Today’s question is from Danielle:
I have recently started a cupcakery and bakery from my home. I am trying to grow my business, but am out of ideas for advertising without having to spend a lot of money. I have started a Facebook page, and that has helped, but would like other suggestions. Please help! -Danielle
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As someone who loves deals, I totally love Vista. But from an advertising perspective, you may want to consider a slightly higher-end look. If you have really good photos of some of your best work, you may consider something like moo.com, which lets you print different photos on the back of your business cards. People are more likely to come buy your products if they can see how delectable they look! When I used moo, I still got hundreds of cards for a pretty low price, and they look really professional – they are on heavy, matte paper, and feel more expensive than they are.
Hi! My husband has his own business, and we signed up for vistaprint.ca. They regularly have free items, including banners, car magnets, bags, postcards, flyers, business cards, T-shirts, etc…We love their stuff! (And sometimes they have free shipping on too! – we’ve received lots of stuff for free…)Hope this helps!
Congratulations! Offer special deals for schools, churches, and places where kids have birthday parties in your area. As a parent, I ask for specials on party accessories at the location of my children’s birthday parties. Good luck!
You should check too, and make sure that it is legal to run that from your home. I was wanting to do the same, but in our state, unless you are baking in a commercial kitchen, it is illigal to sell your baked goods. I decided it wasn’t worth the risk, until I was willing to find the money to rent a commercial kitchen.
Are there any local farmers markets in your area? You might consider setting up a booth there. The weekly fee at the smaller markets in my area is fairly low. Or perhaps you could just walk around and offer free samples along with your business card.
Make sure to list your business on major search engines, like Google (www.google.com/places) and Bing (www.bing.com/businessportal).
Consider sending press releases about your business to the local newspaper or local magazines and then call the features or business section editor to follow up. Try to get yourself and your business featured as part of a local interest story. Emphasize what is special about your business and make your personal story relatable.
I just started a home business too (web/blog design) – Let me know if you need help setting up a website!
Facebook is great, but a blog or website is more aesthetically pleasing to look at. You can get a free website at http://www.wordpress.com or http://www.webs.com. You can advertise on other blogs that get a lot of traffic and/or sometimes they have blog hop or linky parties. I also found a great artist on etsy at http://www.etsy.com/shop/helloaimi, she has a cute cupcake logo for sale.
I think explicitly asking friends, family, and customers to pass on your info is great too. Include extra cards or price sheets with an order so people can pass them on. Nothing better than word of mouth to grow a business in your community! I think getting flyers out to your desired customer base would be good too. For instance, I recently saw a bakery provide a small amount of baby-shower-looking treats at a free workshop help at a local baby store. Actually, I guess I don’t know if they were free or if the store paid for them, but the point was that there were cards and flyers there that customers could pick up. You don’t necessarily need to provide treats, but dropping off the flyers (and maybe some samples so they remember you!) at the store would help get your name out there. And what about contests using social media? Something like “the 100th facebook follower gets a free half dozen cupcakes” or a contest for tweeting a link to your page, etc. Of course, giveaways aren’t free, but the cost would be lower than other forms of advertising. Good luck!
Do you have a logo designed yet? I am actually starting my own business as well with graphic design, so I do logos, business cards, etc. for a very low price. I have not yet charged anyone, so I would be willing to do something very inexpensively for you. If you’d like to see some of my work and are interested in me designing some advertising for you to leave at various locations, I’d be willing to help! Email me at [email protected]. I’m all for home businesses!
If you are interested in getting into baking for weddings, visit local halls and wedding vendors (such as djs – I know a wedding dj and he gets asked about bakers all the time). Bring a few samples and leave some business cards.
Make sure you are getting the most out of your facebook page too – hold a contest or two where the prize is a birthday cake or cupcakes. It will get more people to the page and the winner will likely discuss the prize with their friends!
I also like the idea of donating to a local fundraiser. In my past I was a personal trainer and starting out I donated a one hour session to a silent auction for a local charity and another session for a draw for another charity. The cost to me was minimal but I got a few new clients.
Our weekly paper that comes free on Wednesdays has a column featuring new businesses. When my husband started his electrical contracting business we were featured in it. The columnist did a phone interview with me- we were emailed a copy for final approval before it went to print. Also, they printed a photo of my husband beside his work truck. I took the picture and emailed it to the paper. We made sure that the sign with logo was visible. For at least 3 years we had people tell us that they had saved the article in case they needed an electrician. This was totally free and brought us a lot of jobs.
