191. Baking it Down - Break Me Off a Piece of that January

Summary

Episode 191: Baking it Down - Break Me Off a Piece of that January Release Date: December 24, 2024

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Introduction

In Episode 191 of the Baking it Down with Sugar Cookie Marketing podcast, hosts Heather and Cory Miracle delve into the challenges bakers face post-holiday season, particularly focusing on burnout and the impulse to make hasty business decisions. Drawing from their personal experiences and expert insights, they provide actionable strategies to help bakers maintain consistency and sustain their businesses during the often tumultuous transition from December to January.

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Personal Challenges: Setting the Stage for the Discussion

The episode kicks off with Heather sharing a deeply personal and emotional experience:

• Heather [00:03]: "Okay. It is Christmas Eve. I've had a terrible day. I had to take Frank to the emergency vet for the third time... today, which sucked."

• Cory [01:17]: "It was very nice, though, that the vet gave his professional input..."

These personal anecdotes not only humanize the hosts but also underscore the unpredictability of life and how personal stressors can impact professional responsibilities.

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Main Topic: Burnout and Hasty Decisions in the Bakery Business

Heather transitions the conversation to the core topic:

• Heather [02:01]: "Speaking of big burnout leading to big Decisions that maybe are made in too much haste. That's what we wanted to talk about in today's podcast."

The hosts acknowledge the intense demands of the bakery business, especially during the peak holiday season, and how this can lead to decision-making driven by temporary emotions rather than long-term strategy.

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Strategies to Manage Burnout and Maintain Business Consistency

Heather and Cory outline eight key strategies to help bakers navigate the post-holiday slump without jeopardizing their businesses:

1. Avoid Immediate Big Announcements

   • Heather [04:49]: "Don't make the big announcement... It's a bit of an ego stroke to say I'm taking a big old break."

   Announcing major changes or taking abrupt breaks can negatively influence your online presence due to platform algorithms and audience perception.

2. Adopt the "Be Booked but Not Really" Approach

   • Cory [06:53]: "Just say, I'm booked for January. Thank you so much for reaching out..."

   This tactic allows bakers to appear in-demand without overcommitting, effectively managing order inflow.

3. Slow Down Your Posting Schedule

   • Cory [08:42]: "If you're posting every day, let's go down to three times a week."

   Reducing the frequency of social media posts can naturally decrease incoming orders, preventing overwhelm.

4. Increase Your Sales Funnel Length

   • Heather [10:06]: "Shorten response times means you're an available baker... make placing an order more involved."

   By making the ordering process slightly more cumbersome, you can filter out less committed customers.

5. Raise Your Prices

   • Cory [12:01]: "Increasing the price always gets the lower tier client out of the way."

   Higher prices can deter casual buyers, ensuring that only serious customers place orders.

6. Extend Your Response Times

   • Cory [12:38]: "I'll get back to you in seven days. They will find somebody else."

   Slowing down responses gives bakers more time to manage existing orders without feeling pressured to take on more.

7. Consider Long-Term Ramifications of Big Breaks

   • Heather [13:14]: "Think about the money spent and the consistency needed for long-term success."

   Making rash decisions to take breaks can disrupt business momentum and client trust.

8. Implement Autoresponders

   • Cory [12:31]: "Use autoresponders to manage client expectations without immediate responses."

   Automated messages can set clear boundaries and expectations, reducing the pressure to respond instantly.

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Emphasizing Consistency Over Perfection

The hosts stress the importance of consistency in maintaining and growing a bakery business:

• Cory [16:35]: "You do not have to be the best, but you have to be the most consistent."

Consistency builds trust and reliability with customers, which is crucial for long-term success.

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Goal Setting vs. Reactive Decision-Making

Heather and Cory encourage bakers to set clear, achievable goals rather than making decisions based solely on current exhaustion:

• Heather [20:32]: "If you work towards something, you're less likely to make giant breaks out of exhaustion."

• Cory [20:08]: "A goal setting... it keeps us going to pursue larger objectives."

By having defined goals, bakers can navigate tough periods with a clear sense of direction and purpose.

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Conclusion: Preparing for a Sustainable 2025

Wrapping up the episode, Heather and Cory outline their plans for the upcoming year, emphasizing continuous learning and adaptation:

• Heather [36:16]: "We have the cookie college tools to help you put your money where your mouth is."

• Cory [37:22]: "If you want to teach classes in the new year, sign up now to get so much more."

They invite listeners to engage with their resources, such as the Cookie College, to build a robust foundation for business growth in 2025.

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Final Thoughts

Episode 191 serves as a comprehensive guide for bakers navigating the challenging transition from the holiday rush to the quieter months of the year. By sharing personal experiences and expert strategies, Heather and Cory Miracle equip their listeners with the tools needed to manage burnout, maintain business consistency, and set achievable goals for sustainable growth.

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Notable Quotes:

• Heather [02:01]: "Big burnout leading to big Decisions that maybe are made in too much haste."

• Cory [08:42]: "If you're posting every day, let's go down to three times a week."

• Cory [12:01]: "Increasing the price always gets the lower tier client out of the way."

• Heather [20:32]: "If you work towards something, you're less likely to make giant breaks out of exhaustion."

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Note: This summary excludes promotional segments, casual personal discussions unrelated to the main topic, and sponsor mentions to maintain focus on the episode's core content.

Transcript

[Heather]

Okay. It is Christmas Eve. I've had a terrible day.

[Cory]

I know.

[Heather]

I had to take Frank to the emergency vet for the third time.

[Cory]

Yeah.

[Heather]

Thousands of dollars in. Turns out it was not an ear infection. It was the other option, which was a heart murmur leading to a stroke.

[Cory]

Leading to a neurological problem.

[Heather]

A brain issue. Yeah. Yeah. So they had to put him down today, which sucked.

[Cory]

So I've spent every moment today.

[Heather]

Cory bought me a dozen roses, took me out to Outfit Steakhouse, which was great.

[Cory]

I've heard it.

[Heather]

And then she wrapped all my presents for me, because I was never gonna wrap either. But she had a great attitude, because you could have had a bad attitude.

[Cory]

And, you know, I said, corey, you can have bad attitudes. Today's not the day.

[Heather]

And she did not have it. I didn't even drive, and I always drive. And I said, I want to be driven.

[Cory]

I know.

[Heather]

And then she gave me my Christmas present earlier. I did. She was like, what do I need.

[Cory]

To make you happy?

[Heather]

And I said, I even let her glimpse her.

[Cory]

Her other gift early.

[Heather]

Corey has been carrying in the load.

[Cory]

We will miss Frank. It was very nice, though, that the vet gave his professional input. Sometimes you don't know as a pet owner, you want to do so much for them, but at the end of the day, only the doctor knows what's the good course of action. That's both good for the pet and for you.

[Heather]

Because at the end of the day.

[Cory]

You could say, no, I want to try to keep him alive for the next five months, and it's not the best quality of life for him. So the doctor was able to help Heather.

[Heather]

He was like, if this was my cat, I would be.

[Cory]

Which was very nice, because that was probably hard for him to say, too.

[Heather]

He was like, there's an endless pit you can spend on a diagnosis here, but I'm not sure that the cat would make a. Yeah.

[Cory]

And just so you know, from last week to this week, it's a different cat. He's probably lost half of his body weight.

[Heather]

It was four and a half pounds. Yeah.

[Cory]

And so, like, while last week, we're like, oh, he's so shaky, and he sat on my lap. It was not the same cat. Even from last night to this morning.

[Heather]

Which before I lambast the vets who said it was an ear infection, they said it's either an ear infection or a deeper problem. So we always try to solve for the ear infection protection first. Turns out it was not that.

[Cory]

No.

[Heather]

Crazy day. Moving on, though. Speaking of big burnout leading to big Decisions that maybe are made in too much haste. That's what we wanted to talk about in today's podcast. On Christmas Eve Eve a little more.

[Cory]

Lucky you got this podcast, guys. Let me tell you. It's gonna be first thing on the job.

[Heather]

Cory's like, I'm gonna stand to the bike. I'm like cleaning out the cat's room. And Cory's like, you know, still staying.

[Cory]

For a. I also have, because I don't know, boundaries. A Pickup tonight at 8 at Heather.

