My Business Model: A Baker That Doesn’t Sell Her Cakes
There are two questions I get all the time. The first question is what I do with all the cakes I make in my videos. The second is how people can order a cake from me!
I also have to answer this question when people ask what I do. I tell them I’m a baker, or that I make cakes (to keep things simple), and they start talking about an upcoming birthday they need a cake for.
Sometimes I think I should just say I’m a freelancer or a content creator to avoid that tangent. Because as soon as I politely say that I don’t actually sell my cakes, I see the confusion on their faces.
I know they want to ask, “Then what do you really do? How do you make money?” And I totally get it…how could I be a baker and not sell my cakes?!
People usually phrase their next question as “Wow, how does your business work then?!”
This is when I go into my long-winded explanation about what I actually do.
I’m a jill of all trades and have a lot of irons in the fire. While I no longer make money selling cakes (I stopped selling cakes at the end of 2016), baking can bring in money in a lot of different ways. As of 2023, this includes:
- blogging advertisements (about 50% of my revenue)
- paid partnerships on social media (about 40% of my revenue)
- Amazon affiliate links (about 3% of my revenue)
- monetizing my YouTube channel (about 3% of my revenue)
- monetizing my Facebook videos (about 2% of my revenue)
- creating digital content for The Food Network (about 2% of my revenue)
- teaching private cake lessons (I taught lessons until 2021, but don’t anymore)
- hosting corporate events (I hosted events through 2021, but don’t anymore)
Keep in mind that every content creator’s business model is unique! Even mine has changed a lot over the 4 years I’ve been doing this full-time.
And there’s a lot more to it than that. In this post, I share all the details about how I make money as a baker who doesn’t sell cakes 😛
Blogging
A lot of people think the era of blogging is dead. I’ll admit, I used to think the same thing. But it’s quite the opposite. Where do you go looking for recipes?
Most people answer “by searching online”. These days, people aren’t usually baking from cookbooks when Google is at their fingertips.
People are also interested in trying recipes from a chef or baker they follow on social media. When they trust someone and their recipes, they’re likely to go back to that person’s blog time and time again.
I never thought I’d say this, but my biggest (and most consistent) revenue stream is from my blog. It alone makes more than 3x my corporate salary. It wasn’t always like that though!
After I decided to take Chelsweets full-time, I spent months learning how to optimize my blog and updating old posts to get chelsweets.com where it is today (about 1.2M pageviews/month).
I started blogging a few years ago but didn’t really invest time in it until this past year.
Blogging is super time-consuming. I had a hard time prioritizing my blog when I was still working full-time. Back then, I had to dedicate all my remaining energy to baking, content creation, and video editing.
I love blogging because I have control over it. While Google can change its algorithm and affect my SEO traffic, it’s still a reliable monthly income stream that I am able to generate on my own.
It isn’t like relying on brands to come to me for a partnership or waiting to see if a company wants to renew a long-term contract.
Different Traffic Sources
My blog traffic comes from three main sources:
- Roughly 20% is from people directly typing in chelsweets.com or returning to blog posts they’ve bookmarked.
- About 25% is driven by my social channels (Facebook, YouTube, Pinterest, and Instagram).
- The remaining 55% of my views come organically from search.
It’s important to make your blog SEO (search engine optimization) friendly. From researching and picking the right keyword (I use KeySearch for this), to tagging photos correctly, to adding meta descriptions, there’s a lot to it.
I also work hard to create and share engaging videos that make people want to head to my blog and try my recipes. My hope is that they’ll be inspired to make a new cake flavor or tackle a new decorating style.
It took me a long time to learn how to strategically write blog posts, and it’s always a work in progress.
Turning Page Views into Money
All of this is great, but a blog doesn’t magically make money on its own. I use WordPress (which I LOVE and highly recommend), which lets anyone opt into sharing ads on their blog with Google AdSense.
But it’s hard to make any real money through AdSense, even if you do have decent traffic.
Luckily some companies offer full-service ad management and help you make a lot more. Some of the top ad management companies are Mediavine, Adthrive, and Ezoic.
You have to apply to be a part of these networks, and there are traffic thresholds you have to pass before you will be accepted.
I’m with Mediavine and have nothing but wonderful things to say about them. They are amazing to work with and super responsive.
