Baking it Down with Sugar Cookie Marketing �‪�‬ Heather and Corrie Miracle

🥲 Excuse my Excuses - Don't cry unless you've tried (everything).

This week's podcast is a deep dive into a post I made in the group earlier this week - the post regarding "woe is me" threads saying the cookie industry is done, pack it up kids, you don't gotta go home, but you can stay... in this kitchen.
You see - that defeatist mentality ain't go no business being in a business-centric group. It will limit your sales and, over time, cause you to quit. Quite literally the opposite of marketing and growth mindsets. 
😭 "But I've tried (and cried) everything! It's not working anymore!"

Have you, though? Have you actually tried everything? Because there are now 159 Baking it Down podcast episodes covering 159 marketing tactics. And I'll wager you aint' tried even a third of the stuff we talked about. That's what today's podcast is about.
And even if you did - 🥤 have you ever wondered why Coca-Cola, founded in 1886, ✨still✨ buys ad space at the beginning of every movie? 🎥 They've been at this for 138 years and they still keep hittin' the marketing campaign trail! It's because consistency - over long periods of time - produces results.
Marketing ain't a one-and-done. If it was, I'd be out of a job and 🤑 cookiers would be millionaires. It's repeated effort for a really, really long time.  Let's jump into the post.
--
I often see people complain about their local markets in these groups.
🧈 The price of butter is too high,📉 Competitor prices are too low,👥 The market is saturated,🚫 The market doesn't want cookies,🎟️ Too many people teaching cookie classes,🪑 Too few people taking cookie classes,👎 The competition isn't as good as you,😭 The competition has more tag-happy friends than you.
You get the point.
👀 There are 45,000 people here - so I get the honor of reading many contradicting opinions on why sales aren't where we expected them to be.
Teeechnically... 🙅 you can only write "the cookie game is done" if you attempted every marketing tactic covered in this group. Then, and only then, can you say with certainty that the party is truly over.
🏃 I mean - how can you say you won't win a foot race if you never ran the race in the first place? Same applies to marketing. Can't say you can't sell anything if you didn't try everything in your power to sell it.
You can't say, "No one buys my cookies" if you never told absolutely everyone that you were selling cookies, right?
So allow me to ask... have you:
✅ Attempted to market to commercial businesses by dropping by with a logo cookie.✅ Worked on growing your review profile by getting new reviews and responding to bad reviews in a way that will increase sales.✅ Focused on upping your curb appeal for in-person pickups.✅ Implemented copy formulas to increase conversion rates - AIDA, PAS, 4 C's, 4 U's, Before After Bridge.✅ Implented "customer delight" methods to differentiate yourself from your competitors.✅ Used better adjectives to make your products and pitches sound more appealing in social media posts and emails.✅ Streamlined your branding for easier brand recognition across all print and digital profiles.✅ Run g-i-v-e-a-w-a-y-s to engage your page / group audience frequently.✅ Focused on adding value to local community groups each week.✅ Created your own local community group to better facilitate a value-added hyper-local community group.✅ Consistently posted to your social media every week for an entire year.✅ Created an email list on a newsletter sender (Mailchimp, Flodesk, Constant Contact).

