Baking it Down with Sugar Cookie Marketing 🍪

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Send us Fan Mail 🤡 First Timer Follies - When you’re new and need orders. In this week's Baking it Down Podcast - Episode 277 - First Timer Follies , we're wrapping up our New Baker's series, talking about first-timer mistakes you don't have to repeat if you snag yesterday's episode. When you're new to any industry, it's easy not to know what ya don't know - and that's what this beginner podcast series is for: to help new bakers miss the missteps when just getting started, saving them time (and tears). You can reference the series here : 🎧 277. Baking it Down - First Timer Follies 🎧 276. Baking it Down - How To Turn Down Orders When You Need Orders 🎧 275. Baking it Down - Big Shoes Battle 🎧 274. Baking it Down - Allow Us to be Your Personal Yodas 🎧 273. Baking it Down - Content Cookies for Beginner Bakers 🎧 270. Baking it Down - The Right Foot when Getting Started 🎧 269. Baking it Down - Sugar Cookies as a Side Hustle 🙅‍♀️ Don't overbuy cookie cutters Corrie said a big impulse when you're first out of the gate is to snag each and every cookie cutter, dreaming of a certain style of baker you want to be, typically centered around a specific aesthetic. But it's your skill set and your client base that determines which cutters you'll find yourself reaching for most. So start with purchasing simple shapes and plaques - these are versatile shapes you can use again and again. Oftentimes, bakers will end up never even touching the very cutters they spent their early dollars on - and that's a profit problem. Take notes from the folly of your elders - not every cutter is worth the squeeze when you're just getting started! 🙅‍♀️ Don't jump on trends Trends are as awesome as they are a risk - you can make quick money, sure, but you can also be stuck with an endless supply of Labubu boxes or Target crates. Let the more established bakers snag those trendy sales - they have the audience for it and the skills for quick turnaround (before the trend dries up). Focus on popular (repeating) holidays at Christmas or Halloween that are guaranteed to come back in style year after year (and use up that extra pumpkin-shaped packaging). 🙅‍♀️ Have an order intake form in place With Google Forms being free and Jotform being essentially free for new bakers, you don't have to learn that you need an intake process in place by missing an order or spelling a name wrong. Take a lesson from every baker before you and make a form that gets all orders coming in to one place rather than managing texts, emails, Facebook messages, and Instagram DMs (it's only a matter of time before you miss some important detail that will force a refund or catch a bad review). 🙅‍♀️ Don't offer everything You may feel like offering everything everyone wants will get you every dollar they have. Fun surprise - it actually works the opposite. Analysis paralysis + loss aversion + expiring ingredients = offering everything when you're just getting started can be bad news for profit margins. Start with the basics, master that, grow the customer base, then add the cake pops + bronuts + sourdough, etc. When you're just getting your sealegs under ya, it's not the time to be adding more boats to the fleet. 👂 Snag this podcast on any major podcast player (Spotify, Apple Music, Audible, Amazon Music, or watch it on YouTube ) by searching for Baking it Down Podcast - Episode 277 - First Timer Follies.

Send us Fan Mail 🛑 How 2 Turn Down Orders - When you’re new and need orders. In this week's Baking it Down Podcast - Episode 276 - How To Turn Down Orders When You Need Orders , the beginner baker needs to turn down orders - yes, even when they need orders . Sometimes the client isn't the right match, the client has expectations that exceed current skill set, or the baker just doesn't have the time to handle as much back-and-forth as a specific client needs to feel comfortable. So how do you turn down orders when you need more orders? The typical recommendation is to say you're booked - which works pretty well for an established baker who is well... typically booked. But for the new baker, it puts them in a bind. They reject the client by claiming they're booked today, but are posting in a Facebook group looking for orders tomorrow. It's a fast way to lead to an upset client and an awkward conversation. We have a better strategy (actually copy templates) you can steal. ❌ Client is coming from another baker Issue: "I recently had a potential customer who has been a little strange and kind of insulted my work. She normally gets her cookies from another baker who has been doing this for a decade, but tried my cookies at a market and likes my flavor better. So when we discussed her cookie designs, she kept saying whatever “I’m most confident in” that I can make look like this other person because “she’s been doing it for a decade so you should check out her work.” Basically saying my designs aren’t up to par with this person who has been doing it for much longer." (this was an actual thread posted in the Sugar Cookie Marketing group) Response: "Hey client! I really gave this order some thought, and while I appreciate your confidence in me, my goal is to ensure my clients are 100% happy - even if that means referring them to another baker. I don't believe my current skillset will knock this out of the park in the way your order deserves, and having a client that I've missed the mark with is far worse than losing a sale. Thanks so much for considering me, and I hope XYZ baker can really stick the landing on these! In the meantime, I'll be in the kitchen working on new techniques, and I'd love the chance to work with you on a future order when I've had more time in the saddle!" Now, I understand my wording puts a lot of the "accountability" on you and not on her being high maintenance, but we feel like this delivery softens the blow of "I don't want your order." Tweak, delete, or steal it! ❌ Client needs some babysitting Issue : Client is asking for too much babysitting back and forth. Response : “Hey client! Love the direction we’ve gotten with this order - it’s going to turn out really amazingly. Let’s firm up the details in the next two emails so I can make sure I meet your due date on this order - I don’t want any snafus with the postal system causing any delays. Here’s what I need from you: [list of outstanding design choices] Once I get that, I’ll start gathering the supplies for your order. We’ve got your invoice paid, and then I’ll be in the kitchen! If you want to reply to this email with any outstanding questions about your order, I’ll knock those out in my final response, and we can finalize this!" ❌ Client is asking for a more advanced set Issue : This person is asking for designs outside the skillset you’re comfortable with: Response : “Hey client, thank you so much for considering me. I just reviewed your cookie inspiration photos you sent over, and I want to be 100% with you and my abilities. I don’t think I’ll be able to nail the look you’re going for, but I also know you deserve someone to knock this set out of the park for your big day. I wouldn’t be comfortable with taking your order, but I do have a few bakers I’m going to recommend that could probably nail this specific look for you. I don’t know their availability, but here’s the link to each Facebook Page so you can see their past work and review it before reaching out! Thank you so much for even considering me. I’m going to work hard on my decorating skills so I can be confident in this look and earn your business down the road!” ❌ Client is anxious about the order Issue : Client is anxious about the order process and feels distrustful of the baker. Response : “Hey Client! Thank you so much for trusting me with your big day and cookies. I am so excited to bake these up for you! I just want to let you know how the process goes so you can feel at ease and know that your cookies are being taken care of and are my utmost priority. Since we booked you already and we've got about 2 weeks before I start prepping your order, what I’m doing now is reviewing everything, and I’m going to send you an update email 1 week out from pick-up. After that, I’m going to start the prep process by getting the dough mixed, finding the corresponding cookie cutters to the ones we discussed, and then I’ll begin baking. I don’t send update photos as I go since they won’t make sense until I’m done. An eye-less Elsa isn’t for the faint of heart! Once I finish the set, I’ll send you an email with an order update, a look at your finished set, and we can nail down a pick-up time for the next day." 👂 Snag this podcast on any major podcast player (Spotify, Apple Music, Audible, Amazon Music, or watch it on YouTube ) by searching for Baking it Down Podcast - Episode 276 - How To Turn Down Orders When You Need Orders.

