I have the same pricing for all cakes (wedding, birthday, anniversary...). I don't care what the occasion is, the same amount of time goes into the cakes. Because of this, I don't get a lot of orders except weddings. To be honest, I am okay with that. Weddings are where the bigger $$ is most of the time and here in NE Ohio I get most of the winter off because so few people will plan their wedding during that time (I live in the snow belt and winter can be really tough).

I do get people that call to order a cake and don't call me back when I give them a quote, but it is really few and far between. Do you have a website of some kind that states your starting prices? If not, you may want to think about putting your pricing there; it will help weed those that have a lower budget.

As a customer I hate when people do not have pricing on their website. I know that exact pricing can't be given for some items - like custom cakes - but a starting price could be given. When I was planning my wedding I would not consider anyone that didn't have starting prices listed. The last thing I wanted to do was waste my time and theirs if they were not in my budget.

Make sure you are targeting the right customers. If you give samples to low budget business/people, that is what will be calling you. I always give my accountant cupcakes during tax season for 3 reasons:
1. I like my accountant.
2. That is the busy time of year for him and he has a lot of foot traffic in the office that see/taste the cupcakes he has put out with my business cards.
3. Like any professional he has some high end clients that come my way because of the sample they tried.
If I am going to spend my time making something, I want it to be for someone that is going to pay me what I need to charge.

I have the same pricing for all cakes (wedding, birthday, anniversary...). I don't care what the occasion is, the same amount of time goes into the cakes. Because of this, I don't get a lot of orders except weddings. To be honest, I am okay with that. Weddings are where the bigger $$ is most of the time and here in NE Ohio I get most of the winter off because so few people will plan their wedding during that time (I live in the snow belt and winter can be really tough).

I do get people that call to order a cake and don't call me back when I give them a quote, but it is really few and far between. Do you have a website of some kind that states your starting prices? If not, you may want to think about putting your pricing there; it will help weed those that have a lower budget.

As a customer I hate when people do not have pricing on their website. I know that exact pricing can't be given for some items - like custom cakes - but a starting price could be given. When I was planning my wedding I would not consider anyone that didn't have starting prices listed. The last thing I wanted to do was waste my time and theirs if they were not in my budget.

Make sure you are targeting the right customers. If you give samples to low budget business/people, that is what will be calling you. I always give my accountant cupcakes during tax season for 3 reasons:
1. I like my accountant.
2. That is the busy time of year for him and he has a lot of foot traffic in the office that see/taste the cupcakes he has put out with my business cards.
3. Like any professional he has some high end clients that come my way because of the sample they tried.
If I am going to spend my time making something, I want it to be for someone that is going to pay me what I need to charge.

I have the same pricing for all cakes (wedding, birthday, anniversary...). I don't care what the occasion is, the same amount of time goes into the cakes. Because of this, I don't get a lot of orders except weddings. To be honest, I am okay with that. Weddings are where the bigger $$ is most of the time and here in NE Ohio I get most of the winter off because so few people will plan their wedding during that time (I live in the snow belt and winter can be really tough).

I do get people that call to order a cake and don't call me back when I give them a quote, but it is really few and far between. Do you have a website of some kind that states your starting prices? If not, you may want to think about putting your pricing there; it will help weed those that have a lower budget.

As a customer I hate when people do not have pricing on their website. I know that exact pricing can't be given for some items - like custom cakes - but a starting price could be given. When I was planning my wedding I would not consider anyone that didn't have starting prices listed. The last thing I wanted to do was waste my time and theirs if they were not in my budget.

Make sure you are targeting the right customers. If you give samples to low budget business/people, that is what will be calling you. I always give my accountant cupcakes during tax season for 3 reasons:
1. I like my accountant.
2. That is the busy time of year for him and he has a lot of foot traffic in the office that see/taste the cupcakes he has put out with my business cards.
3. Like any professional he has some high end clients that come my way because of the sample they tried.
If I am going to spend my time making something, I want it to be for someone that is going to pay me what I need to charge.

I have the same pricing for all cakes (wedding, birthday, anniversary...). I don't care what the occasion is, the same amount of time goes into the cakes. Because of this, I don't get a lot of orders except weddings. To be honest, I am okay with that. Weddings are where the bigger $$ is most of the time and here in NE Ohio I get most of the winter off because so few people will plan their wedding during that time (I live in the snow belt and winter can be really tough).

I do get people that call to order a cake and don't call me back when I give them a quote, but it is really few and far between. Do you have a website of some kind that states your starting prices? If not, you may want to think about putting your pricing there; it will help weed those that have a lower budget.

As a customer I hate when people do not have pricing on their website. I know that exact pricing can't be given for some items - like custom cakes - but a starting price could be given. When I was planning my wedding I would not consider anyone that didn't have starting prices listed. The last thing I wanted to do was waste my time and theirs if they were not in my budget.

Make sure you are targeting the right customers. If you give samples to low budget business/people, that is what will be calling you. I always give my accountant cupcakes during tax season for 3 reasons:
1. I like my accountant.
2. That is the busy time of year for him and he has a lot of foot traffic in the office that see/taste the cupcakes he has put out with my business cards.
3. Like any professional he has some high end clients that come my way because of the sample they tried.
If I am going to spend my time making something, I want it to be for someone that is going to pay me what I need to charge.