“A Sherwood Players Production, featuring a full ensemble cast ​including Hollywood Legends Ed Asner and Gigi Perreau​, an original cinematic score, sound effects, and behind-the-scenes interviews with the real Michael Houlihan and Bonnie Harvey (creators of Barefoot Wine) with author Rick Kushman.

This tale of hardship, hustle, and heart showcases the power of unconventional thinking and unwavering belief. Learn valuable business lessons, from worthy cause marketing to innovative leadership, in this captivating rags-to-riches story.

Whether you’re a wine enthusiast or a business-minded individual, The Barefoot Spirit offers encouragement, inspiration, and empowerment for success in the face of adversity!”

Get your free chapter HERE https://thebarefootspirit.com/freechapter/

Who We Are

Michael Houlihan and Bonnie Harvey co-authored the New York Times bestselling business book, The Barefoot Spirit: How Hardship, Hustle, and Heart Built America’s #1 Wine Brand. The book has been selected as recommended reading in the CEO Library for CEO Forum, the C-Suite Book Club, and numerous university classes on business and entrepreneurship. It chronicles their humble beginnings from the laundry room of a rented Sonoma County farmhouse to the board room of E&J Gallo, who ultimately acquired their brand and engaged them as brand consultants. Barefoot is now the world’s largest wine brand.

Beginning with virtually no money and no wine industry experience, they employed innovative ideas to overcome obstacles, create new markets and forge strategic alliances. They pioneered Worthy Cause Marketing and performance-based compensation. They built an internationally bestselling brand and received their industry’s “Hot Brand” award for several consecutive years.

They offer their Guiding Principles for Success (GPS) to help entrepreneurs become successful. Their book, The Entrepreneurial Culture: 23 Ways To Engage and Empower Your People, helps corporations maximize the value of their human resources.

Currently they travel the world leading workshops, trainings, & keynoting at business schools, corporations, conferences. They are regular media guests and contributors to international publications and professional journals. They are C-Suite Network Advisors & Contributing Editors. Visit their popular brand building site at www.consumerbrandbuilders.com.

To make inquiries for keynote speaking, trainings or consulting, please contact sales@thebarefootspirit.com.

The post FREE audiobook chapter of our NYT Best Seller, The Barefoot Spirit! appeared first on The Barefoot Spirit.

• 7 Commonly Held Misconceptions About Sales
• Climate Change Entrepreneurship
• Download PDFs
• Audiobook Free Chapter
• 7 Rules for Couples in Business

7 Commonly Held Misconceptions About Sales

1. “If you make a better mousetrap, they will beat a path to your door.”

• The end user is the “they” – or it could be the distributor, or retailer
• The 7 Sales** (foundational)

2. “My Product is so Good, it will sell itself!”

• Cornell Business master’s student business plan: “My product will be sold at retail.”
• Distribution is generally more important than the product
  • You may have an excellent product, but if it’s not properly distributed then it will never get to the marketplace

3. “Sales just took off!”

• Just tell me the ONE thing? (cute logo, cute catchphrase, award-winning)

4. “Cutting sales costs will increase profits!”

• The 2-Division Company** (you are either in Sales or Sale Support)
• The customer can only give you 2 things: Money and Feedback

5. “In the name of efficiency, why don’t we just do it this way!”

• Middle managers are generally isolated and insulated from the field (marketplace)
• The person who knows “why we should not just do it that way” is the salesperson

6. “The economy doesn’t affect me; I’m in a B2B business.”

• B2B2B2C! (the “C” is the Client, Customer, or Consumer. The end-user.)
• If the “C” stops buying, its only a matter of time before the “B” stops buying

7. “The person I’m talking to is the decision maker”

• They can say no; they can’t say yes
• What they really want may be attention
• Job security may be more important to them than their company’s success

6 Commonly Held Misconceptions About Management

1. “The other guy (whom we are relying on) is going to do their job.”

• Needs an incentive beyond salary
• Exported wine shipped in temperature-controlled containers on the ship sat out in the open on the dock in Hong Kong and cooked.

2. “Just-In-Time Ordering is more efficient”

• The pandemic resulted in chaos and a supply crisis
• “Just in time ordering” allows no cushion for shortages, delays, or surges

3. “I’ve taken care of that; I have a call in…”

• The ball is always in your court/tennis racket – they may drop it!
• Don’t cause anxiety! Provide timely updates

4. “Making mistakes is BAD!”

• Never waste a perfectly good mistake!**

5. “People want to improve.”

• Just don’t ask me to change.
• I’m doing the best I can!
• Are you willing to improve?

6. “No means no.”

• The No Game
  • Ask a different way, a different person, or a different day
• “She’s not Shopping!”
• The only one who can really say no is you, and that’s when you stop asking

CLIMATE CHANGE ENTREPRENEURSHIP
EXTREME WEATHER SURVIVAL PRODUCTS AND SERVICES

Climate change has created 2 increasing demands in the marketplace:

1. Climate change mitigation AKA Green Technology
2. Climate change survival

Entrepreneurs and investors who address these markets will find their goods and services in demand.

Mitigation: We recognize and encourage long-term solutions in Green Tech to mitigate the worst effects of climate change, including but not limited to Carbon sequestering products including technical process and bio sequestration (reforestation), carbon monoxide sequestration including oxidation of carbon monoxide, alternative energy production and distribution, wind, solar, hydro, tidal, hydrogen, etc., packaging solutions (eliminate single use plastics), agricultural solutions

Survival: There is an immediate and fast-growing demand for climate change survival products including, but not limited to:

Heat

• High-temperature clothing including, self-wicking fabrics, air conditioned suits, etc
• Sun and heat protection including, insulation, shade, convection design, environmentally safe air conditioning, temperature controlled automatic venting, etc
• Drought resistant horticulture including, low water food crops, fire-resistant landscaping, etc

Fire

• Home hardening including, ember protection products, window and screen protection, fireproof and fire resistant paints, fireproof and fire resistant siding, etc
• Quickly deployed emergency fire-proof tenting
• Subscription-based private fire protection services
• Inexpensive and efficient water pumps and water cannons including, automatic water spray systems, swimming pool water pumps, etc
• Air filtration systems including removal of smoke and air-borne hazardous materials

Energy

• Alternative energy including, more efficient solar, better storage batteries, more efficient and power saving appliances, electric vehicles and charging stations, wind and tidal generators, etc

Flood

• Flood water mitigation products including, emergency flotation equipment, inflatable escape vessels, water intrusion prevention devices, etc
• Sea level rise mitigation products including, dikes, jacking systems, etc

 Evacuation

• Emergency evacuation equipment and supplies including, grab-and-go survival packs, ready-to-eat meals, batteries and mobile solar recharging stations, tents, water purification, etc

Water

• Inexpensive water collection and storage products including, water collection and storage products, low and no water toilets, gray water collection and reuse systems, etc

Wind

• Wind damage mitigation products including, better foundation and roof anchors, wind protection devices, etc

Software

• Better software and platforms to notify residents of emergencies and to notify government agencies about privately held firefighting and other mitigation assets, including, notification of floods, fires, heat, and wind events, their proximity, direction, and estimated time of arrival along with consolidated information on evacuation zones, power outages, wind directions, weather forecasts, as well as portals to allow uploading of critical information.

