Craigslist Ad - Give It To Me Honest!

**Sugar Magnolia** · 11-05-2012, 10:52 AM

The "A little about me" section is a little wordy and long. Otherwise, sounds pretty good.

**Mommy2One** · 11-05-2012, 11:36 AM

If I were still looking for care for my daughter and you were in my area, I would definitely reply to your posting and probably with the "she sounds like the one I hope she still has openings and replies to my email" fast heart beat :

:

However, since no one is responding, here are a few things that might get you some more responses:

1) Less words - from selling things on Craigslist, I realize that I actually get more responses when I keep my descriptions brief.

I would remove the bit about free date night - that's a perk but not a necessity and something that the desperate ads (you know, the ones that are posted 3 times/day with slightly different wording) like to advertise.

I would also remove most of the "about me" section and just leave "Having worked in the medical field, I have encountered children at their best and worst. I am confident and able to remain calm under all situations, such as dealing with bumps and boo boos, allergies, colic, and teething. I have a perfect driving record and background. I love children and have always had a passion for teaching and guiding them." You can always go into more details on your background during your email exchanges/interview etc.

2) Give some sort of general idea of your rate range even if it's "full time rates start at..." You sounds super professional and qualified (which is fantastic) but people may be scared that you're looking for $10-$12/hr as a result.

3) I would consider replacing the picture with your adorable kiddos with one of just you. I'm super paranoid about posting pics of my daughter on the Internet so I personally have concerns when I see pictures of people with their kids or even daycare kids on public forums like Craigslist.

4) Do you have any wider shots of your daycare area? Its bright, clean and organized but I feel like I'm seeing a tiny sliver of the space so it makes me wonder a bit what the rest looks like.

**countrymom** · 11-05-2012, 12:00 PM

I think we had this discussion before. But I wouldnt put down how old you are and the ages of your kids. I want people to come to me not because of my age but because of my program.

also, you need to do contract hours because you will get someone dropping their kids off for 12 hours a day.

I wouldn't offer the free date night either (there was a post about this how it back fired on someone)

I would write the bottom part like this

We are accepting children from ages 6 weeks to age 5.
Hours of operation are from 6am to 6pm per contract hours.
Extended care is available
Located in the whatever area (don't put roads but an area is better so you don't get the crazies)
Tax reciepts are available
Please contact me for further information or to schedual and interview

also, I like point form because when people look they don't read the whole thing, so tell them right away what you offer.

I don't do pics of myself or my kids either
do you have pics of your backyard (I like the pics you have, they really look nice and inviting)

**Nickel** · 11-05-2012, 12:13 PM

It sounded pretty good, but here are my opinions, as you asked

I would remove the about me section as others mentioned. It is just too much information. Save that bio for the interview. You could even type it up and add your references and a short resume and hand it to the parents.

Remove the stay at home mom and married and age. To me a stay at home is someone who is trying to make some money on the side, you are a professional child care provider, yes? I would open it up like, Hi, my name is... (I personally don't even add that, but I have seen ads that did) I am currently enrolling children ages ..... for home childcare located in the.... area... I live on a quiet street....

Your second paragraph is a little wordy as well. I would eliminate some of that and condense it into something like... Our daily schedule includes ... Occasional field trips to (name 3 or 4 places), etc reinforce our monthly units. We also work on (manners, socialization, etc) I would leave out the depending on age and your permission. It is YOUR daycare. If you want to go to the zoo, go to the zoo. Your confidence makes parents confident in you... kwim?

Remove the photography bit as well. It is irrelevant. (sorry)

That is my advice, for what it is worth. I personally skip over the ads with sahm, trying to make money, etc. For me personally they aren't very professional and I know they aren't full because I see the same ad bumped to the top over and over again. I hope you weren't offended by any of the above. And it is just my opinion, and I don't know anything

Good luck to you... One more thing, Your daycare space does look very clean and neat but it also looks minuscule. Almost like you cropped children out of the other half or that your space is in a closet. Not trying to be harsh, but it does look tiny. Maybe it is tiny, but stepping back and taking the picture at the level with the toys/furniture will make it look bigger and will eliminate that warped big on top small on bottom look (like when people take pictures of their dogs while standing over them)

I hope that helped and hope it wasn't too harsh.

