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Question

I want to start a babysitting business. I am currently creating a website, CPR certified, and a FACS (Family And Consumer Sciences) student. I am very qualified, but how do I get clients? I need to make a lot of money by Sept. 2008 so I can pay for my sports league. Please help.

If you answer, please be sure that you are not spamming! I want real answers. Don't say "I don't know" or I will report you. Anyway... thanks in advance to all of those who will give a great response!

Answer 1

The business cards and fliers is a good idea. Make sure you put your website address on the fliers. Go to all the local schools and hand them out to the parents.

I wasn't quite sure whether you were to be an agent or do the baby sitting yourself. Try looking at www.sittercity.com. You could learn from them and copy them in your local area.

Answer 2

Getting certified through Social Services is a great idea, but may take time to get certified and to get clients.
You may try hooking up with a local community center or church for childcare leads. If you could work part time at a day care facility you might meet parents who need evening and weekend care. Post an ad at the local supermarket. Be sure to include your qualification on anything you post since your qualifications are quite impressive.
Good Luck

Answer 3

You could call the local Social Services to see how to become a Certified Day Care provider and once you do that they can give your name to the parents. A web site is good too but you can advertise yourself in the Classifieds under Child Care or Babysitting. Good Luck!

Answer 4

Since you want to start babysitting a web site may be a bit much. Instead create fliers to put on boards of local grocery stores, contact daycare centers and offer to babysit the sick kids that are not allowed to go to daycare. Word will spread. You may also consider finding a few friends of yours - you may not be able to do it all alone. Good Luck.

Answer 5

Well, if you are talking about babysitting at night, I would call your local day cares and see if you can post information for parents in their lobby. If one person does it and appreciates your services then you should get good word of mouth.

Answer 6

Make business cards, this is what I did when I started babysitting. Put those cards in mailboxes in your neighborhood. Put your available hours, and certifications on their too! Good luck!

Answer 7

Some thoughts (in no particular order)...

For me (an upper middle class mother of a six year old boy), babysitting is largely a word-of-mouth proposition! Most of the time, when I need a babysitter, I ask for referrals from people that I know and trust. I have also found babysitters among my acquaintances (neighborhood teen, a student of mine, counselors at the day camp my son attends in the summer). Thus, the best thing you can do is to start clutivating a LARGE circle of acquaintances and make sure that all of them know you are a highly qualified babysitter. Some business cards you can hand out to everyone you meet would be a great investment!

You mentioned that you are FACS student...at a university I assume? If so, then that is a huge potential market for you. I frequently see notices posted on bulletin boards around campus by students that want to earn money babysitting...in addition to all the students that are also parents, a lot of the faculty and staff at a typical institution are parents too and hiring a student to babysit is very common (my student worker has babysit for me...this summer, I had her housesit my pets during vacation too...good money).

Some colleges also have a career services center that will allow students to post their resume for potential employers to view. ...and the student services office at some colleges (esp. those with a lot of "non-traditional" students) will maintain a list of references for students that need various services such as child care during class times, paper typing, etc... Check around with the offices at your school (ties in to first suggestion about cultivating acquaintances) and ask if your school has any resources to match you up with people on campus that might need your services.

You can also put notices on public bulletin boards at various locations. I've seen babysitting notices on boards in grocery stores, public libraries, and churches. If you are a member of a church or even just attend church frequently, let the people you encounter there (including the church secretary) know what you want to do.

You might also consider doing some volunteer work at a place that has lots of children around. For example, volunteering for child care during services at a church lets you get to know many children and their parents...and if those people know that you are available for regular babysitting, you have an advantage over someone they don't know! If you're not a church person, you could also volunteer at an after-school program somewhere (a health club, private school, etc...) and use your contacts there to spread the word about your regular services.

Final thought...your best market, if you want to make "a lot of money" is going to be people with larger incomes! Target your marketing activities to people in the richest neighborhoods to maximize your income. Look for opportunities to spread the word in high-income occupations and neighborhoods. University faculty are good...but doctors, lawyers, and business leaders are better. You can cultivate acquaintances with people like this in a variety of ways...you could send a letter to the top pediatrician in the area letting him/her know about your services and asking for referrals (they may not do it, but they might pass the information on to a friend that asks their advice!), attend a chamber of commerce meeting with and take plenty of business cards along you can hand out to everyone you meet (lots of other groups that meet regularly where business card exchanging is normal)...be professional of course, but take advantage of every opportunity to let people know what you do AND make it as easy as possible for them to use your services or refer you to friends that need your services (hand out plenty of cards with easy to remember information).

...oh, something I just thought of...how about hotels? If you live in an area with a lot or tourism (or even just an area with a few nice hotels), you might provide your information to the desk clerks/conceirges at those hotels...many people that travel with children, even for vacation (but especially for business), want to hire a babysitter for an evening...some will just look in the phonebook but most will ask the hotel for suggestions and if they hotel doesn't have an "in-house" babysitting service, they would be pleased to have someone they can refer who has excellent credentials and a fantastic reputation (and don't forget the importance of that...if you do a fantastic job, word will spread quickly...if you don't do a good job, word will spread even more quickly!!!).

Answer 8

maybe you could put up posters around your neighborhood and you can put your add in the newspaper