50 Times People Took Baking To Another Level, As Shared In This Online Group (New Pics)

Pie artist Jessica, @thepieous, shared with us that those hoping to be ‘cutting edge’ bakers will always be a step behind if they only ever look to other bakers for design or flavor inspiration.

“Look to inspiring visual elements that have nothing to do with baking and to flavors outside the traditional realm of baked goods, and think about ways that you might be able to incorporate those disconnected elements into your work,” she told Bored Panda via email.

Jessica suggested that these bakers observe various trends in the worlds of fashion, music, nature, travel, patterns, colors, and elsewhere. Bakers should not feel like they can only take inspiration from others in their field. 

“Follow non-baker artists online. Sample flavors from cultures other than your own. Go on walks around your neighborhood and take pictures of interesting shapes and textures you find out in the world. Keep a physical or digital scrapbook of your visual inspirations and a journal of the flavors that really resonated with you. Then, when it comes time to develop your own new recipes and designs, you’ll have plenty to inspire you without having to worry about rehashing existing, played-out trends!”

Meanwhile, Bored Panda was interested in Jessica’s take on what bakers can do to stand out with photos of their projects in a sea of talented bakers around the world. In the pie artist’s opinion, the question isn’t as straightforward as it might seem.

According to Jessica, standing out or going viral online “does not always equate to success in your business as a baker.” This holds particularly true if your clientele is entirely local. There might be a disconnect between your online fame and how your business grows in the physical world.

Instead, she suggested first looking at what your goals are for your business and then developing your online strategy based on them. Doing research on the market and your target audience is vital for any business—baking included!

“If you operate a traditional brick-and-mortar bakery or a wedding buffet catering service in a local market, you may not see a rise in business, even if you develop a crazy new cake trend that goes mega-viral on Reddit or TikTok!” Jessica explained to Bored Panda.

“First, figure out where your specific customer base actually hangs out online and what kind of content they enjoy consuming. Then, look at your competitors in the space who are really succeeding at reaching this market, and start a doc jotting down all the things you notice them doing with their social presence.”

Jessica shared some of the important questions business owners ought to ask themselves when evaluating their competitors’ work and online presence: “Are they posting cake images with a different solid color background and a little share-worthy text overlay? Are they posting video clips with the baker giving fun tips each day? Are they writing little stories to go along with each post? Are they posting at certain times of the day? On certain platforms only? Do they run giveaways or collabs with local businesses? Do they spend a lot of time engaging with every commenter?”

She suggested that, first, business owners start by emulating the formats that they know work for at least three months, and then they must decide if they want to stick to the strategy or pivot.

“At the end of the day—beyond the basics of just using natural light, a tripod for your iPhone, and a clean backdrop for your photos—reaching your audience online is not so much about finding the viral gimmick that will make your pictures stand out from the pack as it is about consistent, authentic community engagement!”

Feel free to check out Jessica’s online baking courses at ‘PieSavvy,’ as well as her book ‘Pies Are Awesome.’ In the meantime, don’t miss out on her latest pie art posts on Instagram!