Advertising to sell baked goods from home?

[proud Mother as of June 18, 2011]

I am thinking about selling baked goods from home. It is now legal without getting permits and things. I don't really know how to advertise, any ideas? Also, any ideas on a menu? I want there to be a variety.
I was thinking about advertising to the moms that just don't have time to bake those 30 cupcakes for the class. How would i advertise that? Any ideas you have would be great, Best answer will go to the person with the most ideas, and the most creative. Thanks!

[Mk]

Well, it depends on your target market, your budget, and your own ability. Personally, I'd start in your own neighborhood, putting fliers and the such in people's mailboxes or putting ads in the local paper. If your little business idea takes off, you may find yourself overloaded with requests that your personal kitchen may not suffice to bake 100 cupcakes a day. In terms of a menu, keep it as simple as possible - maybe allow the customer to specify some things like the icing or color of the baked goods (simple matter of changing the food dye). Maybe start off with some different types of cakes/sweets that you are comfortable with, and always be prepared to provide a free sample to a customer.
Good luck!

[frankschick2001]

As for the legality issue, it depends on what state laws you have to abide by. Here, you cannot just sell from your home kitchen. You MUST have a state health inspection done. You can't use your homes kitchen for commercial purposes. You must either have a totally seperate kitchen for commercial use OR some people rent commercial kitchen space to bake or cook their goods. So check with your local laws regarding this.

As for advertising, hang up flyers at local markets and schools letting busy moms know that you'll "cater" for the kids birthday parties etc. If you have a local flea or farmers market, see about renting a table or space and sell there. Let facebook friends know that you are starting this up.

But seriously, check with your local municipality to see what you need to do to be in compliance because if someone gets sick and they think its from a product you made, you could be in big trouble. They can sue your homeowners insurance and it will be a nightmare for you.

[valjean]

Assuming you can really sell baked goods from home commercially, here are some advertising ideas for getting the word out:

Flyers for the neighborhood, in the library or other public post-it boards.

Take pictures of your lastest creation, write a couple sentences describing how delicious they are, and...
Post it on your FB account--you may find friends wanting to buy them from you.
Make a public FB page and post pictures of your latest creations.
Make a blog and use those pics and sentences there too.
Make a YouTube channel and show the process of making your treats (you can keep recipes a secret, but make sure you get closeups of the delicious finished creation.
Make a website and people can buy online (as long as you know how to ship them....maybe you can sell mixes after your reputation is made).
As you do all this work to market, make sure you cross connect them--your FB account and page and blog and YT channel and Web Page should all have links to each other.

As for menu, focus on one thing, at the start, and do it really really well. Start small, you're doing this at home after all, and then slowly add--if you want to.

Grab testimonials from people who've tasted them and post them too...

Gourmet cupcakes, cookies and chocolates are all hot right now, although delicious is always in style.

If you want to focus on cupcakes for teachers, then get creative about different cupcake for teachers designs. You may find that your designs are so good, you get a lot of followers, and you can make money on the advertising on your blog.

G'Luck,

Valerie
Marketing
American Promotions