**countrymom** · 11-05-2012, 12:16 PM

Originally posted by elizabethkc

Here is what my ad looks like. I am working on other advertising like you guys suggested, but I am not getting ANY interest from my CL ad. Any suggestions? Am I giving too much info? The wrong info? Ugly house/playroom/children(just kidding, I know they're beautiful)? Do I look unable? Sound too desperate? I'll also include the pics of our playroom that are also on the ad if I can figure it out.

***Daycare Name*** - Loving Home Childcare

Hi there!
My name is Elizabeth and I am offering child care in my home. I am a married, 31 year old stay at home mom with a 20 month old daughter and a 10 year old son (in school until 2:30). We have a clean, smoke and pet free home.

I am not "just a babysitter". I would like to be that long term care provider for your children, helping them to learn and grow into smart and confident little people. We have a daily schedule, which includes music and dancing, arts and crafts, and reading. We live at the end of a quiet street and have a fenced in backyard. We work on manners, basic sign language, colors, shapes and letters, character building, and socializing. You can look forward to monthly themes, newsletters, parties and pajama days. Depending on the children's ages and with a parent's consent would love to get out for "field trips" and experience all that *** has to offer our little ones. We have plans to visit the zoo, library, museums, and fire station. I love crafting and photography, so plan to bring home lots of art and possibly a special portrait or two of your little one!

Parents will be able to enjoy 1 FREE date night per month!! Totally FREE, totally on me!

A little about me: We are fairly new to ***. We moved here in June of this year. I grew up in NC at the beach. I graduated in 2006 with an associates degree in applied science/radiography. I have worked as an X-ray tech from 2006-2011 when I had my daughter. Prior to college I had worked in a daycare and I have always babysat and continue to do so to this day. I can provide references at your request. Working in the medical field, I have encountered children at their best and worst. I am confident and able to remain calm under all situations, such as dealing with bumps and boo boos, allergies, colic, and teething. I have a perfect driving record and background. I love children and have always had a passion for teaching and guiding them.

We are currently enrolling infants, toddlers and preschoolers, ages 6 weeks-5 years. Hours available for child care are 6 am - 6 pm, full or part time with the possibility for extended hours with families established with *** *** Child Care. I am located in between *** and *** Roads. Please email me with days and hours needed and we can discuss rates and set up a phone interview and home tour. I look forward to hearing from you!

Elizabeth
***Daycare Name*** In-Home Childcare

sorry, I just will rewrite your ad.

Home Daycare Name
Welcome to Home Daycare.
My name is Elizabeth (love that name). I offer a well established home daycare located at SUCH A AREA.
I offer:
*seperate daycare area
*I offer homcooked warm meals and snacks
*activites that include music and dance and circle time
*field trips
*seperate sleeping areas
*large back yard
*outside time (weather permiting)

*I'm accepting children ages 6 weeks to age 5.
*Full and Part time spots available
*my hours of operation are from 6am to 6pm (contract hours)
*extended hours available
*parent handbook and contract
*tax reciepts available

For further information or to schedual and interview please call ******** or email me at ********.
*

**Southern Mama** · 11-05-2012, 02:21 PM

Originally posted by Mommy2One

If I were still looking for care for my daughter and you were in my area, I would definitely reply to your posting and probably with the "she sounds like the one I hope she still has openings and replies to my email" fast heart beat :

:

However, since no one is responding, here are a few things that might get you some more responses:

1) Less words - from selling things on Craigslist, I realize that I actually get more responses when I keep my descriptions brief.

