Are you ready to take your child care center to the next level? Whether you're a seasoned child care professional or just starting out, the tips from Caroline Jens shared in this podcast will help you grow and succeed in the competitive world of early childhood education and management!
Caroline is the owner and co-founder of Child Care Biz Help and has dedicated nearly 20 years to child care. She is an expert in business development, leadership, finance, web development, internet marketing and building "raving fan" cultures.
In this podcast, she walks us through three simple, but powerful, strategies to grow your child care center:
To learn more about what Caroline and her team do, which includes helping child care centers grow as well as starting a new program and creating a brand, visit childcarebizhelp.com or email her at caroline@childcarebizhelp.com.
Are you ready to take your child care center to the next level? Whether you're a seasoned child care professional or just starting out, the tips from Caroline Jens shared in this podcast will help you grow and succeed in the competitive world of early childhood education and management!
Caroline is the owner and co-founder of Child Care Biz Help and has dedicated nearly 20 years to child care. She is an expert in business development, leadership, finance, web development, internet marketing and building "raving fan" cultures.
In this podcast, she walks us through three simple, but powerful, strategies to grow your child care center:
To learn more about what Caroline and her team do, which includes helping child care centers grow as well as starting a new program and creating a brand, visit childcarebizhelp.com or email her at caroline@childcarebizhelp.com.
Welcome to the Childcare Business Podcast, brought to you by ProCare Solutions. This podcast is all about giving childcare , preschool, daycare, after school , and other early education professionals. A fun and upbeat way to learn about strategies and inspiration you can use to thrive. You'll hear from a variety of childcare thought leaders, including educators, owners, and industry experts on ways to innovate, to meet the needs of the children you serve. From practical tips for managing operations to uplifting stories of transformation and triumph, this podcast will be chock full of insights you can use to fully realize the potential of your childcare business. Let's jump in.
Speaker 2:Hello and welcome to our newest episode of the Childcare Business Podcast. My name is Leah Woodbury. I'm the head of content here at ProCare Solutions, and today we are thrilled to have Carolyn Jens with us. Um, she is the founder of Childcare Biz Help. Um, she has dedicated nearly 20 years to childcare . Um, one of her, the things that her business does is to help help businesses grow and prosper. Um, when she was an executive director at a childcare center, she had the job of reducing a 45% employee turnover rate while increasing enrollment. And in less than two years, she achieved this goal, grew the business to two locations, and tripled profits along the way. And today she's gonna be sharing some of those tips with everybody. She has three tips to grow your childcare center, and we're gonna start with those today. So, welcome, Carolyn. We're so glad to have you .
Speaker 3:Thank you so much, Leah. It's really great to be here. And, you know, we're, we're advocates for ProCare, so it's, it's a joy that , um, that you're allowing me that time this morning to help these childcare centers with just three really simple tips to help them with their schools. <laugh> .
Speaker 2:Well, before we get started, would you mind giving us just a walkthrough of how, how you got started in childcare and what made you, what made you choose this career path?
Speaker 3:Sure. It , you know, it chose me. I like to say <laugh> because it was never, I mean, even though when I was a little girl, you know, we all play school and you think you're gonna be one thing. You know, I, I wanted to be an acrobat at one time,
Speaker 2:<laugh>. And
Speaker 3:So , um, but I ended up in the finance world, so totally not on the radio radar of early childhood. And , um, as a controller for an entrepreneur , uh, one of the businesses that they owned was a childcare center. And so I started, you know, working on their financials and getting to meet the people. Sat in a director's office for the first time, and I thought, wow, these people are intense. What a job. And I just, there was just this ad admiration for the industry and how hard they work. Um, and I just fell in love with it. So that was actually how I ended up in childcare is just being exposed to it from the financial side.
Speaker 2:Okay. Well, that's kind of the perfect segue then to start in , start into these three tips to throw your child, grow your childcare center from somebody <laugh> somebody with a financial background. How about, let's start with the first one. Make a lasting first impression. Can you walk us through that?
Speaker 3:Sure. Um, I do, I would like to just start off by saying that, you know, when we think of growing our schools mm-hmm , <affirmative> there , everyone has a different kind of terminology behind that. I like to think that why do we wanna grow our school? It doesn't necessarily mean that you're gonna have this, you know, you're gonna grow to another location. It doesn't always mean that you're gonna grow in enrollment numbers. Um, we want all that to happen, but most importantly, we wanna grow so that we can improve our programs so that we can provide opportunity opportunities for our staff. And most importantly, you know, one of the things, Leah , that you know, that we're doing is we start childcare centers. So we are hearing every day about these communities that have no childcare available. And so it is so important for these childcare centers to learn how to grow their schools so they can keep their doors open so that we keep this infrastructure of childcare in our communities. So I always like to start off by saying that growth is so, so important. Mm-Hmm . <affirmative> , um, getting phone calls every day about childcare centers closing their doors. So I'm very passionate about this topic.
Speaker 2:Yeah. I always like to , I'm glad you went over that.
