How to promote your cake decorating business

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.

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.

There is no point in spending time and money in developing your cake decorating skills to a professional standard if nobody knows about it. You are creating spectacular or charming cakes that will be very popular, but not if you are the only person who knows about it. In part 2 of this series, we look at some more ideas for promoting your cake decorating business and building your reputation.

Deliver a top quality product every time This is perhaps a bit obvious - it applies to all businesses, not just a cake decorating business - but there are few businesses where first impressions are more important than a cake decorating business. The chief appeal of a well decorated cake is visual, and it is how the cake looked that will be remembered for the longest time, especially now due to the enormous proliferation of digital photography and the easy ability of anyone to transmit photographs instantly to anywhere in the world. In a visual medium like this, the cake is by far its own best advertising.

Use all your networks Everyone you know knows a lot of other people that have various celebrations coming up. Weddings, birthdays, anniversaries - the list is endless. Make it known in all circles in which you move that you are a professional cake decorator and available for business.

Keep a supply of business cards with you at all times, give handfuls of them to people you know that have a lot of contacts, and never miss an opportunity to mention in conversation what you do for a living (people usually ask anyway). You'll be surprised how often someone will say "Oh, that's handy. My mother⁄sister⁄husband⁄friend⁄colleague etc is having a birthday⁄anniversary⁄graduation. Would you be interested in making a cake for that?" Of course you will immediately say yes and give them your card, but you must also get their contact details. People often forget what they said at parties, or don't bother following up on things, but if you have their details you can call them yourself and secure the business.

Get a website This is great for promotion of your cake decorating business, excellent for showing your portfolio of photographs, really easy to do, and can be done completely free on sites like Squidoo and many others.

Look for co-promotional opportunities within your niche Most niche markets - weddings are a good example - are supplied by a variety of businesses that focus on one aspect of the occasion. Wedding dress makers, for example, or wedding planners. And don't forget – every wedding has a photographer, and these can be a good source not only of high quality photographs of your cakes for your portfolio, but also of informal co-promotional arrangements. You recommend him to your clients, he recommends you to his - you are both in different niches of the same industry, so you are not competing against each other - and in fact recommending other quality professionals to a client can only add value to the service you are providing.

You've baked the cake - it's delicious. You have practised and developed your decorating skills to the point where even you are impressed by your spectacular creation. Now all you need is to let everyone else know what you are capable of, and that you are available for their weddings, birthdays, anniversaries and any other occasion that needs a professional quality cake as a centrepiece. Here are some more promotional ideas for your cake decorating business.

Get to know local cafe and restaurant managers Many of these do catering for special occasions and celebrations - either as in-house functions, or as outside catering arrangements - and are always on the lookout for people to createcakes for them. Show them some good photos,

or even samples of your work, and ask them to keep in touch with you regarding opportunities they may have. Become their "go to person" for cakes.

Enter competitions Showing your cakes in local agricultural shows or baking competitions is a very good way of getting your name and abilities known, and also gives you a chance to compare your skills and product with others in the field. If you win prizes, this gives added impact when mentioned in your advertising material, and can even get a mention in the local paper. Don't underestimate this avenue of promotion - there is a lot of opportunity here.

Do a few "freebies" It doesn't hurt to make and decorate the odd cake for free - perhaps family functions, or maybe the anniversary of a society or club you are a member of - this is another good promotional opportunity, especially if you are just starting out. Make sure everyone knows who made the cake - you are likely to be attending these functions as a guest, so don't be shy of doing a bit of self promotion. If the MC or person cutting the cake thanks you publicly, make sure you are seen so everyone knows who you are. This will lead to conversation and give you further opportunity to promote yourself and hand out your card. Remember that everyone attending these functions has their own networks independently of this, so word of mouth can spread exponentially. (And don't forget that the costs of freebies are a legitimate tax deduction as a promotional expense!)

Use a follow up letter to secure repeat business A few weeks after you have decorated a cake for a client, send them a follow up letter thanking them for their custom and enquiring as to their satisfaction with your service. A brief questionnaire may be useful here. Include a business card and a brochure, and invite them to contact you with any future requirements they may have. Repeat business is the lifeblood of any commercial enterprise, and the cake decorating business is in a unique position to take full advantage of this. Everyone has a birthday each year, every company has people retiring at some stage, and even though weddings are a one off, they generate an anniversary each year that many people like to celebrate formally. The opportunities are endless.

Monitor engagement announcements in your local newspaper If you are working in the wedding niche, this is a great source of clients for your cake decorating business. Most people announce their engagement a considerable time before the wedding, so they may not have started their planning yet. Now is the time to strike - find contact details by using the telephone directory and get your name and your business details to them.