197. Baking it Down - Lessons from Susan Reed

Summary

Baking it Down with Sugar Cookie Marketing 🍪 Episode 197: Baking it Down - Lessons from Susan Reed Release Date: February 4, 2025

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Introduction

In Episode 197 of the Baking it Down Podcast by Sugar Cookie Marketing, hosts Heather and Corrie Miracle delve into the intricacies of managing a thriving Facebook group for bakers-turned-business-owners. This episode primarily focuses on identifying and combating prevalent scams in the sugar cookie world, drawing lessons from the infamous "Susan Reed" persona. Additionally, the hosts share invaluable marketing strategies, emphasize the importance of consistency, and discuss the evolution of their community and podcast offerings.

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Group and Podcast Statistics

Heather and Corrie begin by sharing insightful statistics about their expansive Facebook group, which boasts 47,338 members. They highlight the group's impressive engagement metrics:

• 8,375 posts in the past year (average of 0.17 posts per member).
• 138,700 comments, averaging nearly three comments per user.
• 340,000 reactions, equating to about eight reactions per member.

Heather remarks at [02:33]:

"This shows that if you ask a question, you're gonna get an answer."

The hosts emphasize that while membership numbers are substantial, active participation is the true indicator of a healthy community. With 81.6% of members actively engaging, their group stands out as highly managed and interactive.

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Understanding and Combating Scams: The Susan Reed Case

A significant portion of the episode is dedicated to unraveling the tactics used by scammers in the sugar cookie industry, personified by the name "Susan Reed." Heather and Corrie discuss how these scammers operate and provide actionable strategies to protect their community members.

Corrie explains at [10:20]:

"Scams are so prevalent, specifically in the sugar cookie world. They use roughly the same copy, but it's always a different name."

Key Lessons from Susan Reed:

1. Exceptional Consistency:

   • Scammers like Susan Reed are relentless and consistent in their approach, making them highly effective.
   • Heather notes at [12:23]:

     "Consistency is the make it or break it. You do not have to be the best sugar cookie baker. Your royal icing doesn't need to be the cleanest of lines. If you are consistent, you will beat out those who are inconsistent."

2. Do Not Take No for an Answer:

   • Persistence is crucial. Even after multiple rejections, continued polite follow-ups increase the chances of securing deals.
   • Corrie shares at [15:44]:

     "You do not take no for an answer."

3. Concise and Clear Communication:

   • Keeping messages straightforward and to the point eliminates confusion and reduces the chances of miscommunication.
   • Corrie emphasizes at [24:26]:

     "Clear and concise communication can actually win you the sale."

4. Efficient Follow-Up:

   • Quick and efficient follow-ups can secure more sales by capitalizing on initial interest before potential clients explore other options.
   • Heather advises at [36:43]:

     "Be efficient in your follow up."

The hosts also warn listeners to be vigilant against emails or messages that seem too good to be true, urging them to verify authenticity before engaging.

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Marketing Strategies: Consistency is Key

Heather and Corrie underscore the paramount importance of consistency in marketing. They argue that consistent marketing efforts can level the playing field, allowing smaller bakeries to compete effectively against larger, established brands.

Heather states at [14:16]:

"You can't keep the lights on without writing."

Strategies Discussed:

• Regular Social Media Posts:

  • Maintaining a steady presence on platforms like Instagram and Facebook ensures continuous engagement with potential customers.

• Diversified Outreach:

  • Utilizing multiple channels (e.g., Instagram, TikTok, email newsletters) to reach a broader audience and reduce dependency on a single platform.

• Cold Outreach:

  • Persistent and respectful cold emailing can open doors to new opportunities, even if initial responses are negative.

• Leveraging AI Tools:

  • Tools like Gmail's AI summarizer can enhance communication efficiency, ensuring messages are clear and to the point.

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Community Engagement and Support

The hosts highlight the significance of fostering a supportive and interactive community. Features like icebreakers, February freebies, and live Q&A sessions encourage members to engage actively, share their challenges, and celebrate their successes.

Heather explains at [08:27]:

"It's about getting you to come back every 24 hours for 14 days."

They also discuss the balance between managing group rules and allowing open communication, ensuring scams are promptly addressed without stifling genuine interactions.

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Class Kits and the Cookie College

A notable segment of the episode covers the advancement of their Cookie College, a membership program designed to equip bakers with the necessary tools and knowledge to streamline their business operations.

Corrie describes the offerings at [63:27]:

"The Cookie College being it gets everything. It's $76 a month."

Membership Tiers Include:

• Cookie College:

  • Comprehensive access to all courses, class kits, marketing scripts, and promotional materials.

• Class Kits for Established Teachers:

  • Ready-to-use kits for those who already conduct classes but seek structured themes and content.

• Foundational Courses:

  • Essential courses covering the basics of running an efficient bakery business.

Heather and Corrie emphasize how these resources simplify the process of teaching classes, marketing, and managing orders, allowing bakers to focus more on their craft.

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Email and Communication Strategies

The importance of professional email communication is discussed in depth. The hosts recommend using custom email domains and newsletter platforms like Mailchimp or Flodesk to ensure emails land in the inbox rather than the promotions or spam folders.

Heather advises at [25:21]:

"Treat your email with respect by piping it through a newsletter."

They caution against using personal Gmail addresses for mass emails due to spam regulations and advocate for tailored email marketing services that comply with legal standards and enhance deliverability.

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Conclusion

Episode 197 of Baking it Down offers a wealth of knowledge for bakers looking to enhance their business marketing strategies. By dissecting the tactics of scammers like Susan Reed, emphasizing consistency, and providing robust community support through initiatives like the Cookie College, Heather and Corrie equip their listeners with the tools needed to navigate the competitive baking industry successfully.

Final Takeaway:

"Consistency can look different from month to month, week to week, quarter to quarter. It doesn't need to be like, you have to do everything all day, every single day."

By prioritizing consistent marketing efforts and leveraging community resources, bakers can achieve sustainable growth and protect their businesses from fraudulent activities.

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Notable Quotes

• Heather at [02:33]:

  "This shows that if you ask a question, you're gonna get an answer."

• Corrie at [10:20]:

  "Scams are so prevalent, specifically in the sugar cookie world. They use roughly the same copy, but it's always a different name."

• Heather at [12:23]:

  "Consistency is the make it or break it. You do not have to be the best sugar cookie baker. Your royal icing doesn't need to be the cleanest of lines. If you are consistent, you will beat out those who are inconsistent."

• Corrie at [24:26]:

  "Clear and concise communication can actually win you the sale."

• Corrie at [15:44]:

  "You do not take no for an answer."

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Additional Resources

• Cookie College Membership: For comprehensive courses and class kits, visit thecookiecollege.com.
• BackersCo Backdrops: Enhance your product photos with high-quality backdrops. Use code SUGARCOOKIE for a 20% discount.
• Royal Batch by Bakety Bake: For premium meringue powder and icing supplies. Use code LOVE20 for 20% off until February 8th.

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Join the Conversation: Engage with Heather and Corrie on their Facebook Group and stay updated with the latest marketing trends, class kits, and community support for your sugar cookie business.

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Disclaimer: This summary is based on the transcript provided and aims to encapsulate the key discussions and insights shared by Heather and Corrie in Episode 197 of the Baking it Down Podcast.

Transcript

[A]

So this is. We're back.

[B]

We are Back for episode not three. What episode is this?

[A]

197.

[B]

197. 197 in your ears, three in your eyes.

[A]

Corey's husband, who has not listened to 195 episodes, listened, watched this last episode and it had some way too constructive feedback and no positive. There was no compliments. At least you guys can say that you're genuine.

[B]

He said I sang too much. He said, I thought you did that in the privacy of our own home. I can see that it's not just.

[A]

Behind closed doors that you gotta sound sing, you sing.

[B]

Heather plays with her hair too much.

[A]

And I want to let you know I plan to do that again.

[B]

But welcome to the Baking it down podcast. If you're tuning in for the first time, welcome. We're actually a spin off from a group that's on Facebook. There's about 47,000 bakers that are in that group. And from that group we can see, you know, trends. We can see what people are struggling with.

[A]

Can I read some group stats? Oh, yeah. I thought that was so entertaining. When you run a Facebook group, meta gives you some pretty limited statistics like how far does it go back on some. You can only do it from desktop if you want to go farther back than 60 or 28 days. But you can go back for the year almost. So I gathered the facts together.

[B]

So the group has been around for how long?

[A]

October 2020.

[B]

So almost we're in our. In heading towards our fifth year, which is crazy to think.

[A]

Yeah, it's wild.

[B]

It's wild.

[A]

So here's the stats. This is from February 4, 2024 to February 2, 2025. So it's just shy of the year. How many posts do you think were made in the last 362 days?

[B]

Oh, in the last year? Yeah, I. I don't know. There's so many posts that go up.

[A]

See here's a wild part because we delete every post for the vendiblies. I know in the reporting it shows you as a gap in post like oh, let's take a dramatic. Oh, it did.

[B]

It didn't log them in.

[A]

No, it seems like when they are deleted, they're truly deleted.

[B]

So many posts that we delete for.

[A]

The vending money and the ones for the rule breaking as well. So what squeaked on through was 8375 and that's 0.17 posts per person on average. So we're not, you know, for a group of 4 47,338. That's pretty low considering we delete three months of content each year. I know. And this year was pretty long. Get your questions out there. But here's. Here's what I find this is indicative of. This group is highly managed. The posts are getting deleted a lot. But the comments is kind of where I put my metric on group vanity.

[B]

You okay.

[A]

Because when somebody has a question, if they had 50 answers, that's a really strong group. Unless they're all customer bashing, we got another problem. So that for. For the 8,375 posts that made it through, and I assume when you delete a post, you delete its comments as well. Like I think that there's 138,700 comments and that's almost three comments per user.

[B]

Wow.

[A]

Then we have, you know, we have power users and then people who lurk or muted the group. But on average, like, wow. That shows that if you ask a question. Here you go.

[B]

You're gonna get an an.

[A]

Yeah. Of that. Reactions. It has it reports on reaction metric, which goes to show me the takeaway here is that Facebook's watching everything. It's not watching just the comments. It's seeing reactions and it's tabulating them. Because I think it's indicative of a point of reach like engagement, more reactions and stuff. So 340,000 reactions. That's about almost eight reactions per user. That's insane. In the group. Yeah. And then active members. This one is my bread and butter. This is the metric that group admin would focus on. And this is how many users are in the group. 47,338. That number is a misleading number because how many active members are what matters. And that's 3. 38, 664, which is 81.6% of the group is active.

[B]

I want to say that's pretty crazy because you have to think the group has been around for going on five full years and from that a lot of people come and go from their sugar cookie businesses.

[A]

Yes.

[B]

So to have the majority of the people still active is wild.

[A]

I know. Which is great. And then moving here we have the just random stats. I like to see this stuff the most posted today. Can you guess? Okay, hold on.

[B]

Friday.

