Do any of you out there with home bakeries advertise on the radio or newspaper?
I had thought about it but was just wanting a little feedback from others thanks for your reply maybe someone out there has tried it.
Thanks Leah I was just wondering I guess the best way to advertise is always word of mouth and it's free!!!!!!!!
I live in Gretna, Virginia I am about 3 1/2 hours away from you
I've done radio. It's not cheap but not crazy expensive either. My rep always told me "own what you can afford to own" regarding how much to advertise. I think it worked well to get my name out and expose my biz. I should add, this is the most popular radio group in the area so they have a really large audience.
Some radio stations offer ads for donating a product to a contest or something like that. No harm in gathering information you may be pleasantly surprised. HTH! 
Very cool. I know exactly where you are... I grew up around Danville
Maybe I will start sending my friends from back home to you. They keep asking me about cakes for this event and that, but I'm not delivering 3 hours away!
Wow are you soooo sweet that would be awesome, I have been in this area all my life I lived in Chatham where I grew up, moved to Danville, back to Chatham and last year we built our home in Gretna. But thank you so much for the referrals, I too have friends in Chesapeake I have co-workers and I would be glad to send them to you it's a matter of fact my full time job is with the military and there are a lot of people that I come in contact with in that area I would be glad to recomend you to them.
The problem with word of mouth is that it can work against you as well as for you. One unhappy client and...well...you know. Not that it's bad...just not always reliable. As far as advertising a home bakery you need to ask yourself what kind of demand can you handle if it proves successful? Not that you shouldn't promote yourself and perhaps build to something bigger. But there are ways to do it without breaking your bank or getting overwhelmed. First is having a business card and placing that everywhere and on every cake delivery you do. You could join your local chamber of commerce and get involved with their business networking events. Business people and companies need cakes for events...not to mention they are run by people who will need personal cakes for birthdays, anniversaries, weddings and such! Bring samples of your work wherever possible--local morning radio shows are good for that. Become a vendor at wedding shows...you'd be surprised how many tastings and appointments you can set up there. Piggyback with someone who spends a lot of money advertising...an example would be to offer to provide cupcakes for say a car dealership who is having a radio remote in return for mentioning your name in their advertising. They love to give stuff away to bring people in...especially food--and you're there to pass out your cake and business cards! Just contact the marketing directors and discuss the possibilities. A very small print ad in a city magazine or newspaper keeps your name out there and when people need your services, they will call. If it's not there, they may not always remember so consistency is the key. There's endless possibilities to be creative in marketing yourself. Then, when your business grows and you want to expand, look at the more traditional stuff. I would recommend cable TV advertising because it's cheaper than network AND you can target specific programs like Ace of Cakes, or Amazing Wedding Cakes or just be on a channel like the Food Network--or Lifetime or a kid's network to target moms. Anyway, these are just a few ideas. HTH. 
The problem with word of mouth is that it can work against you as well as for you. One unhappy client and...well...you know. Not that it's bad...just not always reliable. As far as advertising a home bakery you need to ask yourself what kind of demand can you handle if it proves successful? Not that you shouldn't promote yourself and perhaps build to something bigger. But there are ways to do it without breaking your bank or getting overwhelmed. First is having a business card and placing that everywhere and on every cake delivery you do. You could join your local chamber of commerce and get involved with their business networking events. Business people and companies need cakes for events...not to mention they are run by people who will need personal cakes for birthdays, anniversaries, weddings and such! Bring samples of your work wherever possible--local morning radio shows are good for that. Become a vendor at wedding shows...you'd be surprised how many tastings and appointments you can set up there. Piggyback with someone who spends a lot of money advertising...an example would be to offer to provide cupcakes for say a car dealership who is having a radio remote in return for mentioning your name in their advertising. They love to give stuff away to bring people in...especially food--and you're there to pass out your cake and business cards! Just contact the marketing directors and discuss the possibilities. A very small print ad in a city magazine or newspaper keeps your name out there and when people need your services, they will call. If it's not there, they may not always remember so consistency is the key. There's endless possibilities to be creative in marketing yourself. Then, when your business grows and you want to expand, look at the more traditional stuff. I would recommend cable TV advertising because it's cheaper than network AND you can target specific programs like Ace of Cakes, or Amazing Wedding Cakes or just be on a channel like the Food Network--or Lifetime or a kid's network to target moms. Anyway, these are just a few ideas. HTH.
Thank you so much for all the wonderful ideas and you are right that can work both ways but I love the chamber of commerce idea never thought of that one, but thanks so much you have helped tremendously!!!!!!
Schools and realtors!!! Offer to sponsor a schools activities and provide them with cake for events they may have. I know if you donate to our school, we are a private school, we offer thanks in our weekly school news and whatever event it is, we make sure it is announced at the event as to who provided the donation. We also will allow people to put their cards out. Another great place is business groups. We have one at our school, but there are business groups that work by word of mouth. BNI is one that is very active, but the chamber of commerce is another way. Bakers are very well accepted for obvious reasons. Realtors, offer them a discount to provide cookies at every open house they do. Put the realtors business card on the front of the cookie and put their real business card underneath the cookie. No one will forget that realtor, and realtors have big mouths! (ment in a good way)
Schools and realtors!!! Offer to sponsor a schools activities and provide them with cake for events they may have. I know if you donate to our school, we are a private school, we offer thanks in our weekly school news and whatever event it is, we make sure it is announced at the event as to who provided the donation. We also will allow people to put their cards out. Another great place is business groups. We have one at our school, but there are business groups that work by word of mouth. BNI is one that is very active, but the chamber of commerce is another way. Bakers are very well accepted for obvious reasons. Realtors, offer them a discount to provide cookies at every open house they do. Put the realtors business card on the front of the cookie and put their real business card underneath the cookie. No one will forget that realtor, and realtors have big mouths! (ment in a good way)
Not sure how true it is, I had heard that if you advertise, you open yourself up to be checked out by the health inspector, so be careful!!!
In my many conversations with wedding vendors across the country (not just cakers, but DJ's, event planners, etc), ALL of the list newspaper advertising as a total waste of money.
If you're targeting brides, that is a very selective and narrow audience you're trying to hit. Newspapers go to all (for example) 30,000 people in the area. Brides make up, let's say, 3,000 of that number. But you're going to PAY to advertise to the 30K. *AND* ...... that's assuming that all 3,000 of those brides are looking for a wedding cake THAT DAY .... the ONE day your ad is in the newspaper.
When my husband ran for city council, the local paper was trying to impress him with their circulation into "ALL of these surrounding areas!" (the sales guy forgot who his target audience was at that moment, which was a guy running for city council.) Hubby said, "But none of those people will be voting in the city election. Why would I want to pay money to advertise to THEM?"
That's pretty much what you're doing with newspaper advertising.
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