Steve Raye

Hello to the community. My name is Steve Raye and I'm president of Bevology, Inc., and Bevology Imports LLC in Simsbury, CT. I have been in the industry for 30 years beginning as brand manager on Smirnoff at then-Heublein/now-Diageo. I had then founded and managed a marketing/pr/ad agency specializing in the trade side of the spirits and wine business managing U.S. brand introductions for products categories including Pisco, Singani, Rum, Vodka, Brandy, Tequila, Whisk(e)y and vodka. I've just published a new book titled How to Get U.S. Market-Ready. I wrote the book as a primer for everyone in the wine and spirits business, domestic and imported, to make it easier to understand how to navigate the complexities of the Three-Tier System. It's packed with practical advice, proprietary tools and examples of creative, non-traditional solutions for distribution and promotion. There's also a useful glossary, and I'm hearing from early readers that that is the most valuable bit of content in the book. Also included are "pull back the curtain" worksheets and workshops on understanding price structures, how to use data to make smart decisions on choice of roll-out markets. The book is available now on Amazon.com in Tablet and Kindle for PC and Kindle Fire formats. The print version in the U.S. should be available by the end of January. It will be sold directly through the website www.GetUSMarketReady.com and via Amazon. We're offering a promotion right now of a free copy of the first chapter to anyone who registers on the site. I was unsure whether it was appropriate to include a commercial message in the forum, but as I read through the coversations, that's exactly what the forum...and my book... is about: Sharing ideas, solutions and strategies for distillers to have a better chance at overall success. So I thought I would start off with a straightforward statement of why I joined ADI forums, and see where the conversation takes me. So thanks for letting me join and I look forward to being able to contribute to the dialog. Best regards, Steve