Ring in 2011 with $11 Cake Pops!

It's a New Year and so many exciting things are happening for The Cake Pop Company, LLC. To celebrate and ring in 2011 we are going to have a 1 Day Sale on our Classic Cake Pops! There isn't a discount code to enter, we're just lowering our price for New Years Day to $11 (get it? 2011....$11, tehehe) per dozen. We do ask that you limit your purchase to 2 dozen. Your special purchase will need to be used/shipped by January 31, 2011. This is our way to say Thank You for making 2010 a successful year for us. We could not have done it without you, our customers.


Now, on to some exciting news that some of you may or may not know about.......we will be moving soon, into our own facility and storefront! We are very excited and are ready to have room to grow and a storefront to service the "sweet" needs of Springfield. The plans have been approved by me and our landlord and now we are just waiting for the good people in the city building office of Springfield MO to approve them and issue the building permits. Once we get that, I'm sure that it won't be long until we can move. I have purchased new appliances, the new tile floor has been installed and the remaining details are being purchased and/or ordered this week. I can't wait to show you the progress.

We are planning on extending our product line and hope that some of the items that we will make and carry can be shipped nation wide along with our delicious Cake Pops. We will have some new Cake Pops to unveil and of course, there will be a Grand Opening party that is guaranteed to be the talk of the town. So, stay tuned for more details.

Christmas Rush

The Christmas rush is over, and what a rush it was. We were making Cake Pops around the clock from Thanksgiving until Christmas. I'm not joking, our average day was 16 hours in the shop, but some days it was 18 hours! We started the day after Thanksgiving with a huge Corporate order that we received from a major pharmaceutical company, 600 dozen to be exact. Yes, that is correct....600 dozen or 7,200 Cake Pops! 1,800 of those Cake Pops were the adorable little panda bears that are pictured. We recruited some of our customers/fans to help, as well as family members taking vacation time to help out. We couldn't have done it without our friends and family, that's for sure! It took us about 12 days to get this accomplished. The whole time that we shut down for this huge order, other corporate orders and individual orders started flooding in. Our long days and nights didn't end until Christmas Eve. Apparently, our Cake Pops were a popular gift to send to loved ones this year. We are thankful for each and every order and that you trust us with your gift giving needs.

We have exciting changes that will be happening in 2011 and I will be blogging more so that you can share in our growth and changes. We are moving into our own kitchen facility soon and will be opening a storefront. I will share the progress with you, as things change.

We hope that you had a lovely Christmas and want you to know that we appreciate YOU, our blog followers, as well as our Facebook friends and Twitter followers.

Sugar Rush & Charities

Something exciting happened recently, I saw my simple idea come to life and it was bigger and better than I expected. I'm talking about Sugar Rush. While making Cake Pops, I usually have time to do some thinking and soul searching. As far back as I can remember, my Mother would help others; by supplying a meal to someone that had lost a loved one or had been in the hospital. She was selfless in her giving and prayers. I knew that when I started my business, that I wanted to give back to my community, to carry on my Mother's tradition of helping others. I try to donate a Cake Pop arrangement as a auction item, to every charity that approaches me for a donation, but it didn't seem like enough. One day last year, I came up with the idea of a dessert sampling paired with a charity and so Sugar Rush was born. Right after that, my business really took off and I could not find time to work on this new project. That is until the Drury University SIFE team approached me about helping me promote my business. I explained my idea and they jumped at the chance to help me plan and get this off the ground.

We met on a weekly basis and my admiration for these students grew. They worked so hard to help get this idea off the ground and I am proud to say that it was a big success! I had chosen the charity, Care to Learn Foundation. They help children in our area, who are in poverty, by meeting their daily needs for items from shoes, coats, food and even hygene products. It was so fun to work with Morey from Care to Learn.

