Baking it Down with Sugar Cookie Marketing: Recent Episodes

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👩🏻‍💻 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 is 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.

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🎤 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.

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🦶 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.

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🍪 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 bakeImaginary 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 moneyYou'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 suppliesChances 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 onlineYou 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.

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🔄 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.

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🗣️ 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.

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🤖 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?

1. 🤖 Use AI to brainstorm complex theme ideas (I think Corrie had a "spaghetti rodeo theme" the other day that AI helped out with).
2. 🤖 Use AI to help you mix color palettes or scale a recipe (Corrie did this the other day at the local grocery store, Giant).
3. 🤖 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).

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🎤 Cookier Interview - Sharon with Fabuela Q CookiesIn 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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☀️ Summer Slowdown - Keep your marketing piping hot all summerIn 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.

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🎥 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.

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🌾 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.

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🌱 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.

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📅 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.

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🗣️ Speaking For Your Clients - And not speaking as your clients.In this week's Baking it Down Podcast - Episode 258 - Speaking For Your Clients, Not As, we focus on bakers' tendency to hyper-focus on their own experience and apply it to their clients.

Except... we're not our clients.

🥣 We're not our clients so much so that we don't buy sugar cookies. We're so cheap, we figured out how to make them instead! 🧠 So it doesn't make a ton of sense to apply your method of thinking to your client's method of speaking.

⛔🗣️ Stop speaking for your clients. Start speaking asyour clients. Speaking for your clients can derail your business in a few different ways, but today we've focused on five.

🗣️ Wallet-Watching

🧠 Wallet-watching is thinking your customer won’t pay your prices because you wouldn’t pay them. Of course, you wouldn't pay them; you quite literally learned how to bake sugar cookies, so you didn't have to pay someone else.

We speculate that "client speaking" thoughts come from a fear of rejection and a baker's attempt to get ahead of it. "If I lower my price, they won't say I'm too expensive and not worth the money."

In reality, the client came to you - they're interested in finding a way you can work with them and their budget. You and the client aren't the bad guys - the budget is! Now you two get to find a way to make it all work.

🗣️ Boredom-Betting

🧠 Boredom-betting is adding too many things to your menu because you THINK your customers will get bored with your best sellers. We often call this analysis paralysis, or basically adding so many options that our lizard brains think, "Oh man, what if I pick the wrong one? I won't buy anything at all."

🗣️ Social Sabotage

We see this one pop up every cookie collab. "I'm not on Instagram because I don't make sales there." You're thinking for your customers when you skip out on a social media platform because you don't find yourself buying on it. You're thinking as your customers when you realize not everyone uses social media the same way you do.

If you get a minute, listen to this week's podcast, Episode 258 - we have two more examples of thinking for versus thinking as your clients.

👂 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 258 - Speaking For Your Clients, Not As.

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🟣 What Popped Off - at What’s Popping Con.In this week's Baking it Down Podcast - Episode 257 - What Popped Off at What's Popping Con, Corrie and I just got back from this week's second-ever 🔴🟠🟡🟢🔵🟣 What's Popping Con - a cake pop convention by Daisy Makes (also a beloved Baking it Down podcast sponsor).

Last year, 👥 we'd talked about marketing in community groups, so this year, "the twins" wanted to level up that concept to build a social media strategy brick by brick from the ground up.

🙏 Counter to the "spray and pray" method of posting whatever and hoping for the best, 🎯 a content strategy starts with a S-M-A-R-T goal, then uses that goal to figure out which of Meta's Insights Dashboard metrics you'll measure your results with.

Our "cake-study" Cake Pop Kelly decides her SMART goal is to:

• 👉 Generate $500 more dollars (specific)
• 👉 In May 2026 (time-bound)
• 👉 Than she did in May 2025 (attainable)
• 👉 Using a Vendor Expo as well as custom orders
• 👉 (she'd need to sell 100 cake pops at $5/ea or acquire 7.5 custom orders at $66/dzn)

From there, she needs to build her content strategy based on her chosen metrics using content buckets intersected with media types.

• 🔗 If you click on the webpage (https://www.sugarcookiemarketing.com/poppingagain), you can follow along with her plan step by step - even auditing Kelly's social media posts against her metrics.

👂 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 257 - What Popped Off at What's Popping Con.

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🤷 Nextcuses - How to get around your own excuses.In this week's Baking it Down Podcast - Episode 256 - Nextcuses, we wanted to talk about somethin' that crops up every month there's a Cookie Collab (Pipe a Park Collab is this Friday btw - oh, you won't be able to participate? Hold onto that thought.).

We get it - 🥺 life is lifing, the kids are screaming, the clients are screaming louder than the kids, the spouse is upset, the in-laws are coming over, and you're about .002 seconds from crying in a Target aisle. 😭

Your excuses = valid. None of those things is a lie. But all of those things are costing you business. 💪 But you can re-pattern your excuses to be more honest, and thus, more useful in understanding how you and your business work together.

✨ The "Five-Minute Rule"

Most excuses are born from the fear of how long or difficult a task will be.

🖐️ Tell yourself you will do the task for only five minutes. So it's not, "I'll take the twins 8-hour bootcamp on in-person cookie classes," but instead it's, "I'll start watching the Bootcamp for just 5 minutes."

• ✅ Why it works: The hardest part of any task is the transition from "doing nothing" to "doing something." Once the seal is broken, the excuse of being "too tired" or "too busy" usually fades because you’ve already started.

🏋🏽🔥💪🏼🎧 I do this with the gym (my most hated place on earth). "I'm allowed to just drive to the gym, walk in, and leave" becomes, "Okay, find - I'll do a few exercises." We're literally tricking our brains into being productive-ish. And productive-ish is better than production-less.

✨ Practice "If-Then" Planning

Excuses thrive with obstacles. The minute that gym parking lot is too packed? 🏎️💨 Ya girl hitting the gas right back home. And while it feels good in that minute (trust me - there is no higher high), I still didn't get my exercise in, and it'll cost me my cortisol, good sleep, and a healthy body.

The solution - if-then approach to obstacles. "If the gym is packed, I'll go for a long walk." 📸 And "If I run out of time to record a Reel for Instagram, I'll post a photo instead."

• ✅ Formula: "If [Obstacle] happens, then I will [Action]."
• ✅ Example: "If I feel too tired to work on that set after dinner, then I will set a timer for 10 minutes and just do the easiest task on my list."

✨ Rephrase Your Language

This is my favorite one (probably because I'm most guilty of it). Excuses are masked as "can't." "I can't do the collab, "I can't record that Reel," "I can't make a website because..."

This takes the power from you and puts it on the reason (whatever comes after the "because). It makes things appear out of your control. Switch to "don't" or "choose not to" to take that power.

• ❌ Instead of: "I can't do the Pipe a Park collab because I recovering."
• ✅ Try: "I am choosing not to participate in the Pipe a Park collab. I'm tired from a recent surgery, and I don't feel like it right now."

Why this works: Taking ownership of the choice you make helps you realize you are in control. If you don't like the way the "choice" feels, you are more likely to change the behavior. 🤔 You may think, "Well, I am recovering, but going for a walk might be a nice experience, and I have a frozen cookie I could thaw."

In this podcast, we cover 2 more approaches to turn your excuses into next-cuses. Tune in to learn about "frictionless starts" and "pay-off audits."

👂 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 256 - Nextcuses.

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💲 Pre-Sales Recap - What we learned in the bootcamp.In this week's Baking it Down Podcast - Episode 255 - Bootcamp Recap, we recapped the Bootcamp on Pre-Sales. No, this isn't a sales pitch, but the cool part about the bootcamps is the private Bootcamp Facebook group dedicated to that month's focus topic.

Since the Bootcamp group, well, boots everyone when the Bootcamp finishes, the people who join are 100% there to get their learnin' on. So the answers to the group polls and prompts can be pretty telling when it comes to the pre-sale (pre-order?) industry as a whole.

🪖 Pre-Sale or Pre-Order?

We asked "recruits" what they call a pre-sale to their clients. Outside of the baking industry, I'm not sure 'pre-sale' is a well-known term. Pre-order, however, has been widely adopted when it comes to product drops like merch. (Remember when I woke up at 6 AM to go to a Target in another state to snag the Diet Coke Owala drop??). Overwhelmingly, bakers agree - pre-order was used by 79% of bakers polled in the Bootcamp.

🪖 Pick-Up Days

Not all pick-up days are created equally, and there's the nuance of getting as close as you can to the holiday the pre-sale is centered around, while also making it an ideal day for your audience (and bakers... who wants to really be glued to your doorbell on a beautiful Saturday?).

We had two close calls, but Friday won at 44% of bakers choosing it as the optimal date for pre-sale pick-ups, followed by Saturdays at 38%. Interestingly, Thursdays came in third place, and Monday and Tuesday tied for last.

🪖 Repeat Pre-Seller

I found this one interesting - who wanted to register for the Bootcamp? Seasoned pros? Newbs trying to figure out how to plan it all? Turned out it was mostly bakers who had already hosted a presale - 80% of Bootcampers had replied with "yes" when asked if they had hosted a pre-sale before.

And I think I know why. Often, pre-sales can't be a "one hit wonder," so bakers try it, it flops, they swear off pre-sales ever again, but that thought in the back of their mind that they're leaving good money on the table lingers.

Pre-sales are unique and require repetition to train our audience to understand how they work. Such would be that the first few pre-sales would be flops - your audience is still in the learning phase.

🪖 Schooled on Pre-Sales

The next big pre-sale theme is school-related. May and June are chock-full of teacher appreciation, graduation, the last day of school, etc. So, which did bakers say gets the most bang for their pre-sale buck? Teacher Appreciation was voted by 72% of bakers as the best seller when it comes to school-related pre-sales.

In this podcast, we also read "enlistees" one tip they'd give about pre-sales, along with having Corrie recap what went right and wrong in her own Easter Pre-Sale Pickup this past Friday.

👂 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 255 - Pre-Sales Recap.

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✅✅✅ Good - Better - Best - A tiered pricing strategy.

In this week's Baking it Down Podcast - Episode 254 - Good Better Best, we explore the Good, Better, Best (GBB) strategy for pricing tiers - the magic being "good" is where it's at.

Forgive the lateness of today's Onesday Wednesday... however checks the clock - it would seem we've still made the deadline (sorry, had to get today's Bootcamp on Pre-Sales launched).

Not all strategies are created equal, and not all strategies will fit your sales approach. I like to compare strategies to a blanket that lies on top of your sales. Find the blanket that's most comfortable for your business approach.

Today's blanket = tiered pricing. Specifically, a 3-tier pricing structure designed to drive buyers to the middle tier - the better tier.

Benefits of the Good Better Best strategy? It reduces decision fatigue by limiting options to three clear choices, helping customers feel like they are getting a great deal without the baker overextending their time or resources - what baker wants to get burnt out?!

And for the baker? Your orders are the ones you want to take, while still making space for the lower budgets and still being open to the budget busters (hey, we can wipe our tiers with hundred-dollar bills, right?).

This pricing approach enhances what your clients 🧠 perceive as a good value, especially when you're specific with the better and best tier options. People can see what they are getting (or what they aren't) and justify the higher tier because they can see the difference, but not opt for the highest tier, feeling like they saved some money.

🎯 The goal = move them into the middle tier.

This approach to pricing maximizes your audience, too - 🏆🏆🏆 another win-win-win of the GBB. You can now reach people at different price points that you wouldn't normally reach when they have submitted a quote before knowing the price. The cheaper budgets fall in the "good" tier, the ideal clients snag the "better" pricing, and the clients who are gonna be extra actually pay extra.

The key is to price your Good Tier in an unappealing way - the price is appealing, but the options within the tier make the client think, "Eh, I'm not sure that's what I want exactly." Corrie says, "Think 2 designs, 3 colors, less than a dozen cookies." We basically want the good tier to be the fall guy.

Your Better Tier is your Magic Mike. Within this tier, we've got 6 colors, 4 designs, 5 names on cookies, 2 dozen cookies (made-up numbers, but you get the point). This tier will look like most of the orders you're already taking currently.

Your BEST Tier will be over the top - golds, metallics, lettering, endless customization... You get the point. And price like you get three numbers before the decimal point. Make the Best Tier feel slightly outta touch with reality - we don't want people opting for this tier first.

This strategy marries price anchoring, popcorn pricing, customer segmentation, and "the compromise effect" to create a really powerful three-in-one sales pitch. Consider whether tiered pricing is a good fit for your bakery this week.

👂 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 254 - Good Better Best.

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💪 SWOT 2 Success - Analyzing your way to success.In this week's Baking it Down Podcast - Episode 253 - SWOT Your Way to Success, I asked on the Sugar Cookie Marketing Facebook Page how Easter sales were so far (🐰 Easter falls almost two weeks earlier this year than it did in 2025).

And the answers were all over the place - from being completely sold out to selling out of nothing. So what gives? 📍 Is location that big of a factor between selling out and selling a big fat egg (🐣 Easter puns)?

Likely no - while it is a factor, conducting a SWOT analysis will give us a better answer as to what's working for you specifically and what needs to be buried in the backyard grass (🌱🥚 forced Easter puns).

The goal of SWOT analysis is to establish what's working, what's working against you, where there's room for growth, and what to watch out for. SWOT is an acronym that stands for:

• 💪 Strengths - What the business does better than anyone else.
• 💪 Weaknesses - Areas where the business could improve or lacks resources.
• 💪 Opportunities - External chances to grow or find a new market.
• 💪 Threats - External factors that could cause trouble.

In this week's podcast, ✝️ we run Corrie's Easter Pre-sales through a SWOT Analysis to determine that the cookie she thought would sell the least because of its religious affiliation actually sold the most.

A SWOT Analysis determined that next year, ✅ she should offer more religious cookies, ✅ more exciting designs, ✅ allow for more of a marketing runtime by 2 weeks, and ✅ cross-promote with a cookie class that's not so close to Easter (so she can sell more leading up to Easter).

Let's adapt a SWOT Analysis to cottage bakers. When you think of your strengths and weaknesses, those are things that fall within the home - so ❌ your aging equipment (weakness) or ✅️ your automation software (strength), while your opportunities and threats are things that fall outside of the home - so a ✅️ new farmer's market opening (opportunity) or ❌ increased gas prices affecting delivery costs (threat).

SWOT for Cottage Bakers:

• 👉 Strengths - Low overhead costs or a "secret" family recipe.
• 👉 Weaknesses - Limited oven space or being the lowest priced baker (burnout risk).
• 👉 Opportunities - A local farmers' market opening up or a trend in gluten-free treats.
• 👉 Threats - Rising flour prices or strict new county health labeling laws.

Now that we know what a SWOT analysis is and how to look at the four quadrants (S-W-O-T), we need to find an objective.

For the example above, we were conducting a SWOT analysis on how Corrie can increase her pre-sales for Easter 2027. By keeping this analysis in a living Google sheet, she can reference her analysis, take notes, and write future suggestions to herself (🧠 because goodness only knows we won't remember what happened yesterday, let alone what happened 364 days ago).

• 💡 How can I increase my Easter Pre-sales next year?
• 💡 Could I quit my 9-5?
• 💡 Should I expand into a brick-and-mortar?
• 💡 Are my sales dropping month over month?

Having an objective tells us where to look and guides the analysis. Listen to this week's podcast to hear more about the TOWS matrix of developing three SMART goals from your SWOT analysis (holy acronyms, twins!)

👂 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 253 - SWOT Your Way to Success.

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🧠 Piping Positioning - What your clients think about you.In this week's Baking it Down Podcast - Episode 252 - Piping Positioning, we wanted to talk about a buzzy marketing concept called "product positioning." Think of positioning as the mental real estate your bakery is renting in the heads of your customers.

Here's the catch - 🫵 you don't control what they think about you, but rather all the pieces of marketing create an experience they recall when they hear your name. Let me explain.

Having recently moved, I've been targeted in a half dozen ads about anything and everything home goods, but one brand keeps rising to the top - of both feeds and word-of-mouth.

Quince is an up-and-coming household brand that positions itself as "luxury and quality for less," 💸💸💸💸 going as far as to directly compare their prices against popular brands like West Elm, Pottery Barn, and Williams-Sonoma (⚖️ there's a lawsuit about this, actually).

How do they do the same thing at the same quality, but for less? Their approach of "radical transparency" explains it just about everywhere on their website. They source the same materials from the same factories as the higher-priced brands, and then cut out the middleman by selling directly from their website to consumers.

Other examples of brands that have done a great job at positioning - try guessing these before you peek (some may be location dependent):

• 🧠 Safe Cars = Volvo
• 🧠 Customer Service Chicken = Chick-Fil-A
• 🧠 Everyday products at a lower cost = Walmart
• 🧠 Quick Oil Changes = Jiffy Lube
• 🧠 Judge-free Gym = Planet Fitness
• 🧠 Gas with Great Convenience Store = Sheetz
• 🧠 Quick Burgers = McDonald's
• 🧠 Quality Groceries = Wegmans / Whole Foods
• 🧠 Streaming Service = Netflix
• 🧠 Best Dating App = Hinge
• 🧠 Social Media = Facebook

What made us all think of mostly the same brands? That's positioning. If I said "really high-quality burger," you likely wouldn't think of McDonald's, right?

“Positioning is not what you do to a product. Positioning is what you do to the mind of the prospect.” - Jack Trout

Positioning can take multiple forms and varies depending on who you're targeting (Volvo positions both as safe and as luxurious, depending on who their target market is for the vehicle). Price-based is the route Quince

🏷️ Price-based positioning is the route Quince is taking, and while we often tell bakers not to compete on price, you can position on price depending on your targets. For example, we're not the most expensive cookie class instructors, so we could compete there if we wanted, without touching our margins at all.

Quality and premium positioning you see with brands like ⌚ Rolex or Apple - brands you know won't be cheap, but that's almost why you want them in the first place.

Application / Use-case positioning is a brand that comes to mind when you need to solve a specific problem. Which app would you use for online meetings? Zoom, right? What do you reach for when your nose is running? Kleenex? And then there's the funny backstory to Vecro (a brand so positioned that it's replaced its product name - hook and loop - with its brand).

Take the concept of positioning into your week and see which brands have rented your mental landscape. The positioning formula is this:

• For [Target Audience], [Brand Name] is the [Category] that [Point of Differentiation] because [Reason to Believe].

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🍩 Posting Do’s & Do-nots - Coming up with a social strategy.

In this week's Baking it Down Podcast - Episode 251 - Posting Dos and Donuts, the twin2 (sorry for the audio issues on this episode, still figuring out remote podcasts 😭) wanted to talk about posting strategy. If it were as easy as "post every day and you'll be a billionaire," well, you wouldn't be hearing from me right now; I'd be too busy posting once a day (as I'm sure you would, too).

But alas - posting and getting reach involves strategy - a formulated plan to reach our audience and cut through the noise of every other business attempting to snag their attention and hog their feeds.

📝 Do: Post frequently
In today's podcast, Corrie said, "Post every day," as in that's the goal, but it can't be just posting whatever, whenever. It's gotta be quality content as frequently as you can manage it. Does that mean if you don't post daily, you get a big giant F in marketing? No - that means you get a giant H because you're H-uman.

It's estimated that every day, 300 million pieces of content are posted to Facebook - and we need to cut through all of that with our cookie posts. So how do you compete in a flooded feed? You get creative, but you also stay consistent.

🍩 Do-not: Post just to post

Content is queen, sure - but quality content will reign supreme. If you posted a cookie set every day, you'd be posting consistently, yes - but your reach will decrease over time. Why? 🥱 It's boring. Just a picture of a decorating cookie and a boring caption? It can only do so much. The algos won't reward you with reach because your content doesn't compel people to stay on the platform.

💡 Remember - content that intrigues, captivates, creates curiosity keeps people on their platforms. If you keep people on their platforms long enough for them to serve an ad, they'll reward you with more reach.

Corrie has been pinging her "personal" content bucket. Her Q1 strategy was to see if creating more relationship-centered content would increase her reach. And in February, she saw a 39% increase in reach - and a double bonus, 71% of those were non-followers.

📝 Do: Check insights

Your insights (metrics) provided by my social media platforms will help you guide your strategy. Some things your audience will love, some will be only viewed by crickets. 📊 Corrie made an Excel spreadsheet tracking each piece of content she posted in February, the reach, and the engagement. From there, she's able to dial in that strategy for March. She can cut what didn't land, and she can double down on what got more of a response.

And that's how you build a strategy that's ever-shifting.

🍩 Do-not: Talk at your audience

Social media is a conversation. 🤝 That's why end users are able to like, comment, stitch, and share - because social platforms know that the more people can converse, the longer they stay on the platform, and yep - the more ads they can be served. Remember that relationship, right?

🗣️ By asking a question or making a joke or posting interesting content, you're joining the conversation. When you say, "Buy from me, buy from me, buy from me," there's no conversation happening there. "Do you want to buy from me?" Still not it. What about posting a set of cat-themed cookies and asking people to comment with a photo of their cats in the comments?

Guess what - 🐱 they'll comment a pic of their lil orange Garfield and tell you all about how adorable it is when he scratches the seats up. That's a conversation!

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📸 1,000 Word Pictures - Why photography really really matters.In this week's Baking it Down Podcast - Episode 250 - 1,000 Word Pictures, in preparation for this week's Cookie Photography Bootcamp, photography is on the brain of the twins, and that's because a huge part of food sales comes from great photos.

Consider yourself - do you tend to order things off the menu that have pictures? A study shows that restaurants saw a 30% increase in sales when pictures were included on their menu.

"Restaurants with high-quality photos can see up to 30% higher sales on average — showing just how powerful great menu photography can be. In fact, nearly half of Gen Z diners (46%) say food photos influence their decision to try a new restaurant, according to the DoorDash Delivery Trends Report. "

🖼️ Photography's marketing value

Better photos, better ingredients, better pizza, Papa John's. Only kidding (Heather can't resist), but better photos do increase the perceived value of a product. Doesn't matter how good the product is, if the photo screams "this was baked in a dark dungeon," you're not going to move product.

And great photos are a great way to flex your skillset. If you live in an area of stiff cookie competition, photography can put you a cut(ter) above the rest. By being able to really dial in on your details with great photos, you can push product faster than the next kitchen.

Corrie adds that investing in your photography skills now can allow you to use current photos for years to come. "I got really good at photography years ago. Now those cookies from 4 years ago? I can use them to sell quickly even today. Good photography pays it forward."

🖼️ Lighten up!

In the Bootcamp for Cookie Photography (you can sign up at www.thecookiecollege.com for $13), we focus a lot on lighting. Photography = photon = light. Photography is the capture of light, so good lighting sets the stage for a great photo. Finding good lighting is a must if you want to fall in love with your photography.

Light boxes, three-point lighting systems, and overhead lighting are fine in a picture pinch, but bakers should really focus on indirect, natural (sun) light for pictures that pop off the newsfeed.

🖼️ Back up that background

Your kitchen's granite countertops are designed to distract (from your husband's inability to clear the crumbs from the toaster). As such, using them as your backdrop is distracting. Investing in a backdrop can clear the clutter and make for some clean product shots. Don't overspend - a matte white finish (or marble if you're feelin' fancy) is all you need to start leveling up your photography game.

🖼️ To the big stage!

Referring to the "pyramid" worksheet, build from the bottom up. Pyramid style staging keeps it simple: a backer, a tea towel, a baking tray, a plate, and your cookies. Sprinkle some props in the periphery (and don't be afraid to crop the prop), and you've set the stage for cookies that create a want in your clients.

Not sure if you nailed the staging? Take your photo to the nearest unbiased friend (or twin) and ask, "What did your eyes see first when I showed you this photo?" If the answer ain't "them cookies, giiiirl -wooohooo," rethink the set and take it back to basics.

👂 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 250 - 1,000 Word Pictures.

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🥾 Bootcamp Recap - Teaching in-person cookie classes.In this week's Baking it Down Podcast - Episode 248 - Bootcamp Recap, we wrapped up our first pilot for the Cookie College 2026 Bootcamp configuration - and it went pretty well! Thanks to all who put up with some bumps and bruises for round one.

🥾 What's a Cookie College Bootcamp?

In 2026, we're taking a different approach to adding new content to our top membership - The Cookie College. Instead of adding new classes all willy nilly, we're adding a monthly collection of modules that focus on a specific topic. Bootcamps last between 2 - 3 days, and each day has about 2 hours worth of content. Recruits also get access to a private Bootcamp Facebook group where we discuss topics, break down worksheets, and host Live Q&As.

The cool part about Bootcamps? You don't need to be a Cookie College monthly member to join. Bootcamps are $13, and they're a great way to "taste test" the content in The Cookie College. And bonus - if you sign up after attending a Bootcamp, you get $13/off the Cookie College membership (forever).

Nothing else changes about our memberships and the content - we're just adding the new feature of Bootcamp Intensives!

🥾 Bootcamp Day 1 - Event Setup + Marketing

Day 1 of the Bootcamp covered setting up a cookie class event using Eventbrite (and their nifty 2025 / 2026 event dashboard redesign). Attendees got access to a free Cookie Class Kit (🍍🍎🍓🍇 Fruits & Frosting), and we used the included Event Listing copy to build out Eventbrite as well as set class limits, add DIY kit add-ons, and set sales dates. We also had Eventbrite push the event listing to Facebook for better cross-marketing.

📅 Then we created a marketing campaign using the techniques we talk about in Sugar Cookie Marketing - working with content buckets (silos) and content types ot create a really robust strategy that would hit just about everyone in your target demographic. 🎟️🎟️🎟️ Repeat that strategy 3 times over a 6-week promotional schedule, and you're gonna move some tickets.

🥾 Bootcamp Day 2 - Class Setup + Instruction

Day 2, we actually set up a fake class so we could talk about what we use, why we use it, and what we'd do differently. It's helpful seeing the types of class tech along with hearing why we set up classes the way we do.

Then we pretended to teach the intro to a class, breaking the third wall so that would-be instructors could understand the flow of it (Bootcamp attendees also got our class script that matched the Fruits and Frosting class).

🥾 Bootcamp Day 3 - Follow-up Marketing + Live

By Day 3, "recruits" got access to the module on follow-up marketing. Follow-up marketing helps us take past class attendees and turn them into future sales by getting them into our remarketing funnel through email list segmentation, Facebook groups, and follow-up emails (copy also included in our Class Kits).

Corrie and I ended with an hour-long Live Q&A in the private Bootcamp group, where we answered questions from members about teaching classes, class promotion, and woulda-coulda-shouldas. It was a lot of fun!

Next Bootcamp - 📸 Cookie Photography. It'll be a good one! More info comin' this week.

👂 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 248 - Bootcamp Recap.

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❤️ The Reviews Collab - Friday, February 6th @ 11 est.In this week's Baking it Down Podcast - Episode 246 - The Reviews Collab, we're talkin' reviews as we see 2026 really start to rev up - and perfect timing too - the first ever Reviews Collab is this Friday at 11:00 AM (est... edt??).

💕 About Friday’s Reviews Collab!

The Friday collab is pretty simple, but it's a marketing power play. You'll take a selfie holding a red heart cookie - that's it. The magic happens when we combine the collab participants, giving you engagement with a direct ask to your audience to leave you a review on a specific website.

• 💗 Date: Friday, Feb 6, 2026
• 💗 Time: 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM est
• 💗 Hashtag: # SCMCollabLove (remove the space)
• 💗 More Info: https://www.facebook.com/events/1168981642056798/

💕 Setting Yourself Up for Reviews

To get reviews, we must make it easy for people to leave reviews. This means having your review profiles set up correctly (Google Business Profile, Facebook Page, Yelp, NextDoor), and we must link to those profiles - like on your website and your Instagram bio link (using apps like LinkTree and Shorby).

To have a review profile show up in search engines, you need to have it fully optimized with pictures, website links, paragraphs describing your business, addresses, etc.

🫀 Remember - the more clicks it takes to perform an action (like asking someone to leave you a review), the less likely they are to complete the action. If the shortest distance from A to B is a straight line, the shortest distance to getting a review is a direct link.

💕 Responding to Reviews

Bold statement - we think 100% of your reviews should have a response from you. Yep - even those "just star ratings" and those bad reviews. Why? When people read bad reviews, they're also seeing if you're the type of business owner who will make an effort to acknowledge and make an effort to turn a bad experience around.

⭐⭐⭐⭐ In fact, an imperfect review profile can actually be seen as more trustworthy when you nail the response. People aren't perfect, and neither are businesses - so embracing the bad review is actually a decent strategy.

💕 How to Ask for Reviews

Asking for reviews can feel awkward. It's like, "Hey - you just gave me a lot of money! How about giving me even more!" Which is why the reviews collab is a neat idea to blame "the Sugar Cookie Marketing Group" for making you ask - because it's a part of the rules to participate.

But we need to make peace with asking for reviews, because it's not if, it's when you end up with a bad one. Padding those review profiles with our fan-favorite clients can really help offset that one-off reviewer.

💕 Bracing for Bad Reviews

Bad reviews hurt. But you know what hurts more than a bad review? A bad review when you only have 2 good reviews. That means 33% of people who ordered from you HATED your cookies. By bracing for bad reviews by getting 9 great reviews, we move that 33% down to just 10%. 20 reviews? Now it's only 5%. Bad reviews are par for the course of business ownership (heck, just check this podcast's reviews) - knowing how to handle bad reviews makes you a good business owner.

👂 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 246 - The Reviews Collab.

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🎁 Gimme Gimme Strategic Giving - The strategy behind strategic giving.In this week's Baking it Down Podcast - Episode 245 - Gimme Gimme Strategic Giving, it's the season of requests to donate, sponsor, and give to local causes, PTAs, and networking events.

It's all about strategic giving in January - and we're here to tell you - it ain't all bottom line blues when it comes to this form of marketing (you see that right there? We didn't categorize it as "selling").

🎁 First up - What is strategic giving?

Strategic giving is the opportunity presented to your bakery to partner with companies that move your business forward, while not necessarily generating income at the immediate start.

🎁 The benefits of strategic giving.

With every strategy, there are pros and cons - but for strategic giving done right, I think there are more positives than negatives.

• 🎀 Giving is good, makes you feel good
• 🎀 Support your customers

When it comes to strategic opportunities, consider your local audience first - they're likely connected to communities, causes, and PTAs - a win-win when you can support them and get exposure.

• 🎀 Reach people you wouldn’t normally reach
• 🎀 Cheaper than paying for an ad
• 🎀 Create relationships with new people
• 🎀 Showcase you working in your community (rally behind a like goal)
• 🎀 Get more orders

Strategic giving is marketing. In the same way you'd run a Facebook ad and spend money to acquire new customers, donating to a raffle can have the same effect - but the catch is it's a slow burn. 🔥 Patience is key with this form of marketing.

• 🎀 Break into an industry
• 🎀 Downside of strategic giving

🎁 Downside of strategic giving.

Like we said - what goes up must come down. With anything that has benefits, it could also cost you, and with strategic giving, that's build into the name. Because it's a gift, there's no guarantee of a return on your investment. But in another way - the return is the feel good feelings you get from supporting a cause or community.

• 🎀 You might not get any new customers
• 🎀 It impacts profitability

I like encouraging people to make a budget line item for strategic giving, that way it doesn't feel like a bottom line buster, 💸 but rather a marketing invoice you're paying through product (or monetarily if that fits your strategy).

• 🎀 Can leave you open to bad reviews
• 🎀 Loss of potential future opportunities

🎁 Creating a Strategic Giving Goal.

A wo-man with a plan! Create a giving goal, then create a marketing campaign around it. Do you want to use strategic giving to increase your social media impressions? Partner with a cause that's active on socials. Want to support a cause you vibe with? Find a charity that directly impacts that and partner there.

• 🎀 Do you want awareness? Social media?
• 🎀 Support a cause?
• 🎀 Last-minute opps

Using community groups to find quick strategic giving opportunities is a really neat (but also a lot of work) method of giving. Finding someone who dropped a cake and posted about it = offer them free cookies. Community groups are an amazing way to reach hyper-local customers.

• 🎀 Do you want to reach a new audience?
• 🎀 How many opportunities are you willing to take?
• 🎀 Maybe it’s just not the right fit for you right now.

🎁 How to turn down opportunities

You need to have a boundary around giving because it can get out of hand and burn the baker out real quick.

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🤖 Good Cop, Bad Cop, AI Slop - The good and the b-ai-d.In this week's Baking it Down Podcast - Episode 244 - Good Cop, Bad Cop, AI Slop, we're takin' on the touchy subject of 👾 AI, aka artificial intelligence.

👮 Bakers are quick to police other bakers in the comment sections on posts that ask how bakers are incorporating AI.

🤬 "It's cheating!"

😠 "It's lazy!"

😤 "It's the easy way out!"

😡 "It's lying to your audience!"

🤬 "I'll NEVER use AI! It's hurting the environment!"

However, AI is creeping into more and more businesses as tools to help with copy, updating and post-processing photography, summarizing emails and increasing workflow, and creating websites and marketing materials - and for good reason. AI is a cost-effective way to minimize production costs and labor while also being, at this time,💸 free to use.

The topic of today’s podcast: ✅🚫 where is your personal line when it comes to AI integration into your bakery?

And if your line mismatches that of another baker's, does that make you morally superior, or is it a case of mistaken identity of the use of different tools - 🖨️ ie, a baker who uses Eddie and one who only hand pipes.

📏 Taking the example to the extreme - the baker who does “from scratch” and buys a box mix, the baker who makes the batter themselves, and the baker who raises the cow and churns her own butter. In all three cases, a baker was baking in the kitchen. Who is business savvy, and who is ethical - and who is allowed to play judge and jury?

👮 AI impacts trust.

And we agree - ⭐️❌❌❌❌ using AI to dupe your clients into thinking your skillset is better than you can produce is a recipe for disaster, upset customers, and bad reviews. ✋ However, you gotta consider the invisible hand of the market - it always sorts things out. If someone takes advantage of their client base, give it time - the bad reviews will direct clients elsewhere.

But what about AI just sprucing up the background image? We see a lot of bakers "okay" with this level of AI use, and it does help sell more product since better photos = better sales.

And then consider the even more blurry lines - when AI can recreate the style and skill of decorating you are at - is that a lie? Or is it using a tool to help you sell cookies you haven't baked yet that you can 100% reproduce?

👮 AI devalues the craft.

Using AI can be a shortcut that's not fair for bakers who have suffered through learning the basics of even more than just royal icing. Just 5 years ago, research for starting a business required a dozen Google searches. Ten years before that, you were at the library doing your research. And that's not fair.

But is it really not fair? 📚 Consider that Google replaced the library and the need to go to the SBA office to get a business license. 3-D printers replaced a large majority of metal cutters. 💻 Websites replaced a large need to work a vendor market. Suffering is par for the course when it comes to running a business, but as technology evolves, 🏆 there's no reward for doing it the hard way.

👮 AI is killing the environment.

💦 I'm just going to link to someone smarter than me on this - Why is Everyone So Wrong About AI Water Use?? by Hank Green - but if you make the "environmental claim" - 💧 and trust me, AI data centers are in Northern Virginia and they are u-g-l-y amd loud, but it's important to be informed on both sides of the argument. 🫧 "The video concludes that while AI data centers will use a lot of water, their projected increase in water use is small compared to existing industrial and city uses." That's YouTube's AI summary, ironically.

👮 AI requires people

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📋 January Task list - A list of things to-do.In this week's Baking it Down Podcast - Episode 243 - January Task List, we're tryin' out a new(ish?) format + coming up with a list of ideas you can use to get your sugar cookie bakery headin' in the right direction this year.

Could you do all of these tasks? 🦸‍♂ Only after you finish saving Louis Lane from the high-rise fire. ⚡ But since we're not Superman (or woman), tackling just a few of these each month could just be that one thing that puts you over your competition.

And in the world of stiff icing and stiffer competition, 🤏 every little inch counts.

💡 We're just going to list out our list from the podcast so you can reference it, and I'll add my $.02 throughout.

• ⚡ Rollover tracking spreadsheets to 2026
• ⚡ Update CRM with December contacts
• ⚡ Create an outline of your content buckets for 2026
• ⚡ Schedule out January content calendar
• ⚡ Add December contacts to newsletter lists
• ⚡ Segment newsletter lists

💡 Segmenting a list means separating the list by contact category. So let's say you taught an in-person cookie class and had 10 people sign up, and then in December, you sold 15 custom orders. That's 25 emails, but segmenting them as "📝 List - Cookie Class Attendees" and "📝 List - Custom Clients" would allow you to send really targeted emails to them in 2026.

• ⚡ Stage quarterly newsletters now (as drafts)
• ⚡ Get inbox to zero

💡 New to "inbox zero" - it's paring down your inbox until there are zero emails. Then, each day, you get it back to zero. How? 📬 Deleting, archiving, replying, labeling, and unsubscribing. Let me tell ya - it's a battle, but booooy is it refreshing not to be overwhelmed by your inbox!

• ⚡ Set up inbox labels to manage inbox
• ⚡ Audit recurring expenses
• ⚡ Setup financial tracking software (YNAB)
• ⚡ Update website to reflect 2026 offerings
• ⚡ Audit website for dead or broken links
• ⚡ Update auto-responders in email and social
• ⚡ Update social media bios
• ⚡ Replace pinned posts on social profiles for 2026 timestamp

💡 If your pinned posts are already "up to snuff," it's still worth the repost for the 2026 timestamp. Your pinned posts are the first written date your audience sees when clicking to your social profiles. 📆 Having those say, "YES, I'M STILL HERE IN 2026," signals you're in this to win this, this year.

• ⚡ Lay out an in-person cookie class schedule
• ⚡ Audit supplies - packaging, business cards, bows, etc.
• ⚡ Purge expired inventory
• ⚡ Organize and purge product photos - label for easy search
• ⚡ Organize receipts and mileage logs for taxes
• ⚡ Create email templates for quick replies to inquiries

💡 Email templates are my Gmail JAM. You can easily create them by writing out the email as a template, the same way you would write a normal email (I write in ALL CAPS and [brackets] to know which info I'll need to update every time I trigger the template). ✍️ On the formatting bar of a new email, click the three stacked dots - then hover over Templates, and finally click Save draft as template. Now you can trigger that draft every time ya need it.

• ⚡ Create a list of active, local groups to market to in 2026
• ⚡ Audit pricing to ensure costs are covered + profit
• ⚡ Update Google Business Profile with 2026 hours + holidays

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💡 Losing the Loser - Reframing in 2026.In this week's Baking it Down Podcast - Episode 242 - Losing the Loser, it's the LAST day of 2025, and it will be the first day we start talkin' to ourselves with respect and support. Because we're gonna lose our internal loser - that baker bully that beats us up every time we get into our own heads.

This year, we're professional framers - re-framers - and we're takin' a new, fresh look at our 2026 goals. By adjusting our internal monologue to be both supportive and curious, we remove the excuses holding us back and the bad joojoo that's gotten some frequent flyer miles sittin' in the back of our heads telling us we're not gonna make it as a baker.

"What's with the lightbulb emoji?" you ask. 'Twas ol Tommy Edison who penned, "I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work." 💡💡💡💡💡💡💡💡💡💡💡

Didn't reach your goals in 2025? You didn't fail. You found a handful of ways that didn't work. And this year, you'll outfit a new handful of ways that do work.

💡 New Year's Resolutions

Don't beat yourself up over missing the mark on your New Year's Resolutions. They're there as benchmarks, not pass / fail grades. Figure out why last year's goals were a bit too much, then adjust! Use them as indicators of goals that need resizing, not as a big giant F.

The brain needs small wins, so maybe break down a BIG goal into quarterly or monthly slices of the big goal - 🧠 that way your brain gets to reward itself while still puttin' in work towards that big goal. How bad would it be to say, "I got to 80% of my BIG goal by accomplishing 8 supporting goals."

• ❌ Bully Baker: I didn't accomplish any of my resolutions.
• ✅️ Believer Baker: I recalibrated how big my resolutions can be before they become overwhelming.

💡 Missed Classes / Courses

Raise your hand if you're a course hoarder like Corrie. 🙋‍♀️ All hands up? Great. Stop feeling like a loser. You don't need to take every class. Find 1 class that fills a knowledge gap and start listening to the first 10 minutes of it. That's it. 💯 You just passed the "I started a class" test, and you got an A+.

Free yourself from the guilt of not taking courses, and instead - dip a toe in. I promise this new approach will make you feel like such a winner.

• ❌ Bully Baker: I suck at macarons, I don't enjoy them.
• ✅️ Believer Baker: I'm really close to figuring out macarons. I just need one final course to close the gap.

💡 Uggo Photos

Photography = looks easy, feels hard, gets overwhelming. We see the posts all the time, 📸 "My photos are so ugly." 😔 Great - you identified the problem! Now let's baby step the solution. First, focus on lighting - let's keep props off to the side for a minute. Got that nailed down? Let's try staging next.

Build up. Don't fall back. "Being perfect at photography" is a goal too big to bite down on. 🐘 How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.

• ❌ Bully Baker: My photos suck.
• ✅️ Believer Baker: I'm glad I'm consistently taking photos now, but I understand there's a gap between what I want and what I'm getting. I'm going to approach each aspect individually - lighting, staging, post processing - and work from there.

How you speak to yourself is how you'll show up to others. Hate your work? You'll think no one likes your bakes. Hate the hustle? You'll blame other bakers. Hate your clients? You'll treat every single one of them as a nail, you hammer.

Be good to yourself in 2026. You'll thank yourself for it.

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🧮 Stay on Track Track Track - Metrics to guide your marketing.

In this week's Baking it Down Podcast - Episode 241 - Stay on Track Track Track, the twins have spreadsheets on the brain just in time for the new year.

While yes, you can start a spreadsheet any time on any day in any month of the year, it does help to have it ready to go on January 1 - that way, you can look at your bakery's entire fiscal year, start to finish.

The key to spreadsheets and data tracking is this: first, determine the goal, then let the goal guide what you track.

If you want to become a social media influencer, you'll focus on content and views. If you want to increase sales, you're going to focus on customer acquisition. If you want to focus on corporate orders, you're going to track business networking event contacts.

That's why there's no "one size fits all" for reporting and record keeping. What your goals are in 2026 =/= the goals of your closest competitor. So stop lookin' over the fence at what they're doing and focus on the reports.

🧮 Increasing Returning Customers

Let's say your focus for the first 3 months of the year (Q1) is to cultivate returning leads. You're going to shift from finding new clients (yes, you can still look for new clients, but it's not our driving metric).

To cultivate returning clients, you may be tracking these types of metrics:

• 🔢 How many past clients did you add to your CRM?
• 🔢 How many emails have I sent to past clients? What was the open rate?
• 🔢 How many past clients placed new orders in 2026 YTD?

🧮 Increasing Corporate Leads

If you want to set a goal of increasing corporate leads, you're not going to naturally do a hard push towards cookie classes, right? That's not the right fit for the goal = corporate girly era.

To increase corporate leads, you must increase corporate exposure, and that's likely through business-centric networking events and apps like LinkedIn. You're likely going to create a segmented email list for corporate contacts.

To cultivate corporate orders, you may be tracking these types of metrics:

• 🔢 How many networking events have you attended?
• 🔢 From those events, how many contacts did you add on LinkedIn?
• 🔢 From those LinkedIn contacts, how many did you drop off a "pop-by" to?

🧮 Increase Order Totals

If you're looking to increase the total ticket sale (the amount you make per order), you're going to focus on tracking your price increase, your production costs, and your upsells.

To increase order totals, you may be tracking these types of metrics:

• 🔢 How many clients added an upsell to their order?
• 🔢 By what percentage did I increase my custom orders?
• 🔢 What was my order ticket average in 2025? What is my order ticket average in 2026?

Yes, you can run concurrent goals, you can run campaigns for various durations, and you can absolutely abandon a goal if you determine it hasn't been fitting your overall strategy. Knowing when to cut a goal off can be just as valuable as knowing when to double down.

When determining which metrics to track, ask yourself:

• 🧮 What is my primary goal?
• 🧮 And if that's my primary goal, what metrics support being able to track and determine if that goal is being met, missed, or in progress?

👂 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 241 - Stay on Track Track Track.

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⛰️ Burke Lake vs Everest - Accomplishing small goals in 2026.In this week's Baking it Down Podcast - Episode 240 - Burke Lake versus Everest, we're winding down 2025 and taking a look at 2026 through the lens of goals.

🥾 Yeah, yeah - you look back on this past year and realize you can't even remember what your new year's resolutions were, let alone whether you met them or not - and for good reason. Sometimes our "bright and flashy" goals are more claimed to summit Mt. Everest rather than to walk the local park a few times a month.

👣 While telling people you're trekkin' down the local hiking path (which is Burke Lake for me) won't garner many likes on social media, it's the "walking path" goals that actually get you to Mt. Everest, 🧗 not the other way around.

Find your "Burke Lake" and then build small steps to that. Everest will come in time - and that time may be a few years from now. But a 1% improvement across 10 areas of your business each month in 2026 = 120% improvement. 🏔️ And that is how you climb mountains.

🏔️Social Media

Instead of the mountain of "I'm going to add 1,000 followers this year," consider a small path approach to social growth in 2026.

• 🏔️ I will feature 1 local business each week on my page.
• 🏔️ I will cross-post that feature to 1 local group.
• 🏔️ Grow my page by 3 local followers each week

👍 These small steps will put you in front of your target audience who actually can place an order. I can get 1,000 followers from a viral reel or a cookie group follow train - but what then? Maybe a few likes if I'm lucky.

But three locals each week? 😍 That's 156 local people by the end of 2026 who can actually give me their money and eat my cookies. Bonus = featuring a local business = potential for corporate orders too.

🏔️ Email Marketing

📧📧📧📧📧📧📧 "I'm going to send out a newsletter every month."

Solid goal, and I love it. But if that was the same goal you had in 2025 and didn't meet, maybe it's a bit too aggressive. Let's "Burke Lake" it a bit. 💌 Just getting started can be half the battle - so break down "getting started" into three small steps.

• 🏔️ I will organize my client emails into a spreadsheet.
• 🏔️ I will sign up for MailChimp and import my list.
• 🏔️ I want to send out 1 email each quarter.

One email a quarter doesn't sound like much, but if you sent 0 emails later year, that's 4 more chances to make sales to your audience than you had last year. Plus, it's consistent, which means good marketing. If you want to send more than 4, great! But set the goal bar at an attainable distance so you're guaranteed a win.

🏔️ Websites

So many bakers start their year off claiming, "I'm going to get a new website." And for all the right reasons. 💻 Websites = more sales. But often they get overwhelmed with the myriad of endless options recommended by other bakers - Shopify, WordPress, Hotplate, MyCustomBakes, Square, Jotform, Bakesy... you get the point - it's seemingly endless.

Burke Lake-ify it. 🌐 Start by setting up a simple form. Yes, it's not a website. But yes, it'll start you in the right direction and buy you some time and space to work up to that.

• 🏔️ I'm going to start taking orders through JotForm.
• 🏔️ I will test out MyCustomBakes and Square.
• 🏔️ I will choose one of those platforms.

And if you feel like switching it next year, you can. Sky's the limit. But at least this year, you can say you got the website monkey off your shoulders.

🏔️ Photography

"I'm going to improve photography," is actually a sizeable goal.

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🎁 Baker Holiday Gift Guide - 2025 list of gifts for bakers.In this week's Baking it Down Podcast - Episode 239 - 2025 Best Bakers Gift List, it's the most wonderful tiiiime of the yeeear. It's the Top Baker Gift Ideas podcast you're supposed to intentionally accidentally leave playing for the gift buyer in your life.

This is twin2's favorite yearly podcast tradition, and she states, "If I got just about anything on this list, I'd be stoked," and now you can window shop her wishlist with today's 2025 Best Bakers Gift Guide.

Want hyperlinks? Here's the Google Doc with links (I don't think any of them are affiliate, but if we have a discount code, I included that where I could).

🎁 Stocking Stuffers - Sub $50

Being generous here, but anything sub-$50 we threw in as a decent stocking stuffer. Listen - the cookie hustle is willing to take as much of your money as you're willing to give it, so we had to draw a line somewhere.

Some of my favorites from this list:

• 🎄 The Flour Funnel - $24.99
• 🎄 Uber Eats Gift Card
• 🎄 Moft Phone Stand - $39.99
• 🎄 Duke Cannon Bloody Knuckles hand cream - $11

🎁 Under the Tree - $50 - $500

Probably our best mid-range options, these "under the tree" gifts range between $50 and $500 (wide range, we know, but the podcast needed to draw a line somewhere). We tried to come up with a list for the business baker, so one that doesn't feature a bunch of stuff you likely already have, and if you have it, it was something you'd be again (think: food coloring).

Some of my favorites from this list:

• 🎄 Hulken Bag (Large) - $125
• 🎄 Amazon Hand Massager ($79+)
• 🎄 NutriMill Artiste Mixer - $249 (use code SUGARCOOKIES)
• 🎄 Stand-Up Freezer ($298)

🎁 Subscriptions

Kinda needs to be in a list of its own, but for the hobby-turned-hustler, subscriptions are always a welcome gift to save us from our recurring nightmares. And we've got a creative list of them, too. If the baker in your life already has it all, taking on a few of their software payments would be very welcome (even if you can't easily wrap it).

Some of my favorites from this list:

• 🎄 Sprinkle Factory STL Library - $250/yr
• 🎄 Spotify Gift Card
• 🎄 Cookie Design Lab - $100 (use code TWINS)
• 🎄 The Cookie College (use code BAKINGITDOWN for 10% off any subscription for the next 7 days - consider it an early Christmas gift)

🎁 Santa's Chosen Bakers - $500+

Maybe you're the baker who never thought ill of a late-showing client. Maybe you're the baker who was always prepared for class and never forgot the icing or the HDMI cable. And maybe you're the baker whose icing refuses to bleed. In that case, you may have made Santa's Chosen Baker list this year, where budget isn't an issue.

Some of my favorites from this list:

• 🎄 Bosch Universal Plus - Stainless Steel - $549 (use code SUGARCOOKIES)
• 🎄 Eugene's Electric Dough Sheeter - $1,005
• 🎄Eddie D2F Printer - $2,995 (they have cheaper refurbed options)
• 🎄 Dreambox - $2,800

Check out this week's podcast to hear how we came up with this list, which was twin2's favorites, and what she wouldn't buy a second time. And to all you good bakers out there who Santa may have missed - maybe a decent time to play your own secret Santa and treat yaself!

👂 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 239 - 2025 Best Baker Gift List.

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🎓 Vendy Blendy - Insider info.In this week's Baking it Down Podcast - Episode 238 - Vendy Blendy Inside Info, we're in the final stretch of the Vendy Blendy - and we're spillin' all the secrets in this final-prep podcast for Friday's BIG Baker Sale.

Are we hype? Yes. Are we delirious? Also yes. Are we tired of saying the word Vendy Blendy? Getting close. But it's the f-i-n-a-l c-o-u-n-t-d-o-wn-.

🟠 The Most Important Stuff

If you read nothing more than this - here's the most important stuff to get the quickest bang for your buck on Friday:

• 🟠 Join this Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/vendyblendy/
• 🟠 Save this Google spreadsheet: http://thevendys.com/

That's it - two links. And even ig you only clicked the second link (the spreadsheet with the discount codes), you can shop 68 Vendys at 25% off (or more) for 24 hours and never have to even touch Facebook on Friday.

Got that saved? Good. 👇 Read on if you want day-of insider info.

🟠 Day-Of Insiders

🤫 First - Heather isn't making the event posts (like the BIG DOOR PRIZE posts). A page is - it's called Vendy Blendy. And yes, it still is Heather - but it's also now Corrie, that way we can both help you instead of Heather getting 1,452,693 notifications and Corrie living her best life scrolling mindlessly on TikTok.

🤫 Second - the BIG DOOR PRIZE entry posts start going up at 7:00 AM est. This is different than what we said earlier - because building out the schedule, we have a lot more door prizes this year than last year (10 Bambu Minis, 5 Bosch Mixers). Then they go up every 45 minutes - but some of the threads will lock, but not all of them (despite each post saying that it will lock).

🤫 Third - each post made by the page (the event posts) will tell you the next 5 things on the event's schedule, but the Vendys can post whenever (we don't collect this info from them). The group is set by chronological order, meaning check back a few times throughout the day, and just scroll down to catch up.

🤫 Fourth - the valuation of all the day-of door prizes is over $18,000, and the pre-event hype prizes total just under $3,000 - so you have the chance to snag a portion of the $21,000 pie (free from purchase requirements).

🤫 Fifth - The door prizes of each Vendy and the valuation have now been added to the Vendy spreadsheet - you can check that out here: http://thevendys.com. Some Vendys are giving away multiple door prizes, but they'll tell you how to win them all in the same post. They can post these whenever, but the winners must be posted at 9:00 PM est.

