Future FCC Provider in CA |
11-12-2012 09:57 AM |
Ad tip I plan on using when I open up:
Posters and business card can be very help too. You can put poster up by (some places you may need permision) elementry/middle/high schools (afterschool care and for younger siblings and teachers/staff), or by parks, family/grocery stores and malls,you local resources and referal agencies/substadized offices (such as Go Kids, CARES, or First 5 {these are California agencies}), or anywhere that has a bullitin boards (coffee shops, laundry mats, burger shops, nail/hair salons, community colleges, churches) or even see about getting your business mentioned on a local radio station.
Around Halloween (if you celibrate) when you pass out candy you can pass out business cards too. You can also go to your local farmers market and rent a booth (you can also split a booth with other local providers who can trade shifts every other week) to get your face out more in the public. But word of mouth is the BEST advertisement- people telling about their POSITIVE personal experiences and It's FREE!- this can also work against you, but unless you break rules/safety codes or make a lot of people P.O.'d you should be fine.
Just remember whereever you advertise, if its in print, you have to provide your license number (at least in this state) but NOT your adress (for the safety of you and the children in your care)- just leave a phone # or e-mail and schedual an initial appointment after hours- That way if your starting out the parents will focus more on you and the environment you provider other than how many kids you have, and later if you do have kids in your program its for their safety. You can always do a part 2 interveiw during hours (if they want) after you see if you are interested in them enrolling in your program (remember they aren't just interviewing you to watch their child - your interviewing them to see if you can trust them to be respectful clients).
If you haven't already (and if available) maybe look into taking a class on family child care administration (at my school it was only 3 days {1 friday night & 2 sat morning/afternoons} and only 1 credit)- it can teach you about child care laws/regs, advertising, record keeping (including ways to reduce your taxes) and contracts/policies. In one class we used 2 redleaf press books (cost less than $20 each at my schools store) made specificaly for family child care providers: "Record keeping" and "contracts and policies"
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