A friend of ours, Ryan Allis, is launching his book Zero to One Million today, and it comes with our strong endorsement.

We highly recommend the book for anyone who wants to become a multimillionaire entrepreneur. If there’s ever a book that has the potential to be life changing, Zero to One Million is it. Ryan is trying to reach a lifetime goal and get to #1 on Amazon.com today and has created a compelling reason to buy the book today.

Ryan built three companies to over $1 million in sales by age 21, raised over five million dollars in venture capital at age 22, and today at age 23 runs an 85 person company in North Carolina called iContact that does over ten million dollars in annual sales. Ryan knows what he’s doing when it comes to business.

The full title of the book is ‘Zero to One Million: How I Built a Company to $1 Million in Sales… And How You Can Too.’ If you want to become a multimillionaire entrepreneur, this really is a no-BS step-by-step guide.

Today, Ryan is running a promotion to help him get to the #1 spot on Amazon.

When you buy Ryan’s book for $11.53 on Amazon today you will receive six bonus gifts including a video from Ryan on how to raise $5 million in venture capital at age 22 and valuable DVD and PDF report bonuses from Buck Rizvi, Derek Gehl, Carlos Garcia, Shawn Casey, and Tom Bell. Just email the Amazon receipt to bonus@zeromillion.com with The Pay it Forward Chronicles in the subject line to receive the bonuses.

You’ll also receive a special video from Ryan: How Our Generation Will Change the World… A Plan for the Future.

NOW HERE’S THE PAY IT FORWARD KICKER: All of the proceeds from Zero to One Million are going to Ryan’s non-profit organization The Humanity Campaign, which works to reduce poverty and hunger in developing nations by increasing access to education, healthcare, and technology. You can read an article about Ryan’s efforts to give back at http://www.newsobserver.com/business/story/900111.html.

One of the songs in the brilliant broadway musical ‘Avenue Q‘ is entitled ‘the internet is for porn.’ And today I discovered that that may well be true. Food Porn that is.

Food Porn promotes porn paraphernalia, food porn movies and they even have an array of food porn photos. For the dedicated Wino or Foodie however - the site has an excellent application called Food Porn Watch.

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Good wine making often comes down to getting the blend right. It’s interesting how wine can often serve as an apt metaphor for life and culture - especially in regard to blending in this case. So much of America is still so racially divided - and seeing as America serves as a role model to so many countries, a more integrated America will make for a better world.

One of the things that struck me on going to Atlanta in May was that its a city where the blend of race, culture and lifestyle is one of the most balanced I’ve seen anywhere in the world. In fact I didn’t feel any tension, and from people I spoke to I got the impression that a cultural shift is underway and the east coast is leading the way.
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My wife and I recently went to Dans Le Noir - London’s first restaurant in the dark, started after the success of it’s parent restaurant in Paris. Seeing as the restaurant only seats 60 people, you need to book pretty well in advance to get a place (there are three sitting for dinner a night), but once you do - it’s an experience you’re not likely to forget. Upon arriving you are in a lit cocktail lounge where you can enjoy a drink and look at the menu and order your meal. My wife and I both chose the ’surprise menu’ where you are not told what you will be eating. Deciding to at least have some choice in the matter, we ordered the 2003 Chablis ‘St. Martin’ white Burgundy, and our blind waiter led us to our table.

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The community value of food & beverage went to new heights at the first ever Food Network Awards this past Sunday night, which was actually part of the South Beach Wine & Food Festival back in February. Although it seems silly to glorify food, the show was more about glorifying cuisine and cooking and how it brings us together. Plus, with awards like “Icy Innovations” and “Tasty Technologies”, I kinda got reeled in.

The award that I found most interesting was “Not Your Grandmother’s Food of the Month Club.” The nominees were cool food club delivery services that ship a variety of tasty treats direct to their members’ doorsteps. The Z-club from Zingerman’s won because it delivers a wide variety of foods and creates a sense of adventure for its members. Self-described as a premier food club that a hungry, adventurous food-eating nation has fallen in love with, the Z-club provides a random assortment of exciting new foods from fine olive oils, cheeses, and meats to exotic sweets such as Calabrian candied orange peels covered in chocolate and Australian sweet dried figs. Looks like they’re only missing one thing.

The other big nominee was The Grateful Palate, which most of us know for its imports. It was up for its Bacon of the Month club, which is a little odd given its quality wines. I don’t know though, do bacon and wine match well? The other foods that they offer, however, look absolutely delicious. Check out this Fork & Bottle review of a Grateful Palate Breakfast Combo.

A smart company, with an already established brand like Grateful Palate should feel really confident about their position right now. As the logistics become well-oiled (I like that phrase), consumers are going to tap into the opportunity to have food and wine shipped direct to their doorstep, especially if it is exciting new stuff from different places. Even more, what if we could pair this service with recommended packs personalized to each member and based on their unique tastes? And what if we could send them recommended recipes, ingredients, and wine for that night? Could be fun.

Also, guys, your Grateful Palate imports page is practically non-existent (right) and the only place I can find your wines online is The Jug Shop. What’s going on? You’ve got a great reputation and have awesome wines. Share them with us.