🤫 Sixth - The Bosch mixers must be claimed by Dec 1 by 6 PM est - no exceptions. That's different than the 7 days you'll have to claim the Vendys door prizes and the Bambus. Why? We can only budget all these BIG door prizes if we shop their sales, and NutriMill's sale ends on Dec 1 (use code SUGARCOOKIES to save $20 at checkout - shameless affiliate plug). Bosch doesn't ship to your address? You claim the Black Friday sale cash equivalent instead - so yes, enter Canadians!

🤫 Seventh - The Live Google Sheet gets deleted at midnight. Want to shop these Vendys at a later date? Go to File > Make a Copy. There will be no posting, commenting, or emails about the Vendy Blendy after Black Friday. Have an issue with a Vendy? Their support email is in that spreadsheet too (another reason you should save it), but the twins ain't your life raft if something sinks instead of swims.

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🎓 Cookie College - Vendy Blendy Deals Breakdown.In this week's Baking it Down Podcast - Episode 237 - The Cookie College Stealios, Corrie and I go through our Vendy Blendy 2025 Cookie College offerings, and... ️🥁️🥁️🥁 drumroll please... they're once-a-year good.

🎓 The Cookie College - $64/mo or $576/yr

The best product we offer is The Cookie College (typically $76/mo, but on sale on Black Friday for $64/mo or $576/yr, which takes it down to $48/mo). It's the best because it gets everything we offer, including its own proprietary content (the marketing courses and private FB group).

• 👉 86 Marketing Courses
• 👉 The Private Facebook Group
• 👉 The Freebie Photos
• 👉 The 2023 Cookie Class Kits ($300)
• 👉 The 2024 Cookie Class Kits ($300)
• 👉 The 2025 Cookie Class Kits Membership ($63/mo)
• 👉 The Bakers Business Basics Membership ($36/mo)
• 👉 The Digital Downloads Membership ($10/mo)
• 👉 The Two Dollar Transfer Club Membership ($2/mo)

If you bought these separately, it'd be $187 in membership costs per month, plus the $300 for each year of the Cookie Class Kits. Those are our prices for 50.9 weeks of the year. But for ONE day, you can get all of that for our lowest monthly price - $64/mo.

But wanna save even more?? When you sign up for a yearly membership for $576 on Black Friday (usually $760), you automatically get THREE months free. That takes the monthly equivalent to $48/mo. That's the cheapest you'll ever get the Cookie College.

🎓 The Cookie Class Kits - $44/mo

The Cookie Class Kit is discounted too - you can get the 2025 Class Kits (there are currently 12 of them that'll archive on January 7th) for just $44/mo (usually $63/mo). Per class, that's just $5.25 a class!

The class kits are the curriculum you'd need to teach an in-person cookie class. For reference, we taught a private in-home class (listen to last week's podcast Episode 235 and 236 for more on that), and cleared 10 tickets at $85/ea plus a DIY kit for $35/ea. That's gross $885 just from teaching a cookie class.

Those classes included in this membership are:

• 👉 CCK - January Cookie Class - Happy New Year Cookie Class
• 👉 CCK - February Cookie Class - Galentine's Day Cookie Class
• 👉 CCK - March Cookie Class - K9 Cookies Cookie Class
• 👉 CCK - April Cookie Class - Happy Moms Day Cookie Class
• 👉 CCK - May Cookie Class - Cookies de Mayo Cookie Class
• 👉 CCK - June Cookie Class - Frosting Father Cookie Class
• 👉 CCK - July Cookie Class - Patriotic Piping Cookie Class
• 👉 CCK - August Cookie Class - School and Scribes Cookie Class
• 👉 CCK - September Cookie Class - Happy Birthday! Cookie Class
• 👉 CCK - October Cookie Class - BOO!-kie Class Cookie Class
• 👉 CCK - November Cookie Class - Frosting Feast Class Cookie Class
• 👉 CCK - December Cookie Class - Santa's Set Cookie Class

✅ Each class includes the photography of the class, the video step-by-step tutorials, the social media posts and stories, the Eventbrite cover and listing info, the email copy, the social media copy, the step-by-step PowerPoint, the bake math spreadsheet for planning, the Eddie outline prints, and the supply lists to recreate the class setup yourself. We also throw in printables like a custom piping practice sheet and coloring sheet.

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☝️ Private Class Pt 2 - A BORING podcast.In this week's Baking it Down Podcast - Episode 236 - The Most BORING Podcast Ever Recorded, I paid my nephew (Corrie's son, Archer) $10 to do the podcast intro (and just when you thought no one could talk faster than Heather), and we recapped the private in-home cookie class we taught last week.

Also, (hilariously and probably not totally wrong), someone texted into the podcast that it was boring - ergo the name of this week's episode.

👩‍🏫 The Private Cookie Class - Pt 2

Of course, not everything went according to plan, and I think that's the value of the podcast - listening to what not to do and what to take into consideration. Here's what I'd consider more closely if we did this again:

• 🎟️ Lead acquisition - Turns out, this lead came from a referral that turned into a failed custom order (Corrie was out for that cancer surgery), that, through cross promotion of cookie classes, was reacquired through consistent marketing.
• 🎟️ Room Configuration Issues - Dining rooms mean heavy furniture and carpeting, so there was no ability for attendees to swivel and face, and single direction. This created a bit of frustration since folk had to wait for me to walk the laptop around. There was no room for a TV, and the document camera was a no-go.
• 🎟️ Technical Difficulties - Would it be a cookie class without tech problems?! The IPEVO document camera that was working mere minutes before class suddenly couldn't be read by the laptop on location, so we dropped the concept completely. Thank goodness Corrie had those display cookie stands - they loved referencing those.
• 🎟️ Parking and Logistics - Private classes mean private driveways - and this one was super tight. I wish we'd considered this before, although I'm not sure there was too much we could do about it.
• 🎟️ Class Flow and Student Engagement - The class was longer than anticipated due to interruptions like serving food and increased chatter among friends versus in a public class where we have a bunch of strangers in a room together (wine, anyone?). We didn't have as much power since we were just the hired teachers in someone else's home - maybe I wish we had something to amplify our voices?
• 🎟️ Financial Aspects - Was it worth it? Yep - we cleared $85/ticket and one $35 take-home kit (I wish we had called these "practice kits" and not DIY kits). Plus, teaching in a private home means no venue fees, and we didn't have to fill the room - Mary did that all on her own (saving us marketing labor costs).
• 🎟️ Piping Practice - Still a huge fan of spending 15 minutes on a piping practice sheet. We do this in all of our classes, and it really sets the students up for success. Remember, a student who liked their results = a potential for a future returning ticket sale.
• 🎟️ Communication Importance - Remember - organization is key for private classes. Staying on top of the host to ensure everyone's on the same page keeps us all on track.

🟠 The Vendy Blendy - Pt 2

The Vendy Blendy is just 16 (basically no 15) days away, and we've got a really stellar lineup (list below). You can find out everything you need to know here:

• 🟠 https://www.sugarcookiemarketing.com/vendyblendy

If you missed my Facebook Lives - catch the replays here:

• 🧡 Live 1 - Vendy Blendy 101
• 🧡 Live 2 - Pre-Shop the Vendys
• 🧡 Live 3 - Secrets to the Vendy Blendy

Tomorrow, Thursday, 🎓 I'll cover the Vendy Blendy Deals for The Cookie College - it'll be a great sale, and one we've never run before *and probably won't again until next Black Friday.

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☝️ Private Class + VB - Part one of a two-part series.In this week's Baking it Down Podcast - Episode 235 - Private Class + The Vendy Blendy Pt 1, we're doing a two-part two-part series (not a typo) so I can check the box that we effectively spammed you with the Vendy Blendy this week while also providing some marketing value.

We're teaching an in-home private class. Now, typically, you've heard me state (vehemently) that we don't teach private in-home classes anymore after a wild adventure with a class of 5 - 7 year olds once years ago, but Corrie said, "For the podcast!" so for the podcast, we must.

👩‍🏫 The Private Cookie Class - Pt 1

Mary is the client here, and she found Corrie through her custom cookie Instagram when Corrie had cross-promoted an in-person cookie class we were hosting back in October.

Mary DMed asking if we would be open to an in-home private class with her and her friends, so Corrie said if she was willing to play "private class guinea pig," we're in. Mary happily took the bait, and we set these parameters up months before the event.

• ✅ She had to sell all 10 tickets.
• ✅ All 10 tickets needed to be sold 2 weeks prior to the event.
• ✅ Mary had to handle the marketing.
• ✅ We allowed her to sell individual tickets (versus a lump sum payment) through Eventbrite (yes, we incurred the fees).
• ✅ We were not offering a discount.

📧 I followed up with Mary via email each week once we sent her the class link (since I was managing the Eventbrite, she didn't have access to attendee lists) with the list of names + a confirmation of her class details.

To keep it easy, 🖼 we sent her the photo collage of our Cookie Class Kits membership class offerings (hey, yeah - we like them so much, we teach them ourselves), and she went with "the pie slice Thanksgiving one" - risky click here, because we actually have two pie slice Thanksgiving classes, but I can't get Mary to confirm.

That said - I have requested a picture of the event space, and that will be the challenge to overcome this Thursday when we finally teach the class. Next week's podcast will feature a pt. 2 recap on how it all went - stay tuned!

🛍️ The Vendy Blendy - Pt 1

Now back to Vendy Blendy spam - each year, our returning list of Vendys gets shorter and shorter due to turnover in the industry, so to replace the shops that dropped out or disappeared on their marketing, we worked on finding fresh blood that y'all begged for - and let's just say, it's comin' together nicely!

️🛒 If you're new here - the Vendy Blendy is a private Facebook group that opens for only 24 hours on Black Friday (Nov 28th). We gather a bunch of cookie-related shops and get them to offer you all 25% off or more. It's utter mayhem - the deals aren't the only fun part because each shop can make 3 sales pitches to ya 🎁 while also hosting their own door prize giveaways throughout the day.

🤯 Not overwhelming enough? Hold on tight - 🎁🎁🎁 the event also hosts the "BIG Door Prizes" given away all day on Black Friday, too. It's organized mayhem, and folks love it. And we think you'll love it too. Go "Pendy" so you can "Spendy" this "Novemy" at the "Vendy Blendy"!

Find all the info you need at https://www.sugarcookiemarketing.com/vendyblendy.

👂 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 235 - Private Class + The Vendy Blendy Pt. 1.

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📸 Food-tography - Staging, props, gear, software.In this week's Baking it Down Podcast - Episode 234 - Food-Tography, we're concluding our "📅 Content Theme" for the month of October, which focused on... well, focusing that camera lens. 💡 Check out #OctoberPhotographyMonth in the Sugar Cookie Marketing (Group) to see more content on staging and gear.

📸 Food photography is a must when it comes to slingin' sugar cookies. Our customers "buy with their eyes," meaning that the photos have a big part in selling our bakes. If your photo quality and staging are poor = your business bank account will soon follow.

While we may be able to get around not having a website, posting up lackluster photos will rob you of sales. So investing in quality gear to produce quality product photos is a business-savvy expenditure. 🤑 But we do talk about the cost-conscious approach in this week's Baking it Down podcast episode on cookie photography.

📸 The Power of Photography

Good photos sell food! Consistent, high-quality photography can act as a watermark for your brand (especially when you dial in your own photography style), making your products instantly recognizable. Easily recognizable = branding. You're seein' how this all works together, right?

When your photos do the talking, you won't have to pitch as hard. Consider your own buying process. When you want a car, you search up "Mercedes" and see glamorous photos of beautiful red cars with big boys and sparkly wheels. What you don't see is the car covered in a layer of dirt and bird poop.

Showing the car and our cookies in their best light will increase sales.

📸 Lighting

The best option happens to be the cheapest option = ☀️ the sun. Indirect natural sunlight is a phrase you've heard us spout for YEARS on this podcast. Having a mobile setup (backdrops help with this), where you can follow the ever-moving sunlight around your house, will help with "chasing daylight."

🕯️ Otherwise, you may need to consider a lighting system, a diffuser, and/or a light box (harder to use - I always find myself frustrated with them).

📸 Cameras

Cell phone cameras have come a long way and can really hold their own next to dedicated cameras. That said, for me, the dedicated camera still adds that extra pizzazz that manufactured blur and digital zoom just can't recreate (yet).

If you have an older cell phone, with how quickly technology and built-in cell phone camera abilities have increased, it may be worth the upgrade to the latest model. Otherwise, consider a dedicated camera - specifically with a macro zoom lens - to really capture that cookie.

📸 Stands

While 92% of bakers opted for hand-held photography (meaning no stands), when it comes to videography, you may have to consider a stand setup. Moft is a neat stand that uses the cell phone's mag-safe magnet for quick setup. ShopCanvas lamps have a built-in light and a goose-neck clamp, and dedicated tripods can help with heavier cameras. Have an Arkon mount? You can make that work too, although the ball joints don't lend themselves to easy adjustment.

📸 Software

If you're not taking your photos through software (cell or desktop), you're leaving money on the table. Post-processing software like Lightroom or Snapseed can make the difference between dull pics and products that pop off the page. I'd wager just about every creator you jealously look at and think, "They take such good photos," is using a post-processing software to level up their photography game.

👂 Snag this podcast on any major podcast player (Spotify, Apple Music, Audible, Amazon Music, or watch it on YouTube) by searching for B

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🎙️ Podcast Guest - Christina with Boujee Baker Boutique.In this week's Baking it Down Podcast - Episode 233 - Podcast Guest Christina with Boujee Baker Boutique, we hosted our first-ever remote podcast guest! You all wanted fresh blood (er... dough?), and the people get what they want!

Meet Christina Cenera with Boujee Baker Boutique and Stormy Acre Cookies based in Warranton, Virginia. Yep, she juggles both a brick-and-mortar supply shop and a bakery business, all while raising 5 dogs (with alpaca manifestation incoming).

• ️🛒 Shop Link: https://boujeebakerboutique.com/

Her unique perspective of being both a supplier and a baker makes Episode 233 an interesting listen this week. And yes - she's a Vendy in this year's Vendy Blendy!

🤔 "What's one thing you would have done differently?"

Christina has opened two businesses in the last 5 years, now running both concurrently. What would she have done differently, we asked? She says she would have saved more money before opening the brick-and-mortar storefront while also spending less on remodeling costs. Looking back, Christina said while the customizations were nice, they weren't a necessity in hindsight, and having that extra cash on hand (she estimated $50k in startup costs) would have been a nice padding.

🤔 "How have you been able to wholesale so many brands?"

Christina's simple take: don't take no for an answer. As a former saleswoman, she's learned that "no" isn't a rejection of her but rather a challenge to find a better way to pitch. "I heard no way more than I've heard yes," she states. She takes a "boots on the ground" mentality, going to CookieCons, signing up for the Vendy Blendy, landing in Heather's inbox 3 times to ensure she's a shoe-in for the podcast - and it's that level of hustle that is really paying off for her. She's a "No Girl" and proud of it.

🤔 "How do you do it all?"

She's found a way to make her businesses fit around her life and not the other way around. The supply shop is open 4 days a week, the bakery is active 2 days a week, and Sundays are reserved for cookie classes. She's consolidated her websites for both companies and did the same for her social profiles. Basically, she's making a hybrid approach to compromise on what's best practice versus what's best for her lifestyle.

🤔 "What tip would you give first-time Vendy Blendy goers?"

"Definitely stay up for the final hour." Yesss - what happens after hours, stays in your wallet. Chaos is the theme of the Vendy Blendy, and it doesn't stop until the shoppin' lady sings at midnight. If you're new to the Vendy Blendy, tune in this Thursday at 6:00 PM for our "Intro to the Vendy Blendy" Facebook Live.

👂 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 233 - Podcast Guest Christina with Boujee Baker Boutique.

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⚖️ Jury Duty - Hung up on client issues.In this week's Baking it Down Podcast - Episode 232 - Jury Duty, Corrie gives the people what they wanted! A tell-all on her jury duty trial (that she missed last week's podcast for).

Since it's definitely worth the listen to get the full energy, I'll keep this week's newsletter short (and yes, still on Wednesday, even if I'm barely making it before the buzzer goes off).

🏛️ Communication Matters

Corrie's takeaway from the courtroom? Communication matters. The defense attorney was likable and it really helped the defendant. Good customer communication can diffuse a bad situation and even turn it into a good one (or heck, maybe a $25 fine). Jokes aside, being able to handle customers in a way that makes them feel seen and listened to - even if you didn't deserve the allegations - is just good business. Figuring out how to put their shoes on for a minute while typing out a response can be the difference between a good review (and a returning client) or a bad one.

Takeaway: Just because you won the case doesn't mean you've won at business.

🏛️ Document, Document, Document

My takeaway from Corrie's courtroom floor seat? Documentation matters before it matters. Meaning get ahead of mishaps and misunderstandings by overcommunicating. Yes, there's such a thing as too much info, but I'd rather have too much than way too little.

The jury in the courtroom let the perp walk because there wasn't enough documentation from law enforcement. And when disputes are circumstantial (ie, the alleged "ant" in the macaron), documentation will save your baking behind.

👂 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 232 - Jury Duty.

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🛒 2025 Vendy Blendy - The who, what, where, when, why.In this week's Baking it Down Podcast - Episode 231 - The 2025 Vendy Blendy, we have VENDY BLENDY on the brain!

Each year, 🦃 at the end of November, deals roll around in stores and across your screens, prepping everyone for the Christmas season. From malls to boutiques- the steals are endless! So, what about a day of deals just for bakers?

🫡 The Vendy Blendy answers the call. A deal-lovers' day specifically for the bakers of the world. Let’s cover the who, what, when, where, and why so you can know exactly what to expect for the 5th annual Vendy Blendy come November 28th.

• 🛒 Date: November 28th, 2025
• 🛒 Time: 12:01 AM - 11:59 PM (24 hours)
• 🛒 How to Join: Just request to pendy!

🛍️ What is The Vendy Blendy?

The Vendy Blendy’s main location is in a Facebook group called, you’ll never guess, “The Vendy Blendy (Sugar Cookie Marketing)”... we aren’t great at creative naming, I’ll tell ya that, BUT it’s a fun spot where chaos goes down for 24 hours on the day after Thanksgiving, on November 28th.

Each year, vendors (Vendys) from the baking industry and around the world come together and offer discounts, door prizes, and incentives to get bakers to buy from their shops - things like cookie cutters, baking mats, baker shirts, cookie scribes, STLs, software, takes a deep breath, cake pop molds, recipes, meringue powder, sprinkles, class kits, online courses, transfer sheets, packaging, cookie tags, cookie backers- the list truly does go on and on and on aaaand it’ll all be 25% off or more!

👉 You can access the current list (which is always growing) of vendys at http://www.TheVendys.com

Just like most awesome things in life, it’s here for a good time, not a long time, so you’ll be able to shop the deals and steals for just 24 hours, and 💥POOF💥, it’ll be gone. 🤫 We shut down the group and boot everybody out, and we don’t talk about it again until next year. It truly is the best day and only day of the year!

🛍️ Who is The Vendy Blendy for?

If you’re just window shoppin’ or if you’re there to stock up on all your 2026 packaging options - this sale is for you. 🚪🎁 The shops all host door prizes, plus the Sugar Cookie Marketing Group, who puts it on, will be giving out free-to-enter BIG Door Prizes all day just for being there- you ain’t gotta purchase one single thing for a chance to win.

🌎 While most of the Vendy's shops are based in the US, we have many that aren’t, and you can score deals from across the world! So don’t think that because you don’t have a US zip code, you can’t win, because you totally can!

🛍️ When is The Vendy Blendy

The Vendy Blendy is a 24-hour online event that goes down from midnight on November 27th to midnight on November 28th. It’s exactly 24 hours long. The event is hosted in Eastern Standard Time, so you may need to do some time conversions.

The Vendy Blendy group is a private group on Facebook, so you’ll pend until the day of the event. Admins and Mods are already in there setting up the group and makin’ sure the pinned posts, discounts, and directions are all set up. At midnight on November 27th, we will start letting anyone pending into the group.

🛍️ Where is The Vendy Blendy?

This event does take place on Facebook, but the shops will let you check out from their individual websites. The Vendy Blendy Facebook group will be a hub that day where you can snag the discount codes, cheer on your favorite shops, and win door prizes all day long.

You’ll access the shops, discount codes, and websites from a pinned Google Sheet within the group on the day of the event.

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🥲 Nothing Old, Nothing New - Why your clients aren't coming back.In this week's Baking it Down Podcast - Episode 230 - Nothing Old, Nothing New, Corrie wanted to cover returning customers - clients that have ordered from you in the past and then reorder.

They're massively valuable to your bottom line because returning leads cost less to acquire. That means you have to spend less time and marketing dollars getting someone to order from you a second time than getting someone to order from you the first time.

And this makes sense, right?

• ✅ A returning client already knows you exist.
• ✅ A returning client already knows your ordering process.
• ✅ A returning client has built trust with you when they placed their first order.
• ✅ A returning client is 15 - 20% more likely to reconvert when reengaged.

To drive the point home: 🤯 It can cost 5 - 25 times more to acquire a new customer than to re-engage an existing or returning lead. So for every dollar you spend to reacquire an old lead, you'd be spending $25 to replace them with a new lead.

Higher marketing costs = lower profits.

If you're a good baker-turned-marketer, you should be asking this question: 🤔 "How can I increase my returning customer base?"

🧠 Smart question - and there may be a few culprits at fault as to why you don't have people re-knocking on your proverbial front door.

🙅‍♂️ 1. If you take big breaks or take the summer off, you're going to lose clients.

If you're taking big, inconsistent breaks (like the summer off or January off), you're going to frustrate your current base of clients. They can't return if your doors are never open. If a customer who ordered from you in June returns to place an order in January only to find you've closed up shop until March, they'll need to source another baker - a more reliable one. Hey - put down that pitchfork, if you need to take a break, do so. But remember the cost of taking breaks like this - it will impact your returning customers.

🙅‍♀️ 2. If you're constantly changing your offerings, you're losing clients.

If you listened to this week's podcast, I lean into the "hybrid model" - a give and take. No one solution fits everyone, but finding a mix of solutions can still be an effective approach. That applied to a busy menu. Yes, trimming your menu down to the fan favorites (that you also like baking) can prevent analysis paralysis (or choice paralysis), but changing up your menu too often can drive away past customers who lost their favorites during a menu purge.

Create a list of your best sellers and stick to it. Sprinkle in some "seasonal drops" and "limited editions," but be consistent in your long-term offerings.

🙅‍♂️ 3. If you're not easily searchable, you're losing returning clients.

🔍 If I can't easily find you on search, socials, and email, you're not easily findable. Imagine a client who only ordered from you a year ago. How likely are they to be able to remember where to find you? Oftentimes, clients go to search engines with a slew of keywords they hope can connect them with past vendors.

🕵️‍♂️ If your website doesn't show up or your maps listing is nonexistent, you're losing any clients looking for you.

🙅‍♀️ 4. If you're not relevant on socials, you're losing returning clients.

I get it - ya get busy and posting to social media falls to the back burner. "But I'm busy, so my marketing is good, right?" Yes - however, marketing results are delayed - meaning what you do today you won't see until a month or two from now.

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🎥 Do the Reels Collab - And here’s the reasons why you should.In this week's Baking it Down Podcast - Episode 229 - Do the Reels Collab, we're hypin' up the marketing behind the Blind Baker Reels Collab on September 26.

✅ Register here:

• https://form.jotform.com/SugarCookieMarketing/blind-baker-collab

🎥 This cookie collab is different from the others we've run this year for 1 simple reason: it's video-based.

Instead of posting an image of a logo-turned-cookie for the Main Street Collab or posting a selfie like we did for the Meet the Baker Collab, this Blind Baker Collab has bakers recording themselves.

✍️ Here's the breakdown - participants in this cookie collab with blindfold themselves and hit RECORD as they pipe a jack-o'-lantern onto a white iced circular sugar cookie (I’ll provide an inspo pic).

Then, on September 26th at 11:00 AM EST, bakers will post that video to their Instagram using the hashtag #SCMCollabCircle (note the 2 L’s in collab) and spend the next hour engaging with other Reels. 📼 Instagram converts all videos to Reels, so all ya gotta do is upload the video, add the caption, and post.

📉 But this Blind Baker Collab will be the lowest attended cookie collab we host this year. Why? Because folks hate recording themselves on video. But in a video-first social media sphere, this is the piece of content that will push the needle for your post reach.

🤳 It's a Reels world, and we're just livin' in it.

Vertical videos are the marketing flavor of the month, and based on TikTok's extreme popularity over the last Covid-confined 5 years, it's not looking like it's going to let go of the limelight anytime soon.

Video (all video, not just vertical video) should be a part of your marketing content creation schedule each week because...

• 📹 Watchability - Our audience prefers to digest content via video versus text on a web page.
• 📹 Conversions - Adding a marketing video to a landing page can increase conversions by over 80%.
• 📹 User Generated Content - 84% of consumers have been convinced to buy a product or service after watching a brand's video.
• 📹 Search Engine Optimization - Videos can rank separately from web pages and also can help web pages rank higher in search engines.

📱 1. Meta is pushing videos more to compete with TikTok TikTok is growing, and Facebook knows it. Meta (parent company of Facebook and Instagram) has slowed the reach of image-based content to favor video-based Reels instead (Reels = Meta's branding of TikToks).

📱 2. Reels are recommended more than stagnant posts on Instagram.What used to be an image-based platform, Reels paved the way for vertical video content to compete with the ever-popular TikTok. As a result, image content has been pushed aside to favor the reach of videos on Instagram.

📱 3. Reels are a better way to connect YOU to your audience.Statistics aside, your audience wants to connect with you - which is why this Reels collab focuses on you, the baker, rather than your skill set (we don't expect anyone to pipe a perfect pumpkin whilst blind folded).

The goal of this collab is to put a face to a name a

📱 4. Our own experience with the taste test series.Anecdotal evidence also supports the "Reel reach" theory. Corrie recently completed a 25-day series on Instagram using Reels to run a "freshness test" on her heat-sealed cookies. Each day, she recorded a minute-long video snackin' on a cookie. As dumb as that sounds, the con

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🕸️ Stuck in the Websites - What to look for in a website builder.In this week's Baking it Down Podcast - Episode 228 - Stuck in the Web...Sites, we (remotely - forgive the sound quality this week, kids - it was a learning experience) talk about the sunsetting of the baker-centric website host and builder, Castiron.

📩 Castiron sent this email to current users on Monday night with very little warning that there were problems in "paradise":

Consider the implications of losing your website:

• 🖱️ Loss of URL (meaning all your business cards need to be reprinted)
• 🖱️ Loss of outstanding order details
• 🖱️ Loss of unpaid invoices
• 🖱️ Loss of all product listings / copy / images
• 🖱️ Loss of all rankings in search engines (lead gen)
• 🖱️ Loss of business metrics (web traffic / sales yoy / customer data)
• 🖱️ Loss of time building a new website from scratch

See - it can have a massive impact on a small business. So making sure you're not stuck in this predicament is just good business.

💻 1. Is the website host well-established?

"Shiny new object" syndrome isn't the best when it comes to websites. Providers that have decades under their belt hosting websites is a good sign that they're here for a long time, not just a good time.

When a new company enters the website space, they're trying to gain enough market share to generate the cash flow to stay operational. While they often offer more competitive pricing, there's a reason for that = to build up their user base. While they may offer more perks for less, you also run the risk that they may not remain sustainable for long.

💻 2. Is the host cost-competitive?

There's cheap, fast, and good = choose two. But in all seriousness, consider the pricing implications of your hosting platform of choice. If the monthly fee seems low, they may be taking % of sales. Some web hosts provide the basics, but you get nickel-and-dimed with plugins (Shopify and WordPress, for example).

Here's the takeaway - cheaper doesn't always mean bad, and expensive doesn't always mean good. What you need to vet is how that specific platform meets your bakery's unique needs. If you're new to market, a platform that takes % of sales may actually be more cost advantageous than a flat fee host. It's dependent on your needs + the math problem. Find what works for you.

💻 3. Are they reaching promised milestones?

When a company shows its roadmap, it's a decent metric to see how the company is progressing. If most milestones are missed, it may be an indicator that not all is sunshine and roses. Stay on top of promises and deadlines to better understand how the host is maintaining its tech and thus your website.

💻 4. Does it match your level of "tech savvy"?

It could be the best website builder in the world, but if you don't know how to use it, it's worthless. Finding a platform that works with how you work is the winning strategy here, and sometimes that's not always a full website but rather an intake form (like Bakesy, Jotform, or Google Forms). If you're willing to sit with a problem until it's solved, more complex builders will give you more functionality. It's all about finding what works well for you and your current needs.

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🛑 Do Not Teach a Cookie Class! - (If you plan on making these mistakes)In this week's Baking it Down Podcast - Episode 227 - Do NOT Teach a Cookie Class (this way), Corrie and I list out the things we wouldn't do if we were getting into cookie classes (yeah, yeah - the title is a bit of a clickbait, but hey, we're marketers, right?).

September in the Sugar Cookie Marketing group is all about Cookie Classes as we try out having a "monthly theme" focused on one topic (you can still post whatever). You can search #SeptemberCookieClassesMonth in the group to see more posts on this topic.

🚫 That said - today we wanna talk to the "on the fence" baker considering teaching cookie classes this "Cookie Class Money Printing Season" aka the holiday rush. ⛔ Here's the eight things we'd never do if we were teaching a cookie class (again - clickbait, but aren't ya curious??).

🛑 1. Do NOT pay for a venue (if you can play ball)

Okay - so not all venues will let ya use their spaces for free, but before you resign yourself to paying, 🚫 shoot your shot on finding a venue that lets you use it for free in exchange for marketing their shop to your audience.

⚠️ Class teaching baker Brit says she was offered a 60/40 split with her venue, but countered with a 100/0 split in exchange for all the marketing she'd be doing, bringing folks to the winery to buy wine + a cookie class. Guess what? They bit. And now she makes 100% of her sales.

No, not every venue will take the bait, but ask before you cough up commissions. Wineries, breweries, kitchen showrooms, cafes, and shared workspaces may all be interested in a lil' exposure in exchange for monetary compensation.

🛑 2. Do NOT just list a class each month.

We used to post a class at the beginning of each month. 🚫 Over time, we realized we were working twice as hard as we should be if we just listed our yearly calendar each January. By listing the year up front, we're able to tell each class we teach about the upcoming classes - and that makes for good marketing.

⚠️ The approach has worked so well in fact, our October Halloween and December Christmas classes are already booked, and it's only September 2.

🛑 3. Do NOT teach intermediate classes.

And if you do, I swear I oughttaaaa... not really care, teach what ya like. BUT if you're just getting started, beginner-level classes will make your class attendees feel so much more successful. ✋ And a happy student = a student who might come back again. 🚫 Teaching intermediate classes limits who will sign up, and also it'll likely raise your ticket prices, yet again limiting who will sign up. 🛑 It's not my favorite recipe for filling up class seats.

🛑 4. Do NOT use a ton of icing colors/consistencies.

I know when a baker is teaching cookie classes because they all suffer from something I like to call "Cookie Class Icing PTSD" - 🚫 which is to say swinging bags and bags of icing over their heads for an upcoming cookie class. When it comes to classes, everything has to be done at scale. ⚠️ So those 7 icing bags you'd mix for your custom sets? Yeah, that's gonna be SEVENTY bags if you're teaching a class to 10 people. ⛔⛔⛔ Y-i-k-es.

🛑 5. Do NOT start from scratch.

Shameless plug (but if we don't toot our own horns, who will?) for the Cookie Class Kits membership that takes the "from scratch" out of cookie class planning. We handle everything for you, so you can focus on securing a venue, baking, and presenting. These class kits handle the design, the color choices, the photography, the step-by-step PowerPoint, the copy, and the math (plus printables like piping practice sheets and Eddie outlines

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👭 Podcast Guests! - Meet Heather Brookshire and Kim Sims.In this week's Baking it Down Podcast - Episode 226 - Podcast Guests Heather and Kim, you asked for less Heather and Corrie, and now you get Heather and Kim! Close enough, right?!

Heather and Kim are self-titled "ESBs" - emotional support bakers - and really break down the value of having a baking buddy to partner with, vent to, talk shop with, and have in your corner when Uber steals your order.

👋 Meet Heather Campbell Brookshire of TheCakeWhispererUSA

If you've ever come to a CookieCon Sugar Cookie Marketing Happy Hour, you've likely met Heather Campbell Brookshire. She's best known for her 3.5xs debut on The Food Network and her Gingerbread Facebook Live (I don't have the link to this still, but she's workin' on getting me a copy).

• 📌 Disney Trip Planning - https://www.reachforthemagicdestinations.com/heatherbrookshire
• 📌 Cookie and Cake Competitions 101 - https://youtu.be/3fIZT96Wdek

When she's not slingin' icing across the silver screen, Heather is the embodiment of "A Disney Adult," and 🐭 also doubles as a Disney Trip Planner (free for the hiring for those uninitiated by the Mouses' rewards plan).

Heather's been baking more cakes than cookies for 10 years (come this October), and gives us a quick deep dive into how to get featured on the Food Network. The key, she says? Try, try, and try again - and just when you're about to give up, expect an email.

👋 Meet Kim DeMille Sims from Beans and Brews & Wesley's Treats

Kim thought cottage baking lacked enough stress (lol), so she dove headfirst into owning her own Beans and Brews franchise in Spring, Texas. Now she's taken her knowledge of allergy-friendly baking into the brick-and-mortar world.

• 📌 Allergy-Friendly Baking Basics with Kim DeMille Sims - https://youtu.be/2Ll5hN9Mi-c
• 📌 Beans & Brews - https://www.beansandbrews.com/coffee-shops/spring-rhodes-shopping-center/

Kim's dream of owning her own coffee-infused bakery started when she was 12, and for the last three years, she's earned an entirely new vocabulary, from "FDD" to handling the SBA.

She pipes us through her backstory, employee turnover, what her future plans are, and ☕️ how she got to owning her own dream coffee beans in 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 226 - Podcast Guests Heather Brookshire and Kim Sims.

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💎 Diamond Demand - Sifting through the competition.In this week's Baking it Down Podcast - Episode 225 - Diamond Demand, we're telling EVERYONE they need DIAMONDS right NOW. 💎💎💎💎

Just kidding - this is just an analogy, so before you make this into something it's not - we're not talkin' about the diamond industry or bl🩸ood diamonds - we're just comparing a not-necessary-for-life luxury good with not-necessary-for-life luxury bakes. And there's somethin' we can all learn from the "very very slightly" interesting podcast comparison.

Diamonds are a luxury item, but how can my local Tysons Corner Center mall be home to so many jewelry stores? It's because while they're selling a similar product (diamonds), they've each carved out their niche among the competition. Blue Nile focuses on web-based marketing, Helzberg is a chain, Mervis is a D2C brand, and Lenkersdorf focuses on diamond watches.

They're all competitors, but because of their respective niches, they aren't really.

💍 1. Dye-Free Baker = Ethically Sourced

Okay, no - I'm not supporting the train that using dyes in your food coloring makes you unethical, but the comparison here is that diamond suppliers who spend more money to focus on ethical sourcing measures tend to charge more. Thus, they incorporate that messaging in the marketing to counter the price gap between their competition.

Same with the dye-free bakers. They can use the current climate to market the potential health benefits of a dye-free approach, niching them down a lil' bit further and also still allowing them to charge enough to cover their costs + make a profit (dye-free food coloring is quite a bit more expensive at the time of writing).

💍 2. Luxury Branding = Tiffany's

If there's one diamond company known for color, it's "Tiffany Blue." People will regularly overpay for that teal color because they're buying the luxury experience and the branding, and they don't mind payin' the big bucks for it.

A baker who wants to niche down can focus on the buyer's experience. Website, branding, check-out, communication, packaging = hit this out of the park and you're in a "name your price" arena.

💍 3. Volume Baking = Wholesale Importers

Now this is where you'll find twin2 supporting her shiny habit. Diamond importers that sell wholesale cut out the middlemen, the fancy packaging, and the white glove treatment in exchange for selling you more for (allegedly) less.

This is the baker that, like Corrie's not-client requested, "slaps icing on a delicious cookie." Some buyers (like the twin) just want a good deal at the sacrifice of everything else. Bakers who focus on cheaper prices and cheaper production will niche themselves away from the higher-end branded baker.

💍 4. Drop Cookiers = Moissanite

Now now, down dog - this isn't to say drop cookies are cheap knock-offs. Rather the point is that they're not even competing with diamonds at all. They're a completely different product snagging some market share that the diamond sellers wouldn't be able to sell to anyway! People who want a giant, delicious drop cookie likely won't love the steep price of a vanilla-only sugar cookie. This is a neat way to niche it up. Talk about a power play, the baker who can sell both sugar cookies and drop cookies.

We compare the "lab-grown" baker in the podcast, but I need to go get some meds and some sleep, so give the podcast a listen!

👂 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 225 - Diamond Demand.

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💼 Main Street Money - Maximizing the main street cookie collab.In this week's Baking it Down Podcast - Episode 224 - Main Street Money, the Main Street Cookie Collab is BACK and it's in two weeks on August 28th at 11:00 AM est. This is a fun collab because it incorporates so much "local" than our other collabs do. ⚠️ Keep in mind, this collab is on a Thursday, not our typical Friday - much thanks to my inability to read a calendar.

⚠️ Also, heads up - we've shifted the time an hour later to 11:00 AM est - 12:00 PM est. We did this so our West Coast friends don't have to be up early to participate.

📌 1. What's a cookie collab?

A cookie collab is a single-day, single-hour online event where a group of bakers design a cookie (or a picture) based on a specified theme. At that designated time, bakers will post their cookie creations to Instagram using a specific hashtag (#SCMCollabLocal). We use a unique hashtag for each collab - ⚠️ meaning don't use the same hashtag as the last collab.

During that hour, all the collabers will engage with other bakers' posts by liking and commenting (but not following). It lasts for 1 hour, and it's a great way to increase engagement by hijacking the algorithm to show your post to more of your followers. A win-win-win. Some collabs are invite-only, but this is an open invite. All we ask is that you register to get reminders and help with your captions (not required, but appreciated).

📌 2. Details on this Main Street collab

This is one of my favorite collabs because the potential pay-offs are so much higher than our other collabs. The Main Street Collab is just that - you find a local business and turn their logo into a cookie. Yes, it's similar to the "cookie my logo" collab we did last month, but this one ups the ante because we're featuring a local company - more on that in a minute.

• ➡️ Time: Thursday, 11:00 AM EST
• ➡️ Date: August 28th, 2025
• ➡️ Use Hashtag #SCMCollabLocal
• ➡️ Register Here: https://form.jotform.com/SugarCookieMarketing/main-street-cookie-collab

📌 3. How to choose a business to feature

Don't feel overwhelmed here - the easier this is, the better. But if you're looking for some tips to maximize potential with this collab, here's what we recommend:

• ✅ Find a hyper-local company.
• ✅ Consider featuring a restaurant or coffee shop.
• ✅ Try to pick a business that already has a bit of a following.
• ✅ Choose a company that's active on social media - specifically on Instagram (bonus if you see they reshare a lot of content).
• ✅ Find more ways you can squeeze content from this collab-featured business.

📌 4. What you're going to post

At 11:00 AM (est), you're going to post the logo cookie on your Instagram. Ideally, the photo of the cookie is taken in front of the business's front door (bonus if you get their logo in the pic too) - you'll likely get more traction that way. Your local audience will think, "Oh hey! I've been there, I love that place!"

Your caption is going to feature either facts about the company, your favorite menu items, or why the location means something to ya - make it interesting for your readers (and for the company you featured - they'll be delighted to read about themselves).

You're also going to tag the company's Instagram handle to see if we can get their attention (and possibly a reshare). Once you post, you're gonna engage with other bakers who used the same hashtag while they come to your post and engage too! This is a fantastic way to get your start in corporate orders - some bakers will eve

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💀 Business Victim Mindset - Be what happens to your business.In this week's Baking it Down Podcast - Episode 223 - Business Victim Mindset, we are in the slowest baking month of the YEAR. Yep - last week of July / first week of August = the Google trends report where "sugar cookie" is least searched.

Conversely, 📊 the end of the slowest month begins the uptick of our busy season - but that's not the point of today's podcast. We're focusing on the "hanging up of the apron" baker who looks for indicators that the industry is dead. Pack it up, boys, ain't no one want cookies no more! The cows came home, and they didn't bring money with 'em.

WRONG. While it feels that way, this has always been our yearly industry ebb and flow. "The J Months" (💸 January, June, and July) make you question if you're good at business at all, and the Q4 months make you feel like you're on top of the world.

We are here - August 3 - 9. 🕵️ In this graph from Google Trends, we see a year in Google search for the term "sugar cookies." That peak is the week before Christmas. That trough? That's us literally this week. 🎄 So if Christmas is 100%, bakers are looking at 14% of our highest order volume (📉 data doesn't exactly mean that, but it can be extrapolated as a decent representation of our calendar year as bakers).

Why are we talking about the low point of baking leads? Because it's during this time that bakers let their business happen to them. They are reactive. They let the ebbs and flows control their moods. 😞 Low leads = low mood. The proverbial "hanging up the apron" quitting posts tick up around this time.

😢 It feels like the end is nigh. But here's today's challenge: happen to your business. Something's not working? Try it a different way. Class didn't book out? BoGo tickets until it does. Summer rain watered your sales numbers at that last farmer's market? Lightning flash sale it is.

1. Your farmer's market event gets rained out

If there's anything more unpredictable than when Corrie will be on the podcast, it's the weather on the day of a farmer's market. We can't control the weather, but we can control our perspective on it.

• 🤕 Business happening to you: You baked everything. You had high hopes for sales, now you're sulking because it was a total wash.

• 💪 You happening to your business: You jump on an impromptu Facebook Live to see if anyone wants to snag a "lightning flash deal" on your bakes. You gain a new audience of last-minute orders, and your product doesn't go to waste - you even recoup some of your costs, maybe even some profit.

• There was low attendance at your vendor event

It happens - the vendor coordinator drops the ball (ahem - wedding vendor expo a la 2024) and no one shows up. But you prepped, spent money on your displays, baked, and even lugged your Eddie there for a photo-booth setup.

• 🤕 Business happening to you: You pack up early and leave. You then complain about the entire event and coordinator in a local community group - heck, they deserve it for wasting your time.

• 💪 You happening to your business: You realize attendance is low, but you brought your DSLR camera. You start connecting with other vendors and take a few photos of them in action. You grab their business card and make a connection, thus potentially securing a referral source.

• There was another baker at your holiday market

Nothing's worse than showing up to a Holiday Market full of your competitors, especially when they told you that you'd be the only cookie baker.

• 🤕 Business happening to you: You complain to management and forever burn that bridge.

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👀 Reach Ain’t Errythang - Focus on metrics that make money.In this week's Baking it Down Podcast - Episode 222 - Return of the Twith, the twin is BACK in business, and she means business with this week's topic: reach isn't everything.

We played a clip from marketer David Glu, who lists how your audience's interactions might signal what your content isn't doing for them.

• 📈 Low Likes = Your content isn't relatable
• 📉 Low Comments = Your content isn't thought-provoking
• 📈 Low Saves = Your content doesn't add enough value
• 📉 Low Shares = Your content is not engaging
• 📈 Low Views = Your content is missing a good hook

I like this approach to diagnosing a reach problem because it doesn't allow you to say, "Well, nothing's working, I'm going to quit making content." Instead, it forces you to look at the reach problem as a symptom (🤔 "What do I need to tweak here?" versus a profile problem (😓 "Facebook is limiting my page reach.").

🔨 One of those is in your power to fix, and one of those is not.

But also consider how many people you're reaching. 30 per post? 100 per post? 1,000 per post? Seeing other bakers reach hundreds of thousands of people every time they twiddle their fingers across a keyboard can be disheartening.

But imagine you were asked to speak to a room of 30 people. Would you be nervous? Of course.

How about a room full of 100 people? Talk about a lil' perspiration station under them armpits, right?

How about an auditorium of 1,000 people? That'd be a MASSIVE audience. Yet when we see the reach of "30 people" in our Facebook metrics, out the window goes the thought that those people ARE potential buyers.

If 30 people placed an order with you tomorrow, would you be booked out for a month or two? Then remember which metrics are guiding your content focus.

Your hyper-local followers are your target audience as a local baker, so no - you were never supposed to expect to reach 100,000 people with that post, because if 95% of those people aren't able to place a local order with you, it wasn't the metric to score your content by.

Yes, focus on metrics. No, don't let the wrong metric trip you up. Reach isn't as important as conversions (aka people opening their wallets). Yes, they're related, but they're more like second cousins, not twins. When one does well, it's not always indicative of the other doing well.

🎟️ My class kit social media posts get max 3 - 4 likes. My cookie classes? Already booking out in December at $85/ticket with a waitlist. My conversion metric outperformed my engagement metric, and I'm fine with that because, to my business model, conversions are more important than likes.

Join the Main Street Cookie Collab on Thursday (ahem), August 28, 2025, at 11:00 AM EST. It's a great way to produce hyper-local content. But then take that content in a few directions. That's what a good marketer would do.

• 📸 Make the single-image Instagram Main Street Collab post.
• 📸 Make a carousel post featuring the cookie, the menu, the restaurant's facade, the lunch you ordered there, etc.
• 📸 Make a Reel outta your trip to turn the business into a cookie.
• 📸 Post your photo roll-up to a local FB group and write a restaurant review.
• 📸 Have your FB page audience vote on which business they want you to cookie-fy next.

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💵 Money Talks With the (older) Miracles.In this week's Baking it Down Podcast - Episode 221 - Money Talk with the Miracles, Corrie's still outta commission, so we've got another Miracle sister as a stunt double - meet Ashley with YNAB.com.

Ash is the older (and wiser) sister and also an employee of an app that helps folks manage their money. Now, this is not a sales pitch; that said, I do use the app (and pay full price - what happened to sibling hookups?!), and we're giving away 3 months of it in the Sugar Cookie Marketing group.

But we are talkin' about the "YNAB Way" - an approach they take to help business owners and individuals look at the way their money works differently than we're typically told to. The goal of this unique approach is to remove the "ick" of budgeting and replace it with a spending strategy. Basically, they put you and your money on the same side of the war against debt and dollar dread.

Here's the "YNAB Way" approach as it applies to bakers:

• 💵 1. What does this money need to do before I’m paid again?
• 💵 2. What larger or less frequent spending do I need to prepare for?
• 💵 3. What can I set aside for next month’s spending?
• 💵 4. What goals, large or small, do I want to prioritize?
• 💵 5. What changes do I need to make, if any?

The key is giving every dollar a job. That means each month, every dollar you intake gets assigned a role, aka a job. In your "money that came in" line, there will ideally be 0 dollars because all those dollars were moved from the "ready to be given a job" and then were allocated to some line item in your budget.

That's where the 5 steps come in.

The first "job" your dollars need to tackle is the things that, if not paid, you won't have a business next month. Think website hosting fees, licensure fees, and booth fees. Got those dollars assigned? Cool - we're still in business.

Step 2 - The next are those not frequent but very necessary expenses (YNAB calls them sinking funds). These are things like yearly renewals, oven repairs or replacements, insurance policies, heck, maybe your Cookie College yearly renewal you got at a MAJOR discount during the Mid-Summer Membership Sale next week (you smart spender, you) - all things you gotta have, but aren't monthly bills.

Step 3 gets your money working ahead. Instead of just funding your bills for this month, imagine a world where next month is already accounted for, too. Sighs in relief As wise older sister Ash said, "We're trying to level out the financial roller coasters."

Step 4 is my personal favorite. Once the bills are all budgeted for, we can start prioritizing our dream spending. Ash says you can learn a lot about a baker through their budget, especially when it comes to goals and wants. Think buying that Eddie, or going to CookieCon 2026, or spending with (budgeted) reckless abandon at The Vendy Blendy.

And we end with Step 5 - the overview and the adjustment. We see what we had to spend, we see what we will spend, and we now see what we want to spend - where can we optimize? Where can we dream bigger? Where can we spend less? Like Ash says, "It's a constant conversation with yourself about how you want your money to work for you."

👂 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 221 - Money Talk with the Miracles.

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👋 Ope, It's Amy! The mod team meets the mod team.In this week's Baking it Down Podcast - Episode 220 - Ope, It's Amy!, we continue on our "regular scheduled programming" departure to introduce our first ever podcast guest - 🎂 Amy Russell of CookiesTakeTheCake (https://www.instagram.com/cookiestakethecake)!

💥 Now here's the funny part: Amy has been a part of the Sugar Cookie Marketing moderation team for like almost 5 years, and yet we've never met her before. Attempted to? Yes, many times. But she's 16 hours away in Missouri, and we're dying of heat exhaustion in the Nation's Swamp... I mean, Capitol.

But claim that no more, 🚦🚗💨 for Amy went an additional 8 hours outta her way to be the first ever podcast guest as Corrie preps for her hysterectomy surgery (today actually - she'll be under when you're reading this email. 🙏 Healing thoughts, twin #2!).

Why give this podcast a listen? Amy's got a unique story - 🥣 like many bakers do, how she found herself on a whisk and a prayer is an interesting story involving starting with gluten-sensitive cakes and migrating into the wild world of sugar cookies due to their ease of freezing - something that comes in handy when you've got 👦👦👦👦👦 5 boys under 17 years of age (🏥 ER visits seem to be their favorite vacation destination).

Amy has structured her business in a way that allows her to juggle everything that life throws at their family of 7 - from church missions trips to after-school sports activities. 🔧 Her bakery is a tool to not only add income to the family's bottom line but also the flexibility needed to play Manager Mom - 🔧🛠️🪛🔩 all of which are more tools she uses to increase her brand awareness and network to new potential clients in a pretty neat way (I won't spoil it for ya, you can hear it on this week's episode).

👂 Since I don't have kids and Corrie only has one, it's an interesting listen to see what it all looks like under the hood of a large family.

The big takeaway from Amy? She says to find your niche. In her words, "If the market's saturated, ✍️ then call me the ink." And her defining statement is that there's enough work to go around if you're willing to niche for it. And I'm here for this. There's enough cookies to go around when you're the gluten-free, mini-baker serving an area outside a massive city where your unique setup allows you an even more unique marketing opportunity.

Tune in next week for Podcast Guest #2 - the older Miracle sister!

👂 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 220 - Ope, It's Amy!

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🤒 C is for Cancer - A health update.In this week's Baking it Down Podcast - Episode 219 - C is for Cancer, we pause our typical marketing podcast to talk about health - specifically as it relates to Corrie's cancer diagnosis and her upcoming surgery that'll have her outta commission for a few weeks (yes, you're still stuck with me, Heather).

Today's podcast was a departure from our typical marketing content. It's a way to raise awareness that cancer doesn't judge, it doesn't choose favorites, and the best way to beat it is to catch it ahead of time. Ergo, the goal of today's podcast is to raise awareness for cancer screenings.

As a self-employed baker, the thought of putting your health in front of all your orders, deadlines, payroll, website updates, social media posts, newsletters, pop-ups... You get the point. Your health can feel like it's the last thing you have time to focus on when it comes to your endless to-do list.

But you have to put "health" at the top - your life literally depends on it.

👂 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 219 - C is for Cancer.

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🤑 Mid-Summer Membership Sale - The first-ever mid-year Cookie College sale.In this week's Baking it Down Podcast - Episode 218 - Mid-Summer Membership Sale, we cover this month's Mid-Summer Membership sale starting July 27 - August 2, 2025. This 7-day sale is the only one we've ever run before the Vendy Blendy (I cried just typing that - 🥲 how is this year goin' by so fast).

🤑 1. The Details

This is our first-ever Mid-Summer Membership Sale - typically, we run a Black Friday sale, but that puts bakers having to take classes right smack dab in the middle of busy season. So I (ahem, Heather... thank me later) convinced Corrie to run a similar sale, but mid-summer so bakers can work on marketing in the slower season (before our "Cookie Super Bowl" holiday season starts).

So if you've been on the fence on signing up for these memberships, now is the time to snag 'em while they're cheap. They won't go on sale again until our one-day Black Friday sale. This time, you have 7 whole days to think it over.

Mid-Summer Membership Sale Details:

• 💵 Date: July 27 - Aug 2
• 💵 Duration: 7 Days
• 💵 Discounts: 10% - 50% (even 89%)
• 💵 Location: Online at The Cookie College website

🤑 2. The Discounts

So we're runnin' a sale on e-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g - that means every membership and even the now-archived Class Kits from yesteryear. There's somethin' for everyone in this sale, so fence-sitters, rejoice! Your procrastination has finally paid off for once!

