A Home Based Cake Decorating Business - 4 Simple Tips for Promotion
Now that you have perfected your cake decorating skills and are ready to offer your creations for sale, you will need to let the market know that you are available and what you are capable of. It is now time to think about various ways in which you can promote your business. Here are some suggestions - there are more in part 2 and 3 of this series.
Word of mouth Without doubt, this is the best means of promotion for your cake decorating business. Always make sure people know who made the cake at the function they are attending, and make sure they have the means of contacting you easily. This is like highly targeted, and very effective advertising, and best of all - it's free, apart from the relatively inexpensive cost of getting business cards made. You get paid to make and decorate a cake for a special occasion, and the guests at the function provide you with a captive market for promoting your business for free.
Make a calendar A wall chart is good for this, or if you are comfortable with computers you could use the variety of calendar, diary, and reminder programmes that are available. Note dates of all special occasions, local civic anniversaries, graduation days, or any other widely celebrated occasions and work out a plan to supply these markets. Keep a database of individual people's birthdays and anniversaries and contact them each year to congratulate them and enquire after any cake requirements they may have.
Participate in bridal expos, local business forums, and trade shows Work out which ones are appropriate for you and establish a presence with well displayed examples of your best cakes (and bite size pieces of cake for people to sample), plenty of promotional material - business cards, brochures etc, and maybe even a demonstration of your craft. The end result of cake decorating is a beautiful, artistic creation, and people are always interested to watch the creative process in action. Give them an opportunity to admire your talent and to get an understanding of how much time, effort, and skill goes into the design and decoration of a cake.
Photograph your cakes The advent of digital photography means that keeping a pictorial record of your creations is now not only really easy, but also very low cost. (and the cost of a digital camera is tax deductible if it is for your business). As well as enabling you to maintain a diary record of all the cakes you make and the methods you used on each of them, digital photographs are especially good to use in your promotional efforts and even just your basic business communications. Most e-mail programmes allow the use of a digital photograph as part of your signature - use a picture of your best cake. You can also attach photographic samples of your work in any communication with prospective clients.
And remember - you won't be the only one photographing the cake, it's the most photographed part of the ceremony. We've all got photos of cake cutting and candle blowing out in the family album, and every day hundreds of people ask "who made the cake?", no matter how long ago the photo was taken. This works like a visual version of word of mouth. If your cake is good, people will see it, remember it, and talk about it, your reputation will grow and spread, and your business will become better known and more profitable.
Word of mouth Without doubt, this is the best means of promotion for your cake decorating business. Always make sure people know who made the cake at the function they are attending, and make sure they have the means of contacting you easily. This is like highly targeted, and very effective advertising, and best of all - it's free, apart from the relatively inexpensive cost of getting business cards made. You get paid to make and decorate a cake for a special occasion, and the guests at the function provide you with a captive market for promoting your business for free.
Make a calendar A wall chart is good for this, or if you are comfortable with computers you could use the variety of calendar, diary, and reminder programmes that are available. Note dates of all special occasions, local civic anniversaries, graduation days, or any other widely celebrated occasions and work out a plan to supply these markets. Keep a database of individual people's birthdays and anniversaries and contact them each year to congratulate them and enquire after any cake requirements they may have.
Participate in bridal expos, local business forums, and trade shows Work out which ones are appropriate for you and establish a presence with well displayed examples of your best cakes (and bite size pieces of cake for people to sample), plenty of promotional material - business cards, brochures etc, and maybe even a demonstration of your craft. The end result of cake decorating is a beautiful, artistic creation, and people are always interested to watch the creative process in action. Give them an opportunity to admire your talent and to get an understanding of how much time, effort, and skill goes into the design and decoration of a cake.
Photograph your cakes The advent of digital photography means that keeping a pictorial record of your creations is now not only really easy, but also very low cost. (and the cost of a digital camera is tax deductible if it is for your business). As well as enabling you to maintain a diary record of all the cakes you make and the methods you used on each of them, digital photographs are especially good to use in your promotional efforts and even just your basic business communications. Most e-mail programmes allow the use of a digital photograph as part of your signature - use a picture of your best cake. You can also attach photographic samples of your work in any communication with prospective clients.
And remember - you won't be the only one photographing the cake, it's the most photographed part of the ceremony. We've all got photos of cake cutting and candle blowing out in the family album, and every day hundreds of people ask "who made the cake?", no matter how long ago the photo was taken. This works like a visual version of word of mouth. If your cake is good, people will see it, remember it, and talk about it, your reputation will grow and spread, and your business will become better known and more profitable.
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