Okay, so I'm fairly new to the whole business thing. when i sold my cakes before, it was really through word of mouth (on a small military base!). I'd really like to take advantage of some of these free type advertising places. Would anyone be willing to share with me your wording for crags list? I really ran out of ideas when I posted my info and would love the help!
Keyshia
I barter my products on CL. My house exterior has been painted, firewood replenished, all access paintball tickets...good stuff!
Anyone can put an add on Craigslist but I wouldn't if you are not legal. My health dept gal told me they have been fining people they find on CL lately. In a lot of states bartering falls under the same guidline as selling so be careful. I know cakes are pretty low risk but you just never know anymore. I am not a gambler and can't afford to risk a lawsuit or fine for a hobby and can't afford to make it more than that at this point. Good luck
Wow! I mean I know that becoming legal is very expensive and all. And it kinda doesn't seem fair that as a legal you have all these extra costs and pay taxes and the other don't. But that just seems kind of b****y.
It does seem petty , However I bet that CC member has either had to fix a problem cause by poor work or has another issue. I use craigslist and I do see others advertising cake services. Lets say I feel sorry for a person that gets one of their "professional" decorated cakes. I think its more of a safety issue. I mean I bake out of my home and I know about my surroundings are someone that is peddling cakes on craigslist could have different standards than mine. I run my kitchen like a restaurant when I bake. I am sure than there are those that do not have as high of standards.
Having an ad on Craigslist DOES NOT necessarily mean that you are a bad decorator, or an unlicensed business. I am licensed and IMHO am a darn good decorator, and I advertise on CL. I do have a statment on the bottom of my ads warning brides to be careful, and make sure they are dealing with a licensed/insured baker, and that is it illegal in my state to bake for the public from one's home kitchen. I see tons of ads from hobbiests who offer cakes at a horribly reduced rate, and admit in their ad that they do this from their home! I would never turn someone in, but I do generally email them directly to let them know that what they are doing is illegal and can get them in a mess of financial hot water. I also turn them on to this site if they don't know about it. I have had a few remove their ads and thank me for bringing it to their attention as they had no idea what they were doing was illegal.
I bake out of my brother's restaurant kitchen (I do his desserts also) so no worries.
I'm with you cakesdevine... I'm annoyed by home bakers undercutting my prices, but I never have the nerve to report them... My thoughts are that if a bride wants hire an uninsured/lic baker, then that's the risk she's willing to take. I know lots of homebakers who are very talented, but will have no recourse if someone gets sick. 
Here it is legal to bake from home if you've gone thru the process...which I have. I finally got my business license in the mail two days ago and am ready to run with it. Like I said, I'm fairly small and dont' have a TON of money, so I thought I'd take advantage of places like CL so that I could at least get my name out there. I'm looking into some other ideas too, but for now this was the cheapest and quickest.
That said, no one has ideas on wording?
Keyshia
Hi Keyshia - I have been trying to increase my regular orders, so started advertising on Craislist, Kijiji, and some other local online classified websites. I attached my Kijiji ad (hope it comes through for you) - feel free to use the wording. My advice is to keep it professional - some of the ones I saw online were pretty scary!
http://ottawa.kijiji.ca/c-services-wedding-Wedding-All-Occasion-Cake-Services-W0QQAdIdZ100372901
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