Check out Animoto Video. http://www.animoto.com You can make 60 second slide show videos FREE and send the link to potential customers, post it on your facebook page or website. Take photos of your work and upload those pics on Animoto. The videos look professional and can make you look like you are a larger more successful bakery than you are. We’ve used this service several times and it definitely brings us sales.
Hope this helps! Peachy days, Lori
I found when I started my business in my small town, joining the Chamber of Commerce was a quick way to get local attention.
My husband joined the Chamber for his handyman business last fall. We have attended their monthly After Hours Gathering and it has turned into a few jobs. Not only do we get a free dinner from the Sponsor, we get to hand out business cards of his services to other small business in our area. We have also learned of other small businesses in our area. Our Chamber also host multiple events where we can also set-up a booth at no charge. There are also alot more advantages to join the Chanber to many to list here.
Oh, and on VistaPrint you can make up some small or large car-door magnets, those were great advertising. Just make sure the car you’re driving have metal doors or you have to use double-sided tape!
VistaPrint.com is a good option. You can make “free” business cards and usually they have some offers of up to 4 items you can order for free and just pay the S&H, which makes the per item charge very reasonable. You’ll have to spend some time creating your business cards, flyers, rack cards or brochures, but once you have them you can save your templates in their system for future orders. I used to use them all the time for my marketing needs. (I only stopped when I stopped working for that company, but I still use them on occation for my personal needs)
What is your target market? Brides- showers and cupcake receptions? Then rent a booth at a bridal show. The investment of a bridal show will get you face to face with your market, which is priceless. It will allow you to network with other vendors and give you a lead list to follow up with.
Pick your target market and go where they are.
I think sharing them at local fundraisers is a good idea – you can donate a box but also put out your cards out for others to take!
Another really good idea (I think!) is to have a little party with friend that blog (I think most people know a couple ladies who blog right?) – have a little party and ask them to share their review about your business! It is pretty minimal cost, very fun, and usually friends are happy to do it – even if they just have a family blog it is a fun little ‘promo’
When my husband and I started our business years ago, our best advertising was flyers with coupons and the school coupon book.
For the flyers, get different colored paper so you can track where your business comes from (Different colors for different parts of town, or different places they are left, etc. Then when they are redeemed you can see where your business base is and target there in the future). You can do an inexpensive flyer with black ink on colored paper, 3 flyers per sheet. Put a BOGO coupon on it with your website and get them to come to your website and sign up for your newsletter. Put the flyers everywhere…in stores, under windshield wipers, anywhere that you can think of.
The other surprise advertisement was the school fundraising coupon book. Tons of schools do them. You don’t have to pay for the ad, just the cost of redeeming it (it’s usually a free thing…like one extra cupcake or something). We did it on a lark (especially since out of pocket costs were small) and it turned out to be one of the best ways we got return customers. Contact your local elementary schools and ask them who to contact to get in their coupon book.
I read this a long time ago and think it can be a good idea once you know that you are legally selling commercial baked goods:)
Come up with a price sheet and then take tiny samples to local small businesses.
Choose a delivery date and leave order forms.
So lets say you need orders by Tuesday to deliver by Thursday–then on Thursday you bring all the orders to their business.
When I owned a brick and mortar store, we had businesses bring in food samples and menus often. We loved it;). Also at that time as an employer and working mom, I’d have jumped at the chance to order treats for my employees or for things my son needed a treat for.
Another tip–don’t be pushy or plan to take a lot of their time. Just drop off samples and price sheets and be on your way–especially without an appointment because they are busy. If you park there and monopolize their time, they may not remember you favorably;)
I would suggest several things. #1 – check with your local chamber and see what networking events they have for local businesses. Or if they don’t do networking events, send them info on your business #2 if you are in a city that has a CVB(conventions visitors bureau) let them know about your business. #3 Check into different business orginazations like MPI, TSEA, etc that have meeting and event planners. They are great people to reach out to. They are always looking for new and unique things for their events and business meetings. #4 Groupon – Great way to get exposure. #5. Start a profile on Linked in and start networking.