Send us Fan Mail 👟 Big Shoes Battle - How to compete with the big bakers. In this week's Baking it Down Podcast - Episode 275 - Big Shoes Battle , we're back on our beginner baker series, and good news - even if you're new and it feels like you're takin' on the Big Dog Bakers who have been in the space for 5+ years, you can still play ball. Here are five ways that being the underdog actually gives you the home-field advantage over more established bakers regarding your marketing approach. 👟 Followers Don't Matter. Ten years ago, we wouldn't be able to tell you that followers were just a made-up number that doesn't affect marketing. Today we can tell you that. Yes, having a base of followers adds social proof and signals to a customer that you aren't a made-up cookie business out to steal their money and disappear into the abyss. But you can now reach far more than your follower count - it's the plus side of algorithm-based reach. So even if you have 100 followers, a quality post that reaches the right audience has the potential to reach thousands of would-be clients. Post in a local Facebook group, and their followers are now wide open to your reach - and you didn't even have to make and run a Facebook group. The potential to reach more in your audience has never been higher - and you don't have to get 1,000,000 followers to do it (remember when you could only reach the people who followed your page??). 👟 No group tags? Tag yourself. If you're new to baking, you're not going to get as many tags as a more established baker with a long-term network of referrals and word-of-mouth. But guess what? You can be your biggest fan right out of the gate. Put the blinders on if seeing the other baker tags affects you negatively, but always tag yourself. And be honest about it too. None of this, "I hear [myself] is a really great baker!" Approach it this way: "Hey Mary! I'm Corrie with Mixing Bowl Cookies [tag page], and I'd love to have the chance to work with you on your event! Here's a picture of a set I've done similar to what you're looking for. If you want to work together on this, here's how to get started [how they place an order with you]." Don't forget to include a picture, emojis, and line breaks. 👟 No email list? Start now. A small but engaged email list = better than a large email list that the seasoned baker has forgotten to email for over a year (55% of bakers said they haven't emailed their audience in the last 12 months). A quick win for a new baker - starting (and staying consistent with) an email list. Email is the final frontier of chronological order, and even if the clients don't open it (20% is the industry open rate standard), they still saw your brand and know you exist for their next order. 👟 No incoming orders? Make content. That big baker who is fully booked doesn't have time to make content that could go viral, get shared, or reach that next order from someone who otherwise wouldn't know you exist. While they're busy baking it up in the kitchen, you get busy recording content. In the world of Reels, you can quickly grow an audience just from a few decently performing vertical videos. Stream this week's pod to see our solution for bakers who are so new, they have no reviews. Yep - you can take the big dogs on here too! 👂 Snag this podcast on any major podcast player (Spotify, Apple Music, Audible, Amazon Music, or watch it on YouTube ) by searching for Baking it Down Podcast - Episode 275 - Big Shoe Battles.

Send us Fan Mail 🧙‍♂️ Your Yodas - allow us to be... In this week's Baking it Down Podcast - Episode 274 - Your Yodas Allow us to Be , we're back on our beginner baker series, and what better time than to reintroduce ourselves, tell you a bit about our background in marketing and sales, and how we got into the wild world of Sugar Cookie Marketing and The Cookie College. 🧙‍♂️ Hi, I'm Heather Born and raised in Northern Virginia right outside DC, I recently moved to West Virginia - as wild and wonderful as the adage says. But before that, I worked in B2B sales for a property restoration company. Who knew there was a billion-dollar industry just hoping your house burns down during a hailstorm while your toilet overflows?! Wilder world than West Virginia ever could imagine. While working in B2B sales, I also managed the company's online presence - a lot of the same stuff I talk about today (with a 15-year update on the materials). While doing that during the day, I started an e-commerce website solely to understand more about how online sales, product sourcing, and marketing worked. It was a wild time where spending literally any money on Facebook ads pushed the ads out to just about anyone and everyone on the platform. From there, I started flipping websites - fancy way of saying creating a website that generates either traffic or conversions, then listing the site on a marketplace for someone else to take over. All of this "dabbling" prepped me for a phone call from Corrie saying we're jumping into local, service-based marketing as our own company. Built that up for half a decade focusing on websites and SEO, along with ads and social - then BAM, a global pandemic that threw half our client list into a holding pattern. Badda-bing badda-boom, twin says, "Hey, we're bored - wanna help some cookie people with their marketing?" That was October 2020. Since then - I'd like to say I know a thing or two because I've worked with tons of bakers over the years who have real-life seen a thing or two. With our powers combined, we're captain... wait, I mean - we can learn from each other, and thus - I'd like to help you learn how to win at cookie business. Our goal is to help you through our own experience and the experiences of other bakers we've worked alongside, solving problems, talkin' strategy, and celebrating wins for the last 6 years (SCM's bday is October - can you believe it's been 6 years?!). 🧙‍♂️ Hey there. I'm Corrie. I'll write this on behalf of Twin 2. Corrie got married at 19 (or 20?? I forget), had her son Archer at 21. She moved to Ohio for like 6 months, moved back to Northern Virginia, got divorced, and a few years later remarried to a really great guy who works as a police officer by day, weight lifter by night. When she was in her twenties, she got into car sales - 🚗🚙🚕🛻 which she cites as one of the most complex sales funnels most people would ever experience. It prepared her for a transition to home services sales for the rest of her twenties until she decided to stress her twin by saying, casually one afternoon, "Hey - quit that job, we start a business tomorrow. See you at 8." No one works harder than Corrie - I call her the locomotive. She'll head in a direction and only stop when she runs through a brick wall. 🧁🍪🥧🍴 When Covid hit, she decided to try out the hobby of sugar cookies, and the rest is history. You don't have to be the best at decorating to be really good at business, and failing forward is a part of the recipe for success. With her baking experience and my affinity for tech, we make a decent pair of Yodas to help guide your bakery business in efficiency and profitability. Basically, 💍 *gets down on one knee*, we're asking if you'd let us be your Yodas. 👂 Snag this podcast on any major podcast player (Spotify, Apple Music, Audible, Amazon Music, or watch it on YouTube ) by searching for Baking it Down Podcast - Episode 274 - Your Yodas Let Us Be.