I would remove the bit about free date night - that's a perk but not a necessity and something that the desperate ads (you know, the ones that are posted 3 times/day with slightly different wording) like to advertise.

I would also remove most of the "about me" section and just leave "Having worked in the medical field, I have encountered children at their best and worst. I am confident and able to remain calm under all situations, such as dealing with bumps and boo boos, allergies, colic, and teething. I have a perfect driving record and background. I love children and have always had a passion for teaching and guiding them." You can always go into more details on your background during your email exchanges/interview etc.

2) Give some sort of general idea of your rate range even if it's "full time rates start at..." You sounds super professional and qualified (which is fantastic) but people may be scared that you're looking for $10-$12/hr as a result.

I've heard differing opinions on this one, being that you want to at least get them on the phone before you tell them you rates, but I guess if they're willing to pay it, they are willing to pay it from the get go, yes?

3) I would consider replacing the picture with your adorable kiddos with one of just you. I'm super paranoid about posting pics of my daughter on the Internet so I personally have concerns when I see pictures of people with their kids or even daycare kids on public forums like Craigslist.

Done!

4) Do you have any wider shots of your daycare area? Its bright, clean and organized but I feel like I'm seeing a tiny sliver of the space so it makes me wonder a bit what the rest looks like.

I don't have shots for the full room yet. The room is put together decently, but I have an antique vanity in there now that weighs about 300 pounds and a long, low bookshelf that is waiting to be painted to go along a whole wall, so I only posted the "almost done" sections. And I would love to have your daughter!

Originally posted by countrymom

I think we had this discussion before. But I wouldnt put down how old you are and the ages of your kids. I want people to come to me not because of my age but because of my program.

Good point! I'll remove that. I guess I wanted people to know I'm not a kid, not that younger ladies and gents are any less qualified!

also, you need to do contract hours because you will get someone dropping their kids off for 12 hours a day.

I actually plan on doing contract hours, but wasn't sure how to word that in the ad. Do people generally know what that means in this context?

I wouldn't offer the free date night either (there was a post about this how it back fired on someone)

Really!? I must have missed that! Please point me to where it's posted or let me know what the issues were. My plan was to have the small print say something along the lines of only applicable to children enrolled and up to date on tuition, allowing siblings for an additional fee IF there is room available.

I would write the bottom part like this

We are accepting children from ages 6 weeks to age 5.
Hours of operation are from 6am to 6pm per contract hours.
Extended care is available
Located in the whatever area (don't put roads but an area is better so you don't get the crazies)
Tax reciepts are available
Please contact me for further information or to schedual and interview

also, I like point form because when people look they don't read the whole thing, so tell them right away what you offer.

I don't do pics of myself or my kids either
do you have pics of your backyard (I like the pics you have, they really look nice and inviting)

Thanks! I need to get the hubs back there to trim back some of the junk growing through the fence from the neighbors yard and then I will post from the backyard too.

Originally posted by Nickel

It sounded pretty good, but here are my opinions, as you asked

I would remove the about me section as others mentioned. It is just too much information. Save that bio for the interview. You could even type it up and add your references and a short resume and hand it to the parents.

Oh, that's a good idea! Kind of like a cover letter?

Remove the stay at home mom and married and age. To me a stay at home is someone who is trying to make some money on the side, you are a professional child care provider, yes? I would open it up like, Hi, my name is... (I personally don't even add that, but I have seen ads that did) I am currently enrolling children ages ..... for home childcare located in the.... area... I live on a quiet street....

Very good point. I think I've found myself thinking exactly that about other providers and didn't even think twice about putting it in my ad.

Your second paragraph is a little wordy as well. I would eliminate some of that and condense it into something like... Our daily schedule includes ... Occasional field trips to (name 3 or 4 places), etc reinforce our monthly units. We also work on (manners, socialization, etc) I would leave out the depending on age and your permission. It is YOUR daycare. If you want to go to the zoo, go to the zoo. Your confidence makes parents confident in you... kwim?