I cannot recommend Pinterest enough. I have created a Pinterest page for a small business selling lesson plans that I have and it has definitely helped increase my sales for free! I created pin boards for a variety of topics but several are special to my lessons that I sell. I have gotten close to 100 followers in a very short amount of time and it has cost me nothing! Note that I do not only post products that cost money, I also add a lot of free content to keep it interesting and less advertise-y.
Would you mind sharing your pinterest page. I would love to check it out.
You might get a magnetic sign for fairly cheap and put it on your vehile/vehicles.
1. If you can, how about making some fliers or some posters and put them out at different businesses.
2.
Make some business cards, and hand them out to everyone you meet.
3. If your town lets you, set up a “booth”. Make up some “samples” of your product and give people a taste. Just a small taste.
Without knowing all the options near you, here are some suggestions:
1. Post your business card/postcard from Vista prints on grocery bulletin boards, laundromat bulletin boards, and other similar places. Include a non-cluttered picture of your product and make sure that the name of your business and appropriate contact info is easy to see and find.
2. Does your local newspaper have any advertising that might come at a reduced price? We have a small paper that has a “tell-n-sell” that is a lot cheaper than a regular ad.
3. Check with beauty shops to see if you can put a flyer in their shop or again on their bulletin board. Maybe in exchange for a few free samples 🙂
4. Our local library has a place to post such ads/flyers.
5. Do you have a locally owned coffee shop that isn’t a chain? I would suggest approaching them as well.
6. Church bulletin boards of your church or of friends’ churches.
7. Can you provide for free or at a reduced price some of your baked goods for a friends’ child’s birthday party? A lady offered to bake my mom and dad’s wedding cake for free 50 years ago just to get started. My parents took her up on it and she had my mom’s business for the remaining years that lady baked cakes!
8. WORD OF MOUTH, WORD OF MOUTH, WORD OF MOUTH!
Blessings to you and may God prosper your baking business
A new bakery here sat up at our local farmer’s market last year. The tables are only $5-10, and it’s a high exposure venture! They sold individual items. They did give free cookie samples, too!
GREAT idea! Also like the donating to an auction idea – they usually let you also put out a stack of your business cards next to the item. Maybe you could even do a small 3 ring folder of pictures of some of the cupcakes you’ve made for people to look through when they’re bidding.
I agree with the Vistaprint stuff… I use it all the time for my classroom, and it is very economical!
Here are just a few ideas:
–make sure you connect with and comment on the Facebook pages of as many local businesses as you can! That way even their fans see your name and your page!
–offer free cupcakes to anyone who helps spread the word
–do a couple of parties or events for friends at a minimal price, and have them spread the word AND tag your Page in any pictures they promote on Facebook
–don’t just think about using the business cards on Vistaprint–they often offer free address labels (except for the cost of shipping). You can stick these anywhere!
–local schools are an incredible way to get some clients! You can also check into church groups or community classes. You could make baked goods for these places, or offer to teach a class.
–invest in AWESOME pictures to have a sort of portfolio on hand–today you can get 101 free prints from Shutterfly if you have an account
use Twitter
–search for some more popular bakeries you might know of, and follow them on Facebook and Twitter (and then, do as they do!)
–offer INCREDIBLE customer service. It will take some time, but the word will spread for you!
Donate your service or product to local school auctions! I recently learned about two cool local businesses at my child’s elementary auction. I bid and didn’t win them ( they were cool prizes!) but a whole bunch of families learned about them! And it supported a good cause!
Check with local print shops/marketing stores. They may be willing to trade advertising(ie business cards,signs,banners,shirts) for cupcakes.
I know Vistaprint has been mentioned several times, but as a graphic designer, I immediately question using a business that has someone else’s logo on their business cards. Business cards are CHEAP. If you know a good designer, see if you can cater for them sometime instead of paying cash for design time. If someone doesn’t want to spend a few extra dollars on their business to make it more professional, I question whether their product/services is going to be professional too. I know that is not that is not the case for everyone though.
That being said….I cannot take my husband shopping with me. He’s also a designer, and will ALWAYS pick the “best designed” package regardless of price. LOL!!
Try using facebook ads or even Google ad words. Find out about local events. Most art shows, some small scale theater productions, and music recitals will have refreshments. Get in touch with event planners and see if their are openings/needs for more caterers. If the venue allows, have stacks of business cards near the food.
