by admin | Feb 17, 2022 | Blog, Uncategorized
When it comes to getting your marketing message right it’s really important that you pay attention to what you’re putting out into the world and whether or not it’s being seen.
Nailing your messaging is the key to growing your childcare business and making it the success it deserves to be.
Are you hearing crickets?
Often we find ourselves putting tonnes of effort into our marketing and think we’re really visible. We believe we’re getting our information out into the world and that our ideal clients are seeing. But when we hear crickets and realize we’ve had zero inquiry calls, we begin to wonder what’s going on.
What’s happened here? Is there a disconnect between what you think you’re saying and the message being received by your audience? Or is there an issue with the platforms you’re using?
Take a deeper look into this before making your next move!
More often than not, we’ve missed a trick
And that trick is relatively simple: we have not got the messaging for our childcare business right.
Maybe it’s the information you’re relaying, or maybe it’s not hitting home. But whichever it is, it means we haven’t dialled in on our message well enough.
So how can we clear our messaging up and get people signing up to waitlists or booking in for tours?
What’s your mission?
Imagine you’re at a networking event and you’re in a conversation with someone you’ve not met before. They ask you, “What do you do for a living?” You reply, “I’m a childcare business owner.” Simple enough, right? WRONG!
Telling them what you “do” is absolutely fine. However, you’ve left them with only a vague idea of what you do and it’s unlikely that they’ll ask you anything deeper.
And that’s the same when it comes to your marketing. Don’t be vague and wishy washy. Be bold and make moves! Make it clear that you have a purpose, that you’re on a mission to make a difference. Show them the fire in your belly!
Getting your marketing message just right
So how about if, instead, you answer them with a precise mission statement that explains what you do, how you do it differently and what actually sets you apart from all the other childcare businesses.
That’s the power of getting your marketing messaging correct.
It’s about actually getting your information out there in a way that people quickly and easily understand who you are, what you do, and what sets you apart from the competition.
When you can execute your messaging well, you’ll notice that more people are heading your way and are seeking you out specifically. And that’s all because they’re aware that you’re suited to their needs. They know exactly what they’re looking for from their day care provider.
I want to help you nail your marketing message, and I’ve got just the thing!
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This exclusive group coaching will help you break through your fears, frustrations, and overwhelm of starting and growing a childcare business so you can begin creating the freedom of time and finances and start living life on your terms!
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Ready to get stuck in with me? Learn more —-> HERE.
You can read more marketing message tips and tricks over on the
blog, and don’t forget that we’ve got a really active community of like-minded childcare business owners over on
Facebook!
Because sometimes being a home daycare provider can feel pretty isolating. Get connected with other childcare owners – it’s a game changer! Gain strategies and tips to move your childcare business forward by joining a community! Join us for more tips on how to make your childcare business the success it deserves to be!
Or if you prefer Instagram, we share ideas and tips there too. We’re an army of childcare professionals who are sharing ninja-sharp skills to transform our businesses into childcare empires! This is Childcare Ownership all Grownup!
by admin | Sep 15, 2021 | Blog, Uncategorized
Often when I talk about branding, people conjure up images of their logo. They think of the color palette of their website. But branding is more than just the colors you use, it’s the ‘personality’ of your business. It encompasses your personal and business values, your mission, the service you want to offer and – most importantly – how you want your customers to feel.
I was chatting with my daughter earlier this week about the fact that sometimes people will forget a daycare name but they’ll remember the owners. While a name may be forgotten they remember the WHO – the “Who” that runs that business. And if they had a positive experience, they’ll remember how they FELT.
One of the ways you can help them remember the experience of being in your daycare – whether that’s for a tour or once they’re moving on – is making it sensory. And that’s what I’m focusing on in today’s blog and over on my YouTube “
Monday Moves“. Read on!
Using your five senses to up your branding game
You’ve got an opportunity to really hit your clients and potential clients in all their sensory areas with your branding!Ad agencies and marketing businesses have been talking about this for a while. Sensory branding (also known as multisensory marketing) is proving to be a very effective way to captivate your audience. This can be a marvellous way to make your childcare brand unforgettable.
The reason it’s so impactful is that some people love looking at visuals, while others prefer audio, and then you’ve got others who are attracted to touch or smell. All these sensory preferences can be utilized in your marketing. You can grab their attention by creating products and services that tap into their sensory leanings. It’s all about enhancing your customer experience.