[Heather]

This is really good. For some reason you're exceptionally loud and that's going to turn you down.

[Cory]

It's Christmas Eve.

[Heather]

Christmas Eve. So jumping in here. This is a group on Facebook called the Sugar cookie Marketing Group. If you're new here, go join that you'll be pending for about seven years in the quarter legend. So you're gonna miss a ton of great stuff in that seven years.

[Cory]

I let absolutely every pending person that answered the questions in during the event that shall not be named. So now I'm slowing my roll back.

[Heather]

You know, and we do that for good reason. The Internet, specifically groups on Facebook, can be a hostile place. So we like to let people in, weed out the haters. Because there's people who just have the wrong attitude. And then we, the ones who stay, we baptize them in kindness and rules.

[Cory]

It's slow. Something always wins the race. Slow and steady always wins the race.

[Heather]

Or something. Something slow and help me wins the thing. So jumping into this January talk because you guys, if you forgot an order, you already know it. So there's no point in doing great responses to messing up orders. You know what? Corey and I are going to say run for that refund. But if you have overwhelmed, this is, this is what we see. We've been doing this for years now, right? So you have this massive December, which is so unfair in this industry of.

[Cory]

How massive down your doors, even just.

[Heather]

Kind of for DIY kiss and another message.

[Cory]

Do you have anything? I don't care. The design. It's edible. Can I pick?

[Heather]

And you, if you are a boundary buster, this is your worst nightmare, right? And we're coming to the finish line and people are still trying to play swords. And then we go from this just massive, overwhelming, money making soul destroying to January, which becomes, we call it the doldrums of January. Right? And this is when bakers often say, never again. I don't want to bake anymore. I'm over this. This wasn't fun. I don't enjoy it. I am taking a Big break. And what they say, they come to the sugar cookie marketing group. How do I announce that I'm taking off? Right. Corey and I have a solution and that is don't yet. They always say, when you have a massive event in your life, wait six months to a year before you make big decisions. Because sometimes the energy we feel today is not the energy we feel tomorrow. But we made the decisions with the energy we have today.

[Cory]

Right?

[Heather]

Here is our list of eight options. Eight for big break, full options. And the title of this podcast is Break me off a piece of that Janue Area. So, hey, don't make the big announcement. Here's one. I've talked about this on the other podcast. Roll up your toes. Big announcements are praise me, wish I'd come back, let me know how much you love me as I make this big announcement. And what it's actually doing to your audience is telling them, please find another.

[Cory]

Baker just from the consumer side. Because we're all consumers and sometimes we forget that when we put on our business hat or whatnot. When I see someone was, oh my goodness, I'm so busy, I'm so burnt out. And they're telling me this, I'm like, oh, I'm going to leave them alone. Because what I'm reading in between these lines is they don't want to be doing what they are doing right now. So then I will in turn maybe not put you on as my baker of the year. I'll try to find another baker that I don't think is hating their business so much.

[Heather]

Right. Just for the fact that we need consistency. A lot of us who don't follow our mechanics, comings and goings. Right. We just need somebody. When I call them, they're there. So when you make that big announcement in January, it has a two fold effect. You get your ego strokes. Everyone begs you not to. But also that pushes it into the algorithm even further, signaling to more of your audience do not come.

[Cory]

And if for us who are maybe not in, as invested as maybe your prime audience, like you have like your mom who's like on every post cheering you on and then you have people who buy from you once a year. If I caught that with a little glimpse in my eye, my once a year, catch up your post, I'd be like, okay, I can't buy from Heather right now because she's literally dying over there.

[Heather]

Right. I'm taking a big break.

[Cory]

Yeah.

[Heather]

And sometimes those big breaks aren't just big breaks. They're I'm quitting. Which Which I always say, like, I'm quitting, but I'm coming back. Wow, that's a wild, emotional ride. Number two, be booked, but not really. This is a really easy way to take a break without taking that break. And it's for the next month, for January, February. I'm booked. Thank you so much. Please reach out to me next month or reach out to me for your next event. So sorry I can't bake for one, but maybe I can bake for year two. And for you guys who are tuning.

[Cory]

This out and be like, the twins are wrong, everyone tries to knock down my door. I've gotten a bunch of orders for January already and I've turned away a few. I've accepted a few. But I'm, I can, I can determine that. Just because you send something in doesn't mean it's a yes automatically. I can absolutely say, I'm so sorry, I can't do that order. Um, I hope I can bake for you later on. I can take whatever I want and say no to whatever I want.

[Heather]

I had seen a post and somebody was like, I'm really upset because I'm getting January orders. Do they not understand what a speaker's do? No, they don't. They don't. I tell you right now, nobody understands anything because we are self centered individuals. What do I need from Costco? Why are all these people here? You are people at Costco.

[Cory]

Believe me, there's some January birthdays out there.

[Heather]

Our older sister's birthday's in January. And we tell her like, we're so sorry. She commanded us last year to have a better attitude on Saturday.

[Cory]

I was like, hey Ash, what do.

[Heather]

You want for your birthday?

[Cory]

To be nice because she demanded it. And mom was like, I can't even be thinking about that right now.

[Heather]

I'm broke the rules. So be booked. But not really. That means when somebody says, hey, can I place an order for January? Just say, oh, I'm booked for January. Thank you so much for reaching out. Here are some other bakers you might be interested.

[Cory]

Or if I like to do hey, I booked for January, but keep an eye out because I'm going to do a February pre sales around Valentine's Day.

[Heather]

Sometimes we could just be burnt out of a specific type of order. Absolutely. So if DIY gets very easy, I love me cookie classes. Also the least decorations possible. And then you could do maybe you're like, I'm tired of being in front of people. I want to do customs or pre sales, which allows you to again Regulate how much you bake again. The problem with these December things is you can just get endless, endless customers. But we always look in January, back at December and wish what for what was three? Slow down your posting schedule. A great way to get fewer orders. If we say a great way to get more orders is post more. A great way to get fewer orders is post less.

[Cory]

And you're like, but twins. The algorithm. I'm not saying don't post at all. I'm saying if you're posting every day, let's go down to three times a week. If you're posting three times a week, let's make it two. But let's pull from the content buckets. It can't always be thank you, Alice, for your set. It can't be custom set, custom set, custom set. Because you're telling your audience, custom set, custom set. If we have a really good meme.

[Heather]

January, maybe a nice meet the baker. Maybe less. What I can do more. How I love that.

[Cory]

I love a new year new baker intro.

[Heather]

That's always a refreshing time. You can do things you might not want to do. How to place an order right, because that's going to signal that you're taking them. But more like, hey, here's some behind the scenes of my family. Yeah, I hear some places around town. Around town, buckets are great to say. I absolutely love it. Then. So increase your sales funnel. You're seeing that what we're doing is reversing everything we've told you to do this entire year. Decrease the sales funnel. Shorten the sales funnel is how you get more orders. By increasing the length of how to place an order, you are actually decreasing orders. Remember, the longer. The farther they have to click to place an order, the more fall out of the funnel. And if that's the goal for a few orders without being gone, what you can do is this. You can say you. Let's say you don't have a website. Great. They've already increased your funnel. Awesome. Make your Facebook say that they have to go to your form and make your form have no dates available. And then that's just ways to increase.

[Cory]

So instead of putting the order form within the post, we're going to keep that out of the post. And what we're going to do is maybe take it from your bio.

[Heather]

Have that, you know that button up.

[Cory]

There that says turn that button, no one can see.

[Heather]

Yeah, yeah. Start removing those links. Another one that I like is increasing your prices.

[Cory]

New year, new year, new price.

[Heather]

We always know that increasing the price Always gets the lower tier client out of the way because they're like, well, I'm just not going to make that jump.

[Cory]

Yeah, great. That'll be a good one.

[Heather]

One I like is increase your response times. Again. Shortening response times means you're an available baker. If I saw something and said, I'll get back to you in seven days, I will find somebody else. Seven days.

[Cory]

I'll be. Here's the thing, people. What I've realized with new clientele that come in, they'll be sending the same email to multiple people and the first one to respond typically gets the.

[Heather]

So your autoresponder, which we're going to talk about in a sec, just have that stuff take longer. It means you're still there. It means you're still present. I know what you may be thinking, but they could leave me a better view. Turn off your reviews.

