Season 4, Episode 6: Three Tips to Grow Your Child Care Business, with Caroline Jens

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:

• Make a lasting first impression
• Implement intentional, well-rounded marketing
• Find time away from your desk

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 [e-mail]. 

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:08):
Welcome to the Childcare Business Podcast,
brought to you by ProCareSolutions. This podcast is all
about giving childcare ,preschool, daycare, after
school , and other earlyeducation professionals. A fun
and upbeat way to learn aboutstrategies and inspiration you
can use to thrive. You'll hearfrom a variety of childcare

(00:29):
thought leaders, includingeducators, owners, and industry
experts on ways to innovate, tomeet the needs of the children
you serve. From practical tipsfor managing operations to
uplifting stories oftransformation and triumph,
this podcast will be chock fullof insights you can use to
fully realize the potential ofyour childcare business. Let's

(00:50):
jump in.

Speaker 2 (00:54):
Hello and welcome to our newest episode of the
Childcare Business Podcast. Myname is Leah Woodbury. I'm the
head of content here at ProCareSolutions, and today we are
thrilled to have Carolyn Jenswith us. Um, she is the founder
of Childcare Biz Help. Um, shehas dedicated nearly 20 years
to childcare . Um, one of her,the things that her business

(01:18):
does is to help help businessesgrow and prosper. Um, when she
was an executive director at achildcare center, she had the
job of reducing a 45% employeeturnover rate while increasing
enrollment. And in less thantwo years, she achieved this
goal, grew the business to twolocations, and tripled profits

(01:39):
along the way. And today she'sgonna be sharing some of those
tips with everybody. She hasthree tips to grow your
childcare center, and we'regonna start with those today.
So, welcome, Carolyn. We're soglad to have you .

Speaker 3 (01:51):
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 thesechildcare centers with just
three really simple tips tohelp them with their schools.
.

Speaker 2 (02:10):
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 (02:19):
Sure. It , you know, it chose me. I like to say
because it was never, Imean, even though when I was a
little girl, you know, we allplay school and you think
you're gonna be one thing. Youknow, I, I wanted to be an
acrobat at one time,

Speaker 2 (02:34):
. And

Speaker 3 (02:34):
So , um, but I ended up in the finance world, so
totally not on the radio radarof early childhood. And , um,
as a controller for anentrepreneur , uh, one of the
businesses that they owned wasa childcare center. And so I
started, you know, working ontheir financials and getting to

(02:57):
meet the people. Sat in adirector's office for the first
time, and I thought, wow, thesepeople are intense. What a job.
And I just, there was just thisad admiration for the industry
and how hard they work. Um, andI just fell in love with it. So
that was actually how I endedup in childcare is just being

(03:19):
exposed to it from thefinancial side.

Speaker 2 (03:22):
Okay. Well, that's kind of the perfect segue then
to start in , start into thesethree tips to throw your child,
grow your childcare center fromsomebody somebody with
a financial background. Howabout, let's start with the
first one. Make a lasting firstimpression. Can you walk us
through that?

Speaker 3 (03:41):
Sure. Um, I do, I would like to just start off by
saying that, you know, when wethink of growing our schools
mm-hmm , there ,everyone has a different kind
of terminology behind that. Ilike to think that why do we
wanna grow our school? Itdoesn't necessarily mean that
you're gonna have this, youknow, you're gonna grow to

(04:02):
another location. It doesn'talways mean that you're gonna
grow in enrollment numbers. Um,we want all that to happen, but
most importantly, we wanna growso that we can improve our
programs so that we can provideopportunity opportunities for
our staff. And mostimportantly, you know, one of

(04:22):
the things, Leah , that youknow, that we're doing is we
start childcare centers. So weare hearing every day about
these communities that have nochildcare available. And so it
is so important for thesechildcare centers to learn how
to grow their schools so theycan keep their doors open so
that we keep thisinfrastructure of childcare in

(04:45):
our communities. So I alwayslike to start off by saying
that growth is so, soimportant. Mm-Hmm .
, um, gettingphone calls every day about
childcare centers closing theirdoors. So I'm very passionate
about this topic.

Speaker 2 (04:59):
Yeah. I always like to , I'm glad you went over
that.

Speaker 3 (05:02):
Yeah. I always like to start there just to give
that background of just, Imean, I think I had three calls
last week of childcare centerswhere they don't know how
they're gonna keep their doorsopen and heartbreaking. It
breaks my heart. So hopefullysome of the tips that I can
provide today will help atleast, you know , one or two

(05:23):
childcare centers, just givethem a little extra boost , um,
to just keep going. But Ialways like to start off with,
with making a , a great firstimpression, because that's your
chance. You know, I think theysay you have like seven
seconds, you know, to make thatfirst impression. And so , um,

(05:43):
how do we make a good firstimpression so that we can build
trust right from the start, notonly with, you know, potential
families, but with yourcommunity , um, for potential
staff. So these firstimpressions are, are critical
for a number of differentreasons. And it really does it,

(06:04):
it's your reputation, right?
It's that first impression. Sothe first thing I always like
to start with is your onlinepresence. Okay . So , you know,
what, what is your, what isyour website look like? And I
know a lot of times we buildour websites when we open our
schools, and then we nevertouch 'em again. . Oh .
And I've seen that over andover where, you know, the

(06:26):
website, you know, literallyhasn't been touched for five
years. And so we need to keepour websites relevant. We need
to keep them up to date . Youshould be touching it once a
month and making minor changes,like update your photos , um,
update some content. All ofthat keeps your website fresh

(06:46):
and relevant. Another thingthat we find often is that a
lot of websites don't havecareer pages.