The Discounts:

• 💵 The Cookie College - (was $76) $68/mo or $680/yr
• 💵 The Cookie Class Kits - (was $63) $31.50/mo or $351/yr
• 💵 The Bakers Biz Basics - (was $36) $18/mo
• 💵 The Digital Downloads - (was $10) $5/mo or $100/yr
• 💵 The Two Dollar Transfer Club - (was $2) $1/mo
• 💵 The 2023 - 2024 Class Kits - $10/each

And if you're already a current member of any of the above, you can STILL switch to the cheaper plan! Yeah - I gotta take care of my peeps. As always, all sales are offered to current members as well. You'll just log in > settings > scroll all the way down to billing > scroll even further to "change plan" > select the cheaper option.

BAM - your bill date doesn't change, and any overpayment is applied as a pro-rated discount for that first payment. Your next invoice will reflect that cheaper plan.

🤑 3. The Roast 'n Toasts

To hype up the Mid-Summer Sale, we're hosting THREE Live marketing audits. They're only 30 minutes long, and each will feature 5 bakers who signed up for 5 minutes in the hot seat. We'll burn through their profile finding recs to increase sales, reduce funnel length, or clarify communications. In exchange for sweatin' it out with us, each baker has a 1-in-5 chance to win a month FREE in The Cookie College!

• 💵 July 10 - Roast 'n Toast - Mid-Summer Marketing Audit #1 🔥🥂
• 💵 July 17 - Roast 'n Toast - Mid-Summer Marketing Audit #2 🔥🥂
• 💵 July 24 - Roast 'n Toast - Mid-Summer Marketing Audit #3 🔥🥂

In each of the Roasts, I'll cover a bit about the sale, too. Wanna get roasted then possibly toasted? Sign up here: https://form.jotform.com/SugarCookieMarketing/roast-then-toast

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📹 Video Marketing - For local, small cottage bakeries.In this week's Baking it Down Podcast - Episode 217 - Video Marketing for Local Small Bakeries, Corrie wanted to talk about the wild world of Reels. Well, Reels, TikToks, YouTube Shorts - you know, vertical video. A topic made all the more important by Meta's announcement last week that all videos uploaded to the Facebook platform would now be categorized as Reels, thus shutting the door on horizontal videos (* Lives are still Lives, though).

It's what's in right now, and as small businesses who want to increase reach, we gotta bite the proverbial bullet and say cheese (trust me, I hate it too).

🎞️ 1. Start with the setup

The setup will make or break your quality, but pro-tip: it won't be perfect when you're just getting started. Don't let that stop you! The old adage was right when it stated, "Practice makes perfect." So yes, you may be tripping out of the gate, but the long-term benefits of Nike's "Just Do It" will make the juice worth the squeeze.

Products Recs from this Podcast:

• 🔗 Tripod - Canvas Lamp
• 🔗 Dummy Phone - iPhone 13
• 🔗 Editing App - InShot
• 🔗 Backdrop - The Backers Co in White Matte Finish
• 🔗 Teleprompter - Search Amazon for one that fits your setup

You'll want to find a natural indirect light source - this means the sun, but in a bright room where the sun isn't creating harsh shadows. If you can't get out of the sun because of the positioning of your house, using a silk curtain can diffuse the light enough to make it work.

📐 Most bakers struggle with the positioning of the tripod in relation to the cookie. Don't be afraid to position the camera at an angle - if you pay attention, you'll find most decorating videos are not directly overhead, although Corrie tells ya how to make it work with the Canvas Lamp (heads up - she does not use the lamp's light ring, just the phone mount).

🎞️ 2. Types of videos to record

Once you get your setup dialed in, you may be tempted to become a one-dimensional "cookie decorating video ASMR" content machine, but ya gotta mix it up. 🔑 This is the key point to the podcast - small, local businesses need to feature local content.

Consider who is watching your videos. ASMR-type decorating videos appeal to a wide audience - 🌎 like, "the whole world" wide. Not the goal if we want to increase our local customer base, but good for impressions (the number of eyes that watch your videos). When we feature hyper-local businesses, farmers markets, and event coverage, we appeal really just to our local demographic. That's the goal.

🪣 Here are some content buckets you could pull from to make a diverse content strategy that covers both broad and narrow targeting:

• 🎬 Read customer testimonials and give order details
• 🎬 Local event coverage - farmer's markets, new restaurant opening, town events
• 🎬 Tell a story or series - "I'm on my journey to open a brick and mortar - I'm taking you with me!"
• 🎬 Behind the scenes - "I have an order for 30 dz. Let's do it together."
• 🎬 Presale QVC-style video - "Here's what you'll find at my pop-up next week."
• 🎬 Baking Tips - "Here's how to make Royal Icing at home!"
• 🎬 ASMR-type decorating vids

🎞️ 3. Things to include for extra reach

Finally, try to include these when recording - it'll help your audience better relate and discover your content. And the more people who see your content, the more likely the algos are to show your content to more people = the endless cog in the marketing wheel.

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🖼️ Take a Stab - At a cookie collab.In this week's Baking it Down Podcast - Episode 216 - Taking a Stab at a Cookie Collab, and Sugar Cookie Marketing Cookie Collabs are BACK IN BUSINESS. You can check out the details in the event listing for the SCM Cookie Collab: Meet the Baker 2025! here.

But allow us to spend this week's podcast and newsletter walking you through the Collab 101 basics so you can get the most from the easy-to-join Instagram cookie collab.

Long story... podcast?... short, collabs are an easy breezy marketing collaboration with a handful of other bakers to increase engagement as well as e-network with your coll-e-agues (get it, because we're all online?). 🌊 Let's dive in. 👙 But if you're already "in there like swimwear," go ahead and register here:

🔪 1. What's a cookie collab?

A cookie collab is a single-day, single-hour online event where a group of bakers design a cookie (or a picture) based on a specified theme. Each "collaber" will post on a designated social media platform (Instagram in this case) using a specific hashtag (#SCMCollabBaker). Then all the participants will engage with other participants' posts by liking and commenting (but not following). It lasts for 1 hour, and it's a great way to meet new bakers, put faces to names, and increase engagement by hijacking the algo to show your post to more of your followers. A win-win-win. Some collabs are invite-only, but this is an open invite collab. All we ask is that you register to get reminders (not required, but appreciated).

🔪 2. Why did we stop doing collabs?

With Zuck trying to keep up with the Joneses (ahem, TikTok), the platform depreciated hashtags - the main way we connect bakers through collabs. Previously, collabers could search for the most recent posts using a common hashtag (example, our old collab hashtag - #SCMCookiecCollab) during the collab hour and engage away as one big happy baking family. Now, with the removal of the ability to follow hashtags and the ability to filter by most recent, posts from prior collabs would have shown up, they'd have been outta order, and it would have been a giant mess.

So we stopped because we needed to rethink the approach (it didn't require a ton of brain power, which you'll see in a second, but hey - we got busy too).

🔪 3. Details on this collab

This collab is our simplest concept of the three collabs we'll attempt this year. The "Meet the Baker" collab just requires a picture of you! Personal branding through face photos builds trust and relatability with customers - and bonus, you don't have to bake for this one. Always remember the quote, “people like faces. When in doubt, selfie it out.”

• ➡️ Time: Friday, 10:00 AM EST
• ➡️ Date: June 27th, 2025
• ➡️ Use Hashtag #SCMCollabBaker
• ➡️ Register here: https://form.jotform.com/SugarCookieMarketing/scmcollabbaker

And it will work - humans love humans, and this collab capitalizes on that. And even better, you get to see the faces of other bakers who are also participating. It's a fun way to kill an hour and do a lil' marketing at the same time.

🔪 4. Tips to get the most from a collab

While it's pretty hard to mess up "post a selfie," there are ways to squeeze the most juice from this berry.

• ✅ Try to have your post up by 10:00 AM EST for maximum exposure.
• ✅ Use the Hashtag #SCMCollabBaker on Instagram.

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🤖 AI-AI-Oh Yes - Ways bakers are incorporating AI.

In this week's Baking it Down Podcast - Episode 215 - AI-AI-Oh Yes, we read a thread asking bakers how they're using AI in their bakery business. The answers should inspire you - from streamlining workflow to helping write compelling copy on social media, AI has entered stage left, and it won't be leaving anytime soon.

If you're a late adopter to this new tech, you're not totally alone, but we predict (hot take) that the bakers who do incorporate AI into their workflow will outperform the bakers who resist the "winds of change."

For this newsletter, I'll just list out how bakers are incorporating AI as they incorporate their icing. It's how others use AI that can inspire you to learn ways you can add it yourself. In the podcast, we also listed out how the Harvard Business Review found out how the majority of folks are using AI in their lives.

Full disclosure - we recorded this podcast last week, and I'm currently sitting beachside (hopefully not in the rain) right now. So, hello from the past. Also, hello from a huge fan of letting technology help you in business.

• 🔧 1. Rewriting copy and captions - Ericka - "When I’m brain dead, I’ll have it rewrite my copy to sound like I’m a lively awake human 😂."
• 🔧 2. Create outline drawings for cookies - Renea - "To make one-line drawings for cookies."
• 🔧 3. Edit backgrounds on images - Viviana - "Once in a while, I use it to change the background and content. I am involved in networking, and on a few occasions, I have had to give a 10-minute presentation about what I do. I let AI help me put things into words."
• 🔧 4. Color mixing theory - Kelly - "Copy ideas, and when I’m having trouble with mixing a color, although I haven’t found it as helpful with colors as I had hoped. I’m liking a lot of these other ideas mentioned here, especially when you are stuck on that last design and making the one-line drawings!"
• 🔧 5. Design ideas - Amie - "Sometimes I need just one more design idea, and I’ll have it make me some ideas."
• 🔧 6. Website copy - Tina - "Writing first draft of copy for social media, website. Putting in my responses to difficult customer queries and asking it to make it more friendly and sincere. 😁"
• 🔧 7. Recipe scaling - Daphanee - "Recipe scaling and troubleshooting, writing copy, doing mockups for sets when I have a hard time conceptualizing them."

👂 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 215 - AI-AI-Oh Yes.

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🔄 Pivot Pivot Pivot - What to change when nothing's working.In this week's Baking it Down Podcast - Episode 214 - Pivot Pivot Pivot, 😖 we talk about what to do when you're doin' it all and all of it doesn't seem to be working.

🛞💨 Nothing is more frustrating than spinning your wheels and making no traction. So what do you do when it's just not working? Here are some things to attempt before you start screaming into the void.

See - sometimes we might be doing "all the things," but we're not doing them all right. So touching base with the basics may help you reveal some ways you can pivot and get some fruit from all that labor. 🍎🍊🍋🍌🍉🍑🍓🍒 So - to summarize, yes - you can do everything on the list and still miss the marketing mark. So let's reassess.

🔄 1. Try shifting posting times

An easy one, but it may make a difference. If you use Facebook Planner defaults (10:00 AM), you'll find that your content goes up at the same time every time you post. While I love me consistency, sometimes it may be the very thing throwing off your marketing. Corrie has me helping her run her local community group, where the 'most active times' metric is still available. And guess what - the most active time in her area? 8:00 PM on a weekend - definitely not 10:00 AM on a weekday.

🕒🕓🕔 So, try switching it up - see if posting on a weekend late gets more engagement. You'll also need to recognize other players here - content type, copy, time of year, etc. But playing around with posting times can give a lil' boost when nothing else is hittin' home.

🔄 2. Test different copy formulas

If you're posting the same caption over and over and over and over - it may be worthwhile to incorporate another format and see if that small adjustment makes a big difference when it comes to your audience. 🧪 We like formulas because they act as guides for your copy - P-A-S, A-I-D-A, before-after-bridge, 4 C's - all examples of formulas designed to help you make copy work for you, not against you.

Remember - truncation reigns supreme. 🪝 It may be worth plantin' a hook in your first few words to get people to click... See more.

🔄 3. Switch out photos for Reels

It's a Reel's world and we're just livin' in it. Most folks hate the idea of recording video, 🎥 especially when it took us so long to master photos. But if there's one consistent thing about social media = it's that it never stays consistent. To take on the addictive TikTok, 📲 Meta has moved to favor the vertical video both on Instagram and kinda on Facebook? Either way, if your photos aren't resonating, clear them pipes and get to talkin' or, uh, voice-over-in'? Vertical video is in whether or not we like it.

🤮 opens mouth and takes a big spoonful of phone mount shadows

🔄 4. Mix in some new content buckets

🪣 Sometimes our consistent content is also stale content, and our audience will let us know by checkin' out. It may be time to mix in some more exciting content buckets. You know the drill = feature local restaurants or markets, share a recommendation for a local business, talk about a charity your clients are involved in, add in some person posts so people can connect. The age-old strategy of just posting 🖼️ baked set after 🖼️ baked set can bore even the most die-hard supporters (thanks, mom), so add in some interest that they can re-engage 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 214 - Pivot Pivot Pivot.

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🛑 Hit the Breaks - How to take big bakery breaks.In this week's Baking it Down Podcast - Episode 213 - Hit the Breaks, we cover the fact of life that just sometimes, along your business journey, you need to take a big break.

If you've listened to past podcasts, you know we're anti-"big break" when it comes to marketing because it's really hard to stop and start marketing when funnels are long and competition is well, competitive.

However, the beauty of being your own boss is that when life requires significant breaks, you're able to take them - with the correctly set expectations that it will impact your marketing and lead generation. With the right setup, that negative effect can be mitigated. And that's what today's podcast is on - the strategy behind big breaks.

Note - if you're taking a small break, like something under 2 weeks, disregard this strategy. You likely don't even need to alter your current marketing much, if at all, for a small break. We are talking big breaks, as in 2 months.

⛔ 1. Make an announcement

When it comes to big breaks, we need to c-o-m-m-u-n-i-c-a-t-e effectively because nothing is more frustrating than to go place an order with your favorite baker for an event that just happens to fall during that baker's big break. So we need our audience to fully comprehend our break and what it entails.

• ⛔ Add a defined start and stop date for your big break. I'm talking "July 1, 2025 - August 15, 2025" type specificity. This can help your audience plan around your break without being ambiguous.
• ⛔ Unpin ALL pinned posts and JUST leave this announcement post pinned. We want to make sure all the attention is brought to a singular point - our break announcement.
• ⛔ Do NOT put the dates you're out of town. Thieves can use this information to figure out that your house is homeowner-free and rob ya. Again, this podcast is for "taking a break from my bakery" breaks, not "at the beach for the week" breaks.

⛔ 2. Schedule out posting and newsletters

Contrary to "taking a break," we don't want to fully ghost our socials and newsletters. We live in an algorithmic world, so fully ghosting can make it really hard to reach our audience when we return. So we make maintenance posts just so Zuck doesn't think we've fully abandoned our baking ship.

• ⛔ Schedule fewer posts during this absence. While we're not working, we don't want to post at the same frequency as when we were working - it's confusing. Bring your scheduled posts down to once a week - if you're taking off 2 months, that's only 8 posts.
• ⛔ In each of these posts, you're going to reiterate your break start and end dates. This way, your posts are sending a confusing message of "Wait, I thought she was on break? But she just posted about baking a fun set??"
• ⛔ The copy should not drive sales. We don't want to have any CTAs in our maintenance posts, because we don't want people to take an action at all. We're on break. So don't ask people to click to your website, place an order, or contact you.

With your newsletter - constantly drive folks who caught ya "on your big break," to sign up for your newsletter so they can get the inbox exclusive on your 'big break return." It's a decent way to grow your email list while still staying in touch about your break schedule. You may want to send an email giving folks a heads up about the break (1 month out), the official break announcement, 1 newsletter during your break with a reminder about the return, then a return-day announcement.

⛔ 3. Update all auto-responses

Your business has a lot of auto-responders designs for big

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⏰ 1-Hr Admin Tasks - Setting up time blocks for tasks.In this week's Baking it Down Podcast - Episode 212 - Admin Hour, we break down four different "admin hour" frameworks you could spend each week pluggin' away at to be a better baking business.

"Admin Hours" are groupings of tasks that take up an hour spent on one specific aspect of your business - social media, bake prep, customer management, and inbox management - the four frameworks we cover this week.

By spending a dedicated few hours a week on these "admin hour" tasks, you'll save yourself a future headache, streamline your workflow, and become a competitive baker in your space (as well as stress less as you forget fewer orders and run out of fewer cookie tags ya already sold).

🕰️ 1. Social Hour

Staying consistent on social media will be a great foundational strategy. But to be consistent, we must make time to create content. Here's a social media "admin hour" framework you can build from:

• ⏰ 20 Mins - Schedule this week's posts (3x/wk minimum)
• ⏰ 10 Mins - Reply to comments
• ⏰ 10 Mins - Comment on posts in a few local groups
• ⏰ 30 Mins - Make a Reel (film / edit / voiceover / post)

You can add multiple "social hours" to your week depending on how aggressive your social media marketing focus is. And these hours can ebb and flow throughout your cookier calendar year as needed (for example, when you're fully booked, drop down to 1 hour, when the upcoming month looks light for orders, add in a few more social hours).

🕰️ 2. Inbox Hour

If you've not tasted of the sweet nectar that is inbox zero, you're missing out. Walking up to an inbox only full of actionable emails you got in the last few days is a breath of email-fresh air. Once you reach the coveted "Inbox Zero," your inbox-power-hour will look something like this:

• ⏰ 20 Mins - Reply to all emails / Ping follow-up emails
• ⏰ 10 Mins - File emails away to reach Inbox Zero again
• ⏰ 10 Mins - Transpose orders / tasks to Google Calendar
• ⏰ 10 Mins - CRM - Follow up with orders placed this time last year

Getting an inbox hour on your weekly task list puts you in control of your calendar (rather than the stress of being a slave to a calendar missing your dentist appointments and that one order you forgot to write down).

🕰️ 3. Admin tasks

Likely the one you don't wanna do but are forced to do, running a business requires admin tasks. Here's how we'd break up that hour spent "behind the scenes" of your bakery biz:

• ⏰ 10 Mins - QuickBooks Bookkeeping Update
• ⏰ 10 Mins - Adding new leads to CRM
• ⏰ 10 Mins - Inbox Zero
• ⏰ 10 Mins - Inventory Check
• ⏰ 10 Mins - Weekly Meeting (Asana)
• ⏰ 10 Mins - Plan Out Week

So again - your admin tasks may take longer than this - and that's absolutely fine. The goal is to consistently show up for at least an hour for these recurring tasks, turning you into a consistent working powerhouse.

🕰️ 4. Baking Prep

Baking preparations for the week can streamline your baking workflow because you're not stuck running to the cutter corner for every order. I prefer to do this stuff on Mondays and capitalize on the time saving all week. Whichever days you choose for your admin hours is up to you, but sprinkling in a baking power hour is a must for a ballin' baker.

• ⏰ 10 Mins - Wash Baking Mat and other supplies
• ⏰ 10 Mins - Wipe down Surfaces / Disinfect
• ⏰ 20 Mins - Collect Cutters for the Week
• ⏰ 10 Mins - Dough Ready / Dough Day Planned
• ⏰ 10

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↩️ Luxury Refunds - Refunds are a business strategy.In this week's Baking it Down Podcast - Episode 211 - Luxury Refunds, Corrie wanted to recap yet another reminder on why luxury bakers should consider luxury refunds.

🤔 What's a luxury refund? It's the baked-into-the-price guarantee that if something goes left, the baker will make it right - and typically that will be through a refund.

Per the twin, we can't claim 💰 "luxury brand and thus luxury pricing," but claim 😭 "I'm just a small business, give me a break" when things go wrong. Luxury price needs to be threaded throughout your entire sales process. Yes, refunds included.

💰 1. Be Refund-Centric

When you think about luxury brands, you're likely not picturing a front-desk person telling unhappy clients that that sounds like a them-problem when the client has an issue. Noooo - you picture luxury brands like hotels handling all the gross parts of staying in a hotel = managing luggage, door hops, taxi cab and uber calls, clean rooms and room service - you get the point. Luxury pricing includes making things right for our luxury clients.

A refund-centric company will have its happiness guarantee baked into its policies before the client even orders. If there were two bakers equal in every way but only one offered a 100% money-back guarantee, which do you think clients would choose? Be that baker.

💰 2. Take refund culpability

Most of the time, it's not a 100/0 split on who is at fault when it comes to client issues. ⚖️ Likely, there's shared culpability. But a luxury brand would still take culpability from the client. 🤨 "But twins! I wasn't wrong, they were!" We know - but you're the business owner, and a luxury business owner at that. Don't be afraid to say, "I'm so sorry - I misunderstood when you wrote XYZ! My apologies - I'd love to make you whole regarding this issue."

🔑 The words "I'm sorry" will unlock more doors than they shut - believe ye we.

💰 3. Offer refunds often

Here's the thing - you won't have to refund often if you're willing to refund. Why? You'll find that clients actually aren't trying to get free stuff - they just want their cookies. 🛑 Being gracious to your clients by offering refunds will allow your clients to actually ask you not to. People are more understanding than we give them credit for. We just have to allow them to have the elbow room to exercise that grace - 🥊and they can't when you're threatening them by blaming them for the order issue.

💰 4. Refund swiftly

Be quick to refund, as in don't make your clients fight you for it. With every message rejecting the client's issue, you're one step closer to the dreaded, "Well, I also found a hair in the cookie." Pluuuus, when you address the first issue rather than forcing customers to rattle off 10 reasons why they think you should offer them recourse, you get the brownie points of being "that baker" that puts customer service first and foremost.

💰 5. Refund and be generous

When it comes to refunding, don't nickel and dime your clients and expect them to appreciate it. 🤕 If you made a booboo, grab the biggest band-aid. 🩹 Rather refund too much than too little and leave the clients hurt (and in your review profiles, finding their written vindication). "But I only messed up a few cookies!" We get it, and we're not necessarily saying a full refund, but a "barely there" refund won't cut it. As an example, maybe a rebake and a partial refund may be the answer to satisfy the client's upsetting experience.

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💸 Selling in Community Groups - Turn groups into lead gen powerhouses.
In this week's Baking it Down Podcast - Episode 210 - Selling in Community Groups, we are talking about the same topic we presented this past Tuesday at What's Popping Con (a convention for Cake Poppers). This content is all available on our website by clicking this button - it's a lot of info and free templates, so click here to snag that stuff while it's still posted.

If you're already thinking, "There are no community groups in my area," consider starting your own. In this course, we'll cover some of the group mechanics that can help you form the foundation of your own community groups. Community groups that are valuable resources can be massive lead gen opportunities for the group admins.

🧠 A group is only as good as its management team. High-quality groups require a lot of effort, but they pay out in dividends.

• https://www.sugarcookiemarketing.com/popping

💸 Snag a Free Tracking Template!

We live and die by our spreadsheets - and using one to track community groups allows you to stay on top of specific group rules, posting times, post types, group size - you get the point. This free Google sheet is built out for community group management. Use the dropdown to categorize each aspect of your local community groups.

Way too often, users get banned from community groups for breaking the sales rules specifically. It's important to keep track of each group's sales policies so we're not permanently banned from selling there.

We're going to look for about 10 local community groups if possible, but we'll take what we can get. The more options you have, the more potential audience you can reach.

It's important as a seller to understand how groups can be run within Meta's group options and features as these can affect your posting abilities within groups.

⚠️ An important aspect of selling in a community group: following their rules. Take a minute to join the Example Facebook Group we're using for the rest of this lesson - you can join it by clicking here > answering the membership questions > agree to the group rules. Let's run through some common community group Q&As to help you better understand how to approach groups when making your sales posts.

🔗 Rules can be found for any group by adding /rules to the end of the community group's URL (example: https://www.facebook.com/groups/sugarcookiemarketing/rules).

💸 Group Profiles - How to Optimize

When you join a community group, you automatically create a group profile separate from your Facebook profile (although still connected). Think of your group profile as a version of you specifically made for that group. Optimizing these group profiles can help increase lead generation in your community groups. Each community group you join creates a unique group profile for that specific group.

You can customize:

• ✍️ Your profile intro (150 character limit)
• ✍️ The profile cover photo (1640x600 pixel sizing)

When other users click on your profile within that group, they are taken to your group profile. Admins can also use your group profile to see admin actions taken against you, your group activity, as well as your profile information. From there, they can also click to your personal Facebook profile.

Your group profile is only a part of your overall Facebook persona. Optimize your personal profile as well. You can tag a business page or insert a URL in your personal profile. You can update your cover photo to feature your latest bakes, and you can share content from your baking page to

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🤏 Half It then Half It - Make goals small and then smaller.
In this week's Baking it Down Podcast - Episode 209 - Half It Then Half It, we cover a topic Heather saw on the Diary of a CEO podcast with Dr. Alok Kanojia on goal setting.

The concept is pretty basic - set a goal. Then take that goal and half it. Then take that half and half it again. You're now left with only 25% of that goal. And guess what? That 25% is much more doable than the big, massive, overly sized goal you couldn't eat whole.

Breaking (baking?) goals into edible chunks makes for small bites that we can accomplish to get us to our bigger goal. 25% Goals aren't as fun to tell people about - they get the vibe of, "Okay... and?" And that's what makes them so valuable - because they're not big, they allow us to take small movements forward.

Sure - we won't get the accolades for announcing some giant goal like, "THIS YEAR, I PLAN TO OPEN STORE FRONT," but the path to opening a store front is long and lonely - I'd rather claim this year to do the thankless foundation work required to get into a brick and mortar rather than make a big announcement with no execution (remember the "No One Likes a Party Planner" podcast episode).

🤏 1. Example - Facebook Lead Gen

Turning Facebook into a lead gen powerhouse is a BIG goal - and one we really like. Facebook can really make some sales for bakers. But let's half that goal:

• 📏 I want to turn community groups into a referral source.

Even better! We narrowed it from "ALL of Facebook," which is a massive task to tackle down to an aspect of Facebook. But per the doc, we can go smaller! Let's half that half.

• 📏 I want to make this one specific group a resource for my bakery business.

There we go - in fact, this will be next week's Podcast topic (turning Local Community Groups into Referral Powerhouses after we teach it at What's Popping Con 2025 on Tuesday).

🤏 2. Example - Brick and Mortar

Most bakers dream of seeing their business logo in bright lights on a building they leased. And who wouldn't?! Talk about a HUGE goal that feels all warm and fuzzy! But brick and mortar dreams aren't built overnight, but rather on consistent "half of a half" goals over time. Let's half that B&M goal:

• 📏 I want to contact a commercial leasing agent to learn more about taking on a B&M lease.

Love it - so much more actionable than "I will open a brick and mortar bakery," but can we half it again?

• 📏 I'm going to reach out to the Sugar Cookie Marketing group and see if any B&M bakers would take a 15-minute call from me to talk about the "first 6 months" of prep needed to get started on potentially opening a bakery in the future.

Loooove that so much more. That's a "half of a half" goal that will actually teach you something - whether a brick and mortar bakery business is meant for you.

🤏 3. Example - I want to be a social media expert.

As a marketer myself, love this goal - but it's a chunky one. Taking on all of social media is admirable, but that's not going to move a needle because it's too broad. Let's see if we can half it.

• 📏 I want to focus on making my Facebook page a valuable resource for my business.

Just like the community group goal, LOVE this - it'll be a huge boon to your business goals. But can we go smaller on this halved goal? I bet we can.

• 📏 I will post to my business Facebook page 2x a week to establish a baseline for a posting schedule.

There we go!

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🥊 Multi-Holiday Showdown - How to tackle multiple holidays.In this week's Baking it Down Podcast - Episode 208 - Multi-Holiday Showdown, we wanted to talk about the scourge of Q2 holiday line-ups. With these non-heavy-hitting baker holidays falling mid-month and/or on top of each other, it makes for a confusing marketing strategy. Do you tackle all of them to maximize sales? Or will that dilute your offerings too much and you'll sell out of nothing but be stuck with materials for a whole 'nother year?

Here's our take on a multi-holiday marketing showdown in mid-spring. 🤧 Heads up - I'm slightly under the weather, so forgive any typos (and forgive typos when I'm not sick too lol).

🥊 1. Don't choose every holiday

Find a few holidays and focus on them - heck, even focusing on one is probably a better approach than trying to sell out for every holiday in Q2. Mother's Day is a hit or miss with some bakers, Teacher Appreciation seems like a good bet, and Cinco De Mayo seems more like a location-based seller rather than a guaranteed sell-out. Consider that Teacher Appreciation cutters and packaging can also double for graduation sets and the "last day of the school year" teacher gifts.

🥊 2. Past performance = future performance

We'd recommend choosing holidays that have been consistent for you in the past. If they sold well then, they'll likely sell well now. Trying out a "new" holiday in the slower part of the cookier's calendar year may cost you more than it brings in, so we'd stick with the consistent seller.

🥊 3. Treat them as separate content buckets

Content buckets are a strategy you can use to plan out your social media content (see Episode 182). As such, these competing holidays shouldn't share a bucket, but rather get their own separate content pillars that you'll pull from for the duration of the promotion of each holiday. Tap these buckets frequently until you feel like you've sold enough. Content buckets don't have to be systematically drawn from - you can use more content from a specific bucket as it supports your sales goals.

🥊 4. Increase marketing runtime

If you have two holidays fighting for the marketing limelight, you'll want to increase your marketing runtime. Corrie and I always prefer around 6 weeks to include planning + cutter securing + photography + marketing. It's enough time to account for any wild cards like weird weather or slow sales.

🥊 5. Sold out? shut up

Once one holiday sells out or you're happy with the sales numbers, drop that content bucket out of your marketing strategy completely and refocus your efforts on the underperforming holiday target. Once "Mother's Day" is sold out, there's no real marketing purpose to keep posting about it when there's another product we need to move more of.

👂 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 208 - Multi-Holiday Showdown

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💡 No One Likes a - Party planner (ideas without execution).💩 A forced a play on words from "no one likes a party pooper" - but in this case, we're focusing on 🧠 "ideas guy" who love to plan and fail to launch. These folks talk up "the next great thing," and yet the idea never exits the ol' cranium to make it to market.

🗺️ Having a plan is good - but too much of a good thing, and you've got either a perfectionist or a serial starter, but you definitely 🚫 don't have a viable product. ⚔️ And that's why planning is a double-edged sword. You have to have a plan, but some bakers turn "making a plan" into a never ending excuse as to why they've not launched [that cookie class] or [that new bakery item] or [the vendor event that's now since come and gone] or [that cookie cart]. You get the point. 🚧 They turn planning into roadblocks.

💭 They spend their whole baking lives in the dream stage so that they never have to take the risk to launch and possibly fail. But our challenge is to accept failure and fail forward. Here's some ways to ensure you're not a party pooper... I mean, planner.

💡 1. Determine your mvp

MVP = minimum viable product. 🤏 That's the "least amount I need to do to be able to take this concept to market for a v1 release." In simpler terms, what's the simplest thing you can produce from your idea and use to test if your marketing would bite?

This "MVP" concept forces the forever-planner's hand by making them launch as soon as something is good enough. They can't wait until it's perfect because it's no longer the minimum viable product. Take Stupid Car Tray (podcast sponsor - use code SUGAR to save 15%). They're on their v3 tray. What if they'd only launched when they felt their product was super refined? 🤑 They would have missed years of sales. Same with you, ya party planner. Stop planning, start pushing out product. See if they bite. If they do, then improve. 🚀 Launch and learn.

💡 2. Two types of "party planners"

Okay, maybe "party planner" wasn't my best play on words, but there are two types of "ideas guys" - which camp do you tend to find yourself in?

• 🏢 The Perfectionist - The perfectionist builds the perfect skyscraper. It's got the best finishes, the best appliances, the most amenities, but they never list the condos for sale. They're in a perpetual state of trying to make everything good, better, best. They never fail because they never open.
• 🏚️🏚️🏚️🏚️ The Serial Starter - The type of person who lays the foundation for many ideas, but never builds a single house. This planner loves an idea, runs out to source materials, then panics at the thought that they weren't naturally talented at the thing and jumps on the next bandwagon, leaving a trail of partial starts (and budget buster) in their wake (and basement storage closet).
• 🏡 We need to be the single home builder who lays the foundation, constructs a modest home (aka MVP), sells it, then gets hired to add on to the home later. At all stages, this planner is generating income while improving their craft.

💡 3. Plan = yes | Overplan = hard pass

Planning is a business necessity. 🗺️ Venture out without a map and you're bound to get lost. 🧭 But business (and life) exist in the gray areas. Same with planning. ❌ Spending no time planning is just as bad as spending all your time planning. 👎 Plan enough, then take that first step out there. Remember - you can always tweak. ⏳ But you can't time travel, meaning we can't go back and launch when we "coulda - shoulda - woulda." Take the leap of faith, push out the MVP, see what happens, cap'n.

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💳 Expound then Expand - Plan before your purchase.
In this week's Baking it Down Podcast - Episode 206 - Expound then Expand, Corrie wanted to come to the altar with her confession of packaging purchases. Yeah - we're talkin' to the "overconsumption cookier" this week, 👣💥 and it'll step on some toesies (starting with Twin2's... er... TwinToes?).

It's easy to get ✨shiny object✨ syndrome when you check out the Best Bakes threads in the Sugar Cookie Marketing Group thinking, "Well, if that sold well for them, it might sell well for me! Let me buy these supplies."

Here's the thing - that's not a guarantee, and it can actually be a distraction, not a sound business decision. And guaranteed it's going to impact your financials. Even worse is if you do get the supplies and never get around to selling that adorable Easter Egg PYO carton - 🥚🥚🥚🥚 you're now stuck with colorful cartons for an entire year - and that's bad for business and your bottom line.

💰 1. Start with 1 versatile backdrop

White matte finish (use code SUGARCOOKIE on thebackersco.com to save 25% - they're one of the podcast sponsors that keeps this content f-r-e-e for y'all) is the most used backdrop Corrie has, citing that it's the one she reaches for 85% of the time. 📸 Know what that means? That's likely the only backer you'll need to get started. Yes, in time, snag a few more options, but when you're just getting started, "one and done" it until you've maxed out your photography skills on that backdrop. Then expand.

💰 2. Learn from the Target trays

If you were in the SCM groups around 2021 - 2022, you lived through the fun (funky) Target trays - 🪵 a wooden tray Target sold in its dollar spot that took the craft world by storm. Specifically, cookiers gravitated to this tray since it made for a high-quality package for about 20 cookies for Christmas - 🎄 talk about a best seller! But such is panic buying, some stocked up on these trays and were left with an unfoldable storage nightmare when they didn't sell out.

The lesson? Find out if your audience wants the product first - then purchase. ️🎯 Overbuying for your clients who never wanted the product in the first place is a bad investment. What's the value of 50 wooden trays if no one will buy them? Hint: it's a negative number.

💰 3. Purchase plain packaging to start

🎀 Cute packaging is a great way to up your customer benefits packaging and set you apart from the competition, but not if it sets you apart from your profitability. There's a sweet spot between really high-end custom packaging unique for every holiday and packaging that's on the plain side but works for any occasion.

🏳️ I'm not saying "cheap white Amazon boxes or bust," but I am saying if you're getting started or you're in "packaging purchasing purgatory" rehab, go back to the basics. Add in fancy when necessary (and buy an appropriate amount - so like, not 50 units when you likely only have time to bake 10), but have the cheaper fallback as your go-to.

💰 4. Cut out overbuying cutters

Have your steel-toe boots ready, but here it comes. Overbuying cutters can cut your profit margins down to nothing. 🔲⚫ Plaques to get started and basic shapes are likely fine in a lot of cases. Client wants something super custom? Offer to bill them that cost or source a cutter you already have in your stash that's super close to their design and can save them a few bucks. Likely, your clients won't care, and you'll be able to stay away from cutter overconsumption.

(🖨 And you 3D printer folks can learn a lesson here too - cutter takes up storage, and just because it was cheaper to print doesn't mean it doesn't have

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🪄 Top Marketing Tips - Submitted by group members in March.In this week's Baking it Down Podcast - Episode 205 - Top User Submitted Marketing Tips, we challenged the Sugar Cookie Marketing Group in March to make more posts - and 4 winners would be chosen to join The Cookie College on our tab (I'll announce those soon). But the marketing tips were so good, we thought we'd feature a few on this week's podcast!

The layout of this newsletter will look a little different since I'll include the 📸 screenshots from the authors (gotta give credit where credit's due). I read them in no particular order, but they're all great tips. If you want to see the screenshots, snag our blog at www.sugarcookiemarketing.com/blog this week once I've updated it.

🎧 The rest of this post will be those marketing tips - but snag this week's podcast episode to hear our take on 'em.

✨ 1. Reach back out to corporate clients

"My marketing tip is don't be afraid to reach out to past corporate clients about ordering again. I just received two orders (one for 300 and one for 1000 cookies) just by reaching out and basically saying, "Hey, you ordered this time last year, would you like to order again?" Sometimes they just need a reminder that they want your cookies." - Tammy

✨ 2. Use “for sale” homes for headshots

"Want to do a branding photoshoot, but thinking your kitchen ain't fancy enough? Why not use a nearby model home? I haven't met the homebuilder yet or the sales person for them, who didn't appreciate the shout-out when you post your pics. Guess what? It's free. I called to ask when their slowest times were & I made plans for an hour. I left them all the baked cookies I had for the shoot." - Sharon

✨ 3. Incentives through discounts

"Every cookie class I've hosted, each attendee gets a little take home gift. I'd love to see what ever one else does! Here’s a sample of mine: I make a mini 3D printed cookie cutter and provide a coupon for either custom orders, or it may sometimes be $5-$10 dollars off the next upcoming cookie class. I find it’s been working very well to get those to return to classes or place orders for customs." - Jennifer

✨ 4. Seek out strategic local businesses

"Local. Businesses. My husband and I have made a list of local businesses in our area, from mom and pop shops to large warehouses, and we've been strategically picking some to take boxes of samples and business cards to.

• Would this business employ my target clientele?
• Would bringing samples to this business get my business name in places it isn't currently known?
• Does this business openly support other small businesses?

...are a few of the questions we've been considering.

We've gone to car dealerships, furniture stores, medical offices, boutiques, salons, coffee shops, YMCAs, and we have more on the list.

Doing this has greatly increased my following; and shortly after beginning this, the owner of the local Harley Davidson reached out!" - Alayna

✨ 5. Be your #1 fan and believe it

"Start actually thinking of yourself as a business owner! I'm a stay-at-home mom, so when people ask me what I do, that’s what I reply with. I've been listening to the podcast and it's empowered me - and at the dentist the other day the hygienist asked what I did and I said 'I own a custom sugar cookie business' By the time I'd left the office I handed out 5 business cards and have already gotten an order from them." - Tara

✨ 6. Save for samples

"Marketing tip - Have extra cookies left over? Great, cut them in quarters and freeze them. Save them as samples to give out at the next market or event. Always only offer one flavor of a sample otherwise, people will want to try

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🥦 In the Market for Markets - How to scope out the ideal vendor setup.In this week's Baking it Down Podcast - Episode 204 - In the Market for Markets, Corrie wanted to talk about the 5 tips to help you source a strategic farmer's market (or recurring vendor event) relationship that bolsters that bottom line.

🥕 1. Is the market marketing itself?

Markets are businesses too - and as a marketing podcast, what would we be if we didn't say the ideal market is well... marketing. Markets live and die by the efforts of their organizers, so if the organization isn't promoting the event - guess what? Foot traffic won't follow.

🕵️ Finding a market that's doing its job of marketing is a recipe for market success. While it'd be nice if all the vendors did their share of the marketing heavy lifting too (more on that later), finding a market that has social media profiles posted to and updated frequently, a website with all the info necessary for attendees to find their way, and event listings on Facebook and event listing websites are signals that market means business. And business = selling more bakes.

🥕 2. Do your "market" research

Research your potential market match before you sign any contracts. Not all markets are created equally, so understanding the implications of this seasonal relationship can make a sales difference if you get stuck with a low performer.

• 🤔 How long has the market been around?
• 🤔 How often do you see it recommended when people in community groups ask for local market recs?
• 🤔 Is the market growing or shrinking?
• 🤔 Is there diversity in vendor types - think pickle booth, honey booth, etc.?

Using community groups to get these questions answered is a great way to get authentic feedback (and maybe market your

🥕 3. Question the organizers

Once we get outside feedback, it's time to go all in - by that we mean contact the organizers. Now - yes, the organizers are biased in their favor, so we need to keep the questions more "information gather-y" and less "how great are you-y" (we get it, they're great). Here are some ideas:

• 🤔 Can I get a list of vendors?
• 🤔 How much does it cost per week? Month? Season?
• 🤔 What are your weather policies?
• 🤔 What insurances do you require?
• 🤔 Do I need to supply the table / tent / chairs?
• 🤔 Do you have a drop-in rate?
• 🤔 What are your cancellation policies?

🥕 4. Contact past vendors

Contacting past vendors is another great way to get insider info. You might be able to source this by scrolling back through the farmer's market's social media posts from years ago, but another great way is by asking in community groups, "Has anyone been a vendor at the [Farmers Market]? I'd love to ask you a few questions!" Keep in mind, squeaky wheels tend to complain the loudest, so get a few different vendors to give you feedback - one that used to vendor there, one that still vendors there, and maybe one that is considering it. We'd ask them these more open-ended questions to get more authentic responses:

• 🤔 How do you feel about how the organizers manage the event?
• 🤔 How many years have you vended here? Do you plan on returning long-term?
• 🤔 What 2 factors bring you back here year after year?
• 🤔 If you could change one thing about this market, what would it be?

🥕 5. Prep for the market

Once you've found your perfect market match, it's time to really dig in. Treat this market like you would a cookie class - market the market.

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✍️ Reasons 2 Start a Blog - The SEO, content, and reach benefits.In this week's Baking it Down Podcast - Episode 203 - Reasons to Start a Blog, continuing on with our "lessons in websites," I wanted to talk about blogs. I know - we're all about websites when it comes to online sales - but does your website have a blog?

😅 "Uh, twins - what could I possibly blog about? Reasons people should give me their money in exchange for cookies??"

Well - kinda, yeah. You see - websites are pretty stagnant. I mean, you got the 4 main pages - home, about, service or products, contact, and then maybe one extraneous page - for cookiers, it could be a page on your cookie classes or your booking process for example.

But blogs allow websites to be dynamic since blogs are always being updated. ✍️ This fresh content allows more potential for your website to be found in search engines (Google is a search engine). That means it could be a whole new lead source that never sleeps - and a blog can help your website accomplish that.

🤔 "Okay girls... maaaybe you're onto something, but what could I possibly blog about??"

Great question - and that's what we talked about in today's podcast.

Blog posts don't have to be overly complicated, but they do have to stay on topic. And what's your topic? Local and baker - this should help you narrow down your content topics. Now - who are we trying to reach with our blog posts? Local non-baker clients. See where this is headed?

Don't worry - we'll give you some topic ideas below. Hint: you're overthinking it.

✍️ 1. Website SEO benefits

Because we can add keywords related to our product and associate those product keywords with our location, blog posts have a direct benefit to getting our websites to rank in search engines for "baker near me" type queries (aka searches). Consider this, when a local potential client googles something like, "sugar cookie classes in [Your City]," how can Google associate you with that? Through a blog post you wrote on "everything you need to know before taking a cookie class." You see the connection there? It creates... buzzword incoming... topical relevancy for Google's lil' robot crawlers.

✍️ 2. More diverse social media content

If you find yourself always sharing photos, photos, and more photos to social media, blog post content can benefit two-fold here. You can add a link to an article on "Best Date Ideas in [CITY]" (make one of those ideas attending a cookie class), and share that to your page. It's heck of a lot more interesting than just a photo of a set you baked PLUS it drives traffic to your website (traffic = people). And guess what's also on your website? Your CTAs directing that traffic to place an order. Again - you see how this is all working together?

✍️ 3. Reference topics

You can't bog down your homepage with a ton of text - that would make for a bad UX (user experience aka how real people navigate through your website). So where do we put content that's kinda important, but not important enough to be on our home page menu? Blog posts. You can add "how to defrost cookies" as a blog post and link it to any clients who need to... well, know how to dethaw a set. You can keep that concept going with, "How to store a DIY kit," or "How to use a scribe" and "What to bring to a Cookie Class" - the ideas are endless when the topics can be used as a knowledge base for customers.

✍️ 4. Local topics ripe for reshares

Okay - what did we say earlier? Both content about baking and location - this is where things can get fun. Feature a local business - sta

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🔊 Calling All Actions - What are CTA’s and how to use them.In this week's Baking it Down Podcast - Episode 202 - Calling All Actions, we wanted to talk about a digital marketing buzzword that'll increase your bottom line - and it's stupid simple.

📞 CTAs - otherwise known as Call To Actions - typically seen as buttons on a website's home page. These lil' buttons tell your users what you want them to do. And they're direct too - no beatin' about the bush when you've got next to no room for additional characters.

And you know them because you have been clickin' on these little commands for years. They're the buttons that say:

• 📣 Order Here
• 📣 Add to Cart
• 📣 Buy Now
• 📣 Get 15% Off
• 📣 Play Now
• 📣 Subscribe

☎ Yep - those are CTA's - 🤏 small, concise phrases typically displayed on website buttons telling you the next action to take in the buying process. And you should have them on your website, social media, bios, and print materials = because they work.

Creating a solid CTA is both simple and complex - because while we don't have a ton of space to work with, we still need to find the optimal command to get our web traffic to take an action. While it may be tempting to make all your CTAs "BUY FROM ME," there's a bit of strategy (and testing) that goes into them.

📣 1. Be concise and direct

CTA's are concise and tell the user what to do. "Stream here," "Join here," "Sign up here" - it's very clear what the next actions to take are. We want to keep that concept in all of our CTA's. Wish-washy, too long, and mumbled messaging is a CTA-killer. "Maybe if you want to join the newsletter I send out sometimes, you can click here... if you want." 🥺👉👈

Yeah - that's not going to cut it for a solid CTA. Short. Clear. To the Point. The next step. That's the goal with the CTA.

📣 2. Use action-oriented verbs

Do this. Stop that. Click here. Subscribe there. Buy this. Add that to cart. Each CTA should include a verb - because we're calling people to do an action. That's how they work. They command people to take an action. And we, the sheeple, love to be told what to do next. We're conditioned to look for CTA's to guide us through a website's user experience.

📣 3. Highlight benefits

If you look at our revamped sugarcookiemarketing.com website, you can see I marry each of our CTAs with a reason why it's worth clicking the button. "Join the community... to get free bakery marketing help." "Stream the podcast... to learn one marketing tip each Tuesday." The CTA tells them what to do - the supporting text tells them why they'd be stupid not to do it.

📣 4. Make them visually appealing

CTAs are typically associated with buttons - so make them buttons POP, baby girl! If you look at the SCM (sugar cookie marketing) website, you'll see I opted for bright pink buttons in our brand colors + white bolded text. I even added emojis where possible to further draw attention to my money-maker buttons.

📣 5. Keep it simple

CTA's should be single-step commands. "Sign up here" takes them to your newsletter registration form. "Book now" should take them to your booking page. "Add to cart" should immediately add the baked item to carts. Now is not the time to increase your funnel. CTA's are intended to decrease funnel length, and that means a shorter buying process (and less time to second guess whether they should splurge on custom cookies or not).

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💰 Value over Price - How to stand out in saturation.
In this week's Baking it Down Podcast - Episode 201 - Value Over Price, Corrie happened upon a "bomb pop Facebook Live" - and from a marketing standpoint, it's a fascinating business model.

It's a multi-level business model - but that's not what the podcast is focused on. The concept is this: the seller pre-sells 5 bath bombs for $20 a piece - bundle price of $100. Once purchased, she reveals what the bath bomb hides - a piece of jewelry.

After the reveal of each piece of jewelry, the seller exclaims, "Wow - a ringvalued at $350! What a steal - you got it for just $20!" And therein lies the key - value. Because we all know that the costume jewelry wasn't worth $350, but value is relative to the perception of the buyer and seller.

In the words of the ever-successful Warren Buffett, "Price is what you pay; value is what you get." The same applies to cookies.

Instead of competing on price (an unwinnable negotiation when Oreos are in play), compete instead on value. By increasing perceived value, we can maintain and even increase price.

Increasing value can be done in many ways - just being readily available or responding quicker than the next baker can increase the perceived value of your clients. It sharpens the industry as competition strives to increase their perceived value over the next baker. The consumer wins, the sellers don't get complacent, and the invisible hand of the economy keeps the wheels turning.

It's increasing value across your brand that makes the big difference between you and your competitor - so always be looking for ways to "up the ante."

But if you'd like a list (because you know the twins like them a list), we've got one for you. Here's the big takeaway though: move every chess piece in "value added" before you move the "price adjustment" piece. Your price is your profitability - messing with that is a recipe for a bad bakery.

💰 1. Increased value through photography.

We buy with our eyes - and our eyes see good photography. By changing nothing but increasing the quality of your product photos, you can increase value without having to decrease price. With high quality standing, images, and backdrops - you can nearly have your cookies jump off the newsfeed and into the hearts ( and wallets) of your customers.

💰 2. Increase value through customer service.

My favorite way to increase value is by increasing the value of your customer service. Answering emails faster, having better ordering guidelines, handing refunds quickly and without opposition, heck - replying to Facebook comments in groups and keeping your branding updated on your page all signal to the client that you're putting a value on customer services (and thus you can charge accordingly).

💰 3. Increase value through decorating skills.

If communication ain't your thang, you can always work on increasing value by increasing your skill set. A better product is a part of perceived value. Couple a stunning product with stunning photography and you've got a match made in value heaven. Being able to accommodate more requests because you possess those skills is a way to carve out your place in a crowded market.

💰 4. Increase value through ease-of-ordering.

A better website, a better organization of products, better website copy, better check-out options, better order confirmation - all of these are methods you can use to increase your value perception within your market.

💰 5. Increase value through customer reviews.

Easy one - have enough other people proclaim your value that other potential clients can't help but increase their perception of you.

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🦫 Buc-ee's - A beaver’s marketing lessons.
In this week's Baking it Down Podcast - Episode 200 - Buc-ee's, Corrie and I took in all that the beaver gas station had to offer in our quick trip down to Nashville, TN this weekend.

If you've not been to the roadside bathroom stalls of your dreams yet (aka Buc-ee's Fuel Stops), you're missing out - it's... I don't know that words adequately describe what a Buc-ee's truly is - but I'll say it's fantastic and overwhelmingly so.

Which is why twin2 and I stood in awe for a solid 10 minutes soaking in all that is Buc-ee's - which makes it so talked about and thus an adequate topic for today's podcast. So yes - instead of "marketing nuggets," this week we're gettin' "beaver nuggets."

Now if you've been to a Buc-ee's, you likely know what I'm going to point out - but we're extrapolating the beaver's marketing to bakeries so pay attention (no - stop looking at the man dressed as a beaver - f-o-c-u-s).

🦫 1. Efficiency - endless fuel pumps (and potties)

If there's one takeaway from the land of to-go, it's the efficiency. If you've not witnessed a Buc-ee's endless line of fuel pumps - their goal is 0 wait times, and boy do they have it mastered. You pull in, get gas, find a spot to park in front of what feels like 3 main entrances, and then you walk into the land of "over-optimized" with endless bathroom stalls, endless soda dispensers, endless selection, and endless check-out lanes.

Much like "the buc," the baker can sharpen up efficiency with a more streamlined ordering process, a well-thought-out website, a great CRM, and a nice pick-up reminder campaign - the more you optimize, the better your client's experiences, the more competitive you are in your space.

🦫 2. Optimized - NO TRUCKS

Buc-ee's knows that by cutting out catering to semi-trucks, it can keep the flow goin' thus all Buc-ee's entrances have large NO TRUCK signage. Just like Buc-ee's, we can limit our offerings to the products we know generate cashflow. Yes - you'll be turning down orders, but in the long run, like the beaver, you'll be optimized for the products that bring a profit without bringing analysis paralysis to your client base.

🦫 3. Clean and Organized

Ever year, we do a "spring cleaning" curb appeal episode of the podcast (coming soon), but man does the beaver understand what clean floors and cleaner displays do for the buyer's mind. When I see clean restrooms I automatically assume the kitchen is clean. We can borrow from the Buc-ee's here too - keep your front stoop clean, do your hair and makeup on pick-up days (I struggle with this one), and light that vanilla-scented candle for when that customer pops their head inside.

You can organize your digital stoop as well - refreshed social media pages and a clean website have the same "I feel safe here" effect as a bathroom stall with plenty of TP.

🦫 4. Merchandising - refreshed product displays

This is geared more towards the vendor and farmer's market baker, but walking down the Buc-ee's chip aisle, all the products had been moved to the front of the stand. When I snagged a bag (who doesn't like a Ranch Dorito from time to time, amiright?) a Buc-ee's employee was right behind me to refresh again.

