Door Hangers to Promote your Home Daycare

In part one I discussed how I used print ads and mailers to promote my home daycare. These activities where marginal, though the mailers showed much more promise than print ads.

In this section I talk about marketing your home daycare specifically with door hangers. Door hangers are those annoying little flyers that are shaped specifically so that they fit around door handles. You’ve probably had pizza companies or painters etc. put these on your front door and there’s a reason – it works.

They are similar to mailers in that you control the area where the mailers go (i.e. the neighborhood), but due to their odd shape and that they are hung on doors and not just another marketing piece in the mail box, people actually look at them.

The wording/layout on the door hanger is important. First and foremost, you want to show where you are located. You need to have the parent recognize immediately that you are close by. Convenience is a major component in the parent’s decision process to sign up with you home daycare. I think as well, somehow that it feels safer knowing that the child is nearby. I don’t know, can’t really explain it but it seems to be true.

And it terms of the wording it helps a lot to put some urgency into the writing. The best way to do this is to advertise a single vacancy on the door hanger. Don’t just advertise your daycare service, it’s too general. I tried that especially in the beginning when we had a lot of openings and not a lot of references and when all of my slots where open. What we found that really worked was wording like “One Opening for 12-24 Month Old.” It’s odd but I used to get calls from moms all the time that would ask if we still had a vacancy for an opening that I had advertised months before. It meant that they had saved the door hangers… And the fact that they asked that specific question meant that they had some concern or a sense of urgency that they may not be able to get the spot.

In addition, wording like that implies a few things – you have a full roster and that you must be good, maybe a bit of a stretch here but, trustworthy. It also creates the needed oomph for the parents to pick up the phone and call. Urgency and legitimacy… That’s what I found worked best.

Bottom-line the door hangers worked. I highly suggest that you look into this one marketing technique to promote your home daycare. We signed up several kids from this and the costs were minimal at approximately $100 for 2500 to have them printed out. One of the negatives of the door hangers is that you have to have them printed out due to their odd shape and thickness of the paper. We tried a couple of different companies like Kinko’s but they really didn’t have the right equipment. You’ll probably have to go to a traditional printer to get it done.

Last thought, although cheap and effective, door hangers are a pain to distribute. I sent my husband on this chore. He would walk through our neighborhood and hanged these on two hundred or so doors at a time on Saturday’s, taking four to five hours… I even got him to do this one Saturday during the winter – it was twelve degrees out!!! Perhaps you have a trustworthy neighborhood teenager to do this or like me you can engage your slave labor (husband) to get these out.

Stay tuned for part 3 of 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

There are lots of benefits to a cooperative daycare. For beginners, this one is easier and more affordable than babysitting, than relying on about 1 or 2 carers that at times are not available. But having access for about 10 to 20 families, it would be easier to find someone quickly.

For parents who do not have family nearby, the best option that they can get is to bring their children to the coop, so they can spend few hours without their children without the additional costs of child care of baby sitter.

With the costs that one can have in getting paid baby sitter, some are rather using cooperative daycare to provide regular care. Sharing the tasks among other families can make it much easier in looking up for the children.

If you are putting cooperative daycare, a group of parents should come together with a goal of creating a parent-run daycare. There are lots of principles that should be considered in putting up a coop. Read on.
You have to provide safe and caring home to children. You have to assure the healthy diet for the children such as organic, vegetarian and balanced. Make sure that the place is safe and has a healthy environment and free from pesticides and any toxics that can be harmful to the children’s health. In having a coop, you have to focus on providing the special needs of the children either health, dietary or behavioral matters. Assure that the social and educational level that you would be providing is high. Make sure that the cooperative daycare works not only for the children but for the parents as well. With this, parents can be flexible between caring for their children and as well their careers.

There are factors that can provide you success in putting up a cooperative daycare. In putting up a coop, you have to set all the rules first, so everyone will know how the process will work. How large or small will your coop be? The best is a minimum of 5 and maximum of 25. What will be the starting point of each family? How will they be introduced? How much time should each family provide?

These are few of the good ways that you need to consider in putting up a cooperative daycare.

See: How to start a daycare

Dolson McArt – Author of: How to Start a Cooperative Daycare

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

Your daycare business plan should incorporate the all state and federal guidelines as well as any licensing requirements for teachers and employees of your daycare. This area has the toughest laws of any business because it deals with children, and each state has their own laws and regulation regarding daycare.

A daycare business plan should be created before you seek funding for your business. The daycare industry is growing and can be successful if your plan offers incentive to parents who need to find affordable daycare. If you plan to accept any type of daycare assistance payments, then you should research the rules and regulations thoroughly and incorporate them into your plan.

Your daycare business plan will also need to cover all of your start up expenses. These expenses include all supplies, materials, and furniture that your daycare will need to operate on a daily basis. You will need office supplies such as computers and software, paper for the printer, desks, file cabinets and any other office supplies you will need. For the furniture in your daycare, the plan should include cribs, beds, playpens, toys table and chairs. You should visit your local furniture store or do an online search for pricing of the furniture.

You will also need to figure into your business plan food menus and snacks. You really need to sit in a quiet place and figure everything into your daycare business plan.

