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?'. Truly, it's not that difficult, just takes a little hard, consistent work. Your first port of call should be the printers with your stationary order which should comprise the following;

- Your contact details
- What your day care offers in terms of curriculum, additional services e.g. afterschool, drama classes etc.
- Let the flyer be a vouchere e.g. present the flyer and get one week free.
- 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.

Check with your post office about doing a mass mailing and ensure you target housing developments with a young family population rather than a
retired community(having said that, I have had many a grandma forward my flyer to her children for their children!!!)

Next it's time for you to step out and do a little leg work and local networking. 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;

- Doctor and dentist waiting rooms - these places are crammed full of potential clients.
- Any and all clinics where pregnant women attend...do I need to spell it out?
- Be creative and think of places where you have a captive audience, where people are waiting around and desperate enough to read advertising literature (think cereal boxes!).

Trawl around for;

- Local financial institutions - 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 principal 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.

Fiona Lohrenz has been running her own day care for the past 10 years and is the founder of a childcare website that offers http://www.childcareonly.com