[Cory]

Yeah, we're not telling you. Leave them ghosted. I don't want you to leave them ghosted. I want everything just to take a little bit longer. Your autoresponder, which we'll talk about, goes up instantaneously. What is in the autoresponder? What's going to set the expectation?

[Heather]

Autoresponder, saying, I'll get back to you in. Let's make it not crazy. Seven days. Let's make it in 72 hours. But I am currently booked until March. Oh, there you go. I'm available. I'm gonna get back to you. But you know, I'm not taking your order. They'll find something.

[Cory]

But you're like a twin. Listen, if you were gonna make the.

[Heather]

You're gonna do a big break.

[Cory]

You're gonna do the big break. Then you are gonna be okay with saying your book to March.

[Heather]

Yes.

[Cory]

You're gonna be pushing those people out of your funnel without turning off the faucet.

[Heather]

This is still a better strategy than don't call me. I'm not here.

[Cory]

I'm so exhausted.

[Heather]

That, that. And it'll be the season of tis. The season of these big announcements. These Instagram. It's just a post.

[Cory]

I've already seen them. Yeah, please check Caption.

[Heather]

No longer baking.

[Cory]

What's the craziest thing to me if you step back? Us bakers pushed the boundaries in December and we did this to ourselves. But now we're going to penalize the people who just were like, well, I don't know. You took my order. I didn't know you were tired of that. So we're going to penalize and be like, I need breakfast. Please just don't email me.

[Heather]

Everyone who plays it's like basically saying if you place an order for December, bleepity bleep you. How dare you make me turn on my oven. Corey has her favorite one. We were laughing about this.

[Cory]

Autoresponders, listen, they can do some heavy lifting for you. My thing is I don't want to present bad customer service, but I'm also don't want to be behind my computer 247 trying to respond to you. So the autoresponder gives you instant reply so they feel fulfilled. But within that autoresponder, especially if you're.

[Heather]

Not good at saying no, the autoresponder is like, I'll say no every time.

[Cory]

My autoresponder. I used to be driven up a wall with anxiety to the DM on Facebook, to the business page. Ever since I changed that to if you want to place an order, you will have to follow this link.

[Heather]

I was looking at your order form while I was helping. I was picking this up. It was like if you dare try to get around this order.

[Cory]

Yeah. Because 2025, 2025.

[Heather]

I have a certain set of skills.

[Cory]

2024 me went around it and did not do well going around it. 2025 me. It's going to make you go through the form. I don't want you to be like, wow, that price. I want you to feel like I seen the price 52 times.

[Heather]

Girl couldn't turn me away. Number six, consider the long term ramifications of big breaks. This always when you make these big announcements, where is that going to put you in the month that you do want to make that money?

[Cory]

Here's the thing. Heather says don't make big decisions.

[Heather]

We're getting down.

[Cory]

But this is what you're saying in this one. If you're like, oh, I can't stand this business, I want to quit right now. I always see bakers who, who leave and come back. They'll even come back 52 times.

[Heather]

I mean that money spent, it's it spends.

[Cory]

But you are now up the hill. You're down at the bottom of the hill.

[Heather]

Sorry. Trying to crawl back. Paddles. No paddle.

[Cory]

We work through so much marketing all year long to turn it off. It's so hard to resuscitate something that you pronounce dead.

[Heather]

Okay. As a single income earner myself operate as a single income earner. A lot of times people who can take breaks are people who are doing this because there is a second income, dual income households and then you have the luxury to take big breaks.

[Cory]

That's even for us breadwinners, Even if our spouses have a job. I just know that if we just lived off my husband's.

[Heather]

What are you saying? Just things. If this paid your mortgage, would you take a break? No, you wouldn't. Because you. Because people who have to pay their mortgage with this business, they don't take big breaks because they know it's such a business killer.

[Cory]

I know.

[Heather]

It is a business destroyer. You never see, like, what was it like? Koons, Toyota. Yeah. You're taking off for January. I know. That was a big Christmas rush. We're not selling any Toyotas in January.

[Cory]

Yeah. My favorite thing. And I do it every time. If I see someone who's been in the group for four years and then they're like, is anyone else's sales low? I can't help myself. I will go find their business page to see what it looks like. And it's always these big, giant gaps.

[Heather]

These big break announcements. And then you wonder. And then that's Corey's next one. She said number seven, don't come and complain in July that your sales are slow because we're going to go to your page and we're going to see all your hashtags on Facebook. We're going to see your. Thanks, John, for turning to. Yeah. And we're going to find that I took a big old break when I got a little too busy.

[Cory]

Unfortunately, you think of the beginning of the year like heading up this mountain to December. Unfortunately, that is not where the hill starts going up the mountain. We are going up the hill in August, December, and then we go back down in January.

[Heather]

January is our. January is a lull. We get just a little. Little pat on the back for February, March. The reason.

[Cory]

Because February 14th is at the beginning of the month.

[Heather]

It's a. Why the. The. The first holidays of the year, always half months. I hate that they fall that way. You got. St. Patrick's Day is on a weird day. Easter was funky last year. Mother's Day, Father's Day. And then. Okay, then we get to summer, which a lot of people take off, but it's a little bit more consistent. Back to school. Delicious. It is the ringing uptick.

[Cory]

Like when you're going on the roller coaster.

[Heather]

It's like, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick. So what you do in the first six months, set the stage for the next six. Well, if you're just a Christmas only baker, you don't really need to pay attention. You make your money, you do your little business Then you close up shop, but all you guys are like, the market's saturated. And then you quit in January. You're the saturation that's leaving. Yeah.

[Cory]

Because the ones who never take a break, they're the ones who are like, ah, those other people are back.

[Heather]

You'll see that people come to the group and they'll be like, my, this is my first year baking and it's slow. Or this is my first cookie class and it's empty. And we're all like, yeah, that's expected. Because you're just building up your book of business. Then you'll have the bakery's four years in. They're like, hey, I've never stopped and my classes are fully booked. Yeah. Because they, they just churned and churned and kept going and kept going. And now it's very simple for them to fill up their orders.

[Cory]

Me and Heather were talking about it. When a company slacks, when a company stops marketing, when a company takes a break, they allow for a different company, a competitor to take, to step in and take that groundwork, which is delicious.

[Heather]

Imagine if the first guy was always the best guy.

[Cory]

No, it would be annoying. So it's, it's great for the industry, but you can't be like, well, I took six months off from teaching classes and now no one's signing up for my.

[Heather]

And somebody else is teaching. And how rude of them to steal my book of business. They were the more consistent, bigger. Corey and I say, you do not have to be the best, but you have to be the most consistent.

[Cory]

And me and Heather, we're not the.

[Heather]

Best, but we can be consistent. If Corey, I call her the locomotives don't get on our bad side, she'll choo choo forever. So, yeah, don't come and complain in July when you made the rash decision in January to take these big breaks, whether a month or the worst ones are the indefinite ones. And I don't know when I'll be back or I'm going to spend some time. And here's the thing, at the end of the day, make the decision. If you want to shut down, you absolutely can. Just make sure you understand the ramifications of that. And when you come back, I want you to say, hey, guys, listen, I took that big break. I made the decision, I'm okay with the results. What's my comeback strategy? That one I can have.

[Cory]

I like that comment. I don't like the, I think market's over, saturated everybody else's sales. Yeah, that's not fair.

[Heather]

It's always that. It's too many people teaching cookie class kits and I knew they'd ruin the market. Let me tell you, half the people who sign up after class gets canceled, I know it because I see the back end. It's not too many people teaching. It's people being inconsistent then wondering why they're working. I know. Yeah. So this is one core I already mentioned. She loves to jump ahead on my list, but it's give yourself an entire month before making that big decision. Whether it's a one month break or an indefinite break or I'm truly exiting. If you're truly exiting the industry, there are some groups, it's not the sugar cookie marketing group, but that's a buy sell, trade group. So you can sell off your counters and kind of get some of that cost costs, operating cost. But those are our recommendations. I know we should have probably had a holiday episode. What would we have possibly talked about?

[Cory]

Well, in the past we've done gifts breakers, but we have waited to the last second there since Christmas is tomorrow.