Speaker 2 (06:55):
Oh. For, to attract new teachers, that kind of
thing. Yes.

Speaker 3 (06:59):
Yes. Because what we're finding out is that
growth is being hinderedbecause we aren't able to hire,
staffing is a big issue rightnow. Mm-Hmm . .
And so a lot of people fearthis topic. Like, I, I wanna
grow my center, but I can'tattract staff. Well, your
website's a critical piece ofthat. And that's, that is a
first impression that's oftenoverlooked. And so if you have

(07:21):
a career pa , if you don't havea career page, get one. And if
you do have one step back andtake a look at it. Does it read
like a job description? Or does, is it a really good picture
of your culture, of thecommunity that you're building
at your school? Does it enticeme to actually want to come
work for you? Mm-Hmm.
. So I alwayslike to say, take a step back

(07:42):
and, and really take a look atyour website, because that's,
that's really a , your initialfirst impression. The other
thing that a lot of schoolsdon't know is utilizing Google
My Business. So when you'researching for childcare in your
area, you know, your Google myBusiness will show up on that
right side of the screen, andit'll , we'll have your address

(08:04):
and your phone number and alink to your website. Well, we
use Google My Business to postupdates just like Facebook,
just like Instagram. And, andoftentimes childcare centers
don't know to do that.

Speaker 2 (08:20):
I've never heard of that. . Yeah .

Speaker 3 (08:22):
We , yeah, we , we post at least once a week to
Google my business. And whatthat does is it, it allows you
to, again, put out animpression of your, your
business out there online.
Mm-Hmm . . Um ,but it also keeps you relevant
with Google. So that keeps youup on those search engines. So
it's de it's one of my protips, you know, a lot of people

(08:42):
don't know to do that. Um, andactually one of my clients
taught me that, and I've beendoing it ever since. So,


Speaker 2 (08:49):
Yeah. That's great.

Speaker 3 (08:51):
It is a , a really great first impression. Um, the
other is virtual tours. So alot of people think, you know,
I don't want people to just seea virtual tour of my school. I
want them to come in and let meclose that deal. But we can
utilize a virtual tour on ourwebsite as a lead generating
tool. So instead of just havingthat video available, have them

(09:14):
fill out a form first in orderto view the video. And then Yes
. So then you're collectingthat lead information. They're
getting a great firstimpression from you by being
able to see your schoolvirtually. And that will
hopefully entice them to comeactually into your location. So
all of those onlineimpressions, I I like to say

(09:37):
are those, you know, firstimpressions. Mm-Hmm.
the obvious onesare your interior and your
exterior. Right? So like, whensomeone's driving by, do you
have fun signage out there? Sowe're getting really creative
now with , um, cutouts. Sobasically they're like yard
signs, but you can get cut outshaped in all kinds of
different shapes. And so Oh ,that fun. They just to the

(09:59):
ground. Yeah. So all of ourstartups , um, we, we have a
new school that has likeflowers in their logo. And so
we've got cutouts that are inthe shapes of, of flowers, and
they've got really cute sayingsall over them. But visually,
when you're driving by, it'sjust something different than ,
you know, we've got flutterflags and those types of things

(10:21):
and banners. Those are, thoseare great first impressions,
but these cutouts are justsomething new that we're trying
that, that really just offerssomething cool and something
different. Um, another I'm justlike filled with all these
ideas, so forgive

Speaker 2 (10:38):
Me . I love it. Keep 'em coming, keep 'em coming.

Speaker 3 (10:41):
. Um , we had a , we have a school that
doesn't have a big budget.
Mm-Hmm. . Andthey can't really do much to
the exterior of their buildingjust 'cause from a financial
standpoint. Sure . And so allthey're doing is putting a
really fresh coat of cleanpaint over their brick. But

(11:01):
then we're actually paintingthe pavement with really cool
striping to really bring avisual. So the building's gonna
be painted just a real cleanwhite, um-Huh . And then the,
the parking lot is going tohave a really cool , um,
stripes across it in their logocolors.

Speaker 2 (11:24):
That's so cheerful.
Like that's something you would, like, I could see a little
kid just loving that when theyjump out of the car at the
beginning of the day.

Speaker 3 (11:32):
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 nicegiant facility. And so we're
like, well, how do we competewith that? We can't. We're just
this little teeny, you know,teeny building. Mm-Hmm.
. So we, that wasjust a really cool way to add

(11:52):
just a , a different type offirst impression out there ,
um, so that they could compete.
So that, that was, that was areally fun thing. Um, the other
is, when I think of firstimpressions, I always think
about my reputation as, as abrand, as a childcare. And so

(12:13):
what are people saying aboutyou in the community that is a
first impression, right? Like,are they, are they saying bad
things about you? Did they havea bad experience? Mm-Hmm.
, that word ofmouth is critical to that first
impression. And so, you know,building that raving fan
culture, I've talked about thata lot in the past. So making

(12:36):
sure that your employees andyour families are raving fans
and that they're out theresaying good things about you,
.

Speaker 2 (12:42):
Right. You know ,

Speaker 3 (12:43):
saying the good things about you to draw
people to, you know, to yourschool. Um, you know, what we
do often is when we get atestimony , uh, or a review on
Google or in person , we'll,we'll take that review and
we'll make it into a beautifulsocial media post, and then
we'll highlight that just tokind of, you know, reiterate

(13:07):
that, you know, people arehaving great experiences with
us. So, you know, your socialmedia is obviously part of your
first impressions 'cause peopleare gonna go stalk you, just
like your website. Mm-Hmm.
. Um , so puttingthose reviews, you know, within
your social posts always isreally , really helpful.

