You don't want to spend a fortune, you just want to
market your day care effectively in your locality but the burning question
remains; 'How do I do it?'. Truly, it's
not that difficult, just takes a little hard, consistent work. Your first port of call should be the
printers with your stationary order which should comprise the following;
- A must have - letterheads.
- Personal business cards
- Small flyers/brochures for distribution. These should
spell out the tantalising key selling points of your day care including;
- Your contact details
- What your day care offers in terms of curriculum,
additional services e.g. afterschool, drama classes etc.
- Let the flyer be a vouchere e.g. present the flyer and
get one week free.
- Anything extraordinarily special about your day care
that makes it stand out from the competition.
Consider hiring some people or a reputable company to put
flyers on cars for you (particulary ones with car seats).
Don't break the law so double check the appropriate city
ordinances before you go plastering your town with advertising paraphenalia.
Check with your post office about doing a mass mailing
and ensure you target housing developments with a young family population
rather than a retired community(having said that, I have had many a grandma
forward my flyer to her children for their children!!!)
Next it's time for you to step out and do a little leg
work and local networking. On this
particular mission think places of congregation for locals, especially
anywhere they have to hang around for significant time
periods with nothing to do;
- Doctor and dentist waiting rooms - these places are
crammed full of potential clients.
- Any and all clinics where pregnant women attend...do I
need to spell it out?
- Be creative and think of places where you have a
captive audience, where people are waiting around and desperate enough to read
advertising literature (think cereal boxes!).
Trawl around for;
- Local financial institutions - they often have bulletin
boards and they all have lines of people just waiting.....
- Try to find local community notice boards - often found
at the library, hospital or chamber of commerce.
- Trawl your local stores and ask if they would post your
flyer in their window or door.
Try to arrange a meeting with the local schools and see
if they would allow you to post a flyer on their notice board. Sweet talk the prinicial or careers officer
and try to arrange doing a talk on child care or the day care business for the
P.T.A. or a careers class (it's all exposure and building trust locally).
These are just a few easier ways of marketing your day
care locally. Don't procrastinate any
more. Get yourself out there. |
