Advertising Your Day Care On A Budget
You don’t want to spend a fortune, you just want to market your day care effectively in your locality but the burning question remains; ‘How do I do it?’. Believe it or not, it is not impossible and simply requires a little work and ingenuity. Your first port of call should be the printers with your stationary order which should comprise the following;
- A must have - letterheads. - Personal business cards - Small flyers/brochures for distribution. These should spell out the tantalising key selling points of your day care including;
- What services you offer - Any obvious benefits you offer over and above the competition. - All contact information - Offer a reduction in fees upon presentation of the flyer (two weeks care for the price of one).
Consider hiring some people or a reputable company to put flyers on cars for you (particulary ones with car seats). Don’t break the law so double check the appropriate city ordinances before you go plastering your town with advertising paraphenalia.
Check with your post office about doing a mass mailing and ensure you target housing developments with a young family population (although I have many Gran’ma’s receive my flyer and recommend my service to their kids!).
Next it’s time for you to step out and do a little leg work and local networking. On this particular mission think places of congregation for locals, especially anywhere they have to hang around for significant time periods with nothing to do;
- Doctor and dentist waiting rooms - these places are crammed full of potential clients. - Any and all clinics where pregnant women attend…do I need to spell it out? - Be creative and think of places where you have a captive audience, where people are waiting around and desperate enough to read advertising literature (think cereal boxes!).
Trawl around for;
- Check out public buildings for community notice boards - Stores that post advertisements (or just ask nicely!). - Local financial institutions - banks and credit unions often have bulletin boards.
Try to arrange a meeting with the local schools and see if they would allow you to post a flyer on their notice board. Sweet talk the prinicial or careers officer and try to arrange doing a talk on child care or the day care business for the P.T.A. or a careers class (it’s all exposure and building trust locally).
These are just a few simple, easy to do local marketing tactics. Don’t procrastinate any more. Get going oh marketing guru type!
10 years experience of running a day care renders Fiona Lohrenz very capable of writing articles on all aspects of childcare. She also pours this knowledge into her child care website and has made a ‘How to Start a Day Care Business’ DVD guide: Start A Daycare Business DVD She can be reached at her website: ChildCareOnly.com
- Fiona Lohrenz
