The Cake Post That Got Zero Likes And Taught Me How To Write

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I posted a photo of a beautiful cake last year.

Three tiers. Perfect icing. I stayed up till 2am to finish it. I wrote, "We are proud to announce our latest creation. We are the best bakery in town. Contact us for your cakes."

Zero messages. Two likes. One was from my sister.

The next week, a woman who sells the same cakes as me posted a cake that was not as fine as mine. But she wrote this:

"Your child’s birthday is next Saturday and you have not ordered cake yet? I can make it for you. Here are 30 mothers in Port Harcourt who trusted me last month. Send me a message to lock your date."

She got 14 orders. I called her and asked what she did.

She told me, "I stopped writing for everybody. I stopped writing about myself."

That was the day I learnt how to write words that make people act.

Most of us write like this: "I will post about my cakes." That is not a plan. That is a wish.

Before you write any post, any email, any advert, ask three questions first.

1. Who is reading this? Not everybody. One person.
2. What is the ONE thing I want them to do? Not three things. One verb you can see.
3. Why should they believe me? What proof will make a stranger trust me?

If you miss these three, your post will not work.

Let me show you.

Weak plan: "I will post about my cakes."

Now use the three questions.

WHO? Not everyone. Be specific. Parents in my area who need birthday cake in the next two weeks. I can picture them. They are busy. They are worried the cake will not be fine.

ACTION? Not "increase awareness." You cannot see awareness. Make it an action you can count. "Send a message to book your cake date." That is clear.

PROOF? People do not trust big promise. They trust proof. What proof can you show? Choose one that earns trust. A result. A number. Your customer’s own words. A real photo. Years of work. A promise you will keep. For the cake seller, it was 30 customer reviews and real photos.

Now rewrite the post.

Instead of "We are proud to announce..." which is about you, write about them: "Your child’s birthday is in two weeks. Book your cake date today. Here are 30 parents who did."

Then photo. Then how to book. Done.

This works for any business. It works on LinkedIn. It works on WhatsApp. It works on a sales page.

But remember where your reader will see it. The place changes everything. On LinkedIn feed you have two seconds. Say it fast. In an email you have a little longer. In a speech you have your voice. On a sales page the reader chose to stay, so you can write long.

Three common mistakes that kill your post:

You write for everybody. When you write for everybody, nobody feels you are talking to them.

You write about yourself. Your reader does not care about your pride. They care about their problem. "Your cake will arrive on time" is better than "We are proud."

You ask for too many things at once. Follow us, like us, comment, buy. When people have many choices, they choose nothing. Ask for one action only.

So try this today.

Take the next post you want to write. On a paper, write four lines about your reader. Who are they? What are they worried about? Write the one action you want. One verb. Write the proof you will put in the message.

If you do this, you will stop posting beautiful cakes that get zero likes. You will start writing posts that bring orders.

Your words can do more than get likes. They can make someone act.

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