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You don't want to spend a fortune, you just want to market your day care effectively in your locality but the burning question remains; 'How do I do it?'. Believe it or not, it is not impossible and simply requires a little work and ingenuity. Your first port of call should be the printers with your stationary order which should comprise the following;

- A must have - letterheads. - Personal business cards - Small flyers/brochures for distribution. These should spell out the tantalising key selling points of your day care including;

- Your contact details - What your day care offers in terms of curriculum, additional services e.g. afterschool, french classes etc. - Let the flyer be a voucher - offer a reduction upon presentation of the flyer. - Anything extraordinarily special about your day care that makes it stand out from the competition.

Consider hiring some people or a reputable company to put flyers on cars for you (particulary ones with car seats). Don't break the law so double check the appropriate city ordinances before you go plastering your town with advertising paraphenalia.

It is worth checking into mass mailings out of your local post office ensuring that the direct targets are subdivisions containing lots of young families and not retirement communities (having said that, I have had many a grandma forward my flyer to her children for their children!!!).

Local networking is your next task so get those walking shoes on and prepare to work the locality. On this particular mission think places of congregation for locals, especially anywhere they have to hang around for significant time periods with nothing to do;

- Any and all clinics where pregnant women attend...do I need to spell it out? - Dentists and doctors surgeries - those waiting rooms are crammed full of potential clients. - Let the creative juices flow and think of anywhere you might have a captive audience who would idly pick up your brochure.

Get your binoculars out and go discover the location of;

- Banks and credit unions - they often have bulletin boards and they all have lines of people just waiting..... - Try to find local community notice boards - often found at the library, hospital or chamber of commerce. - Trawl your local stores and ask if they would post your flyer in their window or door.

Try to arrange a meeting with the local schools and see if they would allow you to post a flyer on their notice board. Sweet talk the prinicial or careers officer and try to arrange doing a talk on child care or the day care business for the P.T.A. or a careers class (it's all exposure and building trust locally).

These are just a few easier ways of marketing your day care locally. Don't procrastinate any more. Get yourself out there.

Find out about childcare from Fiona Lohrenz who has run her own day care for the past 10 years. She incorporates all that knowledge into her website and her 'Start a Day Care Business' DVD guide: Start A Day Care Business DVD Find her at: ChildCareOnly.com