Promote your Home Daycare with a Car Sign

What I’m referring to here is those signs you see all the time on the sides of cars or trucks. A lot of small business such as construction companies, landscapers etc use them. I used a magnetic sign. You could also have sign stenciled onto your car for a little bit more money, but regardless, this was one of my best marketing tools to promote my home daycare. For $40 we got years of advertisements out of this simple sign and signed up several kids. Parents would mention the car sign all the time and that recognition made them feel good about my home daycare.

Think about it. Every time you go to the store, every time you go to diner, every time you leave the house you are advertizing your business in the exact community you want to be recognized. Parents see your name constantly and over time it builds a lot of awareness and trust.

It terms of the sign it was very simple, yet professional in appearance. The sign said our name, city and phone number. My name was “Daycare By Tania” so people automatically knew what I did. And by the way, I highly suggest you create a simple, short name with daycare or child care in it. I’ve heard a lot of people use long confusing names like “Julie’s Cuddle Bear Factory” or something similar and it creates confusion and takes up a lot of text on advertisements.

In addition, you can get really creative and maybe a little aggressive with it. For example, about two years into our daycare we suddenly lost half our enrollment, which was a little nerve wracking to say the least. (For complete random reasons too). We needed to bring our enrollment back up fast. We keep thinking about what the best way was to get the phone to ring. How were we going to reach as many parents in our community immediately – the car sign was the trick.

Our local elementary school has a single entrance and a single exit. During drop-offs and pickups all of the parents have to exit the school by using one single location. They have no other way to leave the school other than the one exit. So we put our brains to work and decided to just park our car (with the car sign on it) across the street from the exit so the sign was as clear as day. The parents pulling out of the parking lot couldn’t help but see the sign. The first time we did this the phone rang within minutes! To this day I laugh at how simple yet effective this was.

Parking the car in front of the exit worked on several levels. First of all moms would call right then and there as they were pulling out. Secondly, it built that name awareness in the exact community we got 99% of our kids. This is a no brainer for you to do. Go to your local sign store to get this done.

Had I wanted to take this to the next level I could have put on the side of the car something like “current vacancy for 12-24 month old” and that would have really caught their attention. It would have let them know beyond a shadow of a doubt that I parked the car there on purpose. And it would have built that urgency and legitimacy I’ve mentioned.

Stay tuned for part 4 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

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