🦫 5. Welcoming - WELCOME TO BUCEES

And can we say that Buc-ee's employees are SUPER friendly!? I know it's likely a part of their job description, but every time I walked through the front doors (of which there felt like more than one), a very busy check-out clerk welcomed us each and every time. And bakers can do that too - be super welcoming in your emails, your social posts, your messenger responses, your reminder texts, and your in-person pick-ups. It makes a HUGE difference in how your customer

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🧐 Are Your Sales Slow? - Here’s how to shift that mindset.
For this week's Baking it Down Podcast - Episode 199 - Are Your Sales Slow Right Now?, we wanted to cover the question that pops up every post-Valentine's Day rush... the nagging feeling that your business feels slow and leads are down.

What gives? 😢 Why does that one baker post that this was their best Vday yet and yet you're nowhere near their "units sold" number? 😓 Is your business dying? 😖 Are you losing your edge? 😩 Is it market saturation? 😭 Is it... time to throw in the proverbial tea towel prop? 🧣

Here's the thing - feelings don't matter. 📉 Metrics do. Are you actually slow? And if yes, what did you water with your marketing efforts?

💦 Corrie pointed out that marketing is like a garden - and we tend to water certain goals. 🌱 If you wanted to teach your first Valentine's Day cookie class, guess what - 📉 your customs are probably down - 📈 because your classes are up.

I posted this in the Sugar Cookie Marketing group this week:

• 😭 If you read that a baker sold 60 units for Valentine's Day THIS year, and you only sold 50 units - you'll feel like you're business is shrinking by 16%
• 😀 But if you sold 30 units for Valentine's Day LAST year, and this year, you sold 50 units - your business is actually growing, and you're 66% ahead of last year.

🔍 Perspective is everything. Focus on the right metrics. That's what today's podcast is focused on - focusing on numbers that actually have meaning instead of your feelings which can switch depending on the weather, what's for lunch, and if your spouse was nice to you this morning.

📈 1. Compare your "this year" to your "last year."

Comparing your "this year" to a random baker's "this year" is a recipe for disappointment. You all have nothing in common other than selling cookies. Comparing your market in rural Iowa to my Washington DC market makes 0 business sense. What does make sense? Comparing how your sales were this time last year to the same time this year. You'll be able to truly see if you grew that bottom line.

👉 Remember - your biggest competition is yourself yesterday - beat that baker!

📈 2. Compare $$ to $$.

Instead of comparing "how many customs did I sell," consider comparing, "how much money did I make." The secret is this: if you raised your prices, you may have actually sold less but made more. That means an increase in your bottom line and a decrease in labor costs = a business win. Money matters!

📈 3. Consider where you focused your marketing efforts.

I had someone reply to the thread I posted saying, "My sales are down from last year to this year, what gives!" Fortunately, I'd seen their posts that prior month. They had started teaching cookie classes! So yeah - their customs were down (another reason to compare bottom lines) but their class tickets were up. In fact, they'd sold out three Valentine's Day classes - THREE! So where they watered = where it grew. And of course, the counterpoint to that is if you focus on something new, something old may not be in the limelight as much.

📈 4. Look at metrics, not feelings.

A lot of times I see bakers "feel" that sales are slow. Feelings are unreliable - heck, they say if you need to appear before a judge, do so right after lunch because judges with full bellies tend to be more lenient than judges who have grumbling tummies. Focus on metrics. Meta gives us a ton of free, easy-to-use metrics. Google Analytics also allows us to gauge without the grump meaning we know exactly what happened and why instead of goin' on an unreliable hunch.

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❄️ Weather with Heather (and Corrie) - Weather policies 101.This week's Baking it Down Podcast - Episode 198 - Weather with Heather (and Corrie), we talk about the very reason why the Baking it Down Podcast was a day late this week - ❄️ bad weather.

🌪️ They say the only job you can guess wrong every time and still be employed is being a weatherman - 😭 and that's what makes weather events and cookie pick-ups a match made in refund hell.

So - how to predict the unpredictable? 🌧️ Here are our hot takes on cold weather in this week's podcast (🌡️ also yes, I (Heather) wanted to be a weather person because I thought it would be a neat radio tag like to say, "Weather with Heather on the 8's."

❄️ 1. You need a weather policy right now.

Your best friend when it comes to handling bad weather is a weather policy - 📝 a simple page on your website (ideal), a post on your Facebook Page (okay), or even a Google Doc (easy) that states what your plans are in the event of inclement weather can help you set expectations before the flurries fall. If you wait to enact a weather disclaimer after the bad weather hits, 😠 you've got a recipe for a bunch of angry reviews falling from the fingers of unhappy clients.

While you're at it - have a separate policy for both 🍪 pick-ups and 🎟️ classes since both can be different enough that one policy won't necessarily apply to both a pick-up order and a class attendee.

❄️ 2. No one reads - so repeat, repeat, repeat.

Making a single post to your Facebook page about a class cancelation for weather isn't going to cut it. 👓 No one reads (and even if they did, the algos don't let posts reach them anyways), so make sure the weather communication is across the board.

I'm talkin' r-e-p-e-t-i-t-i-v-e as in:

• ❄️ Facebook Page Post - 7 days out, 4 days out, day of
• ❄️ Website banner / pop-up
• ❄️ Newsletter Email - 7 days out
• ❄️ Individual Emails - 7 days out, 4 days out, day before, day of
• ❄️ Individual Texts - 7 days out, 4 days out, day before, day of

In the world of communication, less is never more - more is more.

❄️ 3. Get in front of weather events.

🥶 When weather is in the forecast, start messaging clients before it starts precipitating. 🧊 You'll know you've not beat the storm communication when it's your clients asking you what the plan is. Don't be that baker - get to them before they start to panic. It'll show that you've got this handled and aren't panicked yourself.

❄️ 4. Offer Refunds / Credits for Classes | Freezing for Pick-Ups

When it comes to cookie class cancelations, I like to offer a full refund or an incentivized option to roll into the next class (and save on their Eventbrite fees). Here's our take - if you signed up for a class that got canceled and you couldn't get your money back, how would you feel? "Do unto others as you'd have them do unto you" - the Bible (🙏 and these bakers).

Now more tricky - 🧊 communicating to the custom cookie order client that freezing a cookie is actually an effective way to keep it fresh. And you'll be able to accomplish this by stating that in your "weather cookie pick-up policy." 🥶🔥 The thought of "frozen thawed" for the average user signals a lack of freshness, so the words you use here to sell them on a delayed pick-up are important.

❄️ 5. Take their orders to them & have insurance.

🚫 Your homeowner's insurance policy will deny that claim made by the lady who slipped on your front porch picking up her cookie order so fast, it'll make yo

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🕵️‍♂️ Susan Reed - A scammer's lessons in marketing.
Baking it Down Podcast - Episode 197 - Lessons from Susan Reed (now watchable on YouTube, don't forget), we wanted to talk about common scams - but not in the way you'd expect.

We want to find out what marketing tactics make scams so effective. And we've come up with 5 takeaways for lessons we can steal (on brand) from Susan Reed and company.

If you're unacquainted with ol' Suzy, she's the name for a common scam where an event planner reaches out asking for a very specific set for her upcoming corporate event. She names a place, time, and location - ironically exactly in the same city as the unassuming baker.

Once you take her order, she pays you. Which would all be well and good but she makes a mistake and accidentally overpays you - by just a hundred bucks (give or take) on top of the nearly $1k she intended for the baker. The baker is notified of the mistake and returns the overpayment.

A few days later, the baker's bank reports the entire transaction as fraudulent, the e-check bounced, and the baker is out the refunded amount. But the marketing question lies in what made the baker believe the lie? And that's today's podcast.

⚠️ 1. Be Consistent.

If there's one thing Susan Reed is, it's consistent. And in marketing, you have GOT to be consistent. Corrie and I say folks shouldn't worry about an oversaturated market - they should worry about their lack of consistency because it's inconsistency that will lead to someone gobbling up your market share.

The unfortunate part of inconsistency is that its results are not immediate. 📆 That break you took all of January? 😭 You'll see those slower sales in July - when we are truly fighting for each and every baked buck.

⚠️ 2. No is not the Final Answer.

In marketing, "no" just means you've not found a way around an objection. 🛑 "No, we're not looking to switch bakers" should sound like, 👂 "The deal you pitched isn't good enough yet, what else do you have to offer?" A salesperson sees no as the interlude to a yes. Same with Susan Reed. She emails thousands of bakers and keeps emailing - ❌ even if 1000 told her no - 1️⃣ because all she needs is 1 yes.

⚠️ 3. Cold Outreach (on repeat).

Cold outreach ain't for the faint of heart, but it works! 🥶 Cold outreach means reaching out to someone you have no prior relationship with (be careful when cold emailing, there are some laws around this). But reaching out to a 🧊 cold contact is how they become a 🔥 warm contact willing to talk business. Look at Suzy - every baker she reaches out to is a cold contact - it's because her pitch is so desirable that she gets bakers on the hook for hundos.

⚠️ 4. Concise and Clear Communication.

The reason why so many bakers fall for Susan Reed's antics is because her initial email is so clear and concise. ✍️ She tells you what she wants, when she wants it, how she wants it, what she'll pay for it, and how to deliver it. It's such a great approach to emailing: clear and concise.

⚠️ 5. Steal. LoL Jk. Efficient Follow-Up.

Finally - steal. 🦹‍♂️ Just kidding. Don't do that no matter how tempting. 📧 But the final point is efficient follow-up. While the "Susan Reed" emails are likely a script running to thousands of bakers at all times, it seems like the follow-ups are actual scammers, and they get replies because they reply so quickly. ⏰ They do this on purpose - the less time you have to see if they're scammers, the more likely you are to fall prey to their schemes.

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🤐 Words Matter - How copy can compel cash.
Baking it Down Podcast - Episode 196 - Words Matter (now watchable on YouTube, don't forget), we were a lil' late - and that's because Heather thought she had a bad night's sleep but was actually 🤢 sick-sick and never left her quarantined room for 3 days and nights.

But better late than never, the show must go on... Friday. The message still stands though - your words matter (even if they're three days late).

✍️ Copy is best summarized as any writing that's meant to help you sell or advertise something. That could be the caption on your Facebook post, the text in your email (hey, like this one!) or the ad you took out in the local kids PTA newsletter.

If it's written to sell = it's copy. 💸 And if it's copy, it has to be intentional. Gone are the days of, "Thanks for your order, Cheryl," and here to stay is compelling copy intended to get a person to part with their cold hard cash.

💊 There's no "magic copy pill" that, if swallowed, moves mounds of money (trust me, if there was, I woulda swallowed 1,000 pills by now 💊💊💊). But there are strategies you can mix and match to serve as a guide 🗺️ to finding copy that compels - meaning copy that when read makes people want what ya got.

🪝 Start with the Hook

Consider the hook - you know, that first part they read before social media companies "truncate" (aka anything behind the ...See more text) the post. The first few words in a post that capture the reader's attention to stay beyond just glancing at that stunning photo.

Examples of hooks could look like:

• 🪝 "My inability to count is your gain! ...I overbaked and have some extra cookies!"
• 🪝 "I'll NEVER do this again! ...This is the LAST time I'll reopen pre-sales for latecomers!"
• 🪝 "I've got bad news... I've only got 1 cookie class ticket left."

Hooks, 🐺 much like the boy who cried wolf, have to be used sparingly, or eventually you'll exhaust your audience. Additionally, hooks don't have to be dramatic. A simple hook like, "Okay guys - let me give it to ya straight" can even capture someone's attention. 🛑 Don't be afraid of using emojis on social to stop that scroll!

📝 Follow a Formula

Copy formulas can help guide your vibes. I use them so often that I don't even realize they've become a natural style of writing for me. AIDA is a great one to start with. Attention, Interest, Desire, Action. Let's try it out:

"🆓 Get a FREE transfer sheet! How about a free sheet every week? All you have to do is sign up! ✅ Here's the link: [link]"

Let's break that down by the AIDA formula:

• ➡️ Attention: 🆓 Get a FREE transfer sheet!
• ➡️ Interest: How about a free sheet every week?
• ➡️ Desire: All you have to do is sign up!
• ➡️ Action: ✅ Here's the link: [link]

The AIDA formula is a fan-fav because it walks the user through a really short copy funnel with a clear call-to-action. It's a great foundational formula to start with - highly recommended.

📞 End with a Call

End with a Call-to-Action that is (don't worry, I hate calling on phones too). Call-to-actions (also called CTAs in marketing jargon) tell your customer where to go and what to do (like give you their money).

Some CTA examples for bakers would look like:

• ☎️ "Subscribe to our YouTube channel"
• ☎️ "Sign up for class!"
• ☎️ "Click here to learn more."

Copy missing a clear call-to-action doesn't accomplish a goal. So tell your audience what you want them to do next.

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🚫 The TikTok Ban - And the diversification of your marketing.
In this week's Baking it Down Podcast - Episode 195 - The TikTok Ban, continuing with last week's theme - ❌ the TikTok ban went into full effect on Saturday night for... ⏰ like a few hours?

It was odd as the platform kinda shut down features over an hour then a pop-up blocked access for some, then others, then it came back, but not. That said - it did happen though, which is the topic of conversation in our podcast (which - ahem - you can now watch on YouTube - heads up, you still won't be able to read these lips unfortunately).

😤 "Never downloaded TikTok and never will..." no - that's not what we're talking about. 👂 And frankly, if you're saying this, you definitely aren't using TikTok as a lead source which means you're even less diversified.

What we're talking about is this: 👋 You don't own any platform from which your business gains leads - and that's evident by this TikTok ban.

📧 Your emails can be blocked, your Facebook page hacked, your YouTube shut down, your Instagram suspended, your TikTok banned, and your best word-of-mouth lead source can move away.

🥚 So what do? 🧺 We diversify is what we do.

📊 First, we need to understand our current marketing landscape. Yours won't look like mine. 🤔 Where are most of your leads coming from? If you don't know, start adding that question to your intake form - the data you get from it is worth its weight in marketing gold.

🔍 Once the data comes in - how diversified are your lead sources? If 90% of people are coming from your Facebook page - 📈 guess what, you're not diversified. I'd like to see at least 5️⃣ 5 channels (3 if you're too busy) bringing you in leads. And note - not all those channels can be owned by the same company (ahem - Meta). 👻 Remember, not only did TikTok play Houdini, but so did CapCut (the editing software folks were using even outside of TikTok but also owned by TikTok's parent company, Bytedance).

💻 We'll also want to focus on a website, an email list, and a Google Business Profile. Yes - again, stuff we don't technically own, but hey - they work a lot different than social media algos, and they're owned by 🗽 American-based companies that aren't just Meta. Remember - it's all about d-i-v-e-r-s-i-f-i-c-a-t-i-o-n.

🥚 The less "single egg basket" our marketing is in, the more likely we are to weather any cybersecurity storm. 🥚🥚🥚🥚🥚🥚

⏰ Email aka a newsletter is an even better backup tool to have in your marketing chest because it's one of few marketing avenues that still work chronologically (meaning the emails are listed in the order they are received) unlike social media which is dictated by fancy hard-to-understand algorithms where only the best content gets the viral win.

If you only have time for one social platform, 2️⃣ try to borrow from the time spent on that sole source of leads to start working on a second social profile - that way if your primary source goes dark, 😢 you're not left in the red (bottom line, 💔 I mean).

As marketers, 🥺 we're merely slaves to the whims of social giants and social issues - and roll with the punches we must. 🪦 The graveyard of social media that "once was" grows every year, and leaves creators and businesses who were too invested in a single lead source in the dust. ⚰️

👂 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 - Episode 195 - The TikTok Ban.

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✔️ Meta Verified - The pros / cons of the blue check.
In this week's Baking it Down Podcast - Episode 194 - Meta Verified, TikTok is about to have a big, public breakup with its avoidant soon-to-be ex, the United States. And whether or not we like this coupling, it comes down to the Supreme Court's decision - who needs reality tv when you've got this?!

As we see content creators scrambling to dust off their Instagram backups, it may be a good time to consider standing out among the masses with Meta Verified.

Meta Verified is that neato 🔵blue check mark that you see next to some pages and profiles (go check out Sugar Cookie Marketing's Page for a real-life example). And it's more than just an icon, actually - which makes it a possible contender for your marketing budget in 2025.

Quick backstory on 🔵blue checks: Back when Twitter was, well still called Twitter, accounts that were verified as professional or famous profiles received a 🔵blue check next to their handles to signify that this was the legitimate profile of the business or creator. It was a manual application process and it was hard to get accepted into. Elon buys the failing Twitter and converts it to X takin' the 🔵blue checks away and offering them as a subscription to anyone who had about twenty bucks.

While verification is still required, the exclusivity is long gone. Meta followed suit a few months later for personal profiles and mid-2024 began offering 🔵blue check subscriptions to business pages.

Meta Verified pages do get some added perks though - so let's take a look at them (we'll focus on the plan I paid for to test this - the Business Plus plan - although all the plans include the 🔵blue check).

But first - let's see the pricing for these Verified tiers:

• ✅ Business Standard - $14.99/mo
• ✅ Business Plus - $44.99/mo
• ✅ Business Premium - $119.99/mo
• ✅ Business Max - $349.99/mo

Yeah - so, like not chump change at all - and this is per profile meaning that yes, Facebook and Instagram are considered two profiles even if the Facebook and Instagram accounts represent the same business and are connected. But the good news - there's a yearly discounted option, a bundle

✅ Meta Verified Business Plus - $44.99

1. ✅ Verified Badge
2. ✅ Impersonation Protection
3. ✅ Meta Verified Support (Priority)
4. ✅ Enhanced Facebook Profile - 3 Linked Accounts / 3 Locations
5. ✅ 2 Links in Reels
6. ✅ Featured Account

You're reading that right - you can actually email or chat with a support rep (for that one profile) if you sign up for Meta Verified. If you upgrade to Premium or Max, you can talk to someone over the phone - a rarity with these social media giants.

But there's more - you also get "enhanced" profiles on Facebook (if you pay for Verified on that platform) or on Instagram. Instagram will give Business Plus subscribers the ability to add pictures to their bio links as well as link 3 additional accounts in the area under the profile bio.

Facebook pages with the 🔵blue check will show up in horizontal scrolls in feeds as "Recommended Meta Verified Businesses." Hey - it's like a free ad included in your not-free subscription. Beggars can't be choosers, right?

Impersonation protection is a neat feature - basically no one can spoof your Business page. Does that mean that past hacked pages have a chance of being reunited with their original owners? Not a clue - but it's worth a shot if you've completely lost access to your Page.

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👶 SMART Baby Goals - Taking small bites out of a big goal pie.
Onesday Thursday? Sorry - ❄️ we had a big snow storm (big for the Washington DC area is anything over 3 inches, and we ended up with 8 - 10 inches, ☃️ so rest assured, my car won't be clean again for 2 months).

In this week's Baking it Down Podcast - Episode 193 - SMART Baby Goals, 👶 we cover a better baby way to tackle big goals - and that's by not making them big, but making them rather small.

Let me jump right into an example of my own. ✍️ Last year (and for the last 5 years before that), I had the goal to learn Procreate (the iPad app that redefines digital drawing). 🎨 I'd bought the top-of-the-line iPad, the fancy Pencil, and Procreate... and proceeded to say each year, ✏️ "I'm going to learn to draw."

But my goal wasn't S-M-A-R-T. It was too broad. 🤓 S-M-A-R-T stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound.

My "I wanna draw" was not specific. 🤷‍♀️ Draw what? It wasn't measurable because you can't measure "can I draw yet." And because it wasn't broken down into steps, it thus became unachievable, and "sometime this year" was not a viable option for "time-bound."

My goal was running before it could crawl, and thus it never got any traction. We have to make it small (baby) before we can make it big. 🏃‍♀️💨

🤱 A lot of time, we see bakers say BIG goals - 🤑 "I want to increase sales by 50%," or 🔟 "I want to teach 10 cookie classes this year." Love them - but those are really easy goals to say and really hard goals to beat.

What if we made these goals smaller? 👶 Baby...ier? What if "I want to increase sales by 50%" was, "I'd like to sell 1 more dozen each week this year than I did last year." Still pushing you, but definitely S-M-A-R-T because it's smaller and a lot more specific, we can measure it, we know we can do it (hey, what's 1 more dozen), it's relevant to our business, and it's time-bound (each week).

🎨 That's what I did with my lofty "learn how to draw" goal. Instead of "take 1 Procreate class a week," I switched it to, "Just ✨open✨ the Procreate app once a day." Whatever happens after that - it counts. Because the goal is so small and easy, it's easy to tackle, but it's not impressive.

And therein is the key - 🔑 small goals aren't sexy, but they are attainable, and completing 100 small goals this year will get you so much further than not completing 1 giant goal.

🧠 Small is Smart. 🤏

Here are some small crawling goals that you can use to get your goals to toddler stage.

👶 1. Social Media - Consistent Posting 2x per Week

• 🍼 Focus on 2 times per week - be gradual, you can increase posting once you've learned how to stay consistent with just 2x per week.
• 🍼 Focus on 1 platform - set up up cross-posting if you'd like, but focus on 1 platform for now.
• 🍼 Add in 1 copy formula to work on each month - not each post. Learning just 1 copy formula (AIDA) is better than learning them all and using zero.

👶 2. Financial - not "all the money" but rather "1 extra dozen per week"

• 🍼 Ask, "How would I find 1 more sale a week?" - let that question guide your marketing to find just 1 more lead.
• 🍼 Focus on value-adding in community groups - community group admins love valuable content, so become an asset before you make your cash grab.
• 🍼 To help make it achievable - premake dough so you have it ready to go.

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👜 Workin' Burkin - How kelly hands kompetition.
In this week's Baking it Down Podcast - Episode 192 - Workin' Birkin, we're following a pretty funny story taking over TikTok.

You see - 👜 Hermes is a line of really high-end luxury items like purses and belts. And if you have a Birkin bag, you're looking at tens of thousands of dollars alone. But the king of the Birkin bags? The Kelly Bag - a bag that you have to be invited to be able to buy... 💰 for almost a hundred thousand dollars.

But last week, ⏰ a TikTokker discovered that Walmart has launched its own Birkin of sorts... a knockoff the internet how now dubbed the "Workin' Birkin" from "Walmes."

Hilarious doesn't begin to describe it, but what's even more interesting is the marketing lessons we can pull from 🤑 Walmart's mass-produced copycat Kelly.

Is Hermes going to shift its marketing strategy to compete with the behemoth of Walmart? Is Walmart testing its entry into the luxury designer bag market? No and no - here's why.

👛 1. Different Market Segments

Hermes sells to really rich people. Walmart has built a brand on the savvy money-saving shopper. Their market segments never overlap. The person who wants an authentic Kelly bag won't even glance at a Walmart's sliding doors. The price-conscious Walmart shopper ain't gonna be clickin' to Hermes website. Their market segments aren't even in the same parking lots.

And you shouldn't worry when a new baker starts posting in your community groups - they're not sharing your market segment. You're years into this - your skills are honed, your prices are set by your defined costs. You know exactly what it costs to stay in business, and you charge a profit accordingly. The new baker? They can charge a lower rate because they do produce a different product that does attract a different buyer. Don't you worry about them - the market takes care of everything.

👛 2. Supply and Demand

Hermes could ramp up production to compete with Wally World's massive production empire. Scrap the hand-made and sub it out for the mass-produced, right? WRONG. The more supply available of authentic Birkins, the less valuable each Birkin becomes. That's the law of supply and demand. The more supply, the less demand for it. The more demand, the less supply around to fulfill it. It's the invisible hand of the market at work.

👛 3. Costs Covered

You can't work for less than it costs to make, right? You'd be losing per order. So let your costs dictate your pricing. Same with the newbie. They can charge less because their labor rate is lower, they have lower indirect costs, and they don't have as much overhead. You - you can't. You have that Eddie to pay for, that Universal Bosch to keep powered on, and that Heavenly 70 Amerigels to use. You gotta cover your costs + profit - no if, ands, or Birkins.

👛 4. Exclusivity means Money

The higher your prices the more exclusive you're able to make your order inquiries. Hermes hand-makes each bag - taking up to 20 hours to produce. They can charge more for their lack of availability. That translates as "exclusivity" to your marketing. If Birkin can slap a $100k price tag on something that a grocery bag can functionally replace - why are you so worried about pricing lower than your competition? Price HIGH. Get EXCLUSIVE high-paying customers. We aren't selling food - we're selling a luxury edible product.

️👛 5. Perceived Value in Luxury Pricing

Finally - the perception of value creates money. Oreos are cookies. Your custom-decorated dozen is cookies. Why can you charge 20x the price of Oreos?

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💗 How the Grinch Saved Christmas.
In this week's Baking it Down Podcast - Episode 190 - How the Grinch Saved Christmas, ️and we're BACK and Frank is DIZZY. 😿 Heather came back from a 10-hour trip to a sick Frank who turns out had an inner ear infection that led to him gettin' an early start on the kitty somersault Olympic tryouts.

But back to baking - December is a rough time for bakers. On the one hand, with all the marketing work we laid all year, we're finally able to cash in during the "Cookie Super Bowl." On the other hand - my goodness, it's a lot of work.

It's easy to become jaded by our clients during this season. While we're "baking spirits bright," we ourselves are neglected during the holidays. It's the price we pay in the industry we have chosen to be in. But it's important to stay focused on the goal: a really solid business that sustains itself both through slow and busy times.

So how do we stay focused without becoming embittered by the long hours and late nights over the kitchen oven? Here's a few tips from Sugar Cookie Marketing.

🎄 1. Manage Communications

'Tis the season to get behind on emails. When (see: not if) clients send an angry message about something you messed up (or they think you messed up), wait 24 hours to reply. For all other messages, set expectations. "Hey! Thanks for the email - I'm looking at 24-hour response times, but rest assured, I'll get back to you!" goes a long way in quelling the fears of your customers. If you've not replied to January inquiries, make a note to reply before your next "Hey, I'm taking orders" scheduled post goes up to stave off upset would-be clients.

2. "This will be the best experience they will have."

Corrie and I taught a Christmas cookie class last weekend. Factor in the weekend before, we were circa Vendy Blendy, it was easy to have a bad attitude with two overly long working weekends. We took a deep breath and said, "This is our cookie class attendee's Christmas season kick-off. Let's make it the vibe." And the same goes for you - a lot of your clients are excited about their orders. Make it the best gift they've felt that they have ever given by perking up your attitude.

🎄 3. Custumers =/= Therapists.

You're tired. We get it. Customers aren't therapists. It's easy to turn a pick-up into a vent sesh of all the orders from all the difficult people who don't understand all that goes into cookies. Word of caution: don't do that. Corrie and I frequented a delightful local Thai restaurant, except the owner wasn't so delightful. What was one lunch turned into an hour-long vent session about clients who don't tip. Here's a tip: don't do this.

🎄 4. Happy Cappy - Clean, Brushed, Smile

I hate telling people to shower and makeup when frankly, I don't like doing it. But boy does it help paint the picture that we're the happy, hearty bakers our clients expected to open the door. Think about it - would you want to see your mechanic driving in a hoopty with squeaking brakes? Or about how your real estate agent living in a dump? We want to image the folks we hire are what you believe them to be - same with our bakers. We want to think your kitchen is clean, your house smells good, and you're happy to serve every client with the freshest baked cookies ever to come out of an oven.

️🎄 5. Use AI to keep it friendly.

Nothing says, "I'm too busy for much effort" like "sent from iPhone." In the world of AI everywhere, we hardly have an excuse to not let the robot overlords have their way with our curt emails.

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🔟 10 Marketing Lessons - You can apply from [Redacted].In this week's Baking it Down Podcast - Episode 189 - Marketing Lessons You Can Apply from [Redacted], ️🎉 and this week's podcast is the LAST time we'll say [redacted] ever!!! ️🎊 *

😭 * until next year.

But with every [Redacted], there are marketing lessons to be learned - 🧠 and this year we picked 10 marketing lessons to apply to your bakery-endy (okay now I'm done making up words).

📣 The biggest takeaway from the [redacted] spamming: NO ONE is seeing your posts. 📣

That's something we just have to make peace with as marketers and design our posting schedules, content types, and social media channels around. Doesn't matter how many times I said, 🗣️ "You pend until midnight," I was still asked even until midnight, what time they would get in. 🙉 And it's not their fault!

😳 There's just so much content thrown at us on newsfeeds that reading the group rules + entry questions + group description + event description + 1,345,167 posts, 4 podcasts, 15 newsletters, 57 Reels... 👀 we just simply don't have the time or attention span to absorb it all.

❌ And your audience doesn't have the bandwidth either.

Now that that's outta the way - let's talk about the 10 tips we took from [Redacted] 2024 and applied to bakeries in 2025. Corrie made it a point to only talk about topics that could be adapted to your bakeries - 👁️👁️ so attention up front!

️🛒 1. Started Marketing Early

🤫 The [Redacted]: That was the key to this year's Vendy Blendy. With the increase in the required discount percentage, it was necessary to extend the marketing funnel to 5 months (we typically do 2.5 months in the past). ⏰ Add in a funky election year affecting reach, and in hindsight, we were really happy we got this off the ground earlier this 'round.

🍪 Your Bakery: Same goes for your bakery events - classes, vendor markets, pop-ups, pre-sales. You gotta give yourself some marketing runway, otherwise, you run out of concrete (aka money). If you think 3 weeks is enough time to fill seats in a Galentine's Day cookie class, you'll want to rethink that. 6 weeks or more of marketing can ensure that you can fill seats. And hey, once you're booked, you can move your marketing focus onto the next campaign.

️🛒 2. Increase Value / Decrease Costs

🤫 The [Redacted]: With the event that shan't be named, we required a better value proposition from the sellers - they were required to up their discounts to 25%. 💲 But to offset their increased value, we decreased their costs by lowering the registration dollars. This allowed them to protect their margins a bit more.

🍪 Your Bakery: Same with your bakery's value prop. I see folks complain about a saturated market and "Whatever should I do!?" Increase your value proposition - better packaging, better customer service, better ingredients, better pizza, Papa Johns. But if you increase the value your product has, we need to shed costs elsewhere to protect our profit. You can do that by buying in bulk, printing your own cutters, creating passive income streams, etc.

️🛒 3. Posting Schedule Ramp Up

🤫 The [Redacted]: With our marketing, you could see (if reach and Zuck allowed), an increase in our posting frequency and a diversification in our content type strategy. 📈 From back in June when I made a single post to the day of (when I made about 20 posts), that increase in posts per day - intentionally. Remember - no one is seeing anything you post. More is more when the algo is calling the shots.

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🫗 The AtFault Cult - Taking 100% of the blame shame.In this week's Baking it Down Podcast - Episode 187 - At Fault Cult, we admit it - you guys say we "run to the refund," 🥛 so if you want to sip the Kool-Aid, grab a glass because this pod is about joining the At-Fault Cult.

In all seriousness though, we wanted to explain the long-term benefits of the short-term losses "absorbing fault" can have on your bottom line. And here's the kicker - 😵 we'll be talking about absorbing the fault that belongs to the client.

⚔ You see, "🗣️ he said / 🗣️ she said" arguments are all about assigning blame. How much culpability does either party have? 👈👉 What was each person's role in this business blunder?

But once blame is assigned, we now have a "baker vs. client" scenario - a fight to the de🩸ath. So really, who loses? 😖 It's always the baker - because even if you're right, you're still wrong because you lose the client long-term.

🤔 "But I also lose if I refund, right?"

Yeah - You do - 🤏 you lose a little. 🔮 But what you don't (or can't) see is the long-term "a lot more" loss of the lack of that client returning - 😓 or worse, that client going out of their way to un-recommend you.

Instead of our typical list format, 🥺 I'm going to retell Corrie's podcast confession - a mistake she kinda made and the client kinda made, but she took 100% of the blame for it.

A few weeks ago, Corrie let Laurie (lol, 🙊 they rhyme) bypass her form when Laurie reached out through email. "Eh, simple order, what's the harm," she figured.

🗣️ Narrator: "But there was much harm."

Laurie had specified three simple designs across three dozen cookies: 💊 a pill (because he was a doctor), 🏈 a football (because he liked football), and ⚾ a baseball (because he liked baseball).

Easy right? 📧 However, Corrie's form requires inspo photos - but reeeemember, the client bypassed the form. 🖼️ There were no inspo photos to be referenced.

Lo, and behold, Corrie sends Laurie the pre-pickup picture to which Laurie replies with... dun dun duuun... 😲 "Where are the sports team's logos??" Corrie scrambled to add a few logos, but there was absolutely no way to get the order up to the client's expectations in enough time.

But the client was to blame, right? Because...

• 💢 Laurie was the one who circumvented the form when she saw her date was booked. All orders must go through the form!
• 💢 Laurie was the one who gave general descriptions of what she wanted leaving out the specific details about the logo. How was Corrie to know?!
• 💢 Laurie never sent inspo photos to help dictate her order requirements.

💸 Laurie Laurie Laurie... was refunded 100% of the order and apologized to. Why? Because so what if Laurie was to blame even partially for the cookie miscommunication? What does Corrie win when Laurie loses?

Corrie wins the opportunity to get a bad review and loses all potential future orders from Laurie. By being the "at-fault party," Corrie let Laurie save face. And guess what Laurie did? ⛔ She wouldn't accept the free order. She begged Corrie to at least let her pay half.

🤔 Her reasoning? 🙏 "I want to be able to order from you again in the future, I loved this experience."

When you take the blame, even the blame that wasn't yours to bear, you make your clients feel like your business is a safe space to make mistakes.

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💪 5 D’s of Disarming - Making Clients feel seen, heard, and understood.
In this week's Baking it Down Podcast - Episode 186 - The 5 D's of Disarming, we're back to business talking about the 5 D's of disarming upset clients. As we cruise through the "Sugar Cookie Super Bowl" that is October - December, we're more inclined to make mistakes - or to miss the client's cryptic order details amid the flurry of incoming requests and changes.

Hey - we're human. They're human. It happens.

But disarming clients can make the different between disaster (in your review profiles) or domination (in your bottom line). So defining the steps to make sure you get your desired outcome is what we designed today's podcast on (can you see I'm forcing the whole "starts with the letter D" thing?).

The key to each of these approaches is to make the client feel that you've heard them and plan to make it right. Now how you go about making it right is subjective - but making it right? That's a business requirement.

🖐 1. Dispel their Worry.

When people get the guts to reach out and tell you they have a problem, see that as being gracious. Because their other options were to either never order from you again (bad), or to leave you a bad review (worse). So when a client says, 🫣 "Heeeey, I'm not 100% happy," they're choosing to be kind by giving you the chance to make it right. 😥 I'm a HUGE fan of, "I'm sorry that the experience didn't meet your expectations." You can say sorry while also not agreeing with the client - but the client's feelings are 100% valid even if they're not right.

🖐 2. Deter Anger (before it starts).

Having a solid refund policy set up before you even touch the client's money can deter anger. 💯 Corrie has a 100% satisfaction guarantee or you'll get a full refund. It signals to her clients that even in the worst-case scenario, they'll still be made whole. You can also accomplish this by getting good reviews - it tells future buyers that you're a green flag when it comes to solving issues.

🖐 3. Do NOT be Defensive!

😠 This is where I see most bakers make the left turn when they should have gone right. Defensiveness will only limit your options. Do NOT reply when you're angry!! I'm going to repeat it because so many folks make this mistake: ⛔ DO NOT REPLY TO AN UPSET CLIENT WHEN YOU ARE ANGRY. Wait 24 hours then ask ChatGTP if your response to the client sounds amicable or defensive. Hey, the robots can even help you rewrite it.

🖐 4. Discharge Them Correctly.

It's understandable to be upset when the client "gets one over on ya" by getting a refund. Wrong business move. 🥲 Remember - the client that reached out was doing you a favor by letting you make it right. 🥹 So respect them when you roll them off your books. Just because someone got a refund does not mean they're an automatic ⚫blacklisted⚫ client. Do your best to thank them for bringing up the issue to you and allowing your bakery to be better for it.

🖐 5. Do it like Chick-fil-A.

Does Chick-fil-A ever make mistakes? You bet. But you know why you don't hear about them as often? 🐮 Their HEARD policy to client issues. 👂 Hear, 👂 Empathize, 👂 Apologize, 👂 Resolve, and 👂 Delight is the approach that one of the largest, most successful fast-food restaurants takes when it comes to unhappy clients. And it works. A few months ago, Chick was backlogged and took about 10 minutes to fulfill my order. I didn't mind at all, but when they finally handed me my chicky-strips, they threw in a $5 gift card as an apology... for an issue I didn't even raise.

Talk about Delighted.

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🛒 The Vendy Blendy Episode - Who's selling what and for how much off.
In this week's Baking it Down Podcast - Episode 185 - The Vendy Blendy Episode, it's the moooost wonderful tiiiiime of the yyeeeaarrr. It's the annual Vendy Blendy Episode!

This is the one podcast where we cover all 77 Vendys, where they ship, what they sell and how much they'll sell it (not) for. As the hype builds for Black Friday, pre-shopping the Vendys on the podcast is always a fan favorite (or maybe it's a Heather and Corrie favorite and y'all just have to listen along).

There's too much data this year for me to copy and paste into this email, so I'll include the important links you'll need to pre-shop the VB:

• 🟠 The Group (pend here): https://www.facebook.com/groups/vendyblendy
• 🟠 The List of Vendys + Websites + Discounts: http://thevendys.com
• 🟠 Corrie's Vendy Product Reviews: https://www.instagram.com/sugarcookiemarketing_

Here are some facts that should get ya hyped for Novemby 29th:

🟠 We have more Vendys than we have ever had (77 this year compared to 72 last year).

• 🟠 We have higher discount minimums than we've ever had (25% off this year compared to 20$ off last year).
• 🟠 We have more door prizes this year than we did last year (10 Big Door Prizes + 71 Vendys are also offering Door Prizes).
• 🟠 We have MORE days 'til Black Friday than we've had last year (last year it was Nov 23, this year it's Nov 29th).

Bigger, better, faster, stronger - this is shaping up to be a BLAST of a Vendy Blendy, and I am HERE for it!

If you missed Heather's Facebook Lives on the Vendy, you can rewatch the replays here:

• 🟠 Live 1 - Intro to the Vendy Blendy! 🛒
• 🟠 Live 2 - Let’s Pre-Shop The Vendys! 🛒
• 🟠 Live 3 - Secrets to Shopping the Vendy Blendy 🛒
• 🟠 Live 4 - The Cookie College and the Vendy Blendy 🛒

In today's podcast, Corrie covered some of her shop favs. We also cover shipping + door prizes + and discount codes.

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👻 Boo-urn Out - Staying in front of falling behind.In this week's Baking it Down Podcast - Episode 184 - Boo-urn Out, Corrie wanted to do our annual 😩 "Ways to avoid getting burnt out during the baker's busy season" strategy sesh.

Hey - business ownership ain't for the weak. Additionally, baking businesses reach their ordering maximums during the Q4 months (📅 October, November, and December). 🤑 It's easy to fall prey to that green we've been laying the foundation for all year, 🔥 but it's always the fast pass to closing a business when we burn the Christmas candles at both ends. 🔥

Summary: you can make the MOST money in the world, but if you close your business Jan 2025, was it even worth it? 🏈 Sustainability is the 🔑 k-e-y to success in the baking "Super Bowl."

1. Turn off your order form when you're booked.

📃 Disabling your order form is a really definite way to say, "Don't come knockin' on my door, I'm too busy settin' up my Christmas tree. 🎄" It's perfect for those of us who hate to see the look of disappointment on a client's face and struggle with saying no. 🚫 I wrote a poem for ya - "If they can't hit submit, you won't witness the fit."

2. Set your order max now. DO NOT DEVIATE

You know what your limits are. 💯 If you know 10 dozen will be the most you can handle without hating life, set your weekly max now - and when you hit that max, shut down that order form. You'll be tempted to get greedy when the order submissions are hittin' the Inbox and the DMs. 🔐 Don't fall for the green goblin - if the limit you set was 10, 10 it shall be.

3. Schedule 2 posts per week.

Corrie's rule-of-posting-thumb is 2 posts per week. ✌️ We have, what, 8 weeks left in the year? That's 16 posts - something you can likely knock out in an hour tops. And the posts don't have to be earth-shatteringly good. 💆 A simple post can keep your page audience engaged while also removing that dreaded feeling of, "Oh darn, I forgot to post to socials. I'm falling behind" when we need more bandwidth to bake.

4. Schedule days off now. NO COMPROMISING

📆 Go right now, open your calendar app, and set the days you DO NOT want to work to "busy." And then absolutely do ❌NOT❌ schedule anything on those days. That includes prep work, supply and ingredients shopping, baking, pick-ups, etc. THOSE ARE YOUR OFF DAYS - I'm yelling so you hear me loud and clear. 👂 When we get rushed and take on too many orders, we're tempted to give those days up. 💸 What's all the money in the world if we didn't get to stop and smell the roses... or in this case, the pine needles?

5. Shorten your FB Business Page Hours.

Facebook business pages work off of set hours (it affects how your page shows availability and how your auto-responders work). ⏰ In busier months, shortening your "available hours" can signal to your clients that you're not sitting by your Messenger inbox twiddling your thumbs and waiting for their next reply. Setting your page hours to 3 hours a day makes sense when you're trying to limit order inquiries.

6. Elongate the funnel.

In the world of sales, 🤏 we want to shorten the funnel. In the world of "too many sales so we're feeling burnt out," ✋ elongating that funnel ✋ can subtly curtail orders. Just as a short funnel has the fewest amount of clicks to order (think: Amazon's one-click-to-buy option), ⛹‍♂ a long funnel that has clients jumping through hoops to place orders can be a nice bumper to slow down incoming inquiries. Don't add the order links to post, don't had the form link to your auto-response message, have your auto-responder say it'll take you 3 days to get back to someone, etc.

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🚫 No - Falling in Love with Rejection.In this week's Baking it Down Podcast - Episode 183 - No, I wanted to cover the worst best word in the business English language: No.

In business (and in life), we gotta learn to fall madly in love with two little letters: N and O.

But we're trained our whole lives to reject rejection though. No one wants to be told "no" - ew gross, I almost even hate typing it. The thought of someone not wanting us would send shivers up most of our spines.

No is bad. No means you're wrong. No means you're not likable. No means someone chose someone over you. No means you lost money. No means you lost a sale. No means you lost an opportunity. No means sad. No means lonely.

No is bad.

But in a world of fighting for likes, attention, follows, friend requests, and "omg yaaas's," the smart business owner searches out the "no."

Here's my Tinder profile for the word No.

No means you've gotten your direct answer. You wasted no time flirting with the maybe, you got a defined path forward. And it wasn't that one you thought it was before the no.

No means you k(no)w where your weakness lies. It's like a map where X marks the spot to improve. And once you improve? You're more of a force to be reckoned with.

No means less wasted time. When you can get a client to their no as fast as possible, in a world where time = money, you've saved money through the time you can spend cultivating a new sale.

No is actually kind. Hear me out - when someone says, "No, I don't think you fit my budget," that's an act of kindness. If someone tells you no, they are treating you with respect.

Hearing no is hard. But saying no is also hard. Being adult enough to dish out a no - That's respectful (in a season where Caspers haunt our Business page inboxes all too often).

In business, I have to tell a lot of people no.

• "No, we're not looking for podcast guests right now."
• "No, you're not a great fit for the Vendy Blendy."
• "No, I had to delete your comment because it violated a group rule."
• "No, that's not in your contract scope."
• "No, you're not allowed to post that."
• "No, you're not allowed to sell that."

I witness far too often folks that take no waaaay too personally. They see no as an attack - to their character, to their business, to their ego.

Rejecting rejection is not the business approach that'll make you money. It will get your feelings hurt though.

The phrase is, "It's just business. Nothin' personal."

That's what no is. It's just business. It's not saying you're any less of a person. You cannot have a business without the word NO. It's not possible.

No is inevitable.

So the faster you fall in love with the "no" the better the business you will have. No is everywhere. No Is guaranteed. No is delicious. Hearing a no is just as amazing for your business as getting a yes. No is not bad. No is good business.

My challenge for you is to reframe how hearing NO impacts you mentally and emotionally. Stop taking NO personally.

Years ago I read about a workshop where the hosts challenged the attendees to get rejected 30 times in 30 days. It made the news when one person taking part in the rejection challenge asked a Krispy Kreme shop to make doughnuts in the shapes of the Olympic rings and the Krispy Kreme employee actually did it (lol).

But the challenge to seek out the word "no" stuck with me. How fantastic would life be if "no" didn't take us to our knees emotionally?!

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🪣 Content Buckets DebunkedContent categories explained.

In this week's Baking it Down Podcast - Episode 182 - Content Buckets Debunked, the twins talk all things content buckets - an approach to content planning that guides our posting schedule.

What are content buckets? They're categories or themes that your content falls into. Think of them as the main pillars or sections of your blog or social media presence. Each bucket encompasses a specific area of content interest, helping you organize and categorize your content effectively.

Imagine a conversation like this:

• 😀 Me: Hey Corrie, how are you?
• 🙂 Corrie: Enjoying this cool, crisp fall weather!
• 😊 Me: Awesome - what are your plans this weekend?
• 🙂 Corrie: Enjoying this cool, crisp fall weather!
• 🙃 Me: Enjoying the weather I see. How's Archer?
• 🙂 Corrie: Enjoying this cool, crisp fall weather!
• 😕 Me: Ooookay. This conversation is weird.
• 🙂 Corrie: I agree, but I'm enjoying this cool, crisp fall weather!

Like okaaay - we get it! You like this crisp, cool fall weather. Say something else! This is what your social media sounds like when all you post is sales and sets. It's boring and drives engagement away and thus reach goes down.

So let's come up with content buckets for a baker. Pulling from these buckets can help you create a more well-rounded content structure that not only target different audience demographics but drives up engagement as well.

Your content buckets don't have to be pulled from one at a time. There may be a bucket where you grab content from 3x a month, and another where you only snag content from 1x a quarter. It's up to you to build out the buckets you both enjoy consistently posting from and that your audience also resonates with.

Content buckets require testing repeatedly over time to see what works - ain't that marketing for ya?

🪣 Memes

Always an easy bucket, memes are low-hanging content fruit, but the key is to either keep them baking-related or hyper-local related. You can check out a ton of baking-themed memes on the Sugar Cookie Marketing Page. Hyper-local memes can be memes about never-ending traffic on a popular road or a mention of the northern lights (like Corrie did here).

• 🫗 Baking Related (check out the SCM page for free baking memes)
• 🫗 Locality Related (linked above)

🪣 Behind the Scenes

Behind-the-scenes content always performs really well while still keeping your page focused on baking. For example, Corrie's cutter storage photo garnered a lot of engagement, but still pushes the page's agenda: I sell sugar cookies. Letting folks into the back end of your baking business can add a bit of personality to your bakery - just keep in mind the cleanliness of your home (aka no cats on counters in these pics, my guys).

• 🫗 Cutter Storage (linked above)
• 🫗 Large Bags of Dough / Flour (people like seeing this for some reason)
• 🫗 Large Orders - like 1000 cookies prepped for Christmas corporate orders
• 🫗 Pic of Class Attendees - any info you gathered about an attendee can be a great BTS feature

🪣 Get To Know Me

Pics of people simply perform well - no other way to describe it. Corrie used a photo of her kiddo's first day of school to thank folks who ordered from her because with their money she was able to enroll Archer in a safer learning environment.

• 🫗 Pics of you and fam at a pumpkin patch
• 🫗 Kiddos first day of school
• 🫗 Thankful for Spouse

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👙 Correlation & Causation - Looking at the full data picture.In this week's Baking it Down Podcast - Episode 181 - Correlation and Causation, we wanted to talk about the dangers of misassigned reasons why you think your marketing isn't working.

Let's define things before we jump in:

• Correlation: a mutual relationship or connection between two or more things.
• Causation: the relationship between cause and effect.
• Coincidence: a remarkable concurrence of events or circumstances without apparent causal connection.

So here's the hot take: you must understand the correct cause of something before you make a correlation to its results.

😿 For example, let's say it's raining and my cat, Frank, throws up. I could make the correlation that whenever it 🌧️ rains, Frank throws up, right? I mean - I watched it happen - pitter-patter of rain. Violent cough of gastrointestinal distressed cat.

Wrong - 🚫 because yes, while those two events happened at the same time, they were unrelated (not correlated). They just happened to well... happen at the same time. Other than coincidences, they have absolutely zero relationship.

🐈 Now let's look more closely at Franks' eating habits. Frank tends to upchuck (haven't used that word since I was in middle school, but here we are) when I feed him wet cat food. 🍛 Every time I've ever attempted to feed my little furry friend a sauce-covered pate, he has regurgitated on my carpet a few hours later.

This has been proven 100% of the times I've attempted to feed him wet food. 💯 I can now safely correlate the serving of wet foods to causing Frank to throw up.

Let's bring it back to marketing. Making the incorrect correlations in your marketing strategies can spell long-term disaster. 😨 "My posts do better when there's a 70% chance of snow" is a feeling, but the data proves that despite Jack Frost's potential appearance, ❄ your Facebook post reach is more than likely related to the closing of local school systems forcing parents to stay home rather than frozen water falling from the sky. ☃️

🚫 Incorrection Correlation: "I posted an unstaged photo and my reach on Facebook increased. Thus, staged photography is not ideal."

✅ Potential Questions to Find Correct Correlations:

• ✅ Did you post when the algo was favoring your content? Algorithms giveth and taketh - post in a slow time? Welcome to better reach. Post on election day? Enjoy your new pet crickets.

🚫 Incorrection Correlation: "I sold nothing at a market I attended recently, but when I flash sold the unsold product from the market on my page, I sold a ton. Thus markets are not for me."

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🤹 2 Busy 2 Business - 10 ways to up communication in Sept.In this week's Baking it Down Podcast - Episode 179 - 2 Busy 2 Business, we wanted to talk about good communication (or the lack thereof... ahem... Bev).

Corrie led with a personal story where she left her client, Bev, in communication purgatory wondering when or if Corrie had gotten her inquiry. See, Bev was a referral from another client, Ashley, who loved a 4 day waiting period for cookie communication. But unlike Ash, Boss Bev needed a confirmation within 24 hours or not a happy camper she was.

And Bev was totally right in feeling like she got ghosted (too early for Halloween costumes, my twin sister). So thus we audited the 10 avenues we typically get bogged down with when we get too busy - and added some tips on how to sharpen up the communication skills ahead of Santa's sleigh.

(ps - do you know we have a Baking it Down Instagram that stores all these lil graphics for quick reference?)

A lot of this stuff we've covered in past podcasts, but the goal here is to optimize these communication channels for the busy season. 🚿 You know - where we're too busy to even shower let alone check our after-hours auto-responder. 🤗 The better the communication = the happier your clients. 💵 The happier your clients = the deeper their pockets.

👍 Rule of thumb: good communication means more money. It's as simple as that (and much easier said than done, oh do we know).

🤹 1. Autoresponders / Away Messages

• 🔴 Set a response window - setting an expectation of when you'll get back to someone buys you more time. Be liberal here, if you know it'll take you a while to reply, give yourself 48 hours. But ensure you're definitely getting back to them within the time frame or risk a bad review.
• 🟡 Have your booking form in your auto-responder - Your auto-responses can include clickable links to your website or form that way you're spending less time "back and forthing" and more time making money while your website does the labor in the background.

🤹 2. Google Business Profile

• 🔴 Use Maps app to reply to questions / get profile updates - Google Business Profiles are hooked to Google Maps - so having the app on your phone can give you immediate notifications of communications and reviews.
• 🟡 Remove phone numbers if you can't handle phone calls - if you simply don't communicate over phone calls, remove that from your GMB listing. While I'd like to think I'm good at answer the phone, it's just another avenue to potentially miss a lead, detail, or order change.

🤹 3. Website Forms

• 🔴 Ensure you gather all needed information in your form - audit your form. Are you gathering all the info you need there? Because if you're not, you're adding more back and forth which can be a stumbling block come busy season.

🤹 4. Facebook Messenger

• 🔴 Have in your notes app a readily available copy/paste for quicker response times - most smartphones have built-in notes apps. Use these to paste faster replies. I like to leave [BRACKETS] for info I can quickly replace to make my "copy pasta" seem more personable.

🤹 5. Social Media Comments

• 🔴 Replying to comments as soon as they're posted increases engagement - when someone comments on your posts, reply immediately, and ask questions. This gets people back to your post, replying to your question, and thus increasing engagement.

🤹 6. Reviews

• 🔴 Reply immediately to reviews - this shows you care about past clients and gives future clients a warm fuzzy feeling as well as

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🗣️ Reading the Cookie Room - Tells your market's telling you.In this week's Baking it Down Podcast - Episode 178 - Reading the Cookie Room, 🍿 Corrie jumped in with the Tiktok flavored popcorn to tell us about a viral series of posts made this week by a wedding make-up artist who was guilty of not reading the room... er, well, cathedral.

What started as an innocent disclaimer in the contract that allowed the make-up artist to gather content for their social ballooned into an uninvited (and intrusive) extra guest to the wedding - complete with drama, tears, and an upset bridal party (did I mention a 3-series long TikTok vent sesh to boot?).

