Baking it Down with Sugar Cookie Marketing 🍪

Hosted by Heather and Corrie Miracle

Business Entrepreneurship Food

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Episodes

279

Latest episode

Sep 2026

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EN-US

About the show

👋 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!

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September 23, 2026Episode 191 hr 41 min

279. Baking it Down - Cookier Interview - Jonathan Brandel

Send us Fan Mail 🎙️ Pod Guest: Jonathan Brandel - Cookier turned 3D printer...er? In this week's Baking it Down Podcast - Episode 279 - Cookier Interview - Jonathan Brandel, we had the third in our series of guest speakers this year! This week featured Jonathan Brandel (our potentially long-lost triplet), who is a full-time worker, baker, father of three, and now a 3D printer. Printer-er? How do you say that correctly? He takes us through how he balances it all, what new tech is comin' to the world of 3D printing, and some tips on keeping the ol' print bed warmed and ready to go. But before we jump into the podcast, here's how you can contact him for 3D printer design work: hello@brandel3ddesigns[dot]com and (a work in progress) website: www.brandel3ddesigns[dot]com 🖨️ His Backstory - Brandels Baked Goods If you haven't met Jonathan in the SCM group, you've likely not had a 3D printer issue. He's a superstar at troubleshooting. Jonathan began his baking journey in a unique way - when his wife was pregnant with their first, looking for additional ways to make some money - from baked pies to caramel, he landed on sugar cookies when a friend sent a picture - something he didn't even know existed before that instance (makes me wonder how the rest of y'all first discovered sugar cookies). As a man now with three kids and a full-time job and two more hustles - the bakery and the 3D printing business - Brandel (I like to call him by his last name lol) focuses on high-margin items and streamlining production, which makes sense when time is the most valued asset you have. His bakery goal? Collaborations with other bakers. His oven and his 3D printers work in tandem to fill a gap in his local market in Oregon. He partners with bakers to produce 3D-printed marketing materials, QR codes, and cake pop molds and cookie cutters. Unlike most bakers here, the cart came before the horse - meaning the 3D printer came before the desire to print cookie cutters at home. He started (aka cried through) an Ender 3 Pro, migrating to the Bambu line as an early adopter, but now, as tech has caught up to the wall Bambu smashed down, he's added a few new printers to his growing collection (Brandel - do you name your printers like actual names??) As far as marketing - community groups are still his primary lead gen - yep, even for the 3D printing biz! The "Final Frontier" of word-of-mouth is still alive and well. If you'd like to contact Jonathan for 3D printing collabs or to hire him to design custom STLs, he says he's open to it! I left his email at the top. 👂 Snag this podcast on any major podcast player (Spotify, Apple Music, Audible, Amazon Music, or watch it on YouTube ) by searching for Baking it Down Podcast - Episode 279 - Cookier Interview - Jonathan Brandel.

