77. Baking it Down - Bakers and Bikers

🏍  Bakers and BikersWhen 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). 

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!