just had to share....

I had a customer who said that she liked the way our cakes looked in our photo gallery AND on Facebook!!

sorry, but it makes me happy when people notice efforts we make. I am on a kick this month to offer a piece of wedding day advice each day.

I posted two cakes on Facebook last week (all of mine are on there), and the response was wonderful. I even got one order from someone I would otherwise not have any contact with.

I have to say it too. I started a Facebook page, and my business has DOUBLED in the last month! People that I see everyday on the street who didn't even know that I run a legitimate liscensed bakery only realized it when I started putting my cake pics on my Facebook page. lol Isn't that wierd? lol

That's pretty cool. I haven't had much luck with facebook.

I am really surprised you don't have any luck from facebook. I don't sell any cakes, only make them and give them away to friends, but I post them on facebook, (b/c my friends are on facebook) and I have had people contact me and ask me to make cakes for them. (I politely said no - I am not legal)

I have to ask, do you guys have you page set up so that it can be publicly viewed by anyone? Or is it set up so that only "friends" can view it? I think that can be a major difference, because I get people that are friends of friends from other towns that contact me because they saw pic of one of my cakes on someone else's page or they went to my main page by a suggestion of a mutual friend or whatever and that's how it just kind of gets snowballed from there. I don't have my page set up so that people who are not "friends" can't see my album. Or if I end up doing a cake for someone who has a face book page, I'll actually post the cake pic on their wall, after I get it done, and then all of their friends that they have get to see it as well. It opens up so many doors for me with so little effort. Just trying to help.

For FB to really work, you have to get on and post. Everyday at the minimum. I like Jill's page. It is fun and informative and let's BTBs be the center of attention (potentially) worldwide. The average age of the FBers just happen to match up with the average age of today's BTBs. I wish I was still doing lots of baking for profit, just so I could take advantage of all that free advertisement!

you are right minicuppie. i do have where everyone can see my pics but i do not post everyday. i try but cannot think of things to say, lol. honestly tho i do not want to get so busy that i have 5 cake orders a week but i know i should put more effort into my FB page.

Do you have enough cakes in your album where you could do a cake pic of the day? If you have 100's of pics and you can start back from the oldest pics and just post one a day and then go from there......Sometimes I even do that. I'll post just a cake pic of the day, even if it's one I have already done months ago, just to post a cake picture that day. Heck those people don't care. It's still advertising and getting my name out there.

How about some pix of cake table set ups, favor ideas, hold little drawings for wedding planning journals. Maybe give away a free tasting or a custom design (a pic ,not the cake, LOL).... it all depends on what more business would mean to your bottom line. I have seen some web sites on CC that show so much talent they would have BTBs in hair pulling, eye gouging girl fights for a custom design. Yes, you would lose the cake but the exposure would more than make up for it.

@Cas17 I think your facebook page is amazing!

thank you $realLaLa, but i think it could use some work i like the ideas that mindy and mini gave--thanks!

What's a BTB?

Bride To Be

Facebook has worked wonders for me. I have a seperate page set up for just my cakes. Omce a quarter I run a cake contest for a free cake. It generates a buzz and I usually get a few orders in the process.

i have quite a few- alot in fact - cake friends on facebook that run businesses using facebook for their businesses etc some just post "baking 10 cakes today and lots of flavors!" and toss in a pic or two.. some post a few "step by steps" pics of the current projects their doing.. just some help for those who have facebook for their business and lack ideas what to post. hth

Facebook is the reason I own a bakery today! Last August my friend and I decided to try to make my daughters bday cake (zebra print) and when I got done (first cake I ever made) I posted it on my personal facebook page. We had so much fun making it that we made a few more for friends and such and I also posted them on my personal page just to show my friends. Before we knew it, we had people on facebook that we didnt even know sending us messages asking for cakes. We thought, why not sell them, it's fun and we love making them. Within a few months we were SO busy it was unreal, so in January we started looking for a place to lease to become legal and we opened on March 1st. Right now we are booking at least 2 months in advance. We have not paid one penny in advertising, all of our business comes from facebook. We created a fanpage for our business (The Cake Barn) and we have close to 3000 fans. If someone would've told us a year ago that I would own a cake business one day, I would've thought they were insane. All of this is because of Facebook! It's crazy but I love it!!!!

Forgot to add my facebook page. It is:
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/pages/Pineville-LA/The-Cake-Barn/152325623859

wow that's awesome! congratulations

Thanks Cindy! I just "liked" your fanpage! I think your cakes are fabulous! We still have so much to learn!

yep, i agree...i love facebook! it has brought me a ton of business! my personal page is very privatized, so putting cakes on there would be pointless, so i started a fan page. i actually started a fan page before the personal page. i figure it was a free way to advertise and it has WORKED! i post almost every cake on do on there, unless it's a fairly simple one and i love reading the comments. every 250 fans, i give away a gift certificate for a lucky winner. all they have to do is leave a comment and i usually mix it up. last giveaway, they had to leave a comment with their favorite cake and filling flavor. this was for my benefit as well b/c someone may want to order a cake for them and now we'll know what their flavors of choice are! have fun with facebook and it will work!
http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Got-What-It-Cakes/172263406592?ref=ts

Here is a great facebook tip to get more people to view your page. Post a comment that says something like this:

Let your friends know about us. Click on Suggest to Friends under our profile picture and tell your friends about us!

Each person that does this can suggest your page to 100's of their friends, and say if you already have 200 fans and just half of them suggest your page to all of their friends, that's ALOT of people viewing your page and clicking "like". These people will then see every new cake picture you post and keep you in mind the next time they need a cake. If they comment on your cakes, it lets all of their friends know they commented or liked your picture and that many more people see it.... I could go on and on!

i don't have a business but i do have a Few of my cakes on FB if anyone wants to add. please put Cake or Cakecentral in the msg TY!

http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/GailFetchHengen

Upat2am, I love the name of your cake business! Very Catchy!

OK, let me get this straight.....you don't have to create an ad. You just have to create a Fanpage?

thanks jaime! i "liked" your page as well and also Upat2am's. thanks for the tips!!!

I just love "Liking" all these FB pages!

FB is actually why I "opened for business" a little earlier than I'd planned. I put all my cakes & stuff on my personal page and the next thing I knew friends were starting to ask if I took orders.
Sooo, I got the legal ducks in order, slapped up a website, and started taking orders 6 months earlier than I'd planned.

Here's my page if anyone would like to click like.
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Piccolo-Treats/116239901748542?ref=ts