[A]

I would have thought it was Friday. No, it's actually a pretty dead day. It's Wednesday. Oh. Well, I'm not sure if Wednesday wins has an effect on that or if the Wednesday. Wednesday news. I'm not sure. But that's the most posted today. I would never have guessed that. Most posted time on average across. Okay, hold on.

[B]

I want to say, I want to.

[A]

Say 6pm, 8pm but it was between 6 and 8, you know, kind of arranging some current active. Our current membership is 47,338. Number one city. This one threw me a bit.

[B]

I want to say somewhere in Texas.

[A]

No, it was New York, New York. And the reason why I think is because Texas is the largest majority of people in the group. But their individual cities are very scattered. So New York, New York was a single city. Oh, it was followed by San Antonio. Oh.

[B]

And then I thought maybe Orlando, Florida. I don't know why. I feel like there's a ton of bakers in Florida.

[A]

I don't know that there are. I think that CookieCon sells out and that's what makes. I think they are, I think. But everyone's flying every day. And then how many percent female versus male do you think there are?

[B]

Okay, I did see this one. So I can't even.

[A]

It's always been this 98% to 2%. I can almost tell you who the dudes are. And then what do you think is the highest represented age group of 31% of our members?

[B]

I want to say maybe 30 to.

[A]

35, 34 to 44. It did in a range of 10. So that was pretty interesting. That was very interesting.

[B]

I am slow to let people in the group. There's about 8,500 pending people.

[A]

There's a reason for that. Corn. I talk about what is the metric of a group that is indicative of a healthy, growing group. And I don't think it's membership.

[B]

You would think as admins we want the biggest group out there. That's not a valuable group. Numbers game is just a vanity metric. And at the end of the day it's a quality, valuable group that members want to engage with is important, you.

[A]

Know, And I think even as bakers who are growing on Instagram, you want that big, fancy, juicy number. And then on the flip side, you're like, this is. These are people all coming from ASMR and they all complain. Right. Same with a group. So you'd say, I want a large group that's I can turn around to a sponsor and say, look at all the people I can reach. But on the flip side, like I found this group, there's private groups, which is sugar cooking, marketing and public groups which anyone can see if they don't join. And it's starting in so sourdough. It has a million sourdough for beginners, Sourdough for beginners. A million members. So I sorted by new posts. They were averaging five posts a minute. That's wild.

[B]

But here's the thing. Five posts a minute. But the, the way the algorithm works is one post will take off, that post is going to get the comments. It's usually typically.

[A]

And then the other ones were kind of like little orphans with no comments. Yeah, no reaction. So it's kind of crazy to see how Facebook treats those public groups versus these private groups.

[B]

So this year we've been going for quant quality over quantity. So what I, what I look at when someone's entering, trying to join the group because people come from Instagram, people come from TikTok or Facebook page is people that are saying like, want to learn? Decorating cookies probably isn't the best person for the sugar cookie marketing group because you're already a little bit established. So I want someone that has a meaty answer like, I don't know how to take photos and I'm looking to learn. So that's what I'm looking for on the entry questions.

[A]

So not that says you ain't getting in.

[B]

You can get in if I have five minutes.

[A]

But it's very interesting to manage a group, Corey and I, in February, if you're not in the group, go, go join it. Because we said, what is the admin's job? It's one to manage and group rules and stuff like that. It's, you know, protect the members. But it's also creating interactive content that gets people to the group for when the user who truly needs help makes their post, the group will reach more.

[B]

Just like if you go to a work event, typically you only know the host. The host is what brought everybody there. It's the host's job to connect hostess with the mostest.

[A]

And you do that, and I hate to say it, through icebreakers, you do that.

[B]

Heather did a Texas road. What is roll call where you had. So now in that post you can see who's near you.

[A]

So if you look at my post and you're like, Heather's making a lot of weird like, hey, comment a gif or whatever. It's my job to get people to comment there because then it shows your question to more people when you need an answer. Yeah. But also Cory and I thought it would be fun to do February freebies. Fall in love with a freebie.

[B]

Said, who's the generation under us if we're millennials? Gen Z does hearts like this. Do you see this?

[A]

You'll love. It's got to look like you'll love. Gen Z. Look at me. Look at me. You'll love. You'll love what we're. What we're doing. I thought Gen Z did it with the.

[B]

They.

[A]

They've abandoned that and they've gone to this. This was. You have to use your third. Oh, yeah, it's the third. I think your third finger has to be the bottom.

[B]

The third finger bottom.

[A]

Kenzie, I can talk to you. Okay, my millennial friends, let's do the teacup post. Millennial paws and hearts. So, yeah, that is interesting. So if you want to join the group, I have some. I'm pushing myself with this. February, for sure. I really wanted to get into Illustrator more. I want to get into Procreate more. So I'm building these from scratch. Oh, nice.

[B]

People were obsessed with your whatever the heart STL was.

[A]

They're gonna love the cookie tag today. And I think tomor chocolate box transfer. Nice. And then I'm working on some, like. And I said I was gonna sprinkle on some Easter stuff because we're a little bit behind. We are, we are.

[B]

But that's just us to show love. For you guys, it's 14 days of.

[A]

Freebies and also to get more people to engage with the content so that when you have your question as good stewards of the group, you get better answers.

[B]

And if Heather didn't create a little FOMO, everything only lasts 24 hours.

[A]

And people are like, that's so annoying. And I'm like, yeah, it is. But you see what our goal is to get you to come back every 24 hours for 14 days. Yes, yes, I understand. It's frustrating. I hate it. I hate it for you. I hate everything I'm doing for you. So, moving on today's podcast topic, we want to talk about Susan Reid.

[B]

The reason why we do want to enter Susan Reed into the chat is because one scams are becoming.

[A]

Susan Reid has never left the chat.

[B]

She's never left the chat. Should we give a little quiet?

[A]

She has rebranded right now.

[B]

Scams are so prevalent, specifically in the sugar cookie world. And it's a lot of scams, and they use roughly the same copy, but it's always a different name. A different name. And the. Like, I got one yesterday, and they needed corporate cookies for February 14, so it would light up my soul if I was a baker and I got an order like that. And that's what.

[A]

Actually, we're not talking about scams in general. We're talking about why these scams are so effective and how you can be Susan Reed yourself. Yeah.

[B]

But do keep an eye out.

[A]

Do keep an eye on scams. Yeah, anything that sounds corporate, quick and easy. That's a red flag.

[B]

Too good to be true.

[A]

We need to suffer through the order and take process to realize it's true. So Susan Reed is the name of this podcast, but the content is about the ways in which those scams work so well. Is something we can actually take into our own business. Number one, being exceptionally consistent.

[B]

So one thing that Susan Reed will do is she will be in your inbox.

[A]

She'll be there. She'll be there. She knows exactly what she wants. She has blue hearts. And now these new scammers, corporate orders, they need it within two weeks. They're very here's to sing tears, everything. Exactly. And then that's a big thing of how the scam works. And also it's undoing is how many people receive those emails. So them working, the scammers working off of like a fishnet. If we set, if we send this email out to a thousand, a hundred thousand bakers, odds of people falling for it are higher. All we need is five people. All we need is 10 people to make the mistake to. Oh, you know the. If you guys don't understand how the scam works, it's nothing about cookies. It's about the payment, unfortunately. And they'll pay you. They'll overpay you, which sounds great because not only did you get your bag, you got somebody else's. And then they'll just ask you to refund the overpayment, which is about a hundred bucks. You got paid a thousand. Yeah, with a hundred bucks. But when your bank catches that there was actually not even a $1,000, let alone 1,100, you're out that hundred dollars. So the scam is genius because it works on a lot of psychological levels. But mostly, let's start this one. Be consistent. And I said to Corey the other day, I'm not worried about our competition. I'm worried about our biggest competition is ourselves being inconsistent.

[B]

Yeah, consistency is the make it or break it. You do not have to be the best sugar cookie baker. Your royal icing doesn't need to be the cleanest of lines. If you are consistent, you will beat out those who are inconsistent.

[A]

In marketing, okay, there's one thing about baking skills just, just showing up. You'll get better lines and better consistency over time. But in marketing, consistency, see, really levels the playing field. There can be somebody who is, I'm going to say this crumble cookie, right?

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

They are not the most aesthetically pleasing cookies. They're consistent because of the corporate.

[B]

You have to post the new menu.

[A]

You'Re going to get it and it's going to be posted weekly and they're going to post to socials. So even an unattractive cookie and decent branding and really consistent marketing can just power through a lot of like, you know, there's a lot of, there's a lot of cookie companies now. There's insomnia cookies here, crumble cookies, there's midnight. I think, I think you're right.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And then we have all the bakers and we're like, oh my goodness, how are we going to compete? You're just going to be consistent. And then a lot of people like to say market saturation, again, just consistency.

[B]

Here's the thing. When we signed up to be sugar cookie bakers, we did not necessarily know that we were signing up to be content creators, social media marketers, email newsletter senders, photography enthusiast. It's absolutely a thing. But when life gets busy, the thing that takes the biggest backseat is consistency in your marketing. Whether you're like, promise to send out a newsletter, you promise to drop a new menu each week, you wanted to roll something out, and then it just like is you ghost your socials.

[A]

I know, which is so funny to me. Corey and I worked in marketing, you worked in sales. I mean, we got decades between us, right? Yeah. And we always say the first thing business is cut is the one thing that keeps the doors open. They always cut marketing first because it seems superfluous. Like, ah, we don't need a post to social. We just got to keep the lights on. But I want to be like, you can't keep the lights on without writing.

[B]

Right.

[A]

So a lot of that, a lot of people in there like. And you will see it definitely as we get to these slower months. You know, we get the uptick in Easter and stuff and then we get to the J months and you'll see people are in there like, I just can't make any sales. I've tried everything. You, you were inconsistent when it was time to, when it was time to.

[B]

Plan December into the end of January, a lot of bakers will take off because they had so many sales. They spent endless nights decorating in December. They, they earned their month off in January. And then the repercussion to that.

[A]

It does take six months to see that big break. You took over here and you were like, chop Chop, why aren't people ordering from you? Because you planted a seed here and it's sprouting over here. The seed of inconsistency versus the seed of consistency. Corey and I say we are many things. We're described by many adjectives, but one is consistent. And I said, and I always describe Corey. I'm less consistent than you are. But I've always described Corey as a locomotive. It may not be going in the right direction, but it is going.

[B]

But it's going to go in that.

[A]

Direction, and it won't stop. The brakes do not work on that locomotive. So in a weird way, Cory's so consistent that it keeps me.

[B]

I want to say that my brain has to have.

[A]

What is it when you know what.

[B]

To expect each day? Not a habit, but you got a list that you gotta just blow through. I love blowing through that list.

[A]

And if it's.

[B]

You have to make a post here.

[A]

Did not know it would come for. Yeah. Anyways, the big takeaway from consistent is don't get uncorrected bad list. You will never, ever, ever get it. Ever get it bad. Nate, if you're watching this, Nate's on.

