If there is one social networking tool every food entrepreneur needs it’s a way to display goods and services on the Internet. It matters not if you are a home-based baker, one who rents a commercial kitchen or someone who owns an incubator; you will always need a way to communicate with your customers, potential customers and anyone interested in learning more about your products and services.

Many food entrepreneurs are creating Facebook Fan pages, personal Facebook group pages in place of  a website.  Let’s take a look at how they compare. If  you have specific questions about which is best for  your business contact our resident web consultant.

I recently relocated to Atlanta, Georgia, from North Carolina and while unpacking ran across a photograph of a wonderful product I sampled while attending a workshop hosted by the North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.

Carla Faw Squires, owner of Bamboo Ladies Bamboo Pickles was passing out these colorful photos doctored by a Photoshop program with her contact information. She later explained she did not have the money to have the photos taken professionally and decided to do it herself.

It really is amazing what you can do when you are short on cash and big on creativity. Honestly some of our best ideas come out of “lack.”

I have discussed this several times in my class and will repeat it here. Another great way to advertise your gourmet food product is to create a Tee Shirt, Golf Shirt or Sweatshirt and put your logo or information about your company on the front and/or back. You can even use a “call-to-action.” Ask me about my hot sauce company?

Congrats to Bamboo Ladies bamboo pickles featured in the Winter 2010 issue of  Gravy published by The University of Mississippi Southern Foodways Alliance Center for the Study of Southern Culture. Check it out in Gravy!

If House Bill 2771 is passed it will only allow 1,000 Okla-homans to sell up to $20,000 worth of baked goods a year from their homes, according to Rep. Eric Proctor, the bill’s author. The 1,000 limit will assure that the Health Department, which would license bakers and inspect homes, would be able to handle the workload.

This may not appear to be a lot of money to some, but for families struggling to keep their heads above water while the economy turns around this can mean the difference between paying the electric bill and purchasing gas for the family truck.

It is hoped the bill will go to the House for a full vote next week.  We’ll be watching!