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  1. #1
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    Default childcare.co.uk

    Hi all I keep a look out on the parents seeking childcare as you never know.
    Today there are 2 perfect matches.
    To buy membership or not??
    Has any one been successful when messaging parents?

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    Yes, most of my children have come from there, some of which I've initiated contact, 1 of which lives and works in the opposite direction from me. Definitely worth it in my opinion xxxx

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    Thank you so much for your reply. How did you go about missing these parents did you just give then interest and some details or tell them about yourself. I'm unsure how to approach it? Lol

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    Yes definitely worth upgrading. If you are actively looking to fill places then you have to be proactive.
    Don't forget there are also lots of guides to download and Educare courses you can complete

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    Yes definitely worth it. I upgraded a few months back and now have 3 new contracts signed!

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    Last time I had a vacancy I upgraded to gold membership for a month and managed to fill my space almost straight away by contacting parents who had looked at my profile.

    I don't often have vacancies, so wouldn't want to pay for a whole year, but it was definitely worth it for the month. I also did all the online training while I was there!

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  11. #7
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    I agree! Worth it! I've filled one of my spaces through it and done all the online training as well!
    If you do not hope, you will not find what is beyond your hopes

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    Yes 1 of my highest paying contracts came from there!

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    Deffo, I get most of my families off there!

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    I just buy it when I need it and cancel.. ive had lots of work from there

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  19. #11
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    Thank you all for your reply mind has definitely been made up and on a plus side my husband said that he would pay it for me Lol total bonus!

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  21. #12
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    Well worth it

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  23. #13
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    I have found business through the site. Think your husband deserves a treat later x

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  25. #14
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    No, it's not. Of the people I have had contact me through it, more than half haven't shown up to the meetings we've arranged, one family stayed for just under a month then said they 'had no confidence in continuing with my services for the future' and disappeared (literally, they sold their house and were gone from the area within a month ), and the rest have found alternative childcare.

    All of mine have come from the local FIS and my own advertising.

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  27. #15
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    Quote Originally Posted by Jiorjiina View Post
    No, it's not. Of the people I have had contact me through it, more than half haven't shown up to the meetings we've arranged, one family stayed for just under a month then said they 'had no confidence in continuing with my services for the future' and disappeared (literally, they sold their house and were gone from the area within a month ), and the rest have found alternative childcare.

    All of mine have come from the local FIS and my own advertising.
    Although it's not the website's fault those things happened. Some parents actions are just unbelievable sometimes

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  29. #16
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    Quote Originally Posted by MTK007 View Post
    Although it's not the website's fault those things happened. Some parents actions are just unbelievable sometimes
    I agree. Time-wasters are time-wasters, no matter where they find our details.

    I've had a good client through the website. I'm sure I would've had more but I just don't always have the vacancies people are looking for, as I have a lot of part time clients.

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  31. #17
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    I have had three new family's join us over the past four weeks all from childcare site

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  33. #18
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    2 of my parents were from the site, and I've had some very positive enquiries.

    Unfortunately there are just some people with little or no social skills, who do not have the courtesy to reply, even if it's just a thanks but no thanks, or that fail to turn up as arranged, or don't advise that they're no longer coming, but I personally have found that to be the case more with enquiries that have come from the FIS!

    Now as queer as folk as they say lol

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  35. #19
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    I have had some good clients from the site over the years, 3 of my 5 current parents are from the site. On the other side 2 contacted me recently and came to meet me and I haven't heard another thing from them. Some parents don't realise that we are working on our own from our own homes and I think they forget the social skill of saying thank you for your time but we have decided to make other arrangements.

    I did go through a stage where I had so many of them I seriously considered charging for an interview, really because it was such a waste of time and I had a run of very rude inconsiderate parents.

    However I still have faith in most parents and they are usually lovely especially when they sign a contract. I certainly wouldn't want to let my membership to the site lapse.

    I have also had a lot of parents contact me vis FIS but some of them have been very rude as well.

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  37. #20
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    The simple fact is that the nature of our businesss means we are dealing with quite a tricky situation with regard to any form of advertising. We are not big multinationals where an advertising system is sucessful if it raises our sales of pop by 0.1% (worth $millions.) We have limited spaces, so each client/enquiry can make a huge difference to our turnover.

    ie. I could spend money at PepsiCola proportions to advertise on NBC at half time in the Superbowl and not get a single enquiry from it. OTOH, I could put a grotty little card in the window of a newsagents in the most dire estate in town, and if just 1 person sees it and signs up: success, and a big jump in my income.

    All we can do is go with what seems to be the most cost-effective and well-targeted advertising. Richard's website certainly falls within that category when you consider the broad picture of what members are saying, taking account of those who find it really good, plus a small handful of less positive anecdotes. I also think we sometimes succumb to the classic 'small business(wo)man mentality' that anyone who wants us to actually pay for them to provide a service must be trying to exploit us or wreck our business. We forget about value for money and expect too much for free. I certainly believe childcare.co.uk is far more effective than the constant sales calls I get: do I want to pay £100s for a 1 inch square box ad on a calendar for a doctor's surgery 15 miles from here? - yes, of course I do.

    I believe parents are far more likely to actually find childcare.co.uk than the FIS listings which appear on about page 18 of a Google search. Whilst I appreciate the FIS listings give me something for nothing, I sometimes get nervous about the enquiries I get from there. The general pattern is one of: "are you very close and are you very cheap" (the subtext being, "...because I don't give a about quality childcare so long as I can offload my DS/DD somewhere cheap and convenient." )

    Like Rickysmiths, I too would like to charge for the window-shoppers who use up hours of my unpaid time. I'd also like them to pay for all the parent information guides, child record forms, and other paperwork they've stolen ( "oh, yes, we'll definitely be back with it by the weekend...." ) On the plus side, I am at least relieved that the time-wasters and paperwork thieves filter themselves out at an early stage, leaving me with (on the whole) the lovely sort of worthwhile families RS alludes to.

    While we're at it, I'd like the smug Daily Mail journos to consider the unpaid hours we spend on window-shopping 'enquiries' when they're trying to join up the letters on their latest "childcare is too expense" column-filler.

    Oh, and whilst I'm getting things off my chest: here's my biggest advertising gripe. I am sick and tired of lazy local CMs who, backed by their DO, believe that I should pass on to them all the enquiries I get. Erm, I spend time, money and effort on effective advertising whilst they're on the settee with the wine, chocs and Jeremy Kyle (well, not in person) - so why should I be passing them work? They're not offering any finder's fee, and I'm not a s0dding agency.

    Well, that's the Sunday rant over...... (feeling better now. Calm........calm...........calm........ )

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