[B]

My bad list for giving us reprimanding. Do you think he'll watch this one.

[A]

If he's at work? Do you have a big red dot on that one? Is it recording?

[B]

Big red dot?

[A]

Does this guy have a red dot? Red dot, Grant. Red. Number two. This is Corey's. Never take no for an answer.

[B]

Okay, I don't want to say, like, be annoying to, like people. Here's the thing. If you're reaching out to a venue.

[A]

To do a cookie class, if anyone was a group expert on being annoying, I would take your advice.

[B]

And I learned from the best.

[A]

You.

[B]

If you're reaching out to a venue for a cookie class, a lot of times a venue that isn't a space that you currently work in might not know the benefits of partnering with a local baker. So you could send a hey, do you mind if I could use your venue for a cookie class and you could get an instant no. Or like, most. No response whatsoever.

[A]

I think we kind of touched on this last week. No response is still an opportunity to be like, hey, you know, like, I can't read a room. Is there any way we can work together? You know, let's talk on pricing. Let's talk like, first, you want to lead with the. Like that. What, do I give up the lease? Like, hey, can I just use your room for free? I'll bring foot Traffic, nothing. You're like, hey, I'm so interested as so many people have recommended this, is there any way we can work on the price or maybe it can help you with marketing, things like that? I think a lot of times, and I myself is so included in this, like when I get a no or when I get no reply, I'm like that whatever, like it is what it is. When in reality there's still a lot of opportunity left on the table until they're like, get away from me with your kids, you great buddies, you know, until there's a restraining order. But it's never take that no for an answer. I think a lot of times we see like they didn't reply back to my quote. Yeah, okay. Say hey, you know, reply to a non quote. We talked about this also last week. To somebody who goes to quote within three days, say like, hey, I'm really excited. I've been thinking about this set for the last three days. I would love to be able to work with you on it. If price is an objection here, is there something we can work on? We can, you know, scale the set, we can do a few designs, but this is something I really would like to do.

[B]

What I like to do if I have a set that I really want to do, I'd be like, hey, I am just firming up my calendar. I would love to take your order. I'm going to need to know if you want to move forward by tonight around 5:00 so I can start prepping for everything I need for your order.

[A]

That why?

[B]

That way they know when the door is closed.

[A]

Right?

[B]

There's not this, this. Oh, I don't know. They didn't say anything back.

[A]

Right. Also you need to do that so some people aren't showing up at the last minute. But yeah, so you see that Susan Reed, she is. You know, a lot of times we actually started deleting these posts where people engage with scammers and kind of troll them. By all means, continue to do it just doesn't add a ton of marketing value. So outside of asking if it's a scam, we just delete it. That said, those scammers are never offended. They are never offended by the water.

[B]

Off the old bag.

[A]

That one wasn't it? Let me go to the next one. And I think that there is something to be said that even being, you know, some of the bakers will take it like almost too far. Like almost be like that's costing you money through time. But they're like, yep, it's not you. I'll move on to the next one.

[B]

I remember when I was working like in corporate office work, a lot of times people would reach out and they'd either like want to send something. This is the same thing for if you want to reach corporate orders, the person you're reaching out to has a million things going on during the day and your thing is probably the last on their list, but it's still a good idea. So they might be like, oh, that's good. And then you just add a sight out of mind. They've gone down to their next thing things you giving up right there because you didn't get the answer you wanted. You could be sacrificing a whole lot of profits and corporate orders down the road.

[A]

Andrea Forte, if she listens to this, she's like in my head she's an accountant by trade and she taught a live on profit first. But anyways, I've tag her in anytime there's anything about accountants. So she had emailed me and I had just. I had gotten a thousand emails that day and I totally forgot to. We had the correspondence but she needed a reply and she's like, hey, just wanna make sure this didn't fall off your desk. And I said, you know what, I have to admit it did. And thank you so much for circling back because I needed. I owed you a reply. I completely forgot my inbox got.

[B]

And that is not taking no for an answer. Like she could have been like in her feels about it.

[A]

Like, Heather, Heather, Heather, ignore me. Because she didn't want to do this, but in reality she was like, hey, just want to make sure this doesn't get fall off a plate.

[B]

If I know Heather, she's a million ideas that she wants to do and she'll start them. Heather has, I don't know, the worst memory I have ever encountered in my life.

[A]

Even I'm flabbed horrendous sometimes the things that I bring.

[B]

Yeah, Heather will retell me a story the next day, not have friends.

[A]

Sometimes I can see it in her face. I'm like, and now I do this thing. Like if I already tell you this, let me know. If not, we're going to go through it again.

[B]

So you got to remember there's people like Heather who have a million things that are going on. Maybe have bad memory.

[A]

That's a true. And I try to tell people like, oh, I have a really bad memory so that they understand that that's a big crux. I can't. There's things I will not remember.

[B]

I wouldn't promise you. Heather has the worst memoir.

[A]

Yeah. Who are you? What? What is this? The podcast? We've been doing a podcast?

[B]

Yeah. So don't take no for an answer. If you want to be consistent and you can. We're not idiots. You can read a room when. When the answer is no, it's going to be a no and you can move on to the next.

[A]

When hostility ends, you can back away slowly.

[B]

Oh, but at the end of the.

[A]

Day, you know, it's also a great time to see if your pitch like, oh, they didn't warm up to that. Maybe I can send this a different way. This one. And this is a tough one. Cold outreach on repeat. Cold outreach versus warm outreach. Warm means we've already talked, there's already a relationship. So let's say Corey ordered from me a year ago. I have a CRM program because I'm really on top of things because I can't remember. And it's like, hey, just so you know, Corey ordered a one year old's birthday so likely she'll need a two year old's birthday. And I'll be like, hey Corey. And just circling back around, I know it's around that time you place that birthday order last year. Firming up my calendar. I'd love to bake for you if it's something you are interested in. That's a warm lead. The odds are we already know each other. So she's going to reply.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Now imagine Corey and I have never met. Somehow I get her email address and I send her a cold email. She does not know who I am. That is rough. The, the lack of open rates and reply rates to cold email is like 90. It's so high. But cold outreach does work. You just have to be able to, like we said with the other one, never take no for an answer. Be consistent and not be offended. Some people do get offended with cold email. You have to be very careful how you secure that email and outreach to people. But consider this. Let's say you go to a networking event. Don't they typically give you either the business cards or a list of emails? We have a list of emails. It's not the coldest because we were there in the same room, but not necessarily did we talk the networking events here around 50 people.

[B]

So you might not have mingled over to the other group.

[A]

Hopefully we did our 30 second sales pitch so it's not completely frozen but it's defawing and we're going to outreach. Let's say we. There's a. Let's say we're a baker and there's a kitchen remodeler which is a likelihood of these types of events. Or a real estate. Always a real estate. Real estate agent is kind of like kingpin of these events from what I've seen. So we want to offer the real estate agent that we're going to bake for their new clients. Right. So it's a very takey takey email. But cold outreach would be like, hey, real estate agent, I didn't get to talk to you, but I saw you and heard your pitch at event. I really liked what you said at when you said something in there 30 seconds which is worth taking notes my forgetful people. And then say, hey, pitching this right here. You know, tell me to scram. If you don't like it, you sell a house. I bake the house into a cookie. It. It'll save you money because it's cheaper than whatever. You know, I think Ashley got a.

[B]

Ring doorbell, a giant charcuterie thing and.

[A]

Say it'll be a really unique thing. Typically I see people love to post photos of it, especially when I can recreate the front doorstep or something.

[B]

Here's a look at one that I did for someone in Springfield.

[A]

Yeah. Imagine the Eddy printer on the for sale sign. You know, you can recreate for that real estate agent. Real estate agents love. Love themselves. They love themselves. You put their face, you put that print on a cookie, they're going to eat it up, literally and figuratively. But cold outreach is tough stuff. But Susie reads does not care.

[B]

Susie Reid says, you know what, I might be told no 99 times, but I only am looking for that one. Yes.

[A]

Now, cold outreach has integrated AI and I get it a lot. So they'll have. Just so you know, Susan Reed isn't a lady sitting behind a computer. It's a script. And when somebody replies, it triggers to the scammers like engage with this one. But we get a lot of people who just peruse the. I think we're highly listening some real small niche on podcasts. Believe it.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Yeah. And it'll be like, hey, Heather, I really like what you said in episode 195 where you pointed out Corey sings a lot. And I'm like, you didn't listen to this at all. But you had AI kind of do a synopsis which is pretty interesting how they get it. And that cold outreach is a rough one. It would never be my primary lead source. It is a lot of companies primarily it is. It is. Moving on. Corey can speak to this one. Concise and clear communication.

[B]

A lot of times, you know, me and Heather, sometimes we write in elongated sentences, but Heather likes to break it up with paragraphing. The things that are important are in bold sometimes. If you are doing cold outreach, you're reaching out to a venue, they don't want to know your life story. As much as we love where you came from, you grew up, and how you met your husband, it doesn't always add value to the person you're trying to pitch. So clear, concise can actually win you the sale. I know when I sold cars back in the day, they're always like, don't insert something that can cause an objection. We don't want to create our own roadblocks in the sale. The more you say, the more opportunity you have for roadblocks.

[A]

I think we, we help talk our clients into like, I know it sounds expensive. And they're like, oh, now it's expensive. I know this is a lot for a cookie. Like, that's a lot for a cookie. It is a lot for a cookie. And it's that. That clear and concise communication really cuts through.

[B]

Thank you so much for your inquiry. I would love to quote you for X amount of cookies for this date. You're looking at this price. Let me know where to send the invoice and we can move along and go ahead. That's clear and concise. It's assuming the sale. They didn't reach out to you because they want to be your friend and they didn't reach out to for you for like budgeting tips and tricks. They reached out to you because they wanted cookies and because you make them. So saving them the trouble and saving them your life story is going to help you make the sale versus talking yourself out of the sale. Words, more words you say, the more opportunity you have to lose it. It might just be something that you say. You could rub them wrong. I know some people are like, I don't like when someone calls me sweetheart.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

That's why we're taking out the extraneous and we're just leaving in the things that get straight into the point.

[A]

You know, it's a new feature. I was in my inbox the other day and I think Google has pushed out AI summarizing emails to everybody. So I'm going to actually see if I can pull it up here. Oh, yeah, summarize this email. So Corey was talking to flip insurance people. Okay. There's an email here where she's trying to get them to sign up to teach to Facebook Live for you guys. So let's just click summarize this email and see what happens. And I'm going to. Haven't read your email. This is a summary.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

Two bullet points. So it says Facebook Live details. Corey invites Grant to participate in a Facebook Live presentation with Chris, an insurance expert about a live on Facebook. Grant apologizes for the delay and informs Corey that Chris will not be able due to an unexpected surgery. Joanne will fill out the form to replace Chris in the presentation. Nice.

[B]

That's all the information I need.

[A]

So crazy gathered.

[B]

But you're right. Being concise and being specific in your email. I don't care if you want to be their friend after you secure the sale. Securing the sale is what is the.

