Advertising

[Suzie_Homemaker]

I find that it's word of mouth that fills most of my spaces. I've tried ads on FB, Moms groups, community groups, flyers on mailboxes, flyers on cars that are parked somewhere mom and baby related like play groups. I've tried care.ca but to be honest, the quality of parent on there is dreadful.

What seems to have worked is just getting my name out there. Lawn signs, car magnet advertising my daycare, sponsoring the community flyers in exchange for an ad, sponsoring a local sports team so my name in on their sweaters. Of course all that takes time.

[Lee-Bee]

When I started out (4yrs ago) ALL my families came from Kijiji. I had a very detailed write up with a link to my even more detailed website. I had lots of pictured (I used non-descript close up photos of my friends children playing).

My ad was very carefully written to not mislead and not give false info but to also not say I was not yet up and running. The last thing a new parent looks for is "brand new daycare, i have all spots available" The key is to win them over in your writing, get them out to the house to fall in love with you then you break the news you have no kids yet. I had plenty of child care and teaching experience and a child of my own so it wasn't that concerning to them when they found out, but only because they read my website and met me first!