Documents

• Easy to use, off-premise, secure document storage for banking, insurance, appraisals, auto, deeds, will, powers of attorney, passwords, photos, medical histories, etc

Download PDFs

• Worthy Cause Marketing
• Make Mistakes Write
• Pyramid vs. Two Division Company
• Two Division Company
• The Money Map
• The Seven Levels of Sales

Audiobook Free Chapter

7 Rules for Couples in Business

DON’T TRY THIS AT HOME!

“There are 5.5 million family owned businesses in the US. They generate 57% of our nation’s GDP. They employ 63% of the workforce, and they create 75% of all new jobs,” according to Sheila Neisler of Catalyst Marketing Company, specializing in helping family owned businesses.

Last week we were the guest speakers for the Family Business Forum in Asheville, North Carolina. The attendees were keen on hearing our secrets to maintaining a healthy relationship as both life and business partners. Here is what we shared with them:

1. Different Skill Sets. Ideally you should have different skill sets so you don’t compete. Then respect the other person’s skill set and know that it is essential to your success. Having the same skill set as your partner can lead to competition and friction.
2. Positive Disagreement. When you know that the other person has your and your company’s best interests at heart, it’s easier to disagree without all the emotional reactions that can lead to arguments. Disagreements can be very beneficial to success. Hearing another side from a person you trust and respect can open your eyes to alternatives and compromises you may have otherwise overlooked.
3. No Micro Management. Give your partner the freedom to perform his/her job unfettered. Trust that they know their stuff and that they feel the same about you. Sometimes you have to bite your tongue and not be a back seat driver. Micro managing can cause hard feelings and reduce the other person’s ability to perform the very job you have entrusted them to do.
4. Unanimous Decisions. If you can’t agree, don’t do it. Avoid those “I told you so” hard feelings down the road. Sometimes it’s wiser to put off a difficult decision until both of you agree. We had a board of directors made up of four people, an even number. Plus it was two women and two men. All decisions were unanimous. If three couldn’t convince one, we didn’t do it!
5. Third Party Experts. Often neither one of you will know the best decision. That’s the time to bring in a third party expert. If you still disagree, bring in another, and another, until you both agree. One of the biggest mistakes family businesses make is too often they think that they have all the skill sets they need in house. Do what you do best and delegate the rest.
6. Separate Offices. It’s important to give your partner their own work space, physically separated from yours. This will make them feel less scrutinized and prevent you both from interrupting each other’s work just because you both are so close and convenient.
7. Off-Limits Times and Spaces. Designate certain places in your home where you both agree business will not be discussed. This is especially appropriate for the bedroom. Separate business from romance. Also it helps to have rules to avoid business discussions during meals, even if it is only during dinner. Make Sundays free of work related topics. Buy some non-refundable tickets at the beginning of the year for a vacation from business, preferably to somewhere romantic!

It’s not easy working as a couple. In fact when we speak about this subject, we start our talk with, “Don’t try this at home!” Very few couples can sustain a romantic and a business relationship at the same time. For most, it’s better to work at different businesses and have a romantic relationship free of business challenges.

However, with that said, running a business together can be very rewarding. But it requires a level of mutual respect, common business goals, and disciplined adherence to some practical rules like these.

Who We Are

Michael Houlihan and Bonnie Harvey co-authored the New York Times bestselling business book, The Barefoot Spirit: How Hardship, Hustle, and Heart Built America’s #1 Wine Brand. The book has been selected as recommended reading in the CEO Library for CEO Forum, the C-Suite Book Club, and numerous university classes on business and entrepreneurship. It chronicles their humble beginnings from the laundry room of a rented Sonoma County farmhouse to the board room of E&J Gallo, who ultimately acquired their brand and engaged them as brand consultants. Barefoot is now the world’s largest wine brand.

Beginning with virtually no money and no wine industry experience, they employed innovative ideas to overcome obstacles, create new markets and forge strategic alliances. They pioneered Worthy Cause Marketing and performance-based compensation. They built an internationally bestselling brand and received their industry’s “Hot Brand” award for several consecutive years.

They offer their Guiding Principles for Success (GPS) to help entrepreneurs become successful. Their book, The Entrepreneurial Culture: 23 Ways To Engage and Empower Your People, helps corporations maximize the value of their human resources.

Currently they travel the world leading workshops, trainings, & keynoting at business schools, corporations, conferences. They are regular media guests and contributors to international publications and professional journals. They are C-Suite Network Advisors & Contributing Editors. Visit their popular brand building site at www.consumerbrandbuilders.com.

To make inquiries for keynote speaking, trainings or consulting, please contact sales@thebarefootspirit.com.

The post Nanyang appeared first on The Barefoot Spirit.

Who those friends are, and how to find and engage them, are the lessons dramatized in Chapter Six of the business audio theatre, The Barefoot Spirit, aptly entitled, “Mama Mabel, Surfers, and Monks.” How unlikely a combo is that? But wait! There’s more, a lot more!

Japanese Party

The scene opens with a string of identically dressed Japanese businessmen, complete with blue suits and grey ties filing into a tiny makeshift office in the attic of an old winery building on a rainy Saturday morning. They are led by a cowboy in muddy boots. What transpires in that tiny, leaking conference room is nothing short of miraculous for the fledgling Barefoot Wine company. It’s the true story of how the clash of the cultures is bridged by an international and timeless ploy, humor!

Fighting the headwinds of national competition and dysfunctional distribution in the USA, Barefoot is saved by unforeseen alliance with a Japanese supplier buying party supplies by the international-container load. Each load had everything you needed to party. They had chips, dips, hats, paper plates, and napkins, but needed a fun party wine beverage to go with it! Barefoot foot the bill! That business was in cash and lasted for many loads. Go figure.

Great Dane

Barefoot learned something important from the experience. Did we say it was in cash? Yes, most international sales are in cash. The perfect solution for a cash strapped company investing in growth at home. Thus started something they never saw coming: international trade.