[A]

Point of the whole thing. And I think that's how the Susan Reed email does so well. It's like, hey, here's my event, here's what I need, here's the designs, here's what it's due, here's what's due, when it's due, here's where it's due, and here's how much I'm going to pay you.

[B]

Everything all in that first one. Little tiny.

[A]

And psychologically, as a baker, we never get inquiries like that where they're so great that we. It was. It's a quick response like, okay, I'm in. Yeah, absolutely.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And I think that's where we can.

[B]

Kind of learn from the read.

[A]

Yeah, yeah. Le Lean on read. Yeah.

[B]

Be concise. As much as they want to know that you found your first mixer and you made your first cookies at 12, and then the passion left you as you went to school and came back to you in your mid-30s when you had your first child and was staying at home. I love the story. That's a great blog post.

[A]

It is, it is. But Corey and you know, we talked about this last week, her website, like, write in a way that only somebody who's buying would want to read it. So it's not my about me. It's a how about I about how I can help you technically.

[B]

So in your about me page, a page on your website, we want to make it about them, but we're just.

[A]

Calling it about me because that's what we experience. Because no one wants to click on about thems. I would click on it. What do you have to say about me? Yeah. So clear and concise communication really cuts through a lot of like, Like, I'll say this when I send out The Wednesday Wednesday newsletter. Also last week I was exceptionally sick. I ended up getting sick for the rest of the week. That little I don't feel good ballooned into whatever's this flu. Yeah.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

I have risen from the dead and I am back again. Cosmic Lazarus. So that when I send out the Wednesday Wednesday newsletter, I get these auto responses. You do? I want to tell people one, if I'm getting an auto response every week, just don't just turn off. Like I'm getting some I get every week. So it's not serving a person purpose. Like.

[B]

But like, aren't they assuming that maybe a customer is going to email them? Right.

[A]

But like every time it's like, thank you for contacting us. I don't need that.

[B]

I know, right?

[A]

Maybe if it has my next steps in it. Okay, but just the thank you. I just have to delete it every week I'm at. To unsubscribe. Yet you know who you are. The other time I get a massive wall of text as your autoresponder and I'm like, if you're writing your emails that way.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

No bullet points, no anything. Because I know if you use an autoresponder in Google, you still have options for formatting.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

Yeah. So we can say here's, you know, here's your next steps. We can. Bold. Yeah.

[B]

A paragraph full of text that isn't easy to digest means people aren't going to be digesting it.

[A]

So you're gonna be like group.

[B]

No one reads what I said. It literally was in my autoresponder. But like, would you read a wall of text?

[A]

Probably not.

[B]

So that's where instead of, you know, wasting the communication and maybe just scrapping it, if you can do it in a way that's easy to digest, easy to read, it might work better for. Yeah.

[A]

Can we say it's easy this Susan Reed to Susan Reed. I'm sorry, now I've got ptsd. Is that recording?

[B]

Recording.

[A]

Big red dot recording. So a clear and concise communication using my side. So I'm doing the February freebies thing that we mentioned earlier. Right. And the every post is scheduled to go up at like 11. Right. So I'm trying to work. I'm literally posting it the night before. Just goes up at 11. But every time I'm reiterating like, hey, if you don't know what this is about, we're doing it a freebie. February's file in February. You have 24 hours. And it restates every single time what I posted already. 5 different times. Because nobody reads.

[B]

Yeah, nobody.

[A]

Susan reads. So you have to keep reiterating these really simple takeaways. And they're all on bulleted lists. And I have bolding. But you just have to clear and concise communication every time.

[B]

One time, me and Heather messed up.

[A]

I specifically. No way.

[B]

A lot of times we like to be jovial in our time talks. Like, use little fluff words. Make a little conversation sandwich. So in one of our classes that we had for Christmas one year, we said, grab us grab a friend and grab a seat.

[A]

Like, grab a friend and come on down. Like, it was like, grab a friend and grab. I thought grab a friend and grab a ticket for them was implied. It wasn't. So some ladies, like, grabbed my friend. I bought the ticket. She didn't. But you said to grab a friend and come on down. And we were like.

[B]

Me and Heather's faces were like. But I had an extra set. It worked out in the end, but.

[A]

Whoa. Yeah.

[B]

Whoa. Clear and concise.

[A]

That was.

[B]

That was not clear and concise.

[A]

Too much in the marketing. Delightful. AI Word salad. And it cost us. They ended up. I think she paid there. And we had an extra DIY kit.

[B]

It worked out.

[A]

Yeah. It was a. It was a test. So sometimes Corey will only bake. Exactly how many attendees? Not even to bake with fire. Yeah. Not even to decorate along with them. So we're like, what if. We just have to be like, I'm so sorry if you guys are ever wondering what we'd probably do there if someone showed up.

[B]

Up.

[A]

Let's pretend someone showed up and we forgot to bake their shed. They already paid them. Okay. I would refund them that class and re. And give them a credit for free. Next.

[B]

For sure.

[A]

Yeah, for sure. I know what you guys are thinking. Like, but you already gave them back their. No, we didn't give them back the time they wasted. Yeah, they wasted money. Another time.

[B]

Here's the thing. People have expectations. Those expectations can be pretty high. Especially when we're like, our classes are so fun, and then they show up in their class is now no longer fun. It's not even a class.

[A]

Not only are you not having fun, you're having the opposite fun. Yeah, I'm fun. Yeah. You know, I saw someone had to ask, and they were like, I baked this whole set and I decorated it. It was a pretty tough one because I, you know, whoever you posted it gave me pause for the rest of the day. She said the lady had ordered two dozen.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

I baked one dozen. Yes. I think that the lady had initially ordered the one dozen and then changed it to two. What do you like? The services were rendered and they were a high quality cookie decorating. I didn't see a picture of them. I'm just saying, like the, the services were rendered but at 50% capacity. And she was like, I, I've refunded. Or she's get. She gave the discount off the future one.

[B]

Here's my thing. I always think of it, you know, you always lend to the. If I, I have a kid, I.

[A]

Know what you're going to say. If there's 24 people there and 12 people are going to be disappointed, how much is that worth? I know.

[B]

So if I'm tied towards 212 people being sad, that's expensive right there. So what I suggested, I think I found the comment section. If she was asking, I just seen.

[A]

It when I went, oh.

[B]

And I said, you know what, what I would do is, is while I couldn't make 12 Royal Iced Sugar Cookies, I could make an additional 12 drop cookies or macarons, something that could fill in space to save face. And I would make those ones for free.

[A]

I'm going to add, I'm going to say, what if she was leaving to go to the party? What would you do there?

[B]

Oh, I would do 100% free.

[A]

100% free.

[B]

Yeah. And then I'd be like, hold on, I'm going to go see what I.

[A]

Got in the fridge. I got to go see what I got.

[B]

Got in my freezer.

[A]

I no, these ones have dogs on them. Yeah. That's a tough one. That's a tough one because it was just, you know, a clerical error, you know, and the client, I think, was very forgiving. But what do you do to repair that dog?

[B]

Well, you saw that last time that I had the. She had the. Her dad was into football, baseball.

[A]

That, that was about. The concise communication was lost. And that was. That was a loss of concise communication. I really like the thought somebody had also another post. Someone's like, I have this clan. And she's extremely particular about like, where is like it was down to like, where do you get a. Mentioned the sun on this cookie? Like, it was something very specific. And someone had mentioned like, hey, you know, she was like, and I want to schedule a call and I also want to stop with a change log. Yes. So I was like, yeah, bake into your, your future ones. We have two rounds of changes for people like that. But someone. And someone's like, call her and go through each one of these because make sure that it's in a call form and then say, I'm following up in writing. Yeah. So that's clear and concise, what the expectations are so that if it comes back. Well, this is what I wanted. You can say right here in this email is what we had agreed to.

[B]

I, I, I, I have two customers. I love, I love when a customer knows exactly what they want.

[A]

The particular customers aren't. You're not going to mess up because they told you.

[B]

Yeah. I don't want you to be like, you know, I really like if you use the Pandora purple. But do whatever you think is great. No, because that you can't see purple.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

But I had a lady who was like, hey, can you make these? But can you change the dots into snowflakes? I said, you know what? I can work with you because you know exactly what you want. And then I have people who are like, I don't know, do whatever you want.

[A]

I love what I don't like.

[B]

Yeah, those people who middle who are like, you know, I really don't like.

[A]

Yellow, but whatever you think that's a rough one. Yeah. So clear and concise communication is what Susan Reed is very clear. And that's why this cycle, it pings so nicely there. Because she's like, here's the five things you need to know to take my order. And we're like, absolutely.

[B]

I'm like, Susan Reed. Now I'm all like, that's a way too.

[A]

I know. If a client's too good, we're like, scammer. Amy had messaged yesterday and she was like, sometimes I'm worried that when we, we assume they're scammers and we're kind of that more curt thing. And then they turn out not to be like. Because we don't allow doxing in the groups. Right. So doxing is when you post someone's full name, phone number, address, things like that stuff enough that I'd know who this person is. We don't allow it because in the past in other groups, people have actually reached out to the, to the client these things. So. But Amy's like, yeah, it's kind of hard when it's the scammer because they're asking if it's a scammer. And sometimes the name is a tell. Like someone's like, oh, that person messaged me.

[B]

I know, I know.

[A]

But what if it was.

[B]

I know, I know. It's probably like your best client you ever had. They're so concise. To know exactly what they're by this corporate order.

[A]

She wanted blue heights with white. Probably there's a party planner out there somewhere. It's like a gift. Like Eddie Bakers. I have just to keep raising my rates. I'll pay them anything. And I keep telling them no. Last one. The biggest thing we can take away from Susan Reed and this is one I want to take home all the way. If you learn one thing from the podcast today, it's steal money from other people. It's efficient following up. So I think that's part of how the scam works really well. When this, you got the script and it's just shooting out these emails. They're using Internet scrapers to get your email address and then it's sending out this email. Right. Then when you message back, because it's always an interesting like, oh, I got a test to see somebody. The scammer awakens. And I think at this point it's a real person.

[B]

I think it's someone taking over. Like, I don't think it's AI.

[A]

I think it's a person. They're very efficient to follow up because they want to get you to agree to this before you can check around to see if it's true or not. And I think therein lies the magic. Corey. When she wants to take fewer orders, she increases the distance from the time she commutes, communicates in hopes that they'll find another baker, which is typically what happens if you want to secure more leads. Be efficient in your follow up. And I know people are like, why don't they, you know, I'm not on call for 24 hours. The baker who is on call for 24 hours is making more sales for that reason. I don't agree with it all the time. Yeah. But it is definitely a way to secure more sales. If you're new to an area and you're like, I don't know how to get my name out there. Be the first to reply. Yes, that is a great way when you're getting started. Well, I'm training them. Wrong. No, no, you can always change that later. Yeah, yeah. But if you're trying secure more leads in a new area, be the fastest replier. I know a couple cakers in the area. Cakers, Cakers. They're just real good at taking last minute orders. And that's where they've gone. I saw someone's like, oh, I forgot to place a cake order. Does anyone know? And then they tagged, it's Lucy Q. They're like, she's great at last minute stuff and that's a great way to secure leads that other people aren't taking.

