Media attention

http://www.nowtoronto.com/lifestyle/story.cfm?content=175734">


I went into my bank and the teller told me she saw me in the local community paper, the Annex Gleaner (at least they know me at my bank now). I've been trying for weeks to get a plug from Eye Weekly or X-tra for Pride (even a mention on Chum FM) with not much luck.

However, thank-you Andrew Sardone. He plugged the Mother's Day mookies at Pusateri's and now has a mention again in NOW magazine for Jinja Ninja at Pride. Love that man. Wish others would pick up Jinja Ninja.

Pride 2010 & other stuff

I was kinda getting a bit down today because the product at the retail stores don't seem to be moving very quickly. Pusateri's still has their Father's Day mookies, Fresh & Wild still have a lot of heart flowers, The Mercantile still has only sold 3 King Dads. I think that my market is the custom market. Or getting creative on how I package some stuff together.

Thank god for Pride. It's keeping Lindsay, Hailey and I busy. And I think my line-up for Pride is cute, witty and naughty. I've uploaded some images onto the Facebook page (except for the naughty ones, there are children present!!).

Had to attend an advanced Food Handler's Course tonight for Pride. Makes one not want to eat at an outdoor vendor stand ever again.

Oh and I found Claire. She's my bookkeeper and she keeps me calm. Everyone should have a Claire.

Showtime!!

One of the most difficult things to do is to predict what will sell during a show. For instance, I had to prepare various cookies for the Design Farm at the DX during Doors Open. From past experience, not a lot of people are prepared to buy mookies from me larger than a small cookie. The most popular cookie was the heart flower and some ninjas sold. Other than that, it's mostly marketing.

It's hard being a frog..(uhh, salesperson)

I know that one of the reasons I left the architectural profession is because I didn't really like the cold call sales process. And there was a lot of it.

I went around on Friday flogging Jinja Ninja and just got tired, hot and depressed by the end of it. Everyone saying my product is too expensive, (thank god for Pusateri's. People saying that they make their own cookies (not like Jinja Ninja's!!) but wanting me to leave a sample. Hopefully I won't see a bunch a mee toos shortly.

It's tough making a living on wholesale sales. Maybe there's a Jinja Ninja storefront in the future?

Pride 2010

Jinja Ninja is now an official Pride 2010 Food Vendor. It was fun to brainstorm with friends on what would sell, different design ideas etc. I'm very excited to participate this year. Should be loads of fun and hard work. One of my friends wants to dress in drag to help sell at the booth. The pride staff predicted that I will need two booths next year...

Big Break

Jinja Ninja mookies are now available through Pusateri's. Yayyy! For those of you who don't know what that is, it's one of the high end grocery stores in Toronto. They have Mother's Day and Graduation mookies. After the re-neg from McKewan, it was a breath of fresh air to deal with Pusateri's. Hopefully this is the beginning of a beautiful relationship.

website pain

It's been a while and I'm still frustrated over this whole website thing. Spoke with a company that will (for a monthly fee) host and offer all kinds of functionality for one's website. Sounds good, however, the monthly fee can get costly. I really need a CMS (content management system) that would allow me to upload new images to the website, as well as an order form that would allow customers to order simply and easily.

Cannot seem to get a straight answer from anyone about the best route to go. I guess it will be a while until my site gets updated.

My Fifteen Minutes of Fame

So, the National Post did an article on Jinja Ninja in their online Appetizer Blog. They focused on the "Tweet Bags" and speculated on all the things one could tweet and send to someone. Could be cool for a secret admirer. I had hoped that they would list my kids in the article since they asked for their names and ages. Alas, they didn't make the final cut.

The Globe also said they would like to write something about Jinja Ninja after we sent out some Easter Mookies to them. Followed up with Chum FM as well that seemed interested in the "architect turned baker" angle and the "entrepeneur pain" angle. I guess if they read my blog, they will understand some of the pain.

All this press is good and everything. I still haven't sold my Easter mookies.

http://network.nationalpost.com/NP/blogs/theappetizer/archive/2010/03/31/tweet-bags-send-a-message-in-cookies.aspx

Treats with Jinja Ninja cookies

By many accounts, the gingerbread at Jinja Ninja is addictive. The spicy cookie makes a great base for cookies toppings. My friend and I were experimenting with cream cheese (with a bit of icing sugar) on top of a gingerbread cookie topped with a strawberry!

The plain ones can be dipped in a chocolate or caramel fondue. Try whipping cream as well. Let me know if there are any unusual combinations that are amazing!

Retiring again?

I just received some mail from yet again, another professional organization that says they want money or I can't use their moniker after my name. I already retired from the OAA, now I'm retiring from ARIDO (Association of Registered Interior Designers of Ontario). Pretty soon LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) will want me to retire too!

Had too many letters after my name anyway....

