Surprising marketing twist

[Artsand crafts]

An ex-client (who is the only mom who has become my friend and client at the same time) became friend with the Director of one of the branches of a very reputable daycare center chain (2 of my current clients could not get a spot there and ended up with me). Since the branch that is closer to my house does not have infant room and they get so many inquires about it a few months ago my friend offered to give the director flyers of my daycare. She just called me a few minutes ago and asked me if I could give her more fliers because the director ran out of them.

Now I got it why these 2 moms I have now ended up with me almost at the same time when they did not found a spot there (I just though my fliers would be overlooked or tossed away). It never occurred to me that a daycare center could recommend my daycare. I have done almost everything that has been suggested in this and other forums for marketing, but never occurred to me that contacting a daycare centers could be beneficial... So check it out ladies! and I better go to remove from my webpage the section where I highlight why to choose a home daycare Vs a daycare center :D

[playfelt]

That is great news. A lot of daycare centres don't accept kids till they are 18 months which unfortunately for us means only 6 months of them taking them through learning to feed themselves, walk and teething and then just when we get them to a fun stage they leave.

You could turn your daycare into an infants only home and cater to just one age group it sounds like which could also be fun,

Instead of removing the section from your website I would be inclined to play it up and emphasize the benefits of home for infants just entering care and how beneficial the lower ratio, consistent caregiver, etc. are as it might also serve to have clients choose you instead of trying to get into another daycare centre.

Another place that is great for advertising is in the staff room of local businesses.

[Artsand crafts]

That is a good idea playfelt to add to my webpage. I like infants much more than other ages. I would not mind taking infants only. I'll take note about the staff too. I have given fliers away in a few streets of my neighborhood and after about 3 or 4 months I received a couple of calls, but nothing paned out from there. I think I will keep giving fliers away in the streets I didn't maybe in a few months down the road I get to receive more calls if I need to fill spots then

[cfred]

That's great! I had a daycare sending their infants inquiries my way as well. It's a great little bit of advertising for sure!!!

[Momof4]

That's wonderful A&C, that this daycarecentre didn't even look at you as competition but rather they supported your business and helped you become successful. I love it!

[Artsand crafts]

I really appreciate the gesture from my friend and the director. I think they do not see me too much as a competition because they have big centers and I just counted in the map shown in their web page and they have over 70 locations in Ontario. Why not knocking doors of other daycare centers if that could be another option for finding clients? The worst that can happen is that they say "no".

[torontokids]

I approached the daycare across the road from my house and they were open to the idea. I printed the materials they requested but then things got too hairy and busy that I didn't drop them off. I will try and drop them off soon as I now have a spot for Sept.

[torontokids]

Plus this works well for the Centre as they now have someone to send these families to that are sometimes continually harassing them if they have a spot.

[playfelt]

One of the agencies I did special needs work for in Alberta was attached to a daycare centre. They put infants and toddlers in their "homes" and then this became a steady supply of kids to fill spaces in the centre. It meant a high turnover of kids in the homes though. I was ok as they liked to put the kids that needed the extra attention regardless of age in homes rather than deal with them in the centre so that worked well for me.