Send us Fan Mail 📹 Content Cookies - For the beginner cookier. In this week's Baking it Down Podcast - Episode 273 - Content Cookies for the Beginner Baker , we acknowledge there's an issue between when a baker gets started selling and the amount of content they have... or, well, don't have. A lot of the content that bakers post comes from the orders they take, and they get orders from the content they post. So when you're new to selling, you've got a bit of the 'chicken or the egg' going on - how can you make content if you don't have orders? There are a few strategic approaches that won't have you burning through (baking up?) your margins when money is at the tightest point for any startup - at the beginning. 📹 Point #1 - Segment the Cookies in a Set One single cookie set order of a dozen cookies featuring 4 different designs can get you a lot more content than that one photo you posted. Use the zoom and crop features! Corrie will turn a "jungle birthday" into a single cookie for National Lion's Day (hey - did you know Monday was National Lion's Day?). Stage it multiple ways and take pictures of each design. Have a "pyramid" setup and then do an isolation setup on a white backdrop. The more you make your cookies work for you in the beginning, the less you'll have to stress when it comes to "what should I post today?" 📹 Trends don't require experience Most popular trends on TikTok and Instagram don't require being an expert decorator as much as they require you figuring out what's trending and posting before the trend dies down. TikTok even has its own trend tracker . August's "I never told you this, but" trend could easily be done with your business partner or spouse - throw on an apron and make it bakery-themed, and there's a lot of potential there. 📹 Behind the scenes content No one has better (butter?) behind-the-scenes content than a new baker with actual time to make decent B-roll featuring behind-the-scenes of starting a bakery. From finding a cake pop cart (all the rage these days) to figuring out a new type of floral piping strategy to setting up at your first farmer's market - it almost works in favor of the new baker. Behind the scenes should be one content bucket you're constantly pinging with videos. Vertical video format will be your quick-win way to cut the line in front of more established bakers. 📹 Notta Cookies Regardless, the new baker needs to get time in the proverbial saddle (er... apron), so practice, practice, practice. But instead of having to fire up the oven for cookies you'll pitch anyway, check out "notta cookies" - the original concept came from the creators of CookieCon, and it's literally a plastic practice cookie - that way you're only losing on the ingredients cost of royal icing while still being able to tackle new techniques. Heck - make the "notta cookie" practice into videos - hey, did we mention make more videos? Listen to the strategies behind our last time - turning practice into give-a-w-a-y-s to increase brand awareness, grow reviews, and get real-life taste testers so you're "wasted ingredients cost" actually hits your marketing budget. 👂 Snag this podcast on any major podcast player (Spotify, Apple Music, Audible, Amazon Music, or watch it on YouTube ) by searching for Baking it Down Podcast - Episode 273 - Content Cookies for the Beginner Baker.

Send us Fan Mail 👩🏻‍💻 S Tier Lead Gen - For cottage bakers in 2026. In this week's Baking it Down Podcast - Episode 272 - S-Tier Lead Gen Sources for Bakers in 2026, there's a new trend where people rank things they like and hate by tiers - 🟨 S-tier being the elite. For the oldie goldies like me, "S" apparently stands for superior. Following down the rankings, 🟩 A-tier means really good, 🟦 B-tier represents what's probably good to have around, 🟪 C-tier is a take-it-or-leave-it, 🟧 D-tier is more of a leave-it, and 🟥 F-tier is the "I wouldn't waste my time." So this approach to ranking sugar cookie bakers' lead generators is opinion-based, but that opinion comes after years of watching where bakers are getting their leads, how they get those leads, and if those leads seem worth the hassle. 🟨 S-Tier Lead Gen S-tier lead sources (superior, as the kids call it) are the lead gen sources we'd ask bakers why they aren't on them. These methods of generating leads are what have proven to work in 2026 for cottage local bakeries. Now, will we say the same thing in a year? Maybe not. But if you're on the fence about one of these, consider jumping both feet first - it's working well for your coworkers. 🟨 Facebook Groups 🟨 Email Marketing 🟨 Google Business Profile 🟨 Website 🟨 Word-of-Mouth / Referrals 🟩 A-Tier Lead Gen Our A-Tier choices were Facebook Business Pages - not because they're not S-Tier important, but because they're very restricted by algorithms. Thus, we knocked it down a peg. That said, you definitely need one to get those juicy analytics you can only get through Business Suite dashboard insights - it'll really allow you to understand exactly who your audience is. Something you can't capture in Facebook groups unless you're an admin. SMS (text) marketing i s a newer form of marketing, and in the right hands with a solid strategy, can really get conversions going. Spamming SMS is a disaster though (lookin' at you - Paula's Choice). 🟦 B-Tier Lead Gen B-Tier could be a few bakers S-Tier, so just because we don't see it mentioned a lot in the groups, doesn't mean it can't move the needle. Instagram , Facebook Marketplace , and a personal Facebook profile used to sell can be a treasure trove for bakers willing to deal with the trade-offs, like Marketplace tirekickers and removing your privacy to make a Facebook personal profile sale. Instagram can be extremely rewarding if you invest time into cultivating an audience (and recording those darn Reels!). 🟪 C-Tier Lead Gen LinkedIn, TikTok , and NextDoor have their places and can be a great lead gen for digital downloads, corporate orders, and local business (when your NextDoor is active), but if you're torn between investing your limited time in an S-tier lead source or a C-tier, we'd recommend focusing on the S-Tier before even glancing at the direction of the C-Tier. LinkedIn works when you hit the pavement and attend networking events; TikTok is starting to gain more local foot traffic (it may become a B or A-tier by next year for local business leads), and NextDoor is tightening the belt on business reach (so we may lower its ranking by next year - who knows what the wild work of marketing holds). For the D-Tier and F-Tier hot takes, snag this week's podcast! 👂 Snag this podcast on any major podcast player (Spotify, Apple Music, Audible, Amazon Music, or watch it on YouTube ) by searching for Baking it Down Podcast - Episode 272 - S Tier Lead Gen Sources for Bakers in 2026.