🤦‍♀ Comfy Mistakes - Getting comfortable with uncomfy mistakes.
We had a (very) abbreviated podcast today - thanks to the door guys. 🚪 But in the few minutes we did get to chit-chat, we wanted to touch on "uncomfortable mistakes."
😿 Being bad at something sucks. It's no fun making mistakes. In fact, it feels like bad business acumen to make mistakes, right? I mean - imagine a business built on mistakes. Who would want to hire them!?
But successful businesses were built on the backs of mistakes. It's the "failing forward" that separates the business-ending mistakes from the "oh - I learned another way not to do that, let me try something else" business-building mistakes.
🤦‍♀ Mistakes mean you’re learning.
If you're not failing, you're not learning. There's a clip on Reddit of a guy learning to do a backflip - he actually gets pretty okay, then starts doing worse before finally sticking the landing. *crowd goes wild*
🧠 That's how the brain works (well, not in learning how to back flip - I ain't got the health insurance plan to be trying that). 
You try something new, and in your cluelessness, you have a bit of beginner's luck. As you intentionally refine your process, you get a little worse before finally becoming successful at something. Congrats - you learned something - you failed forward.
🤦‍♀ Growth = failing forward.
There's a difference between "failing" and ➡️ "failing forward." In the prior, you likely quit. This is the wrong type of mistake. The mistake we want is where we know we're going to mess up, but the whole time, we're making mental notes - "Ah yes, don't put the green Jimmy sprinkle in before the cake batter has cooled - that gives E.coli vibes. Noted." 
📝 Then back to the drawing board once more to implement what we now know not to do - ta-da! We just failed forward. Enough failing forwards and you've got yourself a new skill, my friend!
🤦‍♀ Bring clients into the learning phase.
Don't be shy - invite others to cry! Kidding, it rhymed. But Corrie had a good point. When clients ask her to do stuff "out of her wheelhouse," she lets them know! 
🤝 "Hey - this would be my first time trying that technique - I've always wanted to attempt it. Worst case, you got yourself some free red cake pops, best case, you got what you wanted! Let's do this!" 
🤦‍♀ Have a refund fund ready to go.
Mistakes are only hard to stomach if someone loses. But in the event of failing forward, we hedge our bets with our "oopsie budget" - 👮‍♂ the proverbial baker get-outta-jail-free card when it comes to making mistakes. That way mistakes don't hurt so bad (our ego and our wallets). It's easier to take a risk when you know there's a financial net there to break your fall.
👂 Snag this podcast on any major podcast player (Spotify, Apple Music, Audible, Amazon Music, or your desktop) by searching - Baking it Down - Episode 158 - Uncomfy Mistakes.

⭐ Deborah Deborah DeborahWhen you've not been seen, heard, or understood.
Grab your popcorn - 🍿 we covered a buttery topic on today's podcast when a Canadian restaurant went viral for all the wrong review reasons. 🧈 Blaming Deborah in a now globally reaching door sign, Heirloom Restaurant closed its doors this April citing issues with... well, unhappy clients. 👨‍🍳

How did they handle it? 😠 Making unhappy clients even unhappier clients. 😡 Whether it was a staged publicity stunt or a business owner who had just finally had enough of Deborah and her depressing reviews - regardless, they're now shuttered - and here's a small... ahem... heirloom... we can take with us when it comes to replying to reviews.
(if you're as nosey as me and don't mind some colorful language - 🍅 google "heirloom restaurant Canada Reddit" and enjoy the rabbit hole).
🔟 10 Ways to Handle a Bad Review
First things first - how you handle bad reviews isn't a reflection on how well you bake - but rather how well you business. 🤝 Good business owners understand that a bad review can be a tool to secure more business. Lackluster business owners think it's a digital fight - and act accordingly - costing them time and money (even more they don't realize they're losing out on). 
1️⃣ Understand that everyone will eventually get a bad review (or at least an unhappy client).If we could please everyone what kind of person would that make us? See - the thing is, you can't please everyone - so fully come to terms with that, at some point, someone will be leaving you a bad review. It's just gonna happen - and once we accept that, we take away the emotion out of it. 
Repeat after me: "I am a business owner. I will get a bad review. That is okay. How I handle that review makes all the difference." 
2️⃣ Walk away - 🕒 a minimum of 24 hours (the damage is already done. don't make it well done by replying in anger).No one died from not getting a reply to their bad review in time. Thus, take your time in replying. Waiting, thinking, and letting the offended emotions dissipate will clear your mind when writing a reply to a bad review. The last thing we want is to take a page from Heirloom and make the bad, worse. 
3️⃣ Write a rough draft reply - 🤓 then have a third uninvested party read it.Write a rough draft - AND BEFORE YOU POST IT - have the least emotional person you know read it first. Ask them, "Does any part of this response sound emotional or defensive?" If they say yes - change that part. We want zero emotional replies here. If you get defensive at their critique... well, I got news for ya, kiddo.
4️⃣ Lower your defenses. ️🥊I can't stress this enough. Lower. Thy. Defenses. Listen - whether or not they're right - they are upset. Raising your defensiveness escalates every situation. Don't do it. If 24 hours wasn't enough to drop that cortisol level, take another 24-hour break until you calm down. Do not run your business on high alert - you'll make mistakes that'll be much harder to fix.
5️⃣ Acknowledge their experience as valid. 🤝This is a huge sticking point in the Sugar Cookie Marketing group. Validating how someone feels does not mean you agree with what they said. We are all allowed to feel how we feel (even if it's wrong). Validating an emotion looks like: "I know you're upset right now." 

