On Wednesday, June 5th, FineTobaccoNYC hosted a cigar and spirits pairing at the Carnegie Club, one of New York’s most iconic cigar bars. The complimentary event, billed as “Straight Up & Toasted,” featured the Reinado Cigars Grand Empire Reserve and Rough Rider bourbon from Long Island Spirits.
About 150 guests attended the free event, enjoying cigars and bourbon well into the evening.
Other features of the night included live music, giveaways of a box of Reinado cigars, a bottle of Rough Rider single barrel bourbon, and other accessory raffle items.
The event was such a success that FineTobaccoNYC and the Carnegie Club are now planning another “Straight Up & Toasted” event. Special thanks to Reinado Cigars and Long Island Spirits.
To get invites to events like Straight Up & Toasted, sign up for our email list. Click here to sign up.
Press releases give great exposure, lead to valuable business leads, and boost SEO.
Year after year, dozens of new boutique cigar companies hoping to make it big enter the market. But as we all know, cracking the nut that is the cigar industry is difficult. So what separates the winners from the losers? One major business component successful cigar companies include in their strategy is the writing and distribution of press releases.
This applies to small, mid, and large sized companies. Every cigar business owner that is serious about promoting and growing their business should have some sort of strategy for press releases, especially before major conventions like IPCPR.
Here are 6 reasons you should write a press release:
1. Your new product won’t announce itself
So you’ve just blended a new cigar and you put it to market. But who knows about it? Don’t expect cigar shops or customers to be familiar with your brand if you aren’t putting your best foot forward. Small and mid-sized businesses don’t have the luxury of a large audience of customers and media professionals to catch and amplify product announcements posted on your Facebook page. A press release, distributed to the right people, will ensure that cigar related websites and the blogosphere are getting your new product announcement out to the widest possible audience.
2. Press Releases boost website SEO
Press releases often include anchor text and hyperlinked urls to your company website. When google crawls the internet and finds 15 more websites linking your website with terms like “cigars,” “cigar industry,” “maduro cigars,” etc, Google interprets this as your page being an authority on that keyword, and places your website higher in searches for those terms. That boost in search can drive new sales and lead to important business opportunities.
3. Your Press Release will go social
Many websites, especially blogs, post Facebook, Twitter, or Tumblr updates whenever a new post goes up on their site. If your product announcement is posted on ten blogs, or referenced in blog posts, you will achieve substantial social media exposure, earning you more brand awareness that can lead to sales and other opportunities.
4. The world wants to hear about your product or announcement
It’s easy for a small business to feel like no one is listening, but those businesses often aren’t talking. The truth is, there are tens of thousands of cigar enthusiasts who are looking for the next great cigar. If you are in the business, then you believe in your product. Why not tell them about it?
5. You need the media to notice
When press releases are distributed, important media contacts will be made aware of your announcement. This often results in requests for interviews, product reviews, and other kinds of coverage. It is this coverage that will push your product to new markets and territories.
6. You need consistent exposure
Do you remember that company that you read about six months ago and never heard from again? Neither do I. By using press releases to announce new products, new hirings, or new branding strategies, you build brand equity. This is especially helpful for small or mid-sized cigar or spirits brands trying to open new accounts. If a shop owner has seen your company appear often online, he/she is much more likely to know about your brand and thus more likely to trust your product and place an order. Whiskey companies like Glenmorangie, Glenfiddich, Chivas, and others do this well – take a look.
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So those are a few reasons you need to write and distribute a press release. Here are the reasons why you should work with me:
I deliver professional quality writing
I’ve been writing press releases for a long time, and they stack up well against any boutique PR firm. (ask me for samples)
I have my own distribution lists
Expect to pay at least $250 just to distribute your press release on any mainstream newswire service – these services may or may not deliver your releases to the right place. I have distribution lists of local cigar shops, bloggers, media contacts, and news websites. On average, my press releases are published on 10-15 cigar related websites.
I work one on one to craft a release that is consistent with your branding and message
You don’t want to hire a writer who will put your brand through a cookie-cutter press release template. I will meet with you in person or over the phone/email to hear the full story on your announcement and refine the release to your specifications.
My work in the cigar and spirits industry gives me an edge over other PR firms
I know how cigar and spirits companies want to represent themselves better than a non-industry writer. This means I’ll get you a release that you are more satisfied with, faster than anyone else.
