We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Lizzie Toland a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Lizzie, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. How did you come up with the idea for your business?

I started decorating cookies for fun in the winter of 2019. I wasn’t finding any jobs that fulfilled me, so every weekend I would spend any extra energy I had on practicing cookie decorating. Over the years, I had become obsessed with cookie decorating videos on Facebook and Instagram, and all I wanted to do was be as good as those decorators. For anyone wondering, cookie decorating was not an immediate take. It took weeks of practice alone just to get the cookie dough right. Then another couple months perfecting my royal icing skills. I believe everyone has the ability to be good at a craft, it all just depends on how much practice you’re willing to put into it. And now almost three years later, I am friends with a lot of the cookie artists that inspired me, and I’m even able to inspire other people to pick up this craft! Unfortunately, very early on in the business, I realized just how difficult it was to make a living making cookies, and I had seen other cookie decorators struggling with this. I didn’t want to expand my operations or hire employees, and I was trying to avoid taking out loans. I know a lot of people didn’t understand why I wouldn’t want a physical storefront for my bakery, but I just had such a different vision of my ideal business model. Instead of taking more orders every week and wearing myself out, I became interested in the idea of passive income for my small business. In order to create a sustainable career, I wanted to create a product once, but make money from it more than once. Passive income streams have completely changed my small business and given me so much more room to grow. Digital recipes, guides, tutorials, etc. have become such a big part of what I do. And with the help of a large social media following , I have brought together so many people that love this craft as much as I do and who want to watch and learn!

Lizzie, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

Hi there! My name is Lizzie and I am a cookie decorating content creator. This basically means I get paid to decorate cookies, and I also get paid to post about it! This is something that can be applied to any career though, if you can build a social media following, you can make that your full-time job. There are many things I offer in my business: custom cookies, recipes, digital guides, merch, DIY cookie decorating kits and more! Not only do I want to make beautiful works of art on my cookie canvases, but I also want to teach others how to do the same. I think what sets me apart is that I don’t just make a set of cookies and call it a day. I take that set I’m decorating, film the whole process, and use that footage to create many other passive income products related to the set. I am most proud of the progress I have been able to make on social media, I currently have 77,000 fans that love cookie decorating as much as I do. My social media is also how I can personally connect with those fans and help them to learn cookie decorating. My goal for the future is to create a new wave of decorators. There is a surplus of people wanting custom decorated cookies, and not enough people jumping on the opportunity. With my guides, I walk you from start to finish in both cookie decorating, and also running a successful bakery business from home.

How did you build your audience on social media?

Consistency, consistency, consistency. It’s really that simple. Post every single day, videos especially. It’s hard work but it’s also a guarantee if you stick with it for at least a couple months. With your videos, simply show your process. Take small clips throughout your day of what you’re working on. Take the videos in clean surroundings, with indirect natural light. Then stitch your clips together, and include satisfying sounds if possible because that’s what people love! Voiceovers are also a really great tool for creating a more personal connection with your audience. Lastly, try to have fun with it. At least do it for you, and no one else. Think of it as a way to watch your progress and build a community of friends that are as invested as you are!

What’s been the best source of new clients for you?

As a baker selling cookies locally, it is so powerful to have a simple sticker on every cookie you make if possible. This is assuming you are individually packaging your cookies. A really cheap hack to afford this many stickers is to buy a ton of circle sticker paper sheets, and print your logo onto them from your printer at home! If you think about four dozen cookies going to a wedding, that’s 48 new people that possibly live in the area, are now impressed by your product, and have a nice label with your contact info so they can place an order with you!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://direct.me/lizziebakesco/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lizziebakesco/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCv26bb23BXyJoZVi9Cx0_bA
• Other: Tik Tok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lizziebakesco Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/lizziebakesco/