The Knot Is At It Again !!!

Business By BlakesCakes Updated 18 Jun 2012 , 9:23pm by debidehm

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costumeczar Posted 10 Jun 2012 , 5:45pm
post #61 of 73
Quote:
Originally Posted by jason_kraft


Being skilled at the mechanics of cake decorating has very little to do with skill in other aspects of this business, as has been demonstrated repeatedly in this very forum.





Bwahahahaha hahahahaha! Regardless of whether we disagree on anything else, this is too true and gave me a good laugh right now!

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ladyren Posted 10 Jun 2012 , 8:12pm
post #62 of 73

"Being skilled at the mechanics of cake decorating has very little to do with skill in other aspects of this business, as has been demonstrated repeatedly in this very forum."

Isn't this kind of the point? That this editor/past wedding consultant at The Knot may not have the same knowledge as bakers about wedding cakes and costs and such?

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jason_kraft Posted 10 Jun 2012 , 8:24pm
post #63 of 73
Quote:
Originally Posted by ladyren

"Being skilled at the mechanics of cake decorating has very little to do with skill in other aspects of this business, as has been demonstrated repeatedly in this very forum."

Isn't this kind of the point? That this editor/past wedding consultant at The Knot may not have the same knowledge as bakers about wedding cakes and costs and such?



My point was that you do not need actual cake decorating skills to be knowledgeable about the cake decorating business. By the same token, you do not need to be an expert on how to run a baking business (marketing, pricing, accounting, etc.) to be a skilled cake decorator.

The Knot focuses more on the business side of cake decorating as it relates to brides (plus a lot of other non-cake topics) than on, say, techniques for draping fondant, since brides will usually be paying someone else to worry about that. So if the editor is not an expert at cake decorating, that's not really a big issue. We don't even know what her experience level is in that respect so it may be a moot point anyway.

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LoveMeSomeCake615 Posted 10 Jun 2012 , 9:54pm
post #64 of 73

I love how people are trying to argue for The Knot as if they have some vested interest in it. All I have seen from The Knot (Except for that spectacular piece of backpedaling they did with the last article that caused an uproar) is anti-cake vendor. As a cake vendor, The Knot is NOT (no pun intended) my friend.

Most of this video is innocuous enough, except for the bit about the dummy tiers. If I hear that advice ONE more time from supposed "wedding experts", I'm going to toss my cookies. (Er, cake) If they are such experts, they should KNOW by now what a ridiculous lie it is that dummy tiers are SO much cheaper. All it takes is a quick internet search to find out how expensive those dummies are, and it doesn't take a genius to figure out that decorating a dummy takes the same amount of work and time as decorating a real cake.

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Bluehue Posted 11 Jun 2012 , 1:27am
post #65 of 73

Here we go - again - this thread is turning into ...

Where do you get your assumptions from Blue?
What are you basing your assumptions on Blue?

One doesn't have to be a rocket sciencentist Jason to know that the mouth piece from The Knot is only saying what others have instructed her to say - and thus after watching the actuall video twice - i still believe she has no clue whats she is talking about.

I pride myself on knowing my own mind and not having to be one of the sheep that follows behind saying ...yes sir - yes sir - three bags full sir.

And i sure as hell don't have to explain why i believe what i believe - everytime i post a post.

Its too draining to stroke your ego Jason.

Bluehue

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jason_kraft Posted 11 Jun 2012 , 2:14am
post #66 of 73

All I'm saying is that it's a pretty strong statement to say that someone is a "mouthpiece", "only saying what others have instructed her to say", and "has no clue what she is talking about" based on watching one minute of video, the content of which more or less makes sense.

If you disagree with what she says, that's fine, but these personal attacks are a little over the line in my opinion.

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jason_kraft Posted 11 Jun 2012 , 2:17am
post #67 of 73
Quote:
Originally Posted by LoveMeSomeCake615

All it takes is a quick internet search to find out how expensive those dummies are, and it doesn't take a genius to figure out that decorating a dummy takes the same amount of work and time as decorating a real cake.



Yet some cake decorators still discount dummy tiers, and if a bride is working with one of those decorators then the advice is valid.

I remember posting a long time ago about how my bakery charges the same for dummy tiers and cake tiers, and several people thought I was crazy. Maybe it's just because it was me posting. icon_wink.gif

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vtcake Posted 18 Jun 2012 , 7:35pm
post #68 of 73
Quote:
Originally Posted by FromScratchSF

Thank You Jason for proving my point - your former bakery used to specialize in sheet cakes.