[Heather]

It was because of anybody so late. Thanksgiving was so late. This is a weird year. Since Thanksgiving was on the almost second to last day.

[Cory]

I honestly, I can't tell you anything that's happened in the last two months if it doesn't involve turning the oven on it.

[Heather]

It's.

[Cory]

It's been a whirlwind. I. The time has come. The time has flown by. I don't want you to think Heather is in a bad mood because her cat passed away, but this podcast isn't necessarily like to be rude to you.

[Heather]

Baja, if it were two people. It's just.

[Cory]

I want you to think for your business not is in the exhaustion of today because you are exhausted. You are tired. But I want you to think your of your business. I want to think of Baker U in June when you're like, wow, I could really use some money for this vacation we wanna go on.

[Heather]

I love a goal setting.

[Cory]

Yeah, a goal setting. So if you can sit right now, you know everyone likes New Year, new me, everything like that and make your goals. It's gonna be less likely that you're gonna take these giant breaks because you're working towards something. If you work towards the exhaustion you feel right now, of course you're gonna.

[Heather]

Take a break tomorrow. You're tired.

[Cory]

I'm tired too.

[Heather]

The person you are in the next week is not the person you are all year.

[Cory]

No. Yeah. And you know what we are. We need a focus on business boundaries. This coming year. If we're so exhausted right now. The money was great, but was it worth it? If you're going to answer no, then go back to the boundaries podcast because they're there for a reason. Me and you and other bakers love to bust through those boundaries like it's their job.

[Heather]

Probably next week. We should talk about goals. I do like goal setting. I'm pro team. Start a goal whenever you feel like it. Yeah. However, it remiss to say January doesn't feel like it's a little good to start in January. Cleanse yourself from last year's woes and move into 2025.

[Cory]

Y. I feel like bite size goals and then big goals are great. It's not like that. Whatever snowball method they said of paying off debt or whatnot. Little ones that you can get to faster, make you feel good and go after the big ones. Yeah.

[Heather]

There's the avalanche method of paying off debt where you go by interest rate. But they said the problem is psychologically paying off the highest interest rate.

[Cory]

Yeah, it takes forever.

[Heather]

It's actually the more effective financial strategy. But we need the small wins to keep us going. Yes.

[Cory]

Tiny, little, tiny ton of win.

[Heather]

It's really amazing how the brain operates. So just to recap those, break me off a piece of the January 1st. Don't make the big announcement. I challenge you not to. I think it's a bit of an ego stroke to say I'm taking a big old break. Please beg me to come back. Two be booked but not really. Hey, you can make the big announcement when you truly decided once you give yourself that month. Yeah, yeah. So you can still do that. We're not saying you can't.

[Cory]

My favorite thing is to see a big announcement. I'm like, oh, I guess I get started the game and like three weeks later like, hey, me again.

[Heather]

Two be booked but not really. Just keep telling. Thank you so much for the order. I'm actually booked. Three, slow down your posting schedule. If you're posting three times a week.

[Cory]

Here'S what I don't like to see is bakers, okay, they burn out and then I'll see a post end January before when I know the Valentine's Day are gonna. I'll be like, sorry guys, I haven't, I haven't been in your feed very much. First off, if we wanna sell in, if we wanna make sales in February, we can't drop out of the feeds in January.

[Heather]

Think about it. Six months runtime. Corey and I. Oh, six months runtime before and I. Cory and I aren't Gonna go six weeks if that's what we have learned. Fills in our classes, especially in those harder to sell months. To start selling. Valentine's Day on February 1st is not enough time.

[Cory]

Right, right. I honestly think get past the first week of January and if you're doing Valentine's Day classes, you need to start.

[Heather]

Then, you know we're talking to the people trying to step away from those.

[Cory]

My bad, my bad.

[Heather]

Backing straight to the bench. Increase your sales funnel. So always to make more sales, you want to decrease that funnel. You can always see Amazon with one click ordering. Do you see how much Bezos is going to pay for his wedding? Yes.

[Cory]

He didn't even pay that much for the ring.

[Heather]

You know how much going to this wedding in Aspen? No, I'm sure 600 million. Anyways, have you seen the one click order? I want to. Speaking of one. Speaking of one click ordering and 600 million dollar payout.

[Cory]

I can't comprehend that.

[Heather]

I don't think we can. And we're not getting married in Aspen either. The only cold you'll have is believe me, I keep trying. So increase your sales funnel length. Make it harder to order from you. Make that link impossible to find because remember to short to get more sales. We're going to make that link very easy to find.

[Cory]

But I want to say I see a lot of bakers. Do you get so excited you made the cutest custom set ever that you just want to post it. Hold that back, hold it back, hold that.

[Heather]

Maybe post that ugly stuff. You know what, Heather?

[Cory]

Heather finally got on my hard drive and she says there are so many cookie sets I've never seen before in my life.

[Heather]

You have lived a wild other life.

[Cory]

Sometimes I almost keep them like cards.

[Heather]

And like hard drive is two years old. There's stuff that's happened in two years. Can you fill it back up? I like using it in my content. Yeah.

[Cory]

I'm like, oh, you've got an ugly photo of mine.

[Heather]

It was the only thing you had that has a watch. Autoresponder. It's Corey's favorite. Have them do the heavy lifting. And you can have an autoresponder. Not say I'm taking a big break, but it can communicate that by saying I'll get back to you and send it to you.

[Cory]

You can have an autoresponder on Instagram, on Facebook, on TikTok, on your email.

[Heather]

It's everywhere.

[Cory]

You can be autoresponding all over the place.

[Heather]

Auto responding that you are not taking orders. Consider the long term ramifications of big bricks. There's always a strateg with every decision you make. You. Was it.

[Cory]

Would you input, output, reap and sow?

[Heather]

I like your better term, ethical man. Seem technically there's a morality there. You read what you sow and if you don't reap anything, it's not a thing. But big breaks do stop marketing. It is a. It's almost. It's not even a brake pedal. It is the reverse gear. It takes you backwards. Right. So what we're saying is we're lightly tapping the brakes with these strategies. I'd recommend it over putting the cart in reverse and then wondering why you backed out.

[Cory]

I'd much rather your posting schedule look like. Like once every two weeks, twice a month. Then nothing for six months.

[Heather]

Yeah, the big breaks. And then you're coming back again. It just screams to me, this is an unreliable Baker.

[Cory]

Unreliable. But you've fallen out of the feeds and it's tough to get back in there.

[Heather]

Man, it is such a. Cory was like, I've made 5,000 packaging videos and finally one has popped off. And I was like, wow, the algorithm truly has us working as slaves.

[Cory]

It's so crazy.

[Heather]

And you just put so much effort into stuff. But don't complain in July if you do make decision to take the break, which you're absolutely allowed to do. The beauty of being a business owner is you can through all this kind of stuff if you take the big break because you're like, I don't believe the twins are right. Just in July, tell us that when you make that. Where are my sales? Don't. Don't come to me and say, is everybody else having a slow year?

[Cory]

No, listen, I'm gonna look at your page.

[Heather]

I'm gonna answer, no, no, no. I'm gonna look at your. I'm gonna go to your post, I'm gonna lock it. And I'm gonna say, these posts we don't allow here because they're pointless.

[Cory]

Yeah, the. And I want to tell you the reason why we don't allow this post. It creates a very negative mind space. And we said, if you.

[Heather]

You're saying, hey, if you had a good year, don't answer. Is anybody having a slow year? Only you answer. It's just.

[Cory]

It's a. It attracts a negative mindset. And we said, if you want to see negative things, you're going to see them everywhere. And that's a problem. Those posts will turn people who are like, I wonder if I am having a slow year. I don't think I am and then they'll see someone else post it and be like, gosh darn it, yes, I am too. But we want to say, hey, listen, I've taken off six months. How can I reintroduce my business to my audience? It's a positive way to spin it versus there's too many people in the market.

[Heather]

The problem is when you say, hey, who's at the bottom of the barrel? You never ask why they're at the bottom of the barrel. Because somebody who took six months off, somebody who moved to a new state, somebody who just got started, you're all going to have slow sales and for different reasons. So the thread solves nothing.

[Cory]

It doesn't solve anything. And you have to be open and honest. Honest in. The honesty part is hard because it's hard to take some of that accountability.

