Vermont Shortbread Company

Handing Out Samples: The Best Food Marketing Technique

My pal, Michael Adams from Eddie's Energy Bars stopped by my house yesterday morning to talk marketing, local gossip, and money.  Michael just did about the smartest thing a food marketer can do.  He bought a small canopied tent and is offering up samples of his homemade energy bars for New England events.

From personal experience with my shortbread biz and word on the street from other food marketers, this is perhaps the most effective way to market ourselves.  Tastings at grocery stores, cultural and fund raising events are time and energy consuming, but they work well with only a small cash outlay. In my opinion, aspiring specialty food producers are much wiser to spend their money as Michael did rather than spend it on glossy print advertising.  Yes, print advertising has its benefits too, but when you're cash-strapped and just starting out, you have to just get out there, attract attention, and feed people.  Paid print advertising comes later when there is money in the coffers and better ability to produce your product in volume.  I still don't do it much because the return on my investment at this point in my business growth is negligible, and I know my production volume limits.  Later, when I have more money to throw around, I will.  Slow, purposeful, controlled, debt-free growth is healthy growth for me and the energy bar guru. 

Elbow grease and physical visibility...along with top-notch copywriting and marketing advice, a cool tent like the Eddie's Energy Bars rig, and maybe a vanity plate for your car (mine says S BREAD and it's a tad dorky, but it's a surefire conversation starter). Don't be afraid to dress up in attention-getting business-promoting garb, add graphics to your car, or hand out free samples at local events.

IT'S INSTANT, MEMORABLE PUBLICITY - CHEAP OR FREE! Now that's a smart start for any small business owner.

Newly Minted FULL TIME Shortbread CEO Seeks New Corporate Clients

I'm not a technical writer anymore.  Well, maybe not today or tomorrow.  I've learned to never say never because technical writing is a big part of who I am professionally.  However, I am done at IBM.    I walked into IBM on September 11, 2001 just as the first plane hit the World Trade Center (yep, it's true).  What a wild day that was.   My final day today was a little less dramatic and a different kind of emotional.  My time at IBM got me through some financially lean years, allowed me to pay my mortgage, earn a good living as a single parent, and provided fantastic flexibility during which I grew my little business ever so slowly.  For that I am grateful.  And now I'm grateful to have a choice. 

Tomorrow I'm a full time CEO who seeks new corporate gift giving clients.  My perfect referrals:

• real estate people
• virtual assistants
• small business owners who like to give customer appreciation gifts
• personal coaches
• BNI members
• people who don't have time or hate to shop
• professional errand runners
• bosses
• local restaurants
• gift shops
• facilities where corporate events are held
• large country inns
• golf clubs
• people who buy gifts for conference speakers

Got one of these people on your list of contacts?  Think they may enjoy receiving a sample shortbread gift box or receiving a call or visit from the CEO of a cool baking company?   Then let me know pronto via email at jsaz@gmavt.net.  I've got a business to run! 

I'm going to walk the dog,  clear my head, and check out the 100 daffodil bulbs I planted last fall just beginning to sprout.  Tomorrow I'm off to Boston.  I'll blog about it and more next week. 

Think shortbread.   Think independence. 

Ann Zuccardy, Vermont Shortbread Company, CEO and founder

Personal Selling and Ann's Gig at Champlain College

Yesterday my friend, Markey Read of Career Networks asked me at 8 a.m. to come speak about personal selling to a marketing class she was teaching at Champlain College at 11 a.m. 

Dressed in my most unprofessional garb and totally unprepared, I immediately responded with a hearty, "YES!" 

Whoa, is this the same Anxiety Annie I've known for 44 years?  I think not! (Maybe it's time to drop the Anxiety Annie moniker.)

I eagerly accepted Markey's invitation because:

1. I am passionate about marketing,
2. I am even more passionate about teaching,
3. Thanks to my involvement in BNI, speaking to large groups no longer scares me in the least. 

So, I arrived to class, eager and earnest, a box of shortbread under my arm, to a discussion about different types of marketing and the pros and cons of each.  My job was to lead a small group in a discussion about personal selling.  There were other small groups discussing other marketing techniques such as: direct response, publicity and public relations, and advertising.   After looking at a product and answering some questions, each group reported on their observations.  All the groups did a wonderful job (after being fed raspberry jam filled shortbread which is known to loosen up any group - hee-hee!). 

