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In this week's Baking it Down Podcast - Episode 231 - The 2025 Vendy Blendy, we have VENDY BLENDY on the brain!

Each year, 🦃 at the end of November, deals roll around in stores and across your screens, prepping everyone for the Christmas season. From malls to boutiques- the steals are endless! So, what about a day of deals just for bakers?

🫡 The Vendy Blendy answers the call. A deal-lovers' day specifically for the bakers of the world. Let’s cover the who, what, when, where, and why so you can know exactly what to expect for the 5th annual Vendy Blendy come November 28th.

• 🛒 Date: November 28th, 2025
• 🛒 Time: 12:01 AM - 11:59 PM (24 hours)
• 🛒 How to Join: Just request to pendy!

🛍️ What is The Vendy Blendy?

The Vendy Blendy’s main location is in a Facebook group called, you’ll never guess, “The Vendy Blendy (Sugar Cookie Marketing)”... we aren’t great at creative naming, I’ll tell ya that, BUT it’s a fun spot where chaos goes down for 24 hours on the day after Thanksgiving, on November 28th.

Each year, vendors (Vendys) from the baking industry and around the world come together and offer discounts, door prizes, and incentives to get bakers to buy from their shops - things like cookie cutters, baking mats, baker shirts, cookie scribes, STLs, software, takes a deep breath, cake pop molds, recipes, meringue powder, sprinkles, class kits, online courses, transfer sheets, packaging, cookie tags, cookie backers- the list truly does go on and on and on aaaand it’ll all be 25% off or more!

👉 You can access the current list (which is always growing) of vendys at http://www.TheVendys.com

Just like most awesome things in life, it’s here for a good time, not a long time, so you’ll be able to shop the deals and steals for just 24 hours, and 💥POOF💥, it’ll be gone. 🤫 We shut down the group and boot everybody out, and we don’t talk about it again until next year. It truly is the best day and only day of the year!

🛍️ Who is The Vendy Blendy for?

If you’re just window shoppin’ or if you’re there to stock up on all your 2026 packaging options - this sale is for you. 🚪🎁 The shops all host door prizes, plus the Sugar Cookie Marketing Group, who puts it on, will be giving out free-to-enter BIG Door Prizes all day just for being there- you ain’t gotta purchase one single thing for a chance to win.

🌎 While most of the Vendy's shops are based in the US, we have many that aren’t, and you can score deals from across the world! So don’t think that because you don’t have a US zip code, you can’t win, because you totally can!

🛍️ When is The Vendy Blendy

The Vendy Blendy is a 24-hour online event that goes down from midnight on November 27th to midnight on November 28th. It’s exactly 24 hours long. The event is hosted in Eastern Standard Time, so you may need to do some time conversions.

The Vendy Blendy group is a private group on Facebook, so you’ll pend until the day of the event. Admins and Mods are already in there setting up the group and makin’ sure the pinned posts, discounts, and directions are all set up. At midnight on November 27th, we will start letting anyone pending into the group.

🛍️ Where is The Vendy Blendy?

This event does take place on Facebook, but the shops will let you check out from their individual websites. The Vendy Blendy Facebook group will be a hub that day where you can snag the discount codes, cheer on your favorite shops, and win door prizes all day long.

You’ll access the shops, discount codes, and websites from a pinned Google Sheet within the group on the day of the event.

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In this week's Baking it Down Podcast - Episode 230 - Nothing Old, Nothing New, Corrie wanted to cover returning customers - clients that have ordered from you in the past and then reorder.

They're massively valuable to your bottom line because returning leads cost less to acquire. That means you have to spend less time and marketing dollars getting someone to order from you a second time than getting someone to order from you the first time.

And this makes sense, right?

• ✅ A returning client already knows you exist.
• ✅ A returning client already knows your ordering process.
• ✅ A returning client has built trust with you when they placed their first order.
• ✅ A returning client is 15 - 20% more likely to reconvert when reengaged.

To drive the point home: 🤯 It can cost 5 - 25 times more to acquire a new customer than to re-engage an existing or returning lead. So for every dollar you spend to reacquire an old lead, you'd be spending $25 to replace them with a new lead.

