One of the biggest challenges I faced when I started my home daycare was marketing. This came as a really big surprise to me as I never thought I would need to do any marketing at all. After all I was well known in our community, had a ton of friends with kids, had a nice little house, I’m out going, etc. And most importantly I had several moms encourage me to start a daycare with the promise that they would enroll their children with me.

When the dust settled (and I had quit my job), got my license in place, organized the house, etc none of them actually enrolled! It dawned on me then and there that I would have to get more serious about getting the word out.

Below is a list of the marketing activities that I tried. Some of it was a complete waste of time and money; some of them worked beautifully. Here’s what I tried:

· Print ads
· Mailers
· Door Hangers
· Car Sign
· Chamber of Commerce
· Mom’s Groups
· Internet Referral Network – Called the 3 C’s
· Flyers
· Website
· Others
· Word of Mouth

Print Ads

Let me start off with print ads. Print ads were probably the least effective and the biggest waste of money. It was one of our first marketing efforts. In Metro Detroit we have a publication specifically devoted to moms/parents. We really thought that it was a no brainer, due to the focus of the publication and that it was centered right in our community.

I put together a really nice inch by inch classified ad and signed the contract. We receive three calls from the ad but did not sign up one child. We tried the ad for 5 months for $189 per month, for a total of $950. With no results. Not the direction we wanted to go!
So, much to our surprise print ads, where not the right path. Not to say that it wouldn’t work for you but if you’re on a limited budget try something else to promote your daycare.

Mailers

Mailer’s where marginal. The first concern was having to put together something presentable to send the letters on. We chose to be traditional and printed out letterhead and envelopes. To print out a thousand of both was approximately $200 total for one color. The next issue was coming up with a list to send the letters to. We were able get a list from the city but it had issues. We only had the actually names of the residents on roughly half of the addresses on the list.

What do you normally do with a letter that’s entitled “Dear Resident”? I know what I do – round file. The alternative was to buy a list from a list company but that is another $100 that we just did not want to spend.

Another negative of the mailers was just the amount of time it took to print out, fold and stuff the envelopes.

As mentioned above, one of the main things we learned in general was to market directly in our neighborhood. And mailers can do just that. Unlike the print ad that was spread out throughout Metro Detroit we were able to focus our marketing dollars on our best possible prospects. Basically all our kids lived within 2 miles and most of them lived within 1 mile from us. So with mailers you’re able to control exactly who gets the letter, and keep your costs down.

All in all, this was a mediocre route for me. Looking back I guess if I could have gotten a list of homes with families, kids in my age group, and just sent out a mailer to 100 names or so when I had a vacancy that would have worked – though I don’t know how or if a list like that exists. Perhaps you could get a list like that from your local elementary school.

Stay tuned for part 2 -4 on Starting a Home Daycare – Marketing

Tania Rauth wrote a book on how to start and run a home daycare. More info at starting a daycare or how to run a daycare

Once you have an initial number of kids in your daycare, it is time to ensure that they and, more importantly, their parents, are happy that they’ve chosen your daycare center. Remember the following sentence, because following it basically ensures a successful and growing daycare center business: “Happy children make for happy parents who in turn bring you more customers and more money.”

You need to woo the parents who entrusted you with their children. There’s no other way to put it. You can do so by appealing to the children. You should of course keep the children happy and safe all year around. That’s the basic rule of running a day care. But you can also put in a little more effort on special occasions and get a lot more in return.

Don’t know when and how? Here are a few suggestions:

1. Birthdays – you should make each child’s birthday a special occasion. Either buy a cake or bake one yourself. Make a day of it, or at least an hour or so at the end of the day. Make sure to invite the child’s parents to attend the party about 2 weeks in advance. They will be pleasantly surprised. Make them a part of the celebration. It will connect them more firmly to you and to your daycare.

2. Holidays – each holiday should be preceded by a special day at your daycare. For halloween, you can throw a preliminary costume party for the kids. Again, invite the parents. Make sure they know what you’re doing. They’ll be impressed with your energy and creativity.

3. Arrange a daycare play in which the kids act. Make sure that each kid gets about the same number of lines so that no parent will feel as if his/her kid got the short end of the stick. The children’s families will be the audience.

You can come up with more ideas, I’m sure. Any event that brings the parents to your daycare center in a positive atmosphere, makes them more loyal customers who will recommend your daycare to more people. You will get more customers and make more money. All these events shouldn’t cost much and can be a lot of fun to produce.

To get more ideas and tips on how to start and run a successful day care center, visit this dedicated webpage: Opening a day care center

Lucy Doyle runs a home business and is an expert on starting and operating successful daycare centers.