September 15, 2026Episode 181 hr 27 min

278. Baking it Down - Cost Creepers

Send us Fan Mail 🧟‍♂️ Cost Creepers - Scary ways you’re losing money. In this week's Baking it Down Podcast - Episode 278 - Cost Creepers , the Cookie College is comin' up with Blueprints (more on that soon), and the first 14-day Blueprint focuses on accurately pricing your bakes profitably - the key word being: profit. One of the most insidious threats to your profit margin is sneaky overhead costs (also called indirect costs). These are the line items in your budget that are needed to make the sale but aren't directly related to that specific order - the Canva subscription to make the graphic that you posted to the Facebook ad that brought in the website lead that you added to your CRM software . These costs are necessary for running a cottage bakery, but they can also grow out of control. That subscription to an STL library you never use can be just as dangerous as that website subscription that just increased in price (lookin' at you, Square). And we're not telling you to hit the cancel button 100 times. We're challenging you to cut back the creep. What do you really need? What do you use so often that it may be worth the yearly upgrade for the discount? What can you sell to buy back some cash flow? What can you invest in to increase those margins? 💸 Software and Subscriptions These are the sneakiest overhead costs because of auto-renewals, rate increases, and forgetfulness. That cutter box subscription? Maybe it's not helping you plan a set that resonates with your audience. That graphic subscription? Is there a plan downgrade that still fits the bill? That Canva subscription? Can you join a grandfathered team and get that price down? Always check back on these - I like auditing them at least twice a year and seeing if that subscription still serves my purposes. 💸 Business Expenses These expenses are required to keep the business above board - your LLC renewal, that CPA's yearly invoice, your PO box, and the farmer's market fee. Don't forget - some of these can still be shopped around. Your insurance could be increasing year over year, and another company would love your money... I mean, business. 💸 Shared Utilities As home-based businesses, we share the air conditioner literally with our families - some of that needs to be covered by the business and the rest by the home. Same with electricity, water, internet, trash, phone plans, gas - you get the point. These costs can fluctuate, but taking an honest look at whether your pricing covers these types of costs is important for creating a profitable business. Once you take an honest look at your costs - overhead, labor, ingredients- and add in profit, you can see what needs to give and what needs to double down. And that's what we're doing with the Profit Blueprint - 14-day spreadsheet walkthrough that leaves you with an honest look at what your dozen actually makes you. 👂 Snag this podcast on any major podcast player (Spotify, Apple Music, Audible, Amazon Music, or watch it on YouTube ) by searching for Baking it Down Podcast - Episode 278 - Cost Creepers.

September 8, 2026Episode 171 hr 20 min

277. Baking it Down - First Timer Follies

Send us Fan Mail 🤡 First Timer Follies - When you’re new and need orders. In this week's Baking it Down Podcast - Episode 277 - First Timer Follies , we're wrapping up our New Baker's series, talking about first-timer mistakes you don't have to repeat if you snag yesterday's episode. When you're new to any industry, it's easy not to know what ya don't know - and that's what this beginner podcast series is for: to help new bakers miss the missteps when just getting started, saving them time (and tears). You can reference the series here : 🎧 277. Baking it Down - First Timer Follies 🎧 276. Baking it Down - How To Turn Down Orders When You Need Orders 🎧 275. Baking it Down - Big Shoes Battle 🎧 274. Baking it Down - Allow Us to be Your Personal Yodas 🎧 273. Baking it Down - Content Cookies for Beginner Bakers 🎧 270. Baking it Down - The Right Foot when Getting Started 🎧 269. Baking it Down - Sugar Cookies as a Side Hustle 🙅‍♀️ Don't overbuy cookie cutters Corrie said a big impulse when you're first out of the gate is to snag each and every cookie cutter, dreaming of a certain style of baker you want to be, typically centered around a specific aesthetic. But it's your skill set and your client base that determines which cutters you'll find yourself reaching for most. So start with purchasing simple shapes and plaques - these are versatile shapes you can use again and again. Oftentimes, bakers will end up never even touching the very cutters they spent their early dollars on - and that's a profit problem. Take notes from the folly of your elders - not every cutter is worth the squeeze when you're just getting started! 🙅‍♀️ Don't jump on trends Trends are as awesome as they are a risk - you can make quick money, sure, but you can also be stuck with an endless supply of Labubu boxes or Target crates. Let the more established bakers snag those trendy sales - they have the audience for it and the skills for quick turnaround (before the trend dries up). Focus on popular (repeating) holidays at Christmas or Halloween that are guaranteed to come back in style year after year (and use up that extra pumpkin-shaped packaging). 🙅‍♀️ Have an order intake form in place With Google Forms being free and Jotform being essentially free for new bakers, you don't have to learn that you need an intake process in place by missing an order or spelling a name wrong. Take a lesson from every baker before you and make a form that gets all orders coming in to one place rather than managing texts, emails, Facebook messages, and Instagram DMs (it's only a matter of time before you miss some important detail that will force a refund or catch a bad review). 🙅‍♀️ Don't offer everything You may feel like offering everything everyone wants will get you every dollar they have. Fun surprise - it actually works the opposite. Analysis paralysis + loss aversion + expiring ingredients = offering everything when you're just getting started can be bad news for profit margins. Start with the basics, master that, grow the customer base, then add the cake pops + bronuts + sourdough, etc. When you're just getting your sealegs under ya, it's not the time to be adding more boats to the fleet. 👂 Snag this podcast on any major podcast player (Spotify, Apple Music, Audible, Amazon Music, or watch it on YouTube ) by searching for Baking it Down Podcast - Episode 277 - First Timer Follies.