[B]

I will say when I was first starting out and I was like, how do you break through? We got, I'm not gonna even call this, this area oversaturated. There's so many people.

[A]

It's oversaturated of people and bakers and more people in cars. Yeah.

[B]

But there's. For every baker there's 20,000 people. So like it's not definitely oversaturated but how it's like how do I break through a market where these people have, they've been there for so long, like how can I get my name out there? And I really built off of taking last minute orders. Those amazing bakers were booked out because they're amazing bakers. So they were willing to take a chance on me. My prices were just a tinge bit lower when I was starting out. So it was a win win for us both.

[A]

People are going to think, well, what happens when Corey doesn't want to be the last minute baker? She's going to have a dip in the sales as the last minute people fall out of her funnel and then she gains more leads.

[B]

Yeah, I get more of those.

[A]

Consistent.

[B]

The people who took a risk on me are now in my funnel and they'll come back to me so I can build that up. And I'd be less of a last minute baker, but I could always refer them, hey, this is a new baker starting up. I hear she's the last minute baker.

[A]

Of these five tips, be consistent. Don't take no cold outreach. Concise communication. Stealing. Just kidding. Efficient. Follow which one is the most important, do you think? I agree. Consistency is the biggest plague of the baking cottage baking industry.

[B]

And your consistency can look different from month to month, week to week, quarter to quarter. Doesn't need to be. I post every single day. And that's your consistency. You can post every single day. You can drop down to two times a week. If you're full, you're full with orders or if you're taking vacations and things like that. It's the, the full drop off where I've quit. I've quit marketing. I've quit my social media. I've quit learning and all that and then picking up one day and be like, but where's my, where's my sales?

[A]

We all took them while you were gone. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[B]

But can you blame somebody if they were looking for someone consistent? You became inconsistent. They had to find someone more Consistent. They have gone.

[A]

Corey and I always say, like, the bakers. Okay. We run the cookie college, right? Yeah. And the people who forget to cancel their memberships, like, they're like, can I get a refund? Like, it's a no refund policy. Can I get a refund? Like, Corey's like, it's so funny. If. If their clients did that to them, what they're doing to us, it would be an immediate. Can you believe they did this to me? I know. We want. We as bakers, want our service providers to be consistent. Yeah. If you are hiring an H VAC company, Corey, and you don't show up.

[B]

What I learned in our little local group, if you have Verizon and Verizon goes out for an hour of time, they will be in that group. Is anyone else having issues with their Internet?

[A]

So we as people, humans, we want consistency. And yet we're shocked when our clients leave us because we were inconsistent. But I'm sick, Heather. We have a livestock. I'm busy. And they. Right. If you called five times to get your oil changed and only four, only one of those five times they were open, you're going to find.

[B]

You're going to. And no one can blame you. Especially when there's an expiration date on birth birthdays. You know, well, hey, you know, I'm having tummy troughs. Can you give me another month? No, the birthday is this week.

[A]

It's gotta go. And you're gonna come up with a bunch of reasons why it makes sense to step back, but also come up with a bunch of knowing why you're not getting the leads in the slower months.

[B]

So consistency can look different. It doesn't need to be like, you have to do everything all day, every single day. Consistency can look like, you know, I dropped my menu at the beginning of the month of what to expect this month, month. And then I post once a week thereafter. Totally fine. Totes fine.

[A]

And it's so funny. Jen was like, hey, can I. Our cousin, she was like, can I see what classes you teach? And I was like, here? And she's like, all this stuff is already online. I was like, right. But we're consistently pushing it out for bakers. And it's more of like, the twins will be there when we need help. The twins will drop the class kits in the first week of each month. The twins will make sure that the group is clean and orderly. That is, we're not the best and we are not the smartest.

[B]

I can't promise you the best quality Content. But I can promise you they will be content.

[A]

It will be. And I think if you guys could just say, oh, wow. Just being consistent, you know, One of the cookie college members messaged me over the weekend. She was like, I just wanna let you know I've surpassed my sales over 22,000 this year. But I wanna be like. And she was like, thank you so much for your help. But I wanna be like, thank you so much for being consistent. You are extremely consistent and that is why you're smashing your goals this year farther than you thought you'd be. And you know when a baker's like, how do you guys get leads? Don't worry about anything but just being consistent. Cause that's pretty much what nobody else is doing in your area. And that will set you apart.

[B]

Yeah, yeah.

[A]

Corey's community group, I can tell which company. They're just everywhere. Every week they're consistently putting out course. Now they have to make the non sales post. I'm going to force their hands. But you're like, I'm like, what? You're going to not fall out of memory. You are my memory. Yes. Right. Everybody else is there, you know. Okay, that takes us. Susan Reed. Susan Reed. Star today, Susan Reed. Anyways, if anyone emails you and her name, Susan Reed, don't take the email. Don't take the email.

[B]

If the, if the email comes across and it's pretty vague but specific.

[A]

If it's specific about your area, warning. If everything else is vague except for the date in your area, warning. Okay, stupid questions. If you'd like to. To text in to win a stupid car toy, we'd love to hear your stupid question at 571-556-5644. Or if you're listening to a podcast player that has a text, the podcast button that counts as well.

[B]

Nice.

[A]

Click on that and it'll send it. So we have 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 6. Choose a number. 6, 6.

[B]

Last but not least.

[A]

Last but not least. Hey, it's Deb again.

[B]

Deborah.

[A]

So we had read her text last week. She didn't win. Yes, but now you have Deb. Are you saying, is Deb being consistent? Deb is being consistent. Deb said I'm gonna win a drag. And her odds were great this week because I got sick and I didn't put the podcast up till Friday. That cookie college just flooded my brain and now I have questions. Deb was in the cookie college for one month. She got her money. That lady was taking classes. Classes. I think you said that if your Email sign signature [e-mail] and you send group emails. My messages might go to the spam folder because it's free Gmail. Right. So after listening to your Gmail course, if I bought a custom Gmail email and send a group marketing emails, will I always be in the inbox or is it more about the open rate? Okay, first of all, Deb, congrats. You win the stupid card tray. And this is a great question. Deb, email me heather@sugarcookie marketing.com with the red guest. Well, it's you. I know who you are. Email me and then I'll set you up with Phil and he will get you a stupid card trade. And yeah, people are making those reviews for the if you make a stew. If you own a stupid card drink. Yeah. That you bought with code sugar for 15 off and you make a video about it and you give Phil the review video. They'll send you the silicone mat add on and the added cups.

[B]

Nice. In the cookie column, there are different courses that are geared towards bakers. It's not how to bake cookies or how to make macarons.

[A]

It's really so not that it is.

[B]

For how to be more efficient in your bakery business. One of the main ones that people take it. You know when you're emailing a business and it'll be like Corey Miraclemail.com Yes. Corybakescookiesmail.com it's, it's not as professional as having hello@mixing bowlcookie co.com so that is what Deb is referring to. Now. Heather is our techie person.

[A]

Right. So Deb saying, I'm emailing. I'm going to just make up this up. She's saying I'm sending my emails to my. I'm sending mass emails. She's sending more than a single email to Corey. She's sending it to all our clients from debmail.com she's saying if I go to deb.com will I end up in inboxes there? Is that the guarantee? Is that the trade? The answer is having a custom email is great for that social proof like this is a true business. It makes you seem more professional. It's great. However, both the free and paid versions of Gmail, one's called G Suite, that's a paid one. And then Gmail as we know it operate under these spam laws. You cannot and you should not send newsletters from your Gmail inbox. If that's where you're at. Delete that Email. We need to go through an email sender, a newsletter sender under like flodesk or mailchimp. Somebody had mentioned this one. It was like some cute little name. I even had ask her is that like a typo or is that the name? It was like baking dot com. It was like something cute. But those ones are made to try to get you into inboxes and you're likely going to end up in the promotions tab. If you are subscribed to the Wednesday Wednesday newsletter. It comes from, I think comes from a hello triggercookingmarketing.com and it likely ends up in the promotion tab where it's supposed to go. Yeah, and I know we're like, but nobody reads their promotions tab. Well, we are sending a promotion. We should be in our promotions tab. Now when [e-mail] emails deb individually about her stupid car tray, when I need to make sure that gets to your inbox because that's the important one, right? So I'm going to write that as myself in my inbox because it's going to one person who is expecting the email, who will open the email and who will reply. Yeah, that's where she's talking about open rates. Now if I send all we have 8,000 people on our email list. If I send that as my email address in my inbox, I will be red flagged. So hard, hard. Because a lot of people are like, I don't. Who's Heather? I don't know. Delete, delete. And it's not going through all the checks that these newsletter senders have.

[B]

So what Heather ends up sacrificing is her very important heather@sugarcookie marketing email because she used it to spam a bunch of people. If we're working with clients, you don't want to risk it for the biscuit. It's important to have that one email that is your client back and forth to stay, stay at top right.

[A]

So that invoice newsletter is my most important email because money's attached to that one. So my newsletter, well, it's important because it generates leads. That one ending up at the promotion folder while it hurts my feelings is as expected. But that invoice, the one that says, hey Corey, click here to pay so I can bake your order. That one I need to make sure. So I need to protect the quality of my email. Now email metrics like what do I do? What I do? It's this hidden hush thing. Treat your email with respect, treat the people who subscribe to your emails with respect by piping it through a newsletter. Someone had said. Is it required that newsletters put your address at the bottom? Yeah, by law you have to have your. Well, I'm giving everyone my address then. If you don't want to do that, you're not sending an email. Or you can get a postal box which you'll see at the bottom of our email addresses. So if I send an email a newsletter, as in my gmail, I don't have to follow any laws. I am breaking those laws. Asha, you wouldn't want to do that. What was I going to say? I had a point to make. Newsletters, inbox sending. I don't remember, but Deb, email me and I'll get you your stupid cartridge. Thank you for being consistent.

[B]

Thanks, dad.

[A]

And also thanks for taking all this cookie college courses. I think you did a great job. Another one. Hey, twins. Oh, QP here. She's in the college. Nice. With a get to know you better question. What's your favorite kind of cookie? No shame if it's not sugar cuz mine is snickerdoodle.

[B]

Ooh. Honestly. Really do like snickerdoodle as well.

[A]

Really?

[B]

I could if I could get get a big chocolate chip cookie but it's got to be smushy in the center.

[A]

Does it have to be chunky size?

[B]

I like when they're thicker.

[A]

Yeah, I agree.

[B]

In a soft cookie. The ones we had in Nordstrom cafe. Did not like that.

[A]

Did not like that. I also think. I swear I got sick. Sorry. N mine. Okay, so like, honestly, I like it when you make your macarons with the overfill icing. Love that. My generic guy is Cheryl's cookies, which I'm actually waiting for. So that's a sugar cookie with. With buttercream icing. An extreme.