⛔ Class is Canceled - What to do when you need to cancel cookie class.
When you venture into the wild world of cookie classes, the last thing you want to do is consider canceling said cookie class. BUT - it's just a fact of life that even the most seasoned instructors will have to face a cookie class cancelation.
Heck - we've been doing this for years now and it still happens. No one's above it. So best that we all learn from it. And that's today's podcast, how to mitigate having to cancel, when to consider canceling, and how to cancel, and what to do after you have canceled a cookie class.
⬇️ Feel free to save this graphic for future reference - it's what we covered on the podcast ⬇️
🛑 When to Mitigation a Class Cancelation
Okay - before we go straight to canceling, I like to see if we can still sell the seats. We're going to have to get creative to fill seats last minute - and it may touch your profit margin a bit, but there are times when "the show must go on" is a better business move than walkin' away from a non-refundable room rental fee. 
🛑 If someone has a sickness, give them a class credit / refund as quickly as possible - 🤧 we do not want to force their hand and have them come.🛑 For reasons other than sickness, tell the canceling attendee, "If either of us can sell your ticket, I'll refund you." This way you're guaranteed a "one out, one in."🛑 Offer Bo-Go to current class attendees (bring a friend, get a discount). We use this one - most folks have friends, it's a great way to fill seats + make the attendees have a better time.🛑 Offer up free tickets to a community group (marketing cost now). This will be a 100% loss of ticket revenue, BUT it's a great marketing tactic to raise awareness for your classes to a local audience.🛑 Ensure your "no-show policy" is really dialed in. You can't go back in time and write your no-show policies. Every few classes, we just have people literally not show up - and we never hear from them.  They knew the no-show policy and respected it.
🤔 When to Consider Canceling
Okay - let's say we still can't move seats - it's now time to move to the "should I cancel this" phase. Hey - it happens. The sooner we act though, the better (but yes - there's a balancing act: cancel too soon, you could have sold those seats, cancel too late, you may get a (very small) mob of angry would-be class attendees.
🤔 Time Frame: before you bake (we do 7 days). Don't bake then cancel - you'll be out not only a potential room fee, processing fees, but also ingredients costs. Make that decision before you get to the kitchen.🤔 Threshold - what are the minimum required signups to cover room costs? Sometimes your costs can still be covered even with a small crowd - so consider only canceling if you will be operating below your costs (room, ingredients, labor), otherwise - I'd keep the show goin'! 🤔 Don't focus on room capacity - focus on costs + profit. We see some posters write, "I only sold 50% of my tickets" but when asked about how many that is, that's 10 whole tickets (as in their venue could seat 20 people). Our 100% capacity is 10 tickets - so focus on costs and profit, not on a filled room.🤔 Does the venue have a refund cut-off? Sometimes paid venues will let you out of your room fees if you cancel X days in advance - consider that when making the class "TOD" call. 

❌ How to Cancel
Okay - now it's time to make the call - we are going to cancel. How do we go about this.

😡 Upsetspectations - How setting expectations up front can keep us outta hot water.

