in need of cake eaters!
I am just starting out - I am not advertising or anything yet but I would like to start doing cakes for people (in my spare time) and I don't know how to get customers! It seems obvious that I could drum up some business by word of mouth but I live in a small town in upstate NY and I am a transport so I don't know very many people. Friends of mine from cake decorating class are getting requests up the wazoo and their cakes are very good - but at the moment all I'm doing is a dozen cupcakes/month which I DONATED to a silent auction in town and I do them for the lady with the winning bid. She seems to like them and I give her a business card with every delivery, but I haven't gotten any referral business. Does anyone out there have any ideas?
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Eileen S on
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Hi Jennifer - you got a good start! Donating cakes and cupcakes (and cookies if that's your thing) to local raffles, school functions, etc. is a great way to get your name out in the community. You may want to start something like a Facebook page with photos of your work, then invite all your local friends to "fan" it and THEIR friends will see it and so on. It's how I get the majority of my business. Do you have children? Send cakes or cupcakes to school with them. If you have small children join a group like MOPS which will net you friends AND customer (and usually they are one and the same). If you don't have any children, but you work, you can take some to work with you, or send them with your husband/significant other. I hope this helps. Happy caking!!
OH! And take photos of everything you do!!
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Permalink Reply by Jennifer Cintron on
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First of all - "I am a transport" in my original post should have been "I am a transplant" ... oops!
Eileen - strike 1, I do not have kids, and strike 2, I work from home ... I still work for the company in Florida where I worked before we moved up here, and even though they all love my baking, I think the post office would make more money than I would if I had to ship to them! I do send my husband off to work with half-eaten cakes all the time, but I think they are too used to getting the milk for free so why buy the cow? :)
I like your suggestion of the FB page and I think I will try that - initially I wanted to start a little side business for gift baskets with homemade goodies and wedding/shower/party favors, but that is pretty time consuming and with a regular FT job, I never really got it started. Cakes at least I can do in one shot. I will try that - thanks!
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