Introduction and Advice on LONG Ad

[BabyMonkeys]

I have been lurking for a few weeks now, and have learned a lot! I was wondering if anyone would be willing to critique my craigslist ad. The ad pretty much explains everything about my program. Thanks! Kristy

About Me

My husband and I have a 15-year-old daughter and a 13-year-old son. We have homeschooled from the beginning, and I love encouraging*children to explore and learn. When they are little, everything is a learning experience!

About My Program

I specialize in childcare for ages 6 weeks - 24 months. By limiting the ages that I accept, I am better able to provide a nurturing home like environment that is structured specifically for this age range, all toys are developmentally appropriate and there are lots of opportunities for hands on learning throughout the day.

In order to ensure that I am able to give each child the individualized attention they deserve, enrollment is limited to a maximum of four (4) children at a time. My daughter loves little ones as well and serves as a wonderful full time assistant

I have an open door policy and encourage parents to drop by and visit anytime. Because I realize that many parents don't have the ability to visit as often as they would like, I have a camera monitoring system that allows you to check in on your little one throughout the day via a secure, password-protected site.

Cloth diapers are welcome, provided you supply the wet/dry bag. Per sanitation regulations, I am unable to rinse or wash the diapers.

Breakfast, morning snack, lunch and afternoon snack are included. All meals and snacks include fresh organic fruits and/or vegetables.

A list of program highlights is below. For more information or to check availability, email me at ******** or text ********

video monitoring via secure password protected site
low ratio allows for more individual attention
all meals and snacks provided
all meals and snacks include fresh organic fruits and/or veggies
cloth diaper friendly

Hours are contracted individually with each family, depending upon their needs.

Full time - $175 per week
Part time - $40 per day (contracted)
Drop in - $50 per day (if space available)

[Blackcat31]

Welcome to the forum!

Your ad sounds great! Good for you for taking on such a tough age too!!

[daycarediva]

Kudos to you for taking babies. Very nice ad, although I might consider moving the top part of the ad (about you) down to the bottom, and removing the part about your daughter being a full time assistant. (that would be against licensing here) and some parents may be put off by it, wondering if you mean she does the same amount of care as you, diaper changes, feeding, etc. My almost 15 year old daughter is my helper, and I just mention it at interview and the parents meet her/see her interacting with the kids in the playroom at pick ups. She doesn't discipline, diaper/toilet or do anything other than serve as a giant big kid anyway.

[BabyMonkeys]

Thanks I was on the fence about including my daughter in the ad. I will adjust it now.

[TheGoodLife]

Sonds great! Good luck, I bet you find you are full quickly with those ages happyface

[Maria2013]

your ad is great, not long at all, welcome to the forum and good luck:hug:

[nanglgrl]

As a professional I think your ad is great BUT in my experience the less information I get the more calls I receive. I have a great website, I usually post a link to it along with photos of my space which is clean and made for children but when I post with all that I get NO calls. When I post just that I'm a home daycare with openings I get more calls. You would think the people that respond to the second as would be the type of clients we usually don't want but my best clients have come from the second ad. If I were you I would post the first ad and a second, less detailed ad just listing that you have openings. It could just be my area but after discovering this phenomenon I talked to a few providers on a local daycare board I belong to and they all said the same thing. I think a lot of people hate to read these days or maybe they hate to feel like they're being "sold" something...I have no idea, all I do know that is for my area which is highly saturated and has a lot of nice, professional daycare homes it's true.

[BabyMonkeys]

I started advertising with a simple ad that I had spaces available, but as soon as they heard my prices ($175 full time) they either never called back, laughed at me, or one lady told me that I was out of my damn mind. The average home daycare is less than $100 here, so I am really high. That is why I list my prices and list the reasons that I believe my care is worth it. It wastes everyones time if they expect to pay $100 a week.

Legally I can have 3 kids under 12 months and 3 kids over 12 months. I limit myself to no more than 4, and I already have 2 of those 4 filled. I'm not sure how long it will take to fill the other 2, but I'd much rather wait for the right family than take someone that I didn't think was going to be the right fit.

I have been home with my kids for the last 15+ years, and I have taken care of lots of other kids, but this is the first time I am going to make an actual business out of it, so I can definitely use advice from those of you that have years experience.

[CraftyMom]

I have no advice to post I'm always amazed at how widely daycare prices vary across the country!