Tuesday Muse-Day

Happy Halloween friends!  Halloween is just around the corner, and friends of mine are STILL asking for costume ideas.  I must admit I’m not that much help in this department… when I was little, my costumes were pretty basic; a witch, a vampire, something to do with a rainbow wig, and one year I was Roger Rabbit, which involved one of those plastic masks that made your face hot every time you breathed.

Speaking of my childhood, Mary Poppins was one of my all-time favorite movies.  To this day, I can still recite most parts of it.  And last year, my Mom and I saw Mary Poppins on Broadway (ah-mayyy-zing!).  Remember the Jolly Holiday scene? 

Well needless to say, I was swept up in nostalgia by the Mary Poppins halloween costumes I saw today on Make It Love It and just had to make it today’s muse!

Does it get any cuter?

Ashley created the most amazing costumes for her kiddos… Bert, Mary and one of the penguins from the Jolly Holiday scene!  For all you DIY’ers, she even put together a step-by-step photo tutorial to show how she created them!  Her talent absolutely blows my mind… these aren’t just costumes, these are hand-crafted pieces of wearable art that her children will be able to cherish for years to come.  The detail and workmanship she put into these outfits… wow… just, wow! 

Ashley is quite the wiz with her computer too!  Check out this amazingly adorable video she put together to tie everything together… Bert & Mary are so charming, and her little penguin with that squishy plush belly is pure sunshine.

Since we’re talking about costumes, look at this costume I randomly came across. It made me laugh so loud, I had to share…

PaulScheer.com

Are you and/or your kiddos dressing up this year?

xoxo,
  Kim

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Thriving During the Holidays

A couple weeks ago, I told you about a Twitter chat I attended called #startupchat. I found it so informative & inspiring that I set up a weekly email reminder for every Wednesday at 2:00pm EST so that I didn’t miss a chat.

This week’s topic was How to Thrive During the Holidays.  I launched KC Bakes in April, making this our first holiday season, so I was excited to see what topics would come up.  And yet again, I saw so many great tips, thoughts and ideas!  Here are some of my favorite tweets from the chat…

@TesaRaeCreative Outlining a strategy that can become tradition year over year, something that customers can look forward to.

@BusinessPrtnrs sending out aN E-blast to customers about your offerings for the season incl coupons in adv

@GoodiesForGifts mail chimp is great for sending out email blasts.

@suchimistra Email only as often as you have a great idea that helps your customer.

@CandlesbyTeresa
– Plan an Open House and get to know your local community and find out how you can support them! 
– Networking should be a KEY part of your marketing plan in any season. Even if it’s local.

@startupprincess
– Network at local business groups. Get to know the key players in your local market and branch from there. Be strategic with gifting.
– Send some free gifts to key players in social media that will give a shout out.
– Consider a daily or weekly campaign for specials. Be creative, plan NOW and campaign.
– Add value RIGHT now to your clients and customers and thank them for their business, keep your name top of their minds.

@Tweetsweettooth we give away things that don’t ‘cost’ anything, copy of free ebook, evaluation of their social media package.

@dotjenna Plan social media content in advance, write Holiday related articles now. Schedule posts with @HootSuite

@TiafenConsult I plan to send New Year greetings to my clients. Most cultures celebrate the new year 🙂

I contributed some tips as well that got retweeted a few times… @KCbakes
– I ran a Halloween cake pop contest, it attracted 200+ new fans on FB that have remained on as fans afterwards.  I promoted it thru our FB page & Twitter. The contestants were main driving force bc they needed the votes.
– For B2B marketing, you could you do some version of a business card raffle? enter biz info, one lucky winner gets a prize.
– To avoid burnout during holidays – be conscious of ur eating! Malnutrition weakens immune system, hard to sustain energy/focus.

Then I had this idea, really on a whim, and it got a huge reaction…
– Include business card magnet in with shipping. People will post it on their fridge… that way your brand is present.

My good Twitter buddy @Mustlovepopcorn from @BDKettlecorn actually ordered magnets that day! 🙂

I hope to see you at the next chat!

xoxo,
  Kim

Tuesday Muse-Day

Halloween is rapidly approaching, which brings to mind all things scary and spooky.  Today’s muse is scary, but not in the way you might think.