Sight and visual branding
Think about the experience you want your families to have in your care. What do you want to be remembered for? If you’re all about the fun and your personality is loud and proud, why wouldn’t you want your daycare to be the same? Let your personality shine through! Use color and materials to liven up the visual experience! Or if you’re a kinda zen individual whose whole being is about calm and meditation, let that come out in your decor.
Use light – from windows or from lamps – to make your daycare a feast for the imagination. Drape fabric from the ceilings to create a different look. Use mirrors to enhance the space and stimulate play!
And while we’re talking about visuals…I know I said logos aren’t the be-all and end-all, BUT…
Are you making sure your visual branding is on everything you do? You want people to remember you and your business. Ensure that your logo is on all your signs and posters. Put it on any window stickers you might have displayed. If you or the kids wear uniforms, is the color on-brand? Is your logo on the kit? Think about giving your children a special branded daycare tote or book-bag. This is essentially free advertising because they’re carrying it all round town before and after their day with you!
Make sure that your logo is on all your communications – paper or digital. Use it in your email signature (tutorial
here!). Is the logo on your header image of your social media? Do you use your logo and brand colors on things you share online?
Smell in your branding
Okay, I know this might sound a little weird. Bear with me! But y’all know that real estate agents often bake cookies in the homes they’re trying to sell, so why don’t we do this kinda thing too?!
When you consider the practical smells of a day care – diapers, concoctions of mealtimes, and all that jazz – you might want to think about the smell of your daycare. This is particularly important for visits, but branding your daycare smell matters all the time! You don’t want parents to be gasping for breath when they leave the space. Wouldn’t it be lovely for them to walk in and be given a totally sensory experience of a diffuser with essential oils that soothe the soul? It might also have a positive impact on the kids too! I know I love to walk into my daycare and breathe in whatever delights are in the diffuser each morning!
Taste in your branding
Speaking of baking…Imagine you’re taking your families on a tour around your daycare and having cookies to takeaway with your logo on!? You want to be remembered, and people remember what they’ve tasted.
You can get personalized branded candy or you could do it on a budget, by bulk buying penny sweets and putting them in a pretty bag with a logo sticker on! Or if you’re really focusing on healthy eating, have fruit with your stickers on! Bottles of water with your daycare name on work really well too!
Making your business memorable is what it’s about!
Touch in your branding
Have pens or pencils and other promotional items that you can put your business logo on. Whether you purchase these or DIY, using things they touch and hold to help people remember your childcare business is a great idea!
Parents can take these away, and will be signing checks or writing notes in meetings and someone might notice and ask them about your daycare. Being at the forefront of their minds is helpful when they’re in the process of decision-making where to send their precious kids off while they go to work. If you’ve made the parents feel amazing, and they’ve got something to physically hold and remember you by, they’re more likely to call you up and book on!
Sound in your branding
Don’t panic, I’m not suggesting you go and have a jingle made for the local radio station (anyone else now got Smelly Cat stuck in their head?). What I mean is using sound to enhance the sensory experience of your daycare. People tend to associate darcares with a screechy sound track of nursery rhymes that hark back to the 1980s. So why not think about what music fits the vibe of your daycare?
Think about your own favorite shopping experiences. What music do you hear in those places? Why does it feel good? And then consider how you want your kids and families to feel in your very own daycare centers. Perhaps your could play something that fits the theme? Ambient jungle sounds or rainforest background noise. Or maybe some calming Mozart? Or perhaps you love music from your country of origin and want that to be what people remember.
And of course YOU!
Let’s not forget what I said at the start. YOU are your brand. I think it’s important that you’re “branded” and visible in your local community so that both get associated with each other. I run into that a lot. People will say to me, “Oh yeah Miss Nyckie’s day care! I remember that place” and even though they may have forgotten the venue’s name they remember me and the way I made them feel!
So do make sure you get yourself out there and known in your community and be your brand! Branding isn’t just your childcare venue but it covers you too!
How do you feel about your current daycare branding? Are you utilizing all the sensory experiences you could be? I’d love to chat with you over in the Facebook group about it!
