151. Baking it Down - Hobby vs. Have To

🎨 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 

Om Podcasten

👋 Hey - Heather and Corrie here with the Baking it Down Podcast with Sugar Cookie Marketing (a group on Facebook full of sugar cookiers turned business owners). 🍪 We're here to help you rise with your reach, flood with new followers, bake up new ideas, and make that all-important dough (while makin' that dough - see the pun there?) 🤑. What’s it about? We’re a Facebook Group turned Podcast, Membership, Book Club, and Baking 101 that’s dedicated to assisting bakers in effectively marketing online to generate more sales and better manage their businesses. 🧠 With free Facebook Live classes, hundreds of resources, and thousands of like-minded bakers, there’s a lot to learn in "SCM" (aka Sugar Cookie Marketing). ️🎧 As an extension of our Facebook group, this podcast is here to let you learn by listening. 📈 We'll cover group topics, marketing trends, and more (leaving this wide open in case Corrie wants to start singing). 💸 We take the sweet art of selling online to the cottage bakery world with marketing methods that move products (and pastries).👂 So open up those glorious ear canals because we have a podcast! Just when you’ve thought you’ve “heard” it all with those marketing "miracle" twins (that's our last name - not a proclamation), we’ve got something just for you each week! 🥣 As a baker, you don't always have the luxury of two hands needed to scroll in Sugar Cookie Marketing Group or crack open a book in Sugar Cookie Bookies, but what you can do is listen (unless you're my kid asking “what’s for dinner” for the millionth time). 👐 Hands full of flour? No problem! 👍 18 dozen iced cookies due tomorrow? Let’s do this. The Baking it Down Podcast by Sugar Cookie Marketing is a weekly podcast geared toward helping you grow your bakery business - dropping (almost) every Tuesday. 📅 We choose a topic each week that's either something new and emerging in the world of social media or something that we saw in "The Group" that was a hot topic and we bake it down... I mean, "break" it down for you. 🗯️ What you can expect in the podcast is about an hour of chit-chat with the meat and potatoes right at the beginning of the episode. 🥔 That’s when we dive into the marketing topic of the week! 📞 Oh yeah, folks can call / text / email in with their questions too - a fun way to hear from other bakers out there. Our promises to you: 1️⃣ We always make it clean = no cursing. We understand that you are busy and could be around little ones while also trying to get your weekly dose of business growth so we make sure that each episode would make our grandma proud and keep it clean so you can listen while also living your life. 2️⃣ We always make it fun. There’s a lot of negativity in the world so we try and make the podcast an upbeat and fun learning experience for you. I mean, we try to make the Instagram updates and changes as happy as we can, but come on Instagram! Give it a rest! No more changes! 3️⃣ Other than that, we take a positive approach to marketing We are also *not* professional podcasters. I feel like we need to say this because, hey, sometimes we get giggles! We do our best to extend our marketing knowledge to you all free of charge each week at the cost of listening to our higher-than-normal pitched voices and the occasional giggle spree. 4️⃣ You can find the podcast on all the major platforms and you can typically expect a new episode each Tuesday afternoon (unless life happens). We invite everyone to listen. Either start from the beginning or work backward! The episodes don’t build off themselves so you won’t be confused hearing one before the other. You just might miss new Lives we mention but you can always catch the replay in the Sugar Cookie Marketing Group on Facebook!