Upsetspectations - the tongue-twister we came up with to describe what setting expectations as a baker and then not meeting them as a baker creates in your clients. 
🛫 Listen - you're the one piloting the plane here, you get to set the expectations because likely your clients don't really have a clue what goes into baking. But when you're the pilot 💺 and don't tell the cabin to buckle up, you set yourself up for some troubled turbulence (and a bad review).
In this week's podcast, 😳 we cover things we find sugar cookiers forget to set flexible expectations that blow back in the baker's face (😭 and land you in Sugar Cookie Marketing group begging the comments not to client bash so your thread doesn't get prematurely locked).
When we see these threads pop up in the group, the first question always asked is: 🤔 What were the policies in place before this became an issue? 
You'll live and die by your disclaimers, TOS, expectations, and heads-ups.
Here's the most common complaints that we see posted in the SCM group. When you find out one of these bad boys is causing an "unset expectations" issue for you, you'd pay just about any amount to travel back in time and tie these loose ends up. 🪡
📑 Color Accuracy - "colors will be close, but aren't guaranteed to be 100% accurate."📑 Hand-Made Disclaimer - "cookies are a hand-made product and made include some minor defects. While kept to a minimum, please remember these are delicious, but not perfection." 📑 Follow-Ups - "thank you for your order - you'll hear from me again 2 weeks from your pick-up date to confirm details."📑 Refunds - "my bakery has a no refund policy - if you're unhappy with anything about your order, please let me know and we can find a resolution that works for you." 📑 Invoice Paid to Reserve - "here is your invoice - please note that the invoice must be paid to reserve your date, and I cannot guarantee the dates availability after today"📑 No Show / Porch Pickup Policies - "your pick-up time is X:XXAM. in the event you cannot show up for your pick-up, your cookies will be..."📑Price Transparency - "my custom dozens start at $X and increase based on design and set complexity and order size."📑Delayed Disclaimers - "in the event that the baker cannot fulfill the order / teach the cookie class, the policy is..."📑Cancelation Policy - "we do not offer full or partial refunds if your event is canceled - but these cookies will taste delicious regardless." These will only get ya started. The key to remember is: NO ONE IS READING YOUR TOS, DISCLAIMERS, OR WARNINGS. So you have to keep reminding clients bringing to light the expectation that fits them best. 
👀 Tune into a client you suspect really wants exact color matching - then set their expectations on colors and icing. 
👀 Look for clients you think may want really frequent communication schedules - then set their expectations about your response times.
👀 Check for clients with spotty communication once you've sent the invoice - then set their expectations on your "pay to reserve" booking system.

🏡 Cottage Curb Appeal - How zhuzhing up your front lawn can increase sales.

🌼 Happy first day of spring! And with sunny skies (for some of us - ⛄ my apologies to y'all gettin' snow), it's time to consider that curb appeal - ya know, 👀 the stuff people are glancing at as they walk up to your house to snag their sweet treats.
Ya see - marketing encompasses more than just cute captions and pretty social media posts. 🎀 It's also packaging and customer experience - and if you have at-home pick-ups, that includes your front stoop. Doubtful that a hoarder also has a stain-free kitchen countertop - 🧼 as such, we want our home to reflect our products: clean, nice, approachable, and pretty. 
In this week's podcast, 🌱 we cover some spring cleaning check-list items and after that, how to turn some turf cleanup into local community group sales 🤑
Okay cool - that entire list is pretty self-explanatory, but hey, I never said no to saving a checklist and checkin' it twice (🎅🏻 call me the Santa of several to-do lists).
🤔 "Heather, where's the part where I make more sales? I know how to mow."
Okay - 🔑 here's the key. For the following tasks, you are NOT going to shop online or on Google. You're going to shop l-o-ca-l-l-y and you're going to go about it by asking in local community groups... 🤫 as a baker. 
🧹 Finding a local powerwasher.🧹 Hiring a carpet cleaner.🧹 Looking for a custom wreath maker.🧹  Sourcing a custom wooden sign maker (woodworker). 🧹 Searching for a custom doormat maker. 🧹 Bonus Options: Finding a window washer. 

And here's how you're going to ask for these local business recommendations:
✅ Go to a local community group.✅ Take a picture of your front yard - pictures get more views in groups.✅ Post something like this: "Hey [community group]! People often pick up their cookie orders from my doorstep, so I absolutely need to spruce it up for spring! I'm looking for a local small business to do [local service]."✅ Then actually hire the business. Before the business gets there, take a before picture. Once the business leaves, take an after picture.✅ Go back to the community group and leave a review for the business posting the before/after photos + tagging that business + tag the person who recommended them to you + and tag the admins for running such an awesome resource group. 

Wash rinse and repeat (🐶 both the posts and your front door if you have a dog like Ray).
👂 Snag this podcast on any major podcast player (Spotify, Apple Music, Audible, Amazon Music, or your desktop) by clickin' here - Episode 154 - Cottage Curb Appeal.