Send us Fan Mail 🎤 Cookier Interview - Taylor Gandolfi with Taylor'd Cookies. In this week's Baking it Down Podcast - Episode 271 - Cookier Interview - Taylor Gandolfi , continuing on with our cookier interview series, we snagged Taylor Gandolfi this week. She's been baking as a side hustle (more on her Italy trip below) since November, and comes from a UX degree, working a day job in public sector user experience design. When asked what she could bring to a podcast interview, her write-up explains this episode perfectly: "My journey into cookie decorating comes from a lifelong artistic foundation; 🎨 I have loved to draw and paint since before I can remember. I wanted to be an art major in college, but my parents steered me towards a UX design degree . Before cookies, 🐱🐶🐕🐈‍⬛🐾 I previously had a commissioned painting side hustle and painted whimsical pet portraits primarily (ex: a customer's cat playing drums for his favorite band, a dog playing for a customer's favorite hockey team, a fancy dog drinking a cocktail, etc.). 👶🏻 Unfortunately, this side hustle became unfeasible when I started having babies. I picked up cookie decorating when I was struggling with postpartum anxiety with my second baby. 🧸 🍪 🤎 I found it to be a wonderful creative outlet, very therapeutic, and got me away from doomscrolling. I decorated a few sets for my preschooler's class, and the preschool director saw them and was very encouraging. She approached me with an idea to partner with the preschool on presales and give back 20% of the proceeds to the preschool. 📈 From there, I was able to grow my portfolio, get other custom orders from preschool moms, and grow my social media. I also work full time as a product designer, ✨ with specialized experience in AI tools . As a product designer, my day-to-day looks like listening to users (or customers), honing in on what they need, translating that into concepts for digital experiences, 🚫 while mitigating risk. ✅ I use that same framework with my customers when designing cookies. I believe for the podcast, I could provide a lot of insight to listeners on how to scale 🙍‍♂️ human-centered design practices into their cookie business. I can also speak to how cookiers can leverage tech and AI as a tool to help with their process (ex: run lean experiments to mitigate risk, then scale what works well). As someone who works in AI, 👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 I believe that the world is craving human-created products and is really tired of AI slop. With that said, AI is not something that will replace cookiers, 🛠️ but a tool to help cookers do the best job possible when embraced." If you want to snag her prompt parameters - here it is. C-A-R-E 👾 C - Context . Provide as much context as possible 👾 A - Action . Be very specific in the actions you want it to take. 👾 R - Rules . Telling the AI exactly what to do and not to do, giving it constraints. 👾 E - Examples . Attach screenshots of what you like, AND what you don’t like. Hate something the AI won't change? Export it to Canva and make adjustments. She adds a really good trick for getting AI to play ball: using talk-to-type - you tend to talk very conversationally, and you talk more. The more information you provide the AI (both positive and negative), the more it has to work with. 👂 Snag this podcast on any major podcast player (Spotify, Apple Music, Audible, Amazon Music, or watch it on YouTube ) by searching for Baking it Down Podcast - Episode 271 - Cookier Interview - Taylor Gandolfi.

Send us Fan Mail 🦶 The Right Foot - When getting started. In this week's Baking it Down Podcast - Episode 270 - Getting Started on the Right Marketing Foot, we're continuing with our "back to baking" basics - this time getting started on the right marketing foot. What used to work - even just 3 years ago - doesn't work today, or at least not as effectively as it once did. As marketing pivots with algorithm updates, platform feature changes, and the introduction of AI, so must marketing. And this is great news for new bakers looking for their cut of the market share. Because those ol' timers that have been around for half a decade don't have those bright eyes and bushy tails of the new baker who is still hungry for those leads. 🦶 Make the Facebook page 👣 Wrong : A personal Facebook page is where you started, but you are restricted from growing here - you can have a creator profile now, but you still won’t have the business metrics and options a page will give you - like running ads. 👣 Right : Your Facebook page is where you collect people - it doesn’t mean your content will be shown, but it’s a nice collection that separates business and personal. 👣 Pro-Tip : You’re not going to get as much engagement on your Facebook page, so you’re going to feel like posting to your personal - stay the course. Because you still have that following on the personal account, you’re going to share from your business page back to your personal profile. We’re not posting organically (or you’ll end up with DMs in your personal messenger to order), but we’re going to slowly migrate that audience over. 🦶 Open the business bank account 👣 Wrong : Mixing business with pleasure is an accountant's worst nightmare. You’ll never know if you’re robbing from yourself to fund your business (working at a loss). Also tax season - say it ain't so! 👣 Right : Get the EIN number from your state (when you register your business). In VA, it’s just $50. Open up a business account with a local credit union - you'll get more help from them + you can start building that baking-banking relationship. 👣 Pro-Tip : Use an app like YNAB to help you budget. Cookie supplies like cutters can eat your profits up and leave you working for nothing. Make it so the business funds itself over time. Sure, you invest for startup costs, but we’ll want you paid back too. You and the business are two separate entities mentally (and financially). 🦶 Jump on the video content bandwagon 👣 Wrong : Posting just photos doesn’t work anymore - at least not standalone. And posting AI photos definitely won’t cut it. 👣 Right : You get to start in 2026 - where videos are NEWLY the flavor of the month, and the algo is rewarding that. You can cut through years of someone posting photos with just consistent videos. 👣 Pro-Tip : You don’t have to reinvent the wheel here either. Find what’s working for someone else, tweak it to make it your own (noooo copycats), record and post. You don’t have to be the original; you just have to be uniquely you and consistent. 🦶 Get consistent with content 👣 Wrong : It’ll be tempting to try something for a short period of time, then claim it doesn’t work, and pivot (or stop altogether). Marketing doesn’t work that way - especially online. Consistency is rewarded over flash-in-the-pan viral content. 👣 Right : The algo rewards consistency over loooong periods of time - think months. Yes, you can tweak your content along the way, but it can’t just stop and start and expect to pull numbers. 👣 Pro-Tip : Using apps like Facebook Planner or Claude Cowork (an AI) in a way that doesn’t replace you in your content (no AI flyers, folks) but helps you manage posting consistently are great tools to keep you ahead of the business burnout. 👂 Snag this podcast on any major podcast player (Spotify, Apple Music, Audible, Amazon Music, or watch it on YouTube) by searching for Baking it Down Podcast - Episode 270 - Getting Started on the Right Marketing Foot.

Send us Fan Mail 🍪 Sugar Cookies as a profitable side hustle. In this week's Baking it Down Podcast - Episode 269 - Sugar Cookie Side Hustle , we wanted to take it back to the beginning - specifically to those folks who know they want to take on a new hobby that not only covers itself, but also pads the pockets for some decent fun money. 🚗💨 Sugar cookies as a side hustle is an awesome concept because it doesn't require cars, insurance, fuel, or oil changes. You're also in control of your schedule more than those "overlord apps" that ding, and you have to jump to accept the request or face a bad review and a possible account restriction. Even better? A lot of us already have the basic tools needed to get started - so even the startup costs are lower than most hobbies (just ask me about rug tufting... I ain't had none of that stuff lying around!). 💰 You have 2 hours a day you can bake Imaginary Example: You're a stay-at-home-mom. You have about two hours a day that you can dedicate to baking, and you don't need to carve out anything extra to find them either - stay with me. They're already "baked" into your day during your kids' naptime or right after you put them down for bed. Since decorated cookies only need about 8 hours to dry, this schedule works pretty well for a sugary side hustle. Here's what an example day could look like: 🕓 Your kids wake up at 6:00 AM, and by 6:30 you're prepping them for the morning. 🕓 At 7:00 AM, while the day is still quiet, you plan out your designs. 🕓 When naptime hits at 2:00 PM, you make your dough and prep your icing. 🕓 Then at 8:00 PM, once the kids are in bed, you settle in to decorate. 🕓 By morning, your cookies are dry and ready for packaging and pick-up. 🥶 Add in the ability to freeze your sets a week or more out, and you've got a nice little time runway. 💰 You’d like to make fun money You're not trying to replace a full-time income or build an empire; you'd simply like to make some fun money (💸 an actual sugar m-a-m-a lol - u). Whether it goes toward date nights, a family vacation fund, or a little guilt-free spending of your own, cookie decorating can give you a way to earn extra cash doing something creative on your own schedule (🚗🚗🚗 without having to be in a car delivering). With the flexibility of sugar cookies, you could scale this thing up to a brick-and-mortar or tone it down to a seasonal thing you do around the holidays. 💰 You already have half the supplies Chances are, about 50% of the supplies you need are already sitting in your kitchen already - talk about a start-up cost WIN. A hand mixer, a baking sheet, a plaque cookie cutter, and the basic primary colors for coloring will get you started. And for anything you're missing, you don't have to spend much if you're willing to check your local buy nothing groups, Facebook Marketplace, or simply ask around in a community group (also a great way to signal to a potential audience you're warmin' up the ovens). You'd be surprised what people are happy to give away or sell for next to nothing. 💰 Great recipes are free online You don't need to invent anything from scratch either - could this BE any easier?! Some of the most popular tried-and-true royal icing recipes aren't even behind paywalls. Mike Tamplin's recipe, Sally's Baking Addiction, Haniela's. And if you want to get spendy, Etsy recipes are just a few bucks but totally not required to get out the gate. Snag the podcast to learn what you don't need to get started (hint: artistic ability. Just as Corrie and her oranges 🍊). 👂 Snag this podcast on any major podcast player (Spotify, Apple Music, Audible, Amazon Music, or watch it on YouTube ) by searching for Baking it Down Podcast - Episode 269 - Side Hustle Sugar Cookies.