Is it time for you to invest in a smarter public relations/marketing strategy? If so, send me an email for my work samples, rates, and any other questions you have. I also work with non-cigar/spirits related companies and individuals, so if you want a great press release but aren’t in cigars or spirits, I’ve got you covered.
Still Looking for the Perfect Father’s Day Gift? Look no further! On July 27th from 1-4pm, S2 welcomes Rocky and Nish Patel to The Garden for our first Cigar Social. The three hour event not only includes a meet and greet with the cigar kings themselves, but also a guest appearance by former Yankee and Met, Gary Sheffield who recently teamed up with the Patels to launch his limited edition cigar, HR500 TORO.
Men’s Tickets are $55 and include 3 Premium Rocky Patel Cigars: XEN TORO by Nish Patel, Meritage Sungrown TORO by Rocky Patel and the Decade TORO by Rocky Patel. The $25 Women’s ticket includes 1 Premium XEN TORO cigar by Nish Patel.
In addition to cigars, both tickets include:
Unlimited BBQ
Open Beer & Sangria
Live Entertainment by Sal Manzo
Whiskey Tasting Stations by Jack Daniels, Jack Daniels Honey, Gentleman Jack, Southern Comfort, Avion & Avion Espresso
Meet and Greet with Rocky and Nish Patel
Special Guest Appearance by Gary Sheffield
Raffles and Giveaways
Studio Square has partnered with LightersDirect, who will be providing custom event cigar cutters as well as raffles for amazing cigar lover prizes! If you attended SMOKE in May, you know this alone is a great way to treat dad! Sponsors include sponsors: Rocky Patel, S Prime Steakhouse, Heineken, Jack Daniels and Southern Comfort.
Order tickets today, as this event will sell out quickly! Pre Sale tickets are available at www.cigarsocial2013.eventbrite.com
A quick 10 minute train ride from midtown, can make The Garden @ Studio Square NYC your destination to gather, eat and drink in modern merriment. For more information, visit www.studiosquarenyc.com
About Studio Square NYC
As part of the massive Studio Square NYC event and entertainment complex, The Garden @ Studio Square brings the spirit and traditions of an open-air German beer garden into the modern era. Encompassing over 30,000 square feet, The Garden is made up of two large indoor areas and an expansive cobblestone courtyard, a 160’ Super Screen, a covered patio that hugs the edge of the courtyard, featuring six additional bar stations as well as our Garden Grill counter where guests can order from our extensive selection of tasty items.
In our last post, we looked at the importance and uses of the social media platforms Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Google+. In this article, we’ll look at how to set up and launch your page, as well as a few practices for managing an effective (read:profitable) Facebook page.
This post is an introduction to best practices on Facebook. This post does not cover the nuances of Facebook advertising, integration with mailing lists and other social tools, or analytics – if you have a specific question on that, email me.
So now to get started. Order of operations is important with social media, so the next few posts on Twitter, Instagram, and Google+ will discuss setup and launch separately.
Setup
Cigar shops should register as “Local Business or Place.” Otherwise, register as a brand or product.
Setting up a Facebook page is fairly simple. First, go to this page to start your setup. After you have selected your page type, here are a few important steps:
Do NOT invite all of your current friends and contacts to “like” your page before it is completely set up. You have one chance at a first impression with your most loyal contacts, so you must make it count.
Include all business contact information in the relevant information sections. Everything. This means phone, website, email, physical address, p.o. box, fax. Everything.
Upload your company logo as your profile picture.
Upload a striking/interesting image for a cover photo that represents your product well. Make sure your image is high definition and not blurry (if it is a photo).
Add admins to your page using the “manage admin permissions” page in your page settings. Note: admins must have already “liked” the page.
Now, post your first update! This should be a message welcoming fans to your new page. Include a photo or group of photos with this post. I also suggest posting some other media rich content (videos, photos, audios, online interviews) for your audience to see when you launch the page.
Launch
Now you are ready to announce your page to the world! This is a critical step in getting early momentum. But keep in mind: the suggestions below can be used at any time, so they are still a good idea even if your page is already established.
Go to your company Facebook page, and invite all of your friends to like the page. If you are using Google Chrome, download the “Facebook Select All” extension so that you can invite hundreds of friends to like your page at one time.
Ask your employees to like the page. Then, copy/paste step 1, email it to everyone in your company, and ask them to invite their friends.
Use the “invite contact list” tool on Facebook to invite everyone in your email contact book to like your page.
If you have a company email list for customers, clients, fans, etc, upload that contact list (must be .csv file) to Facebook to invite all of those contacts to like your page.
