This blog post is for all influencers, celebrities, or brands requesting cake for their personal or work events.
We get hundreds of requests for cake in exchange of exposure. I would "thank you for reaching out" but I won't, because I'm not thankful for your "opportunity" to work for free. And it's also clogging up my DMs and inbox.
Whilst I'm aware influencer marketing is a massive thing, and "influencing" has become a very popular career choice for many young people, it simply does not work for us.
In particular, hand-made, edible works of art, ie cakes, are expensive to produce. They are a luxury. Here are some reasons, amongst many, why we will say no:
Opportunity Cost
I would rather not cake, and spend the time working for money, or with my family and friends instead. Life's too short to work for likes.
Exposure Dilution
Most "celeb" or influencer events involve LOTS of freebies. This dilutes any exposure our carefully crafted product would get (your followers literally do not care about who the cake maker is). It's also vulgar.
Parasite Magnet
A lot of influencers are followed by...other influencers. The few times I have been swayed into caking for free, I received more requests for free cake. I would rather you paid for the cake and didn't post or tag, than the other way round.
Return On Investment
Our customers pretty much all have Instagram accounts, and nearly always share photos of their cake. Their followers are extremely targeted as it’s their friends, family and colleagues, and we have built our business from getting loyal and repeated referrals. No celeb/influencer/brand following, even in the hundreds of thousands or millions is better than our loyal customers'. I'd rather reward them, than a random.
So no thank you for reaching out. Pay for your freakin' cake you cheapskate.
Reshmi
We also saw your post on r/choosingbeggers as well and that’s exactly why I am here looking at your site. I love your cakes and was looking to see if you could mail some macaroons to the U.S. free of course Lmao just kidding about the free part but seriously I’d love to know if shipping to the US is a possibility. I would be glad to buy some they look fantastic.
You are right to count on your loyal customers. My family had a high-end, custom furniture business and it was our clients of more modest means who provided the bulk of our sales and kept us in business. Even if they had to save for over a year, they still wouldn’t moan and complain like the self-proclaimed rich and influential and people. Such people don’t realize that taking your time by pestering you over the course of multiple interactions has already destroyed any profit—even if they actually paid for the cake at that point! No thank you indeed.
I also ended up on your website after your blog was mentioned on r/Choosingbeggars. I LOVE how you deal with these people who think it’s perfectly normal to assume you would put in your hard work, your ART, for likes, exposure or mentions. Your cakes look amazing and it’s probably a good thing I don’t live anywhere closeby… I would go bankrupt buying them :)
Same as above, had a laugh from r/ChoosingBeggars, but from Manchester,UK
I’m in Austin, TX, but I’m adding this place to my must drop by list of places to visit in London when I go visit friends. I’m a digital marketing professional and I saw the post talking about this on reddit. You cakes are amazing and you deserve to be paid for your work! Have a beautiful day.
I wAnT a fRee cAkE, ilL gIVe yOu eXposUre, tHanK mE LAteR :)
Next time my family visits London (I live in the Los Angeles area) we will be happy to stop by and buy a cake. Saw your blog post referenced on r/ChoosingBeggars and got a hearty laugh. You will probably get more business from this blog post than you ever would from influencers.