For some reason, making decorated sugar cookies absolutely terrifies me!  I had a really bad experience attempting to make royal icing one time, and I think it scarred me.  But after seeing these quirky Halloween cookies, I may have to give them a second chance.

Check out these vampire fang cookies by Sugarbelle’s!  I saw them posted by Baking cakes, and its good that pictures are worth a thousand words, because their post was in Italian 🙂

There are so many things I love about SugarBelle’s cookie tutorial.  She writes like she is speaking right to you, so it reads more like a conversation, which makes it so much easier to follow.  She also gives you tips that she has learned along the way in her baking journey.  I always feel that baker-to-baker tips are much more valuable, because they are speaking from experience.

Also, her photography is awesome!  Each picture is crystal clear, allowing you to get the full impact of her subject.  Look at her adorable kiddos having fun with their vampire cookie pops. 

Humorous Fang Cookies (L-R): Fangs with a gold tooth, Lady fangs, Mustache fangs

These vampire cookie pops are so much fun because you can add little details to make each one unique.  Imagine how much fun these would be as props in an impromptu photo booth at Halloween party… then you can eat the prop!

xoxo,
  Kim

Tuesday Muse-Day

Whenever I’m surfing around the web and I come across really cool ideas, I bookmark them into my “Inspirations” folder under my Favorites.  It’s the perfect little collection for me to choose my Tuesday Muse-Days from.  So while I was perusing my folder today, I couldn’t help but notice that a lot of them are from one of my favorite blogs, Love from the Oven! 

Aesthetically, Love from the Oven is very pleasing to the eye. It’s clean design makes it easy to scroll through and catch up on the latest posts.  Also, all of Christi’s content is situated in nicely organized columns, which makes this occasionally-OCD heart go pitter-patter.  And her photography – wow!  It is so inspired, focused and bursting with color. 

I could go on and on, but today’s muse is not her blog itself (even though it could be), but rather one of her recent Halloween blog posts which ties in nicely with our push-pop post from yesterday. Check out these beauties… Halloween Brownie Push Pops!

Isn’t she a genius?!  Look at all of those fun, bright colors! And see what I mean about the photography? 

At first glance, one might think a treat of this calliber is something you could only find in a fancy bakery, but they are actually really easy to make!  However, before I share the link to her tutorial for these treats, just take a moment and marvel at all the layers of sugary goodness… don’t scroll too fast, you don’t want to miss a sprinkle!

Diet-shmiet, I would not even hesitate to eat that entire thing in 20 seconds take a few lady-like nibbles of this confectionary cylinder of yumminess.

If you want to impress the pants off of your friends and family, here is Christi’s awesome tutorial: Halloween Push Pop Peeps!  

xoxo,
  Kim

"Pushing" the Envelope

Here at KC Bakes, our goal is to create high-quality cake pop stands for bakers to use to decorate, display and transport their cake pops.  And while cake pops are our #1 market, we’ve been creating custom stands for quite a few other items lately!

One of our newest stand projects has been for Cake Push Pops… have you heard of these? They are these nifty plastic cylinders that are filled with layers of cake and frosting – check out these Patriotic Push Pops from Love from the Oven. They make great party favors and are a cool way to mix n’ match brightly colored frosting with various flavors of cake. 

Given their unique shape, they can be tricky to display on counters or at parties… so check out this custom Skinny Mini Stand that we created for Go Cakes NYC!

This got me thinking… what else can our cake pop stands be used for other than cake pops?  I was so surprised by what I found, I created a new section on our website… Fun with Sticks!  Pie Pops, Pizza Pops & more?  Trust me, you don’t want to miss this…

xoxo,
  Kim

Blogging Gold

Tags

#startupchat, business, start up business

Yesterday afternoon I needed a brain break. The day was just kind of dragging on, and I was stuck in haze, not feeling particularly motivated to do much of anything.  I logged into Twitter and scanned my timeline to see if I’d find anything inspiring… and then I spotted this tweet:

*PERK!* I was immediately intrigued.  I’d consider myself an amateur blogger at best, and lately I’ve been feeling a little lack of direction.  What do I want my blog to do, what purpose does it serve, how can I be more… wait for it… effective? 

