Advertising Help Please!

[jessrlee]

Hi everyone! I have been lurking for over a year but I'm far too lazy to log in lol! I'm hoping you will help me out!

I need some creative advertising ideas! I have lost 9 kiddos in the last month (due to job loss, grandma, and one mom being angry that I didn't want to hire her). I have run an add in our paper for 3 weeks without a bite. We do not have a craigslist for our area. I need to do something because this is our main means of support. I have been open for 3 years now and usually I'm turning people away!

[Fro]

I have found newspaper ads to be ineffective for the money in my area also. here is a quick list of inexpensive ideas.
Check with your local grocery store, laundry mat, post office ect, and see if you can post a flyer on the bulliten board.
Carry business cards with you everywhere, and give one to every parent you meet while out shopping, at the park with the kids ect...
Get a car magnet with your name and number on it. You can get flyers, business cards, and the car magnet very cheap from vistaprint.com
start a website, you can get very inexpensive domains now, and you can easily list your site with google, and yellowpages.com and some other similar places.
list your daycare on daycare.com, and other similar sites, especially if you have any local sites. our city has a website that allows some advertising, and they also have message boards with an area for advertising, our county has a county message boards also that is usefull.
Think about putting a sign in your yard, or on busy street corners. some towns require you to get permission to do this.
ask your current parents to spread the word to people they may know, offer them a discount for a week if you enroll someone they referred as incentive.
Check with your county or state to see if they publish a provider directory. its usually inexpensive to put your listing in one. Here its $35 for 3 months.
I hope there is something here that can help, but if you have had good business in the past, most likely your name is out there, you just need to wait out the slow period. I think we all have had this happen at some point, and it doesnt usually last to long.

[Preschool/daycare teacher]

Originally Posted by jessrlee

Hi everyone! I have been lurking for over a year but I'm far too lazy to log in lol! I'm hoping you will help me out!

I need some creative advertising ideas! I have lost 9 kiddos in the last month (due to job loss, grandma, and one mom being angry that I didn't want to hire her). I have run an add in our paper for 3 weeks without a bite. We do not have a craigslist for our area. I need to do something because this is our main means of support. I have been open for 3 years now and usually I'm turning people away!

I feel for you. We've been having a slow period too for several months now, and it's getting really bad. We're keeping steady with the ones we do have, but it's just not enough income, especially since it's the same old nightmare of too little income each and every week. We're not sure what to do either, but in the mean time we're doing our best to better ourselves and the program.
I will be praying for your daycare as well... The area we're at is also having a tough time, so it's just the common thing around. Everybody seems to be struggling. I know that's no help, just wanted to let you know I understand what it's like.
Thanks Fro for the suggestions. We need to try these out!

[Abigail]

Did you hand any business cards out on Halloween? I think a large magnet on the car that clearly says daycare or child care works well! Go drive the main streets and park in Wal-Mart or Target or somewhere busy where people will see it. For a quick fix, type something to fill an 8.5 x 11 paper and tape inside your back window and each of the back side windows...maybe you will get a call driving down the street! LOL

Do you have a local child care resource and referral who can send people your way? Make sure to double check your rates to make sure they're not too high. If you accept school age children, I would call the elementary schools and ask if you can give out flyers for them to display.

[Crystal]

see if there is a local Moms of Multiples club in your area. Mom's of twins/triplets frequesntly have difficulty finding care, especially infant care, because many providers do not have enough space at one time.

[Gurdy]

The slow times are awful! Sorry to hear you are going through this.
I have always had great success with the state daycare referral agency, I get about 3 calls a month from them.
One thing I did when I first opened was take a big stack of fliers to area apartments and asked if they would put it in their "new resident" move in packages. I got several calls that way.
It seems like this business is always feast or famine when it comes to enrollment, before long you will be turning them away again- hang in there!!

[jessrlee]

Thanks ladies! I will have to break down and get some signs made! To top it off I have been super sick all week! Ugh!

[Abigail]

Originally Posted by Gurdy

The slow times are awful! Sorry to hear you are going through this.
I have always had great success with the state daycare referral agency, I get about 3 calls a month from them.
One thing I did when I first opened was take a big stack of fliers to area apartments and asked if they would put it in their "new resident" move in packages. I got several calls that way.
It seems like this business is always feast or famine when it comes to enrollment, before long you will be turning them away again- hang in there!!

I just recently found out we can advertise in a local (state-wide actually) monthly mailing of advertisements. I didn't know Family Child Care homes could advertise because I've only seens like carpet shampooing services and food places really. I called the company and asked for a general quote so I could plan a budget because I didn't want to waste their time meeting with them like they suggested. I was quoted............ $600 MINIMUM! WOW, it would be beneficial I think, but I'm wondering if I choose to do this if I should have one child enrolled first so I can claim the whole thing as a daycare expense if that is possible. I also want to have a web site up and running, but NOT post my rates since everyone in the town and nearby cities will get it, then they can go to my website and I can track my hits. I think it would be a way to really stand out and fill all of my spots when I open. Do you think that would be a waste of money?

I never did think about asking apartments if they could do that in welcome packets, how wonderful! I only got cable deals in mine and address return labels which were nice.

I'm wondering what information you put on your advertisements or if anyone has a picture of their flyer. I'm really stuck on trying to find a nice layout for a flyer and would love to see what others look like. This would definitely be more cost-effective and probably fill the spots too.

[marniewon]

Originally Posted by Abigail

I just recently found out we can advertise in a local (state-wide actually) monthly mailing of advertisements. I didn't know Family Child Care homes could advertise because I've only seens like carpet shampooing services and food places really. I called the company and asked for a general quote so I could plan a budget because I didn't want to waste their time meeting with them like they suggested. I was quoted............ $600 MINIMUM! WOW, it would be beneficial I think, but I'm wondering if I choose to do this if I should have one child enrolled first so I can claim the whole thing as a daycare expense if that is possible. I also want to have a web site up and running, but NOT post my rates since everyone in the town and nearby cities will get it, then they can go to my website and I can track my hits. I think it would be a way to really stand out and fill all of my spots when I open. Do you think that would be a waste of money?

I never did think about asking apartments if they could do that in welcome packets, how wonderful! I only got cable deals in mine and address return labels which were nice.

I'm wondering what information you put on your advertisements or if anyone has a picture of their flyer. I'm really stuck on trying to find a nice layout for a flyer and would love to see what others look like. This would definitely be more cost-effective and probably fill the spots too.

I would never spend $600 on advertising - not all at once in one spot!! Think about it - do YOU look at every ad that comes your way? I would stick with flyers at grocery stores/schools, etc, word of mouth (talk to everyone you meet) etc.

[Abigail]

Originally Posted by marniewon

I would never spend $600 on advertising - not all at once in one spot!! Think about it - do YOU look at every ad that comes your way? I would stick with flyers at grocery stores/schools, etc, word of mouth (talk to everyone you meet) etc.

I do look at every ad in the envelope that comes monthly though and use some of them. I find out about new businesses that way too. I still think that if I wasn't concerned about money for advertising that I would save the time driving around placing ads and just submit it to this company and have it go to everyone. I would definitely stand out in the crowd and that is what I am looking for. Wouldn't I rather want to fill all my spots within a month (no part-timers, only full timers) and make up for my advertising costs right away than not get enough enrolled the first year? I know it's a personal call, but it pretty much comes down to whether I have that kind of money or not, lol, which would be wonderful! I'm just looking for an extra special way to stand out in the crowd and draw in the right families. Please share any ideas or share your flyer. Thanks