Yelping to our Yelpers!

Hope you all had a fabulous Christmas, Hanukkah, Boxing Day, Kwanzaa, Festivus ...! 'Tis the season to think of others and give thanks, and today we have lots of thanks to give, Big Yelps, to those who have taken the time to write such generous reviews for cakelava on Yelp. You know San Francisco based Yelp. Real People. Real Reviews. This is the real deal. People who, out of the kindness of the hearts, (or sometimes out of spite) write the kind of reviews that can either make you look REALLY good or not-so-good.

As a business, Yelp reviews are helpful. They tell you what you are doing right and what can be improved upon. In our Yelp reviews, we recognize the name of each person who has reviewed us and also noticed at least a couple reviews which have been removed by Yelp, who thought they weren't "real" customers, even though they were. Our client Rachel comes to mind -- sorry Rachel!

When we consider that our cake studio which has a storefront but is By Appointment Only, and we don't sell any baked goods aside from custom cakes, we don't expect to be Yelped too frequently. It's not like someone will walk into our shop, buy a cupcake or pastry and write a review on Yelp. The reviews we have received we cherish because they all came from people we have worked with over months, some on numerous occasions, and they wanted to share their experience with others. A couple have told us they posted a review on Yelp shortly after, but most have not. They take the time to mention the impact the cakes had on their party, and the level of service we offer as well as the taste of the cake. Some are wedding clients, and some birthday clients, and one, Margaret D. is not a client, but rather a novelist who interviewed Rick for an upcoming novel she is writing, and decided to Yelp about us. It was a total surprise and we were touched by the gesture, as we were with the other reviewers.

Thank you, thank you Mel, our first Yelper in 2007, and what a Yelper she was! Kendra, Elizabeth, Rachel, Stephanie, Carly, Margaret, Christopher and Yun, Thank you for spending the time to Yelp us! Each of you brought a smile to our face as we read the review, remembered your cake and our fond memories of working together. A Big Yelp to all of you!! -- Sasha & Rick

Aloha, 'til next time!