Flickr tip #1: Post your information in your profile and description

I’ve been meaning to do a 10 Flickr tips post, similar to the 10 Twitter tips cupcake bakeries, for…oh, about a year. That’s the pace I sometimes move when it comes to cupcake blogging. So, inspired by last night’s excellent cupcake business class, I will share them one a day.

Number one is also the one any bakery or cupcake business should apply to their website: post your information! I hate when I visit a profile and it doesn’t have the relevant information. Link to your website, put your location, tell us what your bakery is all about. Add information about your cupcakes, especially if they are a special/only available for a limited time. It will ultimately save you lots of time answering emails and is an easy way to let people know what you're baking up.

Similarly, posting all your contact info and a link to your site/blog below your photo is a great way to spread the word.

For example, on every single one of their Flickr photos, this is what Chicago's The Bleeding Heart Bakery posts:

Michelle Garcia - Co-Owner/Executive Pastry Chef
Vinny Garcia - Co-Owner/Executive Cake Crusader

Follow us on Twitter !!
Follow us on Facebook !!

The Bleeding Heart Bakery
1955 W. Belmont ave.
Chicago, Illinois 60657
773.327.6934

The Bleeding Heart Bakery Oak Park
1010 North Blvd.
Oak Park, Illinois 60301
708.358.0559

www.thebleedingheartbakery.com

Comments

Dani said…
Danielle from Sweet Avenue Bake Shop here. While we totally agree with you that it's a great idea to make sure your contact information is available below each image on your Flickr page, our (Sweet Avenue) Flickr account was recently deleted for this very reason. In various back and forth emails, they claimed that adding links "to auctions or online shops" in the description is a violation of their service, because they feel you are using Flickr to sell products by linking back to your website.

Obviously for this reason, we do not use Flickr any longer, and do not recommend it. Even though other bakeries may be getting away with this practice now, unfortunately Flickr may soon get around to deleting their accounts as well. When you have spent time uploading and tagging photos, to have everything deleted in one fell swoop is disheartening, especially since the only alternative is to hand-remove each link from hundreds and hundreds of image descriptions.
Sugar Daze said…
Wow! Dani, that is a shocker and a scary piece of info for all of us!

I was just going to say that I think adding your location is of critical importance. I can't tell you how many times I have looked at someone's photostream (and subsequently their website) and they don't give any geographic reference. Many times I resort to trying to figure out where they are based on the currency posted on their menu. I am always on the lookout for gorgeous cupcakes to send to friends and if a baker can't bother to tell me where they are, I'm not going to bother spending more time on their site.
Jennywenny said…
Thats very useful information Dani! I'm just doing cakes for fun so I have no worries yet, but its good to know.

I'll make sure to understand their conditions completely in the future...

I do agree that it is incredibly frustrating when a person doesnt even give a clue on which country they are in! Its nice to get an idea of their country and region at least!
Clever Cupcake said…
Same thing happened to me. They didnt delete my Flickr account, but they removed it from the search until I went through each photo and deleted the link to my website.