There are two main places my advertising seems to work. The grocery store, and local facebook groups. I have two spots I need to fill they have been open since early Feb.

So yesterday a mom posts she needs care for an infant and a 3 year old Mon, Thurs, Fri and Sat. Hours would be 11 AM until between 3-6 PM, depending on her hours. Someone gives her a rate that is way to high for this area. She PMed me in response to my post to her thread and I give her a rate of $150 a week (for both) considering it would be full time and Saturdays at that. I really don't want the Saturdays but we could really use the money from filling these spots. I also messaged her my website to look over. So then this morning, someone has posted giving her a rate of get this......$60 a week! Of course mom is all over that. That seems to be the big issue I fight in this area. I just can't seem to find a way around it, and I don't feel like I can lower my rates any farther.

I am not sure if I am asking for advice or what lol. But I need to find a way around this.

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Do you have a facebook page? What are you offering to set yourself apart from the low ball rates?

For me, RAISING my rates helped to get clients. I had to find a niche in my area- and that was preschool. There were only TWO private preschools in my area that weren't connected to UPK. One is a montessori (which has recently come under fire and the reason why my waiting list is now 10 children deep) the other was a traditional preschool in a center.

Parents here did not like UPK, finding aftercare/transportation, the big center/developmentally inappropriate worksheets, no outside, etc. So I went organic, play based, crunchy granola.

Can you look into successful home daycares in your area, or centers, or whatever in your area to see what they offer and then market/change up things off of that?

I would definitely set rates, daily. If you must, you can add a sibling or multichild discount.

I would NOT respond to people seeking childcare. I would place your own ad in the groups marketing yourself. When you respond- they are interviewing you. When they respond to you, you are interviewing them.

be as professional as possible. I have a tour/interview. I lead it. I go over policies, I ask questions, I give a rundown of what I offer and then I allow parents to ask questions. I send them home with a cutesy binder of my enrollment process and when they could expect to hear from me.

It's also possible your area is just too saturated with sahm or illegal daycares to get anything worth your actual value as a FCC provider. Which STINKS!

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I know what you mean. When I was first starting out I came across the same problem when I was trying to fill my last two spots. My fee (here fccs charge by the month) was higher than someone in the same neighborhood. It took a few months but I finally filled the spots with great families. I made a website and Facebook page which helps a lot because interested families can see and learn about my program and contact me on there too. Many of my families ended up from referrals from current/former families and from my food program monitor who loves my space and program. Currently I still charge one of the higher rates in my area plus I cut down my hours to Mon-Thurs from 8-3 and I'm currently full. (I still constantly see the ads for the cheaper fccs). Hang in there it will happen and a great family will come along who appreciates you and your program

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I feel your pain! I actually, by getting frustrated with the SAHM's on craigslist offering the same rate or higher than me, put out a snarky ad about how my money goes towards being professional, regulated, and not for a weekend of shopping but back into my business. I've actually had a few hits from being honest instead of saying things people want to hear. The au pair rage is starting to happen in my area too, which burns me a little because it doesn't seem like it's for children, if you get what I mean. I have 2 spots open as well, that have been open since January. I wish us both luck as I refuse to negotiate my fees, especially for 2 children. I find people with multiple children are always trying to lowball the price, that basically makes it a 2 for 1 deal for them and no money for me.

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I do have a website and a Facebook page. I am not sure I am using either to their full potential. I feel kind of dumb when it comes to using them.

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I use weebly for my website and is very easy to use. It has all my program info on there including my rates so only families who are willing to pay me rates contact me. Depending on what we are doing I'll post pictures of our activities or welcoming/saying goodbye to children at the end of the week or every two weeks or the end of the month on my website. Then I post on my Facebook page at least once a week pictures of the children having fun or share articles that are interesting/informative/helpful for families. Both my website and on Facebook I can track how many people visited and got engaged in what I post. I found when I kept both sites updated I got more interest because a lot of others kind of stop after their first few posts, and families share/like posts which their friends see and that works as my advertisement.

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I have a website through GoDaddy.com (I pay $12 a month for my.com name and the website hosting) that is very well done and I am educated in the field plus I have experience yadda yadda. I tried setting myself apart from the pack by highlighting all of this in an FB ad and the admin of the page wouldn't even put it up for me. She told me I was highlighting my educaton too much which would alienate clients and other caregivers who are not educated How do you even begin to understand this logic?

I totally understand how you feel when it comes to trying to compete with people who charge next to nothing....probably because they are breaking the law.

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4-7 hours per day, 4 days per week, INCLUDING a weekend day? Whoever offered $60/week ($30/week for each child?!) for 16-28 hours of care per week, that are inconsistent, is likely to burn out. That's only $1.87-$1.07 PER HOUR. I would never!

Don't budge on a lower rate. Your rate you offered for TWO children is wonderful.

Utilize your Facebook as a platform to display what you do that is neat at your daycare. I can PM you mine so you can see what I do if you would like. My parents share the photos often and that is free advertising! Also, create a list of all the wonderful things your daycare offers, a sample menu, and your experience. Not paragraphs...just a list they can breeze on down. Since I created a 1 page list I get a lot of interest. I tell people to e-mail me for additional information (the list). The list tells far more than my website does.

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I would love to see your Facebook! I have added some stuff we have done, but I don't think I have done it often enough. For some reason I dread going to that one, logging in, doing it. Ug lol. But I guess I better get my backside in gear about it. Like yesterday I took my preschooler to Boonshoft museum in Springfield. I guess I should add some of the pics I took from there.

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