business you need to go out and open stores. That’s it. Not just get distributors, not just attend trade shows—you need to go out and get dirty and open accounts, one by one. When I see business plans I always fast forward to the “good part.” How many stores will they open, how fast and how will they support them.I’d estimate that 99.9 percent of business plans that come across my desk fail to even mention this aspect of the business.

Success No. 2: Grow a Great Regional Company

A great regional beverage business sells less than $4 million a year and uses beverage distributors to reach their goals. For New Age Beverages this means you need around 20 distributors across a few states. Beverage distributors in the United States only tend to one city or part of one city. There are no giant distributors. The great regional company will have management focused on promoting product in the stores and making sure distributors are happy. The beverage has appeal and repeat buyers. You only need around five loyal customers per store to reach this level of success.

Success No. 3: Build a Beverage Empire

Going from a great regional company to one worthy of acquisition will require two things: multiplication and adoption. Multiplication means you can do exactly the same thing you did regionally at a national level. This will require funding and organization. It will also require a professional CEO or COO, not just a high-energy visionary entrepreneur. Adoption by consumers is the real game here. Yes, you can have a great channel of distribution pushing product all over the country. You may even have mass advertising and a great budget for promotion, but without adoption—without repeated turns in the stores—this level of success will be nearly impossible to achieve. We need sustainability at point of purchase (repeat buyers at stores) for this level of success to be achieved. This creates the proverbial tipping point!

About the Author
Jorge Olson is a beverage business consultant, analyst and entrepreneur. He’s the author of the book Build Your Beverage Empire and works with investors and entrepreneurs to launch beverages, get distribution and reach the tipping point. You can find him at www.BuildYourBeverageEmpire.com. Call him at (619) 852 6942 to go over your beverage business and consulting project

Learn how to get “Beverage Venture Capital”.  You’re invited our FREE teleseminar with the largest Angel Investment network in the USA. This is not just one Angel Group or Venture Capital Group, this is the larges network of investors in the whole United States compiled of almost every single organized investment group in the country.

Learn how to get Mentoring form Angel Investors and Capital for your Beverage Project!

The venture capital teleseminar interview will be held next Monday August 30 at 3 PM PST 6 PM EST.

In this teleseminar interview you’ll learn how this incredible private equity group works and how you can submit your company, product or project for funding.

Projects funded by this group include software technology, consumer goods, green projects, services, and most other businesses. In the interview we’ll go over not only the general Venture Capital and Angel Investment process but what you need to get funded from this group.

Teleseminar Interview Information

Title: Get Venture Capital for Your Business
Date: Monday August 30
Time: 3 PM PST / 6 PM EST

To get your FREE beverage business venture capital Teleseminar information the only requirement is that you leave a review on Amazon for one of my two books:

Build Your Beverage Empire

http://www.amazon.com/Build-Beverage-Empire-Jorge-Olson/dp/098214251X

The Unselfish Guide to Self Promotion

http://www.amazon.com/Unselfish-Guide-Self-Promotion/dp/0982142501/ref=pd_sim_b_3

Send me an email after you do at Jorge at LiquidBM.com to receive your FREE teleseminar information.

Thanks,

Jorge Olson

PS: This venture capital beverage business call is available on recording

How will you open and support 1,000 retail stores with beverage distributors?

This was a discussion posted in the LinkedIn Beverage Distributors and Business Group. You can join it here: LinkedIn Beverage Business Group

The number one question I received this month was “How can I open more stores”. Well, I also got questions about opening beverage distributors, wholesalers, how to contact them, how to target them, etc; but when I probed more the real question was “how can I open stores?” Let me explain.

I see many posts here in the BeverageDistributors Group asking for beverage distributors. “Beverage Distributors wanted for my beverage”. I’m sure you see them often. This tells me many readers don’t understand how beverage distributors think, or how they work. Furthermore, when I speak with clients, readers of my book or blogs or members of this LinkedIn Group I ask them why they want distributors. They all tell me the same thing: “I want stores”. You get the drift! Most group members want retail accounts, or on-premise accounts, and don’t know how to get them.

Before I dive into some strategies I use to open 1,000 retail stores quickly with beverage distributors I want to post the question. If I would open 1,000 stores for you how would you support them? You see, opening stores is the easy part, supporting them is the hard part. If you don’t understand this process we’ll also explain it next week. Again, let me post the question…

If I would open 1,000 stores for you how would you support them?

