I work in marketing at a small Midwestern liberal arts college. So we spend a lot of out time on messaging. About a year ago I started thinking about my wine writing the same way.

I consider myself a wine journalist – not just a wine blogger. I spent 20 years in the newspaper business and have a column in 23 papers, every other week, about value wine. I think my best pieces are old-fashioned reporting/writing efforts.

But I also know building your brand is really important with all the clutter in the market. So a year ago I launched this blog site with a different look and URL – http://www.howardhewitt.net – my name.

I have quite a few former newspaper employees who’ve moved on to bigger and better things. I asked a really talented designer who once worked for me to create a logo. He gave me three great options. The one displayed here is my favorite but I may use a couple of the others in some printed materials.

While some might smirk at the ego-centric nature of this pursuit, and I probably would too, branding can help separate any writer from the crowd!