They also have loads of resources (from in-depth blog posts to their podcast, Theory of Content), which have taught me just about everything I know about blogging.
Paid Partnerships
To keep myself sane, I mostly focus on revenue streams I can control. However, sometimes I get approached for paid partnerships.
These are agreements with companies to create content and share it across my social channels. Usually, paid partnerships are centered around raising awareness for a brand/product or to drive sales.
I’ve been fortunate to work with some of my favorite brands, including Domino Sugar, King Arthur Flour, Maybelline, HBO Max, and JIF.
I’ve developed relationships with these brands and their agencies over the years, so they usually reach out to me when they have a campaign that they want me to be a part of.
You can try to reach out to brands you’d like to work with, but usually, the cold call approach doesn’t get you very far.
A lot of times, there simply isn’t a budget allocated for random partnerships, so even if a brand wants to work with you, there usually isn’t any money available for it! I learned this when I managed the social budgets at L’Oreal.
It might sound a little lazy, but I prefer to wait for brands to reach out to me. When a brand reaches out, it means they have the budget for an activation, they know and respect your work, and want to partner with you.
These are great if it’s a company or product you actually like and care about! This isn’t always the case, though. Sometimes you have to say no to partnerships that aren’t aligned with your brand.
Some content creators and influencers have agents to help them negotiate partnerships. Agents can help you get better terms, build long-term relationships with brands, and/or negotiate higher rates.
But agents aren’t free! They usually take a percentage (15-20%) of all incoming partnerships.
For this reason, I negotiate partnerships on my own and do not have a manager.
In my last job, I worked in corporate finance in the digital department of a PR agency. As part of my job, I reviewed influencer contracts from a financial perspective.
I feel very comfortable reviewing and negotiating my own deals because of this experience.
Affiliate Links
Affiliate links are another way I make money. I’m a part of the Amazon Affiliate program (or Amazon Associates), which is an affiliate marketing program.
It’s free to sign up for this program, and I get a small referral fee whenever someone clicks on a product link that I’ve shared in a blog post (if they end up buying that product on Amazon).
I like affiliate links because I feel like it’s a win-win for everyone. It encourages me to link the products that I actually use in my blog posts, which can be very helpful for my readers.
It’s nice to be able to direct my readers to the products they need for different recipes or cake designs.
Whether I link a specific silicone mold or my favorite cast-iron cake stand, people know exactly what I’m using and where to get it.
Monetizing My YouTube & Facebook Channels
While you can’t monetize videos on Instagram, you can monetize videos on YouTube and Facebook. However, you need to jump through a couple of hoops before you can place ads in your videos.
You can monetize a YouTube channel once you have 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 hours of watch time (within the past 12 months).
On Facebook, you can monetize videos once you have 10,000 followers and 30,000 one-minute views (in the last 60 days).
The content I share on YouTube is a lot different than the short videos I share on Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok. I make long-form videos for YouTube that are in-depth tutorials.
They range in length from three to twelve minutes. The videos are usually shown in real time (aren’t sped up at all) to show exactly how I make all desserts!
I don’t make a ton of money on every YouTube and Facebook video I share. However, some of my videos have gone viral, and they continue to generate solid revenue.
While you never know how well a video will perform, if you continue to create good-quality videos, the views should follow suit.
The money adds up over time as you continue to share videos. Once you have a solid library of videos, you should start to see consistent returns.
Digital Content Contributor
My final source of revenue comes from creating content for media companies. Over the past few years, I’ve had a few long-term contracts with different companies, including Hearst and the Food Network.
This differs from a paid partnership because you aren’t obligated to share the content you create on your channels. The deliverable is simply the footage of a cake being made, which will be edited and shared on the company’s social platforms.
These monthly deliverables are fun, challenging, and help push me out of my comfort zone.
Usually, I’m proud of the content I create, and I almost always share the footage on my channels once I’ve edited it (even though I don’t have to).
Private Cake Lessons
Private cake lessons were another revenue stream I leveraged when I quit my job. I started teaching private cake lessons in 2019 but stopped teaching them at the end of 2020.
It was an amazing way to connect with fellow bakers. The one-on-one setting in my kitchen made a world of a difference, and I could really help people improve their cake-decorating skills.
Teaching private lessons was another revenue stream that I could control. I picked how many lessons I wanted to teach a month, and determined what days of the week I would teach.
