Advertising for Home-Daycare

I've fortunately been very lucky when it comes to client referrels and keeping my home-daycare full at all times. I get calls pretty frequently and even when I'm full, I give out an estimate date that I'll have a spot open and I always follow through. I've had children come part-time and for the days that I'm over my limit, my assistant comes in and helps to keep me at ratio. My assistants range in age and experience but they are usually high-school or college aged who are looking for a foot in the door for child care or early childhood education experience.

For advertising, I only use the website VistaPrint. This website is great for every advertising need you have and I've always been a very happy customer with all of the awesome deals they send me through my email. Once you order something, you are signed up with their 'newsletter' that comes often in your inbox and offers free shipping to free products. The prices are wonderful, but keep a look out for the emails because those are where the big savings are.

Brochures

My brochure keeps me happy and I've rarely changed but minor details. The templates at VistaPrint are great under the childcare/education section and the children on my brochures are so fun to look at. Because you will be giving brochures to people who are looking into your home-daycare, having a great first impression is important. The things I include in my brochure are obviously my name and general area in which I live (never my full address), the hours I'm open and the ages I care for, a little bit about me and my experience and education, and inside I include my schedule, pricing, my programs I offer, and other details that are important such as holiday care. I love that parents who call will say that they are looking at the schedule and see that I'm moving onto lunchtime and if meeting during naptime sounds like a better idea.

Car Door Magnet

I ordered the small car door magnet and it's always been wonderful. I have a simple slogan of "Need Childcare?", with my general area of where I live and my phone number that's in bright, big numbers. It's so simple to place on my vehicle and drive around during errands or fieldtrips. The magnet sticks well on my vehicle, too.

Lawn Signs

My lawn sign is an exact replica of my car magnet. I do not place this in my yard due to the fact that I live in a cul-de-sac and traffic never gets heavy, so instead I went out to a close nearby intersection and placed it there by a stop sign. It's held up great and remember to keep your number bright and big so that passing cars can quickly jot it down or remember it.

Business Cards

Super important advertising product! These are my favorite because they are small, contain the basic information, and are bright and colorful. Because these are small, placing them everywhere is simple enough. I place one in the carrier in the drive-thru at the bank for the person behind me to grab and I even leave them on tables at the food court in the mall and at restaurants. At Walmart and Babies-r-Us I grab a stack of cards and place them in pant pockets in the baby section, blanket sets, diaper bags, toys, display strollers and carseats, high chairs and even display cribs. I leave a small stack in the Nursery/Breastfeeding/Changing Room at Babies-r-Us on one of the side tables and don't forget slipping a card into the shopping bag at checkout for the next person to grab. Go nuts with these cards, their inexpensive enough to leave just about anywhere.

Postcards

You don't need to put all of your details on postcards, and it's not a wise decision to anyway. Leave most for the phone or in-person interview so it's important to have just your name and contact info, your hours and ages you care for, and your general area in which you live. These are great for grocery stores, beauty salons, churches and restaurants. Ask a manager for permission to place one on their bulletin boards and that's all there is to it.

Small Business Magnets

I used to be an assistant teacher at a daycare and I worked in a two-year-old room. I fell in love with the children and I got along with the parents great so I decided to go ahead and offer my babysitting services to the select few who were my favorite and whose parents I really liked. I placed this magnet in a card with a small sheet of stickers for the children and handed it to the parents. They would place the magnet on their fridge and call whenever they needed a date-night or weekend babysitter and the magnet would never get lost like a business card would. When I quit the daycare, I sent the children home with a small gift and a small note to the parents and I went ahead and offered my services to everyone by placing these magnets with the card. This turned out so much more better than I expected and when the daycare has closings such as during holidays and winter break, the parents are rushing to get their children into my daycare. I fill up quickly and while these magnets may not be useful for everyone, they are my best-used advertising products because they bring me my children I've known for a long time.