Don’t ever underestimate word of mouth. It can be the best advertising tool for a small local business.
Keep your facebook page/website up to date and use very good photography. Photos can make or break a website.
Vinyl Graphics on your car are a great way to spread the word. Contact a local sign business and see if they will do full or partial trade for cupcakes. My in-laws have a sign business and they frequently trade their services.
Make sure you have decent meta tags on your site. I can be pretty oblivious to advertising, but if you showed up under ‘general geographic area cupcakes’ in Google you might get my business. Note all relevant information on your site in plain text too, so search engines can read it. Will you deliver? Will you make cupcakes with dietary needs in mind? Can I commission a custom flavor? Let us know without having to dig through your site or call you.
Every Door Direct, the Postal Service’s mail service that lets small businesses target potential customers in neighborhoods near new businesses.Try that .Hope that helps
A friend of mine has a sewing business out of her home and she sets up a table at local craft/church bazars and takes orders. She has sample products, business cards and pens (both the cards and pens are through Vista Print).
If you donated cupcakes/baked goods, you may be able to do that in your area too!
Best wishes,
Lea
I know of a girl who does the exact same thing! Sewing and everything! She also gets a booth at homeschool conferences.
Get a whole lot of business cards made and start dropping them off everywhere kids are. MOPS, pre-school, your kid’s school, Sunday School, community bulletin boards etc. You might consider doing a sampling for a mops or other such group. You know, provide cupcakes for the meeting and then pass out your card. Word of mouth is the best, but if they can’t remember your name or contact information it won’t help as much.
Seth Godin’s book Tribes, and Guerilla Marketing
I make cakes and cupcakes for fun and for practice for my kid’s birthdays. I send cakes and goodies with my husband to his office and coworkers are always asking me to do cakes or if I am in business. I have only done one for his secretary, and he knows that I have no desire to do more right now because we have small children. But if we did, I would have takers!
Also, I have some friends that do cakes, and on their personal FB page, they have a photo album with cakes and update with new cakes. I think that would bring a lot of word of mouth business!
mmm…i love cupcakes. are you in the d.c. metro area? i’m in the midst of a “best cupcakes of d.c.” survey on my blog right now! i’d love to feature you!
but in all reality where ever you are, have you tried partnering up with local blogs, food festivals, any sort of grassroots organization? maybe contact a local paper and suggest an article? that might be a good place to start.
good luck! i’m sure your baked goods are awesome and it will only be a matter of time before everyone else knows too! 😀
Other people have mentioned the health code issue, but you can often rent space in a commercial kitchen that does meet code, so you don’t actually have to build your own bakery. A number of caterers do things like that.
Read “Guerilla Marketing” – it’s an entire book of tips that are no/low cost. When I googled to check the spelling, I got lots of hits. You might not even have to buy the book! 😀
I’d also throw a tea party or something so all my friends could sample my baking. I’d make business cards available and just have a great time catching up with them. Be generous with lots of goodies and it will be a memorable occasion. You could also have an open house and have an open invitation on Facebook in addition to invitations sent out. Let your friends know they can bring friends …. Have business cards and flyers ready for people to take along with lots of samples!
What about sponsoring a sports team? I know baseball teams often have local sponsors. I’m not sure what it would cost BUT if kids are anything like ours, they wear their baseball shirts for a long time after the season. Or make shirts for you and your kids and wear them when ever you are out and about your community– the park, the store, etc.
Call your local newspaper- they might have special inserts where the prices for advertising might be less. Or write up a press release about your business and send it out to the local media- include newspapers, radio stations, etc.
Go in and talk to your local chamber of commerce. They may also have specials for new businesses and may be able to give you some creative ways other businesses in your area have advertised with great success.
Good luck!
I saw this idea online once. T-shirts for your kids.
Something like a big cupcake on the front and “Ask my mommy about her yummy cupcakes!” underneath it.
Your kids can wear it while you run errands, if you have a habit of taking your kids with you for that sort of thing.
Consider approaching another business, for example, that caters to kids and has parties. You could partner with them to offer a discount on cupcakes for the parties. Also approach your neighborhood schools about making a gift certificate donation for their fundraiser/auction. Consider getting a table at the local Farmer’s Market (ours start in June). Here in Chicago, we have a group called NPN Parents – with a membership you can comment on message boards when it’s appropriate to promote your business. Maybe your area has something similar?
