Guest Posted November 1, 2011 Posted November 1, 2011 Hey all, hope everyone is well. I finally got my certificate through about 3 weeks ago and immediately got some adverts up around the village I live in but I've only got a couple of after school children at the moment and beginning to panick that I'll never get any day children... What did you all do to advertise? Was it really slow to start with and then picked up? I'm worried I'm not going to get any interest... Not sure what I'll do then! eeekkk! Any advice is welcome, need all the help I can get, hehe! Thank you!
Guest Posted November 1, 2011 Posted November 1, 2011 Congratulations on getting registered! Word of mouth is often the best advertising so make sure everyone knows you're now taking on clients. I had an NCMA Registered Childminder badge and another that simply said "Ask me about Registered Childcare" I wore these every time I left the house and carried business cards with my contact details which I gave to everyone who asked... Sometimes I'd get a call weeks or months later from someone I'd met in a park or whose friend, neighbour, relative had passed it on to them. I'm now in the fortunate position of passing on enquiries to other, newly registered minders, as I have no vacancies. Good Luck! Nona
HappyMaz Posted November 1, 2011 Posted November 1, 2011 Don't you love this Forum? With people like nona around to offer commonsense advice, encouragement and all round fantastic support! Congratulations on becoming a fully fledged registered childminder, naomicjordan!
HoneyPancakes Posted November 1, 2011 Posted November 1, 2011 Welcome to the happy life of the Registered Childminder. Not sure how other Local Authorities work, but in ours, when you update your online availability information (maybe through Families Information Service?) your name goes to the top of the list when people contact them asking for Childminder's in their area. So when you have vacancies it pays to update that quite often. A very pro-active new childminder in recently asked the school to put a flyer out with school newsletter distribution. That really worked for her. She also goes to lots of toddler groups and gets chatting to lots of people. That's not how I work - strictly word of mouth me! Very best of luck. It may not happen over night, but it will happen. Honey
Upsy Daisy Posted November 2, 2011 Posted November 2, 2011 Your local Early Years advisor may be able to put you in touch with a business advisor who can help you. I have just been offered this by my local EYCS. Put a copy of your poster up in your car and a front window of your home. Parish magazines often offer very affordable advertising space. You could also give out leaflets at some local toddler groups. As schools have a duty to make community links you could ask local primaries to put one of your leaflets in their newsletters. Don't wait until you have a childminded child before attending your childminding support group if there is one close by. There may be someone there in Nona's position who could pass prospective clients on to you. It's also a good idea to advertise in your local Children's Centre. I recently attending a First Aid course with a lady who had her advert printed on the back of her sweatshirt. Don't panic about it being slow to get off the ground. I've been chilminding for 11 years and have gone through very quiet periods and then at other times I've been turning people away almost every week. It can change very quickly. Good luck.
HappyMaz Posted November 2, 2011 Posted November 2, 2011 Put a copy of your poster up in your car and a front window of your home. Vistaprint have some good offers on promotional items from time to time: bumper stickers, car magnets, window stickers and so on. It is worth keeping an eye on their website for their freebies, where you only pay for postage!
Guest Posted November 2, 2011 Posted November 2, 2011 wow, thanks guys! I love this forum, everyone is so helpful! Some great ideas. I'll take a flier along to the local toddler groups and Children's Centres first. I think I need to get a big more confident and get my name out there and not be afraid to ask too put the advert up. Putting an advert in the car window is a great idea too. Thank you for the advice!
SueJ Posted November 2, 2011 Posted November 2, 2011 Echoing something Upsy Daisy mentioned in her post - although not a childminder myself one of the mum's who had children at my pre-school trained up and registered and for a few weeks she wore a livid pink polo shirt with her details on it and had a couple of magnetic posters printed for her car. I understand that by wearing her polo shirt when picking her own children up from school she generated huge interest in her service and it wasn't long before she had several bookings.
Guest Posted November 2, 2011 Posted November 2, 2011 Thank you Sue. I go to school a couple of days a week to pick up my only customers, hehe! I'll have a go at wearing something to catch the other parents eye.
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