[B]

That is very good.

[A]

I don't know what you be doing. I don't know what you're doing, Cheryl, but don't you stop. But I have the box on the way. But it's stuck somewhere.

[B]

I could really go for one right now.

[A]

Listen, the thought of it coming in the mail, isn't that just as sweet.

[B]

As having it in your mouth?

[A]

No, I'm suffering. I have been eating candy like it's going out of style. Cuz I'm waiting to like get.

[B]

Heather is our least favorite client.

[A]

She buys old things. Could they see the snake in the video? And you're video in your video. He's blurry, but he's there. Someone was like what's in the background. That's a big old guy.

[B]

Heather loves to buy a discount. Chels Barrels cookies.

[A]

Oh, I'm a passport holder. Buddy, you are a passport holder. And a stackable code on top of how much does it set you back? Every time you order this, you pay one time for a passport.

[B]

How much is your orders typically?

[A]

I get them on sale and then I stack a code. So I buy something on sale, add a code. So this was 36 cookies. I think it was $40. No shipping cost. Wow. I mean, clearly they're making money. Well, they are, but I love them. They're delicious.

[B]

And now they print on top. She must have gotten herself an Eddie.

[A]

Yeah. Oh, yeah, I saw that ad with the print on top of that. Yeah, it's printing on top of buttercream. I know. She did good. I know. Makes me just cannot wait. That's a good question. Oh, I wanted to tell you what Heather Campbell Burkshire said about last week's question. She's Heather Campbell Brookshire. If you don't know her, she's a Disney trip planner. Cory. And I assume she bunk with Mickey Mouse. I don't believe she lives in Texas. So I think in my head, she lives in Orlando, happens to visit a home in Texas, but she's actually from Texas. She said as your Disney expert friend. Yes. I can confirm that all Disney employees are called cast members. So that means you can tell Corey you're right. Don't worry. I start my day that way.

[B]

Heather Cameron Brookshire. Who's your favorite twin?

[A]

It was supposed to be me. Yeah, she's other Cory. Yeah. Also, driving the monorail is life goals for me. Random fact. The current fleet has 11 different colors.

[B]

11 different colors. Here's what I learned when we were at Disneyland last time. The monorail doesn't go to every single sleeping place.

[A]

Like little resorty hotel, hotel, sleepy night.

[B]

Place where you put your head at.

[A]

Night place where you rent bed from.

[B]

But I think the more expensive hotels you stay at have the monorail that goes through them because now you don't need any driving.

[A]

Well, that's what you paid for, buddy. I. Yeah, I love the monorail. If you could just park me in a monorail and I'll just see you when I see you.

[B]

I got us the place that was adjacent to the place with the monorail with the little walk over, remember? I cannot remember.

[A]

The one with the mono was under construction. It was. It was. I'm sure we'll get a text about which one that was. It was the Moderny looking one it was. Last one. Hey ladies, no need to enter me into the stupid card trade giveaway, but I have a question about trademarking, which is actually a topic I've talked about this week. I have seriously been considering trademarking both my business name, my logo and my original design cupcake. Though I though I register in each state we live in, we are military family and are always moving. Plus I would be so sad if someone took claim to my original cupcake and I have worked so hard on branding in the past year. What are your thoughts on trademarks? Worth a hassle? Worth the price. I'm interested to hear your take. First trademark is for like text. So I don't think we can. I think pulling this out of my bun, I think that the cupcake would be a patent and I, I don't. I'm gonna say that that's far more complex than anything I've ever dealt with. So gonna scrap the cupcake one the logo. I almost think trademarking is still just the names. It was very, very specific when I messed up the application. So copywriting logo. What's the R1? I don't remember. Don't quote me on the logo one. Actually, let's just google it. Can you trademark a logo? I'm sure yes you can. USA patent trademarks. So great, then the logo and the name is what we're talking about. My takeaway. Waste of money. There's my takeaway now. I did it, I filed it. Mostly because I was going to teach a class on it. And you see how that went. My class is hire an attorney. It was $350 to file it yourself. If you mess up, they do not refund you. They just said you messed up and they don't really tell you how. And then all these attorneys email you and you're like, you're idiot. You messed up. We'll file this for you correctly. And that is what I did. Now every six years we have to refile for it through that same attorney kind of monitors. And I was like, do we talk to you again? He was like, yeah, I'll message you in six years. As far as trademarking, the accountant that we have, he had actually had some friends go viral on TikTok and they wanted to, they were a retired couple that travel. So they wanted to start a travel company.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

Or like a travel influencing company. And they hired a consultant. The consultants. Like because of the viral, the virality of your medium, you need to trademark your name which protects your handles, right. So for that I agree. But for hyperlocal business and even the accountants, like, I don't. He's been in business 30 years. Like, I don't. Haven't filed a trademark for anything. Our dad doesn't have a trademark on his company. Our grandfather didn't. Now, we did it because we're working in the Internet.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

So for you, I'm gonna say no. That'd be my personal take. If you did anything. Just the name. Just the name, Right.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

It was, like, very specific. It was like, you cannot trademark the word marketing. You can only trademark sugar cookie marketing as it appears together the three times. And then you have to continue to refile this.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

What are your thoughts?

[B]

I don't. It's so beyond me. I mean, if you have a generic.

[A]

Logo that you made that you love.

[B]

I could see more people being apt to use something similar to it. But if you made, like, a super pin to you, like, it's got your, like, name, your, you know, our C. A. M in there. No one's gonna take it, you know, because it's so specific to me.

[A]

Right. Here's. Here's my other thought. Right. So, like, crumble Cookies. If you name your business Crumble, not Cookie, they're coming after you. They're trademark. We're gonna get this.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Now, what she's probably thinking of is, what if another baker enters my space and uses my name? You can try. I. They're fly by night anyways because they didn't do the research to see that you're already there. Okay. So you get an attorney involved, you get the trademark enforced. Then you have to message them. And they were going to close up anyways because they were only doing this for a month in Christmas time. You've gotten a lot of money involved for somebody that wasn't really in it to win it. So a great example is Baking It Down Podcast. We trademarked Baking it down because somebody else thought they would start Baking It Down Podcast. So there was two Baking It Down Podcast. And I was like, well, I had actually messaged them. And I was like, hey, just, you know, like, it's the same man. I even gave him a Starbucks gift card. Like, it was just two sisters. And they were kind of fun. They were baking and they were just gossiping together, which was kind of a cute thing. But I was like, well, this is really confusing, though, because they actually live pretty close to us. Two sisters. Two sisters. Baking it Down. Baking it Down. Northern Virginia. Northern Virginia. But they. They only made five episodes, and that was three years ago.

[B]

Right.

[A]

So it wasn't. I never. I never enforced the trademark. I never got the attorney involved to message him. So that's my takeaway family.

[B]

I know that one's so beyond my scope of knowledge that I would almost recommend asking someone smarter than me and Heather about it. But also go in with.

[A]

I think she's just asking about motivation.

[B]

Of what? Doing it.

[A]

Of why should I do it. I don't want somebody to steal my cupcake.

[B]

If we look back at me and Heather's, we'd say no. Nar.

[A]

No. I think. Well, I was talking to Ruthanne about it and she was like, well, it makes it seem fancier. And I was like, yeah, that's social proof. I'm trademarked. Yeah, we're trademark. I don't mean to use a little trademarky little thing with a thing.

[B]

Get the meta verified thing and boot the page.

[A]

Meta verified would be a better investment. Last one. Hello. My two favorite twins. Which one's your favorite? This is Jen from Nebraska. I just started my cottage bakery business last year. I have a website, but I get most of my business through my Facebook page. After the whole TikTok debacle, I realized I need to stop putting all my eggs in one basket and I want to start growing my Instagram account. Right now I have a whopping six followers. Nice laughing, crying emoji. I also don't have a ton of followers on my personal Instagram account that I can start with like I did when I launched my Facebook page. So where do I start? Should I do a giveaway on my Facebook page to have the entry be follow my IG account? What is the best way to make a splash to increase my followers on Instagram? Thank you so much for all you do for the cookie community. I have learned so much from you both over this year and I really appreciate your knowledge, expertise and humor. Cheers to 2025. That's so nice.

[B]

I want to say Heather has talked about it. The value of a follow follower. It's easy to get followers on TikTok because they're showing your content to a lot more people. It's harder and I'm struggling with sourdough sellers. It's harder to get local audience on places like Instagram because they devalued how you can look up local hashtags. I think you doing a giveaway from your Facebook page to the Instagram to get those local followers over there is a fantastic idea. You can also look up like locations. So we live in Woodbridge, Virginia is where I live. I can look up Woodbridge, Virginia and start engaging with that content there. Unfortunately, it's content that could be a few years old and sometimes it often is. Because what's happening in Woodbridge besides a pothole? Nothing.

[A]

Broad daylight. Yeah. So it's a lot harder.

[B]

But you can engage with the people that are on there. You can start asking your clients to follow you over there. Hey, I'm going to give you a shout out.

[A]

I like the diversification now she's going to end up with the same people on Facebook or on her Instagram. But in the worst case scenario that she loses Facebook, she has Instagram. Yeah, another one. A great diversification there. If TikTok's where, you know, you kind of got that realization is get their email address because that's completely separate from social media. Again, it'll be the same people, but we're reaching them in different ways. Because Corey is on TikTok a lot, I accidentally uninstalled it and can't watch it. So anything being posted to TikTok? Not a clue. You cannot reach me, but you can reach me in my inbox and then I silence my inbox all weekend. So you'll reach me on Facebook. So you can see that while it's the same audience, her six people, she's going to be able to reach them in different ways. Now I really like that giveaway. There's a podcast on the word giveaway and it does trigger some scams, so definitely listen to that. I just put dashes anywhere or put that text in the image. But yeah, pulling the user base around like that. You know, we have the group where we said 47,000 people, but I only have 8,000 emails. But at least I have 8,000 emails. And then on Instagram, our Facebook page, the 15,000. Can you guys see that? No, it's just out of real life, this thing is a likes counter. Yeah, 15,000 on the page. That weird bloated 104 followers on the page still. They're the same people, but we're reaching them in different capacities. Instagram, TikTok booted up the threads thing again. Follow me on threads.

[B]

I had kept it going.

[A]

My consistency. I've been having a chit chat with her. Amy replied to me some random was like, hey, they have cookies. I love them. Threads added. They said they're at now 320 million active users. Mostly they said because of the TikTok tag debacle.

[B]

Or do you think it's because they now can force your content?

[A]

No, they said, listen, we will be forcing threads content everywhere. So brace yourself in 2025 we will make it.

[B]

But now you can get paid through threads too. So it's a marketing avenue.

[A]

I wonder I the fact that so it's so funny on threads it shows that meta verify tag and that one's not one I paid for it pulled it from Instagram.

[B]

Oh, they said you don't want to.

