Afirst off, thank you guys for any and all reply's

I am just wondering how long did it take for you to get a response and/or order when you first began.

I cannot seem to get a response exept asaide from scammers.

I am not sure where to start toget my name out there. My family and friends will not pay for a cake,they expect it for free or they do not order.

I am kind of a homebody and i basically just hand out my business cards here and there.

So I am just wondering how did it take to start getting orders for a few cakes a week?

Again thanks you guys, I always appreciate your advice and I hope to be as good as all you.:)

AAsk your hair stylist if they will allow you to place so business cards in their waiting area. Nail salon, etc. Maybe bring in something for the staff to sample, offer a discount to anyone who mentions the salon, etc. Know someone that sells Pampered Chef or Lia Sophia or something else? Send some bite size tasting samples to take to a party with a stack of business cards. Your Avon contact, etc. I got a Mary Kay recommendation for my MIL from my Pampered Chef contact. Got kids in school? Send cupcakes in for the teachers lounge with your contact info on a decorative pick. Make goodies for a local bake sale with your printed label on the packaging.

AWhere are you located, and who is your target market? If you are interested in some feedback you may want to post a link to your web site.

I spent several months putting together a business plan that identified a niche market to target as well as an advertising strategy, once we officially launched our bakery it took about 2 months before word spread to the point where we were really busy. If you don't have a business plan and are just trying stuff to see what sticks, you are pretty much dependent on luck and you may never see results.

AThe type of clients and cakes you want to do will help you find a direction for advertising.

Word of mouth is the best. It is free and people tend to put stock in what people they know say/recommend. I have focused on wedding cakes. I like making them and in my area that is where the money is. I participate in a large bridal show in my area and pay for a listing on the knot. But have worked out really well for me. Several sites, such we Wedding Wire, allows vendors to have a free online profile. I have signed up for every free online profile I can.

Online reviews on websites directed toward brides have been great for convincing brides to book with me. Ask some recent past clients to leave a review for you and send them a link to a specific site.

Also, if you don't have a website you need to get one and a Facebook page is not enough. I am in my 20's and have never had a Facebook page. So businesses that only have a web presence on Facebook won't get my business. Update the website regularly. Add new pictures and as your skill improves remove pictures of cakes you could do better now.

I've been making cakes for over a year word to mouth helps it took me almost 8 months to see a study profit and steady amount of costumers. Most are repeats but give some time.

AThanks for the replies. Sorry i could not get back sooner, i just finished my website. Www.fabulousfrostings.com

I am in the los angeles area, and my target is of course brides, but i know it will take some time to get there.

All the advice is great advice,thanks for that. I have started to hand out business cards, and i will start to send some samples along with them.

I am sure it will get really busy for me in no time.

Thanks everyone:-D

A

Looks pretty good, my only advice would be to reduce the size of the header and call more attention to the navigation buttons. You may also want to create a dedicated order form.

The apostrophe in 'Birthday's' is not necessary.

 

A space is needed between the words Baby and Showers.

 

Your menu bar under your header is not aligned with the header. The header looks centered, while the menu links are not centered.

 

I like the bright colors against the black background!

The website looks very well done, but there are not a lot of cakes in the gallery. I would really recommend getting some dummies and getting more cakes on there. 

If your goal is weddings, a bride wants to see that you have done a wide variety of styles and therefore understand what she will be asking for with her cake. You have almost no wedding cakes on the site. As a primarily wedding cake oriented business, I didn't launch until I had a LARGE amount of photos of wedding cakes I had done. (most of which were dummies, although some were from when I started at Walmart.) I think I had over 50-60 photos. 

Not sayin you need that many, but maybe 10 well done cakes that you know you would be comfortable executing out of real cake if a bride ordered it. 

 

At this point you are giving out your cards and then when people go to your website and you don't have much on your gallery, you are really asking them to take a risk by ordering their cake from you. It has nothing to do with your talent or skill level, you just need to offer more examples so people are excited by what they see and therefore trust you enough to place that first order.

 

Does that make sense?

I ate some of the Texans fan club cake from "Cake Daddy" got sick a few hours later. After going to the hospital costing me $827.59. I found out that I ingested animal dung. I found out one other person also got sick from the cake & that they have birds, & dogs in the house where they make the cakes. They also have two upcomming pending lawsuits against them. They have very unclean conditions and would NOT recommend anything from them. the website is http://www.cakedaddysa.com the FB page is https://www.facebook.com/CakeDaddySA the address is 7723 Pinebrook Drive San Antonio, TX 78230. STAY AWAY!!!

I ate some of the Texans fan club cake from "Cake Daddy" got sick a few hours later. After going to the hospital costing me $827.59. I found out that I ingested animal dung. I found out one other person also got sick from the cake & that they have birds, & dogs in the house where they make the cakes. They also have two upcomming pending lawsuits against them. They have very unclean conditions and would NOT recommend anything from them. the website is http://www.cakedaddysa.com the FB page is https://www.facebook.com/CakeDaddySA the address is 7723 Pinebrook Drive San Antonio, TX 78230. STAY AWAY!!!