I’d never “attended” a Twitter chat before, so i wasn’t sure what I was in for.  Now having participated, I highly recommend it.  Here’s how it works: everyone participates by tagging their tweets with a certain phrase, in this case “#startupchat”. Then you enter that term in the Search bar at the top of the page. The results will show all tweets with that phrase in sequential order, so it reads like a chat room.  The cool part is that once that chat is over, if you want to revisit it, all you need to do is search for that term.

@startupprincess was the host/moderator, and would ask certain questions, then the other paricipants would chime in with their thoughts on the matter.  I had a few questions of my own, and since I tagged them with #startupchat, they came up in the discussion as well.  I was absolutley floored at the immediate responses I received; everyone was so friendly and willing to share.  Each tweet was so informative that I found it hard to keep up, as I sat there with my little notepad & pen, scribbling away.

The topics were focused on business and blogging.  I can honestly say I learned a lot!  The great thing is that most of the tips are pretty universal and can be applied to whatever industry you are in.  Here are some of the things I jotted down (some are paraphrased).

@LawLogix Look at current news and magazine headlines and mold them to your industry.

@prforsmallbiz Ask clients what their biggest concerns are, and that becomes your blog content.

@mmonsen7 Best tip: Don’t assume you know what people are searching for. Use tools. Research high-traffic phrases.

@dotjenna Write blogs that invite responses.

@prweb Catchy headlines: rhyme, alliteration, oh, and keep it short! Infuse keywords = good for the search engines and readers.

@PhyllisNichols (for blog topics) What are customers dealing with? What are customers working on? What are they looking for?

@RtMixMktg Provide valuable resources to target customers; what will they print & post to the fridge?

@RtMixMktg Follow blogging best practices: post types, skimmable, good ehadings, pics, share buttons.

Some more great tips (unfortunately I didn’t write down who said them)
– Write what you know! Everyone is an expert at something.
– Know your audience.
– Be relevant.
– Add value – blog with a purpose.
– What are your audience’s “pain points”?

Twitter chats are also a great way to network and meet new people with a common interest.  @startupprincess’s next chat is Wednesday, October 12th at 2pm EST, “Being More Creative in Business and Life”.  Will I see you there?

xoxo,
  Kim

aka @KCbakes

Tuesday Muse-Day

It’s no secret that yours truly loves owls. Baked goods, home goods, jewelry, stationary… if it has an owl on it, I’m in love.  I wasn’t always so owl-obsessed, but after getting my degrees from Temple University, it was a natural progression. (Fun fact: I even have a little owl tattoo on my ankle!).

I follow several bakers, bloggers & foodies on Twitter, and I am LOVING how trendy owls are lately. And with the help of my ginger twin, Gigi of Sweetie Darlings, we keep our eyes peeled for anything owls. So its only fitting that our little feathered friend is the source of inspiration for today’s Tuesday Muse-Day!  I could literally post hundreds of photos I have in the Owl Archives, but for your sanity (& mine), here are some of the highlights…

Owl Cake Pops tweeted by @CakeTheater

Owl Cookies tweeted by @SweetSugarBelle

Owl Cake tweeted by @doughmesstic

Check out this light switch that Gigi found this morning – the switch looks like its beak!

And for all you owl lovers out there not in “the know”, check out My Owl Barn… you will thank me. Or maybe not; there are so many tempting purchases like this:

C’mon… whoo doesn’t need an owly calculator? 🙂

xoxo,
  Kim

Extra, Extra!!!

Extra, extra, read all about it… KC Bakes now has an online newspaper – The Cake Pop Daily!

Unlike my poor little blog here who is sometimes neglected (sorry blog, still love u!), the newspaper is updated automatically every 24 hours.  It is Twitter-driven, and pulls from every corner of the web to give you articles, blog posts, recipes, photos and videos about baking & cake pops!

Also, we are hosting a Halloween Cake Pop Contest!  We received 27 entries and they are so precious. I’m so glad its a fan-vote, otherwise I’d have a really tough time picking a winner.  To cast your vote, simply click here.

xoxo,
  Kim