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In this week's Baking it Down Podcast - Episode 169 - Corrie-tisol, Corrie said, "I want to talk about ways to manage stress." And for good reason - in 2022 she was admitted to the hospital because her kidneys were shutting down. The cause? Chronic, unmanaged stress.

So while this is a business podcast, the business of managing stress will keep you in business. 😫 Chronic stress is no good for the bottom line 📉 - it'll lead to burnout, and up until the day you throw the ol' "tea towel" in, you'll be cursin' the day you first picked up that piping bag.

It's M-I-S-E-R-A-B-L-E.

So - the solution? Well, as with everything - it's a plan of attack, not a single pill to solve all of our proverbial problems (💊 but wouldn't that be nice?!).

Here are 5 things Twin #2 did to cut down on the cortisol spikes.

☕ 1. Manage Caffeine intake.

Caffeine - I love it, I love it, I want some more of it. But when it comes to cortisol, shelving the caffeine (or at least delaying it) may be the answer. 👣 Instead of going cold turkey, try "baby-stepping" your way to a healthier relationship with the brown nectar.

• 🧊🦃 Limit your first cup until later morning (letting your body catch up naturally to what the day holds).
• 🧊🦃 Try going "every other" with a 🫗 glass of water in between caffeine-heavy sodas (where my diet coke lovers at?!).

🧠 2. Identify Stressful Triggers.

I spent 35 years strengthening my stressors, so it could take just as long to tear them down. Being able to identify what causes stress spikes is our key to developing new patterns in handling stress.

• 🧠 What are the things you can control in a stressful situation?
• 🧠 What are the things outside of your control?

Once you identify what you can change and what you can't, you can then channel your thoughts into finding solutions - not fretting about all the worst possible outcomes.

“A man who suffers before it is necessary suffers more than is necessary.” - Seneca

💆🏼‍♀ 3. Implement Relaxation Techniques.

Okay - we've identified what we can control, and we've let go of what we can't control. Now fill up that newly found free time with things you find relaxing. I got Corrie a Calmigo (heads up - I can't believe I spent that much money on something so basic - but hey, her kidneys were shutting down, seemed like a cheaper option than a hospital bill). Science says that deep, conscious breathing in and out can really have an immediate effect on cortisol spikes. Walking is a great way to lower stress hormones too.

• 😮‍💨 Breathing exercises (shortness of breath = high cortisol)
• 😮‍💨 Low impact exercise routine can use up excess cortisol - so walking during a stressful situation
• 😮‍💨 Good sleep hygiene (be on time, sleep long enough, phones outta the room, cool dark room)

🖍️ 4. Find a Non-Baking Hobby.

Unfortunately, most of us turned our baking hobbies into baking jobbies - they're no longer the stress relievers we intended them to be. The answer? Find a new hobby that lets you let down your guard for a bit. The more mindless, the better. They say not to move to your favorite vacation destination because it turns "a place where I can relax" into "a place where I have to mow and pay the HOA." Here are some mind-numbing ideas.

• 🖍️ Lettering / Calligraphy
• 🖍️ Sewing
• 🖍️ Coloring Books / Paint Gems
• 🖍️ Animal Crossing (Video Games)

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🚶‍♂ Alotta Parking Lots - Volume-based pricing versus high pricing.

In this week's Baking it Down Podcast - Episode 168 - Alotta Parking Lots, Corrie wanted to talk... well, parking lots.

🌴 We took off from the podcast last week to visit VA Beach (love that beach if you're passing through the great state of Virginny). There's a three-mile strip that runs along the oceanfront where hotels, restaurants, and shops are lined up as far as you can see (or walk). In between this sea of spending, there are parking lots for the endless number of cars driving to spend the day feasting and beaching.

🚗🚕🚙 Some of the parking lots have better beach views (🌞 you know - for when your car apparently wants to relax /s) than even some of the restaurants! And some parking lots felt like they were a 3-hour walk to the destination. Pricing for parking spots ranged from $5 - $30 depending on where the lots were and at what capacity they were at. Prices also went up the closer to the weekend it got (gotta love surge pricing). By Saturday Night, the boardwalk is absolutely packed with people (and their parking spots).

This begs the question - 🤔 how can all the parking lots be marketing money when some charged $50 and others charged $5? Are some parking lots working at a loss? Are some lots price gouging?? What gives??

Simple - 🔪 far-away parking lots are operating with razor-thin margins but working at higher sales volume, and featured parking lots charging a premium to cover all of their add-ons (and proximity) but serving fewer cars = higher margins and lower volume.