The event was held on November 16th at The Veridian, who graciously volunteered their venue. The evening was magical and a total Sugar Rush! We definitely named it correctly! Ha! There were over 350 tickets sold and more than 400 in attendance, including vendors. 24 restaurants, bakeries and coffee shops brought their best desserts for sampling. We even debuted our new flavor of the month for December; Chocolate Peppermint Cake with crushed Peppermints on top. Deee-lish! I'm still not sure of the amount that we raised but will find out the final numbers next week. We are hoping that the funds that we raised will be matched by Care to Learn founder's brother, Brad Pitt and by Bass Pro owner, Johnny Morris.

If you are in the Springfield, Missouri area and missed this wonderful fundraiser, you only have to wait 1 year. Yes, we will be hosting the event again next year and hopefully it will be bigger than ever!

Flavor of the Month & Charity of the Month

Aren't they just the cutest little Cake Pops? Our Halloween Characters are online ready for orders now.

This month, we have started something new. We are now offering a Flavor of the Month. Sometimes there might even be 2 Flavors offered, but this month there is only the one and it's a fan favorite: Pumpkin Spice. It is like a piece of pumpkin pie made into a Cake Pop and it is so yummy! You will not be disappointed.

Along with our Flavor of the Month, we decided to start a Charity of the Month too. When you order the Flavor of the Month 10% of the Retail Sales of this special flavor will be donated to a special charity each month. This month's charity is Breast Cancer Foundation of the Ozarks. October is National Breast Cancer Awareness month and since my own mother had breast cancer and passed away, it is a cause that is near and dear to me. There is no special code to enter, just place an order for the Pumpkin Spice Cake Pops and we will donate 10% of your order to BCFO.

Half Price Sale on Tuesday

Classic Cake Pops on SALE Tuesday for HALF PRICE!

You read that right, I'm putting our Classic Cake Pops on Sale this coming Tuesday for Half Price! No, I haven't lost my mind, I just wanted to do something for my wonderful customers, fans and followers. So, this particular blog is going to go over the ground rules for this once in a lifetime kind of sale.


GROUND RULES:

This sale is only for Tuesday, Sept. 14, 2010

Limit: 1 Dozen Classic Cake Pops for Half Price. ($10.50) By Classic Cake Pops we are referring to our round Cake Pops, like the photo above. You can choose 2 cake flavors and 2 candy coating colors. You also have a choice between swirls or sprinkles.

Order must be done online at www.cakepopco.com (NO phone calls please - you MUST order online)

Shipping (if needed) will be included with payment. Your options are FedEx Priority Overnight and 2 Day service. The temps are still too high for Ground Shipping. Please do not pick Local Springfield MO pick up option if you do not live in the Springfield MO area.

Orders must be paid for on day of sale, but you will have 30 days to use your half price dozen. (You can use a credit card with PayPal, if you don't have an account already set up)

You need to specify what date you'd like your order to arrive in the "comment" section of the order form. This is very important. We are anticipating over 100 orders and it will cut into production time, if we have to email or call every person to find out when they need their order. If you are unsure, try to estimate the best you can, so look at those calendars for birthdays, anniversaries, etc.

The Secret Code for this 1 Day Half Price Sale is: yum half off

Enjoy!
Deb

Far too long

It's been over a month since my last post. I'd like to say time flies when you're having fun, but moving 4 people into 3 different directions is anything but fun! My husband and I have moved into a new phase of our lives......we now have an empty nest. The transition has been easy because all three of our kids live in the area, but we're excited to be able to focus on the business more and have time to ourselves.

So now that I've explained my absence, let me catch you up on what HAS been happening with The Cake Pop Company. I am working on a new line of Cake Pops. I don't want to let too much out of the bag, because we're working up a big release and a whole campaign for the new products. For years I worked in an office setting and didn't have the chance to be creative, so this is so exciting for me to actually create new flavors and designs. I'm anxious to share them with you, but all in good time.