Remove the photography bit as well. It is irrelevant. (sorry)

I guess I could throw that in with the cover letter idea. It's just another "about me" tidbit that I like to share.

That is my advice, for what it is worth. I personally skip over the ads with sahm, trying to make money, etc. For me personally they aren't very professional and I know they aren't full because I see the same ad bumped to the top over and over again. I hope you weren't offended by any of the above. And it is just my opinion, and I don't know anything

Good luck to you... One more thing, Your daycare space does look very clean and neat but it also looks minuscule. Almost like you cropped children out of the other half or that your space is in a closet. Not trying to be harsh, but it does look tiny. Maybe it is tiny, but stepping back and taking the picture at the level with the toys/furniture will make it look bigger and will eliminate that warped big on top small on bottom look (like when people take pictures of their dogs while standing over them)

My space is our 4th bedroom. I live in a 70's ranch with pretty small rooms. But you're right, it does look a little smaller than it is. Like I said to Mommy2One, we are switching out a rather large vanity for a bookshelf and I felt like the vanity looked less daycare-ish. KWIM? It's cute enough, and I have toys stored on a bottom shelf to it, but I was holding out on that side of the room until it was completed.

I hope that helped and hope it wasn't too harsh.

No, you had great advice! Thank you!

Originally posted by countrymom

sorry, I just will rewrite your ad.

Home Daycare Name
Welcome to Home Daycare.
My name is Elizabeth (love that name). I offer a well established home daycare located at SUCH A AREA.
I offer:
*seperate daycare area
*I offer homcooked warm meals and snacks
*activites that include music and dance and circle time
*field trips
*seperate sleeping areas
*large back yard
*outside time (weather permiting)

*I'm accepting children ages 6 weeks to age 5.
*Full and Part time spots available
*my hours of operation are from 6am to 6pm (contract hours)
*extended hours available
*parent handbook and contract
*tax reciepts available

For further information or to schedual and interview please call ******** or email me at ********.
*

Thanks! I'm not really well established though. Haha! I'm still trying to get kiddo #1! Can I say that anyway?

I think that actually looks pretty great. I kept feeling like it was too wordy, but one of my girlfriends that is also a home provider said she loved it, so I kept it. I'll go back and simplify and use the bullet points.

**spud912** · 11-05-2012, 02:34 PM

I like your ad, including the about me section. I feel like every Craigslist child care ad is set-up with only bullet points and very short. As a parent, I personally would skip over many of them because there is nothing there to make it stand out among the others; whereas yours includes more information without being too wordy. I also like the part about your passion for photography. It's not related to daycare, but I would like it because I like the idea of my provider taking pictures of my children so I can see what they're up to all day.

I do agree with what some of the others have said: limit talk of your own children, include something about your rates, replace the picture of your kids with one of just you, and try to get a better picture of your playroom to give a better idea of what else is there.

Otherwise, your playroom looks great...it's very tidy and clean! Good luck!

**Southern Mama** · 11-05-2012, 03:06 PM

Looks like somebody liked my ad! happyfacehappyfacehappyface

I'll be making a phone call in just a few!

"Hi Elizabeth! I believe I have wrote you before in regards to your in-home daycare. My name is ***. I have a daughter, ***, who will be 2 at the end of this month. I am still looking for a full-time sitter to help while I go to work. The probem I believe we encounter before is that in a few weeks my schedule is going to change from 8am-4:15pm to 10am-6pm. I know it would a huge favor to ask you to consider watching my child, but you see I have not been able to find anyone that doesn't freak me out and I keep seeing your post and love everything about it! Right now as I said my schedule is 8am-4:15pm, I live in *** and work downtown, BUT the schedule here is always changing. What I mean by that is I will be forced to go onto the late shift, but have the chance to go back onto the early shift a few weeks after taking the late shift. I believe at 6pm when I leave work traffic would be minimum so it shouldn't take me long to get there to pick her up. I am a single mom. My child is all I have and means the world to me. Leaving her in the care of someone else is very difficult for me, but I feel there is a possibilty that you would be able to ease my worries. You seem very genuine and like I said I just love your post! I know when you watch children all day 30 minutes is a very long time to wait to start your time with your own family and RELAX, but please consider making an exception. If and when the chance comes that I can be on the early shift I will snatch it up. If you think this is something you could work out please write me back or call. My number is ***. Thank you sooo much for your time and I hope very much we can work something out and I hear from you soon."