When you seek financing, the lender will review your business plan to determine if it is feasible or not. He or she will suggest changes that will make your daycare more lucrative. You have the option to decline the changes, however the lender may become overly caution and decline your application.

When you are seeking a lender, you have a couple of options. There are many different lending institutions, from banks and credit unions to investors. Each one has advantages and disadvantages and should be researched completely before you make a decision.

A daycare business plan is the first step in creating a successful business. It is important that you include all information before submitting it for review to financial lenders.

Learn more about day care business plan software and opening a day care by visiting: http://www.important-daycare-information.com

In general there are a few common marketing themes that you want to keep in mind in order to start a daycare. Number one is you want to keep all efforts very focused in a three to five mile radius of your home. Most of your kids are going to be coming from your neighborhood. Also, you want to show your location on all of your advertisements via a simple and easy-to-read map. The most important thing here is to point out your daycare’s location relative to the parent’s home or job. The more convenient/close it appears the better.

Number two is to create “urgency” and legitimacy right from the beginning with your ads (I talked a lot about this in my book and the other articles). In other words, you want to let the parents know that a rare vacancy has popped open. Say something like “Spot just opened for 12-24 month old” on all of your ads. Wording your ad like this implies a couple of things – the spot won’t stay open for long. And that you have customers, which seems to imply that other parents trust you so you must be ok.

Number three is consistency. Whatever marketing tools you decide to put into place, you have to be patient enough to see if they will work or not. They all take time, some more than others, but I certainly learned that you have to give them enough to see if they are working or you will just waste your time.

Last word, I have to admit the marketing aspect was a good kind of challenge for me. It was fun and exciting to see what worked. It was one of the aspects of the daycare that really felt like a business. We had to get clients and do it in the most cost effective way so that we would still make a profit. Getting the phone to ring felt really great and was rewarding. So use your creativity, with the idea of getting in front of as many parents as possible with the least amount of effort or cash to reach them.

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

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

For example, one of the girls I cared in my daycare had 2 parents that where both attorneys. The child, who was really a sweet girl, had a couple of concerning habits. The main one being that she was very picky with her food and developed the habit of only eating green beans. Period. Green Beans…. She would eat 4 to 5 servings of beans a day. The first couple of weeks it didn’t seem to be a big deal but a month into it I was getting concerned. It doesn’t take a doctor to figure out how unhealthy it is for a 20 month old to only beans day after day.

I had never had a really good relationship with the parents to begin with but all in all they were ok as customers and followed most of the rules. Being concerned for the child’s health I tried to talk with them about this and they became extremely defensive right from the start. They made it very clear that this was none of my business and that it was not up for discussion. It immediately changed the whole tone of the relationship and the parents became very quiet and when they did talk, they were very short and hostile. This awkward situation lasted for a little more than month or so and all along I worried about both girl’s health and the weird relationship that had developed. I really don’t like it when people don’t like me, so this was very hard for me and I really questioned whether I had screwed up. However their belittling tone began to wear on me.

And that’s not even the half of it! The child’s bowel movements started to become this strange concoction of green diarrhea that I had to change 4 or 5 times a day. Besides just the foulness of it I was really worried about her becoming dehydrated. I brought the issue back up with the parents and they were again very clear that I was not qualified to question the girl’s diet and that I should just be a good “baby sitter” and be quiet. At this point I was just plain mad and felt, well just disrespected. But this was in the beginning of my little daycare and I only had 4 kids with 1 of them as a part timer. So, I just kept my mouth shut having felt that I did my best.

About 2 weeks after the second odd encounter the girl got sick with the flu and had green vomit and diarrhea coming out of “both ends”. It was absolutely disgusted (and concerned) and I called the parents to have them immediately pick her up – which they adamantly denied! They told me how disappointed they were with me that I was unwilling to care for her just because she was a little sick. It was “during the day and it was my job” to take care of their sick child, so they thought!

I firmly reminded them of the contract they signed and what they had agreed to regarding sick kids. They had to pick up the child if they showed any symptoms. This is both for the child’s benefit as well as the other kids enrolled. They blew it off and reminded me of how important they are as busy (personal injury) attorney’s (suing someone because they burnt their lip on hot coffee). More than anything I was shocked by their lack of compassion for both their own child and the other kids I took care of that we’re in real danger of getting of catching the virus.

As a side note, a few of the other parents noticed how sick she was and were very upset that their child was exposed all day to the girl. It was a bad reflection on me as I was responsible for keeping all of the children safe. In addition the other parents were well aware of the rules on having to pick up their child no matter how inconvenient for them, as for the benefit for the whole daycare.

When the parents finally arrived, 15 minutes late, I told them it was over and I would no longer care for their kid. They where furious and threaten to take me to court as they wanted 2 weeks to find another daycare. I was firm, though really scared, and told them goodbye and shut the door.

Nothing happened with the lawsuit and I never heard from them again though I do see them walking around town once in a while and my involuntary daycare nervous twitch acts up. Looking back, that was a rough 2 months. My reputation with the other parents was revived when I told them that I fired them as my sincere concern for everyone’s safety was that important in my daycare.

By Tania Rauth. Author of “Start Daycare – Develop Nervous Twitch” More info on running at daycare @ opening a daycare or printable daycare forms or free daycare forms