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Daycare Center and Family Home Forum>Targeted Marketing For Kids Of Certain Ages
EntropyControlSpecialist 09:28 AM 05-14-2013
This is what I wrote in another thread, but thought it might be helpful for those who don't know that Vistaprint offers this service.
You can either buy the list and mail out items yourself, or you can buy the list and have them mail out items for you. I have done both in the past and had the most luck in getting clients when they mailed out postcards for me for whatever reason. I'm about to mail out 210 postcards to families with 2-year-olds within a 1 mile radius of my home. I can only afford to send out 210, which is half of what they found.

You're going to make a custom mailing list.
http://www.vistaprint.com/mailing-li...ts&xnav=TopNav

1. "Residential Customers"
2. Choose "Closest to this address" or "Zip Codes" or "Counties" (I choose closest to this address, and always choose 1 mile or 5 miles)
3. "Custom Options" > Presence of Children "Children Present" AND select "Children Age Ranges" with the ages you want it being sent to
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rmc20021 10:25 AM 05-14-2013
Hmmmm, I like this idea. Think I'll check into it. I'm going to be having 3 full time spots I need to fill within the next few weeks so gotta get moving.
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slorey 10:33 AM 05-14-2013
What a great idea! I will definitely be looking into this ! Do they have the option to narrow it down to teacher's kids?
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butterfly 10:43 AM 05-14-2013
Originally Posted by EntropyControlSpecialist:
This is what I wrote in another thread, but thought it might be helpful for those who don't know that Vistaprint offers this service.
You can either buy the list and mail out items yourself, or you can buy the list and have them mail out items for you. I have done both in the past and had the most luck in getting clients when they mailed out postcards for me for whatever reason. I'm about to mail out 210 postcards to families with 2-year-olds within a 1 mile radius of my home. I can only afford to send out 210, which is half of what they found.

You're going to make a custom mailing list.
http://www.vistaprint.com/mailing-li...ts&xnav=TopNav

1. "Residential Customers"
2. Choose "Closest to this address" or "Zip Codes" or "Counties" (I choose closest to this address, and always choose 1 mile or 5 miles)
3. "Custom Options" > Presence of Children "Children Present" AND select "Children Age Ranges" with the ages you want it being sent to
Would you mind sharing how much this service costs? I tried to access it online and got an error message and it wouldn't let me proceed. Thanks.
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momofboys 10:45 AM 05-14-2013
Very neat!!!!
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EntropyControlSpecialist 10:49 AM 05-14-2013
Originally Posted by butterfly:
Would you mind sharing how much this service costs? I tried to access it online and got an error message and it wouldn't let me proceed. Thanks.
I'm about to do 210 postcards (their fee for doing it is $20, plus the postcards being made, plus the postage, plus the list fee) and it will be around $100-130. The price per postcard goes down the more you order. I believe it's saying mine would be 65 cents each (with all of that included).
If the link I posted doesn't work, just go to vistaprint and type in "mailing list" and that should pull up the same page.
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butterfly 10:52 AM 05-14-2013
Originally Posted by EntropyControlSpecialist:
I'm about to do 210 postcards (their fee for doing it is $20, plus the postcards being made, plus the postage, plus the list fee) and it will be around $100-130. The price per postcard goes down the more you order. I believe it's saying mine would be 65 cents each (with all of that included) total.

If the link I posted doesn't work, just go to vistaprint and type in "mailing list" and that should pull up the same page.
thank you. YOur link worked great. I was trying to open an account with them to get some information and that's when I got an error message.
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CedarCreek 10:52 AM 05-14-2013
This is an excellent idea! Thank you!
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KnoxMom 10:55 AM 05-14-2013
I actually get ALL of my marketing materials from Vistapring; business card, refer-a-friend cards, postcards, signs, etc. The shipping is costly sometimes, but the overall price and convenience tops anything local. Thank you for sharing the details. I didn't want to pay for their mailing lists and opted to drop off at local grocery stores, dry cleaners, hair salons, consignment stores, etc. Definitely something to consider!
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daycarediva 11:04 AM 05-14-2013
There are 636 3 year olds within a mile radius of me! WOW! Soooo doing this RIGHT NOW (I'm just doing 100, see if I get any hits and take it from there)

thanks!!!
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momofboys 11:13 AM 05-14-2013
I live in a small town (population 12,000) & I plugged it in doing 2-4-year-olds & it came up with almost 900 kiddos!!! Like Entropy said you can buy just the list - I plugged in that I wanted 250 of those names & it said I would pay $25.00 -not bad if you want to do the postcard work on your own.