Earlier in August we received an order from Toulouse Gourmet in New Orleans. They needed 450 Cake Pops for the HBO Premier of the new Spike Lee Documentary called "If God is willing and Da Creek Don't Rise." Of course we jumped at the chance to be apart of this film premier. My husband and I have a special connection to New Orleans, because we spent our honeymoon and our 1st Anniversary there. We decided that with the heat it would be best for us to drive the order down to NOLA ourselves. My sister-in-law lived there for many years and hadn't been back since Katrina, so the three of us set out with Cake Pops in tow, south bound to New Orleans. We delivered the beautiful Cake Pops to Toulouse Gourmet the morning after we arrived there and met Russ and some of his staff. They were so nice and so great to work with. I look forward to working with them on some of their other events. After delivering the Cake Pops, we were then able to spend the next three days reacquainting ourselves with the fascinating and amazing city of New Orleans. The shops! The sights! The Riverwalk! Bourbon Street! The FOOD!!!! We basically ate our way through the city. It was the most amazing food and desserts that we had ever eaten. I can't wait to get back down there. Don't you just love the old world charm in the photos below? I miss it already. I know that we won't wait another 25 years to visit there!
As if moving and a trip to New Orleans didn't keep me busy enough, we threw in a local Bridal Expo. We made 1,200 sample size Cake Pops to give out to local brides, mothers of the brides, best friends, etc. It was amazing to see people get so excited about our Cake Pops. We literally had people coming to our booth, telling us that someone had told them that they HAD to come try our Cake Pops! Cake Pops caused quite a buzz! We even recognized a few customers and Facebook fans. Thank you to everyone that stopped by.

I promise that I will try to do better about posting new blogs on a semi-regular basis. August was such a whirlwind of a month, but then again.....Christmas is coming! (Yikes!)

National Debut and Degrees of Seperation

On July 23, our Cake Pops were featured on The Today Show during the Hoda & Kathie Lee part of the show. The amazing Bobbie Thomas talked about them on her Bobbie's Buzz segment. It was quite surreal to see our Cake Pops on National TV!

So how did this all come about? One of our celebrity clients of had sent a dozen of our Cake Pops to Hoda & Kathie Lee as a gift. They shared one with Bobbie Thomas, who then called me to order some as a gift. I was headed to NYC the next day and arranged a time to meet with her while I was there. Bobbie is the nicest, most genuine and generous person. She expressed interest in featuring the Cake Pops on her Bobbie's Buzz, but wasn't sure what date would be best. I received the call on Monday, July 19th saying that we needed to send the Cake Pops the next day and they would be featured that Friday. So of course, we hopped right on that!

http://bobbie.com/2010/07/bobbies-minute-buzz-13/

So this is why I haven't blogged for the past couple of weeks....we've been swamped with orders. We have some other exciting things in the works but nothing in concrete yet, but I will blog about them once they do come to be. Stay tuned.

The funny thing is that I can trace this whole experience back to my friend June. She is a kindergarden teacher in California who loves our Cake Pops and because of her generous spirit, my company was featured on The Today Show. You never know the degrees of seperation your customers and friends might have. She didn't have a direct link to any celebritites but knew others that did and liked our product so much that she shared it. So if you own your own business, my best advice to you is....treat ALL your customers like VIPs, because they are. Without them you would not have a business.

Baby Shower

I recently received an order from a wonderful lady, who described herself as a "cake snob". By "cake snob" she meant that she likes cakes that are as delicious to look at as they are to eat. When she came to pick up her order, we had a chance to visit a bit more and I found out that she is a photographer, so her original comment made sense. She was planning a baby shower for her friend and insisted on something beautiful and unique like Cake Pops instead of the typical sheet cake. I had fun making these pretty pink treats for her and her friends to enjoy.

Her name is Marcie Smith and she owns Star Portrait Design. (http://bludomain7.com/star/index2.php) You have to check out her website. She does amazing work!! (She's also on Facebook)

She shared the following photos that she took at the shower. They are displayed in sippy cups! What a great idea for anyone planning a shower.

Enjoy!

Sidewalk Angels Fundraiser

When I started my Cake Pop business, I knew that I wanted my company to participate in fundraising of some sort. We donate arrangements of Cake Pops to local charities when they have a need for an auction item, but I felt that we needed to do something on a larger scale.

