So I've been open for about 3 months going on 4 and I have 2 kids plus my own 3 y.o and I've been advertising like crazy, I have gotten a few calls but nothing really pans out. So I'm thinking about having an open house but I don't have a clue on where to begin. What types of things should I have in place? What's a good day to have it? Do you serve refreshments? Any input would greatly be appreciated.

Thanks guys!!!

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Ooh, I'm interested in knowing what others will say on this thread too! My enrollment is down and I think this is a great idea!

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Food:
If its an open house where you will have multiple families, I would put out some type of snack trays and refreshments (cheese and crackers, veggie plates, chips n' dip, cookies/cupcakes/cake, and/or fruits; and some water, coffee, milk, juice, and/or tea).

Tour:
You could have a group tour where you show everyone all the rooms of your house and let them know what is off limits (if anything) and point out all safety features (outlets, bumper corners, cribs reasonably spaced apart). Or you could do a slideshow or make a video to show them of some of the things you do with kids during the day or how each room is used (you could also post this on your website later). You could also pass around pictures of children's art work or any documentation of projects (if possible hang children's art work around the house to "decorate" the walls).

Presentation:
Maybe before or after the tour you can go over and highlight some of you most important policies (e.g. if you take infants talk about all the SIDS prevention measures you promise to take; preschoolers talk about curriculum and field trips [if any]). You could do this on PowerPoint or you could also make a video about it. You could also tell them a little about yourself and your family (your family, your experience working with children, any education/training/hobbies you have, your philosophy mission statement why you chose to do home daycare).

Q & A:
After the tour/presentation, you can have a Q & A at the end where you answer any questions they make have.

You could do this as a "Phase 1" interview and then you could meet with them after where they can set up a "Phase 2" interview if they are still interested where you go more in-depth about your policies and contracts. That one would be more like the traditional 1-on-1 interview. At the end of "Phase 1" you could pass out goodie bags (a few business cards, T-shirts/coffee mugs/bags (anything with your daycare name and/or logo on it- advertising), and maybe also some home made soap/jams/cookies).

Probably best to make sure that everything is kept to no more than 45 minutes-1 hour at most; try to get it under 30 if you can (you can save some time if you combine the tour with the presentation {i.e. pictures of the rooms in the slideshow}), let the parents know that the whole thing is at least that long when they sign up. I would defiantly have it after daycare hours, probably toward the end of the week around a Thursday or Friday. If many people ask you could offer it on a Saturday (only if you get 3 definite sign ups). You could probably offer two in one month for families who cannot see go to one other one or you can keep offering it.

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I've never done one, but thought about doing one where I make it like a family fun day with a bounce house, face painting, games, etc. and get it advertized as a free event in the local papers.

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I love the idea of an open house, but I really don't know how attendance would be. What I would do is get more creative with marketing. I don't know where you live, but in my area, you can get a month of 15-second radio ads for $125! And THAT would fill up a daycare here and give you a good wait list.

Summer is a great time to market yourself. Go NOWHERE without a stack of business cards. Hand them out everywhere. Do you have any parades in your area this summer? Consider a parade entry and have your DCK's participate (they love it and it's a great marketing opportunity).

Are there vendor fairs in your area? These things are frequented nearly entirely by moms and grandmas-rent a booth and mingle!

Walk into local businesses (manufacturers and such) and ask for H.R. Ask if you can hang a flier in their break room or bulletin board-tell them that you know their employees use daycare, and think that it would be beneficial to offer them the opportunity to learn of another daycare in the area (sometimes parents quit their jobs because of lack of daycare). Offer HR a discount for their employees (10% off first month or something)...they love to offer discounts to their employees because it's free to them and makes them think that they are offering a perk.

Go where the kids are-take your kids to Chuck E. Cheese, parks, ball games, etc. and introduce yourself.

Volunteer...join your local child protection league...join a MOPS group if you have preschoolers...volunteer in your church nursery...be the fun one that kids WANT to be around-parents will notice that.

I'm not knocking the idea of an open house at all, just saying that I don't think you'll see the response you're hoping for and that there may be better ways to spend your time and money on marketing.

Best of luck!

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I got almost all my first families from an open house (or through word of mouth from people who'd been to the open house). I "advertised" it for free by posting it as an "activity" in the newspaper (activities for families are listed free, as opposed to classified ads). I also put up fliers around town in places families gather (libraries, cafes, etc). I'm not a Facebook user, but I bet that would be a good method, too. I think I posted it on Craigslist (no address; just a phone number, so they'd have to call to find out where; same thing in the paper). It said something like "Infants and toddlers and their families are invited to an open house at ... Come make play with clay in the studio, curl up with a book on the couch, or make a new friend while checking out this new early childhood program." (can't quite remember.) I think I did 2:00-4:00 on a Saturday. I had snacks available (I remember lots of parents-of-toddlers noticed the toddler-friendly food, like cherry tomatoes cut to safe size). I continuously ran a slide show of photos from my past classroom work (I hadn't yet opened my home-based program). Set out on a table were fliers, business cards, a book containing my resume and letters of reference from parents, and a book of my "daily journals" (documentation samples of what we did each day). The slide show and journals were what got most people. I gave a very simple tour of the rooms we'd be using to each family as they arrived and invited them to look around. I had clay set up on the studio table, something fun set out on the coffee table, and of course the usual toys and books and art supplies displayed attractively (the environment got a lot of people). I answered questions and hung out with people and played with kids and chatted. Very low key. It was well worth it for me. Good luck!

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