Speaker 2 (13:24):
That was gonna be my next question. Like, how do you
incorporate social media intothat first impression and
getting people through thedoor? I mean, you were talking
about the website, update itonce a month. How often should
you be updating social mediaprofiles?

Speaker 3 (13:40):
Oh , people are not gonna like me when I say this .

Speaker 2 (13:42):
, let's hear it. .

Speaker 3 (13:47):
Oh , we do recommend twice a day.

Speaker 2 (13:50):
Twice a Okay.

Speaker 3 (13:51):
Yes. We recommend twice a day. And what's really
cool is that you can scheduleyour posts. Mm-Hmm.
. So it's notthat you have to, you know, set
a timer on your computer and,you know, here's, I got a post
right now. Mm-Hmm.
. But we plan ourcalendars a week in advance.
Okay. And so, we'll, we'llschedule our post out for the
upcoming week,

Speaker 2 (14:12):
Uhhuh ,

Speaker 3 (14:13):
And , um, you know, and then you can do random
posts with, with live activityand things that are happening
during the week. But at leastyou get some of those
foundational posts out there.
And , um, and you wanna have avariety of posts. So you wanna
do things like highlightingsignificant things that have

(14:33):
gone on with your staff. So didthey have a training? Is there
something to celebrate? Is ittheir anniversary? You know,
highlighting your staff,highlighting the training that
they're going through. I thinkwe, we just had this discussion
with another school. Theirstaff is going through the CDA
program and I was like,parents, I bet don't really

(14:53):
even understand what thatmeans, so why not, like, follow
that journey of a teacherthrough their CDA program and
really highlight like, how isthis benefiting the children?
Mm-Hmm . for thestaff going through that. So,
you know, utilizing your socialmedia for that. Um, and then
offering value. So that's onething that we try to do as a

(15:16):
company and we always recommendis use your social media to
provide value for yourfamilies. Are there recipes?
Are there events going on? Doyou have parenting tips? You
know, parents nowadays areinexperienced, they haven't had
training on how to raise kids,and so can you share little

(15:37):
things for them to learn andbring value?

Speaker 2 (15:41):
So Yeah . Well , we've been, we've been hearing
too that a lot of the youngerparents are using social media
platforms as their Googlesearch. Like they're not,
they're just, if they wannaYeah. If they want a good
recipe, they're going toFacebook versus Googling it so
that if your center can beoffering that, that really, I
get what you're saying thatputs you, that puts you ahead
and kind of top of mind forthem.

Speaker 3 (16:03):
Exactly. And mm-Hmm . , I know, I
know there's controversy aroundTikTok , so I'll just get in
and get out with that one, but,okay . , um, I will
tell you that I follow somelike enrichment programs on, on
TikTok, and they do a fabulousjob of highlighting their
culture. You know, they'reshowing their employees having

(16:25):
a great time at work. Mm-Hmm .
doing theirenrichment programs and showing
the kids having fun. And Imean, let's be real, people are
addicted to TikTok, and ifyou'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 fromFacebook. Yep . So it's been

(16:47):
more of that Instagram andTikTok , but we also use
LinkedIn so that, that's oftena missed opportunity. Mm-Hmm.
if you thinkabout where your parents, your
or potential families are,they're on LinkedIn because
their business people mostlikely

Speaker 2 (17:04):
Right. Working parents. Yeah. That makes
sense.

Speaker 3 (17:07):
And so are you, are you utilizing LinkedIn to help
create a , a first impressionabout your company and, you
know, you're gonna post alittle differently on LinkedIn
than you would like Facebook orInstagram? Mm-Hmm.
, um, you'regonna really post from a
business perspective, but it'sdefinitely a great way to
attract families through,through LinkedIn.

Speaker 2 (17:31):
All right . That was good. Let's jump to, let's jump
to the second one. Implementintentional, well-rounded
marketing. Ooh , this soundslike a big one. . I
think we could do a podcastjust on this topic. .

Speaker 3 (17:43):
We could. We could.
And and so I'll just touch on acouple things with, with the
intentional marketing. Okay.
Um, just because Yeah. That'ssuch a broad topic as a matter
of fact. Yeah . We, we domarketing strategies every
quarter for childcare centers.
So we'll, we'll plan out threemonths in advance. Okay. You
know , based on our currentroster of children and based on
our enrollment, we'll say,here's the areas of need that

(18:07):
we have. What can we do inthese next three months to help
fulfill that and also helpattract staff, right. So that
marketing strategy is alsogonna include that. And it's
also gonna include just brandawareness. You would not
believe how many childcarecenters do not have a marketing
budget. Okay. There are a tonof them. I, I can't call after

(18:33):
call, no budget line formarketing. And, you know, we've
gotten kind of spoiled becausewe've had waiting lists
for a long time now. Mm-Hmm.
. And also, we'rescared to enroll because we
don't have staff. So we reallyjust haven't been intentional
with marketing. So my challengeto everyone is, you know,

(18:54):
let's, let's put a strategytogether. Let's put some money
out there because your , yourmarketing strategies are gonna
help you not only attractfamilies, but also staff. And
so the first thing about amarketing strategy outside of
having a budget line for that,you know, is, is really your
brand identity. And so, youknow, take a look at your logo,

(19:16):
step back, you know, have, havea friend look at your logo.
Mm-Hmm . And is it outdated? Isit relevant for today? I, I
think we've, we often forgetthat logos can get old. And so
it's okay to have a refresh.
You know, we've done that acouple times for our clients
where we just come up with afresh new look. We, we take