Speaker 3:Yeah. I always like to start there just to give that background of just, I mean, I think I had three calls last week of childcare centers where they don't know how they're gonna keep their doors open and heartbreaking. It breaks my heart. So hopefully some of the tips that I can provide today will help at least, you know , one or two childcare centers, just give them a little extra boost , um, to just keep going. But I always like to start off with, with making a , a great first impression, because that's your chance. You know, I think they say you have like seven seconds, you know, to make that first impression. And so , um, how do we make a good first impression so that we can build trust right from the start, not only with, you know, potential families, but with your community , um, for potential staff. So these first impressions are, are critical for a number of different reasons. And it really does it, it's your reputation, right? It's that first impression. So the first thing I always like to start with is your online presence. Okay . So , you know, what, what is your, what is your website look like? And I know a lot of times we build our websites when we open our schools, and then we never touch 'em again. <laugh>. Oh . And I've seen that over and over where, you know, the website, you know, literally hasn't been touched for five years. And so we need to keep our websites relevant. We need to keep them up to date . You should be touching it once a month and making minor changes, like update your photos , um, update some content. All of that keeps your website fresh and relevant. Another thing that we find often is that a lot of websites don't have career pages.
Speaker 2:Oh. For, to attract new teachers, that kind of thing. Yes.
Speaker 3:Yes. Because what we're finding out is that growth is being hindered because we aren't able to hire, staffing is a big issue right now. Mm-Hmm . <affirmative> . And so a lot of people fear this topic. Like, I, I wanna grow my center, but I can't attract staff. Well, your website's a critical piece of that. And that's, that is a first impression that's often overlooked. And so if you have a career pa , if you don't have a career page, get one. And if you do have one step back and take a look at it. Does it read like a job description? Or does , is it a really good picture of your culture, of the community that you're building at your school? Does it entice me to actually want to come work for you? Mm-Hmm. <affirmative> . So I always like to say, take a step back and, and really take a look at your website, because that's, that's really a , your initial first impression. The other thing that a lot of schools don't know is utilizing Google My Business. So when you're searching for childcare in your area, you know, your Google my Business will show up on that right side of the screen, and it'll , we'll have your address and your phone number and a link to your website. Well, we use Google My Business to post updates just like Facebook, just like Instagram. And, and oftentimes childcare centers don't know to do that.
Speaker 2:I've never heard of that. <laugh> . Yeah .
Speaker 3:We , yeah, we , we post at least once a week to Google my business. And what that does is it, it allows you to, again, put out an impression of your, your business out there online. Mm-Hmm . <affirmative> . Um , but it also keeps you relevant with Google. So that keeps you up on those search engines. So it's de it's one of my pro tips, you know, a lot of people don't know to do that. Um, and actually one of my clients taught me that, and I've been doing it ever since. So, <laugh>
Speaker 2:Yeah. That's great.
Speaker 3:It is a , a really great first impression. Um, the other is virtual tours. So a lot of people think, you know, I don't want people to just see a virtual tour of my school. I want them to come in and let me close that deal. But we can utilize a virtual tour on our website as a lead generating tool. So instead of just having that video available, have them fill out a form first in order to view the video. And then Yes . So then you're collecting that lead information. They're getting a great first impression from you by being able to see your school virtually. And that will hopefully entice them to come actually into your location. So all of those online impressions, I I like to say are those, you know, first impressions. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative> the obvious ones are your interior and your exterior. Right? So like, when someone's driving by, do you have fun signage out there? So we're getting really creative now with , um, cutouts. So basically they're like yard signs, but you can get cut out shaped in all kinds of different shapes. And so Oh , that fun. They just to the ground. Yeah. So all of our startups , um, we, we have a new school that has like flowers in their logo. And so we've got cutouts that are in the shapes of, of flowers, and they've got really cute sayings all over them. But visually, when you're driving by, it's just something different than , you know, we've got flutter flags and those types of things and banners. Those are, those are great first impressions, but these cutouts are just something new that we're trying that, that really just offers something cool and something different. Um, another I'm just like filled with all these ideas, so forgive
Speaker 2:Me . I love it. Keep 'em coming, keep 'em coming.
Speaker 3:<laugh>. Um , we had a , we have a school that doesn't have a big budget. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative> . And they can't really do much to the exterior of their building just 'cause from a financial standpoint. Sure . And so all they're doing is putting a really fresh coat of clean paint over their brick. But then we're actually painting the pavement with really cool striping to really bring a visual. So the building's gonna be painted just a real clean white, um-Huh . And then the, the parking lot is going to have a really cool , um, stripes across it in their logo colors.
Speaker 2:That's so cheerful. Like that's something you would , like, I could see a little kid just loving that when they jump out of the car at the beginning of the day.
Speaker 3:Yes, yes . And parents , yes. You know, they're competing against , um, a pretty well-to-do school down the road that has a really nice giant facility. And so we're like, well, how do we compete with that? We can't. We're just this little teeny, you know, teeny building. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative> . So we, that was just a really cool way to add just a , a different type of first impression out there , um, so that they could compete. So that, that was, that was a really fun thing. Um, the other is, when I think of first impressions, I always think about my reputation as, as a brand, as a childcare. And so what are people saying about you in the community that is a first impression, right? Like, are they, are they saying bad things about you? Did they have a bad experience? Mm-Hmm. <affirmative> , that word of mouth is critical to that first impression. And so, you know, building that raving fan culture, I've talked about that a lot in the past. So making sure that your employees and your families are raving fans and that they're out there saying good things about you, <laugh>.
