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I was just clicking around on our local (50 miles away) Craigslist for daycare ads. It is unbelieveable the quality of the ads on Craigslist, poor quality that is. The grammar, the spelling, the way things are written, are so out there. Then there are the rediculously low rates. The mom with 5 kids under the age of 8 looking for daycare kids...really?????? I would never leave my child with a mom that had 5 of her own under 8 yrs old. You can tell by the ads, that most are "fly by night" daycares where moms lost their jobs and are just trying to earn a few bucks. Caring for a child for $14 per day......just how do they do that? Guess I will not be posting an ad on Craigslist. I have only done it once before a couple years ago, and received no feedback from it, but then, our nearest Craigslist is over 50 miles away. No one from our town looks there for childcare.
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Best thing I ever did was get in the phone book yellow pages. I gets calls every single day. $16 a month (deducted as a business expense)...no effort. Love it. The only down side is I get calls asking me if I'm hiring......but it's not too bad.
To be honest, as a consumer, I may look on Craigslist if I was looking for used bike parts or left-over landscaping mulch, but not if I was looking for professional business services. And as a child care professional, I wouldn't want to be listed right along side all the fly-by-night babysitters. Just my opinion.Comment
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I have found that a good craigslist ad really stands out and does generate response. It might be harder with your closest spot being 50 miles away, but still worth trying in my opinion. On CL a few pictures of even just your set up can get you more attention. You can make a flyer that you could post at local businesses and use the same text in your ad online. Make sure you accentuate the the things that set your program apart from the rest.Comment
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I know exactly what you mean by the quality of the ads. Many of them *are* poorly written. That's the really good ones stand out.
I've gotten almost every single one of my clients from Craigslist. But, my area Craigslist is very busy and lots of people around here use it to find childcare.
Hee hee! Look, I have a signature!Comment
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There are some really junky ads out there, that's for sure!
I have 4 kids of my own under the age of 8, and I also have 4 DCKs. Our days go smoothly and I run a quality program. Why wouldn't a mom of 5 be able to adequately care for a few DCKs too?Comment
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In our state a group of your own kids under age 12 (I think, not quite sure though) wouldn't even qualify a provider to legally care for a small group of 4 to 6 daycare kids. I guess more of what I meant to say was, that I wouldn't personally want a daycare provider with 4 or 5 of her own young children to be the caretaker of my children, as there is too much opportunity for favoritism, etc, among the group of kids. I had a provider for my own kids years ago, and that was a big problem during the daycare hours. Sorry, didn't mean to offend you.Comment
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I do well on CL but not recently, there are TONS of SAHMs and other newbies offering dirt cheap rates and I cannot and willnot compete with that. I do still have some parents looking for quality and yes, that I can provide.Comment
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I have received about 80% of my clientele from Craigslist! I get calls and emails all the time of people wanting to tour...even if I don't have openings! It's very easy to tell the fly-by-nights, the laid-off or unemployed people looking for work and the SAHM's that specifically state they are looking for "playmates" for their child.
I don't see anything wrong with advertising within the others. Make your ad stand out...post once a week or more. Get your name out there. You can tell a desperate ad and a professional ad.
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Agree!I have received about 80% of my clientele from Craigslist! I get calls and emails all the time of people wanting to tour...even if I don't have openings! It's very easy to tell the fly-by-nights, the laid-off or unemployed people looking for work and the SAHM's that specifically state they are looking for "playmates" for their child.
I don't see anything wrong with advertising within the others. Make your ad stand out...post once a week or more. Get your name out there. You can tell a desperate ad and a professional ad. I get pretty much all my clients from my Craigslist advertising. I love it. And yeah you can really tell the desperate ads vs the professional ads on there for sure! 
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It is the same here. A provider can only have up to 6 kids, including her own, under 12 years of age for pay.
Now, if 3 of the kids are under 1 year of age, the provider can not take any more kids at all, related or not.
The OP's posted craigslist ad above would tell me they were operating illegally (not just unregistered) in my State.
I don't think Mac meant any disrespect, either. I also would not choose to have my child with a provider with her own kids in the group. It is just a personal choice.
I know there are parents who don't choose me because I don't do field trips, own a large breed dog (golden ret.) and have a faith based program that celebrates Christian holidays.
- Unless otherwise stated, all my posts are personal opinion and worth what you paid for them.
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I hadn't thought of it that way.
Your ad versus
" I wanna watch yore brat...call me @ 555-DIRTYDAYCARE
probably actually brings your professional ad more business!::::::
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The best ways I've advertised are Craigslist, having a daycare website, and being one of the top daycares listed on Google.
I post on Craigslist all the time. The majority of my kids are from those ads. There are PLENTY of illegal babysitter ads from stay at home moms who want to watch children in their homes. In Maryland, you have to be a licensed provider to watch children in your home who are unrelated to you on a consistant basis. There are PLENTY of ads that look like the 3 year olds wrote them! But, a parent looking for quality daycare can tell which ads are worth responding to.
I have advertised in many ways - flyers, ( take all day to hand out to a few locations, don't really get many calls from them - basically a waste of my time), newspapers - There are 2 local newspapers and one main newspaper around here. However, almost noone reads the papers - they look online for things! So, it's pretty much a waste of my money to advertise in the newspapers. We also have the Pennysaver here - but NOONE EVER reads that anymore! I have put daycare cards out (same as the flyers) in different stores, restaurants, and other businesses, but don't really get much of a response from them. I have handed business cards personally to people I see in stores or other public places and they really don't call. I have advertised on daycare websites that are specifically created for daycare advertising. However, your typical parent has never heard of those websites and does not know to look there. I used to have an ad in the phone book. It did work well and I got full almost immediately. However, I had to continue paying for the ad throughout the year and consistantly got calls for daycare and employment even though I had been full from the 1st month and don't offer employment. It annoyed me to continue paying for and receiving calls for something that I no longer needed.
I think you have to figure out what works in the area that you live in.Comment
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If you would of taken the time to actually read what I posted, you would of understood what was written.....I didn't didn't actually "pick" on anyone's ad. It was general statements about a variety of different Craiglist ads that I read, not one in particular, quite a few that I clicked through. Maybe you had a little too much sun today?
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I have also noticed how bad some of the ads on craigslist are. I love craigslist and about half of my children come from craigslist. The other half are from my lawn sign which I also love. I just think you need a good ad and my website also helps.
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