Oh this is fun! Congrats on your new business!
One of the first ways I would suggest you do inexpensive advertising is bartering. Find someone to design your website or ad materials (biz cards, brochures, price sheets, etc) and barter with them – you could bake for an upcoming party for them or whatever. A friend of mine recently wrote a post on bartering here: http://thekrazycouponlady.com/finance/exchange-away-how-to-implement-the-concept-of-bartering/
Another idea is to find out when the birthdays are for local newscasters and bring them a cupcake or cake or whatever. Someone did that recently in our area and they talked about it on TV!
This is more sales related but how about talking with local coffee shops (that don’t have bakeries!) or other local shops about carrying your products. You could also look into selling at craft shows, farmer’s markets, or even mom-to-mom type sales. Oh…and what about selling to bed and breakfasts in your area or even smaller non-chain hotels!
I’m not all that familiar with the quality of VistaPrint but since I’ve bought from them once, I get their emails and they just emailed me today with ’29 deals for today’. So you may want to check out their deals.
And don’t forget about giveaways and contests – you can use facebook for these! Everyone loves giveaways (especially when it tastes good) and you could have a contest for whoever comes up with a name for a new cupcake or a new flavor of something.
I hope all goes well in the development of your new business! Enjoy!
these are great ideas – but I just wanted to point out one thing. When you are operating under cottage food law (which I am assuming what i going on here) you can’t sell to bakeries or other wholesale type situations. You have to sell to the end consumer. It is illegal for them to sell you items unless they are prepared in a commercial kitchen.
I agree with Facebook and perhaps cards. But I do believe a blog would be great. You can feature cupcakes, coupons, and even hold giveaways for free dozen, etc. Taking your cupcakes to the streets, businesses, even to farmers markets. If you know of local bloggers that are bakers as well, perhaps putting yourself on there as a guest to talk about your cupcakes. Local moms support groups, MOPS, homeschool groups etc are great ways to get your name out there. You might even try putting yourself on Craigslist in the kids section. See if you can put cards up in your grocery store, local Starbucks, etc. Hope this helps.
Katheryn
http://www.outoftheboring.com
I don’t know anything about your business, but unless you are permitted through the appropriate agency (it will vary between health dept and dept of agriculture depending on your state and product) you could incur fines. Additionally if you have a child (which most of us on this site probably do) or pet and your kitchen is connected to your home it is illegal to make the products you’re selling out of your home.
Sorry to rain on your parade but I would hate to see you get penalized! At the very least I would recommend you not advertise what you’re doing even if you decide to pursue it.
The legalities vary from state to state; some cities/towns have additional ordinances.
this varies from state to state. I recently opened my own baking business under the Florida Cottage Food Law that just passed. I am able to operate my business out of my home and I have children and no pets.
You have to be sure to research the regulations for your state. For Example, I had to sign up for fictious name and I had to register with my county. I also pay Sales Tax monthly to the government for what I sell. My sales are maxed out at $15,000 per year and I am limited on what i can sell (cream cheese frosting, items that require refridgeration), I have to clearly label all of the items I sell and follow a specific format for this.
It is a pain to get all the regulations down and understand them clearly however, it is a great way to get things started. I’ve been very successful with word of mouth and I just started setting up a booth at a local flea market once a month.
Try your local Craigslist. It’s free.
Also make sure you know your local regulations. I wanted to sell fudge at holidays, and even on a small scale of a few hundred in sales, that’s not legal. I can’t sell any foods that I make, except as part of a church or other non-profit bakesale to benefit the non-profit.
I have a home based sewing and crafts business, and although I do sell on etsy which gets worldwide exposure, I’d still say that word of mouth is the best advertising. Maybe have a friend host a cupcake sampling party- where people can drop by and taste your work and discuss how you can be involved in their next event? Facebook is huge, too, though. You could also consider one of the car magnets or vinyl labels to advertise as you drive. Good luck to you!
I agree that word of mouth is the best advertising.
Be very careful about spamming your friends/family. I’m sure they are happy for you and your new venture, but don’t get carried away.
yes, that’s always good advice too. In the end, a good product will sell itself. Get the word out, then let your product do the work.
