The 5 Easy Ways To Market Your Daycare Center
By Christine Groth
You’ve taken the leap of faith and decided your going to open your own family center. You start thinking about where you’re going to have your daycare, and how it’s going to be arranged and what toys you are going to have.

But one thing you may not have thought about is, “how am I going to get kids?” Well, I’m here to tell you don’t worry. I really believe that there are a lot of families out there looking for childcare. Especially good childcare.

Marketing your new can be relatively easy and painless. You don’t need to spend a whole lot of money or time. Just use a little creativity and you are well on your way. So, let’s begin with the 5 easy ways to market your new center.

1. Visit your neighbors announcing your new business: Print up some flyers or invitations inviting your neighbors to an open house. Be sure to make it fun, serve juice and cookies and have some children’s games planned.

Personal/Public Services Small Business Ideas : Costume Making and Rental
Whether it's singing in a choir at church, acting in a school play or performing in a band, we all have had to wear a costume at least once in our lifetime. If you live in the US, you would understand how some people will go to extreme lengths to get THE perfect costume especially around Halloween. The problem of course is that "THE" perfect costume often requires creative and intricate sewing skills - more than what the average person may have. That's where you come in. If you're someone artistic and creative with the ability to sew, then you have the basic skills to start a Costume Making and Rental business. Lots of stay-at-home Moms and Grandmas are actually part-time Costume Makers - making costumes for their kids (and friends). If they were to take the effort to go into it a little bit more seriously and maybe invest a little money, they could turn their skills into a full blown Costume Making and Rental business! Costume Making and Rental doesn't have to be a seasonal thing. If you make a name for yourself, you could be up to your eyeballs in costumes all year round. The trick is in working smart, but more about that later. Other than the skills I mentioned earlier, you DO need to have a sewing machine for starters, a good eye for detail and lots of patience. Before you go scaring yourself silly thinking about how you're not a business woman and how you can't compete with fashion stores, tailors etc, don't. Starting out is easy. You DON'T need lots of fancy gadgets and gizmos and hi-tech skills to make costumes. More often than not, you will receive requests for simple costumes for school plays and recitals. If someone comes to you with a job that you can't handle, you can always turn them down politely, but ALWAYS keep their request in mind and LEARN how to create what they wanted so you'll be ready the next time someone comes around asking for a pink frilly fairy costume with glow-in-the-dark wings that can flutter! Your first step in marketing yourself is to let people know that you can make costumes. Make friends with parents who have small children. Get in touch with kindergartens and schools in your neighbourhood. Make contact with event organizing companies. Let them know that you're handy with a sewing machine and that if they ever need a Honey Bee costume for their daughter or a Pink Dinosaur costume for their son or a choir uniform, to give you a call. As your business expands, you will notice that there are seasonal demands for specific types of costumes. If you want to tap into the Costume Rental business, you will need to create and have these popular costumes in stock and if possible, in different sizes. If you add one costume design - including accessories - every month, in one year, you will have twelve designs in stock. You'll need to keep in touch with the Costume Rental industry - making sure you expand carefully, and in tandem with market demands. Get quotes on your costume materials and figure out how much material you will need to produce the quantity of costumes you need. Check out your competitors and see what they have to offer. Mark your calendar for seasonal trends, making sure you have designs ready well before popular holidays. Starting our small in the Costume Making and Rental business is easy and doesn't cost much, but like all potentially lucrative businesses, as you expand you will need to consider lots of issues - insurance liability, staffing needs, opening a store and adding equipment. Tackle these issues one at a time. Having a website definitely helps build your market presence. It also gives you an opportunity to sell more than just your Costume Making and Rental business. This is a really good niche for creative folk who love making people happy and making money at the same time!

Nothing to complicated but just make sure it’s fun. Remember even if your neighbors have no children, they may know someone who does so be sure to tell them to invite friends from work.

2. Reward Parents for telling others about your daycare: This is a surefire way of spreading the word about your daycare. For every parent who refers a friend who enrolls reward them with a special thank you. Perhaps a gift card, discount on childcare, something they would really enjoy.

3. Visit Employers in your area: Introduce yourself to human resources and or management. in any business. Tell them about your and be sure to leave some business cards behind. Ask if you can place some on a bulletin board in the lunch room.

4. Become Good Friends with the School Secretary: Visit your local elementary school with a plate full of cookies and some business cards. Announce your new and ask if they have a list of daycares in the area that do after school care. Be sure to place yourself on that list.

5. Get really excited about Halloween! Really decorate your home for Halloween and be sure to give out candy with business cards. Wear a costume and scare children as they walk up the side walk to your home. If parents see you love the holidays and you’re having fun wouldn’t they be interested in coming to your daycare?

There’s just a handful of fun and easy idea’s I have about marketing your daycare. And as you can see most of them cost little or nothing. Having fun and making money is what it’s all about.

© CG Groth Inc. 2006

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"Daycare author and mentor, Christine Groth,"The Queen", is creator of the Guide to Instant Profits. To learn more about this step-by-step program, and to sign up for her fRee how-to-marketing articles and tips visit www.startingadaycaretips.com