[Heather]

Instructive criticism.

[Cory]

The accountability is hard.

[Heather]

Did you take a big break?

[Cory]

And listen, let's hope Heather's cat doesn't pass away in six months when she finds that threat.

[Heather]

Even I've been like, do not cross my mouth. Wild. That it costs $800 for your handout. Wild. They were like, in for the exam fee.

[Cory]

What did you do? They just need to make sure.

[Heather]

And then give yourself an entire month before making these big decisions. Whether it be a big break or I'm stopping orders indefinitely, or I am selling off my stuff because I'm ending my business. Make that decision in the best day in January you can find and say, do I feel like I want out of this? Yeah. Okay, great.

[Cory]

Right now, you're tired, you're achy, you're breaky, breaky hard.

[Heather]

Oh, no, you're trying to break.

[Cory]

Don't break in January, but give yourself a couple weeks, you know, post little meme to get you through it. Instead of hitting your business right now, give it some time. Because what we don't want is this big old I'm out of here, folks.

[Heather]

And then be like, okay, people are begging for office.

[Cory]

It's not over.

[Heather]

So, yeah, that takes us through that. Moving on. If you would like to sign up for the cookie college, I will change that price. I should change it on Christmas day, New Year, new you gift to yourself. We'll do that. $68. And that's the. That is to help you put your money where your mouth is. If you're like, okay, December was great. I want to take this energy and I want to not take the big Breaky. Yeah, then you can use the cookie college tools. My 2025 cookie college class goal actually Read the class.

[Cory]

Oh, yeah. Honestly, guys, this is great. So Heather, you know, she's goal oriented. Everything has a list. So she made us sit down and come up with a list of what classes will be dropping in the, in 2025. And I thought this list was very nice.

[Heather]

I'm. Sometimes I, I said to Corey, I've been resisting it, but let's give people the lessons on how to make more passive income. I'm all about that. So Amazon Storefront and Amazon Associates, two different things. I get a lot of questions about them when we teach a class on how to set those up and how they work.

[Cory]

And before you're like, I don't need to do Amazon Storefront. If you're teaching classes, a great way to get residual income is after you've taught the class to send everyone in the class your Amazon Storefront.

[Heather]

See what people in the class Cookie college. You're actually referring to Amazon Associates. Amazon Storefront is just, here's a list of things. And then if you use your associates link, like there's a storefront is just like, here's the stuff I like.

[Cory]

No, and, but they, when they go through there, you make a commission. Yeah.

[Heather]

Because you're an Amazon Associate, which you gotta apply for and use your Social Security because you gotta pay taxes on. Yeah, right. So everyone just needs to clarify. I think some people are like, yes.

[Cory]

Wait, my associates link, My storefront is if someone clicks through there and buys something.

[Heather]

Okay. And then you make a commission.

[Cory]

Yeah.

[Heather]

And then Amazon reports that to the irs.

[Cory]

No, absolutely. For sure.

[Heather]

Yes. Some people are like, how do I just make money from Amazon? It's an application process.

[Cory]

Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely.

[Heather]

Custom QR codes in Canva. Everyone asked me about that. Content bucket 101. Just teaching you how to come up with a bucket, build out the bucket content and then implement it.

[Cory]

Because me and Heather saying content buckets all the time. But what is that? What is the enigma? So we're going to help you build it out for yourself.

[Heather]

Excel miniseries. I love Excel. I live and die by it. I, my Excel spiritual.

[Cory]

I abhor it. Don't know what to do in it.

[Heather]

Yeah, there's a lot of things. Lots of tiny squares, lots of squares. I just love it. I just think, how are people doing this before without it? It really keeps you organized and you can filter and you can set things and you can have spreadsheets, talk to each other. Google, Gemini, AI101. I do believe AI is a future. I know everyone just threw up a little bit and listen, listen, Here the train's leaving the depot. You can either jump on it or you can be one of those bakers on the sidelines saying, everybody stop.

[Cory]

I want to say if you don't jump on these things, then you're the one Left over on TikTok.

[Heather]

Somebody has my handle on TikTok.

[Cory]

Right. So it's. It's about being. Facebook has changed over the years. We've all been made to change with it. So why are we pushing against it when it is the future?

[Heather]

Yeah. And I think it is important to embrace that and then to use it to streamline and increase revenue for the Excel one.

[Cory]

I want to say before you like glazed over eyes like I did, here's the thing. We saw in a bunch of groups that people were missing orders. So it came down to they miscounted the customers, didn't line up with how much they baked.

[Heather]

Here's a great example. I can Excel in Google Sheet. Kind of interchangeable, but with the Google Sheet that is online, I can have Corey's order form populate an Excel spreadsheet. In that Excel spreadsheet, I can have her be able to check whether it's completed or not. Yeah.

[Cory]

So that is big when it comes to DIY kits. And you have so many moving parts.

[Heather]

Oh, I was getting a thought setting up these websites that I get often requests. And I know I've talked about the Shopify one. Corey's actually spoken to the guy with Hotplate. I took his course and that one's a pretty neat thing. And we talked talking about that coming up. And Square, which is a fan favorite, not mine, but if it's common, let's talk about it.

[Cory]

Yeah, let's do it.

[Heather]

Setting up affiliate income. So you know we don't allow affiliate links in our group. Right. There are ways to create link trees or stand stores to get that affiliate income. I know Corey and I are a Bosch affiliate. Don't so much myself like to push affiliate links to you guys, unless it's one of those ones where you guys make money.

[Cory]

There's a strategy around it, so we'll probably cover the strategy too. But that residual income whether. And there's so many shops that offer it now that you could become a.

[Heather]

Brand ambassador that I like is you can use an affiliate link and add a cookie class. Say, hey guys, if you use my affiliate link. Or you can say that you. You have to sell them. It's an affiliate link. But you can say you guys can order this. You can do affiliate links through Amazon stuff like that Corey and I send out an Amazon storefront. I don't use affiliate links for that, but you could do that and then make that residual passive income. There we have somebody in the cookie college and they set up a small store in the back of their class. And people purchase things because they're on that high of. I just learned this. Where can I look?

[Cory]

The set.

[Heather]

I made a genius way to create additional revenue from something. Remember, because we've already done the marketing. We've already gotten the person in the seat. Bamboo A1 setup and cutter design. I bought Corey a bamboo A1 mini during the bamboo sale.

[Cory]

Yeah.

[Heather]

And a lot of people have gotten these really like them. So how you get it and you turn it on, you're like, okay, what happens now?

[Cory]

And you're like, how's that? The money you save making your own cutters are just using STL files versus buying from a cutter shop and paying shipping. A lot of the cutter shops have jumped on the bandwagon where they are providing STLs. This is a way to make your dollars go farther in the new year and stop spending so much money on shipping and handling charges.

[Heather]

I know Corey and I teach the class kits and it comes with everything you need to teach a cookie class. But you guys can do that on your own. You could design your own class. Again, you can't sell cutters that you buy from shops unless you have that licensing agreement. But let's pretend you. You've opened Procreate. You designed that cutter. You could sell that cutter at your class and more of that passive income class technology. I get this question a lot. People who want to teach a class and live demonstrate or they want the PowerPoint to live demonstrate or they want to teach a virtual class. I have all the technology for that. And I can walk you through which cables you'll need, how you need to set it up on your computer, and what technology you need to accomplish that. Nice. So that is my current setup. It changes as I go along, but that's. That's. Those are the classes I will be teaching if you want to jump in. The cookie College already has 82 courses. It also has the digital downloads, the baker's business basics. I just finished the digital downloads. They were cute. It was cookie tags. Valentine's Day Cookie tags for you people now taking a break. So cookie tags and then what else was I going to. Oh, I was going to do book. I was going to do booked calendar announcements. So you can say you're booked without being bummed. Right. So digital announcements for that. The content in that membership in these memberships is always growing. So nobody truly graduates. But it's a lot of fun. You'll see a lot of people. There's a private Facebook group for the Cookie cod people are like, if it's just anything, it's the group of people that create such a safe space here that we are able to talk really in depth strategy. And that's what we do in January, in February. I think the challenge. What was your January challenge?

[Cory]

I want to do It's a touch of January.

[Heather]

Oh yeah. Corey wants to declutter in February. I like talking about money because leads up to April 15.