(19:39):
that new logo and we apply thatto our marketing materials
because all of that buildstrust. Mm-Hmm . .
And again, that's part of thatfirst impression. But , uh,
that strong brand identity isusually the first place that I
go , um, when I'm thinkingabout my marketing strategy.
The other is, look at thethings that you're currently

(19:59):
doing in your school. They mayseem normal, but you could
package them in a way to whereit, it seems like something
very unique. , and I'llgive an example. Yeah. Because
we were looking at one of ourschools and, and our
competitors and like, how do wedifferentiate ourselves?
Mm-Hmm. , youknow. Yeah. We have story time

(20:20):
. We, we have gardening. So Iwas like, why , why don't we
package story time , whicheveryone does. Mm-Hmm.
everyone hasstory time , but call it
library time and see every dayour kids, you know , have a
library experience and, youknow, sharing of stories, you
know, and , and you know, andwe have a gardening snack

(20:40):
activity day , um, where wetake our fresh produce and, you
know, we create a snackactivity out of that. And it's
just things that all childcarecenters do, but how are you
packaging it and selling it?

Speaker 2 (20:55):
Oh, that, I like that. I mean , as a parent too,
I would love hearing that. I really would.

Speaker 3 (21:00):
Right. Like , if someone can give me fun snacks
to make for my children, Imean, heck yeah. Yep . That's,
that's amazing. I wish someonewould've, my kids are grown.
Um, but that would've been veryhelpful back in the day,

Speaker 2 (21:14):
.
Absolutely. Absolutely. Whatabout , um, participating in
local events? That's somethingI know that you've, you've
talked about a lot

Speaker 3 (21:23):
For sure. Um, so usually we'll try to create a
calendar, you know, before thebeginning of the year. We'll
kind of look at the variousevents that are gonna be
happening. Mm-Hmm .
And we'll try toplan out that way. 'cause you
don't wanna burn your staff outeither, so, you know, you can't
be attending events all thetime. Right. But it is really
important to be part of yourcommunity and participate in

(21:46):
things and volunteer. So, youknow, are there things that you
can do as a company tovolunteer in the community?
Whether it be, you know,cleaning up like a garbage day
or, I don't know. There's somany different things that you
can do in the community from avolunteer aspect, but look at
your park and rec, look at yourChamber of commerce. Look, you

(22:09):
know, look at your workforcedevelopment groups. All of
those groups have variousevents in the community. And so
just make sure that you're justchoosing selectively so that
you're not burning your staffout. And then be prepared when
you do them because you don't,again, that's a first
impression. So if you go thereand , and you're at an event

(22:32):
and your staff don't lookinterested in being there if
they're on their cell phone thewhole time, you know, if your
brand doesn't look good, youknow, all of that's a first
impression. And then whenyou're there, are you
collecting leads? So do youhave like a giveaway to where
people can fill out a form? Youknow, we often miss the ball on

(22:53):
the most important , one of themost important reasons why
we're at events is to getleads. . Yeah. And then
when we come back from thatevent, are we following up on
those leads?

Speaker 2 (23:04):
And that's a where a lot of childcare centers drop
the ball, right? Is that theactual follow up ? Uh , when
you go to these events, you putin all this time, you collect
all this information, and thenwhat do you do with it?

Speaker 3 (23:15):
Right. I know we're, we have a brand new school
that's gonna be opening , andthey have this opportunity to
be the main sponsor at thislike seven week event. And so
we've been really prepping themuhhuh for getting those leads.
And then we put a strategy onpaper on, okay, what are the

(23:35):
steps for follow up ?
You know, when did , when, whenare you calling them? When are
you, you know, emailing them?
And what kind of value are yougonna give them? So that, yes,
that is a critical piece ofattending events for sure.

Speaker 2 (23:51):
How about hosting open houses? What's the ,
what's the key to making thatwork?

Speaker 3 (23:56):
Wow , that's a tough one. Yeah.

Speaker 2 (23:58):
Um ,

Speaker 3 (23:58):
I'm definitely an advocate for open houses, but
oftentimes we can getdiscouraged because you might
have an open house and no onecomes. Like, I've seen that
over and over.

Speaker 2 (24:10):
Oh, that would be really sad. . Like , do
all that work. Yeah.

Speaker 3 (24:16):
Actually, it's a true story. Our, when we were
opening up our school and oursecond location in Wisconsin,
we had open houses everySaturday for leading up into ,
you know, we open and we barelyhad people show up. So it was
really discouraging. So one ofthe things you need to make
sure you do is, you know, makesure you're advertising your

(24:38):
event. You know, you could putyard signs out there, you know,
announcing that you're havingan open house, a Facebook
event. Definitely. Yeah. Um,any type of , uh, we often do
press releases, so not everyonecan do that. But we, we do have
that ability to put out pressreleases. So one of the things

(25:00):
we like to do is reallyannounce like big open houses
or ribbon cuttings. Mm-Hmm.
, um, get ourstaff out there talking about
the open house. Um, you know,and then have some kind of
value that you're able toadvertise. Like we're having
cookies and whatever orcome meet our director. You
know, put a spin on it so thatit's not just an open house, I

(25:24):
think can, you know, help it bejust a little more attracting
to get families there or have aguest speaker. So combine your
open house with a workshop.

Speaker 2 (25:36):
Oh, that's a give a multiple reasons to come then.

Speaker 3 (25:39):
Right. So if you have , um, tap into your
families Mm-Hmm . . So if you have a pediatrician
or a kindergarten teacher orsome something, you know, I'm ,
I'm sure your, your parents arevery talented. Mm-Hmm .
. And would bewilling to come speak at an
open house. So now your openhouse becomes a little workshop

(26:00):
too.