I also taught larger groups at the Institute of Culinary Education in Manhattan.
While I loved teaching, it was a fixed, static revenue stream. I’m now focusing my efforts on projects that will continue to generate passive income in the future.
Corporate Events / Live Demos
When I realized how much I loved teaching, my private cake lessons slowly evolved into corporate cupcake events.
Someone approached me about doing a corporate event, and a light bulb went off in my head. They were scalable and quite profitable.
It was so fun to teach so many people at once! While it was a lot of work to prep and clean up after big events, they were totally worth it.
I stopped doing corporate events at the end of 2020 to focus on more evergreen revenue streams.
That’s It, Folks!
So, there you have it! That’s my business model as a cake content creator and blogger. It is by no means traditional, and it definitely varies from month to month. I’m constantly on my toes, and am happy to say that I’m never bored!!
I embrace the busy months and focus on content creation and strategy when things are quieter.
If you have any questions I didn’t cover, please leave them in the comments section below <3
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This was very interesting! My husband and I have been wondering how you were able to quit your day job. I recently subscribed to your YouTube channel and have even tried several of your recipes. You are extremely talented and come across very personable. It feels like the girl next door is a cake wizard and decided to come over and give you a quick lesson on a Tuesday night. We wish you all the best in this business!
Thank you Katie, you are too sweet!!!! haha you put the biggest smile on my face as I read your comment 🙂
Great to read! And very educative. A question that arises though.. what happens to all those lovely cakes? If you don’t sell them, who eats them?
Thanks Annemarie, so happy you enjoyed this post!
I cut into every cake I make for my videos, and usually do a taste test from the slice I cut! I then frost the exposed part part of the cut cake, and either give the cake away to my friends or my neighborhood police/fire station. I’ve tried donating to homeless shelters in my area, but they’re strict about what types of food they can serve! <3
I really enjoyed this, I didn’t know until this post that you didn’t sell your cakes. I guess I just assumed. I do LOVE the private cupcake classes and which I was in your area to take on that’s be fun. I’m not tech savvy or literate when it comes to generating income on line so this was a fascinating read! Thanks! I love your creamsicle cake and just about all of the other ones on your page lol stay beautiful 🙂
So happy to hear that Megan! I wish you could take one of my cupcake classes too <3 You are too sweet!!
So helpful- I read every word! You will want to fix the tense of the title/headline to Sell not selling. ????
I fixed it right after I shared it!! Oops!! I proof read the post like 12 times, but of course there’s a glaring error in the title :/ hahaha so sorry about that!
Happy you enjoyed the post though!! <3
This was super helpful!! I’ve only been recipe blogging for just under two years and I only get 1k page views/month. Is it still worth using other ads when my following isn’t large? (I use Weebly and have AdSense) thanks!
I’d recommend focusing on creating more content and growing you blog for the time being, and then start to look into ad management companies once your traffic grows a bit <3 They’re definitely worth it (I made more the 20x what I made with Adsense as soon as I switched, and it’s only continued to grow), but you can’t be accepted into their networks until you reach certain traffic thresholds <3
What do you do with all the cakes you make?
Hi Michelle,
It’s a process :p I cut into every cake I make for my videos, and usually do a taste test from the slice I cut! I then frost the exposed part part of the cut cake, and either give the cake away to my friends or my neighborhood police/fire station. I’ve tried donating to homeless shelters in my area, but they’re strict about what types of food they can serve! <3
Thank you for sharing this behind-the-scenes info on a non-traditional job, Chelsea!
Would love to hear any tips you have for online/content creation success. ?
Hi Barbara! Happy you enjoyed this post 🙂 I think just trying to be as creative as you can, and sharing consistently! You don’t have to share something everyday, but picking a regular cadence and sticking to it helps. I also think trying new flavors and techniques can help draw people in 🙂 Hope that helps!!
I love your enthusiasm and the passion to pursue your dream. I am just like you, I’m a taught self baker and been baking for almost 2 years now. You and amongst other bakers are such an inspiration to me. Because of all of you, I continue to do what I am passionate of. It’s hard to keep yourself motivated in life but when you see others who don’t stop at anything that’s what gives you that push. Keep doing what you’re doing chels. You are amazing in what you do. Thank you
You are too sweet Kate! I think when you really love something, it also helps keep you motivated and helps you push through!! I don’t think I’d be able to do this if I didn’t really love baking and decorating cakes. It’s definitely a labor of love, but I wouldn’t have it any other way!!