Higher marketing costs = lower profits.

If you're a good baker-turned-marketer, you should be asking this question: 🤔 "How can I increase my returning customer base?"

🧠 Smart question - and there may be a few culprits at fault as to why you don't have people re-knocking on your proverbial front door.

🙅‍♂️ 1. If you take big breaks or take the summer off, you're going to lose clients.

If you're taking big, inconsistent breaks (like the summer off or January off), you're going to frustrate your current base of clients. They can't return if your doors are never open. If a customer who ordered from you in June returns to place an order in January only to find you've closed up shop until March, they'll need to source another baker - a more reliable one. Hey - put down that pitchfork, if you need to take a break, do so. But remember the cost of taking breaks like this - it will impact your returning customers.

🙅‍♀️ 2. If you're constantly changing your offerings, you're losing clients.

If you listened to this week's podcast, I lean into the "hybrid model" - a give and take. No one solution fits everyone, but finding a mix of solutions can still be an effective approach. That applied to a busy menu. Yes, trimming your menu down to the fan favorites (that you also like baking) can prevent analysis paralysis (or choice paralysis), but changing up your menu too often can drive away past customers who lost their favorites during a menu purge.

Create a list of your best sellers and stick to it. Sprinkle in some "seasonal drops" and "limited editions," but be consistent in your long-term offerings.

🙅‍♂️ 3. If you're not easily searchable, you're losing returning clients.

🔍 If I can't easily find you on search, socials, and email, you're not easily findable. Imagine a client who only ordered from you a year ago. How likely are they to be able to remember where to find you? Oftentimes, clients go to search engines with a slew of keywords they hope can connect them with past vendors.

🕵️‍♂️ If your website doesn't show up or your maps listing is nonexistent, you're losing any clients looking for you.

🙅‍♀️ 4. If you're not relevant on socials, you're losing returning clients.

I get it - ya get busy and posting to social media falls to the back burner. "But I'm busy, so my marketing is good, right?" Yes - however, marketing results are delayed - meaning what you do today you won't see until a month or two from now.

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In this week's Baking it Down Podcast - Episode 229 - Do the Reels Collab, we're hypin' up the marketing behind the Blind Baker Reels Collab on September 26.

✅ Register here:

• https://form.jotform.com/SugarCookieMarketing/blind-baker-collab

🎥 This cookie collab is different from the others we've run this year for 1 simple reason: it's video-based.

Instead of posting an image of a logo-turned-cookie for the Main Street Collab or posting a selfie like we did for the Meet the Baker Collab, this Blind Baker Collab has bakers recording themselves.

✍️ Here's the breakdown - participants in this cookie collab with blindfold themselves and hit RECORD as they pipe a jack-o'-lantern onto a white iced circular sugar cookie (I’ll provide an inspo pic).

Then, on September 26th at 11:00 AM EST, bakers will post that video to their Instagram using the hashtag #SCMCollabCircle (note the 2 L’s in collab) and spend the next hour engaging with other Reels. 📼 Instagram converts all videos to Reels, so all ya gotta do is upload the video, add the caption, and post.

📉 But this Blind Baker Collab will be the lowest attended cookie collab we host this year. Why? Because folks hate recording themselves on video. But in a video-first social media sphere, this is the piece of content that will push the needle for your post reach.

🤳 It's a Reels world, and we're just livin' in it.

Vertical videos are the marketing flavor of the month, and based on TikTok's extreme popularity over the last Covid-confined 5 years, it's not looking like it's going to let go of the limelight anytime soon.

Video (all video, not just vertical video) should be a part of your marketing content creation schedule each week because...

• 📹 Watchability - Our audience prefers to digest content via video versus text on a web page.
• 📹 Conversions - Adding a marketing video to a landing page can increase conversions by over 80%.
• 📹 User Generated Content - 84% of consumers have been convinced to buy a product or service after watching a brand's video.
• 📹 Search Engine Optimization - Videos can rank separately from web pages and also can help web pages rank higher in search engines.