My current cake studio does not.

Brides coming to you wanted discount sheet cakes for their weddings, a service and product you specialized and provided. Good. That's where they needed to go.

But it's ridiculous to keep encouraging brides to come to ME, who doesn't have a single picture of a sheet cake on my website - in fact I have a paragraph in my FAQs about how I don't make them, and expect me to make them for weddings (at a discount!) because the Knot told them I should and the Knot told them I should be cheaper.

I'm pretty sick of it, and will never advertise with The Knot because of it.





I think it's sad that there's such sneering amongst many of the bakers on here, in particular your slam, referring to the phrase 'your former bakery' compared to 'my current cake studio'. Rather than be passive aggressive...and you're not really that passive...why don't you just come out and say 'I can do anything you can do...better' and be done?

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vpJane Posted 18 Jun 2012 , 7:59pm
post #69 of 73
Quote:
Originally Posted by vtcake

Quote:
Originally Posted by FromScratchSF

Thank You Jason for proving my point - your former bakery used to specialize in sheet cakes.

My current cake studio does not.

Brides coming to you wanted discount sheet cakes for their weddings, a service and product you specialized and provided. Good. That's where they needed to go.

But it's ridiculous to keep encouraging brides to come to ME, who doesn't have a single picture of a sheet cake on my website - in fact I have a paragraph in my FAQs about how I don't make them, and expect me to make them for weddings (at a discount!) because the Knot told them I should and the Knot told them I should be cheaper.

I'm pretty sick of it, and will never advertise with The Knot because of it.




I think it's sad that there's such sneering amongst many of the bakers on here, in particular your slam, referring to the phrase 'your former bakery' compared to 'my current cake studio'. Rather than be passive aggressive...and you're not really that passive...why don't you just come out and say 'I can do anything you can do...better' and be done?




She's only stating the truth.

Examples of bakeries:
http://www.magnoliabakery.com/home.php
http://www.allergyfriendlypastries.com/products.html
http://www.flickr.com/photos/fromscratchcakery/
http://www.billysbakerynyc.com/
http://www.sprinkles.com/about-sprinkles-cupcakes/candace-nelson-food-philosophy/

Examples of cake studios/boutiques:
http://www.lvcc.co.uk/
http://www.peggyporschen.com/
http://beyondbuttercream.com/gallery1.html
http://www.asimplecake.com/index.php?module=about
http://www.weddingcakes.com/#/collections/for-her/

There is a difference.

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jason_kraft Posted 18 Jun 2012 , 8:10pm
post #70 of 73

You can call your business whatever you want: a bakery, a cake studio, "couture", a patisserie, etc., there really is no difference in terms of what you call yourself. The main difference here is who you are targeting: my bakery targets the middle of the market, while FromScratch's bakery targets more high-end consumers. Some businesses (like Carlo's Bakery) do both.

There is plenty of room in the market for different businesses to target both customer segments. Midmarket does not mean "discount sheet cakes", and bakeries that target upscale customers do not necessarily have more skill (although many do), they just spend more time on each product.

In the context of this thread, the main point here is that bakeries that don't usually make sheet cakes probably won't be able to give as much of a price break if a bride opts for a smaller tiered cake with sheet cakes.

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FromScratchSF Posted 18 Jun 2012 , 8:36pm
post #71 of 73

The very idea that someone posted the link to may gallery in the same company as RBI, Peggy, and the likes is very flattering. I'm nowhere near that good, so I am quite humbled that someone came to my defense like that.

I have no interest in this thread anymore and have no further comment, but I couldn't let that pass without acknowledging how cool that was.

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AZCouture Posted 18 Jun 2012 , 8:54pm
post #72 of 73
Quote:
Originally Posted by FromScratchSF

I have no interest in this thread anymore and have no further comment, but I couldn't let that pass without acknowledging how cool that was.


Just don't call yourself "couture" and we're all good. icon_lol.gificon_lol.gificon_lol.gificon_rolleyes.gif

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debidehm Posted 18 Jun 2012 , 9:23pm
post #73 of 73
Quote:
Originally Posted by DDiva

Wow!! This was fun icon_biggrin.gif




Yea, people acting like this is always a good time. Sad Some of the comments were totally uncalled for and like school yard bullying ("I have a bakery...you don't") type of thing....

I think there's a better way of making a point without the blatant disrespect shown to some here.

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