To read how you can too become a successful businesswoman by starting your own profitable daycare visit Lucy Doyle’s expert webpage on starting daycare centers at this dedicated webpage: http://www.squidoo.com/startingadaycare

Know Your Customers

Knowing your customer is the key to successfully marketing your center. The more you know about the parents’ expectations, the easier it will be to develop a program that meets their needs, as well as the kid’s. You can also, develop a list of questions to help you identify what the parents will likely need, want and expect of your center.

The questions may include:

1. What type of service will be provided?

2. What are the operating hours?

3. Do the operating hours match the parents’ work schedule?

4. Is extended evening care available?

5. Where is the center located?

6. Is the location convenient and easily accessible?

7. How many staff members training in early childhood education or a related field?

8. What is the teacher-to-child ratio?

9. Will there be a curriculum? Will it be structured?

10. Will you create an activities schedule?

11. How will the center be operated? Hours? Activities?

12. Have medical/first aid policies been developed?

13. What will the sleeping arrangements be?

Once you have answered these questions, you will have a foundation from which to develop your marketing plan.

Know the Competition

A vital rule of marketing is to know your competitors. Although operating a home daycare won’t require you to compete for business like a daycare center would. It is still best to know who your competitors are.

Your competitors should include all those who offer related services. They may be in the same geographic area or another area that is accessible to your clients. To determine the competitiveness of your market, find out…

1. The location of other childcare services in your area.

2. Who your major competitors are?

3. How long your competitors have been in business.

4. How your center will benefit the clients more than your competitors’ centers.

5. If there is a need for additional centers in your area or in an area that is easily accessible?

6. How competitors’ centers are like or different from yours.

7. What your competitors’ strengths and weaknesses are?

8. How competitors will act when you enter the market.

9. What competitors’ are your competitors’ reputations, etc., are.

Find out as much as possible about your competitors.

Get The Word Out

Marketing your daycare center will require several strategies. The best on that I recommend is word of mouth. Tell everyone you know about your business, most likely they will know someone who needs your services. By the way word of mouth marketing is the cheapest of all.

However, any other method of advertising you use, you will have to spend money and costs will very.

You should put your marketing plan into action at least five months before you open for business. Make sure your advertisements match the image you are trying to project.

If you are going to pay to advertise, try to meet your competitors head on. Look at your competitors. In what sections do they advertise? What size advertisements do they use?

Inexpensive Advertising Techniques
If you do not have the money to advertise by television, newspaper, or radio don’t here are other inexpensive, yet effective ways to do so. Here is a list of some of the things you can do:

Fliers and brochures

Business cards

Referral agencies

Networking

Yellow Pages

Classified ads

A successful marketing plan, carried out effectively should render your business successful. Again know who your customers are, find out who and where your competitors are, and then market your business until you reach your opening day goals.

To find more in-depth information on the ways to market a Home Daycare please visit: http://www.asapchildcare.com

Having a daycare business, you need to have customers. For you to gain lots of customers, you have to advertise your daycare business. But how and where should you advertise your business?
Usually, parents choose a daycare center that is close to their homes. Parents do not want to commute too far just to bring their kids to the daycare center before they go to work. With this, you do not have to advertise your daycare business to far from home, but take note that you still need to advertise it very well to gain lots of customers.

You can begin with creating flyers in advertising your daycare business. In creating flyers, you have to put the name of your daycare center, your name, your address and your phone number, and print out plenty of these flyers. You can create the flyers at the convenience of your own home, using your own computer and colored printer. Making flyers is not expensive but it is an effective way to advertise your daycare. This is not the time for you to be shy, you need to gain customers, so you have to put all the important details in your flyers and print about hundreds of it.

In putting the flyers, you want to make sure that these flyers are in places that parents go. Put some flyers outside your local supermarkets or groceries. Usually, mothers do the shopping, so they always visit supermarkets and groceries. It is best to put the flyers on the notice board near the entrance of the supermarket or groceries.

You can place flyers outside the gym, since many parents go to gyms.
You can put some flyers close to schools. Typically, parents drop their older kids in school. So, having flyers there can help you advertise your daycare.

Put flyers on facilities that kids can be such as baseball field to your neighborhood since parents normally go to cheer for their kids. Having flyers, parents can see it.

If putting flyers, you can advertise your new daycare center in the locations that people usually visit. With this, you will gain lots of customers and can help you out in gaining great profits from your daycare business. Take note do not litter, make sure to put the flyers on notice boards or you can ask permission.

See: Start a daycare

Dolson McArt – Author of: Ways to Advertise Your New Daycare Center

Contributing to EzineArticles.com since March 2007

Advertising Strategy # 1

You can easily advertise your home daycare business by simply creating flyers in the comfort of your own home. By using your own computer and colored printer you can customize your flyers however you want. Using striking colors on the flyers will draw attention to your soon to be clients. Put down the name of your home daycare, your name, and your address and phone number.

