Friday musings about wellness, business, marketing, and life.

Reader,

Have you heard about the cake pop drama on Tik Tok? It's weirdly fascinating and I have nobody to talk to about it... so I'm gonna tell you.

So, Cakes by Kaity came up with the idea to make a “Fruity Pebbles” cake pop. She shared her “recipe” on Tik Tok. It’s essentially boxed cake, sprinkles, maybe some jello??, maybe icing?, and then some fruity pebbles cereal mixed into the white chocolate dip.

She smashes these things into molds that look like tiny popsicles. Then she dips them into the chocolate, puts them on the tray to dry, and then adds a fancy swirl after.

Sweet Treats by Ashley, who has a cake pop stand in her front yard, likes this idea Kaity shared so she makes some of these Fruity Pebbles cake pops and shares her process on Tik Tok. Her cake pops are round like suckers but pretty much look the same.

Kaity is not impressed. So she sends a DM to Ashley threatening to sue her for stealing her recipe. Apparently, it’s copyrighted. (FYI, you actually can’t copyright a recipe)

So, Sweet Treats by Ashley gets on the Tik Tok and records herself crying and upset about this whole thing.

The internet goes wild and promptly cancels Cakes by Kaity. She stops posting.

Then Kellogs gets into the drama and Fruity Pebbles shares a cake pop recipe. Because this is how we roll in a capitalist hellscape. (Also, kind of funny)

Sweet Treats by Ashley’s account skyrockets to nearly a million followers (wtf? Who knew cake pops were so popular).

Then. Someone spots that Ashley’s shared a Charlie Kirk video, she won’t say who she voted for, and people are sus that she’s a Trump supporter.

So, they cancel her.

And Kaity starts posting again.

(the story goes on, but if you want to know what happened next, you’re gonna have to go look it up on Tik Tok)

I’m gonna guess that there's probably not a lot of difference between these cake pops and that if you like this kind of treat, they're all pretty tasty. Kaity’s fruity pebbles cake pops are probably as yummy as Ashley’s.

And, arguably, Kaity is as problematic as Ashley. So, what’s a cake pop lovin’ Tik Toker to do?

I guess look for a third option? But, does that goldilocks cake pop account exist? If I see it, I'll be sure to update you. I'm pretty dialed-in to Cake Pop Tok these days.

This feeling of frustration when options seem limited and not all that great is how a lot of business owners are feeling about Thrive Cart this week.

TC does the job, but it's also not a reliable—or even enjoyable—platform to use. (TC users, have you had the canon experience of deleting an entire cart after designing it because you didn’t know you couldn’t look at new templates without erasing everything you’ve already done? Ughhhhh...)

Thrive Cart recently updated their user interface (it’s looking a bit better than it did), and have added a new community feature (Thrive Cart Academy). And maybe due to all the changes, the whole system crashed last Friday.

Like, hard crash, Thrive Cart went DOWN. Right in the middle of launches for many folks.

And yes, these beleaguered business owners took to the internet to complain. To make matters worse, Thrive Cart didn’t really seem to be taking things seriously. They didn’t even send out an email about the outage (TC users, did you get one?). People were pissed off and ready to jump ship. But, to where?

This happens every so often on threads. A software company does something stupid like raising their prices or adding AI and everyone posts about leaving and we all share our hot takes and favourite alternatives.

The reality is that we all need these software systems.

AND, most of them are less than perfect.

After 3 years of supporting business owners to pick the right platforms and systems for their business, I’ve come to the conclusion that there truly isn’t a Goldilocks platform. There’s just the “this one is pretty much the best one for me” and there will always be annoying things or workarounds you have to deal with.

Maybe one day, someone will build the perfect platform but until then we just have to go with “good enough” and trust that it’ll deliver the kind of client experience we want for our people.

I get asked about payment platforms a lot, so I took some time to research a few of them for you. This is by no means a comprehensive list, but these are the main options available right now and I've used them all so I can confidently give you my thoughts on each one. Save this email so you can come back to it whenever you need it. And if you’ve found something even better than what I’ve shared here, hit reply & let me know!

​Thrive Cart​

$495 Lifetime
Pro $790 + $295/yr
Academy $47/m $87/m $127/m

Pros:

• This is the cart most people use because of the lifetime payment option.
• Able to manage most payment scenarios from funnels, to add ons, to payment plans, and subscriptions
• Courses functionality (not sure if this is being phased out with introduction of Academy)
• Community functionality (pro only)
• Tax functionality (pro only)
• Affiliate functionality (pro only)
• Landing page builder (limited, but do-able)
• No additional fees (just Stripe Fees)
• Good integrations with most email marketing platforms

Cons:

• Additional monthly or yearly payments if you want community, taxes, or affiliate functionality
• Not super easy to use (setting up funnels is a nightmare)
• Easy to mess up and lose an entire cart design
• Outages could disrupt payments

Even with everything going on with Thrive Cart, it’s still the platform I would suggest using when looking for a basic payment system. The only other alternative that compares is Sam Cart and the price is $199/month for similar functionality as TC pro.

​Stan Store ​
$29/m
$99/m

Pros:

• Very very easy to set up
• Versatile
• Link in bio, digital products, list building, courses, subscriptions, workshops, community, calendar
• Funnels available in pro
• Very simple email marketing in pro
• Basic IG auto DM feature to send link when someone comments a keyword

Cons:

• Limited design functionality
• Positions itself as an all in one tool, but a lot of functionality is limited
• 5% transaction fee on all sales ($29/m plan)

I use Stan Store for my yoga business. If you’re just getting started and just need a way for people to buy from you, sign up for a waitlist, or check out your links—Stan store offers a totally functional and elevated Link in Bio. Ideal for content creators, influencers, affiliate marketers.