So we wanted to talk about "Reading the Cookie Room." Hey - whether we like it or not, our businesses put us face-to-face with clients daily. Knowing how to read subtle hints from body language and speech can allow us to be better salespeople - and just better people in general.

🔎 We've come up with a list of conversational potential pitfalls and blind spots you might want to consider if you don't feel like you've got the gift of gab. 📖 PS - if you're looking for supporting reading material, check out the books "What Every Body Is Saying" and "How to Win Friends and Influence People."

Here's the takeaway: not all of these may apply to you. If only one does, you're probably reading the "cookie room" full of your clients just fine. But if you find yourself wincing at a lot of these - then take a minute to assess the situation and slowly learn what you can tweak. Blind spots are hard to see - that's why we call them blind spots. This podcast is just a hint towards lookin' over you conversation shoulder and making sure you're not missing the closing curtain.

🙏 Your bottom line (and your neighbors) will thank you.

👀 1. Are you constantly having to find new customers?

Do you constantly find yourself running through clients (🏃‍♂ churn is the buzzword here)? If so, you may be the one scaring them off (and just in time for spooky season too). Talking too much or too personally can run off clients, so ask yourself how often you see similar names comin' back to order.

👀 2. Are your female clients sending husbands (to avoid conversation?)

Oddly specific, but Corrie says she finds herself sending out her "husband of few words" to deal with the neighborhood's chatty Cathys. 🧍‍♂ If you find that your pick-ups are generally with wall flowers, consider that perhaps someone is avoiding long conversations with you. 👨 Again - more of these have to apply to you than just one to be a blind spot - but it's worth mentioning the men (this can be either gender - the takeaway: if someone's sending the "quiet one" to pick-ups, it may be a tell).

👀 3. Track the average length of pick-up conversations. Are they over 5 minutes?

"Time just flies when you're playin' hostage." Do you keep your clients hostage on your porch? ⏰ A "tell" is tracking how long conversations last. If you find them averaging over 2-minutes - maaaybe ask yourself if you're keepin' people past the normal length of porch-pickup courtesy convos.

👀 4. Release the Cracken - are you giving people options to exit?

Corrie's husband Nate has an affinity for ending conversations by saying "Welp, it's time I hit the ol' dirt road," 🛣 and while hilarious, we can all take notes (and wagon rides apparently). Adding "exits" to your conversations can help people pull the release ripcord. "Well, I don't want to keep you." "So, that's it on my end, any questions on your cookies?" "I can let you go - traffic is going to be bad for you in about an hour." 🚗🚗🚗 These are all release points to let people out of conversations with you.

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😥 When Marketing Isn't Working - What to think and what to do.

🎧 This is an excerpt from this week's Baking it Down Podcast - Episode 177 - When Marketing Isn't Working

In this week's Baking it Down Podcast - Episode 177 - When Marketing Isn't Working, we wanted to talk about both mindset and methods to reboot a sluggish marketing season.

🧠 In the Diary of a CEO podcast on YouTube, brain doctor, Dr. Daniel Amen who has scanned 250,000 brains, says he was asked to scan the brain of author Noelle Nelson who was writing a book on The Power of Appreciation. 🤗 She wanted to see how positive thinking affected brain function.

The doctor then asked Noelle to return the next day after 24 hours of negative thinking to understand how the brain's baselines changed. 😥 The results? 📉 Lower functioning in the pre-frontal cortex - the part of the brain responsible for decision-making, reasoning, personality expression, and other complex cognitive behaviors.

The takeaway:

• ⬇️ Negative thinking culls cognitive performance.
• ⬇️ Inhibited cognitive performance creates more negative thinking.
• ⬇️ Thus we're in the death spiral of bad news blues.

🤔 "How does this apply to my marketing not working?"

Great question. You'll hate the answer. Marketing works because it just... works. The more people that know about a product to buy, the more people can buy said product. 💭 The how to get them to know there's a product to buy is marketing.

✅ So the good news - your problem is fixable. ⛔ The bad news? The problem is you. "No one is buying from me" dulls your strategic thinking. "Everything I post doesn't get any likes" is an easy way to never have to strategize why your posts are reaching your intended audience.

Shift your mindset by running through these cognitive questions:

1. 🧠 Is your messaging confusing? Focus focus focus - switching product offerings too often can confuse your audience
2. 🧠 Are your goals dialed in? Too much of everything is nothing
3. 🧠 Do you have enough campaign runway? Think: run a campaign for at least 3 months to see if something works - yeah, that long.
4. 🧠 Are you being consistent over long term or only energetic in short spurts?

But - if you're marketing truly isn't working and you're in no mood for brain games, Corrie and I came up with a list of six tasks you can implement this month - that, with the right attitude, should turn your marketing numbers around a bit.

1. ✔️ Work the campaigns backwards: here is launch date, so where is pre-sale end date / pre-sale launch date / photography date etc. Come up with three campaigns for the rest of the year.
2. ✔️ Invest in better camera / photography gear and take one photography course (ahem - the Cookie College has a photography course) - plan photography days.
3. ✔️ Start adding consistent posting in community groups - make 2 posts per week (non-sales) for 1 month.
4. ✔️ Work on a local likes campaign. Grow your page numbers - you'll never reach 100% of your page likes, so increase the page likes to increase potential eyes on your content.
5. ✔️ Audit your sales funnel - is something somewhere driving people to your competition.
6. ✔️ Audit your competition - if you can handle not comparing yourself, competitor analysis is a great way to see where you're lacking.

Try these 6 suggestions out. Hey - your marketing isn't working, you probably have a lot of spare time. What do ya have to lose? Except the yips that is.

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💍 Wedding Expo Recap - Our eddie wedding vendor expo debrief.
In this week's Baking it Down Podcast - Episode 175 - Wedding Vendor Recap, Corrie signed us up for a Wedding Expo - and here's our tell-all - what we did right, what we did okay, and what we wouldn't do ever again.

The event was complex, to say the least. Conceptually - it's genius. Execution - it's lacking. ✌️ The event was two days consisting of two "faux wedding receptions" - one upstairs (🪵 earthy forest theme) and one downstairs (🛼 retro theme).

So both themes had completely different vendor groups - meaning there were two photographers, two event planners, two florists, two bakers, two couple models... you get the point. All vendors were assigned a theme - the vendors didn't decide it.

1️⃣ Day 1 was a photo shoot. All the vendors set up the two themes and the photographers and models got to work. This is where they got the photos of the faux receptions (one upstairs in the venue and one downstairs outside).

2️⃣ Day 2 was a vendor expo, fashion runway, and after-party. This day was open to attendees - there was some ticketed component, but we never really figured out what that was exactly? More on that confusion later. But you get the idea of what this event looked like.

1. 👰 Marketing Prep - Build the Funnel

So we needed to start the marketing prep to get Corrie's "funnel" dialed in. 🖼️ Here's what she did in the week leading up to the Wedding Expo. Keep in mind - this is a wedding expo, 🤵‍♂ so she'd want her content to be wedding-specific if we drove traffic to her socials during the event. Always think in terms of funneling people to a desired action (aka purchasing for their weddings).

• 💒 Getting socials ready (reposted / pin for new timestamp)
• 💒 Posting wedding sets daily leading up to the event
• 💒 All comments / reviews responded to
• 💒 Matched energy on Instagram
• 💒 Updated forms / website

We decided we'd take Eddie - the edible direct-to-food printer from Primera (also a podcast sponsor). 🤔 I asked myself, "What would get someone to stop at a cookie booth" and 🖨 the answer was "print them on a cookie - live - as they watch." So this meant we needed some specific supplies to make Eddie work.

2. 👰 Source Your Supplies

We haven't done a vendor expo for Corrie's company before, so I had to order all the custom printed things - which meant the start-up costs for this were high (ideally you'd repeat these events and bring the cost-per-use down considerably). 🪑 I needed a custom Tablecloth (TableCoversNow for $216.60), a Step and Repeat as a photo backdrop (VistaPrint for $338.14), and an A-frame sign (Best of Signs for $128.43). We borrowed a 6'x2.5' table from my mom. I had a Sony A7C mirrorless camera with a 24mm lens. Corrie brought her Dell XPS computer, and then we had Eddie (all already purchased a few years ago).

• 💒 Ordered custom tablecloth, custom circle a-frame sign, custom step & repeat
• 💒 Purchased add-on carrying cases for easier transport
• 💒 Pre-baked 45 Eddie blank cookies + 1 sleeve of Mom Pop pre-dipped cookies (for backup)
• 💒 50 QR Code printed cookies + business cards

3. 👰 Do a Setup Dry Run

I'm a planner - so a dry run for setup and workflow was a must if I wanted to get any sleep the night before. I build out the dimensions in an app called Whimsical. We were limited to a 6x6 event space, so lemme just say - it was gonna be tight.

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📧 Know Newsletters - What to send to who and how often.

In this week's Baking it Down Podcast - Episode 174 - Know Newsletters, we talk everything you need to know about newsletters. These powerhouses in digital marketing are some of the most untouched real estate in the cottage world - and why? We're not sure - but if you capitalize on it now, you'll be cookin' (baking?) with fire come the busy season.

Jumping straight into it - in the Onesday Wednesday newsletter, I included the 90-day line chart of our weekly newsletter (this is a Sendgrid report). It's sent on Wednesdays, and you can see I missed a Wednesday a few months ago (the dead zone where there's no peak) and again last week (fam stuff).

The big takeaway in this chart isn't the number of people receiving our emails. It's the consistency at which the newsletters are sent, how many emails reach an inbox (deliverability), how many get opened (open rate), and what gets clicked on (click-through rate).

So let's break down the making of solid bones for a newsletter. Before we jump into the content, we gotta actually have a list. So let's start there and build.

📨 1. Creating an Email List

You've got to generate a list. Review the CAN-SPAM laws, but my take - you can email people who have purchased cookies from you in the past as long as you follow all the other rules. Ideally, your list is compromised of opt-in emails (people who intentionally signed up for your list). Newsletter senders often include free landing pages and sign-up forms to grow your list as well. Giveaways are a great incentive for quick sign-ups.

📨 2. Selecting a Sender.

You won't want to use your personal email to send out newsletters (CAN-SPAM laws require an unsubscribe button and an address), so selecting a newsletter sender is integral to a healthy newsletter campaign. Big names in the biz are Mailchimp, Flodesk, Square, Sendgrid, Constant Contact - there's about a million to choose from so find one that fits your needs, your budget, and your workflow.

📨 3. Preview Content

When you go to write your email - the preview content (the "from," the subject line, the preview text) will help you get that ever-coveted opened email. In the preview content, I like to attract attention with the subject line then draw them in with the supporting preview text. Imagine my Halloween email's subject line reading: "👻 I've Got Something SCARY To Tell You" and the preview line is "🎃The 10 closest pumpkin patches to Fairfax". Preview text isn't available in all inboxes, but always think about drawing folks to the "email open." That subject line is a lot more eye-catching than "September Offerings."

📨 4. Body-yody-yody-yody

The body of your newsletter - the meat and potatoes - is the content your readers are clicking to read. Corrie came up with a cute poem to guide you, "something for me, something for you, but no more than two." Basically - keep it short, sweet, and skim-able. Header tags, bolded fonts, and bulleted lists are your buddies here. Pictures are worth the thousand words you don't have to type out. An example of the "something for me, something for you" is a list of local cideries in your area + your back-to-school offerings. Another example is your January "Build a Snowman" cookie class + a list of local sledding hills the kids love. You get the point. Don't jam-pack a newsletter with a million different offerings, 4 CTAs (call-to-actions), and a billion photos - you're making that poor newsletter do too many things and thus it does nothing really. FOCUS on one initiative per email.

We cover more tips in this week's podcast like templates, how nested header tags work, an ideal schedule for someone getting

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🙊 Say It, Don’t Spray It - How to ask for help in the groups.In this week's Baking it Down Podcast - Episode 171 - Say It - Don't, Spray It, we wanted to cover a topic to help us help you help us. Because it's how you ask questions in Facebook groups that dictate the kind of answers you'll get.

Depending on how you asked it, 🤩 you're either going to get really solid advice that moves your business forward, 🚮 or you'll end up with bottom-of-the-barrel, trash comments that do nothing other than get you even more worked up. 😡

🔑 You hold the keys to your own post - 🔓 whether your post gets locked or not is really up to you - the OP (original poster). And when you post in a way that garners good advice, it makes the group a better place.

👿 And when you post spun content that makes your client look like the devil's stunt double, you give the mod team more work - 🔒 because your thread will get locked by the mod team. It's our job to keep this space a resource for folks, not an echo chamber of the worthless comment, "🏃‍♂ RUN."

🤔 Ask yourself: "What am I looking for with this post - advice or validation?" If you're looking for validation, reconsider posting altogether. 💥 We aren't here to clean up a crime scene. If you want advice, we're your people. 🚔 We can help prevent the cookie car accident altogether with the right strategy.

If you find somethin' in here that looks like what you've asked in the past - no hard feelings. Your thread is a learning lesson to everyone, and for that, I am thankful (now stop posting threads that get locked, mkaaaay).

🙊 Example 1 - Unhappy Client Help

Let's start off with unhappy client help. It's a guarantee in business (and life) that you won't be able to please everyone. As such, dealing with upset clients is a business-ownership guarantee. How you handle that separates the proverbial "men from the boys" or should I say, "the business bakers from the business boo-ers."

😡 Spun Bad Question:

• "I took a last minute order, it was rushed, I fit her in - she begged! My icing wasn't perfect, but now she's upset about how they turned out. I wasn't even going to take the order and I let her know that it wouldn't be perfect, but she's saying the icing isn't the right color. I tell them in my terms that icing won't match, so she knew that going into it. I don't have time to rebake, and I will not refund her. What should I do? Any help?"

🤔 Alternate Healthy Question:

• "I took a last-minute order and in hindsight, I shouldn't have. I broke my own boundaries, and I acknowledge I have a hard time telling people no. The cookies that include piped names have bumpy icing - not my best work by far. What should I do in this situation? The client is unhappy with those cookies."

🙊 Example 2 - Pricing Wheelin' 'n Dealin'

Example 2 - a client who pushes back on price. It's a bummer when the client doesn't just pay the asking price but thinks there's room for bargain hunting. While likely there isn't much wiggle room, we can still play ball - in fact, that's likely what they expected you to do (remember - there are people who operate off the premise, "the answer to every unasked question is no, so ask").

😡 Spun Bad Question:

• "I secured a corporate recurring order and now they want to know if I can lower the price! They waited until after we nailed everything down and frankly, I don't want to work with them anymore anyway, but I want her to know I won't do business like that. How can I tell them they're being unfair?"

🤔 Alternate Healthy Question:

• "I secured a corporate order - and it would be a ni

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✂️ Class Supplies - A "bake-down" of what we bring and why.
In this week's Baking it Down Podcast - Episode 170 - Class Supplies, (another) Heather (of One Smart Cookies and Crafts - also a returning Vendy this year) asked us to cover what cookie class supplies we bring and why.

(🤫 Pssst - if you're a Cookie Class Kits or Cookie College member, you get this list with every class drop). Let's go through our general "class supplies" list we use for every class we teach.

Yours may differ - we try to keep it pretty lean so we have less to pack, manage, and clean up. Hey - if time's money, the less time we spend packin' and preppin', the more money we keep in our apron pockets.

✂️ 1. To-Go Boxes

Everyone always likes a box recommendation - so here's ours (keeping the direct links in the newsletter - the Zuck hates a 'Zon link on socials, so check your email for the hyperlinks).

Our to-go boxes we use for class attendees to take their bakes home in are the same ones we use for the DIY Kit boxes - but Corrie will grab a cheap pack of stickers from Hobby Lobby.

• 📦 9x9x2.5 Window Boxes (Amazon)

✂️ 2. Piping Bags

While we're not diehards for any one brand of piping bag, when we find one we like, we try to stick with it. I prefer a "middle of the road" micron count - too loose and you'll have a bag bursting. Too hard and you'll have a crunchy-sounding class.

• 👜 Piping Bags (10) (Busy Bakers Supplies)
• 👜 Bag Ties (200) (Amazon)

Bring some extras - in the event of a bag bursting, it's nice to have these on hand. Plus, if you let your attendees cut their own bags (more on that in the #PodcastPoll below), and they get too clippy, you can rebag and save the flow (and the day).

✂️ 3. Trays.

I love these trays. They really help "set an area" for each attendee. We use two different-sized trays per station - a large one where we display the cookies and a smaller one where we put their icing. Both are lined with parchment paper (links below) for easy clean up too.

• 📤 Large Trays (9.5x13) (Webstaurant)
• 📤 Small Trays (6.5x9.5) (Webstaurant)

Trays make it easy to designate the station for attendees, keep sprinkles from running free, and help us keep a better headcount. The ones we use aren't the cheapest, but we've been reusing them for 4.5 years now, so worth the investment. Amazon has cheaper alternatives though.

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🍗 Loss Leaders - How losing can help you win.

In this week's Baking it Down Podcast - Episode 164 - Loss Leaders, we covered, well, what a loss leader is and how to implement it as a marketing strategy in your baking business.

💰 If you've been to Costco (formerly Price Club) anytime in the last 2 decades, you've seen (or smelled) their rotisserie chickens priced at $4.99 - a staggeringly affordable price that hasn't changed since 2000 (💸 save one price bump in 2008 which was reverted a year later in 2009).

Costco loses money on each of these birds. 🤑 Why? It's their loss leader. These underpriced prepped chickens get people into Costco stores, where, according to the CEO in 2015, these rotisserie chickens bring in $30 - $40 million dollars of additional product sales.

🤔 How? By pricing something like these chickens ridiculously low, they get people into Costco stores. They position these loss leaders deeper into the store near things you'd typically grab when you make a grocery run. The more you grab on your "I'm just picking up a rotisserie chicken" fueled grocery run, the more money Costco makes - by you buying other non-bird related things.

So - cool for Costco, but how can we take this "loss leader" strategy into baking? ✌️ Full confession - we use it in our memberships. Our "loss leader" tier is the $2 Transfer Club. Priced at, you guessed it, $2/mo, this membership gets you an instant download of over 180 digital transfer sheets. That makes each sheet less than $.01. But on Etsy, a similar royal icing transfer sheet can cost around $3 - $4.

🤔 "Why undercharge so much, twins?"

Because with such a low buy-in of $2, you've made an account on our membership platform. Switching to a membership like The Class Kits or The Cookie College is as simple as two clicks now. Plus - 🤝 we're able to build trust with you since I promise members 1 transfer a month but I deliver members around 4 - 8 transfers a month. If you like how you spent your $2 with me, imagine how much you'd love The Cookie College.

Okay - let's bring it back to baking. How can we implement the Loss Leader strategy for home-based bakers?

1. Car Cookies.

I like this one - 🚗 car cookies as your bakery's loss leader. I like it mostly because it means you've already made money before losing it. A car cookie (also known as a "thank you cookie") is a cookie affixed to an order going out. It's intended to give the purchaser a taste test of their order which is often intended to be a gift they'll never get a bite of. 🤤 Now they'll be hooked on that delish sugar cookie recipe you've got and come back for more.

2. Free Samples + Taste Testers.

🍴🛑 Put down your pitchforks. I know "free" and "cookie" aren't words we readily use in the marketing group, but we're talkin' loss leaders here. Free samples (heyo - another Costco strategy) get folks in the door for events like markets and pop-ups. The odds of them buying are higher post-sample.

Another take on this approach is asking local community groups (while abiding by the no-selling rules) for taste testers to give you feedback on a new product. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ This accomplishes two things: new people trying your products (and giving you feedback which is a bonus) + you're able to sell without selling when you make the post.

3. G-i-v-e-a-w-a-y-s.

When used sparingly, g-i-v-e-a-w-a-y-s can be a decent loss leader. 🧠 Keep in mind the disclaimer: how you get them is how you keep them, though. Too much f-r-e-e and you'll get folks who only jump on these types of promos.

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🥲 Excuse my Excuses - Don't cry unless you've tried (everything).This week's podcast is a deep dive into a post I made in the group earlier this week - the post regarding "woe is me" threads saying the cookie industry is done, pack it up kids, you don't gotta go home, but you can stay... in this kitchen.

You see - that defeatist mentality ain't go no business being in a business-centric group. It will limit your sales and, over time, cause you to quit. Quite literally the opposite of marketing and growth mindsets.

😭 "But I've tried (and cried) everything! It's not working anymore!"

Have you, though? Have you actually tried everything? Because there are now 159 Baking it Down podcast episodes covering 159 marketing tactics. And I'll wager you aint' tried even a third of the stuff we talked about. That's what today's podcast is about.

And even if you did - 🥤 have you ever wondered why Coca-Cola, founded in 1886, ✨still✨ buys ad space at the beginning of every movie? 🎥 They've been at this for 138 years and they still keep hittin' the marketing campaign trail! It's because consistency - over long periods of time - produces results.

Marketing ain't a one-and-done. If it was, I'd be out of a job and 🤑 cookiers would be millionaires. It's repeated effort for a really, really long time. Let's jump into the post.

--

I often see people complain about their local markets in these groups.

• 🧈 The price of butter is too high,
• 📉 Competitor prices are too low,
• 👥 The market is saturated,
• 🚫 The market doesn't want cookies,
• 🎟️ Too many people teaching cookie classes,
• 🪑 Too few people taking cookie classes,
• 👎 The competition isn't as good as you,
• 😭 The competition has more tag-happy friends than you.

You get the point.

👀 There are 45,000 people here - so I get the honor of reading many contradicting opinions on why sales aren't where we expected them to be.

Teeechnically... 🙅 you can only write "the cookie game is done" if you attempted every marketing tactic covered in this group. Then, and only then, can you say with certainty that the party is truly over.

🏃 I mean - how can you say you won't win a foot race if you never ran the race in the first place? Same applies to marketing. Can't say you can't sell anything if you didn't try everything in your power to sell it.

You can't say, "No one buys my cookies" if you never told absolutely everyone that you were selling cookies, right?

So allow me to ask... have you:

• ✅ Attempted to market to commercial businesses by dropping by with a logo cookie.
• ✅ Worked on growing your review profile by getting new reviews and responding to bad reviews in a way that will increase sales.
• ✅ Focused on upping your curb appeal for in-person pickups.
• ✅ Implemented copy formulas to increase conversion rates - AIDA, PAS, 4 C's, 4 U's, Before After Bridge.
• ✅ Implented "customer delight" methods to differentiate yourself from your competitors.
• ✅ Used better adjectives to make your products and pitches sound more appealing in social media posts and emails.
• ✅ Streamlined your branding for easier brand recognition across all print and digital profiles.
• ✅ Run g-i-v-e-a-w-a-y-s to engage your page / group audience frequently.
• ✅ Focused on adding value to local community groups each week.
• ✅ Created your own local community group to better facilitate a value-added hyper-local community group.
• ✅ Consistently posted to your social media every week for an entire year.
• ✅ Created an email list on a newsletter sender (Mailchimp, Flodesk, Constant Contact).

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🤦‍♀ Comfy Mistakes - Getting comfortable with uncomfy mistakes.
We had a (very) abbreviated podcast today - thanks to the door guys. 🚪 But in the few minutes we did get to chit-chat, we wanted to touch on "uncomfortable mistakes."

😿 Being bad at something sucks. It's no fun making mistakes. In fact, it feels like bad business acumen to make mistakes, right? I mean - imagine a business built on mistakes. Who would want to hire them!?

But successful businesses were built on the backs of mistakes. It's the "failing forward" that separates the business-ending mistakes from the "oh - I learned another way not to do that, let me try something else" business-building mistakes.

🤦‍♀ Mistakes mean you’re learning.

If you're not failing, you're not learning. There's a clip on Reddit of a guy learning to do a backflip - he actually gets pretty okay, then starts doing worse before finally sticking the landing. crowd goes wild

🧠 That's how the brain works (well, not in learning how to back flip - I ain't got the health insurance plan to be trying that).

You try something new, and in your cluelessness, you have a bit of beginner's luck. As you intentionally refine your process, you get a little worse before finally becoming successful at something. Congrats - you learned something - you failed forward.

🤦‍♀ Growth = failing forward.

There's a difference between "failing" and ➡️ "failing forward." In the prior, you likely quit. This is the wrong type of mistake. The mistake we want is where we know we're going to mess up, but the whole time, we're making mental notes - "Ah yes, don't put the green Jimmy sprinkle in before the cake batter has cooled - that gives E.coli vibes. Noted."

📝 Then back to the drawing board once more to implement what we now know not to do - ta-da! We just failed forward. Enough failing forwards and you've got yourself a new skill, my friend!

🤦‍♀ Bring clients into the learning phase.

Don't be shy - invite others to cry! Kidding, it rhymed. But Corrie had a good point. When clients ask her to do stuff "out of her wheelhouse," she lets them know!

🤝 "Hey - this would be my first time trying that technique - I've always wanted to attempt it. Worst case, you got yourself some free red cake pops, best case, you got what you wanted! Let's do this!"

🤦‍♀ Have a refund fund ready to go.

Mistakes are only hard to stomach if someone loses. But in the event of failing forward, we hedge our bets with our "oopsie budget" - 👮‍♂ the proverbial baker get-outta-jail-free card when it comes to making mistakes. That way mistakes don't hurt so bad (our ego and our wallets). It's easier to take a risk when you know there's a financial net there to break your fall.

👂 Snag this podcast on any major podcast player (Spotify, Apple Music, Audible, Amazon Music, or your desktop) by searching - Baking it Down - Episode 158 - Uncomfy Mistakes.

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⭐ Deborah Deborah DeborahWhen you've not been seen, heard, or understood.

Grab your popcorn - 🍿 we covered a buttery topic on today's podcast when a Canadian restaurant went viral for all the wrong review reasons. 🧈 Blaming Deborah in a now globally reaching door sign, Heirloom Restaurant closed its doors this April citing issues with... well, unhappy clients. 👨‍🍳

How did they handle it? 😠 Making unhappy clients even unhappier clients. 😡 Whether it was a staged publicity stunt or a business owner who had just finally had enough of Deborah and her depressing reviews - regardless, they're now shuttered - and here's a small... ahem... heirloom... we can take with us when it comes to replying to reviews.

(if you're as nosey as me and don't mind some colorful language - 🍅 google "heirloom restaurant Canada Reddit" and enjoy the rabbit hole).

🔟 10 Ways to Handle a Bad Review

First things first - how you handle bad reviews isn't a reflection on how well you bake - but rather how well you business. 🤝 Good business owners understand that a bad review can be a tool to secure more business. Lackluster business owners think it's a digital fight - and act accordingly - costing them time and money (even more they don't realize they're losing out on).

• 1️⃣ Understand that everyone will eventually get a bad review (or at least an unhappy client).

If we could please everyone what kind of person would that make us? See - the thing is, you can't please everyone - so fully come to terms with that, at some point, someone will be leaving you a bad review. It's just gonna happen - and once we accept that, we take away the emotion out of it.

Repeat after me: "I am a business owner. I will get a bad review. That is okay. How I handle that review makes all the difference."

• 2️⃣ Walk away - 🕒 a minimum of 24 hours (the damage is already done. don't make it well done by replying in anger).

No one died from not getting a reply to their bad review in time. Thus, take your time in replying. Waiting, thinking, and letting the offended emotions dissipate will clear your mind when writing a reply to a bad review. The last thing we want is to take a page from Heirloom and make the bad, worse.

• 3️⃣ Write a rough draft reply - 🤓 then have a third uninvested party read it.

Write a rough draft - AND BEFORE YOU POST IT - have the least emotional person you know read it first. Ask them, "Does any part of this response sound emotional or defensive?" If they say yes - change that part. We want zero emotional replies here. If you get defensive at their critique... well, I got news for ya, kiddo.

• 4️⃣ Lower your defenses. ️🥊

I can't stress this enough. Lower. Thy. Defenses. Listen - whether or not they're right - they are upset. Raising your defensiveness escalates every situation. Don't do it. If 24 hours wasn't enough to drop that cortisol level, take another 24-hour break until you calm down. Do not run your business on high alert - you'll make mistakes that'll be much harder to fix.

• 5️⃣ Acknowledge their experience as valid. 🤝

This is a huge sticking point in the Sugar Cookie Marketing group. Validating how someone feels does not mean you agree with what they said. We are all allowed to feel how we feel (even if it's wrong). Validating an emotion looks like: "I know you're upset right now."

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⛔ Class is Canceled - What to do when you need to cancel cookie class.
When you venture into the wild world of cookie classes, the last thing you want to do is consider canceling said cookie class. BUT - it's just a fact of life that even the most seasoned instructors will have to face a cookie class cancelation.

Heck - we've been doing this for years now and it still happens. No one's above it. So best that we all learn from it. And that's today's podcast, how to mitigate having to cancel, when to consider canceling, and how to cancel, and what to do after you have canceled a cookie class.

⬇️ Feel free to save this graphic for future reference - it's what we covered on the podcast ⬇️

🛑 When to Mitigation a Class Cancelation

Okay - before we go straight to canceling, I like to see if we can still sell the seats. We're going to have to get creative to fill seats last minute - and it may touch your profit margin a bit, but there are times when "the show must go on" is a better business move than walkin' away from a non-refundable room rental fee.

• 🛑 If someone has a sickness, give them a class credit / refund as quickly as possible - 🤧 we do not want to force their hand and have them come.
• 🛑 For reasons other than sickness, tell the canceling attendee, "If either of us can sell your ticket, I'll refund you." This way you're guaranteed a "one out, one in."
• 🛑 Offer Bo-Go to current class attendees (bring a friend, get a discount). We use this one - most folks have friends, it's a great way to fill seats + make the attendees have a better time.
• 🛑 Offer up free tickets to a community group (marketing cost now). This will be a 100% loss of ticket revenue, BUT it's a great marketing tactic to raise awareness for your classes to a local audience.
• 🛑 Ensure your "no-show policy" is really dialed in. You can't go back in time and write your no-show policies. Every few classes, we just have people literally not show up - and we never hear from them. They knew the no-show policy and respected it.

🤔 When to Consider Canceling

Okay - let's say we still can't move seats - it's now time to move to the "should I cancel this" phase. Hey - it happens. The sooner we act though, the better (but yes - there's a balancing act: cancel too soon, you could have sold those seats, cancel too late, you may get a (very small) mob of angry would-be class attendees.

• 🤔 Time Frame: before you bake (we do 7 days). Don't bake then cancel - you'll be out not only a potential room fee, processing fees, but also ingredients costs. Make that decision before you get to the kitchen.
• 🤔 Threshold - what are the minimum required signups to cover room costs? Sometimes your costs can still be covered even with a small crowd - so consider only canceling if you will be operating below your costs (room, ingredients, labor), otherwise - I'd keep the show goin'!
• 🤔 Don't focus on room capacity - focus on costs + profit. We see some posters write, "I only sold 50% of my tickets" but when asked about how many that is, that's 10 whole tickets (as in their venue could seat 20 people). Our 100% capacity is 10 tickets - so focus on costs and profit, not on a filled room.
• 🤔 Does the venue have a refund cut-off? Sometimes paid venues will let you out of your room fees if you cancel X days in advance - consider that when making the class "TOD" call.

❌ How to Cancel

Okay - now it's time to make the call - we are going to cancel. How do we go about this.

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😡 Upsetspectations - How setting expectations up front can keep us outta hot water.Upsetspectations - the tongue-twister we came up with to describe what setting expectations as a baker and then not meeting them as a baker creates in your clients.

🛫 Listen - you're the one piloting the plane here, you get to set the expectations because likely your clients don't really have a clue what goes into baking. But when you're the pilot 💺 and don't tell the cabin to buckle up, you set yourself up for some troubled turbulence (and a bad review).

In this week's podcast, 😳 we cover things we find sugar cookiers forget to set flexible expectations that blow back in the baker's face (😭 and land you in Sugar Cookie Marketing group begging the comments not to client bash so your thread doesn't get prematurely locked).

When we see these threads pop up in the group, the first question always asked is: 🤔 What were the policies in place before this became an issue?

You'll live and die by your disclaimers, TOS, expectations, and heads-ups.

Here's the most common complaints that we see posted in the SCM group. When you find out one of these bad boys is causing an "unset expectations" issue for you, you'd pay just about any amount to travel back in time and tie these loose ends up. 🪡

• 📑 Color Accuracy - "colors will be close, but aren't guaranteed to be 100% accurate."
• 📑 Hand-Made Disclaimer - "cookies are a hand-made product and made include some minor defects. While kept to a minimum, please remember these are delicious, but not perfection."
• 📑 Follow-Ups - "thank you for your order - you'll hear from me again 2 weeks from your pick-up date to confirm details."
• 📑 Refunds - "my bakery has a no refund policy - if you're unhappy with anything about your order, please let me know and we can find a resolution that works for you."
• 📑 Invoice Paid to Reserve - "here is your invoice - please note that the invoice must be paid to reserve your date, and I cannot guarantee the dates availability after today"
• 📑 No Show / Porch Pickup Policies - "your pick-up time is X:XXAM. in the event you cannot show up for your pick-up, your cookies will be..."
• 📑Price Transparency - "my custom dozens start at $X and increase based on design and set complexity and order size."
• 📑Delayed Disclaimers - "in the event that the baker cannot fulfill the order / teach the cookie class, the policy is..."
• 📑Cancelation Policy - "we do not offer full or partial refunds if your event is canceled - but these cookies will taste delicious regardless."

These will only get ya started. The key to remember is: NO ONE IS READING YOUR TOS, DISCLAIMERS, OR WARNINGS. So you have to keep reminding clients bringing to light the expectation that fits them best.

👀 Tune into a client you suspect really wants exact color matching - then set their expectations on colors and icing.

👀 Look for clients you think may want really frequent communication schedules - then set their expectations about your response times.

👀 Check for clients with spotty communication once you've sent the invoice - then set their expectations on your "pay to reserve" booking system.

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🏡 Cottage Curb Appeal - How zhuzhing up your front lawn can increase sales.🌼 Happy first day of spring! And with sunny skies (for some of us - ⛄ my apologies to y'all gettin' snow), it's time to consider that curb appeal - ya know, 👀 the stuff people are glancing at as they walk up to your house to snag their sweet treats.

Ya see - marketing encompasses more than just cute captions and pretty social media posts. 🎀 It's also packaging and customer experience - and if you have at-home pick-ups, that includes your front stoop. Doubtful that a hoarder also has a stain-free kitchen countertop - 🧼 as such, we want our home to reflect our products: clean, nice, approachable, and pretty.

In this week's podcast, 🌱 we cover some spring cleaning check-list items and after that, how to turn some turf cleanup into local community group sales 🤑

Okay cool - that entire list is pretty self-explanatory, but hey, I never said no to saving a checklist and checkin' it twice (🎅🏻 call me the Santa of several to-do lists).

🤔 "Heather, where's the part where I make more sales? I know how to mow."

Okay - 🔑 here's the key. For the following tasks, you are NOT going to shop online or on Google. You're going to shop l-o-ca-l-l-y and you're going to go about it by asking in local community groups... 🤫 as a baker.

• 🧹 Finding a local powerwasher.
• 🧹 Hiring a carpet cleaner.
• 🧹 Looking for a custom wreath maker.
• 🧹 Sourcing a custom wooden sign maker (woodworker).
• 🧹 Searching for a custom doormat maker.
• 🧹 Bonus Options: Finding a window washer.

And here's how you're going to ask for these local business recommendations:

1. ✅ Go to a local community group.
2. ✅ Take a picture of your front yard - pictures get more views in groups.
3. ✅ Post something like this: "Hey [community group]! People often pick up their cookie orders from my doorstep, so I absolutely need to spruce it up for spring! I'm looking for a local small business to do [local service]."
4. ✅ Then actually hire the business.
5. Before the business gets there, take a before picture. Once the business leaves, take an after picture.
6. ✅ Go back to the community group and leave a review for the business posting the before/after photos + tagging that business + tag the person who recommended them to you + and tag the admins for running such an awesome resource group.

Wash rinse and repeat (🐶 both the posts and your front door if you have a dog like Ray).

👂 Snag this podcast on any major podcast player (Spotify, Apple Music, Audible, Amazon Music, or your desktop) by clickin' here - Episode 154 - Cottage Curb Appeal.

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👎 Facebook Ouch-Tage - And what we can learn from Papa Zuck.I remember exactly where I was when it all happened... I was... sitting at my computer like I always am. I reached for my phone - only to realize, in horror, my access to the mighty blue thumbs-up app was no more. How was I supposed to post that absolutely hilarious baking meme (see bottom of email)?! Or... or... heart-care react to someone asking whether the "copyright violation" email was a scam or not?!!

😭 Where were YOU when Meta went down!?

Okay - so it wasn't that serious - in fact, a lot of you probably missed it, but for an hour around 11AM est on Tuesday last week, all Meta apps went down - Threads, Instagram, Facebook, and Messenger.

😰 And while an hour of outage ain't a world-ender - it could be a business ender. Imagine if Facebook disappeared tomorrow - how long would it take you to rebuild your lead funnel? Would you be able to fill seats for that cookie class next month? Or would you still have been able to reach out to those 2 clients with pick-ups today??

⏰ Yeah - this isn't the first time Meta took its 15-minute smoke break per se. It happened back in 2021 too - and many of us swore we'd never be caught with our digital pants down again. But many more of us got busy and never got around to shoring up our loose leads ends.

So - what can we do not to let this upend our customer base should it happen round 3? We (as always) have a list!

What We'd do if Facebook never Existed.

1️⃣ Create an Email List.

👉 Recommended Apps: Gmail, Mailchimp, Flodesk

Right off the bat - create an email list. If you're reading this newsletter, you got an email from me ✨5 minutes✨ after Facebook went down. See - that's the power of an email list. An easy way to create an email list is by adding your past clients. If you weren't collecting those before, start now. You can add an opt-in on your submissions forms that reads: ✅ Yes, I don't mind being added to your email list for pick-up updates.

2️⃣ Diversify your Social Media Presence (outside of Meta).

👉 Recommended Apps: LinkedIn, TikTok, GMB / GBP, Nextdoor, Yelp

Facebook and Instagram are the fan favorites of bakers because they really just work well in bringing in leads. But if Meta pulls the plug, we're going to need to have backup socials to reach our audience. This is not a "if you build it, they'll come" scenario - you'll actually have to work on growing these platforms - same way we say to work the Facebook algo. Start now, reap when Zucky's having a bad day.

3️⃣ Get a Website STAT.

👉 Recommended Apps: Square, Wix, Shopify, MyCustomBakes

Websites are the "digital hub" of your business. From a website, I should be able to contact you, buy from you, learn about you, and connect with you (on social media). They're also a handy way to pass along information quickly. A simple banner stating "ALERT - PICK-UPS SCHEDULE FOR TUESDAY ARE STILL ON."

4️⃣ Always Capture Emails / Phone #s.

👉 Recommended Apps: Google Workspace / Google Voice

Newsletters are for promotions or mass emailing, but Google Workspace (Google's business Gmail) is for regular contact with clients. Collect those emails, then take the conversations out of Facebook Messenger and into Gmail - a much more reliable form of communication. And while you're at it - snag their phone numbers too - perfect backup-to-the-email-backup-to-the-social-media-platform backup.

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✍️ Copy This - Copy Formulas for Beginners.🗒 If you see a big blank space asking "What would you like to say" and your brain follows suit and also turns into a big blank space - copy formulas are you're new bestie.

🤔 First - what's copy?

📑 Copy is any text you use to sell or persuade someone to take an action (like buying cookies). So copy could be the caption on Instagram, the social media text you write on Facebook, the newsletter you send monthly, or the bio writeup you have on your website. Copy = words.

🤔 Second - what's a copy formula?

🧮 Copy formulas are different frameworks to help assist you in how and what to write. I mean - we could just write, "Buy my cookies, please - I'm begging." But we can't write that every time without seeming weirdly desperate (but where's the lie though, I ask).

Copy formulas can help us keep our ⚾ sales pitch interesting by addressing our varying audiences and their different paint points, needs, or wants. Copy formulas are plug-and-play approaches to captions - and I love them.

There are likely hundreds of formulas - and you may find you like more than others - but in this week's podcast, 🖐️ we covered our top 5 faves. Let's jump in:

1️⃣ AIDA: Attention-Interest-Desire-Action.

Probably my favorite - Corrie's too. You'll find both of us using it a lot in our sales posts. AIDA covers all the peppy sales pitchy-ness I love to incorporate in my write-ups. Look at the above copy and how it falls perfectly into this framework:

• ✍️ A - Attention - Did you know I teach folks just like you how to decorate cookies just like these?
• ✍️ I - Interest - Check out Sugar Cookie Classes where I teach you everything I know about sugar cookie decorating!
• ✍️ D - Desire - The classes are 1.5 hours, 6 cookies and tons of fun! Plus - you get my very own cookie dough and icing recipes emailed to ya after class!
• ✍️ A - Action - March class is filled but my Swiftie Class still has a spot for you!

Beautiful - 💪 it's fun, interesting, and asks for the sale.

2️⃣ PAS: Problem-Agitate-Solution.

🩹 This is the 'infomercial' framework - you know, where the screen is grayscale showing someone who trips down the stairs on the way to the laundry in a way so overly exaggerated that you can't help but watch? 🤕 Then the scene switches to rather normal tasks looking ridiculously harder than they ever would be right before we flash over to the solution to all of life's problems - whatever the product is the infomercial is trying to hawk our way.

Now let's adapt it to cookies.

• ✍️ P - Problem - Struggle with royal icing consistencies?
• ✍️ A - Agitate - Royal icing can be the most difficult part of learning how to decorate sugar cookies.
• ✍️ S - Solution - We cover icing consistencies in my upcoming cookie class! You'll get the recipe we use in my class to decorate, and I'll help you work through royal icing issues!

It's more of a negative learning framework, but I like to drop it in from time to time to capitalize on the segment of the audience who is really frustrated. 😩 They may not be into a "pep rally post" about how awesome sugar cookies are, but will resonate with the "this is hard - I'm almost about to quit" approach.

3️⃣ FAB: Features – Advantages – Benefits.

Definitely the happy framework, this formula leans hard into the perks. For something as fun as cookies, you can't go wrong bein' FAB-ulous!

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🎨 Hobby vs. Have To - And what Bob Ross has to say about itOkay okay - Corrie and I couldn't agree on the ✨definition✨ of "hobby baker" since most of us are technically a hobby baker - but in reality - I don't consider filing business taxes, updating your LLC yearly registration, and tappin' a lawyer to check for a trademark anything remotely close to "hobbyist."

So for this Onesday Wednesday newsletter, we'll consider the "hobbyists" folks who don't have to make money but want to create stunning cookies, and the "have to's" the folks who base their mortgage payment off of this month's dough dough (play on words there - cookie money, get it?).

Here's the crux: as bakers, we often make our "idols" other bakers. Makes sense, right? We see what we wanna be. But... but... sometimes our favorite bakers and our top-selling money-makers don't align. Therein lies the issue: we pattern our goals around the influencer who reaches a hundred thousand likes and not around the goal to beat last year's February sales.

But as a baker (listening to a local business baking podcast), you'll see us focus on the bottom line - not the likes. It's been said, "The twins remove the art out of "edible art."

And that's fair - because you're right - I'm not going to tell you to spend 4 hours on a single painted cookie you can only barely charge $10 for when I can tell you to take a page outta Corrie's Nintendo customs playbook and pipe ⭐ a gold star with 2 ⚫⚫ sprinkle eyes for $3. She can pump out those stars at two dozen an hour (they're that simplistic) - even at $3/cookie, that'd monetarily compare to $288 in 4 hours. (now finding someone to buy 96 basic star cookies is a whole 'other challenge).

Why? Because our business model applies to teaching local bakers how to optimize for a local bakery business - and not a TikTok content-generating machine (although TikTok does have its place in the local market). And you'll see the goals we talk about and the courses we teach specifically leave out content creator content if it doesn't support making local sales.

All that to say this: your wishes must align with your goals. And that might mean the less complex, "definitely won't get any likes on Instagram" set - yeah, that's what you're going to bake.

🍪 For example -🏈 here's the Cookie Class Kits set for 2024 February. It ain't gonna win you any baking awards. But we don't care about awards - our awards are people signing up for your local in-person beginner class. And 👏 that's 👏 okay.

📏 Your yardstick is class ticket sales. Not likes. Not followers.

We came up with a short list to compare the two types of goals. ⬅️ On the left side is the influencer. ➡️ On the right are folks who plan to pay for Disney on cookie money alone.

(🤑 Note - influencers make a ton too when their strategies are dialed in - but good luck trying to be a full-time influence and a baker - there just ain't enough hours in the day).

• ⏰ Time Difference: Hours per cookie vs. Cute and Quick
• 🔢 Product Options: All the Options vs. Only the Best Bets
• 💖 Free Fame: Open for Compliments vs. Open for Business
• 👍 Notifications:Likes and Looks vs. Sales and Strategy
• 🧮 Complexity: Difficult Techniques vs. Streamline Production (cookie tools)
• 💵 Marketing Metrics: Views vs. Very Much Money
• ⭐ Simplicity: Show Off vs. Simple Designs

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🪪 License to Delight - And what we can learn from $400 perfume.
Twin2 is back in her "Corporate Girly Era" with Neiman Marcus and "Patrick 2" - and here's what we learned from their customer experience manager that will help you delight your own customers all the way to the bank.

Waiting up in the (fancy) corporate office of Neiman Marcus - a department store so expensive that my hands instantly got sweaty - we had a chance to speak with their CEM - Customer Experience Manager. When I mentioned that it was rather nice of a department store to throw parties for customers with custom cookies included - he said, "No one needs anything at a department store - let alone one this expensive. But what they want is to feel special. And that's what we're really good at."

You see - Neiman's CEM had placed an order for 8 dozen or so cookies shaped like a $400 bottle of perfume (all praise Eddie the Edible Food Printer for coming in clutch). Here's Corrie's Creed cookie collab (shoutout to Darcie Heater Designs for the stencil too).

🍪 This high-end department store in the heart of Northern Virginia was givin' folks who planned to drop 💵💵💵💵 4 HUNDOS a cookie that cost around $7 (don't forget that Corporate Girly Era + rush fee + customization surcharge, kiddos). And he said they were ECSTATIC over getting this edible representation of their good-smelling investment.

Why? ✨ Because it made them feel special. ✨

😥 How many times have you felt like a burden attempting to give your money to a business? 😞 How many times has a business left you feeling like you were robbed at the check-out line? Neiman Marcus gets it - by making their clients feel just a little ✨ special✨ spending their hard-earned money, they'll get more of that hard-earned money. 🤑

You know what Neiman doesn't do? 📉 Lower their prices to compete with the likes of Sephora or Ulta (😖 I can't believe I'm even pretending those places are affordable - but comparatively speaking). Rather than compete on price, they compete on customer experience - and they have the check-out receipts to prove it. I didn't see one "SALE" sign during my 🖐️ sweaty-hand-heist at the perfume counter (👃 hey - I absolutely had to smell what $400 was like - for those wondering, it smells like "Heather, you have to file your taxes next month - the answer is no").

🤔 So ask yourself this week - how do you delight your customers? We have a few ideas to build on. Heads up - it'll all sound like great marketing tips because marketing and customer relations go hand-in-hand.

• 🎀 Up your packaging game - pretty packaging equals a pretty bottom line.
• 📧 Respond quickly - set expectations with auto-responders and then follow-up as a human as quickly as possible.
• 📦 Have a forgiving return policy - makes you seem like a safe choice when it comes to things going right if they go left.
• 🚗 Throw in a few "car cookies" - probably the most "delightful" thing group members mentioned when asked how they delight their customers - a car cookie is a snack for the order-placer (who often doesn't get to taste test their gift).
• 🗒️ Have bendable policies - but make policy exceptions. Policies are meant to protect us - but they can also make us look like the good guys when we bend them for the right kind of client.
• 🎂 Wish them a happy birthday - a good CRM program can help you track customer "big days" and really make them think "wow - this business cares about me."

Being delightful doesn't have to cost a lot - but it does require being intentional and always looking for ways to set yourself apart.

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☝️ I Adject...ive! - Using different words to sweeten the deal.
Your business will live and die by the words you use - either words used to make more sales or words used unintentionally to make a sworn enemy whose new purpose in life is to drag you through all the local community groups.

shudders

But in today's podcast, we're talking about words to sweeten the deal, deter an unwanted action towards a desired one, or let the client down niiice and easy (not community group draggin' round these here parts).

That one lil' word substitute made all the monetary difference. Now THAT, my friends, is a marketing t-i-p. And that's what we talk about this week - word substitutions that make a world of difference.

To kick off this podcast - Corrie and I bring two real-world examples:

• Paper Flower vs Eternal Flower
• Used Cars vs Certified Pre-Owned Cars

💥 Corrie, targeted in an ad for perpetually lasting flowers made from paper, 😳 was left sticker-shocked when the papery poppies' price came packed with a punch. $400 smackeroons for these Serbian Bellflower (I had to google "flower that starts with an 's'" to keep the pun game goin' - I have no idea what a Bellflower is).

She was later re-targeted in another perpetual paper pansy ad but this time, the company called the forever ferns "eternal flowers" - a simple word change made all the difference when it comes to price and associated value.

• 📜 Paper: cheap, easy to find, we shred it
• 👼 Eternal: sounds luxurious, lasts forever, ethereal vibes

Heather (ahem - me) has also been awashed in a real-world wheely-good example. Waiving the white flag of surrender on my attempt to make a 30-year-old car reliable, I'm back in the car market... the used car market. Or should I say... the certified pre-owned car market (heads up - I do not have a Mercedes budget despite what my hopes and dreams think).

Check out this version of a "used card" - Certified pre-owned. Fancy way of saying, "What someone didn't want, that we washed, and that we hope you buy."

Granted not all of these apply to everyone - but take what ya need, leave the rest.

• 🗣️ "I can't take your order - I'm booked." ▶️ "I can take your order for an additional $10 if that works with your budget."
• 🗣️ Pre-sale ▶️ Pre-Order
• 🗣️ Flash-Sale ▶️ "I overbaked - here are some extras for grabs!"
• 🗣️ "I've only sold 5" ▶️ "Only 5 are left"
• 🗣️ "We'll have to cancel" ▶️ "BoGo Tickets for a Limited Time"
• 🗣️ "These sold well last year." ▶️ "Back by popular demand!"
• 🗣️ "My class still has a few seats left." ▶️ "We have only 2 tickets left!"
• 🗣️ "I'm closing my pre-sale" ▶️ "Last day to get your order in"
• 🗣️ "I Have no orders next week - if you need something let me know." ▶️ "I can take 3 orders next week"
• 🗣️ "I don't have that cookie cutter" ▶️ "I can save you money by using a cutter I already have"
• 🗣️ "Here's the quote." ▶️ "Let me know if that fits the party budget?"
• 🗣️ "I don't offer discounts." ▶️ "Because these are custom-made for you, I don't have any wiggle room on price, but we could work on quantity!"
• 🗣️ "Home-made" ▶️ "Made-to-order"
• 🗣️ "The price is X." ▶️ "You're looking at an investment of X."
• 🗣️ "I don't offer delivery." ▶️ "I have flexible porch pick-up options!"
• 🗣️ "I cannot take your order." ▶️ "While I'm booked for that date, here are three bakers who have the same decorating style as me and may be able to take your order!"

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🪧 Branding Woes - The process to proceed with the perfect branding.

If your commitment-averse (like yours truly), you'll find branding one of those long-term relationships you may eventually regret. So how do you build a brand when you're not sure of what you're building in the first place?

Fair question. The answer? It's a tricky blend of approaches. Oh yeah - and it's very frustrating. But you know what's more frustrating? Having to re-brand after you've already established a committed following because you didn't follow this approach first and now a lawyer has enforced a trademark you didn't bother looking up before you launched.

Here's our process on checkin' to see if you'll still be able to use that name on the bank account to cash those corporate checks.

😭 Branding Woes - the Legal Ones

Before we fall in love with anything - let's fall in love with the legal system first - because no amount of love is gonna get you out of legal hot water. When it comes to branding - you can check two places to make sure your catchy name is in the clear: the trademark patent office and your local state's database of registered businesses.

🧐 Searching the USPTO Trademark Search

"Generally, copyrights protect creative works, and trademarks apply to brand names, phrases, and logos." So when it comes to logos and branding - we're talkin' trademark law.

Filing a trademark for a name gives you the right to use that name nationwide for your business's products or services. It also prevents others from using your name or piggybacking on your brand. That also means that you won't be able to violate someone else's trademark just because you thought up the name - so search before you say "I do" to that perfect brand name.

• Search the database here: https://tmsearch.uspto.gov/

🧐 Searching your State's Registered Businesses Database.