Okay, I'll admit right now...I've never taken a marketing or business course in my entire life AND I LOVED this discussion.  I learned a lot by interacting with a bunch of college kids and filling in some blanks in my own marketing wisdom through listening to a teacher lay out some definitions and the lively discussion and examples that followed.

You know how sometimes you just learn something by doing it, but you know that because you've never taken a class or read a book about the topic, there's some stuff you don't know that you don't know?  That's me and marketing.  That was me and technical writing.  Heck, that's me and LIFE.  I'm always stressing about the stuff I know I don't know and trying to figure out how I'm supposed to learn it if I don't know what it is.  (Does that make sense?)

I'm tickled pink that Markey thought enough of my knowledge and experience to allow me to share it with her class yesterday.  Thanks, all, for welcoming me warmly and teaching me a thing or two about marketing. 

My only complaint was that out of about 25ish people in the room, I knew, beyond any doubt, that I was the OLDEST one there (I've even got Markey beat by just a couple years).

Holy cow, that is just tooooooooo weird for me to wrap my brain around.  I need to take a nap now.

Your shortbread and personal selling expert,  AGED Annie (anxious nevermore)

The ABBA Museum: A Recent Vermont Public Radio Piece

Read Philip Baruth's The Vermont Daily Briefing, December 2, 2006 post (Then Shall We All Be Bjorn Again) for a funny story about the ABBA musuem planned to open in Stockholm in 2008.  As a fan and teen when ABBA was in its heyday, I found this post poignant on a personal level and juicy fodder for my marketing mind. 

It's a fine example of marketing at its best: repackage stuff a zillion different ways to squeeze every cent of profit out of it.  Sometimes, as in the case of Star Wars, as Baruth points out, the original intent just becomes so sullied it becomes, well...for lack of a better word...sad.  The original Star Wars movie was memorable for me because it was my first car date.  We took my date's mom's station wagon, bought soft ice cream after the movie, and stopped to make out on the way home.  It was perfect, innocent, and beautiful, as was the movie.  I can't bear to think about what happened to Star Wars (or me) after that first movie. 

What's the point where repackaging the same old stuff over and over becomes old and downright sacrilege?  Friends of mine back off when they sense an impending rant about flavored coffees, extreme political correctness, trendy private schools and spoiled children, chocolate "martinis", the PowerPointification of America (write to me in person if you want more info on this one - I'd be glad to pontificate about jargon and the verbification of nouns with you) and "artisan" food products.  "Enough, already" is often followed by the phrase I utter while sadly shaking my head and staring into space, "It's just not right." 

(I'm generally quiet and mild-mannered, but I'm opinionated, in case you haven't noticed.)

Here's where I weigh in:

• Star Wars sequels:  it's just not right
• Flavored coffee: thumbs down
• Trendy artisan cheeses: thumbs up
• Geico caveman: thumbs down
• Shortbread action figures: no way
• ABBA museum:  Stay tuned...I need to process this one

There's an incessant battle being waged in my brain between my own values and conventional marketing wisdom.   I want it to stop, but it never does. 

All I can say is: marketing fascinates me.  What makes people pay attention?  What generates profit for small businesses like Vermont Shortbread Company?   

Most importantly, how do I stay on top of all this and remain in integrity with myself while making big bucks and NOT selling my soul, creativity, and time to a fickle corporate bureaucracy?   

I suspect this is way too much thinking for a Saturday a.m.  It's off to the bakery for some mindless physical labor for me and my shortbread business empire. 

Geico Commercials: I Don't Get Them

Okay, here are some branding / marketing questions for you gurus out there.  This is part rant, part serious questioning from someone who wants to learn. 

I just don't get the Geico caveman commercials.  You know...the one where the cavemen are ordering food in a restaurant and now, the new one with the caveman in the airport looking at the poster that says "so easy even a caveman can do it." (or something to that effect) 

Obviously, I do not have a formal education in business or marketing, but as a reasonably savvy consumer and business owner, I just don't get the caveman thing!  Am I missing the message?  What IS the message? 

I sheepishly admit I enjoy trying to figure out the psychological games going on in most commercials, but this one leaves me empty and confused like a relationship gone bad.  Perhaps I am a caveman? 