Thank you for the kind words, I hope you keep having fun in the kitchen too! 🙂
Oh I so love this post. It really helps someone like me who would hope to be where you are one day! I also wouldn’t mind seeing a blog or something along the lines of how you go about developing a recipe such as finding a recipe and using that to create your very own recipe or creating content, especially for self taught as I believe you also self taught if I’m not mistaken. Maybe that side of business could help you with more revenue because I would absolutely pay for those!!!!!
I would also LOVE to know about creating recipes! And How you know about proper ratios?
Hi Tabatha! It comes down to a lot of research and experimenting, and the ratios can vary based on the cake flavor, and texture that you’re after (i.e. sponge vs. butter cake). It’s a lot of work, but it’s definitely interesting!
What do u do with all the cakes??
Hi Tabitha,
I cut into every cake I make for my videos, and usually do a taste test from the slice I cut! I then frost the exposed part part of the cut cake, and either give the cake away to my friends or my neighborhood police/fire station. I’ve tried donating to homeless shelters in my area, but they’re strict about what types of food they can serve <3
You never said what you do wirgb the cut cakes. Do you eat them?? If so you must work out a lot.
Hi Chelsea!
Haha It’s a process 😛 I cut into every cake I make for my videos, and usually do a taste test from the slice I cut! I then frost the exposed part part of the cut cake, and either give the cake away to my friends or my neighborhood police/fire station. I’ve tried donating to homeless shelters in my area, but they’re strict about what types of food they can serve!
I do work out a lot though! Haha more specifically I run a lot (I’m training for the Chicago marathon rn). It’s not the finished cakes/ cake slices I have issues with, it’s the cake tops/scraps that are always laying around when I’m decorating cakes. I can never resist them!!
But what do you do with your cakes if you don’t sell them? You couldn’t possibly eat this much cake?
Hi Arya! Haha great question. I cut into every cake I make for my videos, and usually do a taste test from the slice I cut! I then frost the exposed part part of the cut cake, and either give the cake away to my friends or my neighborhood police/fire station. I’ve tried donating to homeless shelters in my area, but they’re strict about what types of food they can serve <3
Wow it motivates me as a part time cake decorator! I would love to teach and quit my job to stay at home! God I just need a push! It’s scary for me i guess its that fear as well.
It’s definitely scary! It took me years to get my business to where it is now, and where I felt comfortable quitting my day job! If you’re curious about that step of the journey, I share all about it here:
https://chelsweets.com/tag/why-i-quit-my-job/
Thank you so much for sharing!! I actually read every word in this blog because it was such a good read. Keep being great!
Thank you Janay!! I am so happy you enjoyed reading it 🙂 And thank you for the kind words!!
I think you are amazing and truly talented Chelsea. Just read your business model and have great admiration for how you manage so many things!!! I am part time baker/caker, along with my sister in-law(@midnightcakers) and we are still very new to all of this. We follow you on Instagram. Love all your content and continue to learn so much more from people like you who are willing to share your passion, experiences and knowledge. Thanks for a great read and for sharing your thoughts ???
Hi Shasta,
You are too sweet! Thank you for the kind words and support! Wishing you and your sister-in-law the best of luck with your baking hustle!! 🙂
You probably have a good reason for not doing this, but why not post your cakes on Craigslist and have people come pick them up in exchange for cash? Too dangerous?
Yah, I’d be too scared to have people I don’t know showing up!!
Hi Chelsea! I was super intrigued to read about your unique business model. I have been baking for a few years now. I just graduated college and am very passionate about what I went to school for but have always dreamed of making a living off of baking because it’s what I truly love to do. I am curious to know what your business model was when you first started out. What were things like when you first started selling cakes? How did you develop your clientele? Do you have any tips for how I could take my passion to the next level and get enough people to want me to bake for them? Also I love baking many different desserts, including cakes. Would you recommend that I create a list of items that I offer to customers to keep things simple or should I keep things open to what they want if I’m comfortable that I can execute? Thank you for your help and I appreciate any feedback you have to offer. You are truly an inspiration to me as a young baker with big goals!