[Cory]

Let me explain my. It's not a decluttering time. We did that in 2024. For what the Touch It Challenge in January is. I want you to go through a drawer rather whether you don't depart from anything in it. I want you to have touched physically touch everything in that drawer. I want you to know what's in your drawers. I want you to know what's in your cookie cutter bin. Stop ordering the same cutters all the time. Depart if you can with cutters you do not like anymore. But we are going to touch all.

[Heather]

The boxes we have.

[Cory]

We're going to touch all the backers we have.

[Heather]

We're going to touch all the plastic.

[Cory]

We'Re going to touch it. And you know what it does for me? It one gives me more ideas I can have in the new year. But two I can say, you know what? Ms. Cookie Packaging did away with these boxes. She discontinued them. I only have two more. Am I willing to make a whole set for photos for two or something?

[Heather]

No.

[Cory]

Then let me depart from it because that space is taking up mental clutter. It's taking up actual clutter space. So we shall depart from it.

[Heather]

Love it. Love it.

[Cory]

I already did it to test it and it was show refreshing. It is to know what I have and to depart with what I don't want anymore.

[Heather]

I think it is the path to happiness. It is. It is.

[Cory]

And that'll be a fun one for January because I think we'll all be like over, like cluttered with everything we've consumed in this past year and we're ready to make some decisions.

[Heather]

I agree. So Corey's gonna do a touch of Challenge and then I'm gonna do Money Talks, which is just conversations around a very specific topic that some people are embarrassed by. But you don't have to be because it is a small group and they.

[Cory]

Are safe and you'll Find out in the group, everyone's going through the same thing.

[Heather]

Turns out alone, none of us are unique. So, yeah, right now, the college has been for the past two years, $76. We had the one time. It'll never be priced, which it will never be again. But we'll have the introductory price. If you're willing to put the money where your mouth is, you're grandfathered in. If you sign up in the next two weeks, it'll be $68. And that adds up over time. And that also applies to the yearly fee. It's also discounted. Yeah. So if you want to join that.

[Cory]

I want to say, if you're like, you want to teach classes in the new year, getting in at the $68 price, you get so much more. And I include the DIY kit photos. Don't forget that in the. And we have a member who includes the cookie class playlist. So it's something you could actually print out if you're like, you know what? I'm not a very techy person. I don't want to use the PowerPoint. I don't want to bring all the technology with me to class. The next cookie class kits for.

[Heather]

It's gonna be great ones.

[Cory]

It's going to be so good. It's Galentine's themed.

[Heather]

Yeah. We try to fill in the gaps with what? Okay, guys, you can sign up for 68 right now. We try to fill in the gaps with the class kits of things. So January last, which dropped December, first week of December was New Year's. New Year's. And we've never done a New Year's kit before.

[Cory]

And then everything in the New Year's kit, I made sure that all the cutters could be used throughout the year for different other themes. Just in case you didn't want to teach that class. Last year, February, we did a football them for what is that big championship called the Super Bowl. So then I said, you know what? We had a Valentine's theme that was very cute. It was.

[Heather]

We go together.

[Cory]

Like back in 2023.

[Heather]

Yes.

[Cory]

Last year, 2024 football. This one, Galentine's. So now if you sign up in the college, you get access to all three of those options.

[Heather]

Talking about diversifying. So that'll be great if you want to just sign up for the class kits and sell them as DIY kits. We have tons of people who do that. But that's. That said, the cookie College gets the 2023 classes. 2024 classes, and it will get the 2025 classes as they drop. The cookie class kids only gets the current year, which resets on January. So if you want to sign up for the cookie class kits right now, you can download all 12 kits plus the one in January, and you can cancel your subscription.

[Cory]

You should let the group know that today is the day for that.

[Heather]

Today is the day.

[Cory]

Today is the day.

[Heather]

I'll give everyone a January 7th for the $68 in the cookie college and the class K. I think I did that last year.

[Cory]

You do?

[Heather]

I think I did that last year because I'm not as mean as you are.

[Cory]

You're mean today, but you're allowed.

[Heather]

You're allowed to be. Or was I devastated?

[Cory]

Devastatedly mean.

[Heather]

How am I meant? I was just telling me how to clean up the cat room. I said, just not right now, buddy. I tried my best.

[Cory]

Do we have any texts as we move through?

[Heather]

We do not. If you guys like that segment. Listen, listen. 571-5-5, 6, 5, 6, 4 4. One more time. 571-556-5-644. Somebody who texts in this week will get a stupid car. Time. I'm gonna do it myself. Pay for it.

[Cory]

Okay, let me explain what that means to people who are just hearing this.

[Heather]

Word for the st in your car. Is it tray?

[Cory]

There is a tray that I absolutely live and die by.

[Heather]

I love it. I thought.

[Cory]

I thought the car detailer on the Saturday took it. It put it in my trunk. I was like, oh, I was gonna have to buy another one.

[Heather]

Stupid car.

[Cory]

TRA Levels out your passenger seat so that you could put your bakes on there. But you can also put your purses.

[Heather]

They also have these new additions. If you are version one of. I'm version three, you can put the. Your cup holder. Yeah.

[Cory]

Like people who are the giants.

[Heather]

Stanley Cups. Yeah. Yeah. So I'm gonna. I will pay for that. Somebody who texts in. I will pick you next week. And I. And you have to claim it. You have to payment. So when did you actually have to listen to CPU? Nice. So 571-556-5644. Or on your podcast player, if it has the option to text in that way, it still counts. Yeah.

[Cory]

So you could text a question. Text in your condolences for Frank texting. Cor is your favorite. Whatever.

[Heather]

Ideas. If you had an idea about how.

[Cory]

To take a big break or an idea for a future podcast.

[Heather]

We love those.

[Cory]

Just trying to get your creative juices flowing.

[Heather]

Just 25 is the year of new. New concepts. New cat, ma'am. Oh, six months. Make your Decision in paid for the cremation services. Which is wild because they were like, you got to pay for. I was like, here's my card. And they're like, we don't do it in half. What is this long funnel?

[Cory]

Oh, they have elongated their funnel.

[Heather]

Yeah. That was ridiculous.

[Cory]

All right, let's go to the podcast monsters. Without these sponsors, there is no podcast. So if you would like to support them, it supports us. First one is the backers company. The backers company is a done with you type photo shoot. So these backers are rigid, matte, waterproof and food safe. That's why I love them ones. I have come in 23 by 23. It's perfect if you're doing anything that involves cookies. If you buy more than one, they have these L brackets, which honestly creates the perfect amount of space. If you're doing sourdough, if you're doing cake pops, anything like that. They have so many different colors. Whether you want just a white matte finish. That's my number one go to. But then they have so many colors. I used the deep red wine one for all of this past Christmas season. It was gwes. Gwes. They had a winter green one that dropped. I used that for my sourdough. So. So noise sourdough.

[Heather]

Kind of bland. No offense to my sourdough peeps, but let the backer do. The backer can do a lot of talking.

[Cory]

Pink. There's a very nice pink one that's out great for Valentine's Day.

[Heather]

I know exactly what you're talking about. Yes, yes. Love it, love it, love it.

[Cory]

And they have marble, they have wood grain, they have metallics. They have endless options you could choose from.

[Heather]

You can pardon metallics. New Year's.

[Cory]

Yeah, but. So you can get 20% off using the code sugar cookie that's singular and you can just shop your heart out. And if 2025 is a year where you want to up your photo so you can make more money tis the season. Use your Christmas morning for being good and get you one now.

[Heather]

If you haven't been good all year and you didn't get an Eddie for Christmas, now would be the time to set that January goal so that each order you take in 2025 pays towards your Eddie fund. Eddie is a direct to food printer. It's a corporate girly era. Must have. It is a great for the last minute baker who wants to bake for last minute. Wow. Really amazing machine. It's pretty fantastic. It is literally printing edible ink on cookies. Yeah.

[Cory]

So the same stuff that you make colors with, that you airbrush with is what this prints with. It's so crazy, but it actually resembles a printer, so it's easy to get that mixed up.

[Heather]

It is pretty wild.

[Cory]

Sometimes my printer, if I'm printing a cookie tag, wants to attach to Eddie in print.