Speaker 2:Right. You know ,
Speaker 3:<laugh> saying the good things about you to draw people to, you know, to your school. Um, you know, what we do often is when we get a testimony , uh, or a review on Google or in person , we'll, we'll take that review and we'll make it into a beautiful social media post, and then we'll highlight that just to kind of, you know, reiterate that, you know, people are having great experiences with us. So, you know, your social media is obviously part of your first impressions 'cause people are gonna go stalk you, just like your website. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative> . Um , so putting those reviews, you know, within your social posts always is really , really helpful.
Speaker 2:That was gonna be my next question. Like, how do you incorporate social media into that first impression and getting people through the door? I mean, you were talking about the website, update it once a month. How often should you be updating social media profiles?
Speaker 3:Oh , people are not gonna like me when I say this .
Speaker 2:<laugh> , let's hear it. <laugh> .
Speaker 3:Oh , we do recommend twice a day.
Speaker 2:Twice a Okay.
Speaker 3:Yes. We recommend twice a day. And what's really cool is that you can schedule your posts. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative> . So it's not that you have to, you know, set a timer on your computer and, you know, here's, I got a post right now. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative> . But we plan our calendars a week in advance. Okay. And so, we'll, we'll schedule our post out for the upcoming week,
Speaker 2:Uhhuh <affirmative> ,
Speaker 3:And , um, you know, and then you can do random posts with, with live activity and things that are happening during the week. But at least you get some of those foundational posts out there. And , um, and you wanna have a variety of posts. So you wanna do things like highlighting significant things that have gone on with your staff. So did they have a training? Is there something to celebrate? Is it their anniversary? You know, highlighting your staff, highlighting the training that they're going through. I think we, we just had this discussion with another school. Their staff is going through the CDA program and I was like, parents, I bet don't really even understand what that means, so why not, like, follow that journey of a teacher through their CDA program and really highlight like, how is this benefiting the children? Mm-Hmm . <affirmative> for the staff going through that. So, you know, utilizing your social media for that. Um, and then offering value. So that's one thing that we try to do as a company and we always recommend is use your social media to provide value for your families. Are there recipes? Are there events going on? Do you have parenting tips? You know, parents nowadays are inexperienced, they haven't had training on how to raise kids, and so can you share little things for them to learn and bring value?
Speaker 2:So Yeah . Well , we've been, we've been hearing too that a lot of the younger parents are using social media platforms as their Google search. Like they're not, they're just, if they wanna Yeah. If they want a good recipe, they're going to Facebook versus Googling it so that if your center can be offering that, that really, I get what you're saying that puts you, that puts you ahead and kind of top of mind for them.
Speaker 3:Exactly. And mm-Hmm . <affirmative> , I know, I know there's controversy around TikTok , so I'll just get in and get out with that one, but, okay . <laugh> , um, I will tell you that I follow some like enrichment programs on, on TikTok, and they do a fabulous job of highlighting their culture. You know, they're showing their employees having a great time at work. Mm-Hmm . <affirmative> doing their enrichment programs and showing the kids having fun. And I mean, let's be real, people are addicted to TikTok, and if you're not on it, if your school's not on it, you're , you're probably missing that audience because they're , they're , they have a tendency now to kind of shy away from Facebook. Yep . So it's been more of that Instagram and TikTok , but we also use LinkedIn so that, that's often a missed opportunity. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative> if you think about where your parents, your or potential families are, they're on LinkedIn because their business people most likely
Speaker 2:Right. Working parents. Yeah. That makes sense.
Speaker 3:And so are you, are you utilizing LinkedIn to help create a , a first impression about your company and, you know, you're gonna post a little differently on LinkedIn than you would like Facebook or Instagram? Mm-Hmm. <affirmative> , um, you're gonna really post from a business perspective, but it's definitely a great way to attract families through, through LinkedIn.
Speaker 2:All right . That was good. Let's jump to, let's jump to the second one. Implement intentional, well-rounded marketing. Ooh , this sounds like a big one. <laugh>. I think we could do a podcast just on this topic. <laugh> .