Send us Fan Mail 🔄 Biting @ the Bit 2 Barter - How to barter as a baker. In this week's Baking it Down Podcast - Episode 268 - Biting at the Bit for Bartering , Corrie has been running some 'bartering' case studies for podcast land. In these test runs, she's joined a local bartering group and exchanged cookies for a social audit with the group admin. In another case, she exchanged her cookies for 👩🏻‍💻🎨 some graphic design work her twin apparently refused to execute in a timely manner (my bad, my bad). Her motive was, "I want to report back to the podcast," so here she is - reporting back on what she did, what she'd do differently, and if she'd do it again. Bartering is the exchange of goods/services for goods/services - one of the oldest forms of commerce in the history of the world. Because it removes the monetary valuation from it, the exchange is made off of ever-changing perceived value - which means your cookies could actually be worth more than you're charging (or valued less - gotta watch out for that - did you know the word barter comes from a French word for "cheater"?). 🤝 How to ask to barter Getting into bartering is as simple as asking, but ensure you're asking specifically for what you want, or you're going to be left writing a lot of rejection letters. Facebook groups dedicated to local bartering are popping up too - that's where Corrie found her two exchanges. Write something as simple as, "Hey followers! I want to let you know I'm always open to bartering with my cookies. I'm looking for anyone who wants to barter Botox, landscaping (spring cleanup specifically), and cleaning services. DM me if you're interested!" Some additional bartering tips: 🔄 Make a post saying you’re open to bartering (above) 🔄 Join a local bartering Facebook group 🔄 Post in a community group that you’re willing to barter 🤝 The benefits of bartering Aside from what you get in the exchange, bartering can open you up to a new demographic, a potential referral source, and some good review opportunities. Consider that most folks in the bartering world tend to shy away from cash exchanges. With bartering, you can capture that new audience, and just because it's value-based instead of cash doesn't mean you can't get some high-quality connections (and exchanges) out of the deal. 🔄 Someone gets to try your cookies that they may not have normally ordered. You can reach a new demographic of people 🔄 This can turn into a referral source + review source 🔄 It works off of the perceived value, so there’s more flexibility in what's exchanged 🤝 The cons of bartering Not every barter will be a win - especially if the exchange is for services. In Corrie's example, she exchanged for both graphic design and a social media audit. The social audit is shaping up to be AI slop, but the graphic design was enough that she was happy - however, the designer didn't provide the necessary print files nor design the front side of the cookie care card (don't worry, Corrie made me do it). The key is setting specifics when it comes to what you're exchanging and what you're exchanging for. 🔄 Not every barter is a win 🔄 You lose a lot of the protections that monetary institutions provide 🔄 It’s awkward 🔄 As with any client, they can be unhappy 🤝 Corrie's bartering tips When it comes to bartering, be specific in what you're looking for . Worst they can say is no, but likely they'll attempt to renegotiate to find common ground for both parties. You're in control - if they're asking for more than you think is fair, you can (politely) say, "I can't do two dozen, but that'd work for a dozen." Look at the big picture - that one barter contact can start referring other clients to you, leave you a positive review, or barter with you again in the future. We asked bakers what they've bartered for, and here are some of the fun answers we got: 🔄 Car detailing 🔄 Snow plowing 🔄 Website 🔄 Photography 🔄 Dental work 🔄 Botox 🔄 Haircuts 🔄 Childcare 🔄 Taylor Swift Eras Tour Tickets 🔄 Oil Change 🔄 Tattoo 🔄 Brick Mailbox for a future credit 🔄 Kayak 🔄 Laser hair removal 👂 Snag this podcast on any major podcast player (Spotify, Apple Music, Audible, Amazon Music, or watch it on YouTube ) by searching for Baking it Down Podcast - Episode 268 - Biting at the Bit for Bartering.

Send us Fan Mail 🗣️ There’s Such a Thing - As bad publicity. In this week's Baking it Down Podcast - Episode 267 - There's Such a Thing as Bad Publicity , if you've not lived under a rock, TikTok is buzzing with some cake pop drama between two bakers. If you have no idea what we're talking about - congrats, you likely have a life and aren't chronically online. The drama is easy to find, but it's lesson-worthy in terms of how your hyper-local small bakery can take some nuggets on how to approach negative press. Because sure - if you're paid per view, maybe there's no such thing as bad press. But if you're selling at a local farmer's market and someone is upset with you, bad press can cost you clients, your booth, and your good standing with the market host. There's a lot more at risk when you're the little local guy - so what can we take from the incident, and how can we apply it to our own bakeries? Here's what we've got in this week's Baking it Down podcast episode. 💢 Pause Before You Post There's simply no better tip we can give you than to take some time before your reply. I'm not talking 30 minutes; we're talkin' a minimum of 6 hours, but 24 hours (so one round of sleeps) would be the recommendation. What you say on the internet lasts forever. Yep, even after that dirty delete or ninja edit, someone out there has screenshot proof of what you initially said. There's no anonymity to hide behind. The pause matters even more on a local scale, because you'll likely see this reviewer (or their friends) at the market next Saturday or at the grocery store tomorrow. 💢 Respond to Your Audience A lot of times, when we get worked up about an unfair piece of content pointing at us, we're prone to see the argument as a back-and-forth debate, when in reality, we're talking to more than just this one individual - we're talking to our entire audience. And our followers aren't judging who's "right," they're judging whether you seem like a pleasant person to buy a dozen cookies from. 💢 Speak Once then Go Silent If you followed the protocol and replied without defensiveness, with a response that acknowledges the hurt, and that fully encompasses the public apology - post it and then step away from the keyboard. Back-and-forth debates, more response videos, comment replies, dirty deletes, DMs - that look like someone who isn't confident in their stance. Be short, be kind, then be quiet. 💢 Don't Be Right, Be Good We'll be the first to say the customer isn't always right - but in the courtroom of public opinion, it doesn't really matter. Drama seekers don't want a clear-cut case - they want d-r-a-m-a . Eliminate drama by looking at the bigger picture here. Ask yourself what's at risk if you engage. Being right doesn't sell cookies; being the baker people feel good about does. 👂 Snag this podcast on any major podcast player (Spotify, Apple Music, Audible, Amazon Music, or watch it on YouTube ) by searching for Baking it Down Podcast - Episode 267 - There's Such a Thing as Bad Publicity.