I have been a Rob Thomas and Matchbox Twenty fan for over 13 years, so when the idea came to me to partner up with Rob and Marisol Thomas' Sidewalk Angels Foundation for a fundraiser, I was more than excited when I received the email accepting my offer. I had heard about their support and help for Pets Alive and being a pet owner myself, I was ready for my first fundraising challenge. I emailed Sidewalk Angels and discussed the details with Maria, Rob's Mother-in-Law, who helps them run the foundation. I sent a dozen Cake Pops for her to try.

To give you a little more information about what Sidewalk Angels Foundation does, I've referenced their website to give you a quick overview:

"Established by Rob and Marisol Thomas, Sidewalk Angels Foundation is a New York-based non-profit organization that works hand-in-hand with charities in and around America's big cities. Life in the city can be so fast that those in need are often passed by. People who are destitute or homeless and get lost in the system; those who cannot afford proper medical care; animals that have been abandoned or abused -- these are universal problems that Sidewalk Angels encourages people to address locally." (http://www.sidewalkangelsfoundation.com/)

We were able to schedule a photo shoot when Rob was doing a concert in nearby Kansas City and although I had met Rob at another time, I was very excited to do an actual photo shoot with him. So I asked two of my best pals, Erin and Danielle to tag along. Erin was our photographer that day. We didn't really know what to expect, but were allowed to observe Rob's Meet and Greet time with local radio winners. Once they had all exited the room, we had our time with Rob. I had brought enough Cake Pops for his band and crew but I also made a special dozen just for him that looked like cats and dogs. He was amazed that two of the Cake Pops looked like his two dogs. We talked about the work that Sidewalk Angels was doing and how he and his wife, Marisol enjoyed the Cake Pops that Maria had shared with them when we first set up the fundraiser. He loved the fact that Erin and Danielle kept calling the Cake Pops, Crack on a Stick. Rob made sure that we had great seats for his concert and we had a memory that we'll never forget!






























We didn't raise as much as we had hoped but I look forward to working again with them in the future. I highly recommend getting involved with a charity or foundation that you believe in and have a passion for. We can all make a difference in some way.

Emmy Style Event 2009

I mentioned in my Year One blog about the Emmy Style Event that we participated in. I've had a few questions about how we participated in such an event, so I thought I would expand with a quick blog about it.

When I first started this business, I had several sleepless nights and was brainstorming about how to market my new "baby" to the world. So I Googled Unique Marketing Ideas and after sorting though a ton of stuff that just wasn't very unique, I came across the idea of Gifting Suites. I looked up a few companies that special in celebrity gifting suites and found Secret Room Events. They responded quickly to my initial email and after a few emails back and forth, I found myself signing the contract to participate. Most of the gifting suites are associated with a charity and this one was sponsoring The Tigerlily Foundation, which raises money for Breast Cancer Research. I knew that this was the right one for me, as my own mother had passed away from complications of breast cancer.

My son, Josh flew out with me to help with the event, and my friend Melissa came up from San Diego to help out too. It was held at the beautiful SLS Beverly Hills Hotel. It was an experience that I will never forget. I even met Deidre Hall, from Day's of Our Lives!

See if you can pick out some of the celebrities below:

(Nick & Jay from Project Runway, Nancy Cartwright - voice of Bart Simpson, Kirsten Warren, Riley Weston, Sonia Rockwell are a few names that you may recognize)

WB Special Events

We were contacted by Warner Bros Studios Special Event Dept several months ago about using our Cake Pops for an International Screening Event that they were planning in May. It turned out to be our largest order to date. We blocked off an entire week of our calendar to fulfill this order of 2,500 Cake Pops. Yes, you read that right....2,500 Cake Pops. We could not have done it without the help of my family and friends, that is for sure.

Below are some of the photos that were taken at the event. The colors are so bright. We made up three special tinted colors for the event to coordinate with their color scheme. We also put the Cake Pops on longer sticks for their arrangements.