🚧 Now this is going to be state (or country for my outta-country-ers) specific. Meaning, I'm in Virginia, so I'll need to see if someone in my state is registered using the name. "In most cases, a business name registration protects a business and prevents others from using the same name in the same state."

🚧 You may be thinking, "Oh great - so as long as they are outta state, I'm good to go get a name tag!" Hol'up there horsey, we have to think about similar names in terms of marketing as well as legal. You surely didn't think it'd be that easy, now did ya?

**For those subscribed to the email list - here's what a complex rebranding looks like - a Google Business Profile that features both names (and the risk of keyword stuffing). It's a pain.

😭 Branding Woes - the Printed Ones**

Okay - so we passed the "legal" vibe check - but we're not in the clear just yet. 🤔 Consider how your brand will look in print.

🙄 "Heather, it'll look fine as long as I'm not getting sued for trademark violations."

Fair - but, when logos and business names get too ✨fancy✨ they lead to a printing problem. 🚧 Tiny text - even if it's the catchiest name in the world - will spell disaster on printed materials. I find myself asking these questions when I see the potential for branding broken rules:

• 📰 Could the logo be made more simply? Complex logos make for complex printing issues.
• 📰 Does the logo print well using a thermal printer (the Munbyn test)
• 📰 Does the logo fit on a 3x2 business card?
• 📰 Does the logo fit in the square (cropped to circle) ratio for logos on Facebook / Instagram pages?
• 📰 Is the logo unique? Does it use easy-to-access design elements (think: Canva / Etsy)?

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👀 Peeky Blinders - When to Look and When to Look AwayThe typo was intentional (this time) - 👀 it's a play on words when it comes to peeking over the proverbial fence of social media to see what our competition is up to.

🧠 But staring leads to comparing and that can be a real mind-trip wondering why the highlight reel of your nearest cookie competitor looks like they're one post away from being featured on Food Network while you're struggling for seasonal sales.

So - are we to blindly wander through business life pretending no one exists but us or are we supposed to have one eyeball glued to the screen pulling up our baking neighbor's latest Instagram post - monitoring each and every like?!

👐 The answer falls in the middle. There are times to peek and times to put on blinders. So what do when? Well - take a peek at this week's podcast for that.

🫣 When to Peek.

Auditing your nearby competition to see what content buckets or posting strategies are working for them is a great way to reverse engineer marketing without having to reinvent (and retest) the wheels.

🧐 Are they re-investing in their community?

🙋 I see a ton of bakers make the "me, me, me, me, me, oh yeah, and me" mistake in marketing. A good marketing strategy creates value - then harvests from that investment after it's grown into a lead source. You'll see your competition making resource lists, charitable donations, and strategic partnerships - that's what you'll wanna peek at.

🧐 Are they creating valuable "about town" content?

I love this one. Posting endless cookies gets a little... stale (baking pun intended). But diversifying your content strategy can get people hooked. How? By posting things people want to know and read. 📃 Resource lists can include Valentine's Day preset dinner menus 💑, altered hours on Holidays, or a list of dog parks. Peek over at what your competition is trying out - see if it's working for them, then get to gettin' to it.

🧐 Are they partnering with other businesses?

Strategic partnerships are a great way to get into a "corporate girly era" - and if your competition knows how to do that, it's worth takin' a look at who and what they're doing. 🤝 For example - Corrie partnered strategically with a local Botox injector to make cookies for a grand opening. In return, Corrie posted the Botox babe's cookie order to her local baking page linking back to both the FB, Insta, and website. 💉 You'll never guess who got a free Botox sesh outta it (hint: not me wrinkles forehead).

🕵️ There are times to peek - but it can't be to get yourself worked up - all hot and bothered. Nope - it's gotta be strategic. Facebook knows this too - it's got a built-in tool to take a peek without drowning in jealousy.

Facebook has a business tool built into Business Manager to help you peek over the fence - it's called Benchmarking. You can find it under business.facebook.com > insights > benchmarking.

😆 When to Blinder.

Just as it's strategic to take a look at the competition - there are some things you need to intentionally block out or else they'll tend to derail your dough deals.

😌 No peeking at pricing.

Pricing isn't something you can cheat on - because copying your baking neighbor's answers can lead to catastrophic pricing problems. You cannot operate at a loss - yes, even if they are. That's not your problem and it's not something you can compete on either.

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🎁 G-i-v-e-a-w-a-y-s - What to Watch out for Choosin' a Winner.Giveaways - do you do them? If so, what do you need to watch out for? What should you give away? How do they enter? How do you make the post? How do you choose a winner?

🧠 Giveaways are tempting - I mean, who doesn't want free stuff? Marrying a giveaway to audience growth seems like a no-brainer - 👀 buuut there are a few things you need to watch out for before you pick that winner.

🎁 Giveaways - Things to Know

🆓 Watch out for the freebies. You're always going to hear me say, "How you get them is how you keep them" meaning if you gain an audience through giveaways, you'll retain an audience who wants free stuff. ✨ So use giveaways sparingly.✨ They're a great option to get more reach before you offer a presale or pop-up. They are also a great way to resuscitate a dead page.

⚠️ A warning about your words. There's a new scam running on Facebook (I mean, there's always a scam running on Facebook) that's triggered by using contest-type verbiage in the copy on a Facebook page. Words to watch out for: winner, win, enter, contest, giveaway. There may be more, but those are the mostly-for-sure-don't-use-these ones. A workaround is using dashes or writing the giveaway details in the JPG (image) of your post.

🎁 Giveaways - How to Execute

🪤 Easy Entry. Make entering easy. Having people spin around three times, tag 20 people, do a backflip, 🏅 and then win a gold medal in the Olympics to win a free cookie ain't gonna help you (being sarcastic, but not by much). The takeaway is this: it makes sense to ask people to share a post, tag three people, comment, and like - ✨ that's engagement, right? ✨ But it's also too complicated. 😓 We find that the easier the entry requirement, the more likely more people are to enter - and that's the engagement goal.

Easy entry ideas:

• ✅ Invite someone to a private group (Facebook will tell you who invited someone - just write their names down before letting the member into the group)
• ✅ Follow my Instagram account (very easy entry - two clicks max)
• ✅ Sign up for a newsletter to win (and then offer anyone who didn't win $5 off their next order)
• ✅ Comment to win (probably my favorite because its the easiest - have them answer a prompt to get engagement going or make it easy by saying comment with a GIF (not jiff, Corrie)
• ✅ Tag a friend - and you both win (skirting around being annoying, both the tagger and the taggee stand to win)

🛑 Cut off the contest. While it makes sense to leave a giveaway open for longer so that more people can enter - it's an energy drainer. ⏰ Keep the contest window short to maintain excitement. Having a contest that ends in 24 hours will get more entries than one that ends in 2 weeks - 🌟 when everyone's mentally moved on to the next shiny object.

🎁 Giveaways - What to Give

Okay - you know how to run it, you know how they have to enter, but what the heck do you give away?? Give away what you want to grow. As in - if you're introducing cake-pops to your lineup, give away cake-pops (enter to be my taste tester is a winner according to twin2).

🎟️ If you want to grow classes? Give away a class ticket. We donated a class ticket and it resulted in 2 more class ticket sales and a custom order.

Try not to give away products you don't like to bake - 🚩 you're essentially waving a giant flag saying "CONTACT ME TO BAKE THESE" instead of clearing out the "shelf of cookie shame" like you intended.

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☎️ Not All Leads Are Created Equal
Let's define some words before we jump into this week's podcast topic:

• ✅ Lead: someone contacting you to secure a potential product or service
• ✅ Qualified Lead: a lead that has been vetted and is willing to pay your price or work with your availability
• ✅ Converted Lead: a lead that has turned into a sale, a sign-up, or a confirmation (ideally this is when money exchanges hands)

️🎯 So - the goal of marketing is to generate leads - ie. get the phone to ring and the inbox to ping. But the goal of sales is to convert a lead (generated from marketing) into money (a conversion).

🤔 So how do we qualify leads? Ideally, before they even see the lead in our inbox. That's where lead qualification comes into play - doing things to ensure that the lead that hits our Facebook messenger is one that's ready to reach into their wallet and pay our price.

If you find that your leads often turn into Casper, 👻 you probably need to qualify them better before they reach your inbox.

📠 Lead Qualification:

To qualify a lead before they ask how much then play the "let me ask my husband" card, let your marketing do the heavy lifting. How? 📸 Great question - high-quality photography is a perfect jump-off point along with these other tips to get ya cut out to qualify leads:

📞 Higher end, better photography
📞 Copy that includes high-end keywords (not discount verbiage like "sale")
📞 Base price listed multiple times / places
📞 Posting in places where the ideal audience exists (not in Buy Nothings / FB Marketplace which is OBO)

🚗 Allow me to demonstrate my point on why photography makes a world of difference. Here's a Mercedes AMG-GLE. I don't own this car, but boy would I love to. It's the same car in two different photos. The top photo - is in an insurance claims lot. The bottom photo? A photo taken from Mercedes' website.

🚘🚘 It's the same car in both photos - but one makes you think, "Wow - that's a $$$ car," and one makes you think, "Hm, maybe I can actually afford this - I'll just need to teach one cookie class every day for the entire year. Easy, right?"

💰 Another great way to qualify your leads is by having your base price posted everywhere.

😩 "But twins - what if that drives them off?!"

Perfect - that's the goal. 💸 When you're just too far apart on price, you've got a recipe for a tire kicker on your hands. If I think you're going to tell me the cookie quote is $20, but you tell me it's $120 - there's very little salesmanship you can say to help me make that monetary jump.

By posting your "my prices start at" disclaimer, you help people qualify themselves. 🧼 Just like Car Wash Steve, had he said, "Car detailing starts at $100," I wouldn't have been emotionally side-swiped thinking it was a $40 service. 😲

A great way to implement these base price notices is through your Facebook and Google auto-responses.

Here's where you can access your auto-response messages through Business Manager (on desktop). Go to business.facebook.com > click on the Inbox icon on the left > click on "Automations" button on the top right.📠 Lead Conversions:

📞 Quick Response Time
📞 High-end Customer Service
📞 Easily Accessible Booking Process
📞 Social Proof (Reviews)
📞 Professional Email / Website
📞 Accepting Credit Cards (Multi Payment Options)

Once the qualified lead hits the inbox, it's time to turn into a salesman. Listen - they already know what your base is. They're even ready to reach into their wallets. How deep they reach is up to you selling them.

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📍 Community Groups 101 - Creating Your Greatest Lead SourceCommunity groups - you love them, you hate them, you love to hate them, you hate to love them - but they are a lead source powerhouse, and we're not ones to sit on the sidelines when it comes to making that dough (baking and monetary types).

So what happens when you get banned from a community group? Or when your community group doesn't allow sales? Or if your community group is a dead group plagued by mobile detailing duct cleaners? Well - you make your own community group.

And that's easier said (on the podcast) than done, but here's some tips to get you started in crafting a value-added community group from scratch.

📑 1. Branding

📌 Group Name should be Brand + Location + State
📌 Create a Page + Group
📌 Branded Graphics (Cohesive across Page + Group)
📌 Comprehensive About Section
📌 Group Settings (Private / Visible / Discoverable)
📌 Add Secdonary Admin + Page as Admin

You'll want your community group to include both your city and state (this will vary depending on the population of your locality), but we need to optimize for Facebook Search (a version of SEO) - so include the city and state (unlike Corrie who has now found how just how many "Lake Ridges" there are in the US).

Create a corresponding business page - yes, you'll have to run another page, but pages allow for more flexibility in ads and you can also set the page as the group owner, cross-link the page and the group, and run ads as the page (group ads are slowly rolling out).

Regarding branding - update the group's cover to match the page's cover - pro-tip: find a photo (or go out and take a photo) of a recognizable fixture in your community - it'll resonate with your audience when they see it and think "hey, I live there! I'll join this group!"

Write a few paragraphs as your About Section. About sections are SEO real estate but they also help your audience know what the group is about. Answer "who, what, where, when, why" to cover all your "about section" basics.

Your group is discoverable, but we don't want a free-for-all. Set your group to private (this will force people to answer the entry questions - more on that later), visible (hidden groups are invite only and not our goal), and discoverable (Facebook will recommend your group to others).

Facebook groups no longer allow admins to boot primary admins (awesome), so add one as a back-up (make sure it's someone you trust with strong passwords). You can also set your page as an admin. Any content managers should be set as mods.

📑 2. Content Strategy is a Growth Strategy

📌 Create Value-Added Content
📌 You'll be Talking to Yourself on Posts
📌 Go out and Make Local Videos (About Town)
📌 Create Resource Lists
📌 Create Weekly Content Buckets
📌 Post Consistently!!!
📌 Hyper Local - Memes / Videos
📌 It'll Require Monetary Investment

The hard part of making a valuable group is coming up with the valuable content. It's work - and it's hard work, consistently, over a long period of time, with very little thanks. Trust the process. Build it and they will come... to find out where the local splash pads are.

For a bit, you're going to be talking to yourself, and it'll feel weird. Get a family member to start a dialogue in the comments (this helps with the group's engagement and the post's reach). Hit the pavement and record local about-town videos! Again - no one will watch them at first. Trust 👏 the 👏 process.

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📑 A list of EOY Tasks to set you up for sales in 2024
Hopefully you've survived the holidays and with NYE being a more muted cookie holiday, you get a chance to breathe, meet your kids you've not seen in 6 months because you've been sequestered in the kitchen, and take a little time to binge some good ol' Netflix.

During this lull of a week in between 2023 and 2024, here are some easy wins you can knock out to set yourself up for some sales in 2024 (hey - businesses don't get a break, amiright? The salesman never sleeps!).

📑 1. Update your cover photo.

Some of you beautiful humans be rockin' a cover photo longer than my last relationship - brush off the cobwebs and give that photo-heavy real estate some TLC. Lean into the day of Loooove if you want to signal to your audience that you'll be offering Valentine's Day cookies, or - if you're just not ready to acknowledge 2023 is over, upload something generic that'll tie you over until you're caught up (on Netflix or heart-shaped cutters, we won't judge).

📑 2. Repost your pinned photo(s).

Even though your pinned content is still valid, Facebook does us dirty by timestamping posts - so that pinned post you made in 2021? It's the first thing your potential clients see when they click to your page. And not all Facebook users are upto-date on how the New Page Experience works in regards to pinned posts - so we recommend reposting and repinning - just for the sake of the timestamp.

📑 3. Update your email vacation message.

I get to read a lot of your vacation (aka auto responder) messages when I send out the Onesday Wednesday newsletter every week - and heads up, some of them will be out-of-date come the new year. Give your auto-responder a once over and update any mentions of 2023, Christmas, Booked, or Holidays to reflect the new year's information.

📑 4. Update your email signature.

Corrie said to leave this one out, but if you're like me and see your email sig and sell-able real estate too, don't forget to update it to reflect 2024 data (some of you have "booked until X" in your signatures). Also - high five for makin' even our names work for us!

📑 5. Update your FB auto-responses.

This one is one I always forget. Your auto-responses on your business page likely has some old information. And even if it doesn't, Facebook's newer Merge Tags are pretty neat and something I'd incorporate in 2024 to increase open rates and responses in Messenger.

People are much more likely to open a message that starts with "Hey Sarah" rather than a message that says "Hello customer." (that is, if your name is Sarah).

📑 6. Update your bios (FB and Insta).

A lot of you smarties use your Instagram bio and Facebook (super way-too-short) bio to sell - so don't forget to update that with 2024 data. If your bio says you're booked until December, you're gonna want to update that lest your audience think you're some superhuman baker who's booked out until 2025.

📑 7. Edit your Instagram Highlights.

I forget this one - Instagram highlights. If you're not familiar with highlights, it's the row of circles below an Instagram bio, but above the feed grid. These allow the account owner to take stories (that expire after 24 hours) out of archive and permanently attach them to a profile. Make sure you update these. Sometimes the content is just old (like who wants to see a class you taught 3 years ago), and sometimes the content includes your pre-sales for a Nov 2023 pop-up. You'll want to clear that out and update it for 2024 offerings.

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💚 Burnout Boundary - How to ward off the Spirit of Grinch-Mas.
'Tis the season to h-h-hate your bakery business. I can't even judge, I'm a slave to the "cookie SuperBowl" where we sell the MOST volume all year x10 (see the diagram from Google search queries for "Sugar Cookies" below). 🔥 It's our time to shine - shine - shine, baby, and then go out in a glorious flame of burnout bust! But that's bad for business.

So - here's Corrie's list of burnout boundaries to save ya from your sleighin' self this holiday season.

💚 1. Raise Them Prices.

A lot of you are leaving money on the table you're bent over to make that last batch you undercharged on. Does raising your prices lower your sales? You betcha! But does raising your prices also mean that those fewer sales go a longer way? Yes.

📉 Let's say I have a classroom for 10 students and I charge $20/ticket. If I sell all the tickets, I make $200.

📈 But if I raise the price to $50/ticket. Let's say 60% of people no longer attend the class (fair, it's out of their budget), and I only sell 4 tickets. But guess what - I stillmake $200, but now I only have to render services for 4 people - saving me time, ingredients, and headaches.

💚 2. Focus on Your Favorites.

Let's face it - some of us hate customs - they're time eaters, they're complex, they require a ton of work. So why are the last 23 posts you made to your page featuring customs? Market what you want to move! If you want to sell class tickets, I should see a heavier presence of class-related posts. If you want DIY kits to do the heavy lifting on that bottom line, I better so some DIY kit photos - packed, unpacked, finished, kiddo with icing bag in hand - you get the point.

💚 3. Don't Disappear.

It's easy to take off especially when cookies aren't bringing in your primary household income and you have some flexibility (️🏆 Heyo to my trophy sisters and brothers! Take me with you!). But imagine going to a mechanic's shop for an oil change for years only to roll up and find they've closed temporarily.

🚗 You check back next month. Nope.

🚕 You check back month 2. Nothin'.

🚙 Your car needs oil - so you find another shop.

BUT WAIT! They reopened! 😫 They want ya back! But you've moved on. Same with your clients. Take fewer orders - heck, reject 90% of them. But the big disappearing act is killin' your holiday sales.

💚 4. Make Those Money Menu Makers.

Some products just have bigger margins - and they're a great way to buy back more time and less burnout. For us - it's classes. I can sell 10 class tickets at $75 a ticket to make $750 bucks. At the same time, it'll take me thirty DIY kits at $25/kit to generate the same amount of money.

If you're willin' to stand in front of folks for 1.5 hours, then the classes will generate far more income for a lot less work.

💪 (have I mentioned we do even more of that work for you in the class kits memberships?)

💚 5. Website Bouncers.

😈 Make your website be the bad guy. Corrie loves to let Jotform break the bad news that the date the client wanted is sold out (or maybe she's meeting me at the mall) so the client can't get to it and bog down your boundaries. This is a great option for those of us (hey - you are my people) who have weak "nos" and strong people-pleasing tendencies - 🔗 remove the weakest link: YOURSELF.

💚 6. Get Tunnel Vision.

Listen to this week's pod to learn why all the best options is actually the worst option when it comes to boundaries and bottom lines.

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🏫 The Cookie Class Kits Explained and how you can get all 13 kits for $4.84 each
Okay yeah - Heather here. I made a calendar boo-boo and thought I'd be in town on Monday, but turned out, I'll be outta town, so I had to record the "Tuesday Podcast" for the "Onesday Wednesday Newsletter" on Sunday - so, 👋 hello from the past.

Since I had to podcast a la solo, I figured I'd walk you through why the Cookie Class Kits are a great deal right now. And I'll break down what ya get, for how much, and when you need to get it by.

🎒 1. What are the Cookie Class Kits.

The Cookie Class Kits are everything you need to teach a cookie class - the class curriculum, the promotional materials, the copy, the supplies list, the decorating videos, the class PowerPoint, the math - yeah it's a lot.. All you need to do is add you (the instructor), the dough and cutters (also linked in the supplies list), and a venue. We wanted to take the "overwhelming" out of teaching classes - and thus the Class Kits were born from years of teaching classes, learning from mistakes, and adjusting - and here's what we're left with - everything that'll make a successful cookie class experience!

🎒 2. Why You Need to Sign Up Now for the Deal.

Every year, we archive old courses and classes. The Class Kits Membership is no different. All of the 2023 classes are archived on December 31, 2023, to make room for the 2024 class content.

But right now - you can get both the old 2023 classes AND the 2024 classes (class kits drop a month early to give folks more time to promote the class and sell class tickets) for the price of 1 month's membership.

🤔 "Why would anyone not have waited until December to sign up then if you get EVERY class for the price of just one class?"

I like how you do baker math. The reason folks signed up all year long (and didn't wait until now) is because they wanted to teach the classes ✨throughout✨ 2023 as we dropped them. They paid a premium to access them as soon as they dropped (first week of each month).

But you, you procrastibaker, you - you get to benefit from laziness and snag them now to teach in 2024. 😴 as the sayin' goes - you snooze, you win. Wait...

🎒 3. When the Deal Ends.

Okay - technically it's not really a deal - it's just good timing on your part. But that timing ends on ⚠️ December 31, 2023,when the 2023 classes disappear (you can still snag them in The Cookie College level membership), and you're left with the 2024 classes (⛄ we already have January's Build your Own Snowman Class and ️🏈 February's Superbowl-themed Class is in the works).

🎒 4. How much it Costs.

So - each month you're a member of the Cookie Class Kits, it's $63. 💵 Meaning you can sign up for one month, download everything (all 13 classes), then hit the cancel button and that'll mean that you'd get all the courses for $63 - which comes out to $4.84 per class! 🤑 Hey - I ain't no genius, but I know a good deal when I see one (I am also biased - but it's a good deal - trust me - these courses take forever to make).

🚫 Cancel and never be rebilled again - ooor - 👀 stick around for the 2024 classes (️🏈 February's will drop in the first week of January to give people over a month to promote the class to attendees).

🎒 5. What's the Catch?

The catch is that this deal expires in less than a month - 😭 so this won't be nearly as good a deal on January 1, 2024, as it is on December 31, 2023. 🤔 Hey - why not download them now - even if you don't teach classes, you can still sell them as DIY Kits and send the PowerPoint along w

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🙊 Vendy Blendy Marketing-endyand what you can learn from our blendy blunders.

We may not be allowed to talk about "the event that shall not be named," but that doesn't mean we can't learn from it! A lot of marketing goes into the yearly Vendy Blendy, and it seems like each year we learn a little more from both the Vendys and the Pendys (turned Spendys).

So let's take a look under the hood on how the Vendy Blendy can help your bakery market better in 2024.

🔊 1. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat

3️⃣ We marketed this event over THREE months to over a hundred thousand collective followers across our socials. I'd wager we made over 150 posts dedicated to this event across all the accounts. We dedicated podcasts to it (20,000 monthly listens), newsletters (6,000 subs per email), and the SCM family of groups (over 50,000 members). It was a lot of marketing. And yet 2 hours before the event, I still had folks asking me "What a Vendy Blender is?"

Your marketing isn't being seen - so you gotta repeat it. And repeat it. And repeat it again. Your audience just isn't seeing as many of your posts as you think they are.

🔊 2. Chicken and the Egg.

🐔 The Vendy Blendy requires both Vendors to sell and Penders to spend. 🥚 But Vendys won't sign up unless the Pendy numbers are high. And no one wants to pend if there are no shops to Vendy. 🐣 What do? We had to market both - back and forth - until we got both numbers high enough.

Much like marketing a cookie class, you'll have a chicken / egg scenario. 🏢 You need a free venue to make your margins so you tell the host you'll bring people to their shop, but 👨‍👩‍👦 you need people wanting to take a class to be able to secure the free venue. Market to both. Ask your audience if they want to take a cookie class. Then tell the venue, "Look, I've got 20 people interested in walking through the door a business that lets me host." Then turn back to the audience and tell them you've secured the venue - you just need to sign up.

🔊 3. Two Separate Campaigns.

👥 Corrie was assigned "Vendy Aquisition" and 👥 I was assigned "Pendy Aquisition." ✌️ These were two completely different marketing strategies running congruently, but completely separately. The messaging to one audience (get some great marketing and make some solid sales numbers) was completely different than the other audience (hey get some great deals!).

You're going to need to do the same things - 👉 a campaign for classes, 👉 a campaign for your farmer's market event, 👉 a campaign for customs. They'll be posted to the same page, sure - but they'll be completely separate campaigns when it comes to marketing (targeting, messaging, CTAs, etc.)

🔊 4. Diversity in Marketing Channels.

😕 "I'm worried I'll annoy my audience." No - because you'll diversify your outreach. You can post to Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Nextdoor, email list, Google Business Profile, TikTok, FB Groups (Community and VIP). Sure - you may annoy yourself, but diversification in your outreach strategy will allow you to hit more targets across more websites.

Just like the Vendy Blendy - 🎙 we have people that listen to the podcast, 👍 but don't use Facebook. 🖼 People that use Facebook, but aren't on Instagram. 📑 Some folks just want the freebie transfers in our emails and don't need the group content! D-V-E-R-S-I-F-Y.

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🎁 Best Baker Gifts 2023 (feel free to forward this email) 🎅🏻 Corrie had a genius idea (they come around to her once a decade) to ask bakers what they think other bakers would want should they find their names scrawled on Santa's nice list this year. 📜

Ho-Ho-Hold your credit cards, because some of these are really creative! We've come up with an "actually affordable," mid-grade, and budget-buster list for you... to forward to your... ahem... in-home Santa.

🧑‍🎄 So if you find your friends and fam askin', "What the elf does this baker want?!", here may be a decent shopping start line. Heads up - none of these are affiliate links, so click away unimpeded, my friend!

🎁 1. Actually Affordable

1. A Spotify Subscription Gift Card
2. Amazon Hand Massager
3. Vanilla Beans for Extract (Indri's is a good place for this)
4. Stupid Car Tray
5. Ender 3 Pro (they go on sale from time to time - don't pay full $)
6. UberEats Gift Cards (for delivery on busy days)
7. Bakety Bakey Royal Batch - 1 Lb (code TWINS saves 10%)
8. Acrylic Turn Table
9. Skincare (Duke Cannon's Bloody Knuckles Hand Cream)
10. Aprons
11. Cookie Cutter Subscription Boxes
12. Heat Sealer
13. Cute Baking Tees (Doughmestic / Bakery Tee Co)
14. Scribes
15. Ring Light
16. Americolor Basic Six Kits
17. Edible Ink Markers
18. Small Fisker Scissors for Cutting
19. Coffee Mug Warmer
20. Rubber Spatulas (skip wooden handles)
21. Cookie Countess Rolling Pin
22. Filament
23. Universal Attachment (code SCMARKETING could save some $)
24. Box Cutter from Amazon
25. Two Dollars Transfers Club

🎁 Mid-Grade

1. Anti Fatigue Mats (for feetsies comfort )
2. Kitchen Aid Auto-Sifter Attachment
3. Plum Paper Planner Gift Card (for the pen / paper girlies)
4. Bambu P1P Printer
5. Dehydrator (Cabellas is what Corrie uses - 10 tray)
6. Bakety Bake Royal Batch - 5 Lb (code TWINS again - 10% off)
7. House Cleaner
8. Massage Gift Cards
9. Apple Pencil (2nd Gen)
10. Custom-made Cookie Signage / Pick Up Box for Porch Pick-ups
11. Sweetest Tiers Stencil Holder
12. Photography Backdrops (code SUGARCOOKIE saves 20%)
13. Airbrush (Sweet Pink Olive / Cookie Countess)
14. Kodak Luma 150 Projector
15. Stands (Shop Canvas / Arkon)
16. Half Sheet Pans (Corrie suggested Nordic Ware)
17. Chua Mats
18. Nielsen Massey Vanilla Extracts
19. Hulken Bags
20. Nutrimill Artiste Mixer
21. Cash for Cookie Events (CookieCon / SoFlo)
22. Fancy Scribes (The Sugar Cookie Dealer)
23. Americolor Nifty Fifty
24. Monthly Class Subscriptions: Artee McGoo, Sams Cookie University, Colorful Cookie, Cookie Class Kits by Cookie College

🎁 Budget Busters

1. Eugene Dough Sheeter (save $25 with this link)
2. Create a Room
3. Primera's Eddie
4. Bosch Universal Plus Mixer (maybe try code SCMARKETING)
5. Bambu Carbon X1C Bundle
6. A Year in Cookie College (get 2 months free when ya sign up)
7. A Cricut (to print stencils / packaging)
8. iPad Pro (and Procreate)
9. Americolor Heavenly Seventy

👂 Snag this podcast on any major podcast player (Spotify, Apple Music, Audible, Amazon Music, or your desktop) by clickin' here - Episode 139 - 2023 Best Baker Gifts List.

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🤑What if I Gave You A Million Dollars...Would you do it? 🤔 "Do what? But also - yes," you might ask - and that's exactly the point of this week's podcast. If you knew you were going to get a million dollars for taking a benign action, most of us wouldn't think twice before we did it.

Full confession - 👕 I was cleaning out my closet, 👖 donating what I hadn't clearly worn in over a year to the VVA nonprofit to resell in their thrift stores. 👚 As I'm perusing this jam-full closet, my brain is jumping through hoops to make excuses as to why I suddenly may need to wear that shirt tomorrow that I haven't looked at in 2.5 years. 🫣

🧠 Wild the mental gymnastics our brains can flip through. Also wild to think at one time I thought I could pull off a crop top. But I digress...

So - I thought to myself, 🤔 "How many shirts would I throw into that donation pile if I was offered a million dollars to only leave hanging what I actually wore?" I can guarantee you that I wouldn't think twice before another half of my closet found the donation bag.

🤑 I'd do a lot of things for a million bucks - and purging my fashion faux-pas would be an easy one to add to the list of "can do's." 🤔 But why is it so easy for me to purge my ponchos when there's a million bucks on the line, but take away the green stuff, and I suddenly think I can make Mary Janes work at 35!?

Incentive - 💵💵💵 specifically, incentive we can see. 😜

The issue with running a business is that the incentive is often hidden behind time and tasks. 🥸 We aren't sure there's a million bucks on the other side of making that post or going Live on Facebook, so we think up excuses - much like me with the 🤔 "Well, maybe I do need that shirt that's 2 sizes too small."

But how do you know that there isn't a million dollars? 🥧 There's a giant proverbial pie out there - and there's enough slices of said pie to go around. But the catch is - only you can cut your own slice.

💰 And the way small business owners cut their own slice? Put the work in. Put the excuses to bed. Show up. Repeat. Until that million dollars - or that paid-off mortgage, or the kid's college tuition, or the... or whatever that hidden incentive is? Work until you get that.

💳 Work as if you knew someone would give you a million dollars if you did the thing. Whether posting to social consistently, entering your corporate girly era, joining a local chamber meeting, teaching cookie classes, hosting a pop-up - 💰 do it as if you had a million-dollar check waiting for you on the other side - because who knows, there just might be.

Listen to this podcast on all major podcast players (Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, Pandora...) or by clicking here to listen to Episode 138 - If I Gave You a Million Dollars.

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😵‍💫 Surviving Q4 - the fight for the newsfeedIt's the time of yeeeear... when the reach is low and the engagement is even lower. What gives?! I'll tell ya what - the deep pockets of big corporations capitalizing on the "year-end consumer" who is primed to pay.

It's a fight to the feed death in Q4, and we've got some tips and tricks to help you gain some ground.

🥊 Reset Expectations.

We're in a battle of the business and the newsfeed is the fighting ring. Bigger companies with bigger pockets are paying bigger bills to win Facebook bids. Lots of 🅱️ Bs, but the 💯 A+ will be earned by the page that understands this and uses it to create compelling content to fight through the feed clutter.

💁‍♂ Listen - it's going to be harder to reach your audience. Your engagement will be lower. And that's okay - because knowing this will help us to create a better campaign to adjust to the deeper pocket punches.

🥊 Be Annoying.

Corrie is very adept at this (lol). But seriously - no one is being annoyed by your posts because no one is seeing your posts. So 👏 be 👏 annoying! And don't just post the same thing 10 times - yeah, that's not ✨quality✨annoyance. We need to be ✨creatively✨annoying.

• 👊 Use the Stories feature.
• 👊 Host a Facebook Live.
• 👊 Post a Reel.
• 👊 Create a poll.
• 👊 Make a feed post.
• 👊 Run an ad.

All of these are features to sneak into the feed and annoy your audience in a way they don't think is annoying - but it's everywhere all the time.

🥊 Be Consistent.

Be consistent! It's so easy to get all those holiday orders in, tuck your head between your legs, and head off to the kitchen only to reappear in January wondering if all the sales followed the groundhog back into his burrow. We may get busy - but we can't be too busy to market - unless we're willing to leave the sales to our competition who is willing to be present on their pages.

🥊 Test. Test. Restest.

Your audience shifts into 🧠 "year-end consumer brain" in Q4, and adjusting your content will be a necessary step in making sure we're still resonating with that audience. How are we gonna do that? Test and retest! Long-form content (example below), short-form content, different creative (aka pictures), videos, Lives, emojis (Corrie thinks I use too many... 🙂😄😆😅😂🤣😊😌).

Test it - see how they respond. Then retest it again - see how they respond ✨ again ✨. Wash, rinse, and repeat until your audience is primed to react, respond, and reach for their wallets. What works in 1️⃣ Q1 isn't likely going to work the same in 2️⃣ Q4. Adjust accordingly.

🥊 Learn to Pivot.

📆 Sometimes you hoped your audience would like Advent Calendars and sometimes your audience just happens to 🚫 not like Advent Calendars. 😭 We can't cry over spilled meringue powder - but we can pivot!

💃 If advents don't sell, swing back by pivoting to DIY kits - test, test, and retest and see if that hits your audience's sweet spot. Test PYOs, test cookie classes, test DIYs, test customs - and keep pivoting until you find the product your target audience flips for.

🥊 Admin Day.

Set aside an admin day - this is a day you are NOT allowed to touch a Bosch, Kitchen-Aid, or oven. On this day, you realign yourself each week to stay on top of posting, follow-up, invoicing, and customer relations. ❌ This day SHALL NOT BE A BAKING DAY ❌ - 🤑 no matter how tempting the rush fee charge may be.

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⤴️ The Last Rule Bender - bending the rules for the bottom lineYou know we preach policies. 👏 Protect your boundaries. 👏 Charge your worth. 👏 Guard your peace. But you may be surprised to know we also say "bend the rules." You see - the policies are the "big bad monsters" we use as our fall guy.

• 🤷‍♀ "I'm sorry - my policies state no refunds for no-shows."
• 🤷‍♀ "Oh man, I wish I could! But my policies say that payment is due at time of order."
• 🤷‍♀ "Darn it - I would, but the policy states that there's a rush fee for orders placed with less than a 5-day runtime."

💪🏼 The policies are in place to protect us - but that doesn't mean they're written in stone (or rock-hard, stale dough). You see - by bending certain policies, we can snag the bag and come out lookin' like our client's hero (🦸 wearing an apron as a cape in this scenario).

🚩 The key to effective rule-bending is knowing when there's a win for the baker and the client. A win-lose rule bend is a loss for someone, so might as well just stick with the policies. Let's look at some examples.

🗒️ Rule Bender Example 1: It's a Pick-Up Date.

Let's say you have a set pick-up date on Saturdays, but the client wants to move it to Friday. What do you do? 🦨 Tell them "ain't no way, honey bun - rules are rules and your hiney better be bright-eyed and bushy-tailed come Saturday at 8AM!"? I mean - you could. It's in your policies. BUT - could you snag a sale by bending just a little? ⤴️ For example, a rule bender would say this:

🗒️ Rule Bender Example 2: It's Delivery.

Corrie doesn't offer delivery - ⤴️ that is until she bends the rules a bit. When she got an order from a large department store in our local city center, 🧈 you butter believe she jumped in her car. Why? By bending the delivery rules, she snagged a HUGE sale - and another, and another - from the same store. So when a big account asks for front-door delivery, it may be a good time to do some old-fashioned rule-bending.

🗒️ Rule Bender Example 3: Class Credit.

Corrie and I have some pretty strict class cancelation policies - unless we bend them a bit. Here's the thing - 💳 Eventbrite doesn't tell you this, but if someone does a chargeback, they'll 100% refund them (and not ask you). 🏦 So - if I bend my "no refunds" policy and turn it into a future class credit, I may be able to snag an additional sale for the now-empty seat AND get that future class money from the credited sale. One of those "win-win" scenarios.

🗒️ Rule Bender Example 4: Copyright Copy Cat.

🚫 Corrie does not offer copyright cookies. But she bends the rules with likenesses. (Where that legal line in the sand is between you, your liability policy, and Disney lawyers and is a bit too deep to swim in in today's podcast but I digress). 💃 But the likeness of a copyrighted character can be just enough rule-bending to snag a sale.

Most rules aren't meant to be broken. But many rules are meant to be bent. Knowing which ones and how far to bend them comes with practice - and keep in mind, bending the rules may be makin' the sale, but it also leads to a bit more liability exposure. So weigh your options and make sure you have a fully funded oopsie budget to stave off bad reviews for bent rules.

⛔ "No" is only a complete sentence for a bad salesperson. Find the common double-green-flag ground for you and your clients to both win-win while you laugh all the way to the bank.

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🍰 Audit of a Cake Classand the lessons we're implementing.

Corrie and my mom and sisters all met up on Sunday for a cake class - they had a blast, but they also got to be on the "student" side of a class for once (Corrie specifically). So she made some notes she could take back to our own class drawing board. Here's her "bake down" of her mental notes post-caker crash course.

🎂 1. Remind - Remind - Remind!

"Eventbrite reminds attendees of the basics of their event, but go out of your way to email a personal reminder. Nail down some extraneous details - like to confirm the class has met the minimum attendee requirement. It'll go a long way in establishing a relationship with your students before they get there too. Plus it's nice to cover your butt by emailing your "no show" policies before class start time."

🎂 2. Start on Time.

"We were in a second class following a prior class that had run over a bit. Since the first class ran over, it put the teacher in "rush mode" and didn't give her or her assistants much time to breathe. A great tip we'll be taking back to our classes is letting the first class know that they have to be out by X time. Also - I'd like Heather to build in a little extra time in between our first and second classes - 30 minutes just isn't enough time if we have students leaving 10 minutes late and new students arriving 15 minutes early."

🎂 3. Bright Eyed / Bushy Tailed.

"We gotta keep our energy up for all classes - even if our stomachs are growling louder than our Spotify playlist. Folks paid for "bright-eyed" twins, folks better get what they paid for. I think we should bring a snack in between classes - and throw in a few diet cokes to keep us awake and engaged."

🎂 4. Imperfection is Perfect.

"I feel like I'm trying too hard to impress attendees with my skills that I forget that they're trying to learn, not be wow-ed. I gotta introduce more "Here's a common issue and how to address it" rather than "Look, I've been doing this for years and you haven't - be amazed as you try to keep up." I think it'll make the class more relatable if I come down to their level versus them coming up to mine."

🎂 5. Reference Materials.

"During the cake class, I never really knew what the "end goal" design was, so I felt like we were flying blind a bit. I know that in our cookie classes, we have the PowerPoint but at no point do they really get to see the "end result." I'd like to print out and laminate some pictures of the final product and have them in front of each attendee to look at during the decorating process."

🎂 6. Drop Zones.

"Mom put her purse so close to the buttercream, she almost had a tasty tote - and I think we don't tell people when they show up where they're allowed to drop their stuff. Moving forward, we should tell them where they can hang their jackets, drop their bags, and let them know more about what to expect. That way they don't feel like they are fumbling with their belongings and can just enjoy the learning process."

🎂 7. Supplies on Supplies on Supplies.

"I know we learned from this during a few Christmas classes a couple of years ago, but having fresh supplies for each class really cuts down on wait times. We had to wait for clean bowls from the class before us which really slowed the progression of the class. I think having supplies dedicated to each class would really move things along. It may take a cut out of the bottom line initially, but in the long run, it'll really shorten class times and make for an overall more enjoyable experience I think."

🎂 8. Say Cheese.

"Take pictures and when you think you've taken enough, take more. The more photos you take, the more options people ha

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🍓Vendy Blendy Berry (and how to squeeze the most from it)
It’s that tiiiime of year… 😍 when the cookie world falls in love with some STELLAR deals. It's the third-ever Vendy Blendy! (👀 oh and how to win one of two Bambu Baby Carbon X1C 3D printers?! More on that in a minute.)

Get into the holiday spirit by treatin’ YOSELF to some cookie cutters, stencils, tees, and icing tips – oh my! Everything you’ll want to know to squeeze the most from your cookie dough is listed below. But don’t forget to join the Vendy Blendy Facebook Group – that’s where all the money-savin’ magic happens!

🫐 Here's how to squeeze the most juice from the Vendy Blendy berry.

🎁 1. Inventory what you're missing.

We need to know where we're at before we know where to go. So let's start by spending the next few weeks taking inventory of what you have - supplies, bags, ingredients, tees, classes. We don't want to waste our hard-earned cash buying things we already bought, so start by making a list of "do have" and "do need." 🤔 Ask "what's running low, what's about to break, and what do I already have?" That'll be a great jump point to plan out the Vendy Blendy spendy.

🎁 2. Create a Blendy Spendy budget.

We don't want the Vendy Blendy to be a relationship endy, so come up with a budget and stick to it! As with any solid budget, you'll want to fund your "things I need" line items first. Those are the necessities we were gonna buy anyway - but might as well buy at 20% off. Once that's funded with the fun-ds, budget for the wants - the things you don't need, but it'd be nice to have. Once that's funded, add a max spend limit - a hard line in the "sales sand" where you won't cross. That way the Vendy Blendy won't end in buyer's remorse.

🎁 3. Pre-Shop the Vendors.

We've got 47 confirmed Vendys right now - 3 more that have told me yes, and 2 more that are getting their shops together. That's a LOT of Vendys - so pre-shop them now. I prefer an Excel spreadsheet to track purchase links, but Corrie likes throwing things in her Etsy carts' "save for later" feature. Whatever you do - save time by pre-shopping. I've added the current Vendy's list to the group description.

1. 👉 See the List: https://www.facebook.com/groups/vendyblendy

Remember - Vendys are running 20% off or more - so your cart's total $ amount will drop by quite a bit come November 24th!

🎁 4. Set Expectations with Your Family.

🤳 The Vendy Blendy is all of the 24 hours on the 24th, and while I don't expect you guys to be glued to a computer like me and the Vendys are, you will wanna check in throughout the day. ⏰ The best way to be guaranteed some "alone time" with your phone is by letting the family (in their 🦃 turkey comas 😴) know that you'll be checking your phone throughout the day to enter some fun door prizes and get a few deals and steals.

🎁 5. Treat Yoself!

There are a lot of new vendors this year, so that means a lot of GREAT baker gift ideas! 👰🏼 We absolutely do not mind you inviting your spouse to join the Vendy, tagging them in the products you'd like 🎅🏻 Santa to bring you, and then crossing your fingers that one of ya wins a door prize. If anything, 🧠 it's a genius idea, you smart baker, you!

🎁 6. "During Vendy Blendy" Best Practices.

️🛒 Try snagging your favorites right at midnight so you're not left with an empty stocking when/if a Vendy sells out of their fan favorites. Check back throughout the day since door prize posts can be posted whenever! 💪 Support the Vendys! Even if you're not shoppin' from them, leave a comment on their products, thank them for paying into the Blendy, and if you've bought from them in the

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💼 Corporate Girly EraCorrie was on a mission this year to enter her ✨corporate girly era✨ - 👨‍💼 a time in her life (and business) where she gets most of her leads from small to medium-sized businesses (and heck - at this point, international businesses).

Why? 🧦 Because corporate clients rock baker's socks - that's why. Here's the magic of corporate orders:

• 🏢 Single POC likely
• 🏢 Deep business pockets
• 🏢 Basic Designs (heyo, logo cookies)
• 🏢 Potentially for recurring orders
• 🏢 Large-scale orders typically
• 🏢 Very little back and forth

😣 In the world of lots of detailed custom orders with clients breathing down your neck, fighting you on pricing, and showing up late for pickups while asking for discounts - corporate orders can be a breath of fresh air.

And a really great way to diversify your income streams. 🌊 That way when the summer vacay season comes, your lead sources don't dry up as they head for the waterfront with the kiddos.

SO - you're in, and you want a slice of this corporate cake. 🍰 But how? Here's our 6-step workflow to getting into your ✨corporate girly era✨.

💼 1. Your content has to shift.

To attract corporate, you must become corporate - well, at least your content has to feature it. Don't have a corporate order to feature? Make one up! Find a business you can feature and then surprise the business with a logo cookie.

💼 2. Secure the tools.

When we say corporate, we mean quick - and often to a larger scale than customs. We ain't bakin' for baby turnin' 1 no more, we're baking for large events where the "corp client" likely wants to hand 200 folks a cookie with their logo on it. How can you work at scale? Invest in the tools to do so. Here's what we've got:

• ✨ Airbrush machine
• ✨ Cricut for stencil cutting
• ✨ Bosch for big batches
• ✨ Eddie for D2F printing (direct to food - gutter folk)
• ✨ 3D Printer for custom cutters

This stuff ain't cheap. Eddie alone is $3,000. A Bambu Carbon (which we happen to be giving away TWO at this year's 2023 Vendy Blendy) runs $1500. BUT - with these large-scale corporate orders, we are pulling in large-scale corporate checks which is a great way to cover the investment costs of these machines and then some.

💼 3. Nail down the corporate tech.

💰 Nothing says "small beans and risky at best" than a baker telling a corporate client to pay them PayPal "friends and family" so the baker can skip out on taxes. If we want corporate money, we gotta look corporate ourselves. 📧 Get that custom domain - it's $12 bucks and that custom email while you're at it - it's only $6 and makes a 🌎world🌏 of difference when it comes to looking legit.

• ✨ Get a Custom Domain / Email
• ✨ Send the invoice from an Invoicing Software
• ✨ Get your government EIN
• ✨ Set up a Business Bank Account
• ✨ Maybe get a Business Address (UPS sells these)
• ✨ Have your W9 ready to go
• ✨ Setup business Insurance (just in case)

💼 4. Start a corporate outreach campaign.

Well, if stuff sold itself, I'd be out of a job. Fortunately for me, it doesn't - but that means we need to design a marketing campaign to reach our business buddies. Email lists - yes, BUT - segment them out. Make a list for just corporate clients. It'll make a lot more sense to send them team-building packages. Not so much to the baby who just turned 2 who you baked for.

👂 Snag this podcast on any major podcast player (Spotify, Apple Music, Audible, Amazon Music, or your desktop) by clickin' here - Episode 133 - Corporate Girly Era.

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1️⃣ The One PercentersAs admins of a group of niche cottage home bakers, we get to see a lot of questions about getting sales - and even more people thinking they can compete on price to gain traction in the marketplace.

But competing on price is a literal race to the bottom - the bottom of your bank account. Ya see, if I lower my price by $1, and you lower yours by $2, and then I counter by lowering my price by $4... well, let's just say pretty soon we'll be able to duke it out standing in the unemployment line.

You cannot compete on price. So how do we get more sales in a somewhat saturated market if we can't use discounts and deals as incentives?

Increase everything else. And I'm not saying get your boxes lined with gold leaflets - but rather increase everything but just one percent.

One percent is pretty easy. I mean - what can you do just a single percentage better than you're already doing? Let's start of with an example - emails.

Are you using a custom domain? Do you have a quick response time? Do your emails include pertinent information about the client's order confirming their details in each correspondence? Does your email signature look nice? Changing any of these is an example of increasing by 1%.

🤏 One percent sounds... well, piddly if I'm honest. If you told me I'm getting 1% off at the Vendy Blendy - I'd tell you where you can shove it (... which would be in my shopping bag because a deal's a deal, amiright?!). But 1% across a myriad of different aspects of your business can amount to major experience changes! If I changed 30 things by just 1%, I'd have an increase of 30% in customer experience for my small business.

And that is huge. 👐

Other ways you can increase by 1%:

• 1️⃣ Use custom packaging or cute accents like themed bows
• 1️⃣ Include a thank you cookie with your client orders
• 1️⃣ Offer multiple ways to pay to make it easier for clients
• 1️⃣ Have a website that includes all of the information needed to make an informed purchase
• 1️⃣ Have a top-notch communications plan with clients letting them know next steps, followups, and reminders - before they have to ask

You don't need to be the best baker with the best packaging with the best ingredients with the best turnaround times. But you can be the baker who is 1% better at replying to emails. The bakers who as a curb appeal that looks 1% nicer than the next. And a customer refund policy that's 1% more appealing than another's. It adds up.

🤏 The small things can make big differences in your bottom line.

👂 Snag this podcast on any major podcast player (Spotify, Apple Music, Audible, Amazon Music, or your desktop) by clickin' here - Episode 132 - The One Percenters.

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🦉 Consistent Crows

Ruth Ann (twin grandmother - my middle name is Ruth, Corrie's is Ann... you see what they did there, don't ya?) has a habit of being consistent. Not just any type of consistency - she's radically consistent. I mean - you could set the atomic clock to her ability to wake up at 6AM on the nose.

So - last year, 🦉🦉🦉🦉🦉 (I know, these are owls - but there's no crow emoji) when a family of 5 crows shows up at the bottom of the driveway one day and she sprinkles (🍧 see: hundreds-and-thousands) some cinnamon buns for them, a year later she now considers herself the proud parent of "her crows" - who show up every day around the same time for a bun-filled breakfast.

Ruth Ann (twin grandmother - my middle name is Ruth, Corrie's is Ann... you see what they did there, don't ya?) has a habit of being consistent. Not just any type of consistency - she's radically consistent. I mean - you could set the atomic clock to her ability to wake up at 6AM on the nose.

🤔 "Why are we talking about crows in a baking podcast?"🦅 Because crows are the 💣 bomb-diggity, that's why. Kidding - because consistency is the 💣 bomb-diggity when it comes to making sales numbers.

Oftentimes, in the directing world of "what's everyone doing to market their business" that is the SCM group, 😖 we head off in a thousand directions never letting the marketing we just planted have any time to germinate and produce results.

😕 Our audience is being jerked around from new idea to new product, and our messaging is a muddled mix of marketing campaigns never reaching completion before the next one, the next one, and the next one are launched.

As a result, 🙅‍♀ we're left thinking marketing doesn't work and the twins were lying, and that person in the Wednesday Wins thread was just making up their success, and that other person who taught the pop-up Live must have been selling snake oil because 🚫 marketing doesn't work. 🚫

Marketing - in the way you implemented it - doesn't work. But that doesn't mean it doesn't work. It means you've learned how to tweak and retest is for better results in the next round. 💡 Just call you Edison. 🍞 Breadison? Get it... because baking.

Anyways.

⏰ Extend your marketing campaign's run time - then stick with it to the end. Let's get enough data points to be able to better forecast our results. Let's give our audience time to adjust to new products. Let's spend that time finding our target audience for this new product - one's willing to throw their hard-earned cash at you and your cookies, classes, cutters - whatever.

Marketing takes time. 🗓️ Good marketing takes more time. Set a goal to give a new marketing campaign - classes or DIY kits or drop cookies - 🪦 at least a month of consistent marketing before you call the time o' death on that option. Heck - I'd prefer 2+ months. Corrie and I marketed our first cookie classes for 3 months before it started seeing movement.

Consistent marketing includes consistency in posting schedules, newsletters, follow-up, and photography. It's the whole gamut of consistency that will consistently bring you in more dollars.

👂 Snag this podcast on any major podcast player (Spotify, Apple Music, Audible, Amazon Music, or your desktop) by clickin' here - Episode 131 - Consistent Crows.

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🩹 Make Mistakes.I watched (see: was addicted to) a TikTok the other day where an insanely successful older man was interviewed on a podcast. 🤔 The interviewer said, "How did you know it was time to expand your business? Which metric were you tracking that helped you make the jump into expansion?"

🧐 "Metric? We weren't following a metric. I knew we needed to grow because we weren't making any mistakes. When your business is growing, you're making mistakes because you're trying new things, and we weren't making any mistakes which means we weren't growing."

❤‍🩹 Such is the topic of this week's Baking it Down podcast - learning to love making mistakes.

Corrie wanted to get into cake balls recently (heyo, cake ball Gina Wade).

Anyways - 🛫 to say the take-off was bumpy was an understatement. ⚪ The first round of cake balls were more like cake blobs (hey, I'm not hating - I still ate them). The next round got interesting - in an effort to get a "birthday cake" color, Corrie added in jimmies (🍦 ya know, your typical colored ice cream sprinkles).

All was well and good until we bit into them and realized the jimmies had been proverbially "rustled" and their color had bled into the baked dough giving the interior of each cake ball a disconcerting greenish hue (🤢 and not a fun green either - more of a sad "could this be E.Coli?" green).

🤔 "Well, it's okay - you're family, right?! They don't mind!"