TikTok is growing, and Facebook knows it. Meta (parent company of Facebook and Instagram) has slowed the reach of image-based content to favor video-based Reels instead (Reels = Meta's branding of TikToks).

What used to be an image-based platform, Reels paved the way for vertical video content to compete with the ever-popular TikTok. As a result, image content has been pushed aside to favor the reach of videos on Instagram.

Statistics aside, your audience wants to connect with you - which is why this Reels collab focuses on you, the baker, rather than your skill set (we don't expect anyone to pipe a perfect pumpkin whilst blind folded).

The goal of this collab is to put a face to a name a

Anecdotal evidence also supports the "Reel reach" theory. Corrie recently completed a 25-day series on Instagram using Reels to run a "freshness test" on her heat-sealed cookies. Each day, she recorded a minute-long video snackin' on a cookie. As dumb as that sounds, the con

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In this week's Baking it Down Podcast - Episode 228 - Stuck in the Web...Sites, we (remotely - forgive the sound quality this week, kids - it was a learning experience) talk about the sunsetting of the baker-centric website host and builder, Castiron.

📩 Castiron sent this email to current users on Monday night with very little warning that there were problems in "paradise":

Consider the implications of losing your website:

• 🖱️ Loss of URL (meaning all your business cards need to be reprinted)
• 🖱️ Loss of outstanding order details
• 🖱️ Loss of unpaid invoices
• 🖱️ Loss of all product listings / copy / images
• 🖱️ Loss of all rankings in search engines (lead gen)
• 🖱️ Loss of business metrics (web traffic / sales yoy / customer data)
• 🖱️ Loss of time building a new website from scratch

See - it can have a massive impact on a small business. So making sure you're not stuck in this predicament is just good business.

💻 1. Is the website host well-established?

"Shiny new object" syndrome isn't the best when it comes to websites. Providers that have decades under their belt hosting websites is a good sign that they're here for a long time, not just a good time.

When a new company enters the website space, they're trying to gain enough market share to generate the cash flow to stay operational. While they often offer more competitive pricing, there's a reason for that = to build up their user base. While they may offer more perks for less, you also run the risk that they may not remain sustainable for long.

💻 2. Is the host cost-competitive?

There's cheap, fast, and good = choose two. But in all seriousness, consider the pricing implications of your hosting platform of choice. If the monthly fee seems low, they may be taking % of sales. Some web hosts provide the basics, but you get nickel-and-dimed with plugins (Shopify and WordPress, for example).

Here's the takeaway - cheaper doesn't always mean bad, and expensive doesn't always mean good. What you need to vet is how that specific platform meets your bakery's unique needs. If you're new to market, a platform that takes % of sales may actually be more cost advantageous than a flat fee host. It's dependent on your needs + the math problem. Find what works for you.

💻 3. Are they reaching promised milestones?

When a company shows its roadmap, it's a decent metric to see how the company is progressing. If most milestones are missed, it may be an indicator that not all is sunshine and roses. Stay on top of promises and deadlines to better understand how the host is maintaining its tech and thus your website.

💻 4. Does it match your level of "tech savvy"?

It could be the best website builder in the world, but if you don't know how to use it, it's worthless. Finding a platform that works with how you work is the winning strategy here, and sometimes that's not always a full website but rather an intake form (like Bakesy, Jotform, or Google Forms). If you're willing to sit with a problem until it's solved, more complex builders will give you more functionality. It's all about finding what works well for you and your current needs.

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In this week's Baking it Down Podcast - Episode 227 - Do NOT Teach a Cookie Class (this way), Corrie and I list out the things we wouldn't do if we were getting into cookie classes (yeah, yeah - the title is a bit of a clickbait, but hey, we're marketers, right?).

September in the Sugar Cookie Marketing group is all about Cookie Classes as we try out having a "monthly theme" focused on one topic (you can still post whatever). You can search #SeptemberCookieClassesMonth in the group to see more posts on this topic.

🚫 That said - today we wanna talk to the "on the fence" baker considering teaching cookie classes this "Cookie Class Money Printing Season" aka the holiday rush. ⛔ Here's the eight things we'd never do if we were teaching a cookie class (again - clickbait, but aren't ya curious??).