Post a status update on your personal Facebook asking your friends to like your page.
Launch a Facebook give-away contest that encourages users to like your page.
Post a link to your Facebook page on your website, blog, and other social media profiles.
If you follow these steps , the next 48 will bring a spike in interaction, pageviews, and page likes.
Build
Now it is time to build engagement with your page and attract a wider audience. Here are some do’s and don’ts for building your Facebook audience:
Do
Post at least once a day.
Post creative and friendly content that gives fans an inside look at your company or product.
Post images, videos, and links to interesting content, always writing a caption to explain the importance of the content.
Ask your fans questions that get at the heart of their experience of your product.
Offer special, exclusive deals to your Facebook fans.
Respond to any comment, concern, or critique within 24 hours.
Ask your fans to connect with you on other social networking sites.
Host contests and other giveaways to encourage word of mouth reach.
Announce new products and tell customers where they can buy your products.
Use Facebook advertising to increase your fans and reach new customers (detailed explanation on that here).
Be creative and don’t take yourself too seriously!
Don’t
Continually repost marketing materials (this content gets very boring and will cause people to unlike your page).
Post irrelevant content about politics, religion, or humor.
Post content presenting any other company, person, or group of persons in a negative light.
Post updates expressing frustrations. Keep it positive.
Let your page become out of date. This reflects very poorly on your company.
To give an idea of what good content looks like, and how good content leads to more exposure, take these two event posts from My Father Cigars and Camacho Cigars:
Obviously, the fact that Camacho has 20x more Facebook fans has something to do with the difference in engagement. But even a cursory glance indicates that taking time to craft a post will result in more likes, shares, and comments. The post by Camacho Cigars features a well thought out image, a clear explanation of the post, and a link to the event page. Additionally, a fan commented and received a swift reply. In contrast, the My Father post above is plain, and very long. The post was also reposted three times in a row, making the My Father facebook page look uninviting.
Of course, that’s just one example. Each company has a different strategy for creating content. The challenge is to refine your strategy by listening to your audience and understanding what it wants.
To learn more about how to create the best content on Facebook, I suggest reading these articles:
There you have it. How to set up, launch, and maintain an effective and profitable Facebook page. It is true, this is only the tip of the iceberg–we haven’t covered how Facebook advertising can shoot sales through the roof or how to integrate Facebook into your broader marketing strategy, but this post is a good start. The key is to stay creative, resourceful, and attentive to your audience.
If you follow the instructions above, you should be well on your way to building a successful and profitable Facebook page. In our next post, we’ll look at some of the best practices for using Twitter to sell products and build valuable business relationships.
This review is a long time coming. Anyone who has been following FineTobaccoNYC knows that since ordering my first five pack, I’ve been a huge fan, even advocate of this cigar. Why? Because, though it is clearly a copycat of the Padron Anniversario series, I believe that the Nica Libre 1990 is unequivocally the best value cigar out there (I buy boxes at under $2 a stick). And yes, it stacks up well to Padron for those wondering.
And with that, we’ll get to the review, shall we?
Blend Specifics
Wrapper: San Andreas Maduro
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaraguan
Appearance & Construction
The Nica Libre 1990 is a solidly constructed box press with a rich brown maduro wrapper. The band is very similar to the band on the Padron Anniversario series, but instead of being double-banded it is a single band. The draw is consistently perfect on these cigars, providing for lots of smoke. Also of note is that the cigar is triple capped – you don’t find that often on cigars this cheap.
Flavor & Smoke Characteristics
As other reviewers have noted, this cigar opens up with a medium bodied profile full of coffee, black pepper, cocoa, and earth. This profile is very comparable to the Padron Anniversario 1964. As this cigar progresses into the first inch, the peppery texture is complemented by a soft, creamy texture on the nose.
Into the second third, the body and strength pick up, along with the black pepper notes, leaving some tingling on my tongue. A few burn issues throughout this smoke, but those are not characteristic of this cigar. Nearing the final third, a few more notes emerge, including a nice woodiness and a slight leatheriness. From there, the smoke heats up a bit at the end – not the most enjoyable ending.
Conclusion
At under $2 stick on CigarBid.com, this cigar is unbeatable. I’ve heard this opinion restated over and over again through social media, whether it is on our Facebook page, Twitter, or Instagram. The Verdict? Do yourself a favor and buy a box of these cigars. You won’t regret it.