Well - yeah, except for half the order Corrie sold to a customer who later sent the awkward 😳 "uh, am I gonna die if I eat these??" email. Corrie fully refunded of course, and it made for a hilarious retelling at the Olive Garden.

But she was ABLE TO MAKE A MISTAKE because she was trying something new! Learning requires losing. 🩹 And losing, as long as we learn, means we grow. 📈

🤑 And guess what? Hallmark (yes - let's get our Christmas ornaments - I'm totally in the mood!) just placed an order for 3 dozen (less green) cake pops.

The point of the podcast is to learn to love making mistakes - because that means you're trying new stuff, learning new skills, and putting yourself out there. What's the boat quote? 🚤 "A ship in the harbor is safe, but that's not what ships were made for."

👂 Snag this podcast on any major podcast player (Spotify, Apple Music, Audible, Amazon Music, or your desktop) by searching for - Episode 130 - Make Mistakes.

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🍿 How Ya Get 'em is How Ya Keep 'emThings we want when we market:

• 🤩 High engagement!
• 🤩 Exponential growth!
• 🤩 Reach as wide as the Atlantic - heck the Pacific!
• 🤩 Big Numbers!
• 🤩 Lots of Likes!
• 🤩 All the money in the WORLD!

But what don't we want? All the above if you went about getting it the wrong way. Such is the topic of this week's Baking it Down Podcast - how you get them is how you keep them.

🛒 Let me break it down for ya with a marketing case study as big as your local mall: JC Penney and the discount disaster.

JCPenney rose to fashion fame in the 70s when couponing was a common practice for 65% of US households. 🎫 Coupons are not like sales - because a sale is the equivalent to "no promo code required" versus a glorious coupon - this hard-to-find code or cut-out paper that grants the holder something ✨no one✨ else gets - a discount.

🧠 Talk about hittin' the centers of the brain that casinos take advantage of.

🛑 But in 2012, the JCP CEO Ron Johnson didn't follow the principle of "how you get them," and decided to move from couponing to a fair pricing model. No longer would customers have to hunt and peck through papers and internet deal sites to find the best discount - 📈 now the entire store would be just priced fairly - low prices throughout - no promo code necessary.

📉 JCP's sales tanked 25% that year. Ron was fired after 17 months, and the coupons were added back to the store's business model. Ron was quoted saying, "coupons were a drug." And their customers were addicts.

👏 How you get them is how you keep them.

JCP built a business bankin' on budget busters discounted with coupons. So it had to keep them by sticking with the coupon cutters. 🔥 Same with your business. If you drum up business by doin' fire sales - guess what your audience will be built on expecting? You guessed it - last-minute discounts.

Want to be a controversial baker? 🍿 Go post controversial topics on your page. Guess what your audience will be expecting? Popcorn-poppable drama dripping in butter and bad words. Sure - you'll get engagement, reach, comments, and reactions - but what good are they if they don't convert into sales. 🤑 Money. 🤑 Dollars. 🤑 Income.

👏 How you get them is how you keep them.

🏝 You can't pay your bills with gossip (trust me, I'd have a private island if you could).

🚂🚃🚃🚃 Same with follow trains - what good is an international audience of 1,000 bakers when you can only ship locally to people who don't like baking so much they'll pay you to do it for them? Choo-choo, followers boarding, profits gettin' off at the next stop!

Build the audience you want to keep - 👏 because how you get them is how you keep them.

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🕵️ S-E-Oh MyWe've talked "SEO" on previous podcasts, but it's always great to revisit the cold audience maker by touching on four points we think will help you reach more search engine traffic.

(Search engines = placed where you can look up words and find results. Google is currently the biggest search engine in the world.)

This is SEO in a Google Search Engine Results Page (also known as a S-E-R-P) - see those white arrows? Those are all places where SEO can drive you more leads. But SEO is more than just Google - and in this week's podcast, we cover this topic to better explain this business branding buzzword.

What is SEO?

• 🍕 Definition: let's say you want pizza but you're out of town. What do you do? Search "Pizza Places Near Me." The results that your phone shows you? Yeah - that's SEO. Ever wonder how Google chooses which business shows up first?
• 🍕 How it Works: You optimize your website so that the "robot" (called crawlers) can better understand the content and, when someone googles something that your website has the answer to, Google will pull up your website first!
• 🍕 How it can Benefit You: keywords are the phrases you type into Google. The intent behind those keywords determines if people are planning to spend their money. If someone searched "how to bake sugar cookies," they probably aren't looking to pay you to bake them. But if someone searches for "sugar cookie bakery near me," often this results in an online lead - these are called money keywords because people who search for this word will likely spend that cold, hard casheesh.

Places to Consider SEO

• 🕸 Website: while you can't own the internet, having your own website is about as close as you can get. And search engines love personal websites! If you ever consider hiring an SEO (they are kind of expensive - heads up), they'll likely start by asking you if you have a website - yes, it's that important.
• 🕸 TikTok: TikTok (as long as it isn't banned) is one of the fastest-growing search engines because of its recent addition of SEO-optimized captions that are searchable. With a quick search, you can find hundreds of videos walking you through how to check your oil, change a tire, or install an under-sink p-trap. You can also find a baker offering local fun things to do (hint hint).
• 🕸 Reviews: Did you know that Google now crawls user reviews in Google Maps? Yep - reviews and websites can now help your GBP (Google Business Profile) show up in maps - just because it contains the right keyword (even if you're a service-area and not a brick-and-mortar).
• 🕸 Google My Business: Google Business Profiles (or GMBs) can also be search engine optimized - often by filling out the many options for text, adding photos, and posting regular updates. More content = king when it comes to GBPs.
• 🕸 Eventbrite (Directories):

Rebranding SEO Considerations

• 👍 Google Search: ranking in Google takes a multi-faceted approach. Ranking a website, getting a Google Business Profile, securing social profiles, and writing quality content (more on that in a second).
• 👍 Social Media: Social can be optimized too (remember - if you can search on it you can optimize for it). Filling out your Facebook page's about section, connecting social media accounts, and writing content that contains keywords are all ways to SEO your social profiles.
• 👍 Caching / Browser History: Do a dirty check on your SEO efforts by either clearing your browsing history and cache or by searching in an Incognito Bro

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Okay fam - here's what separates the marketers from the panic-ers. (is that a word??).

We're entering a period Corrie Mira and I like to refer to as 🏜 "Dry July" ☀️ - but it encompasses the entire summer months from June - August.

It's in these months (as reflected by this Google search report for "sugar cookies" - image below) that your orders will likely slow. 📉 This is expected for our industry.

Things you can do during this time:

• 🚫 Do not panic. Readjust your expectations in terms of ROI (returns on marketing) for this period. Slow = normal.
• ✅ Optimize your admin. Need to schedule posts? Do it now. Website time? Let's get it set up. Want to hire a VA? Let's get interviews scheduled.
• 🚫 Do not overcorrect. When the market slows, we always see people knee-jerk change course. This is the wrong bandaid for this wound. Stay the course - optimize what's worked last year.
• ✅ Invest in Yourself. Use slow periods to invest in yourself - you won't have that chance come the holidays - so now is the time (ahem - www.TheCookieCollege.com 👀). Hey - I'm learning a new 3D printer. It'll pay back in dividends.
• 🚫 Do not pout. It may feel like your audience is abandoning you - and your bank account. They're not - they are focused on their family vacations. Good marketing = assisting them in finding fun family things to do. It'll build trust and they'll be back come Halloween.
• ✅ Cut Costs. There's two ways to make money = make more or spend less. I love slow periods to assess where my money is going and where I can cut costs. If you haven't used it in the last 4 months, cancel it + sell it + downgrade it.
• 🚫 Do not stop. Marketing return is delayed. 🌱 What you plant in these months will grow in the holidays. 🌿 Don't stop marketing just because your engagement seems too low to make it worth it. It'll pay you back - trust me.
• ✅ Build out your Holiday Campaigns. It seems weird to talk Halloween / Turkey Day / Christmas in the beginning of summer - but this is how you build a campaign. You build it out now, have it dialed in, pick a launch date, and wait. You do not want to wait until the week before 🎃 October to start thinking about this.
• 🚫 Do not quit. Slow periods feel like failure - especially when you've done everything right. Do not quit - this is a season of business. Just like landscapers don't expect to have their highest earning months in winter - baker's big days are comin' - but not right now.
• ✅ Inventory. Perfect time to see what you got, what you need, and where you can put it. As we clear out the old, we can make room for the new. Cutters + packaging + class supplies + tools + that Cricut that's still in the box you know who you are (it's me). Figure out, organize, and optimize.

🤔 So lemme throw it back to your side of the court: What do you plan to use the next three "dry" months doing?

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🚗 Pricing the Cookie Car Lot 🚙Wanna buy a... car? Today's podcast topic (which is a day late due to CookieCon - no, it's not Wednesday, sorry about that) is about the "cookie car lot" - comparing how automotive brands use pricing tiers to sell more cars... and we'll use it to sell more cookies.

🏎 Showing off the Flagship

Every major auto manufacturer has a flagship vehicle - that one car so fast, so cool, and so very, very expensive.

• 😬 Audi has the R8 ($158,000)
• 😯 Acura has the NSX ($171,000)
• 😲 Mercedes has the AMG GT R ($179,00)
• 😱 Lexus had the LFA ($818,000)

Why sell a vehicle way too expensive for most of your target market? 💪 It's a flex for the brand. Essentially, the automotive company is sayin', 👀 "Yo - look at what we can do - and all this skill and talent you can't afford? It's incorporated into the vehicle you can afford."

In your cookie sales - you can flex with your best set. But just like the auto-manufacturers, don't make it your 100% marketing focus. Your "flex set" is a signal to your capabilities incorporated into your work-horse sets - your big sellers. And while your flex-set may be a net loss, 🎠 it'll help prop you up to sell those forever-favorites like unicorns and mermaids. 🧜‍♀

🚙 Have an Economy Offering

Many automakers know that if they can just get you to try the brand, they'll have a car client for life. This is where manufacturers have their economy lines - these aren't the cars in the commercials, but they are cars they keep on the lot.

• 🚗 Audi has its A Line
• 🚗 Mercedes has its A Class
• 🚗 Toyota has its Corolla
• 🚗 Kia has its Rio

These are the budget-friendly options for folks who want to enter a brand but can't afford the top-of-the-line or even the mid-range. 💸 But these auto companies don't want you walkin' away without a key in hand, so they keep the budget-friendly vehicles ready to package up for the price-conscious.

Same with your cookies. While you have your flex set ($$$), and your workhorse sets ($$), keeping an economically friendly option in your back pocket can get people "into your brand" while also making the sale. 🤑 Just like car companies, drop out the "extras" until you find a price point that is a win-win for both you and your potential client. Fewer colors? Fewer designs? Smaller sizes? All of these are ways to keep people on your "cookie car lot."

Market your Work Horse Mid-Range LineUp

You know each car company's mid-range big sellers - why? You see them marketed the most often, and thus likely most seen on the road.

• 🚖 Kia has its Telluride
• 🚖 Honda has its Accord
• 🚖 Ford has its F150
• 🚖 Acura has its TLX

These are the cars that sell the most and make the most - while also wow-ing the consumer. The cookie-equivalents? Mermaids, unicorns, kids' birthday sets - the cookies you know how to pump out for a low-cost higher-price profit. This is where your marketing is focused. Sure - flex once in a blue moon - but keep the limelight on these sets. They're guaranteed to pad your pocket without packin' a mental punch.

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👋A Refreshing RebrandWhen you likely got started in your cookie biz, "this will be something I'm still doin' in 2 years" wasn't probably top of mind. If you're like us, this was a random idea > turned hobby > turned money pit > turned "I need to make money or my SO will have my head" - fast forward to today, it's a business - but it wasn't an intentional business.

So likely - again, if you're like us - "branding" wasn't as much the focus as "juggling 17 hats while baking" was 👒🎩🎓⛑️. Which lands us two years later with a poorly chosen brand identity and business name.

So what do?

👀 rebranding enters stage right

Ideally, no business would have to rebrand - but, like in the case of Corrie, there are times when it makes long-term sense for short-term growing pains. Such was Corrie's plight - and here are 4 tips and 4 rebranding snafus we've seen while marketing (and rebranding ourselves).

❤️ Tip 1 - Check What's Available

Rule of thumb - don't fall in love with someone that's unavailable. Rule of thumb in branding - don't fall in love with a name that's unavailable. So - before you start planning your billion-dollar baking biz, check what's free - social media handles, domains, etc. Here are two websites I like to use that help with the research:

• ✅ Social Media: https://namechk.com/
• ✅ Domains: https://instantdomainsearch.com/

🚫 Snafu 1 - Overcomplicating It

I love the thought and care some y'all put into your brand name - but I don't always love how that reflects your user's experience when typing your name, searching for you, etc. Overcomplicated branding will mean uphill marketing for you. Examples of overcomplication can look like:

• Brand names that include articles like "a" "an" and "the"
• Brand names that include misspellings like "Cookiez"
• Brand names that include punctuation like dashes "Cookie-z Company"
• Brand names that are too long "The Best Cookies in America Cookie Company"

❤️ Tip 2 - Including Brand + Keyword

In "SEO" best practices, including a brand name (who you are) + keyword (what you're selling) can help you get ahead in search results (Google). This is because you're not keyword stuffing (Cookies Cookies by Cookie Lady Cary - too many keywords in this one), but you're also not too vague (Art for your Plate by Cary - no keyword at all in this one). Examples of brand + keyword can be:

• Mixing Bowl Cookie Company (Mixing Bowl = brand, Cookie = keyword)
• Heather's Best Cookies (Heather's Best = brand, Cookies = keyword)
• Cool Cow Cookies and Cakes (Cool Cow = brand, Cookies and Cakes = keyword)

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Meet the Baker Collab is this Friday, March 24th, 2023 at 11:00 AM est - 12:00 PM est. And we want you to participate! Here's how to squeeze the most out of the Meet the Baker Cookie Collab.

• ▶️ Collab: Meet the Baker
• ▶️ Date: March 24 @ 11:00 AM EST
• ▶️ Engage with posts until 12:00 PM EST
• ▶️ Time Zones: https://bit.ly/CookieTimeZonesRHard
• ▶️ Use Hashtag #SugarCookieMarketingCollab
• ▶️ Engage with the others using the hashtag for 1 hour!

If you're not familiar with cookie collabs, no sweat - we're here to help. Nothin' builds trust (and engagement) like your purdy lil' face in front of a lil' camera (horrifying, I know - my selfies are abysmal).

🤳 Meet the Baker collabs are as fun as they are simple! You'll just need to snag a photo of yourself (or - skirt the rules if ya hate selfies as much as I do and make a cookie-selfie of yourself - which would be hilarious). All you gotta do to participate is make the post on March 24th at 11:00 am on Instagram and use the #SugarCookieMarketingCollab in your caption!

🤗 Other folks who joined in on the collab will stop by and show your post some love which will give it a sweet boost in the algos. Plus - humans LOVE seeing other humans - it's a really effective form of marketing - your audience will LOVE it. So - if you're in, awesome! Here are 5 tips to squeeze the most juice out of this collab.

1️⃣ The Type of Photo to Post

Okay - let's start with the star of the show - the photo you're going to post. These are guidelines - not requirements - to get the most out of this collab. The better the quality of the photo - the more people are going to react to it (and since this is an engagement collab, reactions = better results).

• 👉 Use a high-quality camera or Portrait Mode on smartphones
• 👉 Take the photo from the waist up (closer to your face = more engagement)
• 👉 Make the photo bright and fun! Even if it means going outside to bask in the sun's rays.
• 👉 Use props that scream "I'm a baker!" A fun apron, a whisk or spatula, or even your Kitchen-Aid mixer are all fun props to tie in the face to the concept.

2️⃣ Keep the Copy Compelling

Copy (the text below an image often used to sell products) or caption is going to allow people and collab participants to better connect with you. Making the copy compelling means makin' it worth reading - so be on the lookout for Corrie's copy template in this group later this week!

• 👉 Make your copy relatable to your target audience.
• 👉 Stay away from a WALL of text - use line breaks and emojis to draw people in.
• 👉 Pro-tip: make a short list - people love skimming lists rather than reading paragraphs.
• 👉 Don't write "Hi, I'm Heather! I'm a baker!" - it's too short and doesn't give people enough elbow room to write a response.

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😳 Whisk-y Business 🍪
Who knew baking could be so... whisky. Okay - it's a pun on "risky," and Corrie wanted it to be the topic of today's podcast. Things you may be takin' a risk with - that you also may not realize.

💸 And if you do realize it and accept the risk - that's okay! It's your business and your risk awareness. An assessed risk is one you're willing to take on - and willingly face the potential consequences if the worst happens.

1️⃣ Copyright can be oh so wrong.

We've all been there - a client willing to throw cash money our way if only we could do this one Pooh set. It's tempting - and it's even cuter than it is tempting. And why shouldn't you take it on? Everyone else is violatin' the Big D's copyright (Big D = Disney).

🐭 Will you get caught? Maybe not. Could you get caught? Maybe. But as long as you're willing to account for the risk involved with copyright infringement (a favorite topic of speculative arguments in the cookie groups btw). Take for instance this seller who didn't heed the Disney law teams' cease and desist on selling the Mickey and Minnie ear-themed headbands. "But everyone else was doin' it!" 🚔🚓👮 Yeah - I tried tellin' that line to the last officer who pulled me over - he didn't agree.

2️⃣ Allergy-Free ain't Risk-Free

🤧 When it comes to allergy-friendly or allergy-free requests, it can be risky business to promise somethin' you're not. And, if you're like me and don't suffer from severe food allergies, I doubt we truly understand how dangerous a food allergen can be to folks who are severely allergic.

Which is why you won't find Corrie and I makin' promise we can't deliver when it comes to allergy requests. And who likes telling a customer no? 📑 No one - but I'd rather tell a customer no than tell a customer where they can send their lawsuit paperwork.

3️⃣ Ensuring You're Insured

In the world of "whisk management," insurance is the plan. Insurance is the biggest racket, that is until you need it. FLIP insurance is a fan favorite in the bakery groups, and for around $25 bucks a month, you can rest easy with mitigated liability. It can also cover farmer's markets and events with its add-on dashboard.

Why take the whisk when you can ensure the whe-ward (okay - the pun falls apart there)

4️⃣ Put it In Your Policies

Policies were written in blood - or well, for us - burned cookies. Most policies come after the fact which is synonymous with "too late." But you don't have to create a policy forged in blood sweat, and many tears because we crowd-sourced one in the Sugar Cookie Marketing Group! Click here to snag it.

5️⃣ Breaks Breaking Up Your Bottom Line

Hey, I love a good vacay - heck, I love a good, long vacay. But in the world of business, most customers don't accept "long" being any longer than about 2 weeks. Long breaks put the brakes on your bottom line. I'm not talkin' the weekend off here, or the week off there - I'm talkin' about "burnout breaks" where the baker plays Houdini for months at a time.

🚗🚕🚙 Imagine being a local gas station and taking off like bakers do. ⛽ "Hey - no gas today. Actually no gas this month. But next month maybe. I'll let you know. Check on my Facebook page for details on my fuel-filled comeback. I'm not closing - but I'm not sure when I'll turn the pumps back on."

6️⃣ Emergency No Fun-D

Nothing causes more stress like operating with a bare-bones bank account. This often happens when we have more bills left at the end of the month than we have dollar bills.

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🏫 Cookie Class 101 🍪School's in sesh - and we ain't gatekeeping anything. Here's how we run a cookie class

(note - we're lazy - so understand that whatever we tell ya is preceded by the question 🤔 "how can we accomplish the most with the least amount of effort and still create a fantastic time for our audience?")

1️⃣ Marketing a Cookie Class

Apps we use:

• Eventbrite - to list the cookie class
• Facebook - to crosspost the class listing
• Flodesk - to email about the class
• Feedhive / FB Planner - to schedule posts to social media about the class
• Gmail - to email class attendees

So - we use Eventbrite - it has fees. Why do we use it? It does a lot of the heavy lifting for even management for us, and it drives some traffic to our event as well. Could you use your own website? Sure! You'll be able to pocket more money in exchange for the additional management work on your end - a great trade.

🤔 "But how can you post a picture of your sets so early?"

We don't - I just use a placeholder image with the caption, "Class set photos coming soon!" To date, no one - like as in zero humans - has ever cared. Get the classes posted now - optimize them later! We like ending every class with a CTA (call-to-action) to sign up for a Christmas class even six months out. Since those classes sell out due to the nature of the seasonality of cookies at Christmas, our attendees like to feel that they snagged a class ahead of time.

2️⃣ Class Prep

Corrie comes up with the class set and steps - which is awesome because it means it'll easy enough for beginners (and heeeyo - those steps are included in our new membership - Cookie Class Kits - if you don't wanna do the hard part yaself).

The Bake-down:

• Six Cookies - 3.5 inches
• 4 Icing Colors - 2.5 oz - 3 oz
• Sprinkles - Condiment Cup

Goin' in with a "too advanced" set is going to get your audience frustrated. You may be an expert cookier, but these folks are likely just looking for a good time and not to enter the next Food Network Cookie Challenge, so go easy on 'em.

We bake one to two days before class. We may bring an extra set just incase things go south and a bag bursts or someone drops a cookie - but I like to keep that a hidden secret, and if all goes well, Corrie will package it into a kit a sell it later.

Supplies we bring to class:

• ➡️ Parchment paper (three sizes) - for cleanup
• ➡️ Baking tins (two sizes) - for designated spaces
• ➡️ 32'' TV - for the PowerPoint
• ➡️ Laptop with HDMI cable - for the PowerPoint
• ➡️ Sign-in Sheet
• ➡️ DLSR Camera - professional quality photos
• ➡️ Scribes (cheap ones from Amazon)
• ➡️ Piping Practice sheets (laminated at Fedex Kinkos)
• ➡️ To-Go Boxes (Amazon has cheap ones)
• ➡️ Ziploc Baggies - for them to take icing home

If you want the exact supplies we use - I link to those in each Cookie Class Kits course - but legit, this stuff is easy to find on Amazon.

3️⃣ Class Schedule

Here's our schedule on the day of class:

• 10:00 AM - get to the location
• 10:00 AM - 10:30 AM - Setup
• 10:30 AM - 11:00 AM - Take photos / make Reels / post to Stories
• 11:00 AM - Class Starts
• 11:00 AM - 11:15 AM - Introductions
• 11:15 AM - 11:20 AM - Cookie Decorating Basics (ya know - like how to use a scribe)
• 11:20 AM - 11:30 AM - Piping Practice
• 11:30 AM - 12:30 PM - Decorating

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🧇 Leggo my Ego

You know what's delicious? 🍪 Your cookies.

You know what's even more delicious? 🍪 People tellin' you how amazing you are for those cookies. 😍

Attention is my favorite dessert. It's smooth, it's silky, and it's immediate satisfaction. It's like eating your favorite Talenti (Madagascar Mint btw) and then realizing you had a whole 'nother Talenti in the freezer that you forgot about.

🤤 Yum. YUM. 😋

But ego is the enemy of strategic marketing. Why? Because ego-centric marketing is not conversion-centric marketing. In conversion-focused marketing, we work on ways to convert our audience from an eyeball to a paying customer. In ego-centric marketing, we work on turning those eyeballs into likes.

🤔 "But don't we need likes to increase reach and thus engagement?"

Yeah - but why are you wanting those likes? To get people into your funnel? Or to get people to tell you how awesome you are? Only you know what your secret motives are - but in this week's 100th podcast - ️🎱 we challenge you to call your shots. If you're posting for an ego stroke and not a sale - shout out to the universe, 🗣️ "I WANT ATTENTION" - then post away, knowing full well your goal is to get an ego boost and not a bottom line boost.

😘 Ask yourself these questions to determine if you're doin' it for the ego boost or the bills. 🤑

👉 1. Are you posting because you know this is when your target audience is likely to make a purchase or are you just posting as soon as you get a set done because you're excited to show off your work?

👀 You finish an amazing set - so you hurry off to the 'Grams at 11:30 PM and post a "LOOK AT WHAT I MADE" photo completely disregarding posting strategy or active audience times. 😴 The few poor parents whose heads haven't hit the pillow yet give you a double tap before they head off to snooze-ville.

Your ego is stroked - but your inbox is void of any sales because normal people who aren't zombie-ing around against their better judgment (or cryin' kiddos) likely aren't pressin' the purchase button at 10-til-midnight. But you spent so long doing such an intricate set. Cool! Go get them likes! You deserve it - but remember, 🎱 call your shot.

👉 2. Are you posting sets you truly don't want to do that eat into your profits but puff up your ego?

Macrame? More like mac-ra-made-no-money. Corrie fessed up to ego-posting a set she'd "rather die than ever do again." So why post something you don't wanna redecorate to your audience? Ahhh - the never-satiable ego beggin' for that attention. If you want your audience to purchase more easy-breezy-beautiful-to-decorate-in-half-the-time mermaids, p👏o👏s👏t m👏e👏r👏m👏a👏i👏d👏s.

Or - post for likes - macrame-it-up. Cash in on the reactions! But 🎱 call your shot.

👉 3. Are you doing it to inflate your page numbers with other cookier likes or are you doing it to inflate your bottom line?

Cookiers love cookiers cookies. They're the biggest cookie-related fan club. So how do you attract those cookier eyeballs? 👀👀👀 Cookier hashtags. You know who isn't likely searching cookie industry hashtags? 🕵️ Your target audience who thinks "flood Friday" has more to do with the weather than with RI.

A great indicator of ego-focused posting is using industry hashtags. Sure - hashtags help with the algo, but focusing on industry hashtags rather than your local hashtags? Recipe for an ego stroke. And enjoy it! Enjoy the attention from other cookies - because they're paying ya in heart reacts and "where'd ya get that cutter" comments. Just remember 🎱 call your shot.

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🥤 Refund Chaos Twin2 (Corrie) is weirdly obsessed with TikTok drama - and not just any TikTok drama - no, specifically Tumbler TikTok drama - you know, the cups? Yeah - that Tumbler. So imagine my surprise when Business Insider posts an article about the very Tumbler drama she's been popcorning about since last week. 😳

It's regarding all the good stuff - refunds, screenshots, screenshots of screenshots, Etsy reviews, mudsliggin' retorts - you know, the internet drama that gets you under a warm blanket for hours as you play judge-jury-executioner via your pocket computer.

So I said - let's make a list of ways we can stay outta Business Insider articles and learn through other's experiences. Now - bless all the parties in this convoluted tail of chalice-themed cheap entertainment - I'm not pickin' sides. But grab a glass and let's work through this.

Pictured: Big Debrah (from Business Insider > from TikTok)

📑 1. Have it in your policies.

Let the policy be the bad guy - it's you and the customer against the big bad small print. Consider everything you'll need to cover your butt (and in this case, your bottle). Refunds, response times, really-close-but-not-perfect color matching? Yeah - that stuff. And that way - when things go left, you can point at the right policy and see if you can work from there.

At the beginning of this 🥤 Tumbler tumble, it seemed like the policies weren't clear on refunds when the shop made a boo-boo leaving things up to interpretation - ya know, like who pays return shipping, repairing damaged merchandise, etc.

🥶 2. Give it a minute - cool off!

To date - no one has died by not receiving an immediate reply to a cookie complaint. It's easy to get emotional when all we see is blood, sweat, and tears of work being complained about - so give yourself a break.

In the 🥤 #tumblergate drama, the responses were goin' up faster than Corrie could place an Amazon order! No time to think out a response that makes you look good and the other party feel good. C-o-o-l o-f-f.

🤬 3. Keep it private and professional.

Stay outta the limelight on handling sticky issues. This isn't the time to get the courage to go Live on Instagram. Keep it private and professional - and a great way to do this is to imagine your response being read in a court of law. If it raises a judge's eyebrow - you probably need to take it back to the drawing board.

Things escalated here faster than goin' to the second floor at Tysons Mall when there's a clearance sale at Nordy. Blaming, accusing, and cursin' that would make your Gramma call up your Momma and have a few words herself - that's where this went - and unfortunately, lead to doxxing the buyer's address (revealing identifiable information). Yikes!

👈 4. Take accountability.

Last I checked, none of us were perfect (except Phoebe-Woebe-Lemon-Squeeze 😺), so don't have shame in accepting your part in a problem. It's okay! Accountability allows the other side to also take some accountability as well. Taking zero accountability leaves the other party fighting 100% accountability. There's a world in which you can be at-fault 40% and that doesn't make you a bad person. It makes you a human.

In this version of 🥤 Tumbler-terror 5000, the original party points the blame back at the buyer - accusing the buyer of setting up the entire rouse to frame-blame the seller. Well - what else does the buyer have to do other than defend themselves?? Escalation nation!

🤗 5. Work towards a mutual resolution.

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😧 8 Social Media Baker Faux Pas It's easy to get bogged down with orders and forget your social media - but not with twin2 lurkin' behind a phone screen! As she goes to engage weekly with the group hashtag, #sugarcookiemarketing, I asked her to come up with a list of the top 8 offenses she sees bakers makin' on social media that's likely robbin' from their bottom lines.

Here goes:

😒 1. Not Putting your Location in the Instagram Bio

Check out Corrie's Instagram below (and give her a follow here) - see that? You can have your name and your location in your Instagram name - which is searchable (shout out to Kimberly for this tip) - that means not only will your handle be searchable, but any information provided in the name section of the profile as well. In this example, Corrie mentions location twice: once in the name, and again in the bio - in two differentways - her city and then the general area (Northern Virginia) to snag the attention of both her hyperlocal and broader, local audience.

🙁 2. Baker's Letting their Pinned Post get Dated

It's easy to set and forget a pinned post - and with Facebook's New Page Experience rolling out (with its fancy featured section), it's all the more important to keep this section updated. Recreate your pinned posts so the date reflects the current year - 2023 - even if it's the same exact content. It'll make your page look up-to-date (which reminds me - I need to do this myself 🙃).

😞 3. Just Posting Photos on TikTok - no video content, no catch, no hook

Tiktokkers want one thing - video content filmed vertically - and they won't settle for less. Late 2022, TikTok gave us the (unfortunate) option to upload pictures as a slide show instead of video files. It's... well... boring, and not what the platform is intended for. So while - yes, awesome that you're getting content out there - 👀 it's a better use of time to get content that gets eyes out there. Remember, time = money!

Oh yeah - and don't forget that reach-giving hook. Hooks like, "This is the best thing I've ever heard in my entire life," "I just had the WORST experience," and "Here's something cookiers will never tell you..." are all great ways to get views (just be sure to follow up with content that matches the hype).

😔 4. No Email Capture

What if Facebook and Instagram disappeared? Where would your business be? If you're thinkin' "up a creek sans paddle," consider creating an email capture. It's easy to do - even if you're not ready to send out emails just yet. Mailchimp allows for free account creation AND a free signup form - so you can start building that list now should Meta ever go the way of the DoDo.

😖 5. Cross-Posting with Hashtags

Facebook just can't seem to make #hashtags work, and we shouldn't try either. With apps like Facebook's free Planner (or Hootsuite, OneUp App, and Planoly), you can create content designed for the platform you are posting to. In two clicks, you can create a unique caption for the same content piece for both Instagram (a hashtag reach treasure trove) and Facebook (hashtag Sahara desert) that'll have your audience feelin' center stage and not like a posting afterthought.

😓 6. Making Shop Links Hard to Find

Your audience ain't got the time to play hide and go seek with your website links. Making links hard to find (like putting links in Instagram captions where they're not clickable) means less money in your pocket. Telling people from a comment to go click on your website (rather than just linking to your website in that comment) is another game of "go fetch" you won't likely win.

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🎓 The Best Cookie College Courses

New year, new you? Or new year, same you-who-said-last-year-would-be-different-but-didn't-take-the-steps-to-do-anything-differently? Okay, okay - I'll start playin' hard ball, but I'm still gonna pitch.

What if this year was different? What if you took the steps this week to ensure that 2023 will look nothin' like 2022? What if you joined the Cookie College and surrounded yourself with hundreds of other bakers focused on the exact same thing - being better this year than they were last?

Obviously, I'm biased - the Cookie College is an amalgamation of 15 years of marketing and sales knowledge bottled into 90 marketing courses, hundreds of freebie photos, and a group of 700 people forming a "hive" marketing mastermind. And I want you to join.

But because I hate sales-only emails, I'll feature the best courses in the College, but I'll also give you one freebie tip from each - how does that sound? At the end of this email - if you're sold, there will link to sign up. If you're not sold yet, snag those tips and implement them - I can guarantee they'll make your life easier.

• 🎒 Course #7 - In-Person Cookie Classes

Class is in session and we're learning about PROFIT margins! Cookie classes have been a really fun way to make money with cookies while also removing the stress of customs. We sell tickets for $75 for a 1.5 hour class and include all of that material in The Cookie College (you can preview the course materials here). Heck, we even recorded a live class for y'all.

👀 Freebie Tip - post up your entire yearly schedule of cookie classes. We find that we fill up classes much more efficiently this way - Christmas classes (we did two this year) were booked by October!

• 🔒 Course #18 - Password Management

My favorite topic - password managers. As you grow your business, you'll find yourself makin' more profiles and passwords than a five-year-old playin' a spy game. So what do? What you don't do is use the same password over and over again. You know who you are. 😂 You use a password manager to manage, store, diversify, and protect your passwords. Here's the course work preview for that class.

👀 Freebie Tip - my favorite password manager is LastPass (although there are others), and it's free for use on one device (I use it on my phone, iPad, and computer - so I pay - but it's well worth the yearly investment).

• 📸 Course #19 - Photography and Cookies

Corrie's baby-child of a course, she takes us through e-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g in this class. From prop shoppin' to lighting to staging to editing (both Lightroom desktop and mobile). This is likely one of the most comprehensive courses in our lineup since it covers just so much of this rather expansive topic - but hey, pictures move product and getting a good foundation on your product photography will pay in dividends! Here's that course breakdown.

👀 Freebie Tip - Lightroom Mobile App (by Adobe) has a free version that'll get you 95% of what you want from a photo editing app. Highly recommend it.

• 📧 Course #29 - Gmail Power User Tips and Tricks

I love Gmail - in fact, I use Workspace (Google's professional Gmail platform - I teach a few classes on this too) for all businesses I both run or work with. But Gmail - paid or free - can get out of control fast. If you wince when looking at your email notification bubble as it balloons past 1k, 2k, or even 10k - this course has your name all over it.

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👋 Buh-Bye, 2022.

Towards the last few weeks of the year (ahem - btw, what the heck happened to 2022 and where did it go!?), I like to come up with a list of closeout tasks to set me up on the right foot come the first of the year.

These aren't resolutions, but rather that proverbial closing of the book when you reach that last chapter, gather your thoughts, snag your bookmark, and find a great place to tuck the novel away. You clear the path for the future growth that the new year may bring. And here's my list (note - your list is unique to you, but heck - maybe you can snag some inspo from mine).

• 📬 Get all inboxes to Inbox Zero status.

If you've ever felt overwhelmed by just how many emails are in your inbox likely never to be open or read, consider inbox zero. Now - I keep on top of this most of the year, but towards the end, a few escape my filters and deletes, and I'm likely subscribed to all too many newsletters I'm no longer interested in. For this task, I like to audit my subscriptions, unsub from just about everything, and file / delete / respond to any outstanding emails. It's a great way to start the year off on a clean slate.

• 💻 Transfer computer data to an external hard drive.

I love my computer (a Dell XPS tower if you're curious), and I want to make sure my computer is runnin' in tip-top content-generatin' shape come January 1. To do that, we need to clear off files - delete old files you'll likely never use, file away docs in cloud storage where you can, and - my personal goal - get everything onto an external hard drive.

• 📑 Get all paper files scanned, uploaded, and shredded.

Now - a CPA may be cursin' the ground on which I walk to my paper shredder, but I don't like paper clutter - it takes up space, it's prone to destruction (water or file loss damage), and it's impossible to search through. But do you know what is searchable? Cloud storage. In fact, I use the free cloud storage included with Gmail (if you're worried about hackers - Google stores Drive files with encryption. The key to curin' the paper clutter bug? "Only touch it once."

• 🖨 Print all of Sam's Cookie University Cookie Cutters.

Heck - I'd be lyin' if I didn't admit to signing up for stuff and not capitalizing on the included resources - and Sam's Cookie University wasn't an exception - but for "year-end closeout tasks," printing all of the cutters she includes in her paid membership (I think she's opening the doors again in spring 2023) was deffo on my list.

• 🤑 Complete the company financial audit and send it to the accountant.

Hard to know what you're makin' if you don't know where you're spending. And such was what the accountant relayed in the last meeting (more like gettin' sent to the corner - but like, as an adult, but also with tears). YNAB has been my favorite tool for keeping track of my personal expenses, income, and financial goals.

Okay - I'll stop makin' your eyes water with closeout boredom, but the podcast features the rest of my list (6 more tasks) along with some closeout tasks for cookiers which include:

• File your cutter collection in a searchable app (Corrie uses Cutterly)
• Run a packaging purge - if you only have a few left, may be time to donate, swap, sell, or trash.
• Clean the clutter - finding free space is the goal here. Clean it out, clean it up, or clean out someone's wallet when you sell it (donating is always a guilt-free way to make your would-be trash someone else's treasure).
• Cutter Declutter - like your clothes, some cutters you just ain't gonna use - may be a good time to box 'em up and put them on your local buy-nothing group.

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📚 Your Word of the Year

At the end of each year, Heather likes to (annoyingly) force both family members and extended family (and heck - even strangers) what their "Word of the Year" is. The Word of the Year is pretty simple - one word that you plan to interlace into your life for the next 365 days.

📒 What are the rules about the word of the year?

No rules, really. It just has to be a word that you plan to keep top-of-mind throughout 2023. It's not a "set it and forget it" type deal like most new year's resolutions, but rather your theme summed up in a single word - one that you will use to guide your direction in the next calendar year.

📕 Can you give me some examples?

Well, lucky you - we put our family in the spotlight on Sunday, and here's what some of the "Words of the Year" were:

• Light - my little sister said she's felt pretty "heavy" this year with major life changes and big decisions. In 2023, she wants to "lighten" up her focus.
• Less - Grandma said she felt like she had a lot of baggage - and she wanted to spend 2023 dealing with it. She wanted "less" baggage and she would make that her theme throughout the next 365 days.
• Stresslessness - Corrie has been really focusing on stress management and mitigation following her "kidneys ain't playin' no mo" stint in the emergency room caused by an overly stressed immune system. She's carrying her 2022 word into 2023 as she continues to breakup with cortisol.
• Slow - Heather, mid-magnesium-glycinate-pill-poppin', had the epiphany that life in the slow lane (and not at the county court house fighting speeding tickets) was the move for 2023. Focusing on doing things, well - slowly. The quote, "If you don't have time to do it once, what makes you think you'll have time to do it again?" ringing in her eardrums as she picked supplements off the floor.
• Joy - Gams (she was on the podcast once talkin' about cherries and bowls) chose "joy" as her word. In her mind, joy = strength, and the more joy she can find in things, the stronger her faith will be this year (also she wanted to worry less and appreciate more).

📗Do I have to make a to-do list with my word?

No - it's your word. You can get it as a tramp stamp tattoo, make a to-do list (which may include tattoo-gettin' - we're not judging), think of the word during mindfulness practice, or make a to-do list about ways you plan to implement your word throughout your life and work.

The goal of the Word of Your Year is to let it be your "return to center" word where you refocus on your yearly theme. So for me, "slow" will mean I schedule fewer tasks each day, I spend more time on walks and less time working, and maybe I'll trade in my lead feet for Ugg boots (the jury's still out on that).

📘 Okay - I have a few words chosen - can I have more than one?

I'd challenge you to pair it down to just one - just like "new year's resolutions," when too many tasks clog up our goals list, we tend to get worn out. Focusing on the biggest word will make your decision pathway much clearer. Per Brian Tracy's Eat That Frog mentality, which word would have the biggest impact on you right now? It's likely that whatever word you thought of first will likely be the front-runner for your Word of the Year.

📙 Okay! I've got my word. Can I tell you what it is?

Yes! I'd love to know what your Word is! Comment on Facebook (I'll post this on the SCM Facebook Page and in the SCM Group (check the pinned post). I'd love to know your word and the reasoning behind choosing it! Heck - you might even inspire someone else's Word of the Year.

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🎅 Santa's Top 20 Gifts for Bakers

🎅🤶 Call the twin Mr. and Mrs. Clause cause here's our hot take on the hottest gifts for the hottest oven-lovin' baker in your life (and if you are the baker in your life, forward this email to your Santa - I'll include links to make shoppin' and shippin' a breeze).

1️⃣ $70 - $180 - An Airbrush Machine

First up - an airbrush machine. 💨 There are many options, but the ones that twin2 is digging are the Sweet Pink Olive airbrush ($160), the Cookie Countess Airbrushes - the original model ($125), and the newer model - the Royale Max ($179.95).

2️⃣ $800 - $900 - iPad + Apple Pencil + Procreate

Not for the faint of budget - an iPad with Procreate and an Apple Pencil makes for the ultimate gift for the sketch-artist-turned-baker. If you want Heather's rec - shoot for the iPad Pro model 11'' (there are some variants and refurbed options that should trim the price down a bit) 🖋 and the Apple Pencil second gen ($129) (not to be confused with the Pencil first gen) + a Procreate app purchase ($10 - one time).

3️⃣ $124 - $173 - Americolor Corp's Gel Paste Kits

Corrie swears by these - and I, frankly, love the name. The Americolor gels are a fan favorite - and their kits allow a baker to create just about every color under the sun (or oven light??). ️🎨 Their Heavenly 70 ($173) or their Nifty 50 ($124) are going to make any baker squeal like a kid on Christmas morn, and if you're on a budget - the 12 Color Student Kit doesn't break the bank at just $28.

4️⃣ $100 - $200 - 3D Printer - Ender3 Pro V2

Takin' cutter production in-house is a great way to save time, money, and open a world of possibilities to the creative process for the cookier in your life. 🖨 I'm going to recommend the cheaper Ender 3Pro ($189) but the Prusa Mini ($429) is self-leveling (and will likely pay for itself with the money you save not buying Advil).

5️⃣ $20 - $25 - Cutter of the Month Club Subscription

For the baker you just don't know what to buy for - let the cutter shops do the pickin' and choosin' with a Cutter of the Month Club. 📦 These subscriptions send the baker in your kitchen a set of cookie cutters every month for as long as the subscription is active - and they're already preppin' for Valentine's Day! Two Corrie is diggin' is the SheyB Designs ($25) and JH Cookie Co. ($25) subscription boxes.

6️⃣ $99/yr - YNAB - You Need a Budget

Boring, I know. But listen - there's actually two ways to make money - 🤑 either sell more or spend less - and with YNAB's budgeting app ($99/yr or $14.99/mo), you can know when and where your money's going - perfect for the baker who is looking to streamline costs in 2023. This is Heather's pick for the financial fanatic this holiday season (bonus - new family plans are included in that price! the whole fam can saaave).

7️⃣ $112 - $172 - Canvas Lamps

Okay - if you're thinkin' about jumpin' into the wild world of Reels in 2023, come prepared and in style with one of the prettiest desktop lamp / phone stands this side of... well, the North Pole. 💡 Canvas's Lamps ($112 - $172) are beautiful desktop light rings with a built-in phone holder (some say it can even hold a projector - but we've not yet tested that). Two thumbs and one tripod up for this one.

8️⃣ $119 - Canva Pro Membership

Uh - yikes. Totally misquoted this price on the podcast - but the Canva graphic design software's Pro plan is still worth the steeper-than-quoted price point ($119/year paid annually). 🖼 This software packs a punch when it comes to all things graphics - social media, presentations, printables, and more.

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🧠 Comparison Awareness 101 👀

It's that tiiime of yeeeear... where we feel like we're fallin' behind. And it is EASY to fall into comparison fatigue!

1. 😞 "They sold out, but I have wide-open weekends."
2. 😔 "They filled 3 classes, and I haven't even listed one."
3. 😖 "They got the BRP snowman belly bags, and I missed them before they sold out."
4. 😓 "They're doing 4 Christmas markets, and I only sold a few customs this week."
5. 😭 "They're doing something and I'm not and now I feel bad, sad, depressed, burnt out, resentful, and all around - bum humbuggy."

Heyo - you're not alone - but you don't have to feel stranded on the island of negative thoughts. We've come up with a list on this week's podcast to keep you sane and smiling this holiday season by being aware of the dangers of comparison and to help you stay in your unique lane - happy and hopeful.

1️⃣ 1. When someone says they sold out, it doesn't mean you didn't - everyone has a different number.

If I wanted to sell 10 of something, and Corrie only sold 2 of something, she'll have a likelihood of selling out 5x's faster than me. But all I hear is the "I'm sold out 'til the end of the year!" What a defeating Debby downer when I'm sitting here with eight more left to sell! ⚠️ Compare Aware Alert ⚠️ - Her "sold out" and my "sold out" are unique to each of our unique situations. I can be happy for Corrie, but understand that her goals and mine are worlds apart - and that's okay. I'll compare myself to myself last year (more on that later).

2️⃣ 2. Squirrel brain - focus on 1 thing. The great group ideas will be here when you get back.

🐿In a group like SCM where there are genius ideas whizzing back and forth all day long, it's easy to get distracted and fall into the dark pit of analysis paralysis where the thought of doing this thing comes at the opportunity cost of now not being able to do that thing. ⚠️ Compare Aware Alert ⚠️ - Doing anything is better than doing nothing. Find one thing - commit to it, and execute on it. Do that one thing the best you can. The ideas will still be here when you're finished with that one thing. And if you don't get around to them all? No sweat - you did something - and that's worth everything.

3️⃣ 3. Set up an unmoveable goal that fits your lifestyle.

"'I'll sell 10 custom orders this December." Great goal - stick to it. Don't get jealous of someone teaching 5 classes or of something attending 4 holiday markets. ⚠️ Compare Aware Alert ⚠️ - Find your goal that fits your lifestyle. It won't look like anyone else's because your life isn't anyone else's. Find a goal - set it - and forget about changing it. Don't get sucked into the (easy to fall into - ask me how I know) holiday greed at the expense of your happiness.

4️⃣ 4. Likes don't equal sales.

It's easy to think that the cookie page that has 1,432,671 likes probably sold 1,432,671 cookies - but that's a false reality. ⚠️ Compare Aware Alert ⚠️ - The cookie classes page we post to? 2 likes on my last post. The classes? Booked with a waiting list. Two likes from your target audience are worth 2000 likes from an audience who can't give you their money. Stay in your happy lane and keep marketing, niching, and targeting like your happiness depends on it.

5️⃣ 5. Budget buffer time - assign "OFF DAYS" as a task - and make a conscious effort to not work. Working = bad on these days.

It's easy to fall into the hustle trap of thinking "I'm just sitting here watching Hallmark city boys lose to the local small-town hunks when I could be baking cookies, making sales, and taking that bread."

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🙊 Quote "Quote" Unquote

This week, Heather reads off her favorite (absolutely random) quotes. Here goes:

• 💰 If it costs you your inner peace, then it’s very expensive.
• If you don't cultivate discipline, you will be a slave to your impulses.
• 🪓 The ax forgets but the tree remembers.
• Did you say that to be helpful or hurtful? / 👂 What do you want me to hear when you say that?
• When an inanimate object wants more from me than it can give to me, that's called clutter.
• You either do hard things to make your life easier, or you do easy things that make your life harder. Choose your hard.
• You suffer from one of two pains - the pain of discipline or the pain of regret.
• 🥕 Throw them a carrot so they don’t try and eat the whole garden.
• I'm going to give you your flowers. You can water them or not.
• It's not for sale, but it ain't free either.
• 🍎 The day you plant the seed is not the day you eat the fruit.
• You can't learn to drive in a parked car.
• If there's a due date, then treat it like a DO date.
• If it smells like 💩 everywhere you go, you might want to check your shoes.
• 🙊 Never miss an opportunity to shut up.
• The first step to fixing any problem is not to make it any worse.
• What we resist, persists.
• The price of creativity is the judgment of others.
• 🛬 It's always better to be on the ground wishing you were in the air than to be in the air wishing you were on the ground.
• How we say things is how we think things.
• Make it easy to do things right and hard to do things wrong.
• Don't compare yourself to others, but to who you were yesterday.
• 📊 What is not measured cannot be improved.
• If you name it, you can tame it.
• You pile up enough tomorrows, and you’ll find you are left with nothing but a lot of empty yesterdays.
• 15% of a watermelon is better than 100% of a grape. 🍇
• You don't stop playing when you get old. You get old when you stop playing
• 🌳 Sometimes you've got to burn down some trees to save the forest.
• Clutter is nothing more than postponed decisions.
• A great partnership is one where both people are striving to do 60% of the work.
• ️🎶 When you're happy, you hear the music. When you're sad, you hear the lyrics.
• The absence of evidence is not evidence of absence.
• ⌚ What good is a Rolex if it just tells you what time your lunch break is over?
• Past behavior is the best predictor of future behavior.
• You are not responsible for your first thought because we are humans with nervous systems. 🧠 You are responsible for your second thought though.
• In strategy, the longest way around is the shortest way home.
• 🦷 You brush in the morning to keep your friends and you brush at night to keep your teeth.
• I have to die. If it is now, well then I die now; if later, then now I will take my lunch, since the hour for lunch has arrived - and dying I will tend to later.
• Winners are focused on the finish line. Losers are focused on winners. 🏁
• 🛍️ Everyone will pay for a product if it can pay them back.
• The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place.
• 🐝 Bees don't waste time telling flies that honey is better than 💩.
• The more you sweat in peace the less you bleed in war.
• If you want something you’ve never had, you have to do something you’ve never done.
• A ship in the harbor is safe, but that is not what ships are built for.
• 🚗 Money is a passenger in the car, but I never let it behind the wheel.

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It struck me the other day - Susan the Scammer is actually really good at marketing. I mean - look at her! This little "event planner" has marketed so well that an entire industry knows about her antics! 👏 And 👏 the 👏 woman 👏 still 👏 doesn't 👏 quit.

If we think about it - we can actually learn a pretty solid marketing lesson from the lady with the bluest of hearts. But beyond the scam, Susan has a pretty solid marketing campaign that's gotten her a lot of business (never repeat business though, mind you). So what can we learn from Miss Reed?

1. 💙 Be consistent

Susan hits the pavement consistently. She replies consistently. She keeps her funnel short and converts bakers time and again. She keeps the process simple. And she's simply a good scammer - and that's something we can learn from ol' Susy Reed. Keeping your communication consistent, your order pipeline consistent, and your workflow consistent creates conversions.

2. 💙 Don't take no for an answer

Susan has been ghosted, lambasted, told up one way and down the other by more bakers aware of her scammy ways - and yet she remains undeterred! Suzy keeps going - no after no - until she finds a yes. She's the embodiment of "it's not personal, it's just business." Don't let the next NO take you to your knees. You're a business owner now - no is a part of your life and the more you learn to love these two little letters, the more successful you'll be - just like Reed.

3. 💙 Warm up to Cold outreach

100% of Susan's emails are sent to a cold audience - people she's never worked with before. But she lures them in with promises of things that interest her audience - not the other way around. Susan appeals to her cold audience and we can too. By contacting cafes where we'd love to host cookie classes, reaching out to vendor events, and asking the HOA if a pop-up is A-okay, we're taking a lesson from Susan and doing "cold outreach." By appealing to our cold contact's wants and needs (just like Susan dangles that big check in front of us bakers), we can get a yes even from a stranger.

4. 💙 More than one form of payment

Now here's a lesson we can learn on what not to do a la Susan. Because her whole scam can only operate from checks, she limits her audience. We can get more market share by opening up our payment options. Yeah - that may mean processing fees, but if accepting credit cards gets you more money overall, it's a net win - and somethin' Sue can take notes on.

1. 💙 There are niches in the riches

Susan niched down to SUGAR COOKIE bakers - she doesn't care about cakes, she doesn't want chocolates - the woman wants her hearts, and she wants them blue. Because Susan niched down, she appeals to a smaller audience, but that audience is far more receptive that way. You can too - instead of being a baker of all trades, master of none - focus on being known for one or two products. You'll find that you'll become people's go-to source for that one thing you're really good at (the same goes for how many products you sell within your niche).

6. 💙 If it's too good to be true...

Bonus - if it's too good to be true, it's probably not for you! Very rare are the times in my life when I came out ahead on something that sounded too good to be true. Clients who promise you the world if you make this one exception, class attendees who push your boundaries but promise repeat business, and DIY kit pick-ups who promise they'll be early - if you do XYZ - these can lead you holdin' the bag (and that's not a bag of money). If it sounds too good to be true, do your research. You may find that it's just Suzy Reed lookin' for another victim.

