Advertising My Daycare/preschool

I suggest you read Guerrilla Marketing Jay Conrad Levinson--it's an advertising/marketing classic--especially for small businesses.

I would NOT go around 'handing out fliers' but I would find small businesses with a good fit who might be symbiotic for you.

I would be skeptical..I would rather see a flyer in the super market, library or some other place...

GOOD LUCK!!!

I would also look at a flyer on my windshield...

Don't go around randomly approaching people. It looks suspicious or desperate.

Put up fliers on bulletin boards.... at schools/universities/grocery stores etc.
Make it VERY professional looking.
State your credentials and licensing. So it looks legit.
AND if you have a website, state that too, and/or e-mail contact info.
Not just a phone number.

I wouldn't mind, but I'd be skeptical if someone came up to me randomly.

I think something that I'd love to see more of, in any business, are reviews from people who have used the product/service. Even if it's just a line or two on the bottom of a flyer, it's nice to see responses/thoughts from "real" people.

Good luck!

do you have a sign outside your daycare? put a "now enrolling" or "openings available" sign on it. a lady down the road did this and she was swamped.

I recently started searching for day care for our little one and maybe I'm just overprotective but I was wary of Craigslist, Pennysaver and anyone who didn't have a website of some nature. Local churches, libraries, and community centers seems a better way to go - I would not be offended at all to be approached at the park - we are there several times a week. I'm glad you were able to get good results with outlets like the Pennysaver and Mailers. I don't think those are resources I would look into if I was to continue searching for day care. It's a tough market to break into. I know we are in a baby bootcamp class, maybe you could approach the owners of such businesses and see if you could speak to their clients for a few minutes? Just a thought ... good luck!

-C

Look for places where you can post a business card or flyer - a few that come to mind around here: the car wash, the postal center, the library, Starbucks, etc.
Also visit & drop off some with the local churches. I know we call the church and ask for references so they like to keep a list. They usually refer members first, but if there are no members or the members are full, they will refer non-members.
Also, you can advertise right her on mamapedia!

I would feel like you were intruding on my private time and would not think of you if I needed child care. The facts that I realized when I had my own center was that the people who fill up child care centers almost all come through the state and use child care assistance to help pay for their care. They can't afford the newspapers and listen to the radio more. Of course radio advertising space is more expensive but it seems to do more. I decided to never advertise again. I put the center's name on the child care list at the local child care office, where they go and fill out the forms to get child care assistance. There are also some referral agencies out there too. I would do that kind of thing instead of spending actual money.

I use the website called Thumbtack for my sewing lesson business. I have many clients who found me there. You can set up a facebook page for your day care & set up a free blog at blogger.com. These are ways to help you get web presence. As for local advertising...what about finding church, school, community fairs/boutiques and setting up a little table with your information. You can create a kid friendly craft that is called a "make and take" if you are doing a local event/fair, or a simple mom friendly craft if you have a table at a craft boutique. I have set up booths at craft boutiques for my biz in the past and also I have been a customer at many boutiques. I would have loved to stop by a booth just to make something really quick instead of always spending money at the booths :) It gives you the opportunity to talk about your day care while the moms are crafting. I would avoid the park as the mom's might view that is too intrusive/pushy. I would think most people looking for day cares go online to websites or ask at churches or look at bulletin boards. I think there are websites specifically for home day cares where you can list your biz. See if you can post on the community boards at local YMCA's. Hope this helps. Good luck!

Hi. You can hang fliers for free at all Starbucks locations as long as you're not selling anything. I put up fliers for my son's preschool there with pull-off tabs at the bottom and I know people took them. I know in Irvine, the community centers will only post city-sponsored info, but it's worth a shot in other cities.

Also, I run a free website for Orange County moms and I allow businesses to advertise at no cost on the first of every month. Visit http://oc.citymommy.com to check it out! You can post every month on the first. I do have paid advertising options available as well. I know you can't spend money on advertising, but maybe we can figure out a trade where we advertise for each other.

As for handing out fliers at a park, I probably wouldn't really pay that much attention to it and don't think it's the best way to go.

Send me an email when you have a chance!
K. AT citymommy DOT com

Inbound marketing is the key to free advertising, google offers free advertising, blogger.com is free, you can target local people with children, in need of daycare. Check out my https://profiles.google.com/Tiredoftradingdollarsforhours
all the free advertising I do has links on this site check it out & see all the free ways to advertise.

what about your grocery store? at one store here they have a board where people can: sell items, & post stuff such as dance classes. It's locked in a glass case so I guess the store puts up/ takes down the info. Too bad your not in hawaii :/ I could use daycare.

I am and have been a successful St. Licensed Family Child Care Provider for over 20 years. I have also served on the Board of Directors for our county association. In recent years I have started a consulting company for child care providers needing help with contracts and marketing.
I don't know what state you are in, but if you would like to give me a call I can give you some idea's of what might work for you. I can be reached at ###-###-####. I would love to chat with you and help with any questions you may have.

You can try things like putting your business on Yelp and other local sites where clients/customers can write reviews. This is a really good thing because when you post your fliers you can reference yelp as a place for parents to go to read the reviews from parents who have sent their children to your daycare. You can put your own business on Yelp and then email the link to the past parents asking them write a review. It's all free.

Hi Barbabra, I have had my daycare for 14 years, and I adviertise several ways as a licensed datcare I automatically get refferals from the YMCA Community Care Licensing, but i am also on craigs list, on yellow pages.com I'm in the phone book, I'm on back page and I use care.com and sittercity.com also any bills that stay in the San Diego area I put a business card inside. Also mtself a few other providers send business to each oter if we get full for a paticular age group and then like you said word of mouth. I have an interview tomorrow and this women googled daycares and mine popped up. When I first started I went around and put flyers in the laundry rooms in apartment complexes. I don't know if I would walk up to people and hand them a flyer, that's just me. J.

I would not like it if someone approached me in the park while I was with my kids to give me a flier about daycare. But you could leave your fliers posted at places like supermarkets, colleges (ask the college where it is acceptable to post), human services offices, churches, businesses etc...you can also put up an ad on craiglist.