Hi Gabriella,
My initial cake business grew a lot through word of mouth, and by sharing on social media. I think living in NYC helped a lot, because there are so many people here and so many companies.
It really depends on how you want to structure your business. I really focused on custom cakes, and pretty much would make whatever someone wanted. I found I was able to charge more for custom cakes than having a menu of set flavors or cake designs. It also let me be more creative with my cakes.
But if you want to focus more on volume, setting a menu is a great idea! I think overtime you realize what your want your business to be like, and it all kind of falls into place.
I hope that helps, best of luck with your baking business <3
Hi Chelsea! I’ve been following you since I got into baking only a little over a year ago. I work at a bakery now and I really enjoy it. I’ve also discovered I love creating baking content over taking orders and selling the things I make (I only like it at work; it always feels so stressful and not fun doing orders from home). It’s very inspiring to see you taking risk and pursuing baking in a non traditional way. Selling has seemed to be the most popular side hustle, but some of the other things you’ve listed here seems so much more appealing to me. So thanks for the ideas and just for being the great entrepreneur and baker you are!
Hi Alaynna,
Thank you!! You’re too sweet 🙂 Best of luck wherever your baking journey ends up taking you!!
Hi Chelsey! I’ve read multiple times that you have collaborated with the Food Network, however I’ve never been able to find you in their page; I would love to see those collabs, do you post them in your blog as well or is there any other way to find them?
Hi Valeria,
If you google chelsweets Food Network, the videos of the cakes I’ve made for them will pop up <3 I usually also share them on my blog or instagram and tag the Food Network!
Hi, Thanks for sharing such great & valuable information with us. It really appropriate all the tips keep sharing.
I have always admired your honesty and the details you share about quitting your job and running your own business. I’ve often thought about making money with cake decorating but shy away from the idea because I think there’s not a lot of money there. Do you think you’ve made as much money with cakes as you did with your accounting job or more?
I under if you choose not to answer this question.
This was a super interesting read. I found you on tiktok and then followed you on Instagram because I was amazed by your talent. I’m also a baker and I run a home bakery – completely self taught and very far from the level you are at. I’ve been trying to figure out how to make videos look good in my small unfinished kitchen and for that reason haven’t posted any onto my social media. I’d love to be able to post Instagram reels and tiktok videos. This made me want to do it even more so.
@Kimi, I feel the same way you do in not having a wonderful kitchen, but a lot of people really just like to see you do what you do. Plus, they will be able to follow you from the bottom to the top. So be brave and post!!!
I think it is truly wonderful you share with everyone everything you do to keep your business running. It certainly doesn’t sound easy. I’m a homemaker that has passion but I don’t want to sell my bakes. Just started my Instagram page. There’s a lot to learn! Hoping this will be my “retirement job” in 2 yrs!! Congrats on yr success!
Love this ! Do you have a blog that goes into detail about the corporate events and how you plan those ? ? thank you
This was so fascinating and I looove your TikTok but always so sad you don’t sell the cakes! Do you ever plan to open a cake selling business? & if not, why?
In all of this, did you need to become certified or licensed to sell the product? Because everyone tells me that I must. I am serve/safe certified.
Thanks for all the information about the work that goes behind your videos. Wow so much more involved than you would think
OMG your chelsweets ? I’m so proud of you. I love you recipes. I think your amazing. I’m really starting to get into the groove with my home cottage bakery. And, you’ve just given me one heck of a hard shove. I believe that I know I am very good and creative with homemade cakes, breads, cupcakes you name it. Honestly, you’ve truly helped me in more ways then I can say. I gave up my full-time job. In all reality I hated it. I’ve been doing the same thing for so so many years. I believe with hard work and dedication I will someday be as great as you. Tell me was leaving my job a bad thing to do ? I’m really doing well with income with my cakes. Although, at times I get scared. I wonder if you could share with me an estimate amount of with hard work about how much can I bring in yearly ? I’m not overwhelming myself I want every cake to be absolutely perfect. I ask for atlleast 3/4 the amount down before I even start the cake. I’ve learned the hard way. Uggh. Please, if you have the time share with me if leaving my dreaded job was a bad idea and what amount of money do you think I’ll make doing it full-time. And, any extra things I may need to know. I love you, your do amazing. Someday, I want to be as successful as you. Thank you so much for your information. I look forward to hearing from you.