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🎥 Reels Really Explained for Real

Instagram Reels must stand for "reel-y confusing," but rest easy, you're not alone. Instagram Reels are new, and are shifting the decade-old photo-centric platform by a lot - which is making things feel a bit all over the place - so we (ahem - Corrie) wanted to cover the "who, what, where, when, and what the heck" of Instagram's newest push - Reels.

To understand why Reels are a thing, it's important to understand how Meta (Facebook) was losing users to competing app, TikTok. Unlike the photo-focused platform of Instagram with beautifully curated feeds and follower/following metrics that guaranteed limited reach, TikTok opened the floodgates to creating seemingly overnight sensations. In the world of marketing, we call this "opportunity," and so did millions of users (graph below from 2018 - and that's pre-pandemic).

Why did people prefer TikTok over social media behemoth, Instagram? According to Instagram, 😍 it's TikTok's relaxed algorithms and verticle video content that kept users comin' back again and again to hear the next trending song about corn.

👀 Instagram wasn't one to be above copycatting what was working for its competition and snuck Reels into its platform in 2020 limiting the videos to 60 seconds (two-thirds shorter than TikTok's 3-minute limit - TikTok is now at 10-minute limits for some creators).

With a loosening of the unforgiving Instagram algo and the new ability to possibly go viral on a platform we've come to know and (debatably) love, users flocked back to Instagram torn between now two very similar apps.

💰 But Instagram wasn't stoppin' at completely copying the Bytedance-owned company - to counter TikTok's Creator Fund - the payment paid towards creators who merit a certain number of views - Instagram launched the Reels Play Bonus Program (weirdly long name, but I digress).

How to sign up? 🤔 Well - here's the thing - you can't. You've gotta be "chosen" and to be chosen? You've gotta be producing content - Reels content - on Instagram. Once offered access to the program, a window opens up for 30-days with a payment threshold essentially saying, "If you can get X views, we'll pay you Y - but you have to do it before the door closes by Z." Once the door closes, you're booted from the Bonus Play Program until the offer randomly appears again and the entire process repeats.

To get into the "pay-to-play" platform, your Reels must follow these rules:

• 📸 Your reel cannot be claimed by another rights holder.
• 📸 You can't have received 3 strikes for reels violations
• 📸 Your reel can't contain branded content.
• 📸 Your reel can't be watermarked.
• 📸 No bad words!
• 📸 No fake / bought views.

Once you sign up, though - 🤑 the cold hard cash spends well. Corrie got a payout of $500 before she reached the cap (Facebook / Meta require your tax details for reporting - so none of that "under the table" stuff).

So - should you be creating Reels?

The answer? It depends. Like I always say - it comes down to a math problem. If you want to get more followers - Reels would be your best bet. If you want to get more local sales? I think your time would be better spent hosting a pop-up or teaching a cookie class. If you're selling to other bakers? Reels may be a quick ticket to them - but then again, it may be a quick ticket to going viral for all the wrong saran-wrapped reasons.

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🏍 Bakers and Bikers

When it comes to our two-wheeled friends, I started thinking of all of the parallels there between a baking business and motorcycles - weird, I know - but hear me out. Both are HORRIFYING. But wait - there's more!

When you find yourself sweating with an engine between your legs and a bucket on your head, you start to question some of your life choices - and I surmise that sitting in the kitchen, sore lower back and aching neck - the day before pick-up because you had more orders than time might land you in the same head space.

🏍 Look Where You Wann Go.

When you're on a bike, you need to look where you want to go - not at that mattress in the middle of the road you don't want to hit. Why? We don't notice it, but when you look at something long enough while riding, your body begins to make minor adjustments that end up steering the bike right towards that thing you'd love to avoid. So motorcyclists are told to look where they want to go - meaning, if there's a mattress in the road, look past it and to the right - your body will adjust and you'll clear the object and head on your merry way.

Same with bakery businesses - stop staring at your competitor - you're going to head right into their wake, and it won't be good for business. Instead - focus on your goal. Want to teach classes? Look there, not at the other bakers teaching classes. Want to offer spooky-season DIY kits? Focus on getting the best photos of your set - not one what the competitors are offering. Look where YOU want to go. You'll find yourself where you want to be and not about to ride over the "mattress" of business distractions.

🏍 Ride Your Own Ride.

On a motorcycle, it's tempting to try to "keep up with the cool kids." You get invited on a motorcycle ride, there are people with years more of experience than you have - and they ride fast and well. But you (if you're me) aren't good enough to keep up. And attempting to keep up could spell motorcycle disaster. Don't. Ride your own ride - take only the risks you know you can handle.

Same with your business. It's easy to wanna keep up with the marketing fads that hit the group - Target crates, anyone?! Hey - if you're not there yet, it's okay to just ride your own ride. You don't need to jump on every "ride" - ride the ride you want to ride - the one your business can handle right now. Not doing every marketing strategy doesn't make you a bad business owner - it makes you a smart one.

🏍 It's Not If, It's When.

Motorcycle accidents - not fun. Motorcycle accidents - also kinda possible. When you go to a bike meet and you see someone that says "I've NEVER been in a bike accident. It won't happen to me! I'm safe!" you'll also hear someone say, "It's not if you get in an accident, it's when." Not because they hope you'll end up high siding on the interstate, but rather to keep you cautious. The more you're aware of the liability, the safer you'll ride. Invincible riders are just riders asking to be humbled.

Same with your bakery business. Never had a bad review? Never had a client asking for a refund? Never had an irate Facebook comment? It's not if, it's when. And knowing your vulnerabilities can help you prepare for them. Get a stack of good reviews, come up with a refund policy, and learn how to deal with difficult clients. It'll save your butt (and your bike).

Okay - I'll stop bothering you with neat motorcycle catchphrases - but there are a few other gems on the podcast you can annoy your two-wheeled friends with (or better manage your bakery / bikery business).

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What?! Two podcasts in one week?! 

Well - sorta. This is an audio-outtake from a Facebook Live I taught in The Cookie College yesterday launching the 3x3x3(x3) Challenge for Instagram! And to celebrate a year of the Cookie College, I'm inviting you podcasters to get it on this challenge - by listening to it!

If you like what you hear - jump in! This challenge is a fun one and really works! If you'd like to learn more about The Cookie College, you can check it out here: https://www.thecookiecollege.com/

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🏃 Run, Forest, Run!

You always hear us refer to marketing in terms of "run-times" - but what are we saying when we sub in track days for calendar weeks? Don't worry - no gym routines here.

Run times refer to the number of days / weeks / months designated for a marketing campaign.

So - let's apply it to BTS (for some reason, I thought people were making Korean boy band cookies this whole time, but I digress). How can we use a marketing lifecycle to prep our audience for the upcoming back-to-school offerings?

Quick poll before we do - in a poll of about 300 SCM group members, the results on BTS offerings and run-times is interesting:

• 🏃 6 Weeks Out - 0%
• 🏃 5 Weeks Out - 1%
• 🏃 4 Weeks Out - 12%
• 🏃 3 Weeks Out - 32%
• 🏃 2 Weeks Out - 18%
• 🏃 1 Week Out - 3%
• 🏃 Not Offering BTS - 31%

Three weeks is the most popular run-time for back-to-school sets.

I would make a disclaimer that BTS is unlike any "cookie holiday" in that it typically sneaks up on our target audience at a time when a majority of bakers have taken the summer off. I'd assume Halloween will be a bit different.🏃 So how can we build out a "marketing lifecycle" for back to school?*

Your run-times will be different than my run-times depending on your location, back-to-school date, target audience, and how prepared you are. There's no wrong answer, but if you're looking for an answer of some sort - here's mine: we start with a 6-week marketing cycle. So if your BTS date is August 29th, guess what - you're getting your BTS cycle going this week.

🏃 1. Awareness - getting your audience prepped

First stage in this 6-stage / 6-week cycle is awareness. You're not expecting to make any sales now, but your form is probably ready just in case. You're basically introducing your audience to your offerings. Kinda like the "Hey girl heeeey" posts. This is the top of your back-to-school funnel.

🏃 2. Engagement - getting your audience to react / post / like

This is the fun stage. Asking for your audience's opinions on your offerings, posting their kiddos' last first-day-of-school photos, or hosting a contest for last year's report card grades. You're still not asking for the sale here, but you are getting people excited!

🏃 3. Evaluation - getting your audience to pick you

This is where you set yourself up as the "best in the business" - whether in cute packaging, customer support (more on that later), and featuring great past client reviews. You're also telling them your pricing options, informing them of pick-up dates, and last calls. Make it easy to pick you, or they'll pick someone else.

🏃 4. Purchase - getting your audience to give you money

And BOOM goes the dynamite. At this stage, you ask for the sale. Make buying so easy. Communicate effectively. How to order. Ease of ordering. Confirmation of order. What to expect after the order. Do NOT make it hard for people to give you their money. (ps - you could also up-sell add-ons here)

🏃 5. Support - getting your audience to trust that they made the right decision

Listen - once money exchanges hands, you can't ghost to the kitchen for 2 weeks. You can have these emails already written and ready to go - even before you made the first sale. Email clients the minute they order (auto-responder), then use a mailmerge app or bcc your list to follow up a week out from pick-up, the day before pick-up, day-of pick-up, and heck, even after pick-up! Make these clients your clients for life.

🏃 6. Loyalty - getting your audience to shout you from the mountain tops

This is where the true business owner shines. The ability to turn a custom

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🙊 Working with the End in Mind

"Help! A client said my cookies were too dry!"

❌ "Block them."

❌ "Tell them to bring you the cookies back."

❌ "Tell them all sales final."

❌ "Tell them to kick rocks." (or cookies that are hard as rocks 😂

It's no doubt that in an open forum like Facebook Cookie Groups, you're going to get a biased response in dealing with client issues. Heck - we've all been on the receiving end of a less than savory client email.

But what if you worked with the end in mind?

Lemme explain - in every confrontation, there are typically three optional ends:

• Win / Lose - one person wins 100%, the other walks away with 0%
• Lose / Lose - neither party walks away with any %
• Win / Win - both parties walk away with a portion of 100% - this is a compromise situation

Your goal should be the win / win. Contrary to popular belief, your clients don't want to deal with messy refund situations either. In a 2021 poll collecting 1,654 comments from Sugar Cookie Marketing Group Members, most bakers don't have to refund - even when it's offered.

• 0 Order Refunds - 71%
• .5 Order Refunds - 4% (less than a whole order)
• 1 Order Refund - 16%
• 2 Order Refunds - 3%
• 3 Order Refunds - 1%

It's not you against your client. It's you and your client against a problem. Being on the same side of "resolution finding" puts you together as a team finding the best possible outcome for two parties vs. you against them - in which case, it's a fight to the proverbial death - winner takes all, loser loses.

✅ Pro-tip: Losers don't take losing very well. Rather they take it to review profiles

Here are a few tips to help you "work with the end in mind" and make the best decision for your business:

1. Give Yourself 24 Hours. You can use this in your personal relationships too - giving yourself some distance from an issue right off the bat gives your brain a chance to process and your emotions some time to simmer down. Brash decisions and emails rarely result in the most calculated course of action.
2. Find a Bounce Buddy. Bounce ideas off of a third party who isn't invested in the outcome and isn't a yes man (or woman). Third parties can provide unbiased perspectives. Bonus if it's someone with a business / customer relations background.
3. Make a List of Compromise Options. I love a list. Make a list of all the possible outcomes and then find that "win-win" one that gives both people a little bit of a win.
4. Create an Oopsie Budget. Refunds hurt because they hit your pocket. But what if I told you they didn't have to - not when you have a budget for mistakes funded by other client orders. Creating an "oopsie budget" allows you to run to the refund without gettin' that hit in the wallet.
5. Consider the Confirmation Bias. In a group of like-minded people, we often seek out the answers that resonate with our beliefs. This is dangerous because counter-opinions, even if they may be the best approach, are dismissed since they're immediately seen as "that's not what I think the answer should be - so thus you're wrong." Confirmation biases blind us to better options and different experiences.
6. Read without Emotion. I make Corrie do this with texts from her ex. Don't insinuate emotion- anger, spite, frustration, annoyance - it's easy to infer these from text-based communication. But it may set you off in the wrong direction - defensiveness. Attempt to read correspondences with the least emotional inflection possible. It'll help you sift through the words to find the meaning - one that may be less attacking than you initially expected.

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"No." - Mark Zuckerberg

🤔 What would happen if you lost access to Facebook for 90 days?

Not sure? Well, consider it. ❌ Facebook's new "enforcement technology" AI ain't takin' prisoners, and there's not much you can do about it - except this one thing.

Backstory - Corrie woke up this morning to find her primary account (Corrie Miracle) suspended for a meme she posted 1 year ago in The Cookie College Facebook group. The meme? Here ya go... [RSVP to our newsletter to see this - I don't wanna get in trouble]. This is the offending meme.

Facebook admits that its software is still learning and tends to err on the sides of "too strict" and "too loose" as it learns from human reviewers if it hit or missed the mark on content violations.

🤖 "Our technology proactively detects and removes the vast majority of violating content before anyone reports it."

"Our human review teams use their expertise in certain policy areas and locales to make difficult, often nuanced judgment calls. Every time reviewers make a decision, we use that information to train our technology. Over time, across millions of decisions, our technology gets better, allowing us to remove more violating content. " (read more here)

Okay - but how does this affect you? Here's the thing - Corrie didn't just get a post deleted. She also got a slap on the wrist - a big one at that.

• ❌ No Facebook Lives for 90 Days (hosting or attending)
• ❌ No Facebook Ads for 90 Days
• ❌ No Facebook Page Posts / Management for 90 Days
• ❌ Posts in groups will appear lower in feeds (no expiration)

And this isn't it. Last week, the SCM Instagram Account got a wrist slap from a meme of a person choking their own shadow with the caption "When you finally figure out who's been ordering all those cookie cutters."

But get this - the meme was posted in an Instagram story that had expired over a year ago. And yet Facebook still deleted the content even though it was no longer publically accessible.

So what do you do? I doubt you'll love my recs but here they are:

• ➡️ Go back into your post history - business, Instagram, and person profiles - and delete any content that skirts the line of appropriate and "could be slightly offensive."
• ➡️ Add a second admin to your business pages.
• ➡️ Stop posting controversial content - politics and other hot-button topics - to any accounts associated with your business pages.

Hey - I don't make the rules. I just get in trouble with them, and I'm trying to save you from a similar fate. I (Heather here) got a ban last year from saying that 🏡 homes with 🕷️ in them should be 🔥 to the ground. (I've since publically apologized to all spiders who were offended). But the ban happened instantly - in fact, it was a comment I made on a Facebook Live on storefronts. As soon as I had made the comment, in less than 60 seconds, my account was flagged and suspended from interacting on Facebook Lives for 30 days.

👀 Like - yeah, I couldn't even watch them let alone engage.

Is this ideal? No. Is it fair? Probably not. But are you a business owner with leads coming in from Meta-owned properties? Yes. And I think this is important enough to stir some action to mitigate the further loss of your content and profiles.

🕷️ Long live the spiders.

Have you experienced issues with the AI enforcement tech? Feel free to start a thread in the Sugar Cookie Marketing (Group).

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🏡 Movin' and a Shakin'.

🏡 Tips we suggest implementing when you plan to move your bakery (and your home).

Okay - yeah. We're mostly home-based bakeries. But what happens when the "home" part of a home-based bakeryneeds to move? Whether a military family, cashin' in on the housing market's cash cowness (interest rates, say whaaaaa?!), or simply relating just because - it can wreak havoc on the marketing you've worked so hard for.

🤔 So what do then? 😶 Start over? 😯 Delete everything? 🤐 Don't Tell Anyone? 😬 Tell Everyone? 😭 Cry?

Well - yes, always cry first. But then - strategize. Here are 5 tips Corrie suggests when moving - something she's experienced up close and personal over the last 2 weeks.

1. Right now - Join the local groups where you're relocating to. There are many awesome reasons to get involved in local groups - from actually using them as a resource when you're trying to get the lay of the land to assisting you in finding new clients on weekly and monthly sales threads. Warm up your audience - you'll get a nifty "I'm new here" waving hand next to your name for 2 weeks after your joining date. Ask questions! Add value to the group, make a spreadsheet with links to sales dates and posts, and help the mods by adding more value to their group.
2. After you find your new home, stalk the neighbors. Okay - not stalk, but get to know the lay of the land. Minivans? Kids. More than three cars? Possibly high school kids. Work van? Commercial cookie orders. New kids? Birthdays. And when your new "neighbs" do somethin' nice for you - thank them in cookie currency. People love having a cookie dealer nearby.
3. As soon as you move in, join Nextdoor.com. This one will require you to be able to receive mail under your name to your new location, so this is a post-move-in-date marketing task. Nextdoor is a networking app based on your zip code. You can only join your Nextdoor neighborhood if you live nearby. You can also create a business profile that allows 2 free posts each month within a 2-mile radius of our business's location - which just so happens to be your new crib.
4. Dress the part in a branded / funny cookie shirt. Corrie has a shirt that says "COOKIE DEALER" and always gets someone to ask "what the heck is that?!" Take that logic to the streets - well, the walking path. Whenever you walk the doggo, snag a funny, well-branded cookie tee (Bakery Tee Co has an awesome selection) and start marketing. Nosey Nancy (like me) will eventually just have to ask you - and guess what? You've got a new potential client who just loves to talk.
5. If you can stomach it, join your HOA. Being involved in your community puts you as a natural POC for other community members. Plus - hey, maybe you can help make the neighborhood a more enjoyable place for everyone. And guess what the HOA board will think of come holiday gifting time? Chet-you-betcha.
6. Curb and Cookie-a-peal. Get your curb appeal dialed in as a cookie baker. Cute, clean, and inviting. Nice signage - heck, even a flag or yard flag that subtly suggests you're the place to get great goodies.

Hope this helps. Would Corrie delete her page and start over with each move? 🤔 No, she says. She'd let current fans know their support really helps her and ask that they continue engaging with her cookie posts. Offering a "hard end date" for pre-move orders will keep people in the loop and may snag a few of those FOMO sales. And always, before you depart - thank those who have supported you in your old stomping grounds.

Got any more ideas to help with relocation hesitation? Feel free to start a thread in the Sugar Cookie Marketing (Group).

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🧠 Playin' the Imposter.

🚧 What is imposter syndrome?

Here's the textbook definition: the persistent inability to believe that one's success is deserved or has been legitimately achieved as a result of one's own efforts or skills.

I mean - let's face it - there's someone out there better than us. 😒 They bake better than us. 🙁 They ice better than us. ☹️ Their house is prettier than ours for photos. 😞 They probably have a better customer service experience. They teach better than us. 😖 They...

... well, that's what our imposter syndrome brains would like us to think. 🧠

But guess what - your client? Yeah - they called you to bake their custom dozen. Not anyone else.

So why are you doubting their decision with self-doubt fueled by imposter syndrome?

We end up letting our imposter syndrome help us design and build the self-made roadblocks keeping us from trying new things. On the Happiness Lab Podcast, one of the guest psychologists says that people who attempt something and fail are actually happier than people who don't attempt anything and never fail.

🤔 Why?

Because we get the "but." Yeah - I didn't fill a cookie class, but I met 4 new potential clients! Yeah - I didn't sell out in a farmer's market, but I know what to bring next time! I didn't nail that custom set, but I had a refund policy in place and we all ended up winning.

🚧 People who never try? Yeah - they also never get the but - and that makes you more unhappy than if you tried and missed the mark a bit. 😩

🚧 🚧 🚧 🚧 How to deconstruct your self-made roadblocks? 🚧 🚧 🚧 🚧

That's going to take work - hard work - in fact, as much work as you spent building those roadblocks. It starts by learning everything you can - watching the free Facebook Lives, joining The Cookie College, or asking a question in the group to get more information.

And then it 👏 requires 👏 actually 👏 doing 👏 the 👏 thing.

Movement is best when it's forward - not side to side. "I'll do a cookie class... in a few months." Dude - do it now! Figure it out now! Make the mistakes now! We'll figure it out as we go along.

This podcast has been listened to over 240,837 times as of the writing of this email.

🚧 What if we'd let imposter syndrome talk us down from starting it a year ago? 🤔

Got any more ideas to counter imposter syndrome? Feel free to start a thread in the Sugar Cookie Marketing (Group).

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🍪 Anatomy of a Cookie Class.

🤑 Simply put - cookie classes are high margin offerings - and we love 'em.

Plus - let's be honest, if you're okay with talking in front of groups, cookie classes can be really fun. You get the date nighters, the girls-day-outters, the mom and her kiddos, the mom trying to get away from her kiddos, the bakers looking to expand their offerings, the bakers looking to hate royal icing consistencies - and just about everything in between.

💸 And at $75/ticket here in the nation's capital, it's not a bad way to spend 1.5 hours on a Saturday!

So let's bake down... I mean, breakdown, the anatomy of what one of our cookie classes looks like. Now - if you teach a cookie class, it could (and probably will) look different, but if you're new to cookie classes or it's been on your list of things to try - then you might learn a few things from our mistakes and the pro-tips list below!

• 🎟️ We use Eventbrite for tickets. It's not free, but it saves a lot of admin work. You can pass the fees along, but we absorb those.
• 📬 We send 2 reminder emails before class (in addition to Eventbrite's reminders), and one email after class with tips, shopping lists, recipes, and a link to social review sites.
• 💵 We have a full-refund policy that ends 7 days prior to class. After that, it's a class credit. No refunds on the day of class if you're a no-show.
• ⏰ Baking day starts the day before typically. We build out a spreadsheet to do the cookie math.
• 🍪 Each class has 6 - 7 cookies, 4 icings bags, and 1 sprinkle condiment cup.
• 👀 We create a PPT (PowerPoint) presentation before class to walk people through the steps.
• 🕐 Show up an hour early to set up. Worst case, someone shows up early and you're ready to go. Best case - they show up on time leaving you ample time to generate some marketing content (heyo Reels!).
• 📺 Corrie brings a 32 inch cheapy-cheap tv and HDMI connector for her computer so we can project the PPT for attendees.
• 👥 Use nametags and place groups towards the back and singles towards the front - it'll help with noise control.
• ️🎶 Snag a Google Home or a Bluetooth speaker for some ambient music (think: piano tracks). It'll help with the silence.
• 📍 We don't let them take the scribes home.
• 📃 Add a piping practice sheet! It eats up a ton of time and lets people practice a bit. We laminated them so we can reuse them each class.
• 📦 We do provide a take-home box + a ziplock baggy for them to snag their icing bags. Hey - less cleanup for us!
• 🗯️ We don't decorate live in front of them. Corrie walks around while I narrate (annoyingly), but people seem to like it!
• 📸 Bring a DSLR for photos - but tell everyone they have to check your Facebook Page to find them - heyo growth strategy!
• ❌ We only cancel classes that have 4 or fewer attendees. We offer them to be rolled into the next class or a full refund.
• 🗓 We call a class cancelation 5-days prior to class.
• 💰 We offer discounts for seats we can't fill or for last-minute class credits requests - these are offered to past attendees or Corrie's client list.
• 🎄 Holiday classes are the easiest to fill. Summer seems to be the slowest time for us.

Hope that helps some of you considering teaching classes. It's a blast. In fact, we give you everything we use in class in The Cookie College (a membership plan we offer as an addendum to everything you get for free in the Sugar Cookie Marketing Group. You can find out more about that here.

Got any more ideas to add to this list? Feel free to

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👍 Rule of thumb - two clicks to purchase. 👎

You see - when someone clicks to your website, they're, on average, about one or two additional 🖱 mouse clicks away from quitting the entire buying process out of frustration. In our distracted world, there's a lot fighting for the eyes and ears of our audience - and we need to get them from "interested" to "invoiced" in the shortest amount of time possible.

The more clicks we separate our clients from separating from their money, the higher the odds that they'll fall out of our funnel. 👣 Each step we add into our purchase process increases our funnel. The more funnel steps, the more people we're losing - and we may not even know it.

Imagine if you went to purchase a cookie-cutter.

1. 1️⃣ You go to the website only to read that if you want that cookie cutter, you'll need to go to a second website.
2. 2️⃣ Okaaay, you click over. Except that specific cookie cutter is actually a collab cutter and you'll need to order it from a third website.
3. 3️⃣ When you get to the third website, you see that on the product listing, it's sold out, but you can sign up for an email to get notified when it will be restocked.
4. 4️⃣ You begrudgingly hand over your email digits only to get a form error and
5. 5️⃣ a pop-up saying that you'll need to email the website owner to be manually added, except when you send that email -
6. 6️⃣ you get a mailer-daemon response from GMAIL that the email address hasn't been correctly configured.

❌ You tell me - at what point would you have given up on the cookie-cutter?

3️⃣ If you're like most humans, it would have been when you needed to click to the third website. You wouldn't have clicked at all, but rather returned to Etsy to find a similar cutter from a seller who is more reliable. And that's because the funnel was simply way too long.

How about your business? Where do you have phantom funnels growing slowly and secretly eating at your bottom line? 🤳 A great way to identify funnel faux pas is by getting a self-proclaim tech-illiterate friend or relative to attempt to buy from you. 👀 Watch their every move (and try not to show your frustration) as they click here, there, and yonder further and further from your "buy now" button.

Then optimize your funnel. Delete, reword, tweak, and move around - whatever it is that is throwin' your audience - help make it REALLY clear and REALLY easy to click any button that ends with dollars in your pocket.

🚫 So long, long funnels! 🚫

Got any more ideas to add to this list? Feel free to start a thread in the Sugar Cookie Marketing (Group).

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You've been there. You have an idea. A great idea. You're going to start selling macarons and that'll translate into insane smack-a-roons (money). It's easy. You'll buy the mac baking sheet. You'll snag the almond flour. You'll watch a Maradee Martin Live on the topic. Oh - don't forget the windowpane packaging. Bows - bows always look nice. Well, gonna need that Munbyn erry'body is talking about - you know, for stickers and branding. Ah - don't forget photography - aeCore backers launched that new Rose Marble too - that'll really make these macs pop off the page. Oh yeah and... and... and...

📋 Welcome to your secret to-do list.

A secret to-do list comes from a simple idea hiding behind it a multitude of tasks, costs, mental processing power, and even storage space. It's what takes a good idea and makes it a terrible experience. It's everything attached to an idea that we forgot to account for.

Secret to-do lists are hiding everywhere.

🌱 Look at my (Heather here) venus fly-trap experience. What started as a Wegman's impulse buy (my entire buying experience at Wegmans is summed up as an impulse purchase) turned into a planting pot, potting soil, a mister, gardening tools, and time... so much more time than I considered whilst standing in the self check-out.

Consider that each purchase or idea comes with the following strings attached:

• The time needed to execute and implement
• Physical storage of the supplies needed to create
• The mental power needed to conceptualize and learn
• The financial investment to acquire the necessary tools

That's... well, that's a lot more than the good idea we started off with. And that's why we always must consider the secret to-do lists attached to ideas and purchases in our business (and frankly, in our lives (ahem - corrie's closet)).

It's not to say that you should never have an idea or purchase something for a new hobby or product offering. No no - I'd never encourage that. Frankly, I love buying things. But consider what else comes attached to that idea or hobby - and make a list. See your secret to-do list before you buy into that hobby.

🤏 Then come up with your MVP - the minimum viable product you can invest in (time, money, and mental) to get the idea out the door. It'll be a trimmed-up to-do list that will let you taste the concept before you're too knee-deep in the thick of secret to-do-list-ness.

Or better yet - budget for it. Spend time watching a Facebook Live about the idea before you invest anything further. Ask questions in a group dedicated to the idea and see what others' feedback is on the 'secret to-do list' associated with the idea, product, or purchase.

And if you tried something and it didn't make the cut? Cut it out.

Secret to-do lists have an even more hidden string attached - 😔 the guilt trip of not having completed the idea, hobby, or product. That box you have sitting with never-used cookie cutters. Those Amerigel food colorings you have more than you'll be able to use before they expire. That label printer you just never found a true use for? Yeah - get your tickets ready - we're on a guilt trip.

Let that stuff go. ♻️ Donate, sell, or trash. If you're not going to use it, don't let it continue using your mental mind space. Donate your cutters to cookie class attendees, sell that label printer and roll the proceeds into your business (or an experience), and trash (and recycle) boxes you don't have space for.

🚫 Take the power back from the secret to-do lists! 🚫

Got any more ideas to add to this list? Feel free to start a thread in the Sugar Cookie Marketing (Group).

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There's a marketing buzzword that I really love when it comes to content management and creation.

It's 🌳 evergreen content. 🌳

Much like the name insinuates - it's referring to "evergreen trees" which last all year round - no matter the season. The same goes for that type of evergreen content. It refers to content that can be posted whenever without seeming out of context.

😍 Why do I love it?

It makes marketing that much easier. Building a content bucket full of evergreen posts, pictures, blogs, etc. means that, even when you're too busy, you can have evergreen content scheduled to go up regardless.

Types of evergreen content ideas for bakers:

• A blog post with your favorite brownie recipe
• A meme that's baking-related or location-related
• An email about things to bring / expect at an all-year farmers market
• A link to an article on local places to take the kids in your area
• A blog post on the five best dog parks for locals in your area
• A Facebook post tutorial on how to get gooey drop cookies
• An Instagram Story (saved to highlights) on your favorite local markets
• Throwback to a story about a favorite bake along with a picture
• Content featuring great reviews left by past clients

Evergreen content is not only awesome because it lasts forever, it can also be very value-added content too. Yeah, sure - maybe reviews aren't as valued-added as a list of local restaurants that are perfect for date nights, but it does provide additional social proof. That "hey, other people like me - you might like me too" proof.

Using evergreen content to pad your social calendar means that, even if you get busy, your profiles don't get abandoned. I love scheduling out evergreen content to go up once or twice a week, then jumping back in when I have time to add more current content, that way my feed is a mix of old, new, value-added, funny, and interesting = which all equals reach.

Got any more ideas to add to this list? Feel free to start a thread in the Sugar Cookie Marketing (Group).

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I mean, Families. It's the Baking it Down Podcast with Sugar Cookie Marketing, and we're talkin' communication - but not just client communication - family communication.

• Intro - Pinned Post
• Business of Baking - Relationships and Baking Businesses
• The Cookie College - Spring Bake is April 21!
• Voicemails - Conversions, Comment Spam, and Upcoming Moves
• Group Stuff - Upcoming Lives
• Twinterests - Fitbits
• Sponsors!

The Business with Baking - Relationships and Baking

It's no lie - working for yourself is a full-time job, and sometimes that "full-time" can be closer to 24-7 rather than 9-5. 👀 That's why keeping an eye on the health of your business as it relates to those most important in your life is simply - good business.

Hey - business ownership is hard, and it can also feel lonely. But we don't think it has to. Using effective communication strategies, time management tools, and business boundaries is a recipe for relationship success - or at least put you on the path in that direction.

Voicemails:

• Voicemail 1 (Text) - "While not official, it's likely that I will be moving my business within the next year once my husband finishes up PT school. I still want to keep growing my business here and invest in the community for as long as we stay, but I know this town isn't our long-term home. I'd love to start a group, but am worried about all the people that are local to me now becoming that dead weight you talked about once we move. Would you recommend starting a group now? Or would it be better to start in our new place where I will be starting to build a client base all over again? I'd love your input on the best strategy to make this effective! Thanks for all you guys do."
• Voicemail 2 (Call): - Missy in NW Ohio - No conversions on her new website. What gives?!
• Voicemail 3 (Call): Marjie - Handling spam comments on Instagram. To delete or not delete?

Group Stuff:

Past Lives: Facebook > Sugar Cookie Marketing Group > Events > Past Events

• Mar 24 - Turning a No into a Yes with Gina Marie Burke
• Mar 10 - Live Facebook Page Audit + The Cookie College
• Mar 6 - No-Plan Oreo Cinnamon Roll Photoshoot with Toth

Upcoming Events: Facebook > Sugar Cookie Marketing Group > Events

• 04-07-22 | Tour of a Cookie Trailer + Room with Christina Cernera
• 04-18-22 | Brick and Mortar Tour and Q&A in DC with Elisa Frost
• 04-21-22 | Buttercream 101 (for cookies) with Ashley Gonzales
• 04-21-22 | Cottage business to Brick and Mortar with Lauren Hammond
• 04-28-22 | How to Smooth Buttercream on Sugar Cookies with Katie Holtz
• 04-30-22 | Cake Decorating with Buttercream Flowers with Sarah Reyes
• 05-01-22 | Procreate Design Sketching with Marja Beltrami
• 05-06-22 | Recipe Costing with Mara Buckle
• 05-09-22 | Cookie Contracts: FAQs about the Legal Side of Selling Cookies
• 07-25-22 | Christmas in July! Gingerbread Houses with Heather Brookshire

Twinterests:

• Totally digging FitBits right now!

Sponsors:

• Eddie the Edible Food Printer
• BaketyBake - save 10% with the code TWINS at checkout
• CastIron - Websites for Foodpreneurs

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It's finally Tuesday and we're operating ON SCHEDULE for the weekly Sugar Cookie Marketing Facebook Group podcast! We talked a little longer in this episode - but for good reason - lots of content to cover!

Here's what we're covering this week:

• Intro
• Marketing Minutes - Cookie Class Personalities
• Business of Baking - SWOT Analysis
• The Course Recap - Facebook Live Audits
• Voicemails - How to keep the "C" in CRM from standing for "Creepy"
• Group Stuff - Upcoming Lives
• Twinterests - Dunkaroos
• Sponsors
• Mailbag

In the Marketing Minutes, Corrie covers personality conflicts in a cookie class. It's hard enough to stand in front of 10 strangers to tell them how to decorate with RI, but add in a loud, overpowering voice, and it's monumental. So - how do we handle it? Here are some tips (and then more tips, and then more tips).

In the Business of Baking, SWOT analysis is a great way to get in front of problems before they become problems. Strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats - analyze these and you'll stay ahead of your problems (and the competition). SWOT analysis templates can be found for free online!

Course Recap: THREE FREE March promo - Corrie's let me go March Madness with www.thecookiecollege.com/membership yearly membership plans. While you've always been able to buy the year upfront and get two months free, we'll be adding an additional free month for March. So - purchase the year, expect a $68 refund as soon as ya join! We've had over 15 College members upgrade their membership - so we must be doin' somethin' right.

Voicemails - How to keep the "C" in CRM from standing for "Creepy." Thanks, Ginger for a Cookie College shoutout, and Toth (toe-eth) for admonishing Corrie to start checkin' the Mailbag for promises of brownies.

Group Stuff:

• How to Turn a No into a Yes with Gina Marie Burke

And our Podcast Sponsors are:

• Eddie the Printer - https://www.primera.com/edible-ink-printer.html
• CastIron.me NO FEES MARCH - https://www.castiron.me/
• BaketyBakes - 10% off with promo code TWINS - https://baketybakeidaho.com

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Welcome to Archer's intro for the Sugar Cookie Marketing Facebook Group podcast! We're runnin' on a skeleton crew (aka Corrie needs to ditch), so welcome to a slightly abridged version of "The Pod."

Here's what we're covering this week:

• Intro
• Marketing Minutes - Popcorn Tints
• Business of Baking - Positive Shelly Boundaries
• The Course Recap
• Group Stuff - Upcoming Lives
• Sponsors

In the Marketing Minutes, Corrie is ridin' illegally not in a fishbowl like the rest of us legal commuters. So - why did she buy the mid-grade tint? Popcorn pricing would be the reason. We chit-chat about the benefits of popcorn pricing and where the buzzword came from - the crazy pricing from popcorn buckets at theaters (hello FAKE butter).

In the Business of Baking, the power of positivity will shrink or grow your business - and when you get to the point that you disdain your clients, you're already in pre-close-up-shop territory. Our clients are our business's lifeblood and we need to treat them like that - no matter how many times Shelly reschedules.

THREE FREE March promo - Corrie's let me go March Madness with www.thecookiecollege.com/membership yearly membership plans. While you've always been able to buy the year upfront and get two months free, we'll be adding an additional free month for March. So - purchase the year, expect a $68 refund as soon as ya join!

And our Podcast Sponsors are:

• Eddie the Printer - https://www.primera.com/edible-ink-printer.html
• CastIron.me NO FEES MARCH - https://www.castiron.me/
• BaketyBakes - 10% off with promo code TWINS - https://baketybakeidaho.com

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The Sugar Cookie Marketing Facebook Group podcast has reached its 50th episode! Which means... the same thing as usual - weird noises from Corrie.

Here's what we're covering this week:

• Intro
• Marketing Minutes - Water Water, Everywhere
• Business of Baking -Targeted Targets
• The Course Recap - Copy 101
• Group Stuff - Upcoming Lives
• Voicemails / Texts / Emails (571) 556-5644
• Twinterests
• Sponsors

In the Marketing Minutes, Corrie's been watering the SCM Instagram (have you followed us yet? No?? well, we can't have that now... https://www.instagram.com/sugarcookiemarketing_/) and "where you water it, it will grow." Wanna grow on the grams? You're going to need a strategy that works while you put in the work.

In the Business of Baking, Diane with Balance of Nature teaches us a lesson on matching our messaging with our targets. When you're message is broad, your shotgun approach to marketing doesn't directly resonate with any single target audience meaning everyone can kinda just shrug and walk on. But when your hyper-targeted messaging reaches the target audience - sweet money music begins to play softly in the background.

If you'd like to learn more about The Cookie College, tune into the Facebook Live this Thursday on writing cra- wait, great copy. It'll be at 6PM EST. Or read more about the college at www.thecookiecollege.com/membership.

In Voicemails - we have three awesome texts from three awesome people (one from Illinoissssss) covering weddin' attire, promotion schedules, and boundaries!

• Call / Text: (571) 556-5644
• Email: hello@sugarcookiemarketing[dot]com

In Twinterest:

• Corrie: snagged a new car this weekend! It's newish and blueish.
• Heather: Is dedicated to her war on stress and is taking a stress test kit. More later.

And our Podcast Sponsors are:

• Eddie the Printer - https://www.primera.com/edible-ink-printer.html
• CastIron.me - https://www.castiron.me/
• BaketyBakes - 10% off with promo code TWINS - https://baketybakeidaho.com

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Take two - we sounded lame in the first version of this podcast, so we filmed it twice - as nice.
The Sugar Cookie Marketing Facebook Group podcast is back for a post-Valentine's Day breakdown!

Here's what we're covering this week:

• Intro
• Marketing Minutes - Call me Colonoscopy
• Business of Baking - Pre-Planning Easter
• The Course Recap - Enrollment is OPEN
• Group Stuff - Upcoming Lives
• Voicemails / Texts / Emails (571) 556-5644
• Twinterests
• Sponsors

In the Marketing Minutes, Corrie - or should we say - Jane - recounts the harrowing experience she had with Columbus clouds and a colonoscopy appointment thus drawing further attention to the need to make each customer feel like a million bucks.

In the Business of Baking, I wanted to break down what pre-planning a holiday looks like for bakers. Gettin' ahead of the marketing curve gives you more elbow room for promotion, discounts, and lack of stress - a win win win really. Start from the holiday date and work back 6 weeks. That's your promotional schedule. Prior to that, is your pre-planning: cutters, cookie countess, and cute beads.

For course coverage, we dropped a course last week on copy and Corrie's givin' away St. Patty's Day and Mardi Gras DIY kit photos to college students. If you'd like to pick up what she's puttin' down, check it out at www.thecookiecollege.com/membership.

In Voicemails - we need ya'll to call in! Otherwise, you're going to hear Heather answer weird questions about squatters.

• Call / Text: (571) 556-5644
• Email: hello@sugarcookiemarketing[dot]com

In Twinterest:

• Corrie: a make-shift glaze when ya Bakety-Bakes runs out and you're waiting for a new fix.
• Heather: Burton Step-On bindings for when you don't wanna wet butt on the mountain.

And our Podcast Sponsors are:

• Eddie the Printer - https://www.primera.com/edible-ink-printer.html
• CastIron.me - https://www.castiron.me/
• BaketyBakes - 10% off with promo code TWINS - https://baketybakeidaho.com

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Corrie forgot to pick up her kid so enjoy this extremely intense episode of the Sugar Cookie Marketing Facebook Group podcast. Warning: elephant noises.

Here's what we're covering this week:

• Intro
• Marketing Minutes - Facebook Posting - When and Why
• Business of Baking - Podcast Giveaway (finally)
• The Course Recap - Facebook Planner App
• Group Stuff - Upcoming Lives
• Voicemails / Texts / Emails (571) 556-5644
• Twinterests - Stratia Liquid Gold and Michaels Chocolates
• Sponsors

In the Marketing Minutes, Corrie yells at us for the reasons why we post at certain times vs other times. There's a theory behind it and it's important to know why it makes sense to post at various times - plus, why that then makes more sense.

In the Business of Baking, Corrie FINALLY announces the #podcastgiveaway winners and their biggest takeaways from the 2021 podcast year. For those who won - congrats! Email corrie[at]sugarcookiemarketing[dot]com with your email - and, if you're out of the US, let her know and she'll give ya the monies instead.

We launched the SCM Course called The Cookie College. I'm hosting a bi-monthly series teaching you a class we teach in the cookie college and answering all of your questions about the college as well. This week: Facebook's Planner. Check out "The College" here: www.thecookiecollege.com/membership.

In Voicemails - we talk about "what to post when you post the same things," how to reach out to a past client, and what to do when you've got more than enough work to do.

• Call / Text: (571) 556-5644
• Email: hello@sugarcookiemarketing[dot]com

In Twinterest - I purchased that Stratia Liquid Gold stuff because Kim Fink told me to and Corrie bought something from Michaels, but I kinda checked out while she was talking.

And our Podcast Sponsors are:

• Eddie the Printer - https://www.primera.com/edible-ink-printer.html
• CastIron.me - https://www.castiron.me/
• BaketyBakes - 10% off with promo code TWINS - https://baketybakeidaho.com

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Listen as Corrie doesn't listen to me talking about small business ethics in this Week's Sugar Cookie Marketing Facebook Group podcast!

Here's what we're covering this week:

• Intro
• Marketing Minutes - Effective Frequency
• Business of Baking - Billboard Principle
• The Course Recap - Facebook Business Planner
• Group Stuff - Upcoming Lives
• Voicemails / Texts / Emails (571) 556-5644
• Twinterests - Texture Spray and Miro
• Sponsors
• Mailbag

In the Marketing Minutes, I wanted to talk about the "effective frequency" principle - the number of times a person must be exposed to an advertising message before a response is made and before exposure is considered wasteful - it details how often an ad needs to be seen before someone takes action. So often, we love being consumers of products who follow this principle while at the same time, falling short on effectively repetitively marketing our cookies to our clients wondering "why isn't anyone buying from me?!" Hint: you haven't reached them enough.

In the Business of Baking, we covered two business ethics principles: If everyone could see what happened in this situation, would I be okay with everyone I know, love, and trust seeing that? Would I be proud of the action that I took? That's called the Billboard Principle. Another awesome ethics concept is universalism - "What if everyone did what I want to do in this situation? What kind of world would it be?" So next time you tell a client they'll need to pass a lie detector test in order to qualify for a refund, think "would I like to live in a world with no refunds?" Food for thought.

We launched the SCM Course called The Cookie College. I'm hosting a bi-monthly series teaching you a class we teach in the cookie college and answering all of your questions about the college as well. Check out "The College" here: www.thecookiecollege.com/membership.

In Voicemails - we talk "domains, workspace, and hosting," and get a pretty cool quote on horn tootin'

• Call / Text: (571) 556-5644
• Email: hello@sugarcookiemarketing[dot]com

In Twinterest - I'm all about Miro.com and Corrie is into Kristen Ness hair texture spray (you can snag it at Target but be ye warned - a little goes a loooong way).

And our Podcast Sponsors are:

• Eddie the Printer - https://www.primera.com/edible-ink-printer.html
• CastIron.me - https://www.castiron.me/
• BaketyBakes - 10% off with promo code TWINS - https://baketybakeidaho.com

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There's a podcast?! WHEW it's been a minute - but we're back with a new jazzy intro and the same old interruptions.

The Sugar Cookie Marketing Facebook Group podcast is here for the tail end of 2021 talkin' about goal settin' and roadblock gettin'.

Here's what we're covering this week:

• Intro
• Marketing Minutes - We vs Me
• Business of Baking - VoIP
• The Course Recap - Enrollment is OPEN
• Group Stuff - Upcoming Lives
• Voicemails / Texts / Emails (571) 556-5644
• Twinterests
• Sponsors

In the Marketing Minutes, Corrie wanted to cover the concept of referring to your business on social media as "I sell cookies" vs "we sell cookies." What's the benefit to both, how can you use either in your business and what we see bigger brands doing online these days - specifically on social. Do you talk about your business as a we or a me?

In the Business of Baking, I wanted to cover (ah I guess I'm an "I") using a phone but not publishing your personal cell number for just anyone to call. The options are a few, but I wanted to talk about your VoIP options - specifically Callfire.com (which we use for this podcast) and Google Voice (which was free but now is a monthly subscription). If you want people to be able to call you and place an order, I can't recommend VoIP numbers enough!

We launched the SCM Course called The Cookie College. We cover the concepts and ideas we talk about here in the podcast - but we actually implement them with our students! Learn more or get a preview at www.thecookiecollege.com/membership.

In Voicemails - what does "pic for tax" mean, how to handle Cloud storage for photos, and pop-ups in a neighborhood with an HOA that hates people having fun.

• Call / Text: (571) 556-5644
• Email: hello@sugarcookiemarketing[dot]com

In Twinterest - Heather has her CharaChorder and Corrie learns what a Qwerty keyboard is.

And our Podcast Sponsors are:

• Eddie the Printer - https://www.primera.com/edible-ink-printer.html
• CastIron.me - https://www.castiron.me/
• BaketyBakes - 10% off with promo code TWINS - https://baketybakeidaho.com

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Hey - are you role-playing as a roadblock in the path of your own success?

The Sugar Cookie Marketing Facebook Group podcast is here for the tail end of 2021 talkin' about goal settin' and roadblock gettin'.

Here's what we're covering this week:

• Intro
• Marketing Minutes - Frogs
• Business of Baking - Roadblocks
• The Course Recap - Enrollment is OPEN
• Group Stuff - Upcoming Lives
• Voicemails / Texts / Emails (571) 556-5644
• Twinterests
• Sponsors

In the Marketing Minutes, Heather gives us a rundown on the book "Eat That Frog" by Brian Tracy where each morning starts with eating that frog. But which frog do you start with? The frog that supports your most effective goal for 2022. One really firm, hard-hitting goal that would make the biggest impact on your life - that's where you start. Then you work the goal backward - if I need to make $15,000 by July 2022, I need to make $2,500 over the next 6 months. What services or products can I sell to meet that weekly goal of $625?

In the Business of Baking, roadblocks. How many of us are playing construction workers building our own roadblocks until those turn into reasons why we can't succeed? Oftentimes, you just really didn't want it enough - and you let a roadblock (ahem - TikTok) get in the way of that goal. Owning your roadblocks and understanding why you didn't really want that goal can help us form better goals that work with our mindsets.

We launched the SCM Course called The Cookie College. We cover the concepts and ideas we talk about here in the podcast - but we actually implement them with our students! Learn more or get a preview at www.thecookiecollege.com/membership.

In Voicemails - how to approach a business to use their space for classes (or end up stalking their kitchens), Tammy and the podcast and the burgers, and Susan Reed.

• Call / Text: (571) 556-5644
• Email: hello@sugarcookiemarketing[dot]com

In Twinterest - Corrie used The Cookie Countess windowpane boxes for an order and they were a huge hit. I'll post about them on the SCM TikTok.

And our Podcast Sponsors are:

• Eddie the Printer - https://www.primera.com/edible-ink-printer.html
• CastIron.me - https://www.castiron.me/
• BaketyBakes - 10% off with promo code TWINS - https://baketybakeidaho.com

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The Sugar Cookie Marketing Facebook Group here - well, mostly - Corrie is still somewhat in the Facebook prison, but we're here audibly. Anyways - we're a day early and a dollar extra with the Tuesday podcast goin' up on a Monday!

Here's what we're covering this week:

• Intro
• Marketing Minutes - Meetings
• Business of Baking - Fear of Failure
• The Course Recap - Enrollment is OPEN
• Group Stuff - The Christmas Collab!
• Voicemails / Texts / Emails (571) 556-5644
• Twinterests
• Sponsors

In the Marketing Minutes, meetings - meetings that you actually want to attend. The EOS L10 meeting framework (sounds complex - isn't) is a great way to sit down each week and determine if you're on track for your business goals this year, quarter, month, and week!

In the Business of Baking, the fear of failure shouldn't be a fear at all - failure means you're doing something - and it means you now have the data to retool it and do it even better the next time. Failure isn't an option, it's an opportunity. And the more we can fall in love with failure, the more we can accomplish.

We launched the SCM Course called The Cookie College. We cover the concepts and ideas we talk about here in the podcast - but we actually implement them with our students! Learn more or get a preview at www.thecookiecollege.com/membership.

In Voicemails - Biscotti Babe is "retiring" and content buckets - what do you put in an empty bucket?!

• Call / Text: (571) 556-5644
• Email: hello@sugarcookiemarketing[dot]com

In Twinterest - Heather's been working on time management and tracking with the timeular device and app - so if you're wondering where all your time goes... hint: it's TikTok.

And our Podcast Sponsors are:

• Eddie the Printer - https://www.primera.com/edible-ink-printer.html
• CastIron.me - https://www.castiron.me/
• BaketyBakes - 10% off with promo code TWINS - https://baketybakeidaho.com

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The Sugar Cookie Marketing Facebook Group "pod" is back and Corrie's in the Facebook clinker - and all's right with the world.

Here's what we're covering this week:

• Intro
• Marketing Minutes - Mission Statements
• Business of Baking - SMART
• The Course Recap - Cookie Classes
• Voicemails / Texts / Emails (571) 556-5644
• Twinterests
• Sponsors

In the Marketing Minutes, Heather covers Mission Statements. What they are and why they're so important to your marketing messaging. If you do anything this month - try nailing down a mission statement. It'll make your brand message much more clear.

In the Business of Baking, Corrie is working on developing SMART goals while she's in Facebook lockup (gardening tools, anyone?!). Building specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and time-bound goals can help you support your mission statement event better.

We launched the SCM Course called The Cookie College. For a $68/mo membership you can access over 40 courses about baking and marketing at www.thecookiecollege.com/membership.

In Voicemails - we cover Facebook friend's groups, Facebook ads for Christmas sales, and a hilarious challenge to guess which twin is twin LoL. More on that soon.

• Call / Text: (571) 556-5644
• Email: hello@sugarcookiemarketing[dot]com

In Twinterest - Heather's been working on time management and tracking with the timeular device and app - so if you're wondering where all your time goes... hint: it's TikTok.

And our Podcast Sponsors are:

• Eddie the Printer - https://www.primera.com/edible-ink-printer.html
• CastIron.me - https://www.castiron.me/
• BaketyBakes - 10% off with promo code TWINS - https://baketybakeidaho.com

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The Sugar Cookie Marketing Facebook Group duo is finally back (Corrie actually decided to work), but I'm off tomorrow, so you get this a day early and a dollar extra (?). It's the Baking it Down Podcast with Sugar Cookie Marketing!

Here's what we're covering this week:

• Intro
• Marketing Minutes - A/B/C/D Testing
• Business of Baking - Mindfulness
• The Course Recap - Flodesk
• Voicemails / Texts / Emails (571) 556-5644
• Twinterests
• Sponsors

In the Marketing Minutes, Heather chit chats about Facebook's Business Creator Suite overhaul - with - get this, A/B testing for posts - yes, you heard it hear first. Facebook now allows you to use their FREE scheduler to let your post duke it out for the highest engagement in feeds - the winner takes all... of the space on your feed wall.

In the Business of Baking, Corrie covers mindfulness with her new hobby - mindful lettering. Setting aside 10 minutes a day to be truly focused on the present task, phone away - kid away - husband away, she's managed to markedly increase her ability to write calligraphy! So - do the same for your marketing - we'll call it "mindful marketing."

We launched the SCM Course called The Cookie College. For a $68/mo membership you can access over 40 courses about baking and marketing at www.thecookiecollege.com/membership. We've got 20 seats opening this month for those of you who would like to learn more about Flodesk - an email sender I'll give you a 50% off coupon for (hey - saving you money already).

In Voicemails - how to spot your "unideal client."

• Call / Text: (571) 556-5644
• Email: hello@sugarcookiemarketing[dot]com

In Twinterest - Corrie got a Nuface for her birthday (not a new face - she got an electrical face contraption that zaps you into yesteryear apparently). Heather is working on minimizing visual noise starting with her office desk.

And our Podcast Sponsors are:

• Eddie the Printer - https://www.primera.com/edible-ink-printer.html
• CastIron.me - https://www.castiron.me/
• BaketyBakes - 10% off with promo code TWINS - https://baketybakeidaho.com