September 1, 2026Episode 161 hr 29 min

276. Baking it Down - How To Turn Down Orders When You Need Orders

Send us Fan Mail 🛑 How 2 Turn Down Orders - When you’re new and need orders. In this week's Baking it Down Podcast - Episode 276 - How To Turn Down Orders When You Need Orders , the beginner baker needs to turn down orders - yes, even when they need orders . Sometimes the client isn't the right match, the client has expectations that exceed current skill set, or the baker just doesn't have the time to handle as much back-and-forth as a specific client needs to feel comfortable. So how do you turn down orders when you need more orders? The typical recommendation is to say you're booked - which works pretty well for an established baker who is well... typically booked. But for the new baker, it puts them in a bind. They reject the client by claiming they're booked today, but are posting in a Facebook group looking for orders tomorrow. It's a fast way to lead to an upset client and an awkward conversation. We have a better strategy (actually copy templates) you can steal. ❌ Client is coming from another baker Issue: "I recently had a potential customer who has been a little strange and kind of insulted my work. She normally gets her cookies from another baker who has been doing this for a decade, but tried my cookies at a market and likes my flavor better. So when we discussed her cookie designs, she kept saying whatever “I’m most confident in” that I can make look like this other person because “she’s been doing it for a decade so you should check out her work.” Basically saying my designs aren’t up to par with this person who has been doing it for much longer." (this was an actual thread posted in the Sugar Cookie Marketing group) Response: "Hey client! I really gave this order some thought, and while I appreciate your confidence in me, my goal is to ensure my clients are 100% happy - even if that means referring them to another baker. I don't believe my current skillset will knock this out of the park in the way your order deserves, and having a client that I've missed the mark with is far worse than losing a sale. Thanks so much for considering me, and I hope XYZ baker can really stick the landing on these! In the meantime, I'll be in the kitchen working on new techniques, and I'd love the chance to work with you on a future order when I've had more time in the saddle!" Now, I understand my wording puts a lot of the "accountability" on you and not on her being high maintenance, but we feel like this delivery softens the blow of "I don't want your order." Tweak, delete, or steal it! ❌ Client needs some babysitting Issue : Client is asking for too much babysitting back and forth. Response : “Hey client! Love the direction we’ve gotten with this order - it’s going to turn out really amazingly. Let’s firm up the details in the next two emails so I can make sure I meet your due date on this order - I don’t want any snafus with the postal system causing any delays. Here’s what I need from you: [list of outstanding design choices] Once I get that, I’ll start gathering the supplies for your order. We’ve got your invoice paid, and then I’ll be in the kitchen! If you want to reply to this email with any outstanding questions about your order, I’ll knock those out in my final response, and we can finalize this!" ❌ Client is asking for a more advanced set Issue : This person is asking for designs outside the skillset you’re comfortable with: Response : “Hey client, thank you so much for considering me. I just reviewed your cookie inspiration photos you sent over, and I want to be 100% with you and my abilities. I don’t think I’ll be able to nail the look you’re going for, but I also know you deserve someone to knock this set out of the park for your big day. I wouldn’t be comfortable with taking your order, but I do have a few bakers I’m going to recommend that could probably nail this specific look for you. I don’t know their availability, but here’s the link to each Facebook Page so you can see their past work and review it before reaching out! Thank you so much for even considering me. I’m going to work hard on my decorating skills so I can be confident in this look and earn your business down the road!” ❌ Client is anxious about the order Issue : Client is anxious about the order process and feels distrustful of the baker. Response : “Hey Client! Thank you so much for trusting me with your big day and cookies. I am so excited to bake these up for you! I just want to let you know how the process goes so you can feel at ease and know that your cookies are being taken care of and are my utmost priority. Since we booked you already and we've got about 2 weeks before I start prepping your order, what I’m doing now is reviewing everything, and I’m going to send you an update email 1 week out from pick-up. After that, I’m going to start the prep process by getting the dough mixed, finding the corresponding cookie cutters to the ones we discussed, and then I’ll begin baking. I don’t send update photos as I go since they won’t make sense until I’m done. An eye-less Elsa isn’t for the faint of heart! Once I finish the set, I’ll send you an email with an order update, a look at your finished set, and we can nail down a pick-up time for the next day." 👂 Snag this podcast on any major podcast player (Spotify, Apple Music, Audible, Amazon Music, or watch it on YouTube ) by searching for Baking it Down Podcast - Episode 276 - How To Turn Down Orders When You Need Orders.