It wasn’t long before their Danish CFO decided to try to get the largest supermarket in Denmark to take Barefoot. They did and boom! Multiple containers were sent to Denmark, of all places. The good news was that the business was in cash. The bad news was that it was overseas and virtually impossible to manage. Both international businesses faltered by events that could have been easily managed if the sales were inside the US. But it was a great patch on a bald tire of a budget. It got them through.

Oddballs Unite!

Meanwhile, back in the US, a fledgling retail company was starting out. Most of the industry did not take them seriously. They were sure it was a fad and would be a flash in the pan. Like Barefoot, they used humor and fun. Like Barefoot, they used color and a lively culture to attract shoppers bored with the standard corporate approach to retail. It was serendipity for the two oddballs to meet and do business, support each other, and help each other grow across the country. The unlikely “partners”? Barefoot Wines and Trader Joes!

Surf’s Up!

When Michael was going to school in Santa Barbara, surfing was all but mandatory. So it wasn’t surprising that when an LA salesperson suggested he check out the Surfrider Foundation, Michael searched them out. He went looking for some kind of a big corporate office in the charming Southern California beach town of San Clemente. It wasn’t corporate and it wasn’t big. It was a butcher-papered windowed storefront in a strip mall. But, like Barefoot Wine, it was destined to become global.

The story of how this alliance began and how it blossomed is a lesson for any business looking to get the word out while saving the planet. It is a lesson on how you can use your passion to follow your opportunity! Don’t miss this long-lasting and tactical alliance between two “misfits” that changed the world!

Lake Tahoe to Mono Lake

What Barefoot called “worthy cause marketing” predated cause marketing and was somewhat different. Instead of announcing to the world your good deeds, you just did them quietly in the hopes that the already established network of nonprofit members would have a social reason to buy your products.

They did! And in Barefoot’s case, they became advocates for the brand. In fact, Barefoot was so successful supporting worthy causes like Keep Tahoe Blue and Save Mono Lake that they never depended on commercial advertising! Listen to how it all started and think about how you could apply these principles to get the word out in your own business.

Lafite vs, la Foot

Barefoot was trying all kinds of ways to get the word out. One ploy became the cute story for Thanksgiving in 1995. For years, Barefoot was laughingly referred to by the industry as “the Chateau la Feet” of California Wine. So, it wasn’t long before Barefoot had big foot printed tee shirts that celebrated that nomenclature. “Now,” they thought, “wouldn’t it be great if we just got the attention of the real Chateau Lafite Rothschild in France? That would really get the word out there,” they hoped.

Five years later they got their wish. A telephone call from a top New York attorney confirmed, “The Baron took umbrage!” and thus started a ground swell of support for the underdog, Barefoot Wine. And thus started an international story, carried by the Associated Press, Reuters, and others around the world. Enjoy the sarcasm and comedy as Barefoot agrees with the Baron, “Our wine is $6, his is $126. If there was confusion, we’d be ruined!”

Life Force

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Bonnie’s mother Mabel was doing all she could to support Michael and Bonnie in their new business. That included folding those tee shirts mentioned previously and packaging the marketing materials for the distributers across the country.

She needed help! She got it from an unlikely source: the local Thai Buddhist temple! The monks liked being around Mabel’s “life force” and would gladly help just to be near her. Find out how all this came about as you listen to the amazing surprises in this chapter.

But as you listen to these well-performed scenes, you can’t help but take away the message that solutions are all around you. If you believe there is a solution, take regular inventory, and keep your mind and eyes open for answers, you can use what you have to get what you need – especially if you keep your sense of humor and look for fellow travelers, no matter how unlikely they may seem!

Please be our guest to a free chapter and see if The Barefoot Spirit audiobook isn’t the perfect companion for your next road trip!

Who We Are

Michael Houlihan and Bonnie Harvey co-authored the New York Times bestselling business book, The Barefoot Spirit: How Hardship, Hustle, and Heart Built America’s #1 Wine Brand. The book has been selected as recommended reading in the CEO Library for CEO Forum, the C-Suite Book Club, and numerous university classes on business and entrepreneurship. It chronicles their humble beginnings from the laundry room of a rented Sonoma County farmhouse to the board room of E&J Gallo, who ultimately acquired their brand and engaged them as brand consultants. Barefoot is now the world’s largest wine brand.

Beginning with virtually no money and no wine industry experience, they employed innovative ideas to overcome obstacles, create new markets and forge strategic alliances. They pioneered Worthy Cause Marketing and performance-based compensation. They built an internationally bestselling brand and received their industry’s “Hot Brand” award for several consecutive years.

They offer their Guiding Principles for Success (GPS) to help entrepreneurs become successful. Their book, The Entrepreneurial Culture: 23 Ways To Engage and Empower Your People, helps corporations maximize the value of their human resources.

Currently they travel the world leading workshops, trainings, & keynoting at business schools, corporations, conferences. They are regular media guests and contributors to international publications and professional journals. They are C-Suite Network Advisors & Contributing Editors. Visit their popular brand building site at www.consumerbrandbuilders.com.

To make inquiries for keynote speaking, trainings or consulting, please contact sales@thebarefootspirit.com.

The post Strategic Allies Come in all Ages, Creeds, Styles and Languages appeared first on The Barefoot Spirit.

Your Brick for the Day

We love the expression, “Have you had your brick for the day?” so much that we made it the title of the 4^th chapter in The Barefoot Spirit audio theatre. It seemed to imply that you are somehow expected to have some starling information hit you like a brick falling from the sky, as if it was a common occurrence, so you shouldn’t feel alone. We also liked the way that it imbued a type of dry British humor to an obviously adverse situation. Sometimes sarcastic humor can help you through the worst of surprising challenges.

Starting any new business is asking for surprising new challenges daily. So, “Have you had your brick for the day?” seems like an almost comforting approach to communicating something shocking you just found out about to your partner. It’s like saying, “I just found out that we’ve been breaking the law”, or, “Can you believe what we have to do now?”, or even, “Uh-Oh! That really did not work well at all…”

Part of the Barefoot Spirit, which is one of the threads of truth that weaves its way through the various scenes in the theatrical version of our audiobook, is to maintain your sense of humor at all costs! Throughout the story, it becomes obvious that the proponents encouraged this oddly lighthearted approach to adversity. They expect to ultimately succeed, so whatever form the brick comes in, it’s temporary!