Edited to add - I know this sounds silly but one of my past clients (that I termed) is within my "mile" & I really on't want to send them a thing lol. That is one reason why I plan on buying the addresses so I can come up with something on my own to mail out & I am guessing I will know some of these families from preschool, etc. I LOVE this idea though. Thank you so much to the poster!
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EntropyControlSpecialist 11:17 AM 05-14-2013
I tried printing off mailing labels when I did it myself and it was a huge headache getting the labels to line up correctly with my printer. It was a nightmare!!! If I had a better system down, I'd do it myself. I didn't think that handwriting addresses was as professional ... but could I be wrong? If I could handwrite addresses I could save some $.
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EntropyControlSpecialist 11:34 AM 05-14-2013
Here is the breakdown for 210 postcards to be mailed if anyone wants to see.
If you mail them yourself, it looks like you'd only save $20.

Originally Posted by :
Postcards

210 $42.99
Black & White Back Side INCLUDED
Glossy Finish INCLUDED

Postcard Mailing Fee
Includes:
Address validation
Duplicate checking

Address printing and sorting
210 $19.99

Premium Consumer Records
Number of Records: 210
$21.00

Current Resident Requested Option INCLUDED

Postage:
First Class Postage
$63.00
Printing Speed:
Standard Printing INCLUDED

Total: $146.98

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preschoolteacher 11:50 AM 05-14-2013
Thank you so much!! This is one of the reason I LOVE this board. I was planning on doing a mailing already, and I was worried about how to afford a large area or waste money sending mailers to people without kids. This solves my problem!
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LaLa1923 11:52 AM 05-14-2013
How do they know the ages living there???
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EntropyControlSpecialist 11:54 AM 05-14-2013
I scrolled down and saw this:

Data provided by AccuData, a leading provider of targeted mailing lists.
Records are updated every 6 months and cleared of duplicates.

FAQ
Purchasing Mailing Lists

- Where does the data come from when I buy a list?
The data comes from Accudata, an industry leader in marketing information solutions.

- Do I own the data once I purchase a list? Are there restrictions?
Purchasing a list from Accudata constitutes a one-year rental of the list. After one year, if some of the list members have not become customers, they can no longer be used without purchasing the list again. It is best practice to refresh any mailing list older than six months due to the frequency of address changes. Please refer to our Terms of Use for Mailing Lists for further details.

- Can I view my list before I purchase it?
Unfortunately we can’t display the details of your list until your purchase is complete. However, you will be shown the number of results before completing your purchase.

- Will I be able to view, edit and download my list?
Yes. Once purchased, your list can be downloaded, edited and re-used for a period of one year from the purchase date. For more details on the use of mailing lists, please see our Terms of Use for Mailing Lists.

- How long before a purchased list is made available to me in My Lists?
A purchased list is usually delivered to your "My Lists" page in about 30 minutes, but in some cases may take up to a few hours. You will receive an email notice when your list is available for


Pricing per address:
Qty Price
1-499 $0.07
500-1999 $0.06
2000-20000 $0.05
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Patches 11:59 AM 05-14-2013
I did this once but did not get even one phone call Might have been timing, might have been my area
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EntropyControlSpecialist 12:02 PM 05-14-2013
Originally Posted by Patches:
I did this once but did not get even one phone call Might have been timing, might have been my area
When I originally did it, I enrolled 5 clients and had many interviews. It was when I first opened and I let Vistaprint mail them out. It was in the Spring that I mailed them out.

When I did it a second time, I mailed them out and didn't receive any calls. I think I only did 150 or so. I think it was an odd time. It was in the Fall.

I'll update if I receive any inquiries from doing it again. I don't have any other options where I live. I've always had Craigslist ads up, but I have never received anything from it. The stores in my area are a good 10+ minute drive away (I live in a SMALL community that is pretty secluded) and there are an abundance of in-home daycares and center daycares in that area. The postcards, word of mouth, and the state website (where people search for local daycares) are the only ways I have gotten clients.
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LaLa1923 12:25 PM 05-14-2013
I bought 316! It was super super easy to do! I wanted to do it but I had no idea you could narrow the list down! Thank you!!

It cost me less than one enrolled child! (1 week fee)

What happened to the clients you received from the mailing?

I offered $50 off their first two weeks. Do you think this is a good deal? I hope I did it right.....
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EntropyControlSpecialist 12:47 PM 05-14-2013
Originally Posted by LaLa1923:
I bought 316! It was super super easy to do! I wanted to do it but I had no idea you could narrow the list down! Thank you!!

It cost me less than one enrolled child! (1 week fee)

What happened to the clients you received from the mailing?