Speaker 3:We could. We could. And and so I'll just touch on a couple things with, with the intentional marketing. Okay. Um, just because Yeah. That's such a broad topic as a matter of fact. Yeah . We, we do marketing strategies every quarter for childcare centers. So we'll, we'll plan out three months in advance. Okay. You know , based on our current roster of children and based on our enrollment, we'll say, here's the areas of need that we have. What can we do in these next three months to help fulfill that and also help attract staff, right. So that marketing strategy is also gonna include that. And it's also gonna include just brand awareness. You would not believe how many childcare centers do not have a marketing budget. Okay. There are a ton of them. I, I can't call after call, no budget line for marketing. And, you know, we've gotten kind of spoiled because we've had <laugh> waiting lists for a long time now. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative> . And also, we're scared to enroll because we don't have staff. So we really just haven't been intentional with marketing. So my challenge to everyone is, you know, let's, let's put a strategy together. Let's put some money out there because your , your marketing strategies are gonna help you not only attract families, but also staff. And so the first thing about a marketing strategy outside of having a budget line for that, you know, is, is really your brand identity. And so, you know, take a look at your logo, step back, you know, have, have a friend look at your logo. Mm-Hmm . And is it outdated? Is it relevant for today? I, I think we've, we often forget that logos can get old. And so it's okay to have a refresh. You know, we've done that a couple times for our clients where we just come up with a fresh new look. We, we take that new logo and we apply that to our marketing materials because all of that builds trust. Mm-Hmm . <affirmative> . And again, that's part of that first impression. But , uh, that strong brand identity is usually the first place that I go , um, when I'm thinking about my marketing strategy. The other is, look at the things that you're currently doing in your school. They may seem normal, but you could package them in a way to where it, it seems like something very unique. <laugh> , and I'll give an example. Yeah. Because we were looking at one of our schools and, and our competitors and like, how do we differentiate ourselves? Mm-Hmm. <affirmative> , you know. Yeah. We have story time . We, we have gardening. So I was like, why , why don't we package story time , which everyone does. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative> everyone has story time , but call it library time and see every day our kids, you know , have a library experience and, you know, sharing of stories, you know, and , and you know, and we have a gardening snack activity day , um, where we take our fresh produce and, you know, we create a snack activity out of that. And it's just things that all childcare centers do, but how are you packaging it and selling it?
Speaker 2:Oh, that, I like that. I mean , as a parent too, I would love hearing that <laugh>. I really would.
Speaker 3:Right. Like , if someone can give me fun snacks to make for my children, I mean, heck yeah. Yep . That's, that's amazing. I wish someone would've, my kids are grown. Um, but that would've been very helpful back in the day,
Speaker 2:<laugh> . Absolutely. Absolutely. What about , um, participating in local events? That's something I know that you've, you've talked about a lot
Speaker 3:For sure. Um, so usually we'll try to create a calendar, you know, before the beginning of the year. We'll kind of look at the various events that are gonna be happening. Mm-Hmm . <affirmative> And we'll try to plan out that way. 'cause you don't wanna burn your staff out either, so, you know, you can't be attending events all the time. Right. But it is really important to be part of your community and participate in things and volunteer. So, you know, are there things that you can do as a company to volunteer in the community? Whether it be, you know, cleaning up like a garbage day or, I don't know. There's so many different things that you can do in the community from a volunteer aspect, but look at your park and rec, look at your Chamber of commerce. Look, you know, look at your workforce development groups. All of those groups have various events in the community. And so just make sure that you're just choosing selectively so that you're not burning your staff out. And then be prepared when you do them because you don't, again, that's a first impression. So if you go there and , and you're at an event and your staff don't look interested in being there if they're on their cell phone the whole time, you know, if your brand doesn't look good, you know, all of that's a first impression. And then when you're there, are you collecting leads? So do you have like a giveaway to where people can fill out a form? You know, we often miss the ball on the most important , one of the most important reasons why we're at events is to get leads. <laugh> . Yeah. And then when we come back from that event, are we following up on those leads?
Speaker 2:And that's a where a lot of childcare centers drop the ball, right? Is that the actual follow up ? Uh , when you go to these events, you put in all this time, you collect all this information, and then what do you do with it?
Speaker 3:Right. I know we're, we have a brand new school that's gonna be opening , and they have this opportunity to be the main sponsor at this like seven week event. And so we've been really prepping them uhhuh for getting those leads. And then we put a strategy on paper on, okay, what are the steps for follow up <laugh>? You know, when did , when, when are you calling them? When are you, you know, emailing them? And what kind of value are you gonna give them? So that, yes, that is a critical piece of attending events for sure.
Speaker 2:How about hosting open houses? What's the , what's the key to making that work?
Speaker 3:Wow , that's a tough one. Yeah.
Speaker 2:Um ,
Speaker 3:I'm definitely an advocate for open houses, but oftentimes we can get discouraged because you might have an open house and no one comes. Like, I've seen that over and over.
Speaker 2:Oh, that would be really sad. <laugh>. Like , do all that work. Yeah.
Speaker 3:Actually, it's a true story. Our, when we were opening up our school and our second location in Wisconsin, we had open houses every Saturday for leading up into , you know, we open and we barely had people show up. So it was really discouraging. So one of the things you need to make sure you do is, you know, make sure you're advertising your event. You know, you could put yard signs out there, you know, announcing that you're having an open house, a Facebook event. Definitely. Yeah. Um, any type of , uh, we often do press releases, so not everyone can do that. But we, we do have that ability to put out press releases. So one of the things we like to do is really announce like big open houses or ribbon cuttings. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative> , um, get our staff out there talking about the open house. Um, you know, and then have some kind of value that you're able to advertise. Like we're having cookies and whatever <laugh> or come meet our director. You know, put a spin on it so that it's not just an open house, I think can, you know, help it be just a little more attracting to get families there or have a guest speaker. So combine your open house with a workshop.