The “No Game”

At one point, Bonnie’s mother, Mabel, who left her farm in Oregon to come and help the young couple get their business started, is confronted with a conundrum. In a scene similar to what we’ve all been in at one time or another, she tries to order something that’s not on the menu. In order to get it, she has to get creative about how she asks for it. But sure enough, she gets what she wants! Please enjoy the “No Game”  from the audio theatre performance!

Learn While Doing

In Chapter 4, the proponents are constantly challenged and surprised by adversity. They must keep their sense of humor while they look for ways to negotiate the daily pop-up roadblocks and rough road ahead. In fact, like most startups, they must learn while doing. Ouch!

For one thing, they wondered why nobody had ever produced a good $5 bottle of wine before. Like bricks falling out of the sky, they found out! The cost of glass, bottles, labels, capsules, corks, bottling services, cartons, shipping, taxes, and warehousing were all pretty much the same, whether your bottle of wine sells for $5 or $95. The cost of the wine varied, but everything else remained primarily the same. So, they had to solve the problem to achieve the price the market was looking for.

In order to stay in business at that price, they had to sell a lot of product, which meant they had to bottle a lot of wine. And that meant that they had to oversee massive bottlings on big machines with thousands of moving parts and tons of stuff that could go wrong. This production oversight responsibility fell on Bonnie to start with. It wasn’t what she signed up for but after a while she actually became very good at it. With every bottling came a new brick for the day. The wrong glass was delivered, or the wrong labels. The bottling line would scratch the labels or the glue was inconsistently applied, resulting in “dog ears” on every bottle. With each bottling, it was something new and different that had to fixed on the spot!

Keep on Smilin’

But Bonnie didn’t lose her sense of humor and on one such occasion, she even entertained the bottling line workers by playing a practical joke on the bottling line manager. In one scene, she asks him to do something that was virtually impossible. The supervisor took her seriously and blew his cool with a progressive and loud diatribe about why it was impossible, much to the delight of the workers who knew the manager was somewhat of a jokester himself.

The Cost of Sales

Michael was also getting his bricks. While he was out in the field trying to sell the wine that Bonnie was bottling, he learned pretty quickly that he had to do the other guy’s job without upsetting him, then thank him for his work, and recommend him to his boss. In the process, he learned the hard lesson that too many startups never learn: He learned the cost of sales, not the cost of goods, mind you, but the cost of sales! In other words, the cost of keeping your product in front of your customer and the cost of servicing everyone in between you and your customer.

Most companies that make it through the startup phase go on to the build-up phase. In the build-up phase you get one or two big customers that are paying your bills and keeping the lights on. But soon enough, you realize they have you over the barrel. They know that you are totally dependent upon them and so they begin to demand lower prices and increased service. Another brick! YIKES!

Better to Not be There

When it comes to selling a consumer packaged goods (CPG) product at retail, one of the things that they learned was this: It is better to not be in the store at all (leaving open a chance of being there someday), than it was to be there and fail, thereby never having the chance of being there again!

The big chains wouldn’t take Barefoot Wine because it was unknown. So, they had to sell to every independent and every small, corner store until it was a household word. But even these mama-papa stores wanted to know if Barefoot had done any advertising. The label was radical, and neither they nor their customers had never seen it before. They were afraid to buy it, fearing it would just take up precious space on their limited retail shelf. They all threatened to discontinue it if it didn’t sell quickly!

Worthy Cause Marketing

How were they going to get the word out to make their product move in the retail stores? They couldn’t afford commercial advertising and they wondered how effective that shotgun blast approach would be anyway. Then that they got a call from far left field. A neighborhood group was looking for donations to build a park for kids after school. Michael and Bonnie had no money, but they had plenty of wine because they couldn’t sell it! So, they gave wine to the neighborhood group and told them, “Maybe you can auction it off and raise a few bucks to buy some slides and swings, or maybe you can pour it during your fundraiser, and it might loosen up some folks to write bigger checks.”

They never heard from the neighborhood group again. But Interestingly, sales took off in the stores surrounding the fundraising event. They wondered if they had discovered a new way to get the word out, so they tried it in another neighborhood and it worked! And another, it worked again! In fact, it worked so well that they used what they called, “Worthy Cause Marketing,” to grow the brand across the nation and never used commercial advertising.

The Price of Success

Finally, they had made Barefoot Wine a household word In California – in spite of the fact that the big chain stores and box stores wouldn’t touch it. They went back to the first chain store that they had presented Barefoot to, the one that refused to take it because they didn’t have a million dollars for advertising. Seeing how popular Barefoot Wine had become, the buyer eventually agreed to take it. But – wait for it – another brick! They would need a full-time National Chain Sales Manager. The buyer would only deal with a professional from the industry, not just anybody from some maverick startup.

Oldies but Goodies

The buyer suggested an old pro whom he had worked with in the past. It was such a blessing! He was delighted to work for the young startup, and he felt honored that they respected his experience and came to him, hat in hand, for advice. He worked with them for several years, and the rest is history. Barefoot became one of the fastest growing wine brands in the nation!

Please join us for an exciting business adventure story where actors play the parts and reenact the true story of the birth and growth of Barefoot Wines complete with sound effects and an original musical score. You will get a few laughs, thrills and chills. You can apply the takeaways in each scene to your own business! Check it out at www.barefootaudiobook.com. To your success!

Who We Are

Michael Houlihan and Bonnie Harvey co-authored the New York Times bestselling business book, The Barefoot Spirit: How Hardship, Hustle, and Heart Built America’s #1 Wine Brand. The book has been selected as recommended reading in the CEO Library for CEO Forum, the C-Suite Book Club, and numerous university classes on business and entrepreneurship. It chronicles their humble beginnings from the laundry room of a rented Sonoma County farmhouse to the board room of E&J Gallo, who ultimately acquired their brand and engaged them as brand consultants. Barefoot is now the world’s largest wine brand.

Beginning with virtually no money and no wine industry experience, they employed innovative ideas to overcome obstacles, create new markets and forge strategic alliances. They pioneered Worthy Cause Marketing and performance-based compensation. They built an internationally bestselling brand and received their industry’s “Hot Brand” award for several consecutive years.

They offer their Guiding Principles for Success (GPS) to help entrepreneurs become successful. Their book, The Entrepreneurial Culture: 23 Ways To Engage and Empower Your People, helps corporations maximize the value of their human resources.

Currently they travel the world leading workshops, trainings, & keynoting at business schools, corporations, conferences. They are regular media guests and contributors to international publications and professional journals. They are C-Suite Network Advisors & Contributing Editors. Visit their popular brand building site at www.consumerbrandbuilders.com.

To make inquiries for keynote speaking, trainings or consulting, please contact sales@thebarefootspirit.com.