Outsourcing

So, I chickened out of hiring a free lance web person from India. After speaking with someone who is actually a web designer (who also subcontracts portions of his work to India) he told me that if you have a specific task with specifications drawn up of what you want that varying companies can bid on,then perhaps it's the way to go. If you're a luddite like me, then perhaps I'll end up getting something I didn't quite want. Or, they misunderstood what the outcome might be and will charge me extras to implement them, so on and so forth.

Going the domestic route for now...

how to find a web designer

oh yeah, there are tons of them. Everyone is an expert and everyone can do everything. Even people who don't know how to do it sell themselves to you and then learn the program as they're setting up your website.

Beware of learn as you go types. They will cost you money, then another person will have to redo everything they did.

A friend of mine suggested E-lance, a website dedicated to hooking up vendors and people who have work that someone can help them with offsite. I searched for web assistance and found a whole slew of them from India and other countries. Their hourly rate is low but I can't tell if the number of hours make them equivalent to hiring locally. I will update this blog when I figure this thing out.

Year of the Tiger

Interesting. I've learned a bit about the Chinese dessert market in Toronto. Apparently, the Chinese community (I learned this from someone that has a marketing firm that markets to this specific demographic) is not very receptive to desserts that "look" too sweet. The fact that my mookies have icing on them is a no go for this community. So my year of the Tiger mookie did not see the light of day during Chinese New Year (which occured on the same day as Valentine's this year).

I'm no longer an architect

So, after 8 years at university (2 years of the 8 working)and 22 years in the field, I gave up my architectural license today. It wasn't as tough as it would seem, however, it's been part of my identity for quite a while now and even if the association won't allow me to use OAA (Ontario Association of Architects) after my name, I still consider myself an architect. I'm officially retired!

The upside is that I don't have to pay the annual dues anymore (close to $900) and pay for continuuing education courses every year. I can offer free advice (this isn't allowed if you're an architect) and design small buildings and renovations under a certain size without a certificate of practice. I have three years to reinstate if I still want to call myself an architect.

Some people think I'm crazy, some have congratulated me. It's definitely a journey I didn't expect to take.

Does the perfect order form exist?

Order forms. What is the perfect order form? Is it a work in progress? Is there an ultimate user friendly order form for a customized product? Are they expensive to do?

Researched order forms with other companies and it seems the best ones are self explanatory and have some kind of computer links to them. Can't really afford the e-commerce quite yet so looking for a solution that can give me all the information without the payment.With me being a total web idiot, it's hard to determine what is difficult to do and what isn't.

In this case, I don't think it's a case of ready, shoot, aim. Tried that and didn't work too well. Meeting with someone next week to discuss Jinja Ninja's latest challenge; the ultimate order form!

Jinja, Julie, Julia

Just watched the movie Julie Julia. Very cute movie and my journey with this business I believe, has parallels to both these women. So now, I'm returning to this blog with a renewed mission: writing about the highs and lows of Jinja Ninja, the cookie company started by a ninja.

Valentine Aftermath

Okay, the Valentine's rush is over. A lot of people ordering last minute. Wouldn't it be great if everyone ordered in advance? If only I could get my act together and do all my Christmas shopping in advance as well.

I'm thinking of doing an Olympic mookie for CTV. Watching the Olympics over the weekend gave me a bit of Olympic fever. Maybe they would even air it on the network.

Next week I'll be gearing up for St. Patty's day and marketing for Easter as well. Sometimes it's nice to have the time for experiment.

Ready, aim, photoshoot!

I made a lot of mookies anticipating a photoshoot at the kitchen. Mother's Day, Father's Day, Graduation, Retirement etc. Here's one I did and put my son't name on it. He'll be graduating from grade 4 this June. We decided to eat it now though Yummy!

Passed!

Just received this in the mail...my food handler's certificate. Now I you know that I know how to handle food.

Was easy to write. They give you 2 hours but if English is your first language, you should be able to finish it in 1. Anyone thinking of opening their own food business should be taking this test and obtaining this certificate.

Sugar, sugar....

So, I've been trying to develop a recipe for a great sugar cookie. I'm on my 4th iteration now. I think using the spelt is throwing the recipe off a bit. Either it was too sweet, too dry, (always too something). I'm almost there. Gotta think of the rollability and the cut-ability of the dough as well (I know, I know, making up words).

New Home

Here's an idea to give to someone who just bought a new home!

Valentine bunny

Okay, made this Valentine's rabbit today. Very baby blue and pink. Looks more like a new baby mookie. Hey, that's an idea, I'll turn it into a new baby mookie!!

New purchase for Jinja Ninja

Got an e-mail from Henry's. My new camera is being shipped!! Hurray! Digital SLR from Canon. So now everything will be crystal clear (if I know how to work it) and the mookies will look wonderful! Can't wait.

Happy Chinese New Year

Happy New Year everyone!! Had a nice break from the kitchen and was back on the weekend to try to perfect my sugar cookie recipe. Almost there, perhaps a few more attempts. Here is a Valentine for my daughter and then, on the same day (Feb 14) is a Chinese New Year mookie!