August 25, 2026Episode 151 hr 40 min

275. Baking it Down - Big Shoes Battle

Send us Fan Mail 👟 Big Shoes Battle - How to compete with the big bakers. In this week's Baking it Down Podcast - Episode 275 - Big Shoes Battle , we're back on our beginner baker series, and good news - even if you're new and it feels like you're takin' on the Big Dog Bakers who have been in the space for 5+ years, you can still play ball. Here are five ways that being the underdog actually gives you the home-field advantage over more established bakers regarding your marketing approach. 👟 Followers Don't Matter. Ten years ago, we wouldn't be able to tell you that followers were just a made-up number that doesn't affect marketing. Today we can tell you that. Yes, having a base of followers adds social proof and signals to a customer that you aren't a made-up cookie business out to steal their money and disappear into the abyss. But you can now reach far more than your follower count - it's the plus side of algorithm-based reach. So even if you have 100 followers, a quality post that reaches the right audience has the potential to reach thousands of would-be clients. Post in a local Facebook group, and their followers are now wide open to your reach - and you didn't even have to make and run a Facebook group. The potential to reach more in your audience has never been higher - and you don't have to get 1,000,000 followers to do it (remember when you could only reach the people who followed your page??). 👟 No group tags? Tag yourself. If you're new to baking, you're not going to get as many tags as a more established baker with a long-term network of referrals and word-of-mouth. But guess what? You can be your biggest fan right out of the gate. Put the blinders on if seeing the other baker tags affects you negatively, but always tag yourself. And be honest about it too. None of this, "I hear [myself] is a really great baker!" Approach it this way: "Hey Mary! I'm Corrie with Mixing Bowl Cookies [tag page], and I'd love to have the chance to work with you on your event! Here's a picture of a set I've done similar to what you're looking for. If you want to work together on this, here's how to get started [how they place an order with you]." Don't forget to include a picture, emojis, and line breaks. 👟 No email list? Start now. A small but engaged email list = better than a large email list that the seasoned baker has forgotten to email for over a year (55% of bakers said they haven't emailed their audience in the last 12 months). A quick win for a new baker - starting (and staying consistent with) an email list. Email is the final frontier of chronological order, and even if the clients don't open it (20% is the industry open rate standard), they still saw your brand and know you exist for their next order. 👟 No incoming orders? Make content. That big baker who is fully booked doesn't have time to make content that could go viral, get shared, or reach that next order from someone who otherwise wouldn't know you exist. While they're busy baking it up in the kitchen, you get busy recording content. In the world of Reels, you can quickly grow an audience just from a few decently performing vertical videos. Stream this week's pod to see our solution for bakers who are so new, they have no reviews. Yep - you can take the big dogs on here too! 👂 Snag this podcast on any major podcast player (Spotify, Apple Music, Audible, Amazon Music, or watch it on YouTube ) by searching for Baking it Down Podcast - Episode 275 - Big Shoe Battles.