Send us Fan Mail 🤖 AI Inspo Photo 101 - How to handle client ai inspo images. In this week's Baking it Down Podcast - Episode 266 - AI Inspo Photo 101, one of the top hot button topics we're seeing in not just the Sugar Cookie Marketing group, but all baking-related groups is AI. Specifically, this podcast covers AI-generated inspo photos sent to the baker by their clients - a niche aspect of the ever-popular AI debate. So, whether you're pro or anti-AI, your customers sending you AI is quickly becoming a part of the job (78% of respondents in a group poll said they've received AI-inspo from clients). There are a few things we wanted to cover about AI-Inspo. How to identify it, how to address it, and how to incorporate it all make for the better baker. If you don't like AI, you'd still stand to gain from this podcast since we cover the response when someone sends you an AI photo (also, how to handle it in your terms). 🖼️ How to Spot AI-Inspo Photos As AI gets better, 🔍 it's getting harder and harder for even bakers to spot the nuances of artificial cookie images. So, before we talk about how to address them when you're emailed them from clients, let's talk about 8 ways you can kinda spot AI (they'll have to check a few of these boxes to pass as AI): 🤖 Impossibly smooth flooding : zero flood lines (especially on lettering), no slight orange-peel texture, no settling marks. 🤖 Gradients : seamless airbrushed-looking color fades across a whole cookie. Possible to recreate with Eddie - but a tell nonetheless. 🤖 Detail finer than most marker tips : Even the finest edible marker still has some thickness, and writing with it creates variable line thicknesses, too. 🤖 Lettering : Probably the biggest tell - when the lettering is too perfect with no pressure variations (ya gonna know when Corrie has pressure piped something) 🤖 Physics-defying details : Shadows are the biggest giveaways, but the detail work that just wouldn't exist naturally on a planet with gravity. That said - always look for the shadow issues. 🤖 Too many colors per set : Not saying it's impossible, but the average dozen cookies isn't going to have 32 colors. If a cookie has that many colors, it's either AI or baked for content. 🤖 Lighting/reflection discrepancies : Reflections too perfect? That's a tell. Lighting sources not having a natural gradient towards darkness? Another tell. 🖼️ How to Handle the Client 🗣️ You may be considering grabbing your soapbox to preach to your clients that AI is a job-destroying machine eating up creativity and spitting out audible pollution in residential neighborhoods while burning through the water supply due to the open-loop systems that cool the faceless computers, but now is not the time to chastise, dear baker. 🤖 Validate, don't correct : "I DON'T ACCEPT AI IMAGES" would look like, "Oh wow - love this! What a cool concept. While this looks to be an AI-generated image, I think we can adapt it to real-life cookies. I appreciate you giving me your design direction." 🤖 Translate render to real life : "I think we can adapt this floral into a piped flower that looks like example." This way, they know what's possible (and within your wheelhouse) and what won't make the final cut. 🤖 Email examples : "Here are a few similar sets I've done that match your theme here. We can adapt these to your inspo photo to design a really unique set." 🤖 Agree before money : Add to your invoice - "Final design is based on the baker's quoted concept; online inspiration images may include AI-generated finishes that can't be 100% replicated." Don't just leave this hidden in your terms; bring it to their attention. 🖼️ How to Use AI as a Tool "I'll never use AI." Yes, you will, and you already do. It's frankly now baked into my car's infotainment screen when I navigate to the nearest Olive Garden. AI is everywhere, so how can you use it to your competitive advantage? 🤖 Use AI to brainstorm complex theme ideas (I think Corrie had a "spaghetti rodeo theme" the other day that AI helped out with). 🤖 Use AI to help you mix color palettes or scale a recipe (Corrie did this the other day at the local grocery store, Giant). 🤖 Have AI help you with a copy outline - you go back in and write the content. ✈️ Letting AI ride along with your business journey is a good strategy, but letting AI fly the plane is a recipe to crash and burn 🔥 (well, you'll kinda just be forgotten and blend into the word salad).

Send us Fan Mail 🎤 Cookier Interview - Sharon with Fabuela Q Cookies In this week's Baking it Down Podcast - Episode 265 - Cookier Interview: Sharon , y'all asked for some fresh blood... I mean, new perspectives... on the podcast, and Sharon listened! Sharon with Fabuela Q Cookies recently found the Baking it Down Podcast - and at the perfect time, too. When her digital database of 3,000+ cookies glitched and deleted half her inventory, she caught the Nextcuses episode and approached the task of redoing this monumental undertaking again in a different way - by tackling her newest cutters first, finding a more reliable app, and giving herself permission to purge. Sharon's story is common for a lot of bakers - a full-time job (as an SBA loan closer - very interesting to hear how that works on the podcast) and a side hustle of baking cookies. Her goal with the cottage bakery is to have it dialed in should she one day choose to retire (sounds like her bank will protest any resignation paperwork from Sharon - you go, girl!). As such, she's in the business of balancing - from a full-time intensive job by day to baking up 30 dozen Christmas light-themed cookies by night, it's no task for the weary. But Sharon doesn't shy away from a challenge either. She's closed 2 more loans than they predicted (totalling 3 - GO Sharon!) while also repeating the Main Street Collab concept to get new printed corporate cookie business (a time saver for those who have multiple hustles). 🔥🔥🔥🔥 If that doesn't put a fire under your behind enough, she's also recently completed the Cookie Videos Bootcamp , purchased a subscription to CapCut, got her best bud ChatGPT (goal... post...t - I got the order right, right?) to storyboard her out a script, and went and filmed the thing! On top of that, 💻 she's taken on her website (Shopify being her platform of choice) to dial in her website and start getting more of that search traffic while better converting her audience (websites convert better than Facebook messages or forms). 👂 Snag this podcast on any major podcast player (Spotify, Apple Music, Audible, Amazon Music, or watch it on YouTube ) by searching for Baking it Down Podcast - Episode 265 - Cookier Interview: Sharon.