Speaker 2 (26:02):
I like that a lot.
Yeah . Yeah. I could , becausepeople are so busy, you gotta
really give them reasons tobreak up their schedule to
maybe change your minds aboutwhat they're doing to make it a
priority.

Speaker 3 (26:14):
Exactly. Exactly. So yeah, open houses can be
tricky. Um, so just try tofigure out just fun, unique
ways to put a spin on them. I,I is definitely what I would
recommend.

Speaker 2 (26:26):
Okay. And then one other thing that you've talked
about as well, that we've heardyou say partner with local
businesses and organizations.
How do you do that?

Speaker 3 (26:36):
I'm , I'm really glad you touched on this one,
because it's , this one is veryimportant to me and it is
really the area that we'reemphasizing highly with all of
our schools. And so I like togo back to all the grant money
that childcare centers had beenreceiving from Covid. Mm-Hmm.

(26:56):
. So there a lotof that grant money initially
went to the owners, then grantmoney went to staff retention
and training. Well , now thegrant money that's coming in is
really geared towardbusinesses, the business
community. So they're, they'rerequiring community

(27:19):
collaboration to fix thechildcare problem so that money
is coming into communities ifthe community can say, Hey,
this childcare center and thesebusinesses are all
collaborating to solve thechildcare infrastructure
problem. So with that, we'veput together a really unique
campaign where we've got , um,we've got branded folders. We

(27:43):
have a pitch deck , um, that wecan take to businesses that
highlight why childcare is abenefit for their staff and why
childcare is important to thecommunity. And so basically
you're pitching, you know, your, your school. Mm-Hmm .
, um, you'repitching why childcare is
important. Um, and then we havea checklist in there that talks
about all the different waysthat that business can partner

(28:06):
with you as the childcarecenter. So there's a couple
things that you can do forpartnering. Um, you can
obviously have employersponsored childcare where the
employer pays a portion of thetuition for their staff. You
know, we've heard of thatbefore. Okay. Um, that you can

(28:28):
cross market on social media.
So you can tag each other onsocial media. You can volunteer
together so you can, you know,collaborate in that way. Um,
you can even have them come puton a workshop for you. So
depending on what that businessis. And you can also have them,
if their employees aren't yourpotential customer, maybe their

(28:50):
customer is , so are theywilling to, you know , put your
information in the lobby orshare your information, you
know, with their , um, withtheir audience. So it's really
something that we've puttogether, like this whole
package in order for childcarecenters to go out there and
just talk with the community.
And, and oftentimes we're tooafraid to go do that. 'cause it

(29:14):
is scary. Mm-Hmm .
especially ifyou're a director, you know,
you, you probably are in thatposition because you love
children. You were a teacher,you are really good at it. Now
you're the director. But salesis a really scary thing for,
for childcare people. And so,Mm-Hmm . , when
they have to go look and havethese conversations with other

(29:36):
businesses, it can be scary. SoI always recommend, you know,
take a friend , you knowit , the first one to three
times that you go do it mightbe a little uncomfortable, but
once you, once you start doingit, you're gonna realize that
they're just people and you'regonna have these conversations
and you're gonna talk aboutyour childcare center and
really talk through ways thatyou can collaborate together.

(30:00):
And you're gonna really findthat your brand is going to
stand out compared to everybodyelse's. So it's just a matter
of getting out there and havinga plan Yeah . And
having those conversations. Butwe, we highly recommend that
you get out there and talk toother businesses and utilize
your Chamber of commerce. Oh ,okay .

Speaker 2 (30:22):
Your chamber commerce

Speaker 3 (30:23):
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 executivedirector of our childcare
center, I asked to be on theirboard and they accepted me. And
I was on it for seven years.
And the benefit that that hadfor our childcare center was

(30:46):
gigantic. So I had dibs onevery, I got to hear things
that were happening in thecommunity before the community
heard . Mm-Hmm . . And so oftentimes I could put
our childcare center in frontof that. So I would take
advantage of thoseopportunities. Like if I knew
an event was coming and theywere looking for a big sponsor
that allowed our childcarecenter to be that sponsor.

(31:07):
'cause I would hear about itfirst. Or if I knew that there
was a new development, therewas a new development coming on
in the community, then I wouldknow that that neighborhood is
going to be expanding. And sothen I could take that back and
it maybe adjust our programmingor, you know, whatever. But
that Chamber of Commerce isdefinitely a great resource.

Speaker 2 (31:27):
A way to get the inside scoop on everything.

Speaker 3 (31:30):
Yeah. And that brand awareness, because it's just a
, it's actually the Chamber ofCommerce does a lot for your
community. Mm-Hmm.
. And so to be apart of that is really very
helpful.

Speaker 2 (31:41):
Yeah. That kind of networking opportunity sounds
really invaluable. And I'm surea lot of people don't do it
'cause they think it's gonna bethis huge time commitment and
they're already so busy. But Ilove how you just outlined all
the benefits to that and how itreally does pay off that, that
investment in time.

Speaker 3 (31:59):
Right. And you know, it, it is a time commitment for
sure. Mm-Hmm . .
Mm-Hmm . . Butit's not, it's not
overwhelming. And I'll tellyou, I grew a ton. I , 'cause
you're, when you, when you siton a board of a chamber Mm-Hmm
. , it's ironshepherd's iron. So you're
growing because you're learningfrom the other board members.
And so the experience I gainedin that seven years was just,

(32:22):
it was amazing.

