Alexandria mom Courtney Demers is booked making cakes every single weekend through the summer

Home bakeries: They’re a booming trend that can make you big bucks. I checked in with some women finding financial success from the comforts of their kitchens.

Courtney Demers‘ Alexandria kitchen.. has quickly become her corner office. Cake pans, cookie cutters sprinkles.. supplies fill the cupboards.
Add taking care of two kids to the mix.. she’s got the ingredients for cake baking success at home.

“One led to another led to another and very quickly I was booked through the summer not even knowing this was something I was gonna do!”

Demers is part of a booming trend of home bakeries- people making stuff at home-using social media smartly to sell it.
It started when she made a birthday cake for a kid’s birthday party.. a string of orders followed- she found no storefront necessary.

“It’s been entirely online… all back and forth via email.. all word of mouth.. through Facebook likes and re-posting.”

Through her website Sweetest Soiree Demers turned her love of baking into a money making home business.
Profit possible because she lives in Virginia…one of nearly 40 states with a Cottage Food Law or restricted law that allows bakers to sell food made at home. Maryland has a limited law.. and just last month the DC Council introduced legislation to make it legal.

“It’s a really nice opportunity especially having children. Being able to work on my own schedule work in the evenings or work when they’re in school.”

One town over, Michelle D’Ettorre does the same but for the dogs. She started Aunt Sasha’s Barked Goods- an online bakery for pets featuring dozens of all natural treats made at home. In less than 3 years D’Etttore says engagement online has helped triple their profits. No paid advertising, no marketing, just pushing petworthy products and contests through tweets and facebook.

Facebook fans recently chose the name for Aunt Sasha's Barked Goods' newest dog treat

“There are so many great ways to interact with our customer without having them have to walk in our door!”

Baking at home obviously comes easy for a lot of these women but when it comes to running a business there’s definitely a big learning curve. Cheryl Savastano says she now drives like her grandmother… so her creations don’t get squished. Savastano is learning the tricks of delivery after ditching her cush corporate sales job for cupcakes. She’s also becoming an expert on driving traffic to her site Savvy Treats.

She says she started doing SEO or Search Engine Optimization. In other words, she found ways to make her website rank higher in search engines like google and yahoo. So when people like Judith Koritsas searches for cupcakes here…Savvy Treats is one of the first to pop up.

“If I have a special request I can do that also online and it’s so easy for me, Judith says.”

With International orders now coming in and business growing Savastano is looking to the next level- renting a commercial kitchen.

“I’m so comfortable taking that next step!”

She’s well on her way.. and like the others finding sweet success working from home and using the web to ge the word out.

Watch the story as seen on NBC4