Speaker 2:Oh, that's a give a multiple reasons to come then.
Speaker 3:Right. So if you have , um, tap into your families Mm-Hmm . <affirmative> . So if you have a pediatrician or a kindergarten teacher or some something, you know, I'm , I'm sure your, your parents are very talented. Mm-Hmm . <affirmative> . And would be willing to come speak at an open house. So now your open house becomes a little workshop too.
Speaker 2:I like that a lot. Yeah . Yeah. I could , because people are so busy, you gotta really give them reasons to break up their schedule to maybe change your minds about what they're doing to make it a priority.
Speaker 3:Exactly. Exactly. So yeah, open houses can be tricky. Um, so just try to figure out just fun, unique ways to put a spin on them. I, I is definitely what I would recommend.
Speaker 2:Okay. And then one other thing that you've talked about as well, that we've heard you say partner with local businesses and organizations. How do you do that?
Speaker 3:I'm , I'm really glad you touched on this one, because it's , this one is very important to me and it is really the area that we're emphasizing highly with all of our schools. And so I like to go back to all the grant money that childcare centers had been receiving from Covid. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative> . So there a lot of that grant money initially went to the owners, then grant money went to staff retention and training. Well , now the grant money that's coming in is really geared toward businesses, the business community. So they're, they're requiring community collaboration to fix the childcare problem so that money is coming into communities if the community can say, Hey, this childcare center and these businesses are all collaborating to solve the childcare infrastructure problem. So with that, we've put together a really unique campaign where we've got , um, we've got branded folders. We have a pitch deck , um, that we can take to businesses that highlight why childcare is a benefit for their staff and why childcare is important to the community. And so basically you're pitching, you know, your , your school. Mm-Hmm . <affirmative> , um, you're pitching why childcare is important. Um, and then we have a checklist in there that talks about all the different ways that that business can partner with you as the childcare center. So there's a couple things that you can do for partnering. Um, you can obviously have employer sponsored childcare where the employer pays a portion of the tuition for their staff. You know, we've heard of that before. Okay. Um, that you can cross market on social media. So you can tag each other on social media. You can volunteer together so you can, you know, collaborate in that way. Um, you can even have them come put on a workshop for you. So depending on what that business is. And you can also have them, if their employees aren't your potential customer, maybe their customer is , so are they willing to, you know , put your information in the lobby or share your information, you know, with their , um, with their audience. So it's really something that we've put together, like this whole package in order for childcare centers to go out there and just talk with the community. And, and oftentimes we're too afraid to go do that. 'cause it is scary. Mm-Hmm . <affirmative> especially if you're a director, you know, you, you probably are in that position because you love children. You were a teacher, you are really good at it. Now you're the director. But sales is a really scary thing for, for childcare people. And so, Mm-Hmm . <affirmative> , when they have to go look and have these conversations with other businesses, it can be scary. So I always recommend, you know, take a friend <laugh>, you know it , the first one to three times that you go do it might be a little uncomfortable, but once you, once you start doing it, you're gonna realize that they're just people and you're gonna have these conversations and you're gonna talk about your childcare center and really talk through ways that you can collaborate together. And you're gonna really find that your brand is going to stand out compared to everybody else's. So it's just a matter of getting out there and having a plan <laugh> Yeah . And having those conversations. But we, we highly recommend that you get out there and talk to other businesses and utilize your Chamber of commerce. Oh , okay .
Speaker 2:Your chamber commerce
Speaker 3:Is a great resource for you. As a matter of fact, I sat on a board, so our board , our chamber of commerce had an open spot. So as the executive director of our childcare center, I asked to be on their board and they accepted me. And I was on it for seven years. And the benefit that that had for our childcare center was gigantic. So I had dibs on every, I got to hear things that were happening in the community before the community heard . Mm-Hmm . <affirmative> . And so oftentimes I could put our childcare center in front of that. So I would take advantage of those opportunities. Like if I knew an event was coming and they were looking for a big sponsor that allowed our childcare center to be that sponsor. 'cause I would hear about it first. Or if I knew that there was a new development, there was a new development coming on in the community, then I would know that that neighborhood is going to be expanding. And so then I could take that back and it maybe adjust our programming or, you know, whatever. But that Chamber of Commerce is definitely a great resource.
Speaker 2:A way to get the inside scoop on everything.
Speaker 3:Yeah. And that brand awareness, because it's just a , it's actually the Chamber of Commerce does a lot for your community. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative> . And so to be a part of that is really very helpful.
Speaker 2:Yeah. That kind of networking opportunity sounds really invaluable. And I'm sure a lot of people don't do it 'cause they think it's gonna be this huge time commitment and they're already so busy. But I love how you just outlined all the benefits to that and how it really does pay off that, that investment in time.
Speaker 3:Right. And you know, it, it is a time commitment for sure. Mm-Hmm . <affirmative> . Mm-Hmm . <affirmative> . But it's not, it's not overwhelming. And I'll tell you, I grew a ton. I , 'cause you're, when you, when you sit on a board of a chamber Mm-Hmm . <affirmative> , it's iron shepherd's iron. So you're growing because you're learning from the other board members. And so the experience I gained in that seven years was just, it was amazing.
