Advertising through sainsbury's

[twinsetandpearls]

I ahve just had a call from sainsbury's who are offering an advertising service to childminders using their business card service which are displayed in shops. There is a charge of £10 a week for this, which of course can be set against tax.

There is a glut of childminders here so the key to getting business is in the advertising. Would you do it?

yeah... the more advertising you get the better. I would ask what kind of ad they are putting up ythough?

it's not like those hand-written notices they have is it? because they look a bit un-professional

if they're offering a proper printed thing that will be displayed then go for it.
you can always cancel it if it doesn't seem to be working out

No i wouldnt because that is a huge amount of money for them to expect childminders to pay, for a bigger business i would say yes as the money would be more managable.

I know that helly has found some business from a supermarket advertising but i would never respond to someone that was advertising that.

jellyjelly I thought it was a lot of money.

It is for proffessional printed business cards that you can help design or leave it up to them. In their words they can do soemthing more ambitious but that again would cost more.

My other thought was that our sainsbury's is not a huge one and sainsbury's does charge more that other suprmarkets for their food. I go every now and again for a few bits as it is round the corner but would never do my big shop there and I rarely see other familes doing their big shop there either. It is competing with a huge tescos a few miles away in which everyone I know does their shop. So I am not sure if I would be meeting my potential customers. BUt the shop is local and I do love in an area popular with families so maybe it would pay off. and many of the staff may also need childcare.

I have also checked and you are tied in for two years which does sound a long time to me. So once I am full I will still be paying for advertising, or if I find it is no use again i will be paying for advertising that has no effect.

I may check how much an advert is in the local paper so I can compare.

Jelly - out of interest, what did you mean you wouldn't respond to an advert like that? Do you mean as a parent?

As for Sainsbury's, afraid I wouldn't either. That works out at £40-50 per month which I think is an awful lot of money. Like the idea, just not the price .

That is exactly what I think, love the idea but not the price. Interestingly the price was the last thing he mentioned!

Didn't realise they designed the business cards (I did my own) so I suppose it would cost more but still, that isn't cheap and WHAT???? 2 YEARS??? Why on earth would childminders want to pay a minimum of £1040 for one Sainsbury's store to provide a service which may possibly give you the odd call? As you say, once you are full you are full!

My advert was just one of my posters up on the board at my local Asda, the same as I put up in post offices, newsagents, shops, village notice boards etc etc!

OMG, just worked out it would take up to 10 websites to build in order to pay for that ONE type of advertising!!!

Are you sure you've got all the details right? Sorry, I think it's madness!!!

[steps off her high horse!]

You never really know who could reply to ANY ad not just for care. A poster/card would look so much better than a hand written postcard.

That is such a long contract, when i was doing my flyering i found out that the take up rate for alot of flyering is between 5-25% which is not alot.

So you don't think there's anything wrong with my standard posters then - that's what I used at Asda.

They have removed the noticeboard now but when I advertise there again (as I still think the more exposure the better plus it costs nothing), I will be using a proper CIS postcare thing for childminders!

oh god no helly, Dont worry about that. When ever i have phoned up about anything the people for various reasons made me feel uncomfortable/uneasy so now i dont really bother replying.

I do think it is mad, especially when you look at the yearly figure, which is why I asked incase I was missing something. Why would a company like Sainsbury's be involved in something that makes no commercial sense?

I have a poster in the newsagents and am in the process of building a website which will be linked to the official CIS website. My front room is a very well stocked attractive playroom which can be seen from the path, as I am near three primary schools I do have parents walking past and looking in. I may paint my windows and put up a sign to draw in my intitial business. I am also quite well known in the town for working in early years.

But there does seem to be lots of childminders here with vacancies.

I have thought about flyers, but did not think the take up rate would be that great.

Jelly Jelly How much were your flyers? How did you decide where to send your flyers?

These companies that do the advertising in sainsbury's are inependent of Sainsbury's.
They do similar things in estate Agents, gyms,DIY stores, cinemas