I offered $50 off their first two weeks. Do you think this is a good deal? I hope I did it right.....
One went to Kinder, one I had to term because her Mom didn't want to abide by policies and tried to tell me how things were going to happen, and three are still here.
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LaLa1923 03:11 PM 05-15-2013
Can we view the list after we order everything? I already ordered mine and they are sending mine out for me.
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EntropyControlSpecialist 03:20 PM 05-15-2013
Originally Posted by LaLa1923:
Can we view the list after we order everything? I already ordered mine and they are sending mine out for me.
Yep!
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momofboys 12:38 PM 05-29-2013
OK, so I got my postcards from Vista & they are INCREDIBLE - I am so impressed I would hire ME lol. Anyway, I just took a glance & downloaded the mailing list & i have to say I am a little skeptical & question its accuracy. I live in a small town (population @11,000-12,000 or so) & know a lot of people so I figure any list I do I will know some people on it. So I am looking at my list & lo & behold & I see a few families I know - one is a neighbor of ours & they go to church with us so we know their family well. This family's youngest child is a 1st grader, she is 6 or 7-years-old! I did targeted age of 2-3-year-olds. And guess what? I see 3 families I know & their youngest child is 5 or 6-years-old & they are ON THE LIST. Makes me really question how accurate this is. A little disappointed but hoping it is not a total waste of time.

***Just looked some more at the list & found one of my SA son's friend's family - their YOUNGESt is a 3rd grader!!!!!!!! I am seriously considering calling Vista & questioning this list.
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EntropyControlSpecialist 12:41 PM 05-29-2013
Originally Posted by momofboys:
OK, so I got my postcards from Vista & they are INCREDIBLE - I am so impressed I would hire ME lol. Anyway, I just took a glance & downloaded the mailing list & i have to say I am a little skeptical & question its accuracy. I live in a small town (population @11,000-12,000 or so) & know a lot of people so I figure any list I do I will know some people on it. So I am looking at my list & lo & behold & I see a few families I know - one is a neighbor of ours & they go to church with us so we know their family well. This family's youngest child is a 1st grader, she is 6 or 7-years-old! I did targeted age of 2-3-year-olds. And guess what? I see 3 families I know & their youngest child is 5 or 6-years-old & they are ON THE LIST. Makes me really question how accurate this is. A little disappointed but hoping it is not a total waste of time.
Oh no!! You should write to Vistaprint and ask for a refund. That is not good news to hear!

I had an inquiry from someone with a 1-year-old yesterday so I'm wondering myself...
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momofboys 12:44 PM 05-29-2013
Originally Posted by EntropyControlSpecialist:
Oh no!! You should write to Vistaprint and ask for a refund. That is not good news to hear!

I had an inquiry from someone with a 1-year-old yesterday so I'm wondering myself...
I think I will! I obviously don't know everyone on the list but I don't want to target school-agers. The postcard ROCKS though, I am very happy with it!!
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Cradle2crayons 12:48 PM 05-29-2013
Originally Posted by momofboys:
OK, so I got my postcards from Vista & they are INCREDIBLE - I am so impressed I would hire ME lol. Anyway, I just took a glance & downloaded the mailing list & i have to say I am a little skeptical & question its accuracy. I live in a small town (population @11,000-12,000 or so) & know a lot of people so I figure any list I do I will know some people on it. So I am looking at my list & lo & behold & I see a few families I know - one is a neighbor of ours & they go to church with us so we know their family well. This family's youngest child is a 1st grader, she is 6 or 7-years-old! I did targeted age of 2-3-year-olds. And guess what? I see 3 families I know & their youngest child is 5 or 6-years-old & they are ON THE LIST. Makes me really question how accurate this is. A little disappointed but hoping it is not a total waste of time.

***Just looked some more at the list & found one of my SA son's friend's family - their YOUNGESt is a 3rd grader!!!!!!!! I am seriously considering calling Vista & questioning this list.
I could see this happening. I know in my community people are very private and when the census people show up, people hide. I have no idea why but its true.

That being said, my address doesn't GPS. I did that on purpose. I like it that way. Ad won't change a thing. To be honest, if you don't know EXACTLY where I am, you will never find me. I doubt the census people will find me either considering I pass my own driveway at night lol.

I'm rambling but what I'm trying to say is that I can see where the more rural you are, the more inaccurate the data might be. However, if you send out say 150 mailings, some will be in error but you don't need even 10 of those to sign up.
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AmyKidsCo 01:49 PM 05-29-2013
Holy cow - I had over 3,000 records! I put in 2 & 3 yr olds within 5 miles of my address.