Speaker 2 (32:25):
Alright . All right . Did we miss anything? Or are
we ready? We ready to move onto the third? Oh, what is it ?
No , I ,

Speaker 3 (32:29):
I , I wanna, I wanna touch on this. Um ,

Speaker 2 (32:32):
Oh, good.

Speaker 3 (32:33):
So targeting your marketing campaign, so when I
talked about it beingintentional, Uhhuh
, um, it's reallyabout knowing your numbers.
Right? So a lot of times we'reafraid, it's like if you look
at your checkbook and you, andyou balance your checkbook,
you're gonna realize all thethings that you spent your
money on. Sometimes it's tooscary and you don't wanna do

(32:57):
that. Yes. It's the same withyour enrollment. Like, do I
really wanna know what myenrollment looks like? Um, so
when you're, when you'reconstantly looking at those
numbers, it's going to helpyou. Like, we're working with a
childcare center right now,they're at like 65% capacity
and they just couldn't get pastthat. And we just, the , we

(33:19):
just put in a lead conversionspreadsheet where they were
having to plug their numbers inevery week, be accountable to
those numbers. Mm-Hmm .
. And now they'reat 85% in just two months. But
it was just literally gettingthem to look at their numbers
and being held accountable tothem is that was like, that's
one of those intentionalmarketing strategies. It seems

(33:39):
so simple, but many of us don'teven do that. Um, 'cause it
just helps you know what spotsyou have open. Mm-Hmm .
. It adds alittle competition too, you
know , have fun with that. Um,the other thing I like to say
with targeted marketingcampaigns is do you know your
customer Oh. And is your brandand your online impressions

(34:02):
reflecting that customer? AndI'm gonna use an example Mm-Hmm
. Because your , your communitychanges over time. Yeah. So you
might have a lot of infantstoday, and then two years from
now you have no infants. Sowhat , how did your community
shift? Like, what's going on?
What's changing? Mm-Hmm .
. So we're in aplace right now where we have a

(34:24):
very corp , this is a schoolthat we're working with, has a
very corporate website, veryCaucasian looking , very
corporate. Mm-Hmm .
. But yet, if youwalk into their facilities,
it's very much a Hispanic andAfrican American , uh,
demographic. And so they'retotally missing the mark on all
of their online impressionsbecause they're not speaking to

(34:46):
that customer and they'rewondering why they're not full.
But if you go and you look atthe school district's website,
the school district has Englishand Spanish on their website.
Mm-Hmm. materialsare in both, and the diversity
is definitely on the imagery.
And so my, my question is, doyou know who your customer is?

(35:09):
And are you, are you marketingto that customer? So, and we,
we actually are doing scatterplots now, which is really fun.
So we have , oh , what's that?
Yeah, we, it sounds really fun,doesn't it? ? Yeah, it
really does. We have a toolwhere you can upload your
current and past customers. Soit's just an Excel spreadsheet
that you upload into oursystem, and it will plot where

(35:32):
all your customers are on amap. And so think about that
from a marketing perspective.
You can see like where yourcustomers come from. And so
then you can do boots on theground kind of marketing
activities to get to thoseareas

Speaker 2 (35:48):
And how that changes over time as well. Right. Like
where they're Exactly . Yeah.
Oh yeah. That makes, that makesperfect sense.

Speaker 3 (35:56):
Yeah. It's a really, it's a really cool, it's a
really cool tool that we, we'vebeen using. And , um, just,
again, that's those intentionalmarketing efforts that we often
don't think of. Right? Mm-Hmm.
. Um , but yeah,I think, you know, when we, we,
when I think about beingintentional, it's, I'm creating
a strategy. I'm making sure mybrand is consistent. Mm-Hmm.

(36:19):
, I'm , I'm verytargeted with my marketing
campaigns because I know mycustomer. And , um, I'm working
with that community that I'min. I'm building those
relationships and I know mynumbers. Like that's really in
a nutshell, our marketingstrategy.

Speaker 2 (36:36):
Okay. Should we jump to number three? You ready? We
should.

Speaker 3 (36:39):
Okay . This is my favorite one.

Speaker 2 (36:41):
Find time away from your desk.

Speaker 3 (36:44):
You are like, how does that help me grow my
school

Speaker 2 (36:47):
? No, I'm just thinking of ways to do it.
How , like, that soundsglorious. How, how can we use
that to to get awayfrom 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 (37:02):
They aren't. Um , . So one of the , uh,
I'll plug ProCare. I , I , Idon't have a problem with that.
You know. Oh, good. ProCare.
ProCare is a great way to getaway from your desk because
Mm-Hmm . , youknow, you can even schedule
your billing. You know, there'sso many tools that ProCare
provides , um, to take thatadministrative piece away.

(37:23):
Because all too often, your ,your director, your assistant
director, they're bogged downby all the things on their
desk. Okay . If we are stuck atour desks, there is no way
we're gonna grow our school.
And the reason a big piece ofthat is because we're not
connecting with our staff.

Speaker 2 (37:43):
Mm-Hmm.
,

Speaker 3 (37:45):
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 constantlyrecruiting. We're closing
classrooms because we don'thave staff, and then we're not
able to grow our school. Mm-Hmm. . So first and
foremost, we have to find timeto step away from our desk. We

(38:06):
have to go into thoseclassrooms and build community
with our teams. You know, a bigpiece, I know we used the term
observing in the classroom,which I don't really like that
term. I like it more of like, Iwanna go in the classrooms and
connect. Oh, okay . And I wannabe there to, to build
relationships with my teachers.