🛑 1. Do NOT pay for a venue (if you can play ball)

Okay - so not all venues will let ya use their spaces for free, but before you resign yourself to paying, 🚫 shoot your shot on finding a venue that lets you use it for free in exchange for marketing their shop to your audience.

⚠️ Class teaching baker Brit says she was offered a 60/40 split with her venue, but countered with a 100/0 split in exchange for all the marketing she'd be doing, bringing folks to the winery to buy wine + a cookie class. Guess what? They bit. And now she makes 100% of her sales.

No, not every venue will take the bait, but ask before you cough up commissions. Wineries, breweries, kitchen showrooms, cafes, and shared workspaces may all be interested in a lil' exposure in exchange for monetary compensation.

🛑 2. Do NOT just list a class each month.

We used to post a class at the beginning of each month. 🚫 Over time, we realized we were working twice as hard as we should be if we just listed our yearly calendar each January. By listing the year up front, we're able to tell each class we teach about the upcoming classes - and that makes for good marketing.

⚠️ The approach has worked so well in fact, our October Halloween and December Christmas classes are already booked, and it's only September 2.

🛑 3. Do NOT teach intermediate classes.

And if you do, I swear I oughttaaaa... not really care, teach what ya like. BUT if you're just getting started, beginner-level classes will make your class attendees feel so much more successful. ✋ And a happy student = a student who might come back again. 🚫 Teaching intermediate classes limits who will sign up, and also it'll likely raise your ticket prices, yet again limiting who will sign up. 🛑 It's not my favorite recipe for filling up class seats.

🛑 4. Do NOT use a ton of icing colors/consistencies.

I know when a baker is teaching cookie classes because they all suffer from something I like to call "Cookie Class Icing PTSD" - 🚫 which is to say swinging bags and bags of icing over their heads for an upcoming cookie class. When it comes to classes, everything has to be done at scale. ⚠️ So those 7 icing bags you'd mix for your custom sets? Yeah, that's gonna be SEVENTY bags if you're teaching a class to 10 people. ⛔⛔⛔ Y-i-k-es.

🛑 5. Do NOT start from scratch.

Shameless plug (but if we don't toot our own horns, who will?) for the Cookie Class Kits membership that takes the "from scratch" out of cookie class planning. We handle everything for you, so you can focus on securing a venue, baking, and presenting. These class kits handle the design, the color choices, the photography, the step-by-step PowerPoint, the copy, and the math (plus printables like piping practice sheets and Eddie outlines

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In this week's Baking it Down Podcast - Episode 226 - Podcast Guests Heather and Kim, you asked for less Heather and Corrie, and now you get Heather and Kim! Close enough, right?!

Heather and Kim are self-titled "ESBs" - emotional support bakers - and really break down the value of having a baking buddy to partner with, vent to, talk shop with, and have in your corner when Uber steals your order.

👋 Meet Heather Campbell Brookshire of TheCakeWhispererUSA

If you've ever come to a CookieCon Sugar Cookie Marketing Happy Hour, you've likely met Heather Campbell Brookshire. She's best known for her 3.5xs debut on The Food Network and her Gingerbread Facebook Live (I don't have the link to this still, but she's workin' on getting me a copy).

• 📌 Disney Trip Planning - https://www.reachforthemagicdestinations.com/heatherbrookshire
• 📌 Cookie and Cake Competitions 101 - https://youtu.be/3fIZT96Wdek

When she's not slingin' icing across the silver screen, Heather is the embodiment of "A Disney Adult," and 🐭 also doubles as a Disney Trip Planner (free for the hiring for those uninitiated by the Mouses' rewards plan).

Heather's been baking more cakes than cookies for 10 years (come this October), and gives us a quick deep dive into how to get featured on the Food Network. The key, she says? Try, try, and try again - and just when you're about to give up, expect an email.