August 18, 2026Episode 141 hr 30 min

274. Baking it Down - Allow Us to be Your Personal Yodas

Send us Fan Mail 🧙‍♂️ Your Yodas - allow us to be... In this week's Baking it Down Podcast - Episode 274 - Your Yodas Allow us to Be , we're back on our beginner baker series, and what better time than to reintroduce ourselves, tell you a bit about our background in marketing and sales, and how we got into the wild world of Sugar Cookie Marketing and The Cookie College. 🧙‍♂️ Hi, I'm Heather Born and raised in Northern Virginia right outside DC, I recently moved to West Virginia - as wild and wonderful as the adage says. But before that, I worked in B2B sales for a property restoration company. Who knew there was a billion-dollar industry just hoping your house burns down during a hailstorm while your toilet overflows?! Wilder world than West Virginia ever could imagine. While working in B2B sales, I also managed the company's online presence - a lot of the same stuff I talk about today (with a 15-year update on the materials). While doing that during the day, I started an e-commerce website solely to understand more about how online sales, product sourcing, and marketing worked. It was a wild time where spending literally any money on Facebook ads pushed the ads out to just about anyone and everyone on the platform. From there, I started flipping websites - fancy way of saying creating a website that generates either traffic or conversions, then listing the site on a marketplace for someone else to take over. All of this "dabbling" prepped me for a phone call from Corrie saying we're jumping into local, service-based marketing as our own company. Built that up for half a decade focusing on websites and SEO, along with ads and social - then BAM, a global pandemic that threw half our client list into a holding pattern. Badda-bing badda-boom, twin says, "Hey, we're bored - wanna help some cookie people with their marketing?" That was October 2020. Since then - I'd like to say I know a thing or two because I've worked with tons of bakers over the years who have real-life seen a thing or two. With our powers combined, we're captain... wait, I mean - we can learn from each other, and thus - I'd like to help you learn how to win at cookie business. Our goal is to help you through our own experience and the experiences of other bakers we've worked alongside, solving problems, talkin' strategy, and celebrating wins for the last 6 years (SCM's bday is October - can you believe it's been 6 years?!). 🧙‍♂️ Hey there. I'm Corrie. I'll write this on behalf of Twin 2. Corrie got married at 19 (or 20?? I forget), had her son Archer at 21. She moved to Ohio for like 6 months, moved back to Northern Virginia, got divorced, and a few years later remarried to a really great guy who works as a police officer by day, weight lifter by night. When she was in her twenties, she got into car sales - 🚗🚙🚕🛻 which she cites as one of the most complex sales funnels most people would ever experience. It prepared her for a transition to home services sales for the rest of her twenties until she decided to stress her twin by saying, casually one afternoon, "Hey - quit that job, we start a business tomorrow. See you at 8." No one works harder than Corrie - I call her the locomotive. She'll head in a direction and only stop when she runs through a brick wall. 🧁🍪🥧🍴 When Covid hit, she decided to try out the hobby of sugar cookies, and the rest is history. You don't have to be the best at decorating to be really good at business, and failing forward is a part of the recipe for success. With her baking experience and my affinity for tech, we make a decent pair of Yodas to help guide your bakery business in efficiency and profitability. Basically, 💍 *gets down on one knee*, we're asking if you'd let us be your Yodas. 👂 Snag this podcast on any major podcast player (Spotify, Apple Music, Audible, Amazon Music, or watch it on YouTube ) by searching for Baking it Down Podcast - Episode 274 - Your Yodas Let Us Be.