Advertising Strategy # 2

Where can you possibly distribute the flyers you printed out? The best places to advertise your home daycare business are the common places where moms usually go. Some of the places I can think of to post your flyers are the grocery stores, supermarkets and sports facilities. Ask somebody if it’s okay to leave your flyers in their bulletin board. Most of them will let you do that.

Home Daycare Advertising # 3

The classic way to promote your business is through word of mouth. Good friends and family are always a big help when it comes to spreading good words about your home daycare business.

Daycare Advertising # 4

Having placed your home daycare ad in the local newspaper will bring extra boost in your business. By spending a little out of pocket money to get the word out about your home daycare business, the outcome will be satisfying.

Daycare Advertising # 5

Another clever thing you should do is make a big banner and put it where people will notice, most likely in busy areas where there’s a lot of traffic. Make sure that all the information is big enough that people can read it even from a distance.

Starting a home daycare need a lot of help to get it up and running. But, by following the 5 proven ways I gave you in this article you will gain customers faster. Putting ads and distributing flyers in the beginning of your home daycare business will help you build-up customers as well as making extra income.

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Another daycare marketing page: home daycare marketing

But a daycare center, as any business, needs customers. And in order to get these customers you need to advertise your business. But how to advertise and where?

Most parents choose a daycare center which is close to their home. No one wants to commute too much to take the kid to the daycare center before going to work. That means that you shouldn’t advertise too far from home, but you do need to pick the right spots in which to advertise.

A great way to advertise your daycare center in the beginning is with flyers. Print a few hundred flyers with a simple message containing the name of your daycare center, your name, your address and your phone number. This is no time to be shy. Anyone who reads the flyer needs to know where your daycare is to see if it’s close to where they live. They need your phone number in order to get in touch with you. Don’t worry, a few hundred flyers cost very little and can be very effective if placed at the right spots.

You want your flyers to be where parents go. Here are some great places to place your flyers:

1. Outside the local supermarket. Parents and especially mothers, do the shopping, so they visit the supermarket at least once a week. Placing your flyer on a notice board near the entrance is a must.

2. Many parents go to the gym, so place a flyer close to the gym.

3. Place some flyers close to the schools. Kids who go to school often have small brothers and sisters. Parents often drop their older kids at school. Some do so on a daily basis. Your flyers need to be there.

4. The same thing is true for out of school activities. For instance, if there’s a little league baseball field close to your neighbourhood, place some of your daycare flyers by the entrance. Parents go to cheer their kids and they will see your flyers. The same things go for any out of school activities center in your area.

If you place flyers advertising your new daycare center in these locations and others like them, you will have new customers and will make a great income from your daycare business. One warning though: do not litter as it will make people angry with you. Place your flyers on notice boards or ask permission.

To read more tips and advice on how to start and operate your own successful daycare center, click here: How To Start A Daycare

Lucy Doyle runs a home business and is an expert on starting and operating successful daycare centers. To read how you can too become a successful businesswoman by starting your own profitable daycare visit Lucy Doyle’s expert webpage on starting daycare centers at this dedicated webpage: http://www.squidoo.com/startingadaycare

This day and age, there are a lot of parents that are looking for daycare center, but of course, they are seeking for a reliable and good daycare. This article will provide you with easy ways to market your business and gain lots of clients, just continue reading…

It can be easy for you to market your daycare; you do not have to spend so much in doing so. With a bit of creativity, you can go a long way in marketing your business. Now, let’s discuss the easy ways for you to market your business.

Go out and visit your neighbors, let them know about your facility. You can create flyers or invitations inviting all of your neighbors to an open house in your daycare. Plan it very well. You have to have activities that kids can do in that day. When that day arrives, make it an exciting day and with lots of fun, you have to serve juices and cookies. Let the kids do the activities that you planned earlier. In doing this, your neighbors can help you advertise your daycare center through word of mouth. Of course, if they found out that you have a reliable facility, they will recommend you with others.

You can rewards parents who can provide you will new client. You can provide gift, discount or freebies to parents that can refer you to a friend who enroll their kid in your facility.

Post flyers on notice boards on groceries and supermarkets in your neighborhood. Take note that you need to create a creative and catchy flyers. Put all the necessary details in your flyers such as your company’s name, address, phone numbers, and so on.

Create business cards. Visits some employers nearby and give few of your business cards. You can also ask your family and friends to help you hand out some business cards as well.

You can post an ad on the internet. There are free websites that you can post your business at, just make sure to put all the important details.

These are few and easy steps that can help you market your business and gain success in the long run.

For more info see: How to start a daycare

Dolson McArt – Author of: Easy Ways to Market Your Daycare
Contributing to EzineArticles.com since March 2007