Maybe I’ll turn this whole musings concept into a recurring feature. Looking at my page views, they spiked after my last Musings post, then tapered a bit and have started dropping off.

MeadMakr.com

I’ve been working on a few projects lately. First, after considering the content of the blog here at TBM, I have realized that I am writing too much on topics that don’t relate to the initial concept of this website. I want TBM to tell the story of expanding from a hobby meadmaker into a professional meadery. But, this step isn’t going to occur for many years, and it leaves me writing much more about general meadmaking concepts and less about the idea of planning a business, the legal ramifications of starting a company (should I choose an LLC, S-Corp, C-Corp, sole-proprietorship?), or the general issues concerning scaling a batch from 5 gallons to 55 gallons or more. To this end, over the next few months I will again be shifting gears as I transition the blog content of TBM over to a new website, MeadMakr.com.

I have been reading a lot of Smart Passive Income lately, and am intrigued by the process Pat Flynn has chosen in developing new niche sites and getting them ranked high in search results. If you have a new website, or are fighting to increase your search engine ranking, it is worth looking at Pat’s Niche Site Duel website for ideas.

I am striving to be more strategic with the MeadMakr.com launch than I was with the original TBM blogspot or this webpage. I want to make an impact when I launch the site, and that means pre-writing content for scheduled releases, and actually putting forth the effort to market the website (check out this guide for how to launch: How to Launch a Brand New Website). Until all of this is done, I will continue updating here, but the topics may not be as in depth as some of my previous posts.

American Mead Maker, Journal of the American Mead Makers Association

On other fronts, I am trying to improve my credibility in the industry by volunteering to write articles for the American Mead Maker, the Journal of the American Mead Makers Association. These will be articles targeted towards the amateur and professional alike, and are much more akin to investigative journalism than typical blog posts. I have identified a few topics that I would like to write, and am working on the first one now. If I can get it done by the June 1st deadline, you might see my name by an article coming up in July.

First up, I am analyzing the best practices for meaderies pursuing crowdfunding for their initial startup cash. Breaking into the alcohol industry presents a series of barriers, and the process to start your first batch of legally produced alcohol can take up to 2 years. So how are meaderies coping with this? Crowdfunding is one option, and I am looking at both the funded and unfunded projects to identify any common threads between the successful meaderies. Plenty of advice exists on using crowdfunding sites in general, but I think by focusing on the mead industry, I may be able to identify some techniques that help ensure a strong following.

I also plan to contact those successful meaderies to get their take on whether it was a worthwhile investment of their time and energy to get funded. I’m hoping to have the article framework written this week, and to contact a few of the meaderies next week for their input.

Link Roundup

Lastly, I want to provide a roundup of a few links I found interesting this week.

• Michigan Mead Brew Sales Take Off as State Fuels the Buzz. This is a great piece on the growth of the mead industry. Michigan is the top mead producing state by shear number of meaderies, and possibly by total quantity. This article highlights B. Nektar, and how they are working to expand production, hoping to reach 100,000 gallons of mead this year. That’s more than 40,000 cases!
• Similarly, Moonlight Meadery re-linked an article about their founding. Considering their current distribution, this encompasses another great story of growth in the industry.
• Cinco de Mayo was last week, and if you missed it, Meadist posted a great recipe for a Meadarita.

Got any thoughts on the MeadMakr.com transition, ideas for articles in the American Mead Maker, or general ideas on things you’d like to know about mead, let us know in the comments section below.