​Flodesk Checkout​

$25/month (flodesk email + 1 checkout)
$49/month (flodesk email + unlimited checkouts)

Pros:

• Easy to use
• Offers landing pages + funnels
• Subscriptions and payments plans
• Integrates easily with flodesk
• No additional fees
• Woman-Owned

Cons:

• No back end courses functionality or hub for products
• Only works with flodesk
• Funnel capability is mostly just upsells or bonuses so fairly simple
• Payment plans powered by Klarna, Affirm, and Afterpay which offloads defaults but creates friction for your customer while purchasing

I would suggest this for anyone already using flodesk who is just getting started with low price digital offers or subscriptions. It’s an easy way to get paid. If you have Kit, there is a way to sell digital products (delivered via email) or subscriptions similar to Flodesk.

Kajabi

$179/m
$249/m
$499/m

Pro:

• Everything in one place - website, cart, courses, community
• Reliable, and industry standard for course creators
• App available for easy mobile use

Cons:

• Not beginner friendly, there is a bit of a steep learning curve

I'm not the biggest fan of Kajabi, it's so clunky. BUT, if your courses-based business is booming, this is the standard platform and makes a whole lot of sense to use.

FG funnels ( white labelled go high level)

$129/m

Pros:

• An all in one platform like Kajabi but with EVERYTHING you need to run an online business
• Also includes calendar, quizzes, invoicing, social post planner, SMS marketing
• Woman-owned

Cons:

• Quite a steep learning curve, you will need to be pretty techy to use this software
• Lots of templates to choose from but design flexibility is limited
• Can get very disorganized in the back end very quickly

If you don't have ADHD, and you can keep a back end super organized this is a decent all in one platform. The price is fantastic and everything you need is here from email marketing to a booking calendar etc.

Circle

$89/m
$199/m

Pros:

• Well-known, a lot of people use Circle
• App makes it easy for clients to engage with content
• Can be used for online courses, memberships, or community-based programs
• Events
• Website and landing page functionality
• Live streams & live rooms
• Gamification
• Community

Cons:

• Steep learning curve
• Not ideal for digital products (you could workaround this, but the user experience wouldn’t be as streamlined)
• Transaction fees on all tiers (.5 - 2%)

Circle is the standard choice for community-based programs or memberships. It does have a steep learning curve, but not as much as a platform like Mighty Networks. As a customer, I’m not a huge fan of the user experience. I would suggest creating walk through videos if you use Circle to help your clients feel comfortable navigating and engaging on the platform.

​Heartbeat ​

$49/m
$149/m

Pros

• Easier to use (AI assisted set up)
• App available
• Courses functionality
• Gamification
• Live chats
• Landing pages (new feature, really easy to build)
• Waitlist capability (collect emails before building)
• Easy navigation on user side
• Least expensive community platform but highest transaction fees (there are no goldilocks platforms)

Cons

• As with most community platforms, there is a bit of a learning curve setting things up.
• Not as clean looking as Circle
• Fees on transactions with all tiers (1.25% - 5%)

I use Heartbeat for my free yoga community. I really like the platform and have found it relatively easy to set up. This is an ideal platform for memberships or longer programs with a community element. I’ve used a few community platforms and this one is my favourite from both an admin and user perspective.

Skool ​
$9/month
$99/month
​
​Pros:

• low barrier of entry for a basic community
• unlimited members, courses, videos, live calls on all plans
• fairly easy to use
• app available

Cons:

• low price plan has advertising for other communities
• a bit of a chaotic feel
• Alex Hormozi (dunno why, but I don't trust this guy)
• 10% transaction fee on $9 plan
• 2.9% fee on $99 plan

I have used Skool a bit and have always found it to be a bit chaotic. I think this is a great option if you want to start a free community to grow your business/use as an opt in.

​Teachery ​

$49/month (limited access)
$470/yr
$550 lifetime (goes up to $750 Aug 15 & $950 Sept 15)

Pros:

• 0% transaction fees (on yearly or lifetime plans)
• unlimited courses
• Unlimited customers
• Unlimited admins
• Sales page builder
• Unlimited custom domains
• Digital products
• Growing & Improving (will be adding community, memberships, better customization, AI assistant, and a better mobile experience)

Cons:

• Very limited design and not very clean looking
• No app available
• Limited integrations (Zapier works)
• Kind of confusing when you add new customers manually
• No native video hosting, so you need to get Vimeo or use unlisted YouTube for video content

I use Teachery for my courses and will move my yoga community over here when they introduce the community option. This platform is ideal for course creators, digital product creators, and eventually those with memberships or communities. I find it easy to use and adequate for what I need.

Alrighty... now to find me a cake pop, for some reason I'm craving them right now. 👀

Would you like me to review Email Marketing Platforms next? Let me know!

Until next time,

~ Robin

P.S. The Yap Challenge is going great! My views are up (marginally) and my follower count is up (mostly yappers). It's been a bit emotionally challenging and quite an exercise in letting go of perfection.

P.P.S. Our garden snake has moved on from our garden.... if I'm being honest, I kind of miss it. I NEVER thought I would ever say such a thing.

Thank you for reading The Flow. From time to time, I share affiliate links to products that I use, have used and highly recommend. Your support is, as always, appreciated.

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