Quote Originally Posted by torontokids View Post
....What are people's opinion on this?
I agree that you do not want to be seen as a 'newbie' by advertizing for FIVE spaces all at the same time.

When I was new my 'spaces available' page on my website just stated that the program follows the rules for private home childcare and therefore I care for up to a maximum of 5 children at any one time between the ages of 0-6 years of age. Than under 'current openings' I just listed 'we currently interviewing for a full time space with a start date of X' ... this was the truth because I staggered my entry and was only ever looking to fill one spot every 2-3 weeks apart so when I filled that one spot I went back and changed the 'start date' to couple weeks after Under 'Waiting List' I had if you are interested in going on my waiting list for a future space please fill out the 'contact me form' and this allowed me to get contact info for people who wanted care the following month or what not.

For me I HATE the time we have to spend interviewing on our evening time ~ specially investing all that time and than having a client say 'really love your program however it is not within my budget' so my website is full of photos and a virtual tour of my program to 'sell them' on it before they even contact me and than put my prices and all my financial policies around vacation and so forth clearly on my website to weed out those who cannot afford my fees or do not have enough back up care for the time I take off and so forth ... this has helped me over the years reduce the number of clients who actually take up my evening time to 2-3 before I can find a match and fill a space .... I have no interest in interviewing a dozen or more potential clients for each space that opens cause that is adding a full 'week' of overtime every time a space comes up ...4-6 hours is plenty!