If you want to hang out with like-minded and aspirational childcare business owners, come and get involved in the community over on Facebook! Join us for more tips on how to make your childcare business the success it deserves to be! Or if you prefer Instagram, we share ideas and tips there too. We’re an army of childcare professionals who are sharing ninja-sharp skills to transform our businesses into childcare empires! This is Childcare Ownership all Grownup!
by admin | Nov 12, 2020 | Blog, Uncategorized
It’s Marketing Week here at Childcare Ninjas HQ and in my community we’re sharing our ideas and experience. As such, I wanted to take this time to encourage you to make your childcare business marketing more simple. In this blog post, I’m going to reveal some steps you can take that will reduce the stress that marketing often brings! I want to help you in making marketing easy!
I’ve heard new childcare business owners talking about how they complicated their marketing is. So I want to tell you it doesn’t have to be! Read on to find out how…
1. Keep your marketing simple
As childcare business owners, it’s very tempting to try to be in all the places, all the time. But I need you to hear me on this one: you cannot be everywhere AND do a good job at marketing. Not without spending a fortune and hiring someone (which you can eventually, just maybe not right now?).
Spreading yourself too thin is a common mistake that new childcare bosses make, and I want you to know that actually it’s much more effective to focus your energy and time on one or two platforms, rather than trying to juggle four or five of them! If you know that your families hang out on Facebook, then that is where you should be targeting. Whereas if you’ve got a younger client base, perhaps TikTok is where you could focus your energies.
And it’s not just about social media, printing posters and putting them up in local facilities can get you lots of leads too. Read this blog to give you more ideas. But, try to keep it simple: Don’t try to be everywhere! Do a couple of things really well!!
2. Budget for your marketing
This one is a bit of a no brainer, but if you’re new to childcare ownership is can also feel totally alien. When it comes to marketing, you need to figure out a budget that works for you and your business. It’s vital that you know your budget and can find ways to market your business in a cost effective manner.
After you’ve paid your staff, yourself, and all the bills for your business, what have you got left in your budget? Think about what can you specifically allocate to marketing and still allow a buffer for emergencies. When you’ve worked out your monthly budget, you can work out how you’re going to spend it. Will you be putting money into publishing a local magazine advertisement, paying for social media ads or going old school?
It’s also key that you can look at something you’ve marketed and work out what the return on investment (ROI) was. For example, if you put $50 into some 500 flyers for the local area, how many new clients got in touch – 5? That’s $10 per lead. How can you improve that?
3. Plan your marketing
Putting a plan in place means that any marketing you do will be more likely to have an impact. It will give you a clear map of how you want to market your childcare business and also act as a compass for the purpose and direction of your marketing. Without a plan, you’re just shouting ineffectively into the wind and it’s a waste of your time and energy!
So make a plan. What are you marketing? To whom? Why? Where will you market it? How? When? Don’t be afraid to break it down into bitesize chunks so it feels more manageable. You got this, Ninja!
4. Schedule and implement your plan
Once you’ve laid out your plans, you’re going to have to block out the time you need to take action. Set yourself some deadlines, and start to put together a timeline. Where are you going to start? What is your sales funnel leading them towards?
If you can automate and schedule your marketing content, I’d highly recommend doing so! Since I began using systems and scheduling software for my marketing, I’ve managed to claw back some precious time and can focus on the things I love doing – which is supporting childcare business owners to become ninjas in what they do! Oh and of course, being a childcare boss myself and looking out for my team and the families we serve.
So I encourage you to get focused on what you need to do and when and make it as easy as possible by scheduling! And now get implementing! Go, Ninja, go!
When you follow these 4 simple steps, you’re going to start seeing your hard work pay off!
What gives you a headache when it comes to marketing? Have you tried breaking it down into baby steps? I hope this blog has helped you realize marketing doesn’t have to be complicated. I’d love to help you get clearer on this. Leave a comment or head to the Childcare Ninja Facebook group to discuss how to make marketing your childcare business as simple as pie. Join us for more tips on how to make your childcare business the success it deserves to be!
While you’re here, are you in the Childcare Ninja membership yet? We’re an army of childcare professionals who are sharing ninja-sharp skills to transform our businesses into childcare empires! This is Childcare Ownership all Grownup! It’s full of exclusive resources and support to help you grow your Childcare Business.