Maybe you could host a “cupcake camp” in the summer for school-age kids? It could be 1-2 full days or half days for a week. Kids could learn to bake, frost, and decorate several ways- maybe with stencils, fondant, icing flowers for the older kids…. A local bakery in my town did this last summer, having several weeks of camps- one week per age group from preschoolers all the way to teens.
Love this idea!
I’d bake some cupcakes and take them to some local companies with your business cards. You could also try to team up with a local photographer and do cakes/cupcakes for 1st birthday photo shoots in exchange for advertising from the photographer. Might be a good way to get some birthday party orders. Some children’s clothing sales will have booths that they rent to vendors where you could set up and let people taste test and buy your cupcakes. Just a few ideas that might not cost too much. Good luck!
Vistaprint is great for marketing. I was able to get 500 business cards for free.
Definitely look into local shows, bullitin boards, community centers etc.
Maybe even make up a portfolio of pictures and prices and put it together and have it printed at vistaprint or somewhere like that and always have them on you to hand out.
Good luck to you!
My first thought was Craigslist, but I’m not sure if that is possible to advertise there. Also, try to do something in the schools to gain business. many times coffee shops will have bulletin boards you can post advertisements on as well.
I’m just starting one myself, but I have had pretty good luck using the giveaway app that is on Facebook. I’m not sure of the exact link, but you can go through my page (www.facebook.com/punkprincesscreations) & choose the “giveaway” tab and it will give you the option of setting up your own. I know that you can choose to do a local one, which might be a better option for you, since you have perishable items. Also, make sure that the stumbler option is enabled b/c that sends more people to your giveaway, also.
You might also try advertising on Craigslist, or getting a booth at a craft fair or church bazaar.
What is your facebook page so that I can come check out your stuff?
Good luck!
Find a local Mothers of Preschoolers group (mops.org – our area of NW Houston has over 10 groups) and see if you can bring cupcakes/business cards. I second the JBF sales – most are coming up right around now, and you could set up a table outside to display some stuff perhaps.
PTA meetings are a great idea. Also, we have lots of older neighborhoods that have monthly women’s clubs and garden club meetings (those women have lots of grandkids!)- talk to HOAs. I LOVE the idea of cupcake decorating class at the library!! I would totally go.
Donate to bake sales or charity auctions. I know lots of organizations, churches, schools, and charities have bake sales. Get booths at craft fairs, if food counts as a craft. You’ll have to invest a lot of time, but if you have time and not money, then spend what you have!
A great way to increase your advertising is by “donating” to highly visible events like a charity event in your area and have flyers and business cards to hand out…Or bake sales at the local schools, or simply by taking by a sample to a local radio station for a quick “mention” on air….Or co host an event with someone like Thirty One or Pampered Chef or Scentsy…..
Do you have a website? If so pinterest. Or even if you don’t make some pictures with your creations and your name and in the description put your company name and location. A simple website to link back to will probably help pinners find you.
Look for any Mom groups in your area, and see if you can do a sample day at their get togethers… make sure you gear your samples to birthday parties.
Check and see if you have a Just Between Friends in your area(or any type of childrens resale event)… most of them have a bag of goodies to the first 500 shoppers, and you could get a box of free vista print business cards to put in the bags to get your name out there.
Check with other party suppliers (clowns, magicians, etc)… you recommend them, they recommend you, if people ask for suggestions.
VistaPrint also does door magnets for you car, and a lot of times you can get them for shipping only… turn your car into a moving billboard.
I’ve gotten ads for businesses like yours at pre-school fairs and consignment sales in my area. Good luck!
First of all, congrats!
I work with a direct sales business that sells kitchen products through home parties, etc.
My business and business model are a little different than yours, but in my business, and I think in most, it’s all about relationships! A lot of business comes from referrals, which are basically FREE. Call everyone you know and let them know what you’re doing and why you’re so excited. Ask them if they could use your services and who they know that might need them. Maybe offer some kind of gift for referrals as an incentive, or just as a thank you.
Maybe host a tasting event at your home and offer gifts/your services at a discount to anyone who attends. And invite EVERYONE you know, plus neighbors, kids’ school friends, and others you’ve been “meaning to meet!”