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Send us Fan Mail ☀️ Summer Slowdown - Keep your marketing piping hot all summer In this week's Baking it Down Podcast - Episode 263 - Summer Slowdown , it's that tiiime of year - where both bakers and clients take a step back from the onslaught of End of School and grad orders. We say it every year - the dreaded "J" months are the slowest months for bakers because it's the convergence of our clients being out of town or busy entertaining the rug rats, along with a hiatus of any major holidays that tick cookie sales up. But if you plan to take a baking break or just understand the ebbs and flows of our industry, the summer slowdown can be a great time to take a deep breath and retool, touch up, and tweak before we get into the crazy Q3 and Q4 "cookie Super Bowl" months. So here are ten things you could do to sharpen the ol' butcher knife that'll make quick work of crunch time. 🌞 Stockpile Dough Batch mix and freeze pre-portioned dough. If you could portion out each storage bag to handle X amount of cookies (this will take some measuring and depends on your roll-out thickness), you could really make the dough thaw process quite efficient. The last thing we want is wasted defrosted dough. Corrie recommends an upright freezer from Wally World to keep your stash outta the way of family ice cream night. Probably best to leave this towards the end of the summer so you're sure it'll last you til Christmas, storage space dependent. 🌞 Audit those SOPs SOPs or "standard operating procedures" are the step-by-step instructions you follow when X is triggered. For example, my SOP for a cookie class starts with adding it to the shared Google calendar, emailing the venue, scheduling another reminder email for the venue, downloading the contact info for class attendees, uploading that info to our newsletter contacts, and emailing Corrie the class info (amazing how I still manage to forget stuff even with this approach). If you don't have any SOPs or they're out of date, now is the time to sit down and build them out so you're not reinventing the wheel every time something happens in your business - a corporate order comes in, a cookie class is scheduled, a custom order is placed, etc. 🌞 Learn 1 New Technique You bought all those courses, and now you're overwhelmed. Make a deal with yourself to just crack open one course and learn 1 specific new skill you know will level up your cookie game (hint - check out these Bootcamps , just 2 days, press play, learn something specific in each one). 🌞 Design your Q4 Offerings We did this last year with our Christmas in July collab - bakers pre-baked their Christmas cookies in slow July, so come the Christmas rush, they were sittin' pretty with pre-batched content ready to go. You can do that now - and if a trend pops up between now and Halloween, add that to your lineup. But with the bulk of the work done, you're going to be set up for the holiday rush. 🌞 Batch your Content Facebook Planner only allows just under 2 months of content to be scheduled, but FeedHive (and similar apps) let you schedule out for the year. So you can create a pre-scheduled content base now to go up well into the holiday season when you're more pressed for time, but you definitely don't want to ghost your Halloween ghosts. We cover a few more ideas, but you know what your business will benefit from this summer. Get a plan going now, execute in June and July, relax in August, and hold onto your horses in September - it's Cookie Bowl! 👂 Snag this podcast on any major podcast player (Spotify, Apple Music, Audible, Amazon Music, or watch it on YouTube ) by searching for Baking it Down Podcast - Episode 263 - Summer Slowdown.

Send us Fan Mail 🎥 Video Marketing - Using video in marketing. In this week's Baking it Down Podcast - Episode 262 - Using Video in Marketing , we spent today recording the sessions for the upcoming 2-day Cookie Videos Bootcamp that drops June 4 -5 (and there's still time to register , hint hint). Videos are here, and whether we like it or not, we need to jump on the bandwagon. Because not having videos in your marketing umbrella leaves you wide open to the competition snagging those precious impressions. Last week, we talked about funneling. Applied to Reels, a video funnel might look like a cookie decorating video (top of funnel = gets the most reach, converts the fewest buyers), a baking tips and tricks (middle of funnel = now you're only talking to bakers = great for sponsored content from bakery suppliers), and ending with how you set up a local in-person cookie class (bottom of funnel = hyper focused on a local audience who can convert into ticket sales). Funnels are a strategy to focus your content goals. Having broad content that appeals to a wide base will increase views. Having content that appeals to a medium-sized base will increase followers, and having content that tells people to sign up for something will increase sales. It's a healthy, full-spectrum approach to how you generate content. This way, you're not producing endless decorating videos, getting a ton of views, and not making a buck (outside of a few dollars from the creator fund). Such is the focus of this back-to-basics bootcamp - understanding which stands and which content style will help you generate the videos that create the funnel content. Don't get me wrong - it's getting started , but it's also showing you different types of content styles. Recording overhead cookie videos? Yes, of course. But also getting you in front of a camera (*throws up in mouth*) is going to really push you and push your engagement up up up (yes - I hate this for both of us). Video is the flavor of the month (year) for the algos, so we must play their game. What worked 3 years ago doesn't work today, and what works today won't work tomorrow. Record. Record. Record. And if you're new to recording, you're going to love the bootcamp (details below). I sat through about 3 hours' worth of recorded content today with Twin2, and she's hitting right where you want to learn to get started recording, editing, and uploading on the right foot (stand?). 👂 Snag this podcast on any major podcast player (Spotify, Apple Music, Audible, Amazon Music, or watch it on YouTube ) by searching for Baking it Down Podcast - Episode 262 - Using Video in Marketing.

Send us Fan Mail 🌾 Lawn Funnel - Understanding the marketing landscape. In this week's Baking it Down Podcast - Episode 261 - Lawn Funnel , Corrie really wanted to stick with the 🌱 landscaping analogy - so baby gets what she wants. The topic = funnels. The analogy = a lawn. We use the buzzy word "funnels" a lot when we talk - acquisition funnel, conversion funnel, reengagement funnel, funnel cakes (wait... no) - lot'sa funnels. But what does "funnel" mean in marketing? 🔽 Think of a legit funnel - note how it starts off wide and tapers to a small point. This is the visual representation of how your marketing funnels work as well. 🔽🔽🔽 You cast a wide net by posting in a local Facebook group (top of funnel), 🔽🔽 then you make a post asking the same group to vote on a cookie class theme to teach (middle of funnel), 🔽 then you pitch them on signing up for said class (bottom of funnel). In each layer of the funnel, you get fewer and fewer people until the final few click that sign-up button, 💲 and you've made a sale. This is by design. How your funnels are configured can be compared to how someone maintains their lawn. 🪴 Rotor-Sprinklers - Spray and Pray A lot of baker's marketing funnels start and stop here - which negates the funnel concept entirely, and you're left with a really wide tube that's letting your leads fall out immediately. This is the type of content that should sit at the top of your funnel (TOFU) - it's your decorating videos or your baking tips and tricks. You know, that stuff that stops the scroll and tends to go more viral than your other content. This content should cast a wide net, but that net will likely catch more than just your target audience. Which is why we need to move from 🔽🔽🔽 TOFU (top of funnel) to 🔽🔽 MOFU (middle of funnel) to sift out our seed from our chaff. Views are cool, sales are cooler. 🪴 Drip Irrigation - Target Specifically This is watering the root system for specific needs in different areas of our lawn. 💦 Your veggie garden isn't going to need the same moisture strategy as that dead patch in the back. 💧 Targeting a specific plant with the specific amount of water that creates the environment for it to grow is key. Same with your audience . The lead you acquired from a cookie class is going to think it strange when you send an email saying, "THANKS FOR ATTENDING MY VENDOR SHOW." This is where list segmentation and distinct funnels really shine (like the sun... see, the plant analogy sticks). Here's a content funnel designed to get your audience to sign up for a cookie class: 🌿 TOFU - A Reel of you setting up a cookie class 🌿 MOFU - A Reel of you telling people what they'll learn in class 🌿 BOFU - A Reel of you telling people how to sign up for class 🪴️ Fertilizer - Grow What's Growing Then we have the lush, beautiful lawn that's perfect and making the neighbors jealous. DO NOT forget to keep up with this lawn. The tendency of bakers to say, "They seem happy, let me tend to this dormant patch back here," and leave our green grass clients out to dry happens when we run out of time. And while both are necessary actions for a healthy lawn (audience), the returning clients are some of the cheapest to maintain because they're already happy, they don't mind your prices, and they know your workflow. 🪴️ Aeration - Reengage the Dormant Dormant patches of grass (cold leads or leads that haven't returned) can have their own dedicated funnels too - think of a reengagement funnel strategy that starts with a "We Miss You" email, followed by a newsletter about an upcoming product drop you'd like to give them first access to, then followed with a discount code (this would require an email drip software with an exit action - Flodesk do this). That's one way to see if we can aerate these dried-up leads or cut them loose. 👂 Snag this podcast on any major podcast player (Spotify, Apple Music, Audible, Amazon Music, or watch it on YouTube ) by searching for Baking it Down Podcast - Episode 261 - Lawn Funnel.

