Newspaper Ad Help

[Francine]

Next week I will be placing my ad in our local newspaper advertising the opening of my Daycare June 1st. Here is my problem though, I haven't quite my full time job yet and I'm not going to until I have at least three kids lined up. The people that I work with obviously know my name and one of them drives by my house every day so he knows my address. I know there is a slim chance that anybody will see the ad but I can't take that chance, I need that job if I don't get kids right away.

How would you write an ad that will draw people in and make them want to call and ask questions without your address or name being in the ad. At work we all use cell phones so I highly doubt anybody would know my home number so I feel okay putting that in, good thing or it would be pretty hard to get calls right.

It kills me not to but our name in the paper, my husband is a funeral director here in town and I did daycare for years so people know the name or have at least heard it.

I have been looking on Craigslist just to get ideas and all of the ads have names and address.....of course they do, I would too except then I would get fired. It's a small town, everybody reads the paper.

What do you think? How do I do this? I want to tell my boss by May 1st so that they have time to hire and train somebody before I leave. HELP!

[momofboys]

Next week I will be placing my ad in our local newspaper advertising the opening of my Daycare June 1st. Here is my problem though, I haven't quite my full time job yet and I'm not going to until I have at least three kids lined up. The people that I work with obviously know my name and one of them drives by my house every day so he knows my address. I know there is a slim chance that anybody will see the ad but I can't take that chance, I need that job if I don't get kids right away.

How would you write an ad that will draw people in and make them want to call and ask questions without your address or name being in the ad. At work we all use cell phones so I highly doubt anybody would know my home number so I feel okay putting that in, good thing or it would be pretty hard to get calls right.

It kills me not to but our name in the paper, my husband is a funeral director here in town and I did daycare for years so people know the name or have at least heard it.

I have been looking on Craigslist just to get ideas and all of the ads have names and address.....of course they do, I would too except then I would get fired. It's a small town, everybody reads the paper.

What do you think? How do I do this? I want to tell my boss by May 1st so that they have time to hire and train somebody before I leave. HELP!

That's tricky but if it makes you feel any better most people's ads I see (at least in the newspaper) do not list their names, or at least not their full names or their addresses. One thing that helped me was that I planned to do preschool activities & I included that in my ad, I also mentioned that I lived near the hospital and near the park. I never mentioned my name or address, my phone number was listed of course. You could include in your ad that you have X number of years of experience providing daycare, I would think that would be a plus. Do you really think you would get fired right away if someone saw your ad?

[Francine]

I really don't know, I know they are going to be VERY mad so I just can't take that chance.

[AfterSchoolMom]

You could give your daycare a name that doesn't include your actual name, like "happy kids childcare" or something...then use that in your ad. Personally I'd never put my home address in a newspaper ad, for security reasons, but you can do as janarae suggested and include some neighborhood amenities.

[misol]

I was in the exact same situation. I couldn't afford to get fired before I was ready to quit! I just used the name of my business and said to contact Ms. ______(insert last name here) on all of my advertisements. For safety reasons I didn't have my full address. I just put my city and said "also serving" then listed the nearby towns.

As soon as I had enrolled my first family I gave notice to my job. Luckily the family was flexible and didn't need to start ASAP.

In the off chance that your cover is blown, you should have an explanation for your boss at the ready.

[Francine]

Speaking of names, this might vary from state to state but when choosing a name for your daycare do you have to file it with the State that you live in or something. Can I just pick any name that I would like, as long as somebody else is town isn't using it, and start calling my daycare that?

I have never used a name before, people have always just said "Joy's Daycare" As far as using my last name only " Mrs.________" we are the only ones in our town with our last name, if I do that I might just as well put my first name in too. It makes me feel better that none of you would put your address in the ad anyway so that helps, I never had to advertise before because I had kids of friends or friends of friends so word of mouth worked well. Hopefully it will again but right now all of our friends are my age and very much done having babies so I need to target a younger group. I think that means I'm getting old

Thanks for your help!

[MarinaVanessa]

Yes you have to file your FBN (fictitious business name) with the state. Before you do that you have to make sure that no one else has registered it. I live in CA and when I did it they have a website online that you can type in names to check if they've been registered yet. Here I even filled out the application online. Then I went to the government center and paid a $66 fee. They give you a cirtificate and you have 30 days to publish it in the paper to announce that you want to use that name. Don't worry though because you don't have to publish it in the town you live in. I was in a similar situation when I was getting ready to do daycare so I called around to other towns nearby and put in a very small towns local paper that didn't get high circulation. Most places will let you mail a copy of your FBN cirtificate and a check and they will publish it and file it with the government center. If not, they can just mail you a proof and you can go to your government center and file it. This way you don't run the risk of putting an ad in the paper announcing your FBN (they put your full name in the ad) and having people in your town read it. Good luck.

[Persephone]

Around here we just put first name and phone numbers. Some people put what area of town they live in...south side, down town, past Kmart...so on.

[My4SunshineGirlsNY]

You could always use adjectives like "well-Known" or "reputable" daycare provider now has openings, without using your name.

[AmandasFCC]

I put my first name only, don't even list the area I'm in or anything more revealing. This is the ad that I currently have in the paper:

Licensed dayhome has 2 full time spaces available for children 4yrs+. Nutritious meals and snacks provided, close to schools, busy daily schedule includes circle time, crafts, outside play both in my fenced yard and at the numerous parks in the neighbourhood, and much more! Call Amanda at ***-***-***X