I have used Craigslist, Care.com, Sittercity, but am not getting the kind of traffic I use to. I've cared for kiddos in my home for the past 7 yrs. Seems like there are more and more doing it these days. Does anyone have good ideas of other places to advertise when I have an opening? Usually I have a 2 week notice if a family is moving or switching their childcare needs. In that case it takes a while to find a new child to care for.
You can go old school and hang signs in libraries, supermarkets, etc. and make sure you put your contact info on tags on the bottom of the poster.
You could also take out an ad in the local paper, though the rates might be a tad high. I do know most papers bundle an online ad with their print one.
Good luck.
share with your kids' teachers, local church bulletins, & word-of-mouth.
& yes, there are more inhome daycares....more & more moms out of jobs resorting to daycare to provide income for their families.
Strangely enough, I have been having the exact opposite problem in a search for an as needed weekend sitter. I just looked at Care.com, and I had never heard of it. I've been on this site for over 3 years, Im on Baby Center, Im in like 3 facebook mom groups, and I have Dallas Child as a bookmark on my Google Chrome.
I don't think the problem is you. These sites have got to catch up with online marketing and get their names out there, so you can get your name out there!
Non the less, thanks for helping me in your search for assistance :)
What part of the Metroplex are you in? Maybe my search could stop here!
Sam
School, church, word of mouth. My old sitter tells me when she is looking for spots and twice I've been able to send her families. She is AMAZING.
Do you have a local webpage for classifieds? That's how I found my sitter in the first place...we were her second family when she opened, and only missed being the first by 2 weeks!
Give your information to the local schools.
Here in California we have a Child CAre Council - see if you have one there that you can give your information to. That's how I found my last daycare.
Are you on Facebook? I have a friend that just put out the word on FB that she had some openings coming available and within a week she was overwhelmed with phone calls. (Of course, the stork seems to be stopping in our area A LOT.) Our grade school keeps a list of local providers in their office and if someone asks they give out my number.
Good Luck,
Michele
We found our wonderful babysitter through our elementary school. She has been caring for kids in our neighborhood for 20 years, and as such, has had many little ones go off to Kinder at our school, and has done after-school care for them as they've grown up. Anyway, when we moved into the area, we asked at the school office if they knew of any babysitters who could do after-school care. They recommended our wonderful lady, and the rest is history! I don't know if you're looking for school-aged kids, but it's just a thought. (And some of those school-aged kids will have younger siblings, etc...)