The post Sometimes You Are Hit with Completely Unexpected Obstacles appeared first on The Barefoot Spirit.

Eight former Brazilian environmental ministers wrote in a joint letter in May, “We’re facing the risk of runaway deforestation in the Amazon,” arguing that Brazil needed to strengthen its environmental protection measures, not weaken them.  But Bolsonaro himself has violated environmental laws in the Amazon and has been fined. Since he has been elected, enforcement has been significantly diminished sending a land rush signal to short-sighted developers.

According to the Global Change Biology, 2014 report, 30% of our carbon emissions come from burning the rainforests. Climate scientists Karen Vandecar and Deborah Lawrence report that as deforestation increases, global warming is exacerbated, global temperatures increase, and precipitation patterns are altered worldwide (including in the United States).

Destroying Brazil’s Conservations Efforts

In the 1960s and 1970s, the Amazon Rainforest was in the news. It was threatened with logging for short-term agricultural benefits. Several international groups came forward and mounted a global educational campaign to try to stop the deforestation. They were somewhat successful. Brazil was hailed internationally for its conservation efforts at the time.

But just in the past six months since the populist president Bolsonaro, took office, more than 1,330 square miles of the Brazilian Amazon Rainforest have been destroyed. This is almost 40% more than what was destroyed last year. Most of the deforestation takes place in June when it’s drier and cooler. 80% more forest cover was removed this June over last June.  Why? Because enforcement required to protect this fragile area has dramatically decreased.

So the question is: Can one country take action that has a dramatic negative effect on the life and wellbeing of all the other countries on the planet? Can one country destroy life-supporting international assets simply because they are on their soil? And can they do this at such a critical time in our existence when we are already in a full-blown climate crisis? Can they push the planet over the edge to the point of no return? Evidently, they can!

An analogous question might be: How did we, the inhabitants of the earth, forget the importance of the Amazon to our existence? Was it generational change? Was there so much “noise” that we forgot priority? Did we forget history? Or did we get caught up in the reality show of the latest news cycle? Why was is so easy to convince the citizens of Brazil, the long-time protectors of the “lungs of the world” that they could now destroy this life-giving asset without consequence?

Mixing Business & Conservation Causes

We have long been conservationists. When we began our Barefoot Wine business, we were following an opportunity rather than our passion. But we found a way to incorporate our passion into our business with Worthy Cause Marketing. By using our advertising money to support conservation causes, we like to think we made a small difference in the general public’s awareness of the fragile balance between our environment and our health. Our passion is still in conservation and now is a much more critical time. Today we are writing about companies that are making a buck by making a difference. See our monthly articles in Entrepreneur.com.

But what’s driving the destruction of the rain forest? Companies that are doing just the opposite by indirectly supporting and financing the destruction of the Amazon to offer processed and fast food convenience items for the US and Europe.

Nation vs the World

The US, once the moral compass of the world, has not only abdicated that role several years ago, but it has encouraged the opposite message: “It’s OK to be selfish, and it’s a race to the bottom for the world’s resources no matter the consequences.”  Our own administration has negated and dismantled EPA information and protections. Our own administration has an “America First” attitude that is playing out to be counter-productive. And our own administration has left The Paris Accord. So the message is “Every nation for itself!” We are giving the world permission to destroy the environment upon which we all depend. We all need carbon sequestration; we all need oxygen! But who are we to tell the Brazilians what to do?

Read more in the New York Times and do something about it by joining the Amazon Aid Foundation.

Who We Are

Michael Houlihan and Bonnie Harvey co-authored the New York Times bestselling business book, The Barefoot Spirit: How Hardship, Hustle, and Heart Built America’s #1 Wine Brand. The book has been selected as recommended reading in the CEO Library for CEO Forum, the C-Suite Book Club, and numerous university classes on business and entrepreneurship. It chronicles their humble beginnings from the laundry room of a rented Sonoma County farmhouse to the board room of E&J Gallo, who ultimately acquired their brand and engaged them as brand consultants. Barefoot is now the world’s largest wine brand.

Beginning with virtually no money and no wine industry experience, they employed innovative ideas to overcome obstacles, create new markets and forge strategic alliances. They pioneered Worthy Cause Marketing and performance-based compensation. They built an internationally bestselling brand and received their industry’s “Hot Brand” award for several consecutive years.

They offer their Guiding Principles for Success (GPS) to help entrepreneurs become successful. Their book, The Entrepreneurial Culture: 23 Ways To Engage and Empower Your People, helps corporations maximize the value of their human resources.

Currently they travel the world leading workshops, trainings, & keynoting at business schools, corporations, conferences. They are regular media guests and contributors to international publications and professional journals. They are C-Suite Network Advisors & Contributing Editors. Visit their popular brand building site at www.consumerbrandbuilders.com.

To make inquiries for keynote speaking, trainings or consulting, please contact sales@thebarefootspirit.com.

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We have enjoyed complimentary VIP tickets every year, thanks to our dear friend and former Barefoot Wine National Sales Manager, Randy Arnold. Barefoot has been a proud sponsor for many years. When we had Barefoot, we supported hundreds of charitable events across the country through our Worthy Cause Marketing Program. But we were usually unable to attend these events. Randy knew this and has been inviting us to (finally!) enjoy them now that we no longer have the brand.

Sailing and Business

Anyway, this year, Bonnie bought some extra tickets for friends for the opening day, but the performance was rained out! They gave us a rain check. However, our initial invitees couldn’t make the new date. So, back to the pop-up opportunity to invite some other friends – but now at the last minute. We immediately thought of one of our favorite Southern California couples, Ryan Foland and Cynthia McKee. Ryan is a well-known communication expert and Cynthia is a dedicated chemist. They both love sailing.

So, it was no surprise when we called them and they were on their sailboat off the coast of Marina Del Rey having just completed a race. Ryan, who likes to think of himself as a pirate, was out there on the bow of his sailboat when he took the call. He was still pretty excited about the race. They were among the top contenders.

When we asked, “So, how did you do?” Ryan said, “You know, winning a race is like winning in business – it’s all about being excellent on the details!” We had to laugh because Ryan looks at everything as a lesson. The point is, during the race, the top contenders were neck-and-neck and what really distinguished the winners was disciplined attendance to the basics. No superpowers here. No breakthrough technology, no black box, just the basics. Being excellent on the basics makes you better prepared for the rough waters ahead.