Another way I get a lot of business is by renting booths at bazaars, mom to mom sales, etc. You could sell some pre-made items there, plus give out your contact info and even an incentive for booking future business.
Good luck!!!
I am in the same boat. I have my own business called Studio 456, where I make gifts, invitations and plan parties. I have started setting up a table at craft shows, vendor fairs and fundraising events. This gets my name out there and allows for great networking opportunities. Also, participating in giveaways has helped me too. I have a long way to go and big dreams for my small business. Good luck to you! What’s your Facebook page name? I’ll be sure to “like” it. Find me at Studio-456.
Amy – Do you have a link? I couldn’t find your page through the search option.
You know, I get that a lot. I wonder how I can make my page easier to find? Anyway, my page can be found at:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Studio-456/138462636231413
Thanks!
Amy you need to create a personal username…once you do that your page can easily be found.
Thank you! I had no idea I needed to do that. Clearly, I have some learning to do about Facebook business pages. Thank you so much!
https://www.facebook.com/Studio456
Danielle, I have a home business as well, and even though it’s direct sales, the same advertising ideas will work for you. The TOP tip that I have for you is find a way to mention your business EVERYWHERE YOU GO. Keep your business cards on you, and make sure you’re handing them out. Also, make sure you’re asking at local businesses or places your frequent if you can leave business cards anywhere. Some grocery stores have bulletin boards. You can also offer incentives to people you know, to get a discount through you for referrals. People can also be willing to carry your business cards around and hand them out on your behalf in exchange for a discount as well.
leave your cards at coffee shops, bookstores, boutiques – anywhere that will let you or has a pin board.
Offer to be a sponsor of your local PTA meetings and provide cupcakes for meetings, etc. Maybe they will allow you to have your logo in their newsletter as well. A facebook page is great, but since your customers need to be local you need to focus on getting out in front of folks. Offer cupcake decorating classes at your local community club or library. For a $5 fee or something you can show some basic decorating ideas or even have ideas on theme parties, etc. Good Luck!
Facebook….Facebook…Facebook!! I can’t stress how effective it has been for my cupcake business.
Contact me if you’d like some help!
Jennifer
I love your web-site. Do you have an actual bakery, or do you work from home like I do.
Just starting out at home…but will be starting to work with cafe’s this spring…it’s an easy way to move into the retail environment without the cost. You just need your food handler’s license and insurance on their cafe..which would be $10 for the food handler card and about $40 per month in insurance. Cafe’s are already licensed kitchens so you don’t have to worry about the red tape. Your best advice is to chum up with ALL of the cafe’s in your area 🙂 Good luck!!
I would definitely post photos on Facebook and Twitter each time you make a new creation….additionally, incorporate those photos into blog posts to help people “get to know you”.
Google offers many times $100 for google adword campaigns or check FB for free $50 for advertising…..It’s all free and has brought me business!! 🙂
I used a local deal site (like groupon but local to our area) They did all of the advertising as part of promoting the deal I offered and we split the profits 50/50. It was very helpful in getting our name out and it cost me nothing out of pocket.
For cupcakes, I would offer to do some birthday parties for free or at cost to be noticed by the other moms there!
One thing that that might help is to offer cupcakes free for a few events. I did cupcakes for a friend’s bridal shower at work and actually got a few weddings out of that one event. Or ask local businesses if you can do a “cupcake tasting” day, give away samples or mini cupcakes outside of their store for an afternoon. Anything to get your name out there and get people excited about your product.
I’m excited to hear what other people say, because I could definitely use a few more ideas myself!
I agree! my brother made a CD and found that this helps marketing!
I agree – a few new bakeries have donated to our local mother’s club events in exchange for free advertising in our newsletter and at the event. It’s a great way to get people talking too.
My aunt started a candy making business not too long ago. She gave away a lot of free samples and then also sold it at a couple of small businesses. She took samples and an order form to the hospital and she did pretty well.
Vistaprint offers fairly well-priced business cards. And they will even do a shipment of them for free several times a year (limited designs though). You could have some printed up and leave them on public bulletin boards around town, pass them out at church, day care, the gym, etc. (or anywhere you feel comfortable enough with the people around you to do so). Include any pertinent information like phone, fax, email, web site, etc. Good luck!!
A suggestion – make sure you know your city/state’s regulations on baking at home. Some places will not let you unless you have a commercial kitchen.