**SunnyDay** · 11-05-2012, 04:33 PM

Just my opinion, but I think people sometimes read "stay at home mom" as "cheap child care". They tend to think of a SAHM as something different than a professional child care provider. If this is something you plan on doing long term, I would probably take that title out, and just explain that you are a child care provider and mom of two children.

Personally, I consider myself a more than full-time working mom, even though I have one child at home full-time with me and one in school

**LK5kids** · 11-05-2012, 06:17 PM

I loved the first part where you describe your program. I've read quite a few craigslist ads for child care and your description really impressed me. I think it will impress parents. I don't know if I've seen a CL add that was anywhere as good as this.

That said I'd leave off the "All About Me" also and the free date night. I would also suggest that you put just a picture of yourself also. There is some very weird stuff (and people) on Craigslist and I wouldn't want your kids' pictures or ages or anything about your kids on there. I like the advise above about taking out the SAHM info also. It's sounds like you have a wonderful program planned.

Pictures of your yard and playroom are always good. Bigger, better pictures as already suggested would help.

**Mommy2One** · 11-06-2012, 01:26 PM

Just to clarify, I responded as a parent who has used Craigslist as a resource for finding childcare - not as a provider. And if I ever move to Tennessee I'll definitely contact you about child care!

Congrats on you first response too! happyface I hope it works out for you!

What about a website that you could link to in your ad? Parents who want all the information up front could read it and those who get scared by seeing more than 10 words in an advertisement would get enough from your ad to shoot you an email. Plus I think it lends professionalism and credibility. You could include a detailed "About Me" section, lots of pictures and explain things "contract hours" as well as include information about your activities, field trips and even put in your comment about photos.

To respond to the rest of the thread:
I don't like to play games with rates (I'm the type that will leave a garage sale rather than ask the hostess how much she wants for something). When I look for childcare I already have a few numbers in my head (1) what I'm paying now (2) what we could comfortably afford with a bit less frivolous spending (3) what we could afford with some pinching/minor sacrifices (4) what we can't afford and/or what financially tips the scales to me staying home instead. The numbers in my head are the same no matter how much I like you/your program so waiting to reveal them doesn't help either of us. The trouble is that I know many of you offer cheaper rates for earlier pick-ups or lower rates for reduced contracted hours so I'm not sure how you can fairly state them in an ad, except as maybe a range. "Full time care starts at $***, depending on your care schedule. I also offer part time rates."

As far as terms, I don't think parents new to daycare would understand "contracted hours." I was operating under contracted hours for about 10 months before finding this site and never would have though to use those words to describe it.

Also, regarding calling yourself a SAHM - to me it depends on your program and the number of kids you plan to care for. Right now I would describe my provider as a SAHM and we love her and couldn't be happier. I say SAHM because for quite a while my daughter was the only child she was caring for (besides her own) and now she just watches one other infant. Both children are part time with only occasional overlap. She treats my daughter like a member of the family which is fantastic because she's the type of SAHM that I would like to be if I could be. I would consider a home daycare provider someone with at least 3 daycare children, who has a daily routine, somewhat separate spaces (or at least extra toys/equipment) for the daycare, a contract or handbook, etc.

Craigslist Ad - Give It To Me Honest!

Craigslist Ad - Give It To Me Honest!

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