Excellence in the Basics

Startup founders so often fall in love with their solution. They know it has something none of the competition has, and as a result, they can put too much faith in their “black box” to pull them through to the winners’ circle. But what really makes the difference is being excellent about the basics. This is the ordinary stuff that is often overlooked: cashflow management, personnel management, and sales and distribution management. In a tight race, these details can make or break you. And they are all tight races with unpredictable challenges!

Listening to Ryan made us realize why we like the Mt. Tam Players so much. Their material is not original, they don’t have any real superstars, but what they have is excellence on the basics. The music is incredible, the acting and singing are exciting and well-polished. The volunteers who handle the mundane stuff like parking, ushering, and cleaning up are all top flight. The entire production is orchestrated to give you a seamless, professional experience. Again, it’s the “little” stuff that makes them great.

Like Ryan says, “It’s all about being excellent on the details!”

Oh, and about that pop-up opportunity to fly up and join us for the Mt Play? They are working out the details!

Who We Are

Michael Houlihan and Bonnie Harvey co-authored the New York Times bestselling business book, The Barefoot Spirit: How Hardship, Hustle, and Heart Built America’s #1 Wine Brand. The book has been selected as recommended reading in the CEO Library for CEO Forum, the C-Suite Book Club, and numerous university classes on business and entrepreneurship. It chronicles their humble beginnings from the laundry room of a rented Sonoma County farmhouse to the board room of E&J Gallo, who ultimately acquired their brand and engaged them as brand consultants. Barefoot is now the world’s largest wine brand.

Beginning with virtually no money and no wine industry experience, they employed innovative ideas to overcome obstacles, create new markets and forge strategic alliances. They pioneered Worthy Cause Marketing and performance-based compensation. They built an internationally bestselling brand and received their industry’s “Hot Brand” award for several consecutive years.

They offer their Guiding Principles for Success (GPS) to help entrepreneurs become successful. Their book, The Entrepreneurial Culture: 23 Ways To Engage and Empower Your People, helps corporations maximize the value of their human resources.

Currently they travel the world leading workshops, trainings, & keynoting at business schools, corporations, conferences. They are regular media guests and contributors to international publications and professional journals. They are C-Suite Network Advisors & Contributing Editors. Visit their popular brand building site at www.consumerbrandbuilders.com.

To make inquiries for keynote speaking, trainings or consulting, please contact sales@thebarefootspirit.com.

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Almost everyone in the audience is looking for ways to save money in their new or developing business. They’re all looking for the most bang for their buck in every area of spending. Marketing your products and services are probably the biggest challenges new business face. It doesn’t matter how good your products and services are if your customer doesn’t know about them.

No Advertising Budget, No Entry

When we started Barefoot Wine, we were completely undercapitalized. Our first big chain buyer asked us if we were going to spend $200,000 in an advertising campaign to build our brand before he would take it in to his stores. We were so strapped, we didn’t even have one of those $200,000. He then basically turned us down and for good reason, our brand was unheard of, and he would be taking a big risk giving expensive shelf space to an unknown and unproven brand.

He told us that without a well-funded advertising campaign he wouldn’t touch it …and no other chain or box store would either, for that matter. The big chain buyer said, without advertising, we would have to focus on selling the independently owned stores one at a time. We told him, “That will take years!” He said, “You’re right! You better get started!” He did say that once we became a household word, he would put us in to his 200+ store chain. Well, it took 2 years, and yes, he did put us in. His was the first large chain store in the country to take us.

Becoming a Household Name Without Advertising

But we didn’t become a “household word” through commercial advertising. And we didn’t become a “household word” throughout the country at first. We became a household word only in California and we did it through support for the community from which our customers came. You see, the independents were no different than the chains. They didn’t want to take a chance on an unknown brand that wasn’t being commercially advertised. In fact, they threaten to discontinue Barefoot if it didn’t sell within 90 days. And we only had a handful of accounts that would even take that chance, to begin with.

It was during that first in 90 days that we got a call from a nonprofit community organization asking us to support their kids-after-school park. Once again, we had no money. But we did have wine! We donated wine to their fundraiser. The next month we noticed a big uptick in sales in the stores in that particular community. Without knowing it at the time, we had given the members of that organization a social reason to buy our product. They also felt obligated to tell their friends colleagues and families to go out and buy it as well.

We thought, “Wow! Maybe we’ve discovered something here! Maybe this is an alternative to expensive commercial advertising. Maybe it’s more effective simply because it’s more locally targeted. Members of the organization lived in the neighborhoods surrounding the stores where our products were for sale. Then we thought, let’s try this in another market, only this time we asked for a few concessions that the nonprofit could readily provide. They mentioned us in their newsletter, they thanked is from the podium, they let us put up banners, they let us put out lists of where to buy our products at their fundraiser, they let us write posts in their newsletter, they used our logo and let us use theirs.

These were not big national organizations looking for paid sponsorship. These were just little community organizations, but they were made up of potential customers. Why shouldn’t we support our potential customers?

Worthy Cause Marketing

As Ivan Meisner says, “When it comes to networking, take off the bib and put on the apron!” This approach to getting the word out, which we called Worthy Cause Marketing, was so effective that as we expanded Barefoot into other states, regions, and even countries, we got the word out by supporting local communities and their worthy causes.

Already we can hear the objection, “Well it was easy for you. You are selling wine, but how does that work for me with my product and services?” At a local Chamber of Commerce meeting, we met a gentleman who was practicing Worthy Cause Marketing to get the word out about his services. What was he selling? Gun safety! He found that he could support parent-teacher associations, as well as police and sheriffs associations by offering free classes as a silent auction item during their fundraising dinners. Association members saw his support for their cause. Some members bought and used the silent auction classes. They came back and recommended his classes to all the other members.

Targeting the Networked Market

One of the great advantages of working with community organizations is that they are already networked! They are already communicating. And they are local to where your goods and services are for sale. Offering them free goods and services to support their causes as well as helping them get the word out about their goals and fundraisers will endear you and your products to their members. You become part of their organization and a supporter of the causes they hold dear. Of course, they want to support you in the marketplace.

You will not only show the world that you stand for more than the mercantile value of your goods and services, but that you support the causes that are important to your customers. It’s not only a great contribution for your company to make to your community, but in the long run, it’s the cheapest form of advertising!

Who We Are

Michael Houlihan and Bonnie Harvey co-authored the New York Times bestselling business book, The Barefoot Spirit: How Hardship, Hustle, and Heart Built America’s #1 Wine Brand. The book has been selected as recommended reading in the CEO Library for CEO Forum, the C-Suite Book Club, and numerous university classes on business and entrepreneurship. It chronicles their humble beginnings from the laundry room of a rented Sonoma County farmhouse to the board room of E&J Gallo, who ultimately acquired their brand and engaged them as brand consultants. Barefoot is now the world’s largest wine brand.

