Wednesday, February 20, 2008

I need suggestions!

Or maybe I should say I don't need suggestions and people will offer all sorts of advice, seeing as Mom asked for suggestions and didn't get very many! ;)

Anyway, I was bagging up some bread this afternoon and sticking labels to it. My current method of labeling is to write the name of the bread on a label-sized piece of paper and tape it to the bag with a piece of packing tape. In other words, my method leaves something to be desired in the way of professionalism! So I was thinking about my various options for labels:
  • Buy ordinary packing labels for right now and continue to write on them by hand
  • Find some sort of scrap-booking labels that have pretty borders on them and write on them by hand
  • Buy a pack of printable labels and come up with some sort of design that can be printed with our black & white printer
  • Order some labels from a printing company (like VistaPrint? They also have business cards.)
So there are my options, now what I want suggestions on is what to call my bread-baking business, because if I order or print labels I want the business name on them. I'm really not very good at coming up with things like that, so I kind of need some help! Even if I don't end up using any of your suggestions exactly, I'm sure they will help me come up with something!

Basically I'm looking for something that sounds...well, like a bread company, and nothing too cutesy. I'm not real big on cutesy, unless it really seems like it fits!

By the way, does anyone have any recommendations on printing sites?

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'd recommend the printable labels for your first big sales venture.

Why? One word: flexibility.

You don't know for certain what your company name will be, or exactly which product will be the most popular. If you print them at home (even in black & white), you'll be able to change the brand name at will, and you'll also be able to be much more specific as to the contents of each bag.

For example, you might sell a nice honey wheat loaf. Well, you could call it "Honey Wheat Bread," or you could call it "Dark, Sweet Mystery." Either way, you could list the exact ingredients (and probably comply with more than a couple local laws in the process) and maybe even add some witty commentary specific to that particular recipe.

Can't do any of these things (affordably) with pre-printed labels - until you're selling in high volume, that is.

Anonymous said...

I have a terrible time coming up with names for things...but when I was asking for help with my blog name I didn't get many suggestions...

Maybe you could take the same (insane) route, hahaha...maybe Some Toast, Or A Bagel?

Sorry...I am a little hyper tonight :D

Olivia Joy said...

Weeell-I was thinking about leaving you a bunch of comments with a bunch of different ideas....buuuut, I won't do that to you :)

In my opinion you should go with ordering some labels.
I think it is worth it to look "professional."
I am positive your bread is absolutely delicious, but people do end up looking at the outside...such as the package.
So I would say go as ritzy as possible-good luck!!!

N said...

Uncle Jim, I was talking to Dad about this tonight, and that was one thing that I hadn't thought about before...labels I ordered would have to have space for me to either print or hand-write the bread type in. At the low rate of sale that I have right now anyway, it certainly wouldn't make sense to have to order 100+ labels that say "Wheat Bread".

I need to research what local laws are about selling food...a lady at our church decorates cakes, so I'm going to talk to her about it.

I am thinking some partially pre-printed labels would be nice. And I was planning on figuring out the business name before I ordered anything.

Olivia, please tell me all your ideas! Perhaps an email would be easier...but I really do need some ideas! :D

Ha-ha, Rebecca, I like that...it would be rather confusing to my customers though! :D