August 10, 2026Episode 131 hr 52 min

273. Baking it Down - Content Cookies for Beginner Bakers

Send us Fan Mail 📹 Content Cookies - For the beginner cookier. In this week's Baking it Down Podcast - Episode 273 - Content Cookies for the Beginner Baker , we acknowledge there's an issue between when a baker gets started selling and the amount of content they have... or, well, don't have. A lot of the content that bakers post comes from the orders they take, and they get orders from the content they post. So when you're new to selling, you've got a bit of the 'chicken or the egg' going on - how can you make content if you don't have orders? There are a few strategic approaches that won't have you burning through (baking up?) your margins when money is at the tightest point for any startup - at the beginning. 📹 Point #1 - Segment the Cookies in a Set One single cookie set order of a dozen cookies featuring 4 different designs can get you a lot more content than that one photo you posted. Use the zoom and crop features! Corrie will turn a "jungle birthday" into a single cookie for National Lion's Day (hey - did you know Monday was National Lion's Day?). Stage it multiple ways and take pictures of each design. Have a "pyramid" setup and then do an isolation setup on a white backdrop. The more you make your cookies work for you in the beginning, the less you'll have to stress when it comes to "what should I post today?" 📹 Trends don't require experience Most popular trends on TikTok and Instagram don't require being an expert decorator as much as they require you figuring out what's trending and posting before the trend dies down. TikTok even has its own trend tracker . August's "I never told you this, but" trend could easily be done with your business partner or spouse - throw on an apron and make it bakery-themed, and there's a lot of potential there. 📹 Behind the scenes content No one has better (butter?) behind-the-scenes content than a new baker with actual time to make decent B-roll featuring behind-the-scenes of starting a bakery. From finding a cake pop cart (all the rage these days) to figuring out a new type of floral piping strategy to setting up at your first farmer's market - it almost works in favor of the new baker. Behind the scenes should be one content bucket you're constantly pinging with videos. Vertical video format will be your quick-win way to cut the line in front of more established bakers. 📹 Notta Cookies Regardless, the new baker needs to get time in the proverbial saddle (er... apron), so practice, practice, practice. But instead of having to fire up the oven for cookies you'll pitch anyway, check out "notta cookies" - the original concept came from the creators of CookieCon, and it's literally a plastic practice cookie - that way you're only losing on the ingredients cost of royal icing while still being able to tackle new techniques. Heck - make the "notta cookie" practice into videos - hey, did we mention make more videos? Listen to the strategies behind our last time - turning practice into give-a-w-a-y-s to increase brand awareness, grow reviews, and get real-life taste testers so you're "wasted ingredients cost" actually hits your marketing budget. 👂 Snag this podcast on any major podcast player (Spotify, Apple Music, Audible, Amazon Music, or watch it on YouTube ) by searching for Baking it Down Podcast - Episode 273 - Content Cookies for the Beginner Baker.

August 4, 2026Episode 122 hr 10 min

272. Baking it Down - S-Tier Lead Gen for Cottage Bakers in 2026

Send us Fan Mail 👩🏻‍💻 S Tier Lead Gen - For cottage bakers in 2026. In this week's Baking it Down Podcast - Episode 272 - S-Tier Lead Gen Sources for Bakers in 2026, there's a new trend where people rank things they like and hate by tiers - 🟨 S-tier being the elite. For the oldie goldies like me, "S" apparently stands for superior. Following down the rankings, 🟩 A-tier means really good, 🟦 B-tier represents what's probably good to have around, 🟪 C-tier is a take-it-or-leave-it, 🟧 D-tier is more of a leave-it, and 🟥 F-tier is the "I wouldn't waste my time." So this approach to ranking sugar cookie bakers' lead generators is opinion-based, but that opinion comes after years of watching where bakers are getting their leads, how they get those leads, and if those leads seem worth the hassle. 🟨 S-Tier Lead Gen S-tier lead sources (superior, as the kids call it) are the lead gen sources we'd ask bakers why they aren't on them. These methods of generating leads are what have proven to work in 2026 for cottage local bakeries. Now, will we say the same thing in a year? Maybe not. But if you're on the fence about one of these, consider jumping both feet first - it's working well for your coworkers. 🟨 Facebook Groups 🟨 Email Marketing 🟨 Google Business Profile 🟨 Website 🟨 Word-of-Mouth / Referrals 🟩 A-Tier Lead Gen Our A-Tier choices were Facebook Business Pages - not because they're not S-Tier important, but because they're very restricted by algorithms. Thus, we knocked it down a peg. That said, you definitely need one to get those juicy analytics you can only get through Business Suite dashboard insights - it'll really allow you to understand exactly who your audience is. Something you can't capture in Facebook groups unless you're an admin. SMS (text) marketing i s a newer form of marketing, and in the right hands with a solid strategy, can really get conversions going. Spamming SMS is a disaster though (lookin' at you - Paula's Choice). 🟦 B-Tier Lead Gen B-Tier could be a few bakers S-Tier, so just because we don't see it mentioned a lot in the groups, doesn't mean it can't move the needle. Instagram , Facebook Marketplace , and a personal Facebook profile used to sell can be a treasure trove for bakers willing to deal with the trade-offs, like Marketplace tirekickers and removing your privacy to make a Facebook personal profile sale. Instagram can be extremely rewarding if you invest time into cultivating an audience (and recording those darn Reels!). 🟪 C-Tier Lead Gen LinkedIn, TikTok , and NextDoor have their places and can be a great lead gen for digital downloads, corporate orders, and local business (when your NextDoor is active), but if you're torn between investing your limited time in an S-tier lead source or a C-tier, we'd recommend focusing on the S-Tier before even glancing at the direction of the C-Tier. LinkedIn works when you hit the pavement and attend networking events; TikTok is starting to gain more local foot traffic (it may become a B or A-tier by next year for local business leads), and NextDoor is tightening the belt on business reach (so we may lower its ranking by next year - who knows what the wild work of marketing holds). For the D-Tier and F-Tier hot takes, snag this week's podcast! 👂 Snag this podcast on any major podcast player (Spotify, Apple Music, Audible, Amazon Music, or watch it on YouTube ) by searching for Baking it Down Podcast - Episode 272 - S Tier Lead Gen Sources for Bakers in 2026.