[Heather]

Oh, really? Let's see what happens.

[Cory]

You go to hp.com.

[Heather]

That'S pretty interesting. No code. Freddie. I'm sorry. The man knows his worth.

[Cory]

The man.

[Heather]

But I do have a discount code for you twins. Check out on bakeitybake.com Bakeity Bake is a meringue powder developer for a meringue powder called Royal batch. Love it. Tracking, retracking. We have small pouches to test it. If you're thinking new year, new meringue.

[Cory]

Pouch, little sample pouches.

[Heather]

Isn't it getting harder to find ones?

[Cory]

It's always been harder.

[Heather]

It's harder. Easier, harder, easier.

[Cory]

I don't know.

[Heather]

Right. So if you're like, hey, new year, maybe new recipe, I would suggest you try a test.

[Cory]

It's so nice, and they look so professional. And if you want to buy it for your cookie class and resell it.

[Heather]

I think that's a. Okay, listen. We're not saying resell at cost. We're selling resell at 20% profit. Yeah. Yeah.

[Cory]

Because everyone in class, for some odd reason, meringue powder goes over on everyone's head.

[Heather]

They're like, oh, my God. I've never heard of this magical thing. We're like, it's the most expensive part. Where can I get it? I know. And they want to take that energy and they want to go home and bake it. So it's actually a great thing. And it lasts a pretty long time. And in worst case, nobody buys it. You use it.

[Cory]

Absolutely. Yeah.

[Heather]

Corey will act like that thing is made of gold dust. Yeah, I got.

[Cory]

I. It's my favorite. I've tried them all. That one has just been best Bang for my buck. And here's my. My thing. I. The way I do it, and everyone always asks, you're gonna put a third a cup into your mixer bowl. Then you're gonna take a tablespoon back out with warm water. You're gonna add one third a cup up fully. And then with the same thing, you're going to add just a little bit less than a third because you took the tablespoon out. We're going to add just a little bit less water. Usually it's 2, 3 cup.

[Heather]

Halfing everything by third by a little.

[Cory]

Cup by a Little tablespoon. So a little less tablespoon and powder less tables. We're going to froth that up. We're going to whisk it till our heart.

[Heather]

Just thought we over whisk it. I thought you could over mix.

[Cory]

That's where you actually mix it. This is just the whisking part.

[Heather]

So we're getting too much.

[Cory]

No, I actually. So I whisk it by hand and then I put it with the paddle attachment and let that thing go on hide for just like we talking about.

[Heather]

I should talk about KitchenAid.

[Cory]

KitchenAid for about 30 seconds.

[Heather]

You do royal icing in a Bosch?

[Cory]

I do it.

[Heather]

Yeah. Okay. Classic. Just people.

[Cory]

But I still same Whiskey. Whiskey. I put it.

[Heather]

Whiskey. Put some whiskey down. Whiskey. And then you can make it.

[Cory]

I whisk it for the Bosch. I also whisk it for the KitchenAid. That is how you.

[Heather]

If they buy a bosh. What paddle must we never use?

[Cory]

You never use the cookie paddle?

[Heather]

Anything.

[Cory]

Anything.

[Heather]

Anything. Oh, not even for royal icing?

[Cory]

Not even for royal ice?

[Heather]

No, I use. Why is it called a cookie?

[Cory]

The dough hook. Because it was supposed to be for soft like creaming of eggs and sugar, but not for. We're. We're jamming, packing.

[Heather]

I guess Bosch is like, listen, I'm glad you guys like it, but other people are buying it.

[Cory]

I use the dough hook for royal icing. I use the dough hook for any bag.

[Heather]

See, that would. Okay, what do you use for royal icing? Oh, the dough hook. Yeah, absolutely. Okay. If it's not the dough hook, don't use it.

[Cory]

I know. Honestly, I have not used the cookie paddles ever so wild.

[Heather]

Well, don't worry. If you use them, they will snap. I see that post concept, but the problem is I don't even bake. And I know. Don't use cookie batter if it snaps.

[Cory]

Like the little pieces of plastic can go into your. Whatever you're mixing into waste.

[Heather]

I don't know. It's a wild. It's a wild loss all the way around.

[Cory]

I'm worried about asking, do you have a twin twist that isn't depressing right now?

[Heather]

It's been a rough week. Have one shoot. Come on.

[Cory]

We did go and get a bunch of gifts for our family members. And we kept coming back to the.

[Heather]

Yeti insulated, which has been a twin before, but it is. I'm sure you guys are calling them trulies. I have these non alcoholic drinks called hios, which I think has been a twin years ago. Yeah, it's one of the few subscriptions. I absolutely hate subscriptions. But it's one of the ones. I actually like these drinks because they're really dry, fruity drinks, non alcoholic. They have some supplements in them, but they're tall and thin. You want to put them in a cooler can holder and they don't have. But Yeti opened a store at Tyson's mall and they were there. So we got those for a bunch of people.

[Cory]

So it's not a koozie. So I don't want you to get.

[Heather]

It's not a koozie so your hand doesn't get cold.

[Cory]

It is like an insulated thermos. Thermosy thing that fits the cans.

[Heather]

And I'll be honest, I love Diet Coke. I have. Our sister got us the one for Diet Coke hands. If I put a coconut versus a Coke, it's a different.

[Cory]

I don't even want to drink it if it's not in that.

[Heather]

I truly. I'm gonna say I'm gonna be bold here. It adds another hour of out of the fridge coldness. Absolutely. Yeah.

[Cory]

I did get targeted in a TikTok video for sure. It's called a frost buddy.

[Heather]

Okay. If you guys like Chick Fil A ice. I like a Chick Fil A ice. Yeah. This frost buddy kind of insulates around starbies and Chick Fil a drinks, right?

[Cory]

Yeah, just not the super large cup. So it doesn't fit a super large cup, but it fits. Fits a Chick Fil a medium. Okay, so it fits that. But what it does, instead of having to pour your drink into a thermos or into your Stanley, you can just put that actual cup into this frost buddy.

[Heather]

There's something about the styrofoam. Yeah, give me the styrofoam.

[Cory]

Yeah, I want it. My little straw dust squeak.

[Heather]

I got Ruth at hand. The impossible to gift for lady A a pair of highly rated scissors. And I actually used AI to define that.

[Cory]

Yes.

[Heather]

I can't pronounce company Z W I L L I twilling. They were funky looking and they're very sharp. My aunt actually catched them cop catch them catch a little by the point. Yeah. Very. I don't know. Interesting scissor.

[Cory]

So it was such an interesting. If we went and got it for our other. We did.

[Heather]

Oh, we got went to the coach store. I thought their perfumes were nice. My dad had us buy something for my mom.

[Cory]

Yeah. You bought the cherry. Well, we did.

[Heather]

You bought the cherry.

[Cory]

Cherry. Little hangy thing for summer.

[Heather]

Just cute. Yeah, very cute. The. The Guy in the back of coach was like, we sell so many. We heard him talking.

[Cory]

I say the price ungodly $95. Never. I don't know how you say it. Stob. Stob. Sto. Stob.

[Heather]

Okay.

[Cory]

I got my mom a whole set of stobby kitchen.

[Heather]

I gotta tell you guys, we go there for Thanksgiving. It's not a surprise. We've been doing this for years. And she was like, here's two plastic forks. Best of luck to you all. Like.

[Cory]

And I was like, what?

[Heather]

Like some dishes made the ounce be.

[Cory]

Ever in your favor.

[Heather]

Some dishes had no utensil. I was like, grab your fist.

[Cory]

Should I get my Mac and cheese.

[Heather]

And my mashed potatoes? Scoop with your fingers.

[Cory]

So these, they had two styles. One had this nice wooden handle. Unfortunately, it's hand wash only, but it matched her new kitchen so nicely. I said that they can hand wash or you can strip off the finish.

[Heather]

She'll love a hand wash. So, yeah, I think the gifts are solid this year.

[Cory]

I think I did get everyone. And I told Heather because she was having a bad moon. A little diamond necklace.

[Heather]

It was very much cuter than I even anticipated.

[Cory]

Really? Yeah. I got a good deal on them from a jewelry store in New Jersey.

