How to promote myself as a babysitter without sounding pretentious? ?

Question

So, i plan so start babsitting this year (i'm old enough and qualified) and I wanted to put fliers in mail boxes around my neighborhood. How do I word the flier, so it makes me sound good without seeming full of myself?

Answer 1

First of all, it is illegal to put fliers in mailboxes without going through the post office. Make sure you speak with them first and provide the appropriate postage for your fliers.

It is best to make a flier with a list of your qualifications, experience, CPR certification, and references as well as times available, and place it on bulletin boards in stores, offices, schools, Churches, ect...

References can be teachers, friends of the family, parents of those you have babysat for previously, Church Leaders, Counselors from your school or Church, ect...

Also, you may want to let potential "clients" know that you are willing to get to know the child steadily so they will not be uncomfortable having an unfamiliar person staying with them.

What ever you do, I wish you luck! :)

Answer 2

OK, here's the receipe for this.

What you'll need is 200 (like two 100 packs) of index cards, a small set of acrylic paints, a cheap fine-tipped paint brush. If you go to Walmart you can get all of this for less than $10. Ask Ma and Pa for the dough.

Here is the "copy" (the writting) that you use. Take one index card and put the following down in your best casual handwritting:

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BABYSITTING (center this title)

Hi, I'm one of your neighbours and I'm looking to get some babysitting jobs here in the near future. My place is just down at (insert crosstreets). My rates are (insert hourly rate) per hour and I can work (insert days/times you can work). If you would like to know more about this, please call me at (insert phone number), (insert times/days you can be contacted) or email me anytime at (insert email address) and we can talk about the particulars. Thanks for your time. (sign your name in a legible way so they know your name).

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Write this out on an index card, and work out the spacing and how many words fit on a line and then center it on the card so it looks well layed out. When you have a card that looks right put this in front of you and copy it out onto the rest of the index cards right below the master copy.

With the acrylic paint, paint a little flower in each corner. Nothing too artsy, just enough to show the person you took some time and thought to do this. This is important (along with handwritting it) in showing to the person this isn't junk mail but a personal communication from one neightbour to another. If you use Xerox, you'll loose a lot of people close to you in your neighbourhood, because people have been programmed to throw junk mail out.

Then, starting at your house as the center, work your way around your immediate neighbourhood. 200 index cards should get you enough contacts to keep you in business. If you still need more, do 100 at a time.

Slide them in the crack between your neighbour's door and the frame. That way they have to look at it the next time they open their door. Things like this can get lost in the junk mail and the bills if you just throw it in the mail.