Two weeks ago, I spoke at Rochester Institute of Technology’s Social Media And Communication Symposium (SMACS). In my talk, I used the analogy of a cupcake to social media strategy.

Cake: Start with the cake of a cupcake. With Social Media, the cake is you, your brand, your product or service, as well as your message and mission.

Filling: Whether it is gooey caramel, cream or jelly, cupcakes often have a filling. For a social media strategy, the filling is the content. With every social media Strategy there needs to be a content strategy. The content strategy is what you say, when you say it, and how often. Content strategy is also who you listen to and who you are talking to.

Frosting: Some people believe that a cupcake is just a delivery channel for frosting. Similarly for social media, many focus too much on the delivery channels of their content. Twitter and Facebook and pretty essential, but don’t forget blogs, as well. Blogs are where you can write longer than 140 or 420 characters. If you are doing social media for yourself, not a business or brand, then Google + can be effective. However, if it is for a business, you may want to hold off using Google+ as a delivery channel until the business profile for Google+ become available.

Sprinkles: For cupcakes, the sprinkles are often optional. When it comes to social media, sprinkles work as long as they fit the flavor of your strategy. If the social media strategy is for a storefront business, then using geo-location services like Foursquare, Yelp, Foodspotting, Google Places may be great for you. If you want to offer deals, then you can check out Living Social or Google Offers. If you or your product is photo-friendly, then sites like Instagram and Flickr is great.  The point is to figure out which sprinkles are effective for executive your strategy. When the sprinkles work, they add an extra oomph to the social media strategy.  If the sprinkles don’t work, then brush them off and enjoy the cupcake.

Back in 2006, I was quoted in a Pittsburgh Post Gazette about cupcakes, and I said, “It’s very happy food”.

Today I am quoted in the Miami Herald and I said, “Cupcakes are not a fad or trend because people relate cupcakes to happiness — happiness is not a fad.”

I didn’t realize until I read the latest quote that I basically said the same thing twice, but in a different way.  In the almost seven years of blogging about cupcakes, I have been defending their existence as if my life depended on it.  In a way, it does. I’m like a cupcake lobbyist.  More and more, I realize that bakery owners across the country have to defend cupcakes to bank loan officers, journalists, publicists, foodies, friends and family.  There’s so much evidence that cupcakes are here to stay, but if you don’t get it that’s fine.  That just means more cupcakes for the ones who do. BTW, if you do love cupcakes, come on the Cupcake Cruise next August. It’s gonna be a blast.

I am going to work on happiness by reading  The Happiness Project.
I am finally making salads that I really enjoy eating and that fill me up.
I am speaking about cupcake business at Berkeley College here in NYC on August 22.
I am speaking about social media at Rochester Institute of Technology on September 29th.
Rachel and I are coordinating a cupcake cruise for August 19 through August 26th 2012. Get on our mailing list by checking out http://www.cupcakecruise.com

Tomorrow I am leaving for Seattle, Washington for Cinnabon for a sweet retreat. All I know about Seattle is what I see on “Grey’s Anatomy”. I am excited to be a part of a special mission along with other bloggers to sample new treats from Cinnabon which includes CUPCAKES!

Update: Here is the list of bloggers who will be going.

Amanda Acuna, Mommy Mandy

Alice Currah, Savory Sweet Life

Cathy Danh, Gastronomy Blog

Tanya Gordon, Mommy Goggles

Carey Jones, GigaChef.com

Elita Kalma, Soul Parents

Shara Lawrence-Weiss, Mommy Perks

Nichelle Stephens, Cupcakes Take the Cake

Erin Zimmer, Serious Eats

I will be blogging about this here, Cupcakes Take The Cake and on Twitter.

Jan 28. Witstream, Michael Ian Black’s curated comedy twitter feed is having a live comedy show at 92YTribeca. 9PM  Free wifi  $12 Adv. $15 Door [BTW, loved MIB's guest performance on Mercy]

Jan 30. Molly Crabapple’s Dr. Sketchy’s class will have a tribute to Paul Pope. It is @The Slipper Room (167 Orchard St.) from 4-7PM. $10 adv. $12 door.

Jan 30. Sweet Revenge (62 Carmine Street) is having a Haiti fundraiser and will be debuting a special Haitian inspired cupcake with guava buttercream. All Day Saturday. Festivities start at 11AM.

Feb 1. Freestyle Love Supreme @Comix (353 West 14th St.) 8PM $20 Adv. $25 Day of Show.

Cherry on Top, originally uploaded by nichellest.

• Went to the New York SXSW Pre-Party.
• Stopped by Ripple6 offices for a Tweetup.
• Did a  crazy cupcake Photo Shoot with Matty Baker, The Drunken Photographer.
• Hung out with cool people at the Digital DUMBO party.
• Saw that I am on the cover of SXSWi’s February Update Newsletter.
• Put together my soda maker and make lemon seltzer.

Martha Stewart Show, originally uploaded by CupcakeStacie.

January is moving too fast for my liking. We’re already mid-month, and next week is MLK Day and the Inauguration. Check my bit.ly for some of the links I twittered this week.

Jelly in Dumbo at Drop.io

Mashable party then Mashable overflow at Carriage House where Arc90 sponsored a round of drinks.

Martha Stewart taping where Butter Lane and Sweet Revenge’s cupcakes were featured. Then I went to Ritz Carlton’s Carnival of Chocolate event.  Alex from Blondie and Brownie and Danielle from Yaybia joined us as well.

Matt Caldecutt in New York Observer

Fashion 2.0 Meetup

The word this week is “microcelebrity”. This word is over! That kind of “fame” is relative to the number of people who know you and talk about you when you are not there. It is not even real fame or even “long tail” fame. It is chatter that is fleeting. Get over yourself.

Monday: Birthday Party for RKB at Ethiopian Restaurant, Awash. There were cupcakes, too.

Tuesday: New York Tech Meetup at IAC.  Check out Glue and MixedInk.

Wednesday: Brooklyn Hilary’s birthday/going away party, CITY magazine event and Red Cup Tweetup at Starbucks.

Thursday: Media Meshing.

Tonight: Sex Blogger Calendar Party and Matt’s Birthday party.

Favorite expression (via Ugly Betty) “You’re a snow day”.