All ya gotta do is stay organized. It's sooo much fun.

Well, the wind is out of my sails right now. I went out to the HL (which is like 1/2 hour away) and there's not one single person signed up for my class. I've gotten emails and phone calls, and one of the employees asked me about it when I stopped in, but I don't have any paid students right now.

I don't know what to do. I don't want to have to cancel my first class (but I guess I'm the only one who will be disappointed because of it)

I've only lived here for 3 months and the one friend I made lives 40 minutes away from me in the other direction, so that's asking quite a bit from her.

UUGGGGHHHH

Are you permitted to do demo's at HL? If they have not had classes for a little while- you may need to drum up interest in person. When I do demo's at Joann's I just take a table and work on something. I try to vary the demo each time so I can show both beginning and more advanced techniques. You can either decorate a dummy cake or make a real one for the HL staff-- the promise of cake tends to help fuel excitement in the staff.

Good luck!

I don't know about doing demos or not. I'll call the manager in the morning. This weekend is a holiday weekend, though, so I don't know how much traffic they'll have.

Well I know that Joann's has a big sale this weekend-- so they are going to be slammed-- perfect time to offer a demo. But if you don't think it will be buy--ask the store manager what time they get the most traffic. I think demo's are a lot of fun because I am doing two things I love most-- decorating and chatting.

If I do a demo, should I offer a prize to whoever can get the most friends to sign up with them? Would I even be allowed to do that?

Did not know about the exclusive WMI forum? How does one get on board?

Don't be discouraged!! Do a demo in the store, chat up the customers and give the employees cake.

It isn't about getting people to sign up right then (although that would be nice) it is about exposure-- letting people know that you are teaching at the store now.

I want to say Hobby Lobby doesn't pay for demo, but do check with your Supervisor and yoru Manager, because they may be able to work something out.

As was said above if there has been some time since classes it may take a little time to get the word out. Just make sure you keep up with flyers and signs and such. And definetly find out about doing a demo. It could be worth it even if you don't get paid.

One thing I have learned is that even though my store is good about helping me, it is really up to me to sell the classes. I'll get alot of calls that never pan out or people that stop when I am doing a demo that seem all intrested and never show up.

Don't let it get you discouraged, just do what you can this month to build up interest for next.

Also I think this time of year is a little slower. I went from having 18 students in July, to 10 signed up in August, to currently 3 signed up for September. I'm chalking it up to school starting and people having those expenses to deal with, plus new schedules to work around. Oct, in the past has been one of my biggest months, so we shall see.

TexasSugar - That's how I'm trying to look at it, that nobody knows I'm there yet and it'll all be okay. My husband and I just happened to be fighting about money over the last couple days. He pretty much thinks that because nobody is signed up right now, nobody will *ever* sign up. He's normally over the moon with support, but we're both just stressed out lately. (Not that I'm counting on this to ooze money, but it's enough to pay my student loan)

I don't even care about getting paid for a demo. I think that a few hours of my time would be worth it to get things up and running.

I'll call the manager after lunch and see what he thinks about me doing a demo this weekend. He's very excited for all of this to get up and running, so hopefully he'll be willing to help.

Good luck getting people going.

Tell Hubby to relax a little. I have big months with alot of students and I have slow months. Like Dec and Jan tend to be slow. Feb tends to be bigger. After you do it a while you can see trends.

Like anything else you just have to get word out there and see what happens.

I have 12 signed up for my first class which starts on Sunday (its the basic class) Im nervous but way more excited than nervous. I also offered the Flower and Fondant class but didn't have anyone sign up at least yet for either of those. I think its just because Ive never offered a basic class and people don't want to switch instructors.

For those of you who have done demos, how long do they last?

I've had calls/emails from people who said they would like to take the Sept classes, but it's too soon to arrange to take off of work and would like to do October. I'd still like to get at least 4 people interested in September classes, but I guess it's good people are already looking for future classes.

Alrighty, I just got off the phone with the manager, and he said that they get the most traffic tomorrow between 10-12 and another rush later from 4-6 and I can set up shop right in front by the registers. Now to bake a cake (and some cupcakes maybe?) and decide what the heck I'm going to do!

Roses! Do the ribbon roses. From the first course. You want to get the beginners in there, and this will show them what they are doing in that first course. You could also do some of the other flowers from the Decorating Basics course.

When I make flowers for the other courses in class I save them and display them on a Fondant covered cake board. That way those that have already taken the basics and can see what else we offer, but I usually gear the demo towards getting people into the first set of courses.

Have fun with what you are doing. And remember, don't explain how you are doing it. Just show them, not teach them how to do it.

Thank you so much for all of your help, I really do appreciate it. I talked to my husband a bit more about it and I think he's feeling better about it. As long as I can have a class at all, even if it's only 4 people, that'll be enough to get the ball rolling and my confidence up.

I'm hoping for the best with the demo, and I'm also going to design a posterboard for the front part of the store. All of the other classes have one, so I get one too

Demo went okay. My cake was iced before I went, and [sarcastic font] luckily [/sarcastic font] it melted and then crusted in the blobby melty position. I fixed it the best I could, quickly put cornelli lace on the sides, and it looked better. I stayed for about 2 hours and did quite a bit of chit chatting, and all the parents sent their kids to watch me while they checked out I love being useful!

Apparently someone *did* sign up for the class, but was told that it started on the 1st. They drove 45 miles for the class, only to sit alone in the classroom for 30 minutes before realizing they were told the wrong date. So, she got her money refunded and will be taking the class courtesy of Hobby Lobby. I also got one person to sign up, and there were probably 8-10 other people who sounded very interested, asked how to sign up, but I left before they checked out... Hopefully at least 2 of them actually went through with it so I can have the darn class.