Thanks,

Jorge S. Olson

Group Moderator
Beverage Consultant & Entrepreneur

Author of “Build Your Beverage Empire”

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Comments from Beverage Distributors Group Members:

Peter Ekman • Jorge, it’s funny since I’m trying to answer your question separately right now. I’m finalizing my strategic document for my new start-up – a beverage sales organization on the West Coast. Here are my ideas how to support the stores once you have the distribution secured:

1) Quality people with local knowledge on your team frequently visiting the stores
2) Relevant and timely information about the brands
3) Make sure the brand is profitable at store level (margins, promotions, velocity)
4) The brand must have a simple story (the value) the sales people at the store can understand and explain to customers
5) If issues at a store, address them diligently. Bad experiences travel VERY fast

Just my thoughts…
Peter

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=  These posts are from the Beverage Distributors group on LinkedIn.com moderated by Jorge Olson. To join and find beverage distributors for your product click on the link at the top of the post.

From Jorge:

Peter,

I like your no. 1 point…

“1) Quality people with local knowledge on your team frequently visiting the stores”.

I like it because this is what companies lack the most.  I think many brands think the beverage distributors are in charge of all retail contact and forget that they are responsible for their product at every level of the channel.  After all, it’s their product.

Thank you for the great comment.

Jorge Olson

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= These posts are from the Beverage Distributors group on LinkedIn.com moderated by Jorge Olson

Ronald Pingrey • Gaining the stores is the easy part, suppling the stores is the time consuming part, and driving and maintaining sales after your intro bump wears off is the challenging part. I agree, 1000 stores with no support is a blueprint for failure. Retail shelf space can also be your graveyard.
I do disagree with Peter’s #4 point. The brand should have a clear message, but the c-store sales people rarley take the time to explain it. The rest I totally support.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= These posts are from the Beverage Distributors group on LinkedIn.com moderated by Jorge Olson

David Hobbs • * Pre and post marketing programs
* In-store/on-premise sampling
* Co-branding with other brands that your product compliments
* PAY YOUR SLOTTING FEES on time
* Make sure that your co-packer or you can stay ahead of the demand. Shoot for the sky just in case things take off. This happened to us with our bag in a box Cool Blue energy drink. We had more than enough raw materials on hand to ramp up manufacturing when demand increased.

* LISTEN to your customers and distributors

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= These posts are from the Beverage Distributors group on LinkedIn.com moderated by Jorge Olson

Joe Simiriglio Jr • In a rollout of any product to support 1,000 stores, all the logistics of meeting demand, must first come from financial strength of the supplier, production of the product should be divided regionally to limit travel time and shipping costs, computer systems should be able to talk to one another to monitor shelf depletion for immediate product replenishment, real time inventory using State of the Art tags on each product from the landed delivery to each store to the placement on the shelf to the check out counter.
Regional distributors or I suggest using independent brokers who would service a group of stores in their territory and become familiar with the each store and department manager and each person who handles the product that is being sold at the store. Marketing support must come from the manufacturer, any spiffs for store associates should be announced to enhance sales ans support of the product and their are many other details, but no time to finish my plan of action for the roll out.

I am working with an unknown brand right now with limited capital, its an excellent beverage in my opinion but the mfg, had wide eyes and was demanding large minimum order requirements from distributors, my suggestion to this company was to forget the distributors for now and the big box stores and start marketing too the Mom & Pop stores, if the product begins to have a “tail”, the distributors will want to know where to jump on, and the big box stores will contact the mfg to work out a deal. I also addressed the company that once a big box store comes on-board, he should not forget the Mom & Pops that brought his product to the big show, and make sure they are protected. It looks like they are going to ease up on there initial high volume minimums and go slow and build a market for their product from the little guy up the beverage chain.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= These posts are from the Beverage Distributors group on LinkedIn.com moderated by Jorge Olson

Rob McCormack • Thank you Jorge… A good question that is rarely taken seriously. To simplify the questions even further, “How do manufactures create pull for their brands instore and support the retailers that will ultimately act as gate keepers for success now and longterm?” I would recommend asking these simple questions prior to going into any store.
1. Are you keeping the customer in mind and why does this fit into their lives? Decide the channel and instore location based on your answer.
2. What type of POS/POP are you utilizing to educate the consumer, create awareness and paint the picture of what your brand is? (cheapest form of advertising)
3. How often do you plan to spot check these stores? How are you ensuring that if it is successful, that you avoid “stockouts”?
4. Will this make money for everyone involved? How realistic are the expectations you’ve set?

It’s better to be great in small doses than average in large. Keep it simple and sustainable.

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Rob,

I liked your point No. 4:

“4. Will this make money for everyone involved? How realistic are the expectations you’ve set?”