[A]

Give me a big old blue check. Yeah, nice. But it recommends so like every time I sign on it it's like, hey, you should follow Ms. Cookies cookie packaging. The interesting thing is it can already see the connections on Facebook and Instagram and it forces them on threads versus starting a new Twitter ex account or these mastodon or like to start that from scratch. You're getting the six people and you're fighting for each one. Threads is kind of making it, well, forcing.

[B]

Well, you can tell Instagram also like you can recommend this reel on Facebook. So a lot of times I see people's content from Instagram on Facebook. When I go to see what the comments are, it's like go log into Instagram and you can see it in.

[A]

Terms of growing a platform. This meta conglomerate, the meta umbrella really does make easier. Not quick. No, not easy by any stretch. Easier work of cross promoting that. Thank you guys. If you want to text in for your chance at a stupid car tray, you can text in 571-556-5644. Use code SUGAR for 15% off. And Phil is still running that promotion. If. If you record a video with your review of a stupid car train action, which means you already had one, you send it to him, he'll send you the add ons which is the V3 tray version 3. And I bought all those. So I think it was like out the door. I was like, I think I had a coupon. Oh, you can stack that code sugar on any of their current promotions too. Sorry.

[B]

Tell us, since you mentioned the cookie college a few times, what is it.

[A]

Actually, because you guys are on YouTube, people, not you people listening. You people seeing. I'm going to show you people listening. I'm going to describe to you people. I'm going to show you the cookie class kit that should drop in the next couple days. I've been working on it. I'm almost done. Last year's cookie class kits. If you're in the cookie college, it's a membership like Deb said, to help you market more efficiently. So Deb is taking the classes. I saw her on the Instagram one. She was in the Gmail creating a custom Gmail using G suite for a more branded account. All that content is in this membership called the Cookie College and there's five different tiers. The cookie College being it gets everything. It's $76 a month. Below that is a class, kids, which is all the curriculum you need to teach a class. You'll just order the cutters from Sweet Pink Olive who we have a partnership with for those. And then it's all the marketing promotion, copy script, PowerPoint, everything you need to teach that class. Last year we did cats because our family's bacon dinner.

[B]

It was a very cute set.

[A]

Very cute set. And this year we have to honor and respect our dog people. So this is canine cookies. It's. It's adorable.

[B]

It's adorable set. It rivals the cats to me.

[A]

I'm going to show it to them right now.

[B]

Okay, nice.

[A]

And if you are on the audio version of this, you can go click to the YouTube channel, subscribe, hit that subscribe button like comment subscribe. But yeah, that'll drop this week and I think it's very adorable.

[B]

It's adorable. The Cookie College gets everything. So we have five different memberships. You have the $2 transfer club. You have ever guess it's $2, $3. The digital downloads, which Heather's revamped. It's actually really, really nice. I really like the change. We have the better Business Bureau basics of baker's, but you can get a discount code.

[A]

Listen, here's the baker's business basics. Corey loves to poo poo on it. It's the foundational 13 courses plus a $2 transfer club. The foundational 13 courses to get you started in the right direction. It is bare bone. It is the basics.

[B]

It is the basics.

[A]

At the end of it. My, my go go with the BBB was that you're only in it for a month. It's $36. But at the end, the last course is a discount code to get the cookie college for $68. My way of saying thank you for doing the foundational work so that you don't have to go to the college and get overwhelmed.

[B]

Yeah. So you might be saying, well, what's the difference if the college gets the class kits and there's the class kits. What's the difference if you are a pro at teaching classes already and you just hate having to sit down and come up with the theme and idea and the content around it and then.

[A]

Find the photos and the copy and the social media post the class kits.

[B]

Is for you that's 63amonth. When you sign up, you get whatever has been.

[A]

So you get the January class, which was the New Year's.

[B]

New Year's.

[A]

I'll use that one Valentine's Day. And then now you'll get this dog themed class. Dog theme class. And then let's say you sign up. Let's say you sign up. And I'd recommend this if you didn't need to teach class right now. Sign up the third week of February because then you'll snag the March class.

[B]

Which is Mother's Day.

[A]

Right.

[B]

So if you already are good at teaching classes and you just want to take the time and effort out of it, the cookie class kit's for you. If you're thinking, I've never taught a class, I don't even know where to start. The cookie college is what's for you. It has how to approach a venue in a way that is beneficial to you both.

[A]

That's actually just a you fill out, just replace it with your information.

[B]

So how to contact a venue. You get the private Facebook group to ask those burn burning questions like, hey, here's what the venue said back to me. What do you think? Is that a good dealio?

[A]

Where can I pivot here? I think they're asking for too much. How can I word in? I still want to work with them, but I don't want to pay them 50.

[B]

I. I know what goes into teaching class, but I'm visual and I just want to see a cookie class actually being taught. We actually filmed one of our cookie classes so you can actually watch it. Me and Heather, when we first started cook classes years ago, had a class script. We still go by it to this day now. It's memorized though. But we give you the class script so you can either off of it or you can edit it to you, but it's something that's going to help you. So if you are like, I don't know where to start but I want to teach classes, the cookie college is for you. Plus you get all the other courses, the class kits, everything that goes into it. So there's five different memberships you can go to the cookie college dot com. Check those out. The dog one drops February 7th. You're going to love it.

[A]

It's cute. It's cute stuff.

[B]

Positively adorable.

[A]

Fetching something say keep going. You need to write this down. Yeah. I'm gonna call it canine cookies. It's adorable. That took some brain functioning. I was like c spot. Baked C spot, right? I was like C spot was from when we were kids. I think we're gonna lose Gen Z. Yeah. So that is the cookie college. You can check it [e-mail]. sign up for the month and it's $76 unless you do the baker's business space sleight of hand here. If you sign up for the baker's business basics, let's pretend you did and you got that discount code and you happen to know that there's a loophole in the system where you can switch over your plan and pay a prorated amount and not be double billed, you could essentially get the college for $68 right now.

[B]

Don't tell them that you could do that.

[A]

Don't. But I would never tell anyone to do that.

[B]

All right, going on to our sponsors. Without our sponsors, you would have nothing to see or watch.

[A]

Which, according to my husband, would be nice when I was doing the February freebies. Oh, look, he's about to shed. He's yawning. I'm sorry. You guys gonna see that?

[B]

Oh, my goodness.

[A]

Yeah, that's okay. Little, little snake facts here. He's been in blue.

[B]

Was he yawning?

[A]

He's trying to break the skin around his lips. That's how they start shedding. So he'll do it for a couple times and then he'll run his face up against that log he's on. Oh, I'm disturbed. It's like. And this is good for people to learn about reptiles. Imagine that you put on, like a control garment. What do they call those Girdle? Skirtle. It's too tight.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And you're like, wow, What I wouldn't give if this was just one size up. That is exactly what that snake feels right now. So he was like. So you can see he's going to start rubbing his nose and everything. He's trying to essentially take off a pantyhose with no arms.

[B]

Oh, poor.

[A]

So you have to do. So he's going to shed inside out, starting at the mouth and then go all the way down to the tail and it feels less like.

[B]

When you got him, they said, this guy's done shed.

[A]

She's not done shedding. No. Now he sheds one twice a year, which means you're out of your growth cycle. He was shedding every two months.

[B]

Oh, so now he's just a normal.

[A]

Now he's full grown. Oh, he's full. Yeah. So snakes don't have, like, snakes have a growth capacity, but when you feed them when they're younger, they can grow a lot longer. That's actually a girl. And girl snakes are larger than boy snakes because they have to have babies.

[B]

But Heather rescued him, so he had some life lived.

[A]

Yeah, he had a respiratory infection at one time, which is the number one killer of a pet snake. And we rehabilitated, had parasites, had to take a snake to the vet. It was a wild experience. And now we live together for nine years. Many a shed could never be me.

[B]

Could never be me.

[A]

So if you're horrified about snakes, so not watch the YouTube video today. But if you like them, they're pretty interesting pets. You only have to walk it never. And it only papoos every six weeks.

[B]

And you get no love from it. But you do have to clean up its excrement. It's the worst pet on earth.

[A]

I'm not gonna tell you they get one. I'm gonna say, though, if you don't want to, mom. If you don't want to get stuck walking the dog, maybe the snake's your next best pet.

[B]

All right, going on to our sponsors. First is the backersco. I actually did a staging video reel for you guys because we were like, you never tell us how to stage.

[A]

You just need to. I put. I think I put a screenshot in the video last week of you staging it in sourdough.

[B]

Oh, nice. Oh, yeah. So if you wonder what I use to take my photos on, it is the backers co backdrops. The ones that I get are 23 by 23. She actually has larger ones for cake. People that need it a little bit taller because you're doing tears, not layers, tiers, so they're just a little bit higher. But I get the 23 by 231 ones. It comes in a myriad of colors. Wood grains, solids. My go to is white matte finish. If anyone asks me, I always say start there. You can dress it up, you can dress it down, but you can do something like pink. For Valentine's Day, they had red, which would be for Valentine's Day or Christmas.

[A]

Oh, very nice.

[B]

They had a gorgeous, gorgeous evergreen green that was.

[A]

If you did pink, you could do Valentine's Day, Easter.

[B]

Yes. You could do Easter yellow.

[A]

So I'd recommend Corey recommends this. Start with your basics. Start with your white matte finish, and then add maybe your secondary pop.

[B]

A secondary pop or a secondary wood grain. I've, in my sourdough era have realized I really like when there's a wood.

[A]

Grain involved because that feels homey. When you think of homemade, you think of brown, right? You get those tan those browns and it makes you feel fresh and loved.

[B]

Yes. The reason why we originally I scouted them out a few years ago is because they are food safe and that is huge when it comes to using.

[A]

Didn't you cold email her too?

[B]

I did cold email. I cold stocked her and now we've actually bought one before she even knew who we were.

[A]

We've been in a warm relationship for years.

[B]

We have been in a warm relationship. They are great. You can use code sugar cookie singular save 20%. Actually, can you go? She actually sent me an email that I want to read.

[A]

Okay, I got that. Do you want me to talk? You want me to look up the email? Cuz I got copy to win it.

[B]

You got copied. Win it. Who can get that?

[A]

Hello girls and happy new year. Starting 2025 with new enthusiasm and vitality. And like this. Although I have broken my wrist, at least I have my left one. First of all, thanks for the video. Okay, we wanted to let you know that we're preparing to offer Valentine's Day, which is this. This is a promotion. Buy two backdrops and get the brackets for free. It will be valid throughout the week until 12pm on February 14th.

[B]

So what the L brackets are. The backers come flat. But if you want to create a.

[A]

Whole scene, which you do in that sourdough, I do post that L brackets.

[B]

I post it in the source group. So join the sour dosage, create these L brackets and it kind of gives you a whole scene. It gives you a horizontal and a vertical backdrop. It's really, really nice. So if you order two backdrops now.

[A]

But I got, I got to read the rest of the sentence. I just use code sugar cookies get 20 off.