All in all, the demo was a lot of fun. Even though I didn't get paid, I had a good time and I'm glad I went.

I used to be a VMI but i was overwhelmed with the amount of paperwork I was receiving by mail. I hate paperwork. I don't know if Wilton has changed their ways. Maybe now is different. I still teach but not wilton. I'm sure you will get students, don't get discouraged, keep that enthusiasm going. Good luck! I wish you the best.

You did great-- my demos at Joann's are unpaid- but let me tell you they are worth their weight in gold. If nothing else, it puts that little "hmmm, I've always wanted to do that, and I love The Cake Boss; maybe I will take a class" bug in their ear. They may not sign up this month, but now that they know you are there- they will be back!
Good luck to you!

I am glad your Demo went well.

Usually when I do one I get asked where the bathroom is and where the scrapbooking mounting tabs are. LOL.

Last time, a new manager was in and placed me right at the front of the store closest to the Wilton aisle. It was the best Demo I ever did. LOL.

Don't be discouraged - my first month had zero sign ups and the next had 13 so it can be unpredictable. I have also had months where there were zero people 3 days before class and then when I go in the day before to make the reminder calls I have 10. There are some people that wait until the last possible moment top sign up. One time a lady signed up when we were 10 minutes into the first class.

I agree registration numbers vary and TexasSugar is right - there are definate registration trends at certain times of the year.

Don't lose your excitement - even if you don't get enough students to run a course in September - keep the buzz going with advertising in the store and outside of it and you will definately have a good number in October.

A few ways I advertise the courses for my store are:
Sometimes I "shop" in the Wilton aisle to make contact with people who would be interested in a course. Usually they are the ones who look a bit confused and overwhelmed with all of the products. I just help them find what they need for their project, give a few helpful hints and mention that I teach the cake decorating classes in the store. LOL. I have had most of those people become students later on because they remember how I helped them and they also bring their friends.

I make bag stuffers (take one) flyers for the staff to hand out and I leave some in the Wilton aisle.

I put posters up in the store each month in various locations (12) stating the date and times of each course and who the instructor will be.

I make sure the store events calendar is marked correctly for customers to see what is coming up

I post an add on Kijiji (free online classifieds) about the classes. I have had good results with this.

Oh - I have done it again -rambled on and on. Sorry about that.
Congrats again Defygravity.

cake-angel you can ramble anytime you want Thanks so much for the insight and help!

About your demo, I just did 1 demo ever and took a dummy cake and cover with royal icing, let it dry and then I decorated it over and over with buttercream. It worked out great, hope it helps.

Patty*

One of my pet peeves about demo's is the people that leave their kids with me while they go shop. Especially if the kid is a talker and keeps asking me all these question that don't really pertain to what I am trying to do. And then when people are standing there that would be interested in taking the class you can't get the kid to be quiet long enough to answer their questions. And of course you will always get the "where is the bathroom?" "do ya'll carry?" and so ons. I've learned over the years to just let it all go.

As far as people signing up right away. Don't worry about it. I often have alot of people that are interested but then life gets in the way, and you don't see them for a while. Also there are people that need to go home and check with their husbands or figure out childcare and such.

Also when I do demo's I try to have my dates for the next three months, that way if a certain night of the week doesn't work for them, I can point out that maybe next month will.

You've started to get the word out and it sounds like the store is supportive. You can always talk to the manager about doing another demo towards the end of the month before Oct classes start. That may get another few interested. And don't forget when people call and ask you questions about the class, you can always suggest they get a friend or family member to take the class with them.

Well, last night I had to pull the plug on my September class. I only had 2 people signed up. The manager didn't seem overly worried and thinks October will be much better. I'm going to decorate some dummy cakes and bring those when I go to do my demos from now on. I did get my stuff kind of late in August, so I'm going to chalk it up to a lack of exposure.

I'll get em next month

I found a great toolis the website that has all the information that most students will want to know. The address is www.baker-chick.com. Feel free to check it out.

The best way to start teaching and to continue with it is to have fun and be relaxed. Don't worry about mistakes, they happen, just acknowledge to your students that you made a mistake and show them the correct way of doing things.

I have been a WMI for a year now and I have the occasional goof-ups too. It can actually give you a good link to your students. I have always found that if someone is 'too perfect" it kind of ruins the experience. After all, you are human just the same as they are. Just have fun and good luck.

Glad I found this thread. I just got an e-mail yesterday asking me to send in my pix and telling me there was an opening in my area. I'm excited--I think I'll have a blast! I signed up to be an instructor after a friend asked me to take one of the classes with her and there was NO INSTRUCTOR. I took all of the classes years ago, have been decorating for years, but I thought it would be fun to go through the classes again and see what has changed. Also, I know I can always learn something new. Well, now it looks like *I* might be the one teaching the class lol . Thanks for the great insight, ladies! Now I gotta go dig out my cake pix...

Well, I already have 7 students signed up for next month, and I'm planning another demo for this Saturday. I've also been emailing a few prospective students who sound very interested, but I guess just haven't made it down to sign up yet. My husband thinks I should do a fondant cake since not as many people will be familiar with it, and it might have more of a novelty effect and have people wanting to sign up. Plus, I know what to expect a little more, and I love fondant more than buttercream, so I know I'll be having more fun with it.

I'm excited. I still have 2 weeks until the first class, and it's exciting to know it will finally happen after the disappointment last month!