Speaker 2:Alright . All right . Did we miss anything? Or are we ready? We ready to move on to the third? Oh, what is it ? No , I ,
Speaker 3:I , I wanna, I wanna touch on this. Um ,
Speaker 2:Oh, good.
Speaker 3:So targeting your marketing campaign, so when I talked about it being intentional, Uhhuh <affirmative> , um, it's really about knowing your numbers. Right? So a lot of times we're afraid, it's like if you look at your checkbook and you, and you balance your checkbook, you're gonna realize all the things that you spent your money on. Sometimes it's too scary and you don't wanna do that. Yes. It's the same with your enrollment. Like, do I really wanna know what my enrollment looks like? Um, so when you're, when you're constantly looking at those numbers, it's going to help you. Like, we're working with a childcare center right now, they're at like 65% capacity and they just couldn't get past that. And we just, the , we just put in a lead conversion spreadsheet where they were having to plug their numbers in every week, be accountable to those numbers. Mm-Hmm . <affirmative> . And now they're at 85% in just two months. But it was just literally getting them to look at their numbers and being held accountable to them is that was like, that's one of those intentional marketing strategies. It seems so simple, but many of us don't even do that. Um, 'cause it just helps you know what spots you have open. Mm-Hmm . <affirmative> . It adds a little competition too, you know , have fun with that. Um, the other thing I like to say with targeted marketing campaigns is do you know your customer Oh. And is your brand and your online impressions reflecting that customer? And I'm gonna use an example Mm-Hmm . Because your , your community changes over time. Yeah. So you might have a lot of infants today, and then two years from now you have no infants. So what , how did your community shift? Like, what's going on? What's changing? Mm-Hmm . <affirmative> . So we're in a place right now where we have a very corp , this is a school that we're working with, has a very corporate website, very Caucasian looking , very corporate. Mm-Hmm . <affirmative> . But yet, if you walk into their facilities, it's very much a Hispanic and African American , uh, demographic. And so they're totally missing the mark on all of their online impressions because they're not speaking to that customer and they're wondering why they're not full. But if you go and you look at the school district's website, the school district has English and Spanish on their website. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative> materials are in both, and the diversity is definitely on the imagery. And so my, my question is, do you know who your customer is? And are you, are you marketing to that customer? So, and we, we actually are doing scatter plots now, which is really fun. So we have , oh , what's that? Yeah, we, it sounds really fun, doesn't it? <laugh> ? Yeah, it really does. We have a tool where you can upload your current and past customers. So it's just an Excel spreadsheet that you upload into our system, and it will plot where all your customers are on a map. And so think about that from a marketing perspective. You can see like where your customers come from. And so then you can do boots on the ground kind of marketing activities to get to those areas
Speaker 2:And how that changes over time as well. Right. Like where they're Exactly . Yeah. Oh yeah. That makes, that makes perfect sense.
Speaker 3:Yeah. It's a really, it's a really cool, it's a really cool tool that we, we've been using. And , um, just, again, that's those intentional marketing efforts that we often don't think of. Right? Mm-Hmm. <affirmative> . Um , but yeah, I think, you know, when we, we, when I think about being intentional, it's, I'm creating a strategy. I'm making sure my brand is consistent. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative> , I'm , I'm very targeted with my marketing campaigns because I know my customer. And , um, I'm working with that community that I'm in. I'm building those relationships and I know my numbers. Like that's really in a nutshell, our marketing strategy.
Speaker 2:Okay. Should we jump to number three? You ready? We should.
Speaker 3:Okay . This is my favorite one.
Speaker 2:Find time away from your desk.
Speaker 3:You are like, how does that help me grow my school
Speaker 2:<laugh>? No, I'm just thinking of ways to do it. How , like, that sounds glorious. How, how can we use that to <laugh> to get away from your desk and also accomplish a business goal? Like, they sound contradictory, but I'm guessing you're gonna tell us they're not.
Speaker 3:They aren't. Um , <laugh> . So one of the , uh, I'll plug ProCare. I , I , I don't have a problem with that. You know. Oh, good. ProCare. ProCare is a great way to get away from your desk because Mm-Hmm . <affirmative> , you know, you can even schedule your billing. You know, there's so many tools that ProCare provides , um, to take that administrative piece away. Because all too often, your , your director, your assistant director, they're bogged down by all the things on their desk. Okay . If we are stuck at our desks, there is no way we're gonna grow our school. And the reason a big piece of that is because we're not connecting with our staff.