[B]

Nice.

[A]

So this stackable code sugar cookie, buy two backers, get the brackets for you. So you've already saved 20 off free backers. But she says white matte finish is sold out. But you can can or white super matte finishes sold out. But you can pre order and count for these discounts.

[B]

Nice.

[A]

So yes, you can get the one. Corey just said you can get it for 20 off with code sugar cookie. No plural, all caps. Buy two like she recommended and you get the brackets for free. And that will run until 12pm I think she's Eastern Standard Time on February 14, 2025.

[B]

Yeah, I love those L brackets. You can lose them if you don't keep an eye on them. But I've for some reason had my set free.

[A]

You do kind of have to have.

[B]

Them to do that standing.

[A]

You do because you wouldn't want to lean it and that. Listen, nothing's more frustrating than your setup falling on your.

[B]

No, they're gods and they're. They're small, but they're mighty. I really do like those.

[A]

Small but mighty. We have. Okay, that is a E Corp backers rebranded to the backers co. The discount code is sugar cookie. We have stupid car tray as a sponsor. They sponsor the stupid text, but that's code sugar. 15 off, stackable. You can leave a video if you want them to send you some free stuff. Don't know how long that's going, so cash on it now. Then we have Eddie the edible food printer. It's a direct food printer. No discount code there. He ain't cheap, but he is going to pay for himself and then some. They have some payment plan options. There's an interest rate, so consider that. But if you were like 2025 is my corporate girl year. Go check out the Eddie Printer users group on Facebook. Tons of inspo. Tons of updates.

[B]

And he's great for things that aren't corporate. Like I saw a ton of people using them for pyos. Paint your own cookies. Which has been fantastic. And now a lot of Etsy shops are providing the graphics for those.

[A]

Lots of that. So a lot of. In the world of baking technology, that is one of the advancements. Now I've been tracking their Freddy thing. They said that there are some production difficulties. They are looking at the end of Q1, beginning of Q2 for people who've already bought them. There was some pre order.

[B]

Oh, I cannot wait.

[A]

Cannot wait.

[B]

Last but not least is Royal batch. It is a meringue powder. It is actually the one I use. She running a discount too.

[A]

I believe I'm gonna actually pull it up. Yeah, you.

[B]

She's running a discount for a while. I think it's like long in. Long in the. The discount code, it actually comes with three ingredients already in it. Something that you would probably add to it, which is corn syrup for a soft bite, vanilla extract for a delicious bite, and then white food coloring. So it whips up bright white as well. So that is royal batch and it's made by a company called Bakety Bake.

[A]

Can I tell you this because we usually do 10% off. That's what her code for the podcast is. But she is running 20% off until the 8th of February. February 8th.

[B]

So you got four more days.

[A]

Midnight Pacific time, Sunday. The code is L O V E20, love 20, all caps. That's 20% off. If you're listening to this in post, you're not going to hear this. So this is February 8th at midnight Pacific time that expires code LOVE20. 20% off. That's 10% more than us again. Yeah.

[B]

If you buy. She has now little tester packets. If you want to buy those at a discount, resell them in your. In your cookie classes.

[A]

Let's see. You got a five pound. Let me see. Make sure the code works. Oh, yeah, we did. So a five pounder. That thing's $135 with that code love20. You get it for a hundo. And eight.

[B]

Nice.

[A]

I'm bad. If you were thinking of switching, now would be that time that says she never really runs 20% off during the vending blend. She did that 25, which was first and last. So yeah, that is bakey bake.com. the World Royal Icing of Corey's dreams. Dreams. Are you pushing question. Are you pushing this podcast along? Because Nate said we seem discombobulated and disorganized.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

Yeah, but you remember the first ones were very organized. Nobody liked those.

[B]

No, we were reading off of a script we had. I will say the one he tuned into. We didn't have the list. We're good listers.

[A]

Was it last week's I was Dying? Yeah, I was immortally. Yeah.

[B]

So now when he listens to this.

[A]

One, he's going to be. So you think he's going to listen to this? Nate, if you listen to this, text me Grape head. Was it tomato head or grape head? Grape.

[B]

If he's going to listen to this. He did say his head felt very tiny this week.

[A]

You have a very large head. Do you have a twin Rest? My twinterest. I haven't done too much because I was out of Commish all week.

[B]

Week.

[A]

You know what? I'm gonna tell you this. Ashley wanted me to draw her chairs. I've been trying to push myself. That worked great. Corey is making my family encourage me and they have been encouraging to learn Procreate.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And. And I get why some people. And I'm sorry, I'm just a spectator here. Don't be offended. I get why some people say it's cheating because there's so much ability to fix problems. That's.

[B]

Listen, it's called a brush with water on it. That's you people.

[A]

Who are you people who are painting on canvases? I don't know. Good luck. That's insane. But with procreate, there's a lot of ability to fix issues and just Using layers and stuff, which is kind of how I work in Photoshop, is with these layers. So I've been taking classes online. Free YouTube art with Flow. She's got a ton of free courses. And so Ashley was like, hey, I wanted this background for my phone with these cherries on it. But it was such a low pixelated image. She was like, can you recreate, create it? And I'm gonna brag on myself. I would love to credit the original artist. I don't know, not referring to myself as an artist, but if you want to imply that. But here was the original, which was super cute. Adore. And here was the recreation, which is pretty good. But I had a. I had a download brushes.

[B]

Wait, face it to me and go from the first one to the second one.

[A]

One there. I just overlaid the one and made the other. So the original artist.

[B]

Oh, yeah, there.

[A]

But I said, okay, the original artist had this watercolor texture. Yes, she did. Well, in Procreate, you kind of don't have that ability unless you buy these br.

[B]

That. The big thing is buy the brushes.

[A]

Buy the brushes. Which is kind of how you can also buy brushes and stuff. And like Illustrator and stuff a little bit more advanced. But I was like, okay, let me buy a brush on my eye.

[B]

How much is a brush?

[A]

Well, I bought that pack from. I googled watercolor brushes, but Etsy sells them too. I mean, they can range from free to 20. I paid $20 for the brushes for that. And it came with the watercolor texture pack. So to add that, so crazy to.

[B]

Think like something that's electronic.

[A]

It is weird how it works. And when you draw with you're like, this is weird. It kind of works like paint.

[B]

That's hilarious.

[A]

Like watercolor, like where it looks just like a good. Cory makes everybody encourage me. And I like.

[B]

My twist is I went to Sur La Tab in Tyson's Tell people.

[A]

Okay, so Sur la tab is spelled Sur la table. It is. And there's a two. There's two malls here. One for the poorest, me and Gory, and one for the riches. And that's called Tyson's two where the Sur la table is, right? So Corey walks in and malls are kind of like. So she asked this couple like, hey, where's the sur la table? And she was like, sur la table in the back. And then Cory's like. I could hear the husband say, honey, it's Sur la table. So how did you like it?

[B]

It was a three hour long class.

[A]

You said a little too long because there's no chairs.

[B]

It was long because there was non stop something you had to do. I will say it's so good to take a class. After teaching classes towards mine, Corey sat down at lunch.

[A]

She was like here's the things we're doing wrong. Like here's the things that we're doing to these poor people. Come to our class. I know.

[B]

So I thought it was very light and granted we're teaching sugar cookies and this was macaron start to finish like from the beginning to the end. So it's a very different class. But she did a fantastic job to have 13 people and we're all like silently staring at her. She did an amazing job. We made chocolate macarons, ganache, a Swiss buttercream. I thought it was fantastic.

[A]

I ate them, they were great. They were delicious.

[B]

And then I got her her recipes after the end. So I thought it was fantastic.

[A]

If anyone is ever listening, if you've ever taught at cirt, I'd love to know the cash breakdown like because that was a really nice kitchen.

[B]

The kitchen. So they just said remodel. It didn't have a kitchen before six months ago. So they just started offering classes here.

[A]

So the Sterling top. That's the way our local cake supply shop works. You can take a class and then you get the discount.

[B]

You get 10 off to shop. And they had anything for sourdough, for baking cookies, absolutely everything that were there and someone was always there to help you. So I thought it was absolutely great she had assistance which I dream. I could dream.

[A]

Your assistant. You are my assistant.

[B]

So I thought it was great to have mixers. Going to have six different mixers on at one time.

[A]

You see they were old so there's a little bit of clanging so it's hard to hear.

[B]

Yeah. So when she turned on the ac instead of it being a quiet AC.

[A]

Ac it was a trying to trigger.

[B]

And then we had to do the mixers on top of that. So she did have to come around to. Cuz you couldn't just yell the question.

[A]

After Was there a TV? Like could you project? No TVs whatsoever.

[B]

It was definitely just a kitchen feel in there.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

But she did a fantastic job. If you wanted to take class. They have so many classes at Serena, a national chain.

[A]

Oh yeah, yeah. There's so many. They're everywhere.

[B]

They have macaron classes are their biggest one. But they have savory stuff like you could learn how to do knife work with a roast. They have bread classes there.

[A]

Okay. There's a ton Evening in Paris. Yeah. How that thing is going to be sur la taba and be spelled sur la table. Ridiculous Thai flavors. And it's chicken pat. Yes. Savor of Italy. Perfecting French pastries. Mastering Springfield Pasta tour of Spain. Croissant connoisseur. Be mine macarons. She teaches all the macaron classes, so if you go her there, she's the one that looks delectable Italian pasta and deserves of Italy as well. I know.

[B]

I think I would go back to learn how to make a pasta. Would be so much fun.

[A]

That would be. It's. I mean, I love stuff that exists. That exists. Although I didn't go and shop them.

[B]

All, but it was fantastic. I loved what I learned. I took away a lot from it. So I can't wait to try it again when I get home. We did the French.

[A]

One thing you learned the French method was one thing. You're like, oh, I. I wish I knew that my whole life.

[B]

I wish I knew. She let him rest for an ungodly.

[A]

Long time before she put him in the oven. Yeah. Yeah.

[B]

And I'm usually more like, we got.

[A]

Things to do for some reason. And that's why I like the sugar cookie marketing group. Like, there's some, like, such obvious things that you're like, I wouldn't know. It's so obvious until someone says it, but I need someone to say it.

[B]

Yeah. Yeah. If I had to say, like, what we don't do that we need to do is directions for everything. When someone wants. Walks into our cookie classes, we need to say, oh, your name is Cheryl. Cheryl, here's your seat right here.

[A]

You always pick up Cheryl, Cheryl, send me my cookies.

[B]

Direction is everything. Because we're just blobs of the wind if no one's telling us what to do. Because it was such a foreign space.

[A]

True.

[B]

So I was like, oh, where do I go next?

[A]

But it.

[B]

When she told you here, be right here.

[A]

Then it.

[B]

It.

[A]

The confusion was. Got to take it back. Pen and paper. Yes.

[B]

Thought it was fantastic.

[A]

That takes us through this week's podcast. Thanks for listening and watching.

[B]

Thank you, Nathan.

[A]

We will see you again here next week. Bye.