Individual Beer Learning Plan (IBLP)
Apr 5, 2012 Beer, Education & Training, Something To Think About
An Individual Beer Learning Plan or IBLP can be a superb part of the learning curve for consumers and professionals alike.
Plotting out the what you want to learn (topics), what is available to you to learn (tools), where it’s available (location), how you can go about accomplishing your goals (plan), what kind of investment it’ll take (budget), and who will you tap into (people).
Topics: What do you want to learn. The brewing process? Ingredients? Pairing tips? The herstory behind it all? Industry information? Consumer information? Do you want to get into beer as a profession? Do you want to be able to impress your friends with your knowledge?
Tools: What’s available to you? Are the resources online? Offline? At your local library? Are they hard publications you can pick up at your favorite local? Are they people to talk with and follow? What of classes and seminars? Conferences and tutorials one on one? Where can you volunteer to learn more while participating?
Location: Where can you find and get all the tools you need? Are they close by or father away? How do you get to them – or get them to you?
Plan: What’s the schema for making it happen? How will you plot out the tools you find that appeal to what you want to learn? Is there transportation involved? Are there registrations and ‘paperwork’ to fill out? Is the plan logical with your life and lifestyle?
Budget: What’s realistic for your goals? What’s a stretch goal? How can you commit to your plan within the parameters of your funds? Are there scholarships available? Are you ready to ask for help if it’s part of your plan?
People: The most critical item in your IBLP. Besides the commitment you make to your self, who will you contact? Who will you call, email or otherwise meet to help you into and through the process? How will you make sure to thank and show appreciation to those who help you out?
Learning about beer is as casual or intense as you wish it to be. Making a plan will be a productive and clarifying process to get you going on a topic you love already.
Caveat: It’s a slippery slope – this learning about beer! the more you get in, the deeper you usually want to go. Have fun sliding ~
Tags: budget, IBLP, Individual Beer Learning Plan, location, people, plan, resources, time, tools
31 Facets of Women & Beer: Facet #16
Dec 16, 2011 Beer, Education & Training, Marketing, Women and Beer
Today’s Facet is part of the previous 2 posts, based on the Three Universal Truths of Women and Beer. Facet #16 is the Value part of beer for women.
Value for women = experience = time happily and well spent
Simply:
1. Women value their time. Make their purchasing of your beers easy, simple and fun. There’s huge time-well-spent value in that.
2. Women value their experiences. Women are heard pressed for leisure time, especially if they are the primary household caregivers. Make their experience well worth it and they’ll value it highly. It’s what our memory tells us, drives us to repeat exbeeriences, or share them with others. There’s value in experiences.
3. Women value their dollars. Women are hard workers and still inexcusably are paid less than men, dollar for dollar. Regardless – they want the money they do spend to be worth it. Whether it’s a ‘cheap’ beer at a ballpark (classic example for a reason) or a $$ dinner table bottle with friends. Dollar for dollar, their dollars need to equal money well spent. There’s value in their monetary investment.
31 Facets of Women & Beer Series starts here
Tags: 31 facets of women and beer series, dollars, memories, time, underpaid, value
Saving Time, Money, Resources
Feb 28, 2011 Education & Training, Something To Think About
What is it you want to save in your beer business? Time, Money, Resources or all of the above and how do they relate to women and beer?
TIME
If it’s time you’re looking to save, here are a few things to keep in mind. A lot of women feel time crunched. They remain the predominant care givers, keepers of the home, work, volunteer, and otherwise spread themselves thin. The success then in marketing your beer to women in relation to time is to realize this and then accommodate. Make purchasing easy and quick, efficient and simple. Tips: Make sure labels, graphics, signs and other reading materials are not squinting materials. You can use well designed materials as long as they are also readable and quickly understandable (no industry mumbo jumbo jargon).
MONEY
If it’s money, let us tell you that the vast majority of women, while certainly aware of what things cost and prices, will invest their dollars into what they find value in. So make sure your brand is ‘worth it’ – consistently high quality, accessible and available (easy to find), and satisfying. Yes, budgets factor in. So does flexibility and the mental trading out that we all do in justification if and when they want to and can. I.e. – instead of a 6 pack of something entirely new, a 12 pack case of one they already like may catch their eye if done right. Spending double in some cases to get what they want and know they already like or feel safe buying is the mental gymnastics part.
RESOURCES
If it’s resources, make sure your company is saving these things internally first. Meaning – women like to know that companies are responsible environmentally, fiscally and socially. Saving – or more accurately using resources most efficiently – is a big part of purchasing and will only increase with the way the planet is changing (thanks to all of us). Change with it, making sure you are aware that responsible practices related to resources matters to women. Communicating practices that are resource savvy will resonate with women and they will act on this info.
You can have it all simply by putting forethought and regular action into your plans and daily to do list. They can be short efforts and discussions taking 5 – 10 minutes, and they can be bigger investments to discuss and decide upon.
Just know that women are paying attention to what you save and what you spend. This knowledge affects their purchasing decisions – from buying a beer at the brewery or taproom to deciding at the retailers to what beer they pickup at a gathering. It happens within all three tiers.
Be aware that you know they know. Got it?
Value For Female Beer Consumers
Jul 28, 2010 Education & Training, Something To Think About
All value, all the time.
Wouldn’t that be a dream channel for real life?
All value, all the time
Well, if you’re in the beer business, you can make this a reality and attract millions more consumers. Millions seems to lofty? Consider even dozens or hundreds more consumers would make a difference.
How? By properly courting the female consumer.
Let me tell you about value for the female consumer.
Value for women includes:
- Time value otherwise known as the experience. If they are going to take the time to do something, they want it to be worth while.
- Enjoyment value. They want the involvement to be enjoyable.
- Educational value. Women like to and want to learn. A better educated consumer is a great thing for the beer community too.
- Dollar value. Be it $8 for a six pack of canned beer they want or $22 for a dinner table bottle of special beer they want to share (like yummy Bruery Beers). Whatever the price tag, it’s not the low or high of the actual dollar – it’s how much it’s worth to them.
Value.
One of the top three things women consider in their relationship to beer. Drink that up.
Tags: dollar, Education & Training, enjoyment, time, value