[Heather]

Corey found this too square. Found this store that was using 2T. If that doesn't show you that if you sell a product, you can sell any internationally. I know they have her in a lot. I would never have found them before if I didn't landed on them. They said the best and look who's reaping the bennies.

[Cory]

You're welcome.

[Heather]

Okay, let's vote. Do you think Tick Tock will get banned? I'm gonna vote now. You changed your tune. Well, I'm just saying.

[Cory]

Pack it up.

[Heather]

I'm just saying. You literally sent me an email. Here's an app today.

[Cory]

I'm gonna write a post about it regardless.

[Heather]

Hey guys, if you're still listening, which is a miracle, we have Sourdough Sellers Group. I posted a great post about pricing, itemized pricing in regards to package pricing.

[Cory]

Yes.

[Heather]

As per the invoice I got from the veterinarian today.

[Cory]

Also this past week in Sourdough Sellers, Rishi from Hot Plate went through a step by step walkthrough on how to set up a shop on there.

[Heather]

Now here's my. Here's my interesting thing I did. I did listen to the live. Hot Plate is interesting. It is purely designed for what they call events, but it's actually a drop.

[Cory]

Like a pre sale drop.

[Heather]

And some of the technology they use and I thought this was supposed to be a website replacement. It is actually a website assistant.

[Cory]

Yeah, assistant.

[Heather]

I'm using that loosely. Let's say you have your website. Right.

[Cory]

Okay.

[Heather]

The website does what it does but you just want to host a pre sale. This hot plate thing is completely designed for pre sales. So you'll list up your thing and then you can even delay in 30 minute increments how many people can purchase, purchase and pick up. And it allows you to hide your.

[Cory]

Address for people who. And I saw a lot of people in Trigger cookie marketing say I'm trying to move away from customs. I just want to do pre sales. That seems like Sourdough people are pre salers.

[Heather]

So since the platform. Okay. I'm going to say it's percentage. It takes a percentage of the sale and applies it to the customer side. There's no switching like on cast iron but it's free for you to use. So if you're the part time baker who just wants to do pre sales.

[Cory]

Right.

[Heather]

That's a pretty nice solution. I think the check out the fees. If you're a low volume this is going to be a money saver for you. If you're a high volume it's not going to be the best deal for you. But interesting idea.

[Cory]

Interesting idea.

[Heather]

Yes.

[Cory]

For sure.

[Heather]

For sure. That's part of the classes. But I thought that was a very interesting live.

[Cory]

Bakesey's going to do another live in there.

[Heather]

Bakesy a lot. I think they are very comparable. Although Hot Plate, I didn't realize it was kind of this drop thing.

[Cory]

Here's the.

[Heather]

Cause he called them events. That threw him.

[Cory]

He called them events. Here's the thing. Basie has an app. App.

[Heather]

Yeah.

[Cory]

Does Hot plate have an app with their web apps?

[Heather]

I don't think, I don't know.

[Cory]

I want to say Biggie has an actual app and that's why people like it.

[Heather]

Okay, well I'll have to learn there.

[Cory]

I'll have to learn about it.

[Heather]

It's like never. You know everyone always says that I'll make these apps for bakers but everyone has such different needs. I know the baker who likes it pre sales. The baker likes it custom. It's just so much that nobody can fulfill it perfectly but you get as close as you can.

[Cory]

Yeah. So if you're trying to up your bread photography. Want to talk about, you know how to market to a larger audience because you. It's a numbers game in Sourdough. It's not necessarily a volume over I.

[Heather]

Mean, working at economies of scale, like the more bread you pump out, the more money you make.

[Cory]

Yeah, absolutely.

[Heather]

Customs is like my talent and my packaging.

[Cory]

At the end of the day, it's going to take you 52 hours to ice that.

[Heather]

Unfortunately, the best photo of a cookie, even the worst photo of a cookie will still look better than a bread because bread is so basic.

[Cory]

But you can make your bread look better than your competition. Repetition, spread.

[Heather]

Absolutely. It's just a different strategy. It's a different strategy, but it's a very interesting.

[Cory]

It's been fun to learn.

[Heather]

Yeah, it's definitely. I think it has. I think it requires more marketing than a cookie does. Really? Because it's. You have to sell.

[Cory]

Does it come down to, can you pull a straight line? It comes down to we're all working with bread, water and flour.

[Heather]

The wild part is, unlike. Okay, what are cookies held to the expiration date of some of their things, which run debates about Best Buy sourdough. People, you have to create something this starter is producing.

[Cory]

I know. And here's the thing. The life of a heat sealed cookie is so much longer than the life of sourdough.

[Heather]

Yeah. It's very interesting. And then, okay, the diversity. So you may be a vanilla only baker, but you can change your design. That's where your sales. That's where like your variations come from. The variation of sourdough is what I've learned are inclusions. That's it.

[Cory]

But no, there's so many things you can do. Brownies, you can do the discharge stuff.

[Heather]

And I don't think people realize that other side.

[Cory]

I think when people think sourdough, they just think bread. But yes, there's endless. I mean, I'm making pancakes with these bad boys.

[Heather]

Okay, here's the one, buddy. Cory made sugar cookie sourdough cookies.

[Cory]

They tasted delicious.

[Heather]

Yeah. They don't want to be a sugar cookie. Be a sourdough cookie. Sourdough.

[Cory]

It was a sourdough sugar cookie.

[Heather]

Yeah. So. But even I was watching Rishi's live and he was like, well, I think everything should be brown. It's because of that natural inclination that bread is brown. I know. It's more feeling versus cookies. I see the more trend towards pinks. It's brighter colors. Brighter.

[Cory]

Yeah, I agree.

[Heather]

Very interesting strategy in terms of growing that audience. It was diverse enough that Corey and I were like, we can't merge these and make it make sense.

[Cory]

Yeah.

[Heather]

So sourdough sellers, you're going to see kind of similar content. Great thing about marketing is marketing Change the noun. Sell a car, Sell a bread. Yeah. Sell a cookie. But kind of the nuance of the economy. How we sell more at a lower price point with less punchy diversity. And Cory's talking about, well, I got my backers green for sourdough bread to signal crisp.

[Cory]

Right. I think you can do so much more colors behind a bread to set the stage.

[Heather]

Well, you wouldn't want the colors compete with your very bright cookies.

[Cory]

Absolutely.

[Heather]

Yeah.

[Cory]

So I've been able to use these more crazier colors that I've gotten that I. You've been on the back shelf for cooking cookies would be sourdough.

[Heather]

If you like the sugar cookie marketing content, you see that right now. Corey and I and Amy also play kind of referee. Yeah. They're in tattoo sellers. Since it's a small group again, I can go back to producing.

[Cory]

Oh, let me stretch my little marketing arms.

[Heather]

Let's talk about price. Do you break down the price? I was just saying because at the vet today, I was listening to everyone in their massive bills little lid. I know. But everything is atomized. So you can see exactly what everything costs from when they turned on the oxidant to everything. So I was like itemized because it has to be. Cause it's a medical bill. But that is not the goal because I said in my post that I think people who itemize their here's what it costs to make your cookies because you're trying to convey value. In reality. People are like, let's not use that butter then. I'm not even eating these. These are a gift. But I use great ingredients. Great ingredients is in the marketing. I know. We don't want to tell them the cost of it.

[Cory]

Yeah.

[Heather]

So one simple, neat price. That's sourdough sellers group on Facebook. Yeah.

[Cory]

So if you remember asking am reminiscent where me and Heather are making posts every other day about marketing and what our ideas are. That's what's going down.

[Heather]

Yeah. That's great. I just lock their ends and tell people. Don't randomly.

[Cory]

I know, I know. Well, guys, if we don't see you, Merry Christmas.

[Heather]

We see them before the new year and Happy new year. We will see them before the new year.

[Cory]

Mary Cretman.

[Heather]

I think we all had a great 2024. This has been a great 2024 in terms of Facebook group.

[Cory]

Absolutely. You guys have made it a pleasure. I've enjoyed every second along this wild ride that we call sugar cookie marketing group.

[Heather]

Let's make it crazy in 2025.

[Cory]

2025.

[Heather]

Crazy sugar.

[Cory]

I hope you get everything you wanted to get for Christmas.

[Heather]

And if you don't, let's get in 20, 25, let's get it for ourselves.