Having a home day care of your own and operating it as a business isn't easy. Most of the time you find yourself wearing many hats: nurse, chef, chauffeur, teacher, mediator, counselor, bookkeeper, referee... and that's all before morning snack!

So we can imagine that running your own marketing campaign is enough to make your head spin.

With all the crazy schedules, meetings and the balancing act for the many roles you are playing, it's all too easy to allow marketing to slip to the bottom of your to-do list. But let me tell you as early as now that this is one of the biggest mistakes you can ever make when running your own daycare business.

Addressing the Problem of Marketing

Here's where creating an Annual Marketing Calendar to map out your activities for the year will help. It ensures that you're able to launch your marketing strategies in a way that is organized and manageable.

This calendar may serve as your road map for the year and allows you to take advantage of Seasonal Marketing Peaks. Identifying peak times of the year to launch special campaigns would do a lot of good for your home daycare.

You will really develop your chances of success by simply linking your marketing activities to a time of year when prospective clients are most likely to be in need of your services. Thus, making great plans for your daycare is a perfect solution.

Here is an example of a marketing calendar that you can use. Just modify or adjust it to suit the needs of the community or clientele you serve.

January –Prepare for an online daycare directories and launch your own website

February –Write for a press release article, great network, volunteer, and sponsor

March – Spring time and make order for T-shirts

April – Plan to create, order and repair yard sign

May – Make further postings for Summer Camp Enrollment

June – Network updates, list volunteer, sponsor, press release or fundraiser

July – Make early announcement to notify Child Care Resource & Referral of any upcoming openings

August – Have announcements in preparation for Fall Enrollment

September – Design and Order business cards for October

October – Gimmick for Trick-or-Treat packs (biz card-candy-snack bag)

November - Shop services for Christmas

December - New Years Eve bash services

With the help of the MS Word or Excel Program you make a simple Annual Marketing Calendar.

You can make Annual Marketing Calendar any time of the year. Always look forward with the step of creating your marketing goals and work your way towards it.

For more: How to start a daycare business