July 28, 2026Episode 111 hr 45 min

271. Baking it Down - Cookier Interview - Taylor Gandolfi

Send us Fan Mail 🎤 Cookier Interview - Taylor Gandolfi with Taylor'd Cookies. In this week's Baking it Down Podcast - Episode 271 - Cookier Interview - Taylor Gandolfi , continuing on with our cookier interview series, we snagged Taylor Gandolfi this week. She's been baking as a side hustle (more on her Italy trip below) since November, and comes from a UX degree, working a day job in public sector user experience design. When asked what she could bring to a podcast interview, her write-up explains this episode perfectly: "My journey into cookie decorating comes from a lifelong artistic foundation; 🎨 I have loved to draw and paint since before I can remember. I wanted to be an art major in college, but my parents steered me towards a UX design degree . Before cookies, 🐱🐶🐕🐈‍⬛🐾 I previously had a commissioned painting side hustle and painted whimsical pet portraits primarily (ex: a customer's cat playing drums for his favorite band, a dog playing for a customer's favorite hockey team, a fancy dog drinking a cocktail, etc.). 👶🏻 Unfortunately, this side hustle became unfeasible when I started having babies. I picked up cookie decorating when I was struggling with postpartum anxiety with my second baby. 🧸 🍪 🤎 I found it to be a wonderful creative outlet, very therapeutic, and got me away from doomscrolling. I decorated a few sets for my preschooler's class, and the preschool director saw them and was very encouraging. She approached me with an idea to partner with the preschool on presales and give back 20% of the proceeds to the preschool. 📈 From there, I was able to grow my portfolio, get other custom orders from preschool moms, and grow my social media. I also work full time as a product designer, ✨ with specialized experience in AI tools . As a product designer, my day-to-day looks like listening to users (or customers), honing in on what they need, translating that into concepts for digital experiences, 🚫 while mitigating risk. ✅ I use that same framework with my customers when designing cookies. I believe for the podcast, I could provide a lot of insight to listeners on how to scale 🙍‍♂️ human-centered design practices into their cookie business. I can also speak to how cookiers can leverage tech and AI as a tool to help with their process (ex: run lean experiments to mitigate risk, then scale what works well). As someone who works in AI, 👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 I believe that the world is craving human-created products and is really tired of AI slop. With that said, AI is not something that will replace cookiers, 🛠️ but a tool to help cookers do the best job possible when embraced." If you want to snag her prompt parameters - here it is. C-A-R-E 👾 C - Context . Provide as much context as possible 👾 A - Action . Be very specific in the actions you want it to take. 👾 R - Rules . Telling the AI exactly what to do and not to do, giving it constraints. 👾 E - Examples . Attach screenshots of what you like, AND what you don’t like. Hate something the AI won't change? Export it to Canva and make adjustments. She adds a really good trick for getting AI to play ball: using talk-to-type - you tend to talk very conversationally, and you talk more. The more information you provide the AI (both positive and negative), the more it has to work with. 👂 Snag this podcast on any major podcast player (Spotify, Apple Music, Audible, Amazon Music, or watch it on YouTube ) by searching for Baking it Down Podcast - Episode 271 - Cookier Interview - Taylor Gandolfi.