Send us Fan Mail 🌱 Business Weeding - Stop bad behavior before it starts. In this week's Baking it Down Podcast - Episode 260 - Business Weeding , we wanted to talk about small behavioral problems that, when left to grow and get deeper roots, become big problems. Yes, Heather was weeding, and this is all she could think about. What happens is ya get started selling cookies, likely because it was a hobby, and randomly someone says, "Oh, can I place an order?!" Right here - it's right here when you need to start weeding out your own bad behavior. Trust me - we write from beyond the trenches dug in months and years of bad behavior reinforcement. Pruning the weeds when they're small will make for a business you're happy to tend to. 🪴 Social Media Commenting You get in turf wars in local groups, go mud slinging in topic-focused groups, and laugh react at anyone you disagree with? Grab those pruning shears, because that's a bad behavior you've gotta cut off before it strangles your lead garden. In all seriousness, with the appreciation of Facebook groups through Meta, admins are given more and more transparency regarding group members, and as the search features get more dialed in with Facebook groups going public (versus private), your social search history will become more clear and present - a clear and present danger if you're used to rolling in the social mud. This is where a few of you will dig in your heels - specifically with political rhetoric. Listen - your cause would rather you donate the money from your cookie sales than have you win an argument in the comment section on an obscure thread in an obscure group on Facebook (pro-tip: you won't convince anyone of anything on Facebook). 🪴 Mishandling Order Intake When you're just getting started, there's no website, no forms, barely a Facebook page, and likely it's just your personal Instagram. This is par for the course - but allow us to speak from "The Great Beyond." Force people to place and order through a form - yes, even when you're just getting started (Google Forms is free). It's not if, it's when you forget an order when you don't take them through a single instake process like a form. 🪴️ Pricing to Make the Sale This will always lead to hurt feelings down the road, so eradicate it from the root now. Pricing low to snag the order will lead to clients who gravitate towards you due to your lower prices. But as your skills increase, so must your prices, and so will your clients, right? RIGHT?? Wrong - once we taste of "on sale," we rarely believe it's worth more (check out the JCPenney case study for proof). Price appropriately to your costs. Your labor costs will be lower because your skill set is, but pricing to be the lowest to beat out the older, more seasoned competition? Listen - there's a reason they ain't cheap. 🪴️ Friends and Family Discount Corrie is standing here with a shovel and a h-oe (not today, Zuck) telling you - DO NOT do friends and family the favor of undercharging without telling them this is a deal. What will happen is that they don't know your actual prices, and when you slap them down the road with sticker shock, they feel slighted. If you wanna do Auntie a solid, tell them they always get 15% off (or whatever you're comfortable with), that way your discount grows with your pricing versus a flat rate you may feel is unfair to you down the road of gainful experience. 👂 Snag this podcast on any major podcast player (Spotify, Apple Music, Audible, Amazon Music, or watch it on YouTube ) by searching for Baking it Down Podcast - Episode 260 - Business Wedding.

Send us Fan Mail 📅 Posting Every Day - To cut through & connect. In this week's Baking it Down Podcast - Episode 259 - Posting Every Day , Corrie has been testing out a 30-day strategy to cut through the noise of crowded AI-spun feeds to see if she can get the algo to swing in her direction and show more of her business page posts to her target demographic. In a world where anyone can get ChatGPT or Gemini or Claude to whip up copy that conforms to copy frameworks, uses perfect punctuation, and the right dash of emojis with a clear CTA - how can you stand out? Corrie's placing all her chips (and posts) on red so her posts can get... well, read. ✍️ Content That Creates Engagement In her strategy, she's posting every day, testing from a series of content buckets or pillars that hit a few different targets in order to reach her audience. One of those buckets includes talking directly to her page followers - asking for opinions, taking polls, and asking for advice. Basically, she's trying to create a back-and-forth conversation. This equals engagement. This is different than what most other business pages do - which is pretty much a constant string of "buy from me" sales posts. Don't worry - we'll add in the sale pitches in a minute. You'd be looking for 12 pieces of engaging content in a 30-day runtime following an 80/20 ratio. ✍️ Posting Content that Connects People love people, and letting people in allows your audience to connect with your business on a deeper level. But if you're shy, there's still a way to connect with your audience! Use the Main Street May Cookie Collab as a great way to connect your business (cookies) with your local Main Street and watch your audience run to comment that they love the place you featured. If you were running this test for 30 days, 12 days should feature content that connects with your audience. ✍️ Posting Content that Converts And finally, we're a business, so we gotta sell. The 80/20 principle (Pareto Principle) is a great guide. If we're posting 30 days straight, 6 days need to feature pitches for your products - cookie classes, customs, a pop-up, a vendor market. You can still mix and match strategies here - we don't want to have a great engagement strategy, then smack them with a "BUY MY STUFF" suddenly. You could say, "Hey - I'm thinking about teaching this or that cookie class kit next week, which set would you like to see me teach?" Strategies are different approaches to marketing and business - and they can run in long and short durations. If you feel stagnant in your posting strategy, this 30-day daily posting strategy can really give your page a solid dose of AI-detox defibrillation. 👂 Snag this podcast on any major podcast player (Spotify, Apple Music, Audible, Amazon Music, or watch it on YouTube ) by searching for Baking it Down Podcast - Episode 259 - Posting Every Day.