Hi ladies! I had a small yard sign designed (it says "Family Daycare & Preschool", my hours and my business phone #) just to put out for a couple of hours in the morning during commute time (I wouldn't leave it out for long or on a consistent basis). It came out really nice, but I do have a few concerns....

• I've heard that some people don't like home daycare and might start trouble if they know one is in their community
• Someone might steal the sign if I take my eye off of it for a moment
• I am a "Nervous Nelly" about pedophiles
• I don't know the town ordinances but I don't plan to have it out long enough to cause any trouble

Do any of you ladies use a sign every now and then? Am I just being ridiculous or should I be concerned about using it? There is a specific housing community I'm trying to target but I can't seem to get them to notice me (I've tried mentioning the community on Craigslist, etc.). Thanks for any ideas or humble opinions.....

Reply

I have one, its home made and pretty big. Trust me no one will steal it, also I haven't had any ped. call me. Acually I leave it out all year round. The only person who made a stink was the next door neighbour but its because the dd (who lives serval houses down the street) tried to do daycare and couldn't do it so they all became very jelous, so I had to move it onto my property (it was before but on the corner) but otherwise I've never had a problem. Its awesome way to advertise, you would not believe how many people know me and love the fact that I take care of kids.

Reply

I'm half and half on this....I would be the nervous nelly type too.
I'm no help, sorry.

Reply

I don't know about the yard sign, I've never used one. If you're trying to target a specific neighborhood with your advertising, maybe you could make up some postcards or a flyer and mail them to all the addresses in the area you are targeting - I guess assuming it's not a huge area.

Reply

Wow, that is good idea for this situation. I've thought about advertising through flyers that go from house to house, but it starts at $600. I'll probably still look into it when the time comes to see how many houses would get it.

I would be nervous about putting a sign out. I would off and on when I had openings or if you have a neighborhood rummage I would put it out then to draw in more people to the area.

Reply

I have 2 signs with graphics and **** Daycare, with my number and a motto. 1 is on my front porch and another banner across the fence. Got a great deal on them and they have been hanging outside for a couple yrs now no damage to them at all so it's a good quality. I had them made at Vistaprint. I also have a sign on a couple car windows. No one has ever attempted to steal the signs. It wouldn't do them any good anyway it's all my info.

I don't worry about anyone (ped) harming my daycare kids because I have a chain link fence that is locked and they are NEVER left alone. As for reaching a certain type of family, I don't even aim anymore because u never know how a family is these days. What they show in public may not be what goes on behind closed doors.

The sign helps my business as I get a lot of traffic being next to a public trail. Just the amount of toys and ride ons etc would have people asking if I ran a daycare tho so just toys in the yard alone may be enough for people to ask.

Reply

LOL, my dh and I drive around town a lot looking at houses. All the ones with a bunch of toys I always comment "I bet that is a daycare"....

Reply

I wanted to put up a sign a few years ago, but our HOA here (Home Owners Association) prohibits any type of advertisting signs in the neighborhood. I noticed that someone who lives a few blocks from me put one up and the next day I saw it broken on the street! I felt so bad for her. There are a lot of daycares near me, so I bet it was a competitor that did it. Weird.

I'm a nervous nelly too... I get nervous even handing out my business cards sometimes because I dont want just anyone knowing my address with daycare info on it. I had new ones made without my address now. But I still just give it to prospective families vs leaving them on bulletin boards and things like that.

Maybe you can put your sign up close to your home so nobody will touch it. Some people can be so ugly with things like that.

Reply

In our city every single sign has to be approved by the city office or you get a big fine. Our town is so pretty because you don't see signs all over telephone poles, intersections and such but sometimes the local cops go a little overboard..... Stopping to pull up garage sale signs and then tossing the signs in the back of their patrol cars.

I would make a call to your city hall before putting up a sign.

Reply

I have had a sign out for about 3 yrs now. I live on a corner lot and I have it by the play area. It has helped a lot for me people see it and stop all the time when we are out. I am not supposed to have one out it is a rule in the neighborhood (I didn't know until after) and no one has ever said anything and we just left it. I leave it out yr round.

Reply

I had one out when I started doing daycare and 2 families that were interviewing asked if I was going to leave it up or take it down once I got full. Both said they would prefer it wasn't up all the time advertising that kids were there. I have never needed it since (until now) for advertising so it has never gone back up but I am too weighing the pros/cons of having it out.

Reply