Cake Pops and Broadway

My sister-in-law had invited my youngest daughter on a trip to New York City for a graduation gift and I jumped at the chance to visit my favorite city and market my Cake Pop business. Our second night in town, we attended the musical, Promises Promises, which stars Sean Hayes and our family favorite, Kristin Chenoweth. We have followed Kristin's rise to stardom, because we have a mutual friend with her. Before the show began, I dropped off a dozen of Cake Pops to her at the stage door, name dropping our mutual friend. By intermission, my friend had sent me a message telling me that Kristin LOVED the Cake Pops, so after the show, we went back to the stage door to see if there was any chance that we could meet her. The stage manager, said that she definitely wanted to meet me. Meet me? Really? I have to say that Kristin Chenoweth is as warm and adorable as she appears to be. She loved the Cake Pops so much that I dropped another dozen off to her and one for Sean Hayes the next night. In fact she liked them so much, that she ordered for the whole cast and crew, even saving a couple of dozen for her interview with Rosie O'Donnell and for co-hosting with Regis!

I also met with Bobbie Thomas, of Bobbie's Buzz on The Today Show. What an fabulous young lady and the Brand that she has built on her expertise in showcasing new things and businesses is unlike any other. She's simply amazing! http://bobbie.com/

One of the contacts I made was with the owner of Swank Productions, Maya Kalman. Loved her and her staff! They had all kinds of ideas on how to incorporate our Cake Pops into their events. I can't wait to work with them! Check them out at http://www.swankproductions.com/

Coming up, we will be "sweetening" the Twilight Eclipse movie premier at a local event on Wednesday and Thursday night. We are making "Team Jacob" and "Team Edward" Cake Pops. If you follow us on Facebook, you can see the photos once those are done.

This business has opened doors and opportunities for me and my family to meet some of the most amazing people, not all of these people are movie and television stars. Some of the most fascinating have been just regular people that have a great story. I am so appreciative of every one of my customers.

Year One

When I started my business over a year ago, I thought that I would blog about starting a business, but starting a new business took up so much time that I didn't have time to blog. So much has happened in this first year of business, that I thought I would hit some of the high lights in my first official blog.

In September 2009, I was invited to participate in an Emmy Awards Style Lounge by the good people at Secret Room Events. It was a great opportunity and a chance to spend some time in one of my favorite cities...Los Angeles. It was a very hot afternoon at the SLS hotel in Beverly Hills, but the celebrities didn't care, they LOVED the Cake Pops.

Since then we have worked with several celebrities and some pretty impressive event planners, such as Big Dog Productions (Jay Leno's company) who ordered Christmas gifts from us. Paris Hilton's party planner order "hot" pink Cake Pops with a white "P" monogrammed on top for her 29th birthday party in LA. The same event planner ordered some for the Jimmy Kimmel Live show too. These are just a few of the celebrities that we've had the privilege of working with.

During our busiest time of the year, Christmas, we were approached by BRIDES Magazine about featuring our Cake Pops in an upcoming issue. We gladly shipped a couple dozen to their New York office. Believe me, when that May issue hit the news stands, I bought 2 copies. We are still receiving phone calls and emails from exposure.

In May this year, we were fortunate enough to be involved with an International event on the lot of Warner Bros Studios. It was so much fun working with their Special Event Dept. We made 2,500 Cake Pops for their event, customizing them with special colors and longer sticks.

We have also had the pleasure of doing a fundraiser with Rob Thomas' Sidewalk Angels Foundation last fall. It wasn't as big of a fundraiser as I had hoped it would be, but in this economy, anything can really help. It was fun to meet with Rob and do a quick photo shoot with some special Cake Pops that we had made for him and his crew.
We have also made donations to some awesome local charities and events, such as Taste of the Ozarks to benefit Big Brothers Big Sisters, The Heart Ball, which supported the American Heart Association.

I definitely could not have had this successful of a year without the support of my family and friends, especially my husband, Darryl.

So much has happened over this 1st year of business and I'm sure that I'm missing something, but I just wanted to catch up, so that going forth from here, I can write about current happenings. After all, it's the small things in between the larger than life things that sometimes matter the most.