You are right on the money with expectation management.  Many time I open a few hundred stores with let’s say a Budweiser beverage distributors where the expectations are not set by the manufacturer since day 1.  To make a long story short, the product ends up being discontinued.  Oh my!  All that work, all that time, all that money.

By setting expectations by the manufacturer and beverage distributors you can see if it’s a good fit from the start.  If the distributor expect you to open every single store and spend $1 million dollars maybe it’s not a good fit.  This goes both ways.  If the manufacturer expects the distributor to open every single store and promote the brand it’s not a good fit.

Thanks Rob for your feedback.

Jorge Olson

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Chris Olivier • Assuming you’re talking about a new, unknown brand looking to hit 1,000 stores, it all comes down to flawless execution to get the brand off the ground…
(1) The package has to ‘pop’ on-shelf across multiple facings
(2) The product must be simple to understand at first glance
(3) It’s got to be priced to move, or premium priced to support (1) & (2) with a calendar of BOGO’s to drive trial
(4) It’s got to taste good (sample, sample, sample)!
(5) It can’t be sitting on the floor or on the top-shelf
If the brand is not meeting these 5 requirements in store #1, then the turns won’t be there for it to merit store #1,000. Having said that, I’d argue for investing in feet on the street to manage retailer execution – doesn’t have to be distributors, per se – these days you can use social media to enlist & train an army in exchange for in-kind value. Beyond that, as others on this thread have suggested, the supplier has got to have the capital IN PLACE to invest in sampling and retailer programming to drive trial…

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=  These posts are from the Beverage Distributors group on LinkedIn.com moderated by Jorge Olson

Chris,

I love all your points!

You are on the money. I especially like your point no. 4 and 5.  I have several clients that already have contacts. One comes to mind that has a warehouse deal with not for 1,000 but for 5,000 stores and the product is not moving.  Yep, no sampling and no merchandising…

The problem, as in most cases is money.  It takes a lot of money to hire merchandisers and sampling teams. Especially in the beginning when adoption by consumers at retail point is not there.   It’s important to gage the plan, the big picture, the expectaions…

Thanks for your advice and your clear 5 point plan!

Jorge Olson

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Darryl Rosen • Jorge, this is a great question. No matter how much money is behind a new product, if a salesperson doesn’t get a store’s associates behind the item, there is little chance of success. I call it “converts and missionaries.” People that have some vested interest in the brand. Further, with all the new items, it’s easy to understand how sharing new offerings is a bit of drudgery. Without the conviction on the part of the salesperson, buyers will rarely find the conviction to support the product.

Darryl

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You’re right Daryl,

A whole campaign can be launched based on this.  I remember years ago a campaign with Circle K where we did a promotion with the employees and managers giving away laptops and iPods.  It was the best month for that beverage ever!  The employees were merchandising the product like you would not believe…  Product all over the place, stickers, posters, ice barrels and store employees convincing customers to buy the product.

Thank you for your post,

Jorge Olson

Call me to learn how to get more beverage distributors for your product: (619) 852 6942

Do you need a Beverage Consultant?


“My job as a beverage consultant, in this order, is to save you time, to save you money, to make you money”

This is done with education, best practices, positioning and sales and distribution. This is the basis of my business consulting, business plan, financials, marketing plan and operation…



Let me run it by you once again:
• Save Time = Avoid mistakes
• Save Money = Make money count. Avoid financial mistakes
• Make Money = Sales
• Education = Shave 2 years off your learning curve
• Best Practices = Use what is proven to work
• Positioning = This is the best part! Marketing
• Sales and Distribution = The real work starts here

Before you decide if you need a beverage consultant you need to analyze your beverage project, situation and goals.

A beverage consultant costs money, don’t hire one (or me) if you don’t need one. A beverage consultant is there to save you time and to save you money in the start-up phase and to help you make money in the sales and distribution phase.

When to hire a beverage consultant:
• You need to launch a product quickly
• You have less than 2 year in the industry
• You would LOVE to leverage contacts for sales and distribution
• You want to focus on opening stores and getting accounts
• Yes, you need expert advice, financials, planning and execution

Would you like to work with me in your beverage project?
What are you getting into?

I only take or one of two projects per year or every couple of years. Please note that when we work together I become involved in your project and ask for a vested interest in your company in sales, stock or a combination. I want to work with companies that have ethical and enthusiastic management that are social entrepreneurs.

Still want to work with me as a beverage consultant? Give me a call to discuss your project and why is one of the top 2 beverage ideas of the year. You can also read more here…

Call me to discuss how I can help you as a Beverage Consultant: (619) 852 6942