Speaker 2:Mm-Hmm. <affirmative> ,
Speaker 3:If we're not connecting with our staff, and if we're not investing in them, then we're not retaining them . And then we're constantly recruiting. We're closing classrooms because we don't have staff, and then we're not able to grow our school. Mm-Hmm . <affirmative> . So first and foremost, we have to find time to step away from our desk. We have to go into those classrooms and build community with our teams. You know, a big piece, I know we used the term observing in the classroom, which I don't really like that term. I like it more of like, I wanna go in the classrooms and connect. Oh, okay . And I wanna be there to, to build relationships with my teachers. I wanna be able to see the good things they're doing so that I can praise them on the spot. Yeah . And then if I see something maybe that I'm not a hundred percent, you know, on board with, I'm not gonna scold them, but instead I'm gonna coach and mentor them so that they don't feel like I'm just observing them to, you know, to see them fail. No, I wanna build community with them. I wanna connect with them . I'm not gonna do that if I'm stuck at my desk. So it's just, we have to get away from our desk. Yeah . The other thing is just, you know, being able to take that time to meet our families, so it's not just digital. Um, you know, we're not just sending emails and parent connect messages and those types of things, but, you know, we're maybe having little meet and greets. You know, we're setting up treats in our office and we're asking parents to come once a month and just, you know, have a treat with you. You don't have to be a new director to have a meet and greet. You know, you can do that any at any time. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative> . Um, and you're not gonna be able to free up that time if you're just stuck at your desk. So, you know, being able to greet families in the morning or say goodbye to them at the end of the day, where you're not just bogged down by the tasks on your computer is, is so important. Um, the other part of getting away from your desk is just getting in the community. So, like we had mentioned, how are you gonna go build these partnerships in the community if you're stuck at your desk? You can't. And I know, trust me, I, I, I don't say this slightly . I understand how intense the workload is for a director. Mm-Hmm . And I do understand that a lot of our directors nowadays, because we're short staffed, are in the classroom. So they're not even able to handle the administrative work on their desk because they're in the classroom. It , it's a real thing. And so whatever we can do to get that time where we're actually connecting with our teams is the only way that we're gonna be able to retain our staff and, and really help grow our schools. Um, and, you know, stepping away from our desks, we're able to see, we're able to see our, our programs in action, right? Yep . So it's not just, you know, an infant program, you know, a a pre-K program, but no , we actually see it in action. So that allows us to have that creativity , um, to say, you know what, that's working really well. Or, Hey, I have a new idea on how we could do something different. You know, you're not gonna get that if you're just sitting behind your desk bogged down by all your paperwork and stress. You need to be out there walking around the school and, and getting ideas and seeing things in action. That's, it's so important. And really the final part that I like to stress about getting away from your desk is to have fun. Have fun at work. Fun at work. Yes. It, it's so critical. Like, that was the one thing my team knew is that we worked hard, but we played hard. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative> . So I wanted to make sure that we had fun at work. Like there were times where we were laughing so hard. You're crying <laugh>. Like , that's the kind of team I wanna have. Yeah . It's a stressful job. Our classroom management is super hard nowadays with behaviors and, you know, staff that aren't as experienced. And so we have to be able to find time to have fun, you know, go in the break room and laugh with your staff. You know, go crack a joke. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative> . Go step in a classroom for five minutes for one of your teachers and let them go on a laugh break, you know , have them go watch videos to laugh for five minutes, you know? Mm-Hmm . <affirmative> , I don't know . Do something goofy. You know, have a photo booth set up where staff can come take a break and do funny photos in a photo booth. You know, all those things that the having fun and the laughing are gonna , are the reason people are gonna wanna come to work the next day because we're burnt out and our directors are burnt out. And honestly, if they don't take a break, go to lunch, laugh, step away from their desk, they're gonna be, they're gonna burn out even faster. And it's gonna be harder and harder to find good center directors.
Speaker 2:So, and how, how do you help them prioritize that, that work life balance so they they can lead effectively? I mean, that's, it is such a hard job and there are so many challenges and it seems like a lot of , we're hearing that that balance is really hard for a lot of them to, to attain directors, owners, everybody.
Speaker 3:It's so true. Mm-Hmm . <affirmative> . I wish I had , I wish I had all the answers, but, right,
Speaker 2:Right.
Speaker 3:It , it , it is hard. It's really prioritizing , um, prioritizing your work. Mm-Hmm . <affirmative> . So , which is easier said than done because we have a million fires that come in and wanna disrupt.
Speaker 2:Yes. Matter fact , good , good intentions, <laugh> . Yeah .
Speaker 3:As a matter of fact, after this, this podcast, I have a training and it , part of it is how to not get derailed in your day. Um , which, which again, so you know how we've always had this open door policy? Mm-Hmm. <affirmative> , that's always been the thing. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative> . There's, you need to stop that. We don't have to have open door policies. It's okay to have times where you're like, you know what? During this time, if I have my door closed, it means I have to, I have to focus Mm-Hmm . And get billing done. I have to focus and do scheduling. Mm-Hmm . It , it's okay to, to ask to not be interrupted. The key thing is how are you doing that? So are you just being rude? Are you being abrupt? Or are you, do you have a staff meeting and say, Hey, staff, just so you know, I'm gonna stop using the word open door policy. Instead, I wanna make sure I'm there and able to connect with you and build relationship with you. See you in action. And in order to do that, there's gonna be times where I have to close my door. Mm-Hmm . <affirmative> . And during those times when I've got this paper up, you know, however you're gonna do it, we used to put a paper on the backside of our computer, so our di if staff walked up, they knew our director was in the middle of doing billing or something. Okay. Um , so they would know, oh, now is not the time. So it's, it's about building that respect back and forth , forth. So really creating those boundaries, I think is one of the hardest things to do, but one of the most beneficial in order to give you time away from your desk eventually <laugh> .