(38:26):
I wanna be able to see the goodthings they're doing so that I
can praise them on the spot.
Yeah . And then if I seesomething maybe that I'm not a
hundred percent, you know, onboard with, I'm not gonna scold
them, but instead I'm gonnacoach and mentor them so that
they don't feel like I'm justobserving them to, you know, to

(38:47):
see them fail. No, I wannabuild community with them. I
wanna connect with them . I'mnot gonna do that if I'm stuck
at my desk. So it's just, wehave 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 justsending emails and parent
connect messages and thosetypes of things, but, you know,

(39:09):
we're maybe having little meetand greets. You know, we're
setting up treats in our officeand we're asking parents to
come once a month and just, youknow, have a treat with you.
You don't have to be a newdirector to have a meet and
greet. You know, you can dothat any at any time. Mm-Hmm.
. Um, and you'renot gonna be able to free up
that time if you're just stuckat your desk. So, you know,

(39:30):
being able to greet families inthe morning or say goodbye to
them at the end of the day,where you're not just bogged
down by the tasks on yourcomputer is, is so important.
Um, the other part of gettingaway from your desk is just
getting in the community. So,like we had mentioned, how are
you gonna go build thesepartnerships in the community

(39:51):
if you're stuck at your desk?
You can't. And I know, trustme, I, I, I don't say this
slightly . I understand howintense the workload is for a
director. Mm-Hmm . And I dounderstand that a lot of our
directors nowadays, becausewe're short staffed, are in the
classroom. So they're not evenable to handle the

(40:12):
administrative work on theirdesk because they're in the
classroom. It , it's a realthing. And so whatever we can
do to get that time where we'reactually connecting with our
teams is the only way thatwe're gonna be able to retain
our staff and, and really helpgrow our schools. Um, and, you

(40:33):
know, stepping away from ourdesks, we're able to see, we're
able to see our, our programsin action, right? Yep . So it's
not just, you know, an infantprogram, you know, a a pre-K
program, but no , we actuallysee it in action. So that
allows us to have thatcreativity , um, to say, you
know what, that's workingreally well. Or, Hey, I have a

(40:57):
new idea on how we could dosomething different. You know,
you're not gonna get that ifyou're just sitting behind your
desk bogged down by all yourpaperwork and stress. You need
to be out there walking aroundthe school and, and getting
ideas and seeing things inaction. That's, it's so
important. And really the finalpart that I like to stress

(41:19):
about getting away from yourdesk 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 knewis that we worked hard, but we
played hard. Mm-Hmm.
. So I wanted tomake sure that we had fun at
work. Like there were timeswhere we were laughing so hard.

(41:39):
You're crying . Like ,that's the kind of team I wanna
have. Yeah . It's a stressfuljob. Our classroom management
is super hard nowadays withbehaviors and, you know, staff
that aren't as experienced. Andso we have to be able to find
time to have fun, you know, goin the break room and laugh
with your staff. You know, gocrack a joke. Mm-Hmm.

(42:02):
. Go step in aclassroom for five minutes for
one of your teachers and letthem go on a laugh break, you
know , have them go watchvideos to laugh for five
minutes, you know? Mm-Hmm .
, I don't know .
Do something goofy. You know,have a photo booth set up where
staff can come take a break anddo funny photos in a photo
booth. You know, all thosethings that the having fun and

(42:26):
the laughing are gonna , arethe reason people are gonna
wanna come to work the next daybecause we're burnt out and our
directors are burnt out. Andhonestly, if they don't take a
break, go to lunch, laugh, stepaway from their desk, they're
gonna be, they're gonna burnout even faster. And it's gonna
be harder and harder to findgood center directors.

Speaker 2 (42:48):
So, and how, how do you help them prioritize that,
that work life balance so theythey can lead effectively? I
mean, that's, it is such a hardjob and there are so many
challenges and it seems like alot of , we're hearing that
that balance is really hard fora lot of them to, to attain
directors, owners, everybody.

Speaker 3 (43:09):
It's so true. Mm-Hmm . . I wish I had
, I wish I had all the answers,but, right,

Speaker 2 (43:14):
Right.

Speaker 3 (43:15):
It , it , it is hard. It's really prioritizing
, um, prioritizing your work.
Mm-Hmm . . So ,which is easier said than done
because we have a million firesthat come in and wanna disrupt.

Speaker 2 (43:26):
Yes. Matter fact , good , good intentions,
. Yeah .

Speaker 3 (43:30):
As a matter of fact, after this, this podcast, I
have a training and it , partof it is how to not get
derailed in your day. Um ,which, which again, so you know
how we've always had this opendoor policy? Mm-Hmm.
, that's alwaysbeen the thing. Mm-Hmm.
. There's, youneed to stop that. We don't
have to have open doorpolicies. It's okay to have

(43:52):
times where you're like, youknow what? During this time, if
I have my door closed, it meansI have to, I have to focus
Mm-Hmm . And get billing done.
I have to focus and doscheduling. Mm-Hmm . It , it's
okay to, to ask to not beinterrupted. The key thing is
how are you doing that? So areyou just being rude? Are you

(44:13):
being abrupt? Or are you, doyou have a staff meeting and
say, Hey, staff, just so youknow, I'm gonna stop using the
word open door policy. Instead,I wanna make sure I'm there and
able to connect with you andbuild relationship with you.
See you in action. And in orderto do that, there's gonna be
times where I have to close mydoor. Mm-Hmm . .
And during those times whenI've got this paper up, you

(44:34):
know, however you're gonna doit, we used to put a paper on
the backside of our computer,so our di if staff walked up,
they knew our director was inthe middle of doing billing or
something. Okay. Um , so theywould know, oh, now is not the
time. So it's, it's aboutbuilding that respect back and
forth , forth. So reallycreating those boundaries, I
think is one of the hardestthings to do, but one of the

(44:56):
most beneficial in order togive you time away from your
desk eventually .