Please enlighten me.  Dina?  Are you there? 

P.S. The Geico gecko now irritates me so much I change the channel the minute I hear his voice. 

P.P.S. I'm sticking with the "good hands" people, thank you. 

Order Shortbread Online with Our New Web Site!

The new web site is up!  Be sure to bookmark it (www.vermontshortbread.com).  You can now order gourmet shortbread online. 

My heartfelt thanks and gratitude to Dina Giolitto who kicked some serious butt to make this happen.  Not only is Dina a shortbread fan, but she thinks and writes as I do and helped create exactly what I envisioned - a friendly site that reflects me and the successful brand I've worked hard to create.   

Please visit me at Vermont Shortbread Company if you're in need of a tasty Vermont Mother's Day gift or if you're in the market for top-notch support in getting your unique business message out into the world through copywriting, branding, or creative internet marketing, visit Dina at Wordfeeder.com.

Specialty Foods on e-Bay?

I've been looking at e-Bay stores that sell baked goods.  I was surprised to find a good selection of professional looking sites and products. 

I know absolutely nothing about e-Bay stores.  I've bought and sold individual items on e-Bay, but never thought of it as a place to peddle Vermont Shortbread Company's products.  I think I may be harboring a preconceived notion that selling my product in this way would somehow dilute its appeal as a gourmet product or that it isn't professional.  Am I off base? 

Is this a good idea?  Is it easy to set up a store?  If you have experience operating an e-Bay store, I'd love to hear about your trials and tribulations. 

The Power of Barter

I was a little concerned going into the holiday season that I'd have too many barter sales and not enough cash sales.  This has not been the case. 

I've done an amazing amount of business through my barter networks this holiday season; both buying and selling.  Not once have I had to set foot in Wal-Mart or the mall.  I've always abhorred mall shopping, but send me to a thrift shop, food or wine shop, or flea market, and I'm thrilled. 

There are a few cool things about the local barter networks I belong to:

1) I've met local small business owners who I might not have met otherwise.  These are the people who have similar business struggles and wins to me.  Instant support group, great networking opportunities, all-around nice people to know!  Next time I need a printer, I'm more likely to use the local guy on my barter network than the big online service I've been using for years. 

2) It's increased my cash revenue.  Here's an example.  I did a barter transaction for 6 gift box shortbreads.  The buyer then gave them away as gifts.  One of her gift recipients called me after receiving one and said, "This is the best shortbread I've ever tasted.  How do I order?"  She immediately placed a cash order with me.  She's a customer in Virginia I would have never known otherwise.  This is not an isolated case.  It happens frequently.

3) I've earned a lot of barter dollars now that I can spend with local merchants.  I intend to use my barter dollars for printing services, painting the interior of my house, some massages, house cleaning, and maybe a meal or two out!  The possibilities are endless and I feel good about spending my money locally. 

Why My Web Site Sucks

I've been apologizing for years for having a pathetic web site where people cannot order shortbread online.  I stopped apologizing this year.  I've been thinking a lot about the slow food movement (mindful, non-obsessive, long meals with everything in moderation) and applying it to my personal life and my business. 

Shortbread Mold: Prizes Available If You Find Mold!

Ewwwww!  Has Ann gone into a home-based penicillin biz?  What is shortbread mold?!

No, silly. I'm referring to baking molds - those pretty terra cotta molds in which I bake my delicious shortbread. 

I own about 60 of these round molds.  They were made by a company called Hartstone out of Ohio.  The product is called The Shortbread Mold.  It's about 9" around and is scored into 8 triangular wedges with a pretty heart and tulip motif. 

Anyway, these molds have never been an issue while I was baking in my humble kitchen because I could only fit 3 in my oven at once. 

Now that my commercial bakery is almost finished I have the ability to bake about 40 of these babies at once in my new oven (photos coming soon)!  Here's the problem:  I need more molds and Hartstone doesnt' make them anymore.

I frequently search e-Bay and find them there.  However, I've never found them anywhere else. 

Here's the deal: Find me one of these babies on e-Bay or in a flea market (I won't pay more than $15 for it) and I'll reimburse you for the mold, cost of shipping it to me, AND give you a FREE holiday shortbread.

Got moldy questions?  E-mail me at jsaz@gmavt.net for more details.