Beginning with virtually no money and no wine industry experience, they employed innovative ideas to overcome obstacles, create new markets and forge strategic alliances. They pioneered Worthy Cause Marketing and performance-based compensation. They built an internationally bestselling brand and received their industry’s “Hot Brand” award for several consecutive years.

They offer their Guiding Principles for Success (GPS) to help entrepreneurs become successful. Their book, The Entrepreneurial Culture: 23 Ways To Engage and Empower Your People, helps corporations maximize the value of their human resources.

Currently they travel the world leading workshops, trainings, & keynoting at business schools, corporations, conferences. They are regular media guests and contributors to international publications and professional journals. They are C-Suite Network Advisors & Contributing Editors. Visit their popular brand building site at www.consumerbrandbuilders.com.

To make inquiries for keynote speaking, trainings or consulting, please contact sales@thebarefootspirit.com.

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The conference was held in Anchorage, Alaska’s largest city, but still under 300,000. The state is much bigger in area than Texas but lacks the infrastructure we take for granted in the lower 48. As you can imagine, the winters are harsh, and the people are stalwart.

While most of the rest of the country enjoys a booming economy, Alaska suffers from a recession, brought on by the collapse of oil prices in an oil-producing state. Needless to say, they have to find a new path economically and so they are turning to entrepreneurship.

What could we possibly bring to the table that would help them in their challenge? What could we bring that would have a universal and positive impact on those folks who now face raising themselves up by their own bootstraps? We looked at our own bootstrap experience and discovered three practical lessons we could share:

1. Follow Your Opportunity …Passionately!

You often hear, “Follow your passion!” It seems to make sense on its face, since we all need that drive and tenacity that comes naturally when we follow our passion. But you can follow your passion right into the poor house if you are not fortunate enough to have a passion that is in great economic demand.

We followed our opportunity, passionately. The chances are greater that opportunities, not necessarily in your passion, will present themselves more often. We found we didn’t have to give up on our passions to seize the opportunity we were presented with. As a matter of fact, we found many creative ways to use and incorporate our passions into our mercantile business, not the least of which was Worthy Cause Marketing.

We saved a bundle on commercial advertising by supporting worthy causes we were passionate about. We wanted to give the members of those causes a social reason to discover, buy, and advocate our products. This can work in Alaska!

2. Use your Hidden Assets and Resources.

The VC’s have brainwashed most startups and small businesses into believing that the only way to success is to secure a big investment, go through a burn rate, scale fast, and fail fast. If you are playing a numbers game, then you only need one unicorn in 10 if you expect a 10X return. Forbes, the SBA, and others all agree that still, today, 9 out of 10 new businesses fail. ‘Sounds like they are indeed failing fast.

But what if you don’t get a big investor and don’t have the luxury of a big burn rate? If you are like most of us, you don’t! So now we are talking cash flow management. And the secret to cash flow management is reducing your need for cash and growing slowly, but surely!

One hidden asset we had was our top supplier. Outside of product (wine), our biggest need was packaging materials (glass, corks, closures, labels and cartons). Because we were a low priced product with high volume, we would use more of these materials than any of our supply company’s other customers. We certainly let them know this, but we didn’t stop there.

We met with them quarterly to share our growth plans and negotiated a long-term contract. We let them know ahead of time when we couldn’t make our payments. And we gave them a catch-up plan that would bring out account current. Over time, we were able to gain extended credit and terms that saved us from borrowing the money or worse, trading equity for it.

Treating your suppliers as partners to save money can work in Alaska!

3. Put Your Self in the Other Guy’s Shoes.

You hear this all the time. It basically the golden rule. But just how does that translate into practice in the business world? And why does it remove obstacles and speed the processes you rely upon?

We found 7 distinct people we had to sell in order to get our product to market. They each wanted something different. Surprisingly, most of them were interested in something else entirely beside “The best wine and the best price” (our slogan).

For instance, our own people wanted income, acknowledgment, time off, and a company that stood for more that its product. The ownership of our distributors wanted a strategic advantage with a powerful retailer who wanted our product. The distributer’s sales managers wanted to make their numbers. The salespeople wanted to make their commissions. The retailers wanted a proven product with excellent customer service. The store clerks wanted to feel important, so they would recommend and reorder our products. Only the consumer really cared about the wine or the price!

But discovering and delivering what each person in the chain wanted (and not what we thought they wanted) was the key to our success. This can work in Alaska, or, for that matter, anywhere.

We admire the spirit of Alaska, and hope these lessons help vitalize their recovery!

Who We Are

Michael Houlihan and Bonnie Harvey co-authored the New York Times bestselling business book, The Barefoot Spirit: How Hardship, Hustle, and Heart Built America’s #1 Wine Brand. The book has been selected as recommended reading in the CEO Library for CEO Forum, the C-Suite Book Club, and numerous university classes on business and entrepreneurship. It chronicles their humble beginnings from the laundry room of a rented Sonoma County farmhouse to the board room of E&J Gallo, who ultimately acquired their brand and engaged them as brand consultants. Barefoot is now the world’s largest wine brand.

Beginning with virtually no money and no wine industry experience, they employed innovative ideas to overcome obstacles, create new markets and forge strategic alliances. They pioneered Worthy Cause Marketing and performance-based compensation. They built an internationally bestselling brand and received their industry’s “Hot Brand” award for several consecutive years.

They offer their Guiding Principles for Success (GPS) to help entrepreneurs become successful. Their book, The Entrepreneurial Culture: 23 Ways To Engage and Empower Your People, helps corporations maximize the value of their human resources.

Currently they travel the world leading workshops, trainings, & keynoting at business schools, corporations, conferences. They are regular media guests and contributors to international publications and professional journals. They are C-Suite Network Advisors & Contributing Editors. Visit their popular brand building site at www.consumerbrandbuilders.com.

To make inquiries for keynote speaking, trainings or consulting, please contact sales@thebarefootspirit.com.

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When their nationwide bestselling brand became a top global brand, they wanted to share their business adventure story to help other entrepreneurs. Their book, The Barefoot Spirit: How Hardship, Hustle, and Heart Built America’s #1 Wine Brand , became a New York Times Bestselling Business Paperback; and is recommended by CEO Library in CEO Forum and now used in more than 50 schools of entrepreneurship worldwide. Their book chronicles their humble beginnings, resourcefulness, and out-of-the-box thinking caused by restricted financing and no knowledge of their industry. It describes their pioneering development of worthy cause marketing and performance-based compensation. The book will be available in a new audio theater style format in Fall 2018. They built an internationally bestselling brand and received their industry’s “Trend Setter”, “Fast Track Growth Brand”, & “Hot Brand” awards for several consecutive years.