Speaker 2 (45:02):
Right. Build toward it. . All right . Well
we covered three big things andless than an hour on making a
first impression, implementintentional, well-rounded
marketing, find time away fromyour desk. Is there anything
you wanted to add, Carolyn ,that we didn't get to or that
you'd like listeners to takeaway from from the podcast?

Speaker 3 (45:26):
Um, I think what I'd like to just say is that again,
I, it's easy to, to sit hereand just talk about a topic,
but to put it in action is, isa lot harder. And I realize
that Mm-Hmm. andwe're work , you know, I see it
every day with schools that wework with. So I don't say all
of this lightly. So mysuggestion is just pick a
couple. That's part of why wejust picked 3, 3, 3 tips, but a

(45:50):
lot of suggestions.

Speaker 2 (45:52):
Yep . Yep .

Speaker 3 (45:53):
But just pick a couple things and start slowing
and do those couple things.
Well, you know, you don't haveto do all the things that we
talked about today. Um , but Ido have like a seven day
challenge . So I'll just say itreal quick. So, so day one,
step back and do an audit ofyour first impressions. So

(46:14):
really take a step back andlook at, you know, what is your
online image? What does yourbrand look like? What's going
on in your social media? Whatdoes your logo look like? So do
an audit of those firstimpressions. Mm-Hmm.

Speaker 2 (46:25):
,

Speaker 3 (46:26):
Including is your phone getting answered? So

Speaker 2 (46:31):
Phones aren't getting answered,

Speaker 3 (46:33):
Phones are not getting answered. And if the
phone goes to voicemail, Uhhuh , what does the
voicemail say? You'll notbelieve if you just answer your
phone and have a good voicemailand then follow up on those
voicemails, those three thingswill grow at your center, hands
down. But we oftentimes don'tdo an audit of that first

(46:57):
impression. So it's beenforever since you heard your
voicemail. And if you heard it,you would be like, what? Or
, or, or it brings likefive or 10 times before the
voicemail even comes on. Soyeah. Uhhuh day one audit your
first impression. Day two, doan interior and exterior check.
So what does it look like fromthe exterior? What does it,

(47:19):
what does your school smelllike look like on the inside?
Mm-Hmm . . Sothat's, that's day two. Day
three. Look at your brand. Sois your brand appealing to your
customer? Is it speaking to theright customer? And then day
four, try a little mini, littlemini marketing campaign. Just
something that's unique thatyou can sell about your school.

(47:40):
So like, we're calling it atlibrary time. Mm-Hmm.
, You know , sojust find something unique. Do
a little mini marketingcampaign. Day five. Do some
type of activity in thecommunity. Whether that's
you're calling a local businesspartner, you're setting up your
first meeting, you're having ameeting with your chamber. So
day five, I encourage you totry some type of community

(48:01):
engagement. Day six, some typeof staff appreciation. 'cause
remember, staff appreciation isgoing to help you grow your
center. And then day seven,connect with a parent. So for
parent retention, 'cause wedon't wanna lose those families
'cause that's not gonna help usgrow. So

Speaker 2 (48:20):
, I like how you broke those down. It seems
so much more manageable whenit's like one, you know , not
huge thing. Each day it seemsmore doable.

Speaker 3 (48:29):
Right? Right. So just seven days and maybe
you'll get in the habit ofdoing it every se every seven
days. Mm-Hmm . Who knows.
Mm-Hmm . .

Speaker 2 (48:37):
Well Carolyn, thank you so much for joining us. We
really appreciate it. And couldyou share with our viewers
what's the best way to get intouch with you , um, to learn
more about your services and,and what you can do for their
childcare centers?

Speaker 3 (48:49):
I appreciate that.
So our, our website ischildcare biz help.com. Mm-Hmm
. . So childcarebiz BIZ help.com. So you can go
on there and , and really seeall the different things that
we do. You know, we helpexisting childcare centers ,
you know, grow in many areas.
We, we, we are very, our teamis very knowledgeable in every

(49:11):
aspect of childcare . Mm-Hmm .
. So whetherthat's a financial need that
you have, or culture need orrecruitment need, you know, we
can, we can definitely help youwith that. Um, and we also
start brand new schools . Sowe, instead of purchasing a
franchise, we will create yourbrand and, and help you start
right from the ground up. So,but you can find everything you

(49:31):
need to know [e-mail]. Or you
can even email me personally.
My name [e-mail] .
So Caroline at Childcare Help .

Speaker 2 (49:44):
Alright , well thanks again. We certainly
appreciate it. And thank youeverybody who's listening out
there. Um, we at ProCareSolutions do wanna extend our
thank you to everybody inchildcare for all the vital
work that you are doing eachday. We are grateful, we know
it's a hard job and we're hereto support you. Um, until next
time. Thank you.

Speaker 3 (50:03):
Thank you Leah .
Thank you. Bye.

Speaker 1 (50:15):
Thank you for listening to this episode of
the Childcare Business Podcast.
To get more insights on ways tosucceed in your childcare
business, make sure to hitsubscribe in your podcast app
so you never miss an episode.
And if you want even morechildcare , business tips,
tricks, and strategies, headover to our resource
[e-mail].

(50:36):
Until next time,

Speaker 4 (51:54):
Each academy is required to use the ProCare
CMS. They have the option touse our tuition express for
payment processing andcurrently they are not allowed
to use our parent engagement.