👋 Meet Kim DeMille Sims from Beans and Brews & Wesley's Treats

Kim thought cottage baking lacked enough stress (lol), so she dove headfirst into owning her own Beans and Brews franchise in Spring, Texas. Now she's taken her knowledge of allergy-friendly baking into the brick-and-mortar world.

• 📌 Allergy-Friendly Baking Basics with Kim DeMille Sims - https://youtu.be/2Ll5hN9Mi-c
• 📌 Beans & Brews - https://www.beansandbrews.com/coffee-shops/spring-rhodes-shopping-center/

Kim's dream of owning her own coffee-infused bakery started when she was 12, and for the last three years, she's earned an entirely new vocabulary, from "FDD" to handling the SBA.

She pipes us through her backstory, employee turnover, what her future plans are, and ☕️ how she got to owning her own dream coffee beans in this week's podcast.

👂 Snag this podcast on any major podcast player (Spotify, Apple Music, Audible, Amazon Music, or watch it on YouTube) by searching for Baking it Down Podcast - Episode 226 - Podcast Guests Heather Brookshire and Kim Sims.

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In this week's Baking it Down Podcast - Episode 225 - Diamond Demand, we're telling EVERYONE they need DIAMONDS right NOW. 💎💎💎💎

Just kidding - this is just an analogy, so before you make this into something it's not - we're not talkin' about the diamond industry or bl🩸ood diamonds - we're just comparing a not-necessary-for-life luxury good with not-necessary-for-life luxury bakes. And there's somethin' we can all learn from the "very very slightly" interesting podcast comparison.

Diamonds are a luxury item, but how can my local Tysons Corner Center mall be home to so many jewelry stores? It's because while they're selling a similar product (diamonds), they've each carved out their niche among the competition. Blue Nile focuses on web-based marketing, Helzberg is a chain, Mervis is a D2C brand, and Lenkersdorf focuses on diamond watches.

They're all competitors, but because of their respective niches, they aren't really.

💍 1. Dye-Free Baker = Ethically Sourced

Okay, no - I'm not supporting the train that using dyes in your food coloring makes you unethical, but the comparison here is that diamond suppliers who spend more money to focus on ethical sourcing measures tend to charge more. Thus, they incorporate that messaging in the marketing to counter the price gap between their competition.

Same with the dye-free bakers. They can use the current climate to market the potential health benefits of a dye-free approach, niching them down a lil' bit further and also still allowing them to charge enough to cover their costs + make a profit (dye-free food coloring is quite a bit more expensive at the time of writing).

💍 2. Luxury Branding = Tiffany's

If there's one diamond company known for color, it's "Tiffany Blue." People will regularly overpay for that teal color because they're buying the luxury experience and the branding, and they don't mind payin' the big bucks for it.

A baker who wants to niche down can focus on the buyer's experience. Website, branding, check-out, communication, packaging = hit this out of the park and you're in a "name your price" arena.

💍 3. Volume Baking = Wholesale Importers

Now this is where you'll find twin2 supporting her shiny habit. Diamond importers that sell wholesale cut out the middlemen, the fancy packaging, and the white glove treatment in exchange for selling you more for (allegedly) less.

This is the baker that, like Corrie's not-client requested, "slaps icing on a delicious cookie." Some buyers (like the twin) just want a good deal at the sacrifice of everything else. Bakers who focus on cheaper prices and cheaper production will niche themselves away from the higher-end branded baker.

💍 4. Drop Cookiers = Moissanite

Now now, down dog - this isn't to say drop cookies are cheap knock-offs. Rather the point is that they're not even competing with diamonds at all. They're a completely different product snagging some market share that the diamond sellers wouldn't be able to sell to anyway! People who want a giant, delicious drop cookie likely won't love the steep price of a vanilla-only sugar cookie. This is a neat way to niche it up. Talk about a power play, the baker who can sell both sugar cookies and drop cookies.

We compare the "lab-grown" baker in the podcast, but I need to go get some meds and some sleep, so give the podcast a listen!

👂 Snag this podcast on any major podcast player (Spotify, Apple Music, Audible, Amazon Music, or watch it on YouTube) by searching for Baking it Down Podcast - Episode 225 - Diamond Demand.