Sincerely,
Terri Miller
lifehaspain@gmal.com
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Hi Chelsey!
This article was so interesting to learn about how you generate different forms of income.
I would love to learn more about how you setup filming – specifically the differences between filming for Youtube vs Instagram/Tik Tok. Are you using two cameras, one horizontal and one vertical? Or editing your horizontal to fit the vertical format for social media?
Thanks so much! As so many people have said, you’re such an inspiration to home bakers like me.
hello!! thanks for all your information…I am a home baker with three kids, I love what I do but sometimes is too hard to combine all ….I am wondering if you have any post about how to adapt a recipe…I mean, if I want to double it or if the same recipe can be used in a rectangular tin…I am having problems with this…and may be you have a post that I don’t find….thank you so much (from Spain)…
Hi Ale,
That is a great question!! I have a cake batter calculator that helps you figure out how much batter you need for different sized cake layers or different shapes. Here’s the link: https://chelsweets.com/how-much-cake-batter-per-pan/
Hope that helps, happy baking!
What an interesting explanation of how to go from a baker to a content creator! Both are really creative endeavors. I wrote educational content for an online school before I retired from teaching. It was sooo much more difficult to do than teaching in a bricks and mortar school, but it was very rewarding when you got it right. When I began, there was much less digital content to link to, so like you, I learned to make short (5-6 minutes) videos that kids would actually watch and learn from. I really admire what you’re doing, and I’m enjoying browsing your recipes. They look so yummy. I’ve even bookmarked a few, so I’m adding a few pennies to your coffers!
You’re too sweet Sue, thank you! They really are two totally different endeavors, I agree!! It was a steep learning curve but I’m really grateful that I transitioned into what I’m doing now 🙂
This is very interesting Chelsea. I have followed you for a very long time, probably when you started blogging. (When you did your original vanilla sponge cake and then later your chocolate cake). The one thing I’ve always wondered is, who taught you to bake? I remember a long time ago, you said you didn’t have a grandma to teach you, so who taught you to bake such beautiful desserts?
P.s. I was excited when you made your Chelsweets app. As soon as you talked about it in your newsletter, I downloaded it. Thank you for the many ideas you’ve posted over the years.
Hi Ruth,
Thank you for following me for so long!! I learned how to bake by watching YouTube videos and experimenting the kitchen in my early 20’s. I had no clue what I was doing, but I loved it so I just kept doing it! The cakes I made when I first started looked terrible, but slowly I got better the more I practiced. It’s been a long journey 🙂
Please tell me there is a book in the making! I am one of you most devoted followers. I have printed hundreds of color pages at your website and say a prayer of thanks for every recipe and other info I print from there.
But I really think you are ready (past ready) to put out a book. I want to purchase a copy for myself, my daughters, my grandchildren, and my baking enthusiast friends.
Thank you for all that you do for the baking sweets online community. Your comments and instructions and photos are priceless.
Please, please, please do a book for all of us, a book we can enjoy forever. You deserve it! We want to support you even more!
Janice
Hi Janice,
You are too sweet!! I almost wrote a book in 2018 (made a proposal pitch and met with publishers and everything!) but I ended up backing out because the timing didn’t feel right. I haven’t thought about doing a book for a while, but I’m sure I’ll make one down the road 🙂 Def still a bit aways though! Stay tuned!!
Hi Chels!
You are such an inspiration. I have followed & learned from you for a long time & after a short hiatus to take care of my mother, I want to get back into baking but not for selling my cakes. You are the only person I have followed who has openly shared what that looks like & I’m grateful for that. I know this was updated a few years ago but with so many changes to the digital content creation space, have you pivoted in any ways not mentioned above?
Thank you for everything you do for this community! ?
You are too sweet LaTisha, thank you!! I last updated this post in 2022, and surprisingly not much has changed in the last couple years! My revenue ratios are still very similar, and my income is still made of primarily of blog revenue and partnerships. Wishing you all the best as you get back into baking!
Hi! I love reading about how you got started and where it lead you! I was curious, where do all of your recipes come from? Are they all from other websites/bakers or do you recreate them on your own? Do food bloggers/content creators use other bakers recipes for their own websites? I’m inspired !