In essence - both parking lot pricing structures can result in profitable parking businesses. As long as the parking lots' costs are covered (electricity, asphalt upkeep, parking attendee, towing contract), both models produce a profit (a key when it comes to surviving in business).

🤔 "But why wouldn't the cheap lot just charge more? Sounds like people are willing to pay it."

💵 The parking lot charging less often does so because it costs less to run it. 💸Think: 🚙 hiring a parking attendee with 20 years of valet experience versus a college kid on summer break who doesn't know how to parallel park.

Same with parking lot lighting. 💡 The high-end lot we ended up parking in (because it was the only one servicing our hotel) had automatic motion sensor lights in their covered multi-story garage whereas the cheap lots off the strip had next to no lighting at all. Security gates, parking passes, in-and-out privileges - it's easy to see the cost savings versus the cost splurging.

But here's the thing: all the parking lots were full. 🚘🚖🚔🚖🚘🚖🚔

The ones 4 blocks off the strip ✨and✨ the ones right on the beach were all filled with their target demographic. And the overpriced lot we parked in? So full, in fact, they were sending folks to the cheaper lots and shuttling them over.

Same with bakeries.

As long as the costs are covered (math says you can't run a business at a loss), you have bakers who charge a little ✨but✨ make up for it with their high volume of orders, and bakers who charge a ton - which limits their leads - ✨but✨ they have such high margins built into each order, they're still profitable.

You pay the pied piper one way or another. Either working by baking more or working by marketing more. It's up to you, your personality, and your expertise as to which you prefer to be.

🙅 An introvert may like to charge less per order if it means they don't have to speak at a chamber meeting. 🙋 An extrovert may prefer giving a 10-minute presentation and raking in corporate leads if it means they don't have to be stuck in the kitchen for the next month.

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In this week's Baking it Down Podcast - Episode 167 - Getting Corpy Orders, Corrie wanted to switch from telling you to get into corporate orders and now tell you how to get corporate orders.

Corporate orders are great - they have higher dollar amounts, bigger order totals, repetitive simple designs (hopefully), and could become a consistent recurring order. Corporate clients' "cut-to-the-chase" approach to ordering saves a ton of back-and-forth and the limited scope means simplistic designs.

But, as always, there's no such thing as a free lunch and the same applies to corporate orders.

👉 1. Set up a GMB / GBP on Google Maps.

"Google Business Profile is my #1 corpy lead source." Okay - that's her answer folks, when I asked Corrie where she's getting corporate leads. And for good reason. Google Maps is a great way for a cold audience (cold = audience who has never heard of you before) to find your listing. But businesses aren't magically added to Maps (unlike websites like Yelp and Bakerias that use scrapers to populate listings). You have to actually list yourself, go through a verification process, fill out the profile, and continue to build out the profile by adding posts, updates, and pics along with getting good reviews.

The Onesday Wednesday shows a pic of Corrie's GMB profile. You'll see no address? That's because it's set up correctly - as a service area. There's a big suspension campaign rolling out for incorrectly listed profiles on Maps. Unless you have a brick and mortar, you are a service business (even if clients pick up at your door).

👉 2. In-Person / Referral Corpy Client Acquisition.

Probably the least liked but the most effective tip on getting corporate clients: in-person outreach and network referrals. In the wild world of internet marketing, "cold email" is the least effective method of outreach. Why? Because it's the easiest. The easier it is, the less effective it is. And that's why in-person outreach is so effective.

• 🤝 Go to in-person networking events (BNI, Chamber, Toast Masters)
• 🤝 Utilize LinkedIn and LinkedIn Company Page posts.
• 🤝 Go to a home show / vendor show with printed cookies.
• 🤝 Ask for businesses to be "test mules" for printed cookies.
• 🤝 Use the Mainstreet Collab approach to recommend businesses to your audience (and tag said business).
• 🤝 Market to the companies you're already paying (landscaper, the plumber, the nail salon, the dentist)

👉 3. Add a Corporate Page to your Website.

Dedicate an entire page on your website to corporate order clients. Tell them exactly what they need to know, what they need to tell you, and how this will play out. Corporate clients are b-u-s-y. They don't have time to go back and forth about their hopes and dreams. They want to know how much, how fast, and how many. Build out that page for efficiency. Bonus if you include a corporate-only intake form on that page only.

👉 4. Offer Delivery (when legal).

Most corporate orders are for events. Some are for holiday gifts, but let's focus on events for this tip. These corpy clients are busy managing a grand opening. The last thing they want to do is drive to your front porch. Offering delivery for these clients (even if you don't deliver) can seal the deal. Feel free to charge for it too - time is money, and they know that. "Your order is $600. You can pick it up in [City], or I can deliver it to your business for $X." Make that money, honey.