I think I'd better narrow the parameters... or sell one of my kiddos.
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LaLa1923 06:02 AM 05-30-2013
Originally Posted by momofboys:
I think I will! I obviously don't know everyone on the list but I don't want to target school-agers. The postcard ROCKS though, I am very happy with it!!


Any update?? I'm worried now...
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momofboys 07:15 AM 05-30-2013
OK, not completely satisfied. I am not saying the records are all inaccurate I am simply skeptical. Of the 250 addresses I have I would venture to say I know 8-10 families on the list who DO NOT have children anywhere close to the age range I specificed (2-3-year-olds). Of the families I know their youngest child is in the 5-8-year-old range That is not to say that the records are all wrong I just believe there is always going to be some inaccurate records. I do know some families on here & the records are correct so that is good (one family has a 3-year-old)! I did call & although they were polite they confirmed that they believe the records are accurate & updated every 3-months. So they were not very helpful & I was offered NO refund although I did not ask for one. I still plan to send out my cards but am not super-hopeful. Sorry to be a Debbie Downer just wanted to update you on my findings. My youngest son was in preschool at our local school & I plan to send cards to some of his classmates many of whom have younger siblings. I also plan to send them to local teachers I know who have younger children (if I can locate their addresses on my own with some detective work!).

Edited to add: I also question the numbers. When I requested records for 2-3-year-olds within 1 mile of my zip (remember my community only has about 11-12K people) it told me I have hundreds - I believe 900 2-4 year olds. I question that considering we only have 11 or 12k people.
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EntropyControlSpecialist 07:52 AM 05-30-2013
Originally Posted by momofboys:
OK, not completely satisfied. I am not saying the records are all inaccurate I am simply skeptical. Of the 250 addresses I have I would venture to say I know 8-10 families on the list who DO NOT have children anywhere close to the age range I specificed (2-3-year-olds). Of the families I know their youngest child is in the 5-8-year-old range That is not to say that the records are all wrong I just believe there is always going to be some inaccurate records. I do know some families on here & the records are correct so that is good (one family has a 3-year-old)! I did call & although they were polite they confirmed that they believe the records are accurate & updated every 3-months. So they were not very helpful & I was offered NO refund although I did not ask for one. I still plan to send out my cards but am not super-hopeful. Sorry to be a Debbie Downer just wanted to update you on my findings. My youngest son was in preschool at our local school & I plan to send cards to some of his classmates many of whom have younger siblings. I also plan to send them to local teachers I know who have younger children (if I can locate their addresses on my own with some detective work!).

Edited to add: I also question the numbers. When I requested records for 2-3-year-olds within 1 mile of my zip (remember my community only has about 11-12K people) it told me I have hundreds - I believe 900 2-4 year olds. I question that considering we only have 11 or 12k people.
Thanks for the update. That IS concerning. I'm not sure there is any way to prevent this other than to buy a list from another company ... but then we would have to question that, too. Any takers on doing that?
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MarinaVanessa 08:48 AM 05-30-2013
The last census was taken in 2010 so I'm wondering if the age ranges are based on the results on that census ... 3 years ago those 5 and 6 year olds were 2 and 3 year olds KWIM?
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momofboys 10:00 AM 05-30-2013
Originally Posted by MarinaVanessa:
The last census was taken in 2010 so I'm wondering if the age ranges are based on the results on that census ... 3 years ago those 5 and 6 year olds were 2 and 3 year olds KWIM?
Interesting & makes sense!! Still feel like we are being taken for a ride.
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EntropyControlSpecialist 10:31 AM 05-30-2013
Originally Posted by MarinaVanessa:
The last census was taken in 2010 so I'm wondering if the age ranges are based on the results on that census ... 3 years ago those 5 and 6 year olds were 2 and 3 year olds KWIM?
Which makes it tempting to buy the list for infants.

I think I may just stick to door hangers and do the manual labor of walking my pregnant butt up and down the streets in neighboring communities. I have many left over from when I did that awhile back. At least then I'm bound to hit some with children in the age group I'd like in addition to getting more exposure for CHEAP.
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MarinaVanessa 10:48 AM 05-30-2013
Okay so out of curiosity (because I really liked the idea of this targeted marketing thing) I called AccuData directly and asked them about where they get their information from and how accurate it is and this is what they said:

The information is not from the census at all. They would never use that info because it wouldn't be current after a year.

They get their information through a variety of ways ...
1) When you go shopping and pay with a credit card or debit card there is a database that collects information about the items that you purchase which then categorizes you. An example that she gave me was that if you are constantly purchasing diapers then they assume you have a child. The size of diapers (or age range of the child's item you purchased) can also be further categorized to estimate the age of the child.

