How to describe what it is I do?

[Sprinkles]

Hi All,

Hope this is in the right section. I'm currently pulling in a bit of business by word of mouth, but am hoping to bump up the numbers of orders I'm receiving with some self promotion. So far I've been giving my business cards/posters/photos (photos are best because people can see the detail) to anywhere that I think I may pick up work from, hotels, local notice boards, party venues etc. However I'm trying to fix a problem before I run into it too often and am hoping to get some help here.

I make cupcakes and cakes, but they are quite specialised and personalised, they are not bulk made products. I'm having no problem picking up orders from people who want precisely what I do, high quality incredibly personal baked goods, at the moment novelty cakes with serious detail and matching cupcakes are very popular. However, as friends and family spread word for me they are just saying I do Cakes and Buns, which has resulted in people calling me looking for your standard dessert cakes that you would get in any local bakery. I don't have the equipment or the inclination to do these cakes as I could never compete with bakeries making them in bulk. How do I explain in a few words what kind of cakes and cupcakes I do? I've been toying with the words Gourmet, Specialised, Novelty, etc etc, but Novelty to some people means plastic toys on top, and now I'm having a total mental block. I need one or two words to grab peoples attention and to explain instantly what level of detail and design I can do. I've been considering the word bespoke, it's definition fits what I do but I am unsure if goes well with Cupcakes and Cakes.

I'm planning on hitting the city this week with cards and photos because they have been so well received locally this week, so would love some advice asap!

I would appreciate if any of you wonderful people would look at my Facebook Page and let me know of any phrases that you think might help me.

Thanks in advance!

Grace

[Heatherandgorse]

Hi there, Love the rugby cake on your facebook .

Unique - made to order - are two word that spring to mind.

Heather

[Sprinkles]

Hi Heather,

Thanks for your reply, yeah I thought of unique, I'd just be afraid that it might be commonly used by people, making things less unique! At the moment I'm leaning towards bespoke, but I feel as if there's some word or phrase that would some it up perfectly that I'm just not thinking of. It's just I recently spoke to someone who makes "Novelty Cakes", to me that means cakes like the Rugby Cake, to the other person it meant a standard square cake with a printed sheet on top and some plastic things of the requested novelty, so two very different meanings!

[FCP]

Those cakes look yummy !

How about something like 'custom' (though it's a bit 'cold' as a word). Others : handmade, tailored, crafted

As a completely separate suggestion - have you looked at using moo.com for your business cards ?
You can have a different picture on each card - so can use it as a sort of portable portfolio.

[dink]

Personalised, bespoke cakes and cupcakes... ??

[thedoghouse]

Want me to bake is a show stopping cake?
One of a kind, my cakes are a find!!!

[Sprinkles]

@FCP yeah a friend just introduced me to moo recently, pity I didn't see it before I ordered my current cards, will definitely use it next time as I now have a good selection of pictures to use too.

@Dink yeah I think I'll use bespoke alright, when speaking to people and maybe on business cards.

And that is a brilliant little rhyme doghouse, I love it! I really love the first line, would be a nice little tagline alright

[HelenaD]

Hmmm....maybe
Exclusive.Extraordinary.Exquisite.
Sprinkles Custom-made Cakes

[Anthea]

Yes, agree with the above suggestions - specialised or bespoke.

Also give examples of how you have delivered what customers wanted e.g. matching cupcakes to the main cake. What is different in what you do - the small details, decorations, unique designs?

Also might be wroth checking out the postcards on vistaprint. I order some free every time I order business cards and find they are great as flyers or something different to a business card at networking.

You could also ask your customers - do you know anyone else who has birthday, communion etc coming up?

Kind regards
Anthea

[Lesley]

What about "Cake Art" or "Cup Cake Art".

I'd suggest trying to move people's thinking out of the area of baking and into the artistic sector. It seems to me that what you are selling is the handcrafted decorative aspect rather than the cake part. You need to focus prospective customers on the USPs of your specific products.

Lesley

[Sprinkles]

Thanks again for your replies. Yes Anthea and Lesley I see what you're both saying, my problem is this is the kind of cake I have always made, it's the cakes and details that I grew up looking at so to me they're normal cakes, I need to realise that they are more art than dessert. But yes you're right, that's what I need to communicate to people.

You're all so helpful, it's so good to get different perspectives from people in different areas of business.

[writerlyderv]

Hi Grace

You've hit on an important issue when it comes to promoting your business - finding an angle that makes your business stand out. I advise people to figure this out before they start creating their promotional material, so that the same message is transferred across all your content - marketing emails, Facebook posts, flyers, even press releases.

As the others have said, you offer cupcakes with a personal touch. The marketing materials you create should reflect that. It's worth having a brainstorm with yourself to see what you think makes you stand out and use this as the basis for creating your content.

Good luck.

Derbhile

PS: For this advice, I require exactly one cupcake with my logo on it!

[Sprinkles]

I spent the day going around to all sorts of varied businesses giving cards/photos/posters, the amount of places that say "Oh we do cakes/Oh we have someone that does cakes" when I know for a fact that they are talking about dessert cakes, even when I used every word - Bespoke, Personalised, Novelty, Specialised, Custom Made - once they've decided you do something it's almost impossible to shake it, thank God for photos.

[cadetcola]

Hi Grace,

I know you want to use the word "bespoke" but it's still not getting your message across. How about "we specialise in ONE OFF bespoke cakes and matching cup cakes"? I think it would be worth your while to run with a small sample of cards from Moo and start handing them out and keep the other cards for putting into the boxes of cakes already made and being delivered - these customers already know what you do and don't need to "see" it, but your prospective customers do.

HTH

Mairéad

[Sprinkles]

Thanks Mairead,

Yeah that's a good idea about the cards, however at the moment I can't afford to order another heap of cards, and would like to have a few more of my current orders done and photographed before I order them, have some amazing cakes to do in the next few weeks which I'm hoping will look really incredible so it would be a shame not to have them on my "proper" cards. But yes that's what I'll do with these cards, thanks.