July 21, 2026Episode 101 hr 58 min

270. Baking it Down - The Right Foot when Getting Started

Send us Fan Mail 🦶 The Right Foot - When getting started. In this week's Baking it Down Podcast - Episode 270 - Getting Started on the Right Marketing Foot, we're continuing with our "back to baking" basics - this time getting started on the right marketing foot. What used to work - even just 3 years ago - doesn't work today, or at least not as effectively as it once did. As marketing pivots with algorithm updates, platform feature changes, and the introduction of AI, so must marketing. And this is great news for new bakers looking for their cut of the market share. Because those ol' timers that have been around for half a decade don't have those bright eyes and bushy tails of the new baker who is still hungry for those leads. 🦶 Make the Facebook page 👣 Wrong : A personal Facebook page is where you started, but you are restricted from growing here - you can have a creator profile now, but you still won’t have the business metrics and options a page will give you - like running ads. 👣 Right : Your Facebook page is where you collect people - it doesn’t mean your content will be shown, but it’s a nice collection that separates business and personal. 👣 Pro-Tip : You’re not going to get as much engagement on your Facebook page, so you’re going to feel like posting to your personal - stay the course. Because you still have that following on the personal account, you’re going to share from your business page back to your personal profile. We’re not posting organically (or you’ll end up with DMs in your personal messenger to order), but we’re going to slowly migrate that audience over. 🦶 Open the business bank account 👣 Wrong : Mixing business with pleasure is an accountant's worst nightmare. You’ll never know if you’re robbing from yourself to fund your business (working at a loss). Also tax season - say it ain't so! 👣 Right : Get the EIN number from your state (when you register your business). In VA, it’s just $50. Open up a business account with a local credit union - you'll get more help from them + you can start building that baking-banking relationship. 👣 Pro-Tip : Use an app like YNAB to help you budget. Cookie supplies like cutters can eat your profits up and leave you working for nothing. Make it so the business funds itself over time. Sure, you invest for startup costs, but we’ll want you paid back too. You and the business are two separate entities mentally (and financially). 🦶 Jump on the video content bandwagon 👣 Wrong : Posting just photos doesn’t work anymore - at least not standalone. And posting AI photos definitely won’t cut it. 👣 Right : You get to start in 2026 - where videos are NEWLY the flavor of the month, and the algo is rewarding that. You can cut through years of someone posting photos with just consistent videos. 👣 Pro-Tip : You don’t have to reinvent the wheel here either. Find what’s working for someone else, tweak it to make it your own (noooo copycats), record and post. You don’t have to be the original; you just have to be uniquely you and consistent. 🦶 Get consistent with content 👣 Wrong : It’ll be tempting to try something for a short period of time, then claim it doesn’t work, and pivot (or stop altogether). Marketing doesn’t work that way - especially online. Consistency is rewarded over flash-in-the-pan viral content. 👣 Right : The algo rewards consistency over loooong periods of time - think months. Yes, you can tweak your content along the way, but it can’t just stop and start and expect to pull numbers. 👣 Pro-Tip : Using apps like Facebook Planner or Claude Cowork (an AI) in a way that doesn’t replace you in your content (no AI flyers, folks) but helps you manage posting consistently are great tools to keep you ahead of the business burnout. 👂 Snag this podcast on any major podcast player (Spotify, Apple Music, Audible, Amazon Music, or watch it on YouTube) by searching for Baking it Down Podcast - Episode 270 - Getting Started on the Right Marketing Foot.