Speaker 2:Right. Build toward it. <laugh> . All right . Well we covered three big things and less than an hour on making a first impression, implement intentional, well-rounded marketing, find time away from your desk. Is there anything you wanted to add, Carolyn , that we didn't get to or that you'd like listeners to take away from from the podcast?
Speaker 3:Um, I think what I'd like to just say is that again, I, it's easy to, to sit here and just talk about a topic, but to put it in action is, is a lot harder. And I realize that Mm-Hmm. <affirmative> and we're work , you know, I see it every day with schools that we work with. So I don't say all of this lightly. So my suggestion is just pick a couple. That's part of why we just picked 3, 3, 3 tips, but a lot of suggestions.
Speaker 2:Yep . Yep .
Speaker 3:But just pick a couple things and start slowing and do those couple things. Well, you know, you don't have to do all the things that we talked about today. Um , but I do have like a seven day challenge . So I'll just say it real quick. So, so day one, step back and do an audit of your first impressions. So really take a step back and look at, you know, what is your online image? What does your brand look like? What's going on in your social media? What does your logo look like? So do an audit of those first impressions. Mm-Hmm.
Speaker 2:<affirmative> ,
Speaker 3:Including is your phone getting answered? So
Speaker 2:Phones aren't getting answered,
Speaker 3:Phones are not getting answered. And if the phone goes to voicemail, Uhhuh <affirmative> , what does the voicemail say? You'll not believe if you just answer your phone and have a good voicemail and then follow up on those voicemails, those three things will grow at your center, hands down. But we oftentimes don't do an audit of that first impression. So it's been forever since you heard your voicemail. And if you heard it, you would be like, what? Or <laugh> , or, or it brings like five or 10 times before the voicemail even comes on. So yeah. Uhhuh day one audit your first impression. Day two, do an interior and exterior check. So what does it look like from the exterior? What does it, what does your school smell like look like on the inside? Mm-Hmm . <affirmative> . So that's, that's day two. Day three. Look at your brand. So is your brand appealing to your customer? Is it speaking to the right customer? And then day four, try a little mini, little mini marketing campaign. Just something that's unique that you can sell about your school. So like, we're calling it at library time. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative> , You know , so just find something unique. Do a little mini marketing campaign. Day five. Do some type of activity in the community. Whether that's you're calling a local business partner, you're setting up your first meeting, you're having a meeting with your chamber. So day five, I encourage you to try some type of community engagement. Day six, some type of staff appreciation. 'cause remember, staff appreciation is going to help you grow your center. And then day seven, connect with a parent. So for parent retention, 'cause we don't wanna lose those families 'cause that's not gonna help us grow. So
Speaker 2:<laugh> , I like how you broke those down. It seems so much more manageable when it's like one, you know , not huge thing. Each day it seems more doable.
Speaker 3:Right? Right. So just seven days and maybe you'll get in the habit of doing it every se every seven days. Mm-Hmm . Who knows. Mm-Hmm . <affirmative> .
Speaker 2:Well Carolyn, thank you so much for joining us. We really appreciate it. And could you share with our viewers what's the best way to get in touch with you , um, to learn more about your services and, and what you can do for their childcare centers?
Speaker 3:I appreciate that. So our, our website is childcare biz help.com. Mm-Hmm . <affirmative> . So childcare biz BIZ help.com. So you can go on there and , and really see all the different things that we do. You know, we help existing childcare centers , you know, grow in many areas. We, we, we are very, our team is very knowledgeable in every aspect of childcare . Mm-Hmm . <affirmative> . So whether that's a financial need that you have, or culture need or recruitment need, you know, we can, we can definitely help you with that. Um, and we also start brand new schools . So we, instead of purchasing a franchise, we will create your brand and, and help you start right from the ground up. So, but you can find everything you need to know about us@childcarebizhelp.com. Or you can even email me personally. My name is caroline@childcarebizhelp.com . So Caroline at Childcare Help .
Speaker 2:Alright , well thanks again. We certainly appreciate it. And thank you everybody who's listening out there. Um, we at ProCare Solutions do wanna extend our thank you to everybody in childcare for all the vital work that you are doing each day. We are grateful, we know it's a hard job and we're here to support you. Um, until next time. Thank you.
Speaker 3:Thank you Leah . Thank you. Bye.
Speaker 1:Thank you for listening to this episode of the Childcare Business Podcast. To get more insights on ways to succeed in your childcare business, make sure to hit subscribe in your podcast app so you never miss an episode. And if you want even more childcare , business tips, tricks, and strategies, head over to our resource center@procaresoftware.com. Until next time,
Speaker 4:Each academy is required to use the ProCare CMS. They have the option to use our tuition express for payment processing and currently they are not allowed to use our parent engagement.