Since selling the brand to E&J Gallo, they share their expertise with Fortune 500s and start-ups alike to help others avoid the costly mistakes they made early on, and to spend less and monetize faster. One of their clients made the Inc. 500 list of fastest growing companies and the Inc. 5000 list the third year in a row.

To make their expertise more accessible to students, startups, and growth-phase businesses, they share their secrets in an exclusive, online video series called The Barefoot Startup’s GPS (Guiding Principles for Success) program features game-changing strategies in brand building and equity; cash flow, personnel and distribution management; exceptional customer service and an ingenious strategy of building a global brand without expensive commercial advertising.  Many bonuses are included to shave years off the learning curve for entrepreneurs.

They were honored to be the recipients of the Distinguished Entrepreneur Speaker Award from the Turner School of Entrepreneurship and Innovation at Bradley University and Voted #1 Speakers at National C-Suite Conference. Michael Houlihan is also grateful to California State University, Long Beach for recently awarding him the Distinguished Alumni Award.

Michael and Bonnie have been privileged to keynote at prestigious venues that include SOCAP Symposium (Society of Consumer Affairs Professionals in Business), National C-Suite Conference, the Customer Experience Conference hosted by The Conference Board, World Conference on Entrepreneurship (ICSB) in Dublin, Ireland and AuTT (Australia Trade Tasting). They also feel it’s important to help startups and the next generation of entrepreneurs at Speaker Series including University of Texas at Arlington, Florida Atlantic University, University of Tampa, Bradley University, and the Mobile Area Chamber of Commerce. Bonnie was excited to be invited as the keynote speaker at the ICSB TESS Women’s Entrepreneurship Forum.

Michael & Bonnie are honored to share their innovative approach to business as dynamic consultants, authors, speakers, and corporate trainers. They are sought-after workplace culture experts in both print and broadcast media with hundreds of interviews and articles in professional and national publications including Entrepreneur, The Business Journals, The C-Suite Network. etc.. Their business model and culture was chosen as the closing case study in CEO Tools 2.0. They also co-author weekly, no-nonsense, business blogs at www.thebarefootspirit.com  & www.consumerbrandbuilders.com

Their new book, The Entrepreneurial Culture: 23 Ways to Engage and Empower Your People, is a companion to The Barefoot Spirit written specifically to help the C-Suite. They were thrilled both books were featured in the premiere network launch of Jeff Hayzlett’s C-Suite TV and C-Suite Book Club in September 2014.

Conference chairs, business leaders and professors of entrepreneurship alike highly recommend them as inspirational speakers, role models, and entrepreneurial thought leaders. They are an excellent extension of business education into the real world of practicality… to motivate, enlighten and inspire!

To make inquiries for keynote speaking, trainings, or consulting, please contact sales@thebarefootspirit.com.

Who We Are

Michael Houlihan and Bonnie Harvey co-authored the New York Times bestselling business book, The Barefoot Spirit: How Hardship, Hustle, and Heart Built America’s #1 Wine Brand. The book has been selected as recommended reading in the CEO Library for CEO Forum, the C-Suite Book Club, and numerous university classes on business and entrepreneurship. It chronicles their humble beginnings from the laundry room of a rented Sonoma County farmhouse to the board room of E&J Gallo, who ultimately acquired their brand and engaged them as brand consultants. Barefoot is now the world’s largest wine brand.

Beginning with virtually no money and no wine industry experience, they employed innovative ideas to overcome obstacles, create new markets and forge strategic alliances. They pioneered Worthy Cause Marketing and performance-based compensation. They built an internationally bestselling brand and received their industry’s “Hot Brand” award for several consecutive years.

They offer their Guiding Principles for Success (GPS) to help entrepreneurs become successful. Their book, The Entrepreneurial Culture: 23 Ways To Engage and Empower Your People, helps corporations maximize the value of their human resources.

Currently they travel the world leading workshops, trainings, & keynoting at business schools, corporations, conferences. They are regular media guests and contributors to international publications and professional journals. They are C-Suite Network Advisors & Contributing Editors. Visit their popular brand building site at www.consumerbrandbuilders.com.

To make inquiries for keynote speaking, trainings or consulting, please contact sales@thebarefootspirit.com.

The post About the Barefoot Wine Founders appeared first on The Barefoot Spirit.

When we started Barefoot Wines, the big chain and box store buyers refused to put it in their stores unless we advertised heavily. You couldn’t blame them. We were unknown at the time. What made matters worse, we were having fun with a foot on our label at a time when the wine industry was staid and exclusive.

So, we had to get started selling to corner store “mama-papas,” independents and small chains. But they had the same concern: Nobody ever heard of a wine called “Barefoot.” So, understandably, they threatened to discontinue us if we didn’t show significant sales in a matter of months.

To read the complete article, please visit Entrepreneur 

Who We Are

Michael Houlihan and Bonnie Harvey co-authored the New York Times bestselling business book, The Barefoot Spirit: How Hardship, Hustle, and Heart Built America’s #1 Wine Brand. The book has been selected as recommended reading in the CEO Library for CEO Forum, the C-Suite Book Club, and numerous university classes on business and entrepreneurship. It chronicles their humble beginnings from the laundry room of a rented Sonoma County farmhouse to the board room of E&J Gallo, who ultimately acquired their brand and engaged them as brand consultants. Barefoot is now the world’s largest wine brand.

Beginning with virtually no money and no wine industry experience, they employed innovative ideas to overcome obstacles, create new markets and forge strategic alliances. They pioneered Worthy Cause Marketing and performance-based compensation. They built an internationally bestselling brand and received their industry’s “Hot Brand” award for several consecutive years.

They offer their Guiding Principles for Success (GPS) to help entrepreneurs become successful. Their book, The Entrepreneurial Culture: 23 Ways To Engage and Empower Your People, helps corporations maximize the value of their human resources.

Currently they travel the world leading workshops, trainings, & keynoting at business schools, corporations, conferences. They are regular media guests and contributors to international publications and professional journals. They are C-Suite Network Advisors & Contributing Editors. Visit their popular brand building site at www.consumerbrandbuilders.com.

To make inquiries for keynote speaking, trainings or consulting, please contact sales@thebarefootspirit.com.

The post Get the Word Out With Worthy Cause Marketing – Entrepreneur appeared first on The Barefoot Spirit.