Start a day care
So,you want to start a day care. I'm a huge advocate of having a website and blog to support your day care business. I have connected with a lot of clients that otherwise might not have found me or might have overlooked my service in favor of one of the above. They might have overlooked my service in favor of a bigger, better, faster, shinier, more centrally located day care.
Instead, thanks to my website including pictures and information on every aspect of my day care people were impressed. They liked the beautiful setting, the family run element and our montessori program. Quite simply, they liked the fact that the website had put a face to the name, had added the personal touch and people felt like they knew us already.
Communication with potential and existing clients is so much easier, as is marketing your day care when you have an online presence. It is not difficult to maintain or create a website and a professional look can be easily achieved. Your business can be marketed better by a regularly updated, vibrant website and blog than by other methods at less cost. Include lots of information about you and your day care ensure your site is easily navigated.
Granted it took a few months of work submitting my site to online business directories and ensuring I had all my meta tags and keywords up to speed but ultimately it was worth it. My day care almost always shows up in the first few listings for any search for child care in my area (oftentimes for nationwide searches).
Ensure you have pictures of your bright, airy playrooms, outdoor playgrounds and shots of the exterior of your day care. Help parents understand what your day care offers by incorporating details of important policies, your educational curriculum and what you charge. Downloads of your parent handbook and day care contract provides answers many telling questions for parents and puts their minds at rest.
Keep your existing and future clients up to speed and interested in your day care by adding a blog to your website. I just recently revamped my site adding a blog (I use wordpress and highly recommend it) and am already reaping the rewards and hearing lots of nice feedback. Put pictures of you and your employees on a staff page and include a few details about each person. People love that personal touch and feel that you are less of a stranger to them as you start a day care.
Fiona Lohrenz is somewhat of an expert on child care having run her own day care for a decade. She writes about her experiences on her childcare website and shares even more on her 'Start a Day Care Business' DVD guide: Open Daycare You can find her at her Day Care focused website.
Published July 21st, 2008
Filed in Business, Home Business