I thought I will start by (of all things!) - switching my bread. I have read that rye bread is a lot healthier and better for me as it make me less bloated. I love rye bread, but haven't come across one that would remind me of the taste I am used to from home.

So I have decided I will bake my own. After researching the internet and coming across a number of crazy recipes (one of which was so complicated that it required you to prepare a 'mother dough' one week in advance! Hello! I want the flat tummy NOW!), I came across one which looked manageable. Rye flour, a bit of wholemeal flour, yeast, warm water, salt, cumin – bang.

I put all the ingredients into my bread machine (lazy baker here) and left them to their fate. As I was going to bed, the smell was delicious! I couldn't wait to taste the bread in the morning. Simple good honest homemade bread, with a dollop of butter on it. I could feel the flavours exploding in my mouth as I was falling asleep.

The morning came. I opened the bread machine and saw... something weird looking and difficult to extract. My bread looked shiny (see picture proof below). But it had a great big whole in the middle. And oh my lord, was it titchy, tiny, minuscule! The flavours were great, but it was so hard and difficult to chew that I was worried I’ll break my not-so-strong teeth.

And here is my point of the story. If you are running marketing campaigns or creating communications which look great but they do not 'rise' your sales and get you more bread, ditch them and start again. Perhaps you are not talking to the right people, or using the right channels to reach them. Is your offer and message clear and appealing enought? Ask your ideal customer what are you doing wrong, listen to their feedback and start again. 

I don’t like to give up! I will have a second go at making my bread (only this time I will not use old yeast). I consider it a test. Watch out for more on the importance of testing your messages and campaigns in one of my future blogs.

Until later....