2) People fill out surveys either my mail, online or over the phone about items and/or services that have purchased. Also when you call customer service and they ask you to answer a survey some of the questions may be about your household.

3) Through warranty information. You purchase an item that comes with a warranty and you fill out the warranty card for that item. If it's for a child's item then that info gets logged and categorized based on the age range that the item is for.

4) Magazine and other subscriptions. If you subscribe to a parenting or child magazine you get categorized based on the age range that the magazine is for.

One thing that she did say is that the accuracy of specific age ranges of the mailing lists depends on whether people are honest during surveys (some ladies like to say they are 29 when in fact they are 40 was an example she gave me ). She also said that some parents obviously don't buy age appropriate items for their kids so the age range is a guesstimate. Someone might buy toys or items meant for a 4yo when they in fact have a 2yo or if they have a larger or smaller than average sized child and purchase items like clothing or diapers then the estimated age range of their child might be off simply because they are bigger or smaller in height/weight than their age.

Also if someone purchases a lot of child items but doesn't have children of their own may be added to the list simply because they purchase a lot of kids items. For example grandma buy tons of stuff for grand baby or a child care provider or teacher that doesn't have children but buys kids items can get added to the list.

She also said that many times even though the targeted marketing lists are mostly accurate and you are looking for a specific type of client (in this case a 2-3yo) the client base may not have a demand for services in that age range but may have a demand for a different age range. For example a mom that has a toddler receives a mailer but doesn't need child care for that child and instead has an infant or a school age child may still call to ask and see if there is availability for that child instead. Or the parent may not need child care at all but may pass on the mailer to a neighbor, friend or relative that she thinks may need this service and that parent does not have a 2-4yo. etc.

In any case she says that the mailing list information is mostly accurate and that there is no way for a targeted list to be 100% accurate, which makes sense. Also for the most part if little or no traffic through targeted lists is attracted then the most frequent answer is that there is no demand in that specific area at that time.

HTH ladies. IMO I would still use the targeted list for reaching out to possible clients if I needed to fill spots and nothing else was working. I will definetely still keep this in mind.

For those of you that did purchase the lists, let us know how it works out for you .
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EntropyControlSpecialist 11:00 AM 05-30-2013
Great to know!
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littlemissmuffet 11:01 AM 05-30-2013
As someone who used to work at many call centers and relied on different lists from different companies for contacts... many of these "contact lists" are horribly inaccurate. At best, maybe a quarter of all our contacts on lists were actually correct and of the correct contacts maybe only a quarter of those actually brought us any income. I'd venture to say that that statistic is about the same in regards to this type of list too. So, if you're mailing to 200 addresses and 50 of them are valid contacts and only 12 or so generated income - I'd say that's worth it.

I just checked the Canadian Vista site and it doesn't appear they offer this service to us folk.
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LaLa1923 11:53 AM 05-30-2013
I ordered 316 (2,3,4 yr olds) and there are 58 (-1,1) year olds so I may buy that also.

I think that if I only get 2 clients from this it was worth it!! I would imagine I would get some calls as soon as they are received.... Fingers crossed!!
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WImom 12:40 PM 05-30-2013
I may do this too. I think I will target 1-3y old. I only take 2-4 so hopefully by doing the 1y old I will get them at age 2y now. If I get just one client from this it would be worth it I think.

Keep us updated if anyone gets clients from this.
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Blackcat31 01:12 PM 05-30-2013
I just called my community education office. (they handle school enrollment/preschool screening) and my local ECFE offices.

Both of them agreed to add my flyer to the information they send out to parents in the community for FREE!

Both of these agencies in my area have bi-monthly flyers and newletters that go out to community families who have children under school age.

They said as long as I supply the flyers, they will gladly tuck them in the envelopes.

So I just got target marking for nothing.
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EntropyControlSpecialist 01:46 PM 05-30-2013
Originally Posted by Blackcat31:
I just called my community education office. (they handle school enrollment/preschool screening) and my local ECFE offices.

Both of them agreed to add my flyer to the information they send out to parents in the community for FREE!

Both of these agencies in my area have bi-monthly flyers and newletters that go out to community families who have children under school age.

They said as long as I supply the flyers, they will gladly tuck them in the envelopes.

So I just got target marking for nothing.
Ah, my area has nothing like this.
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MarinaVanessa 02:00 PM 05-30-2013
Originally Posted by EntropyControlSpecialist:
Ah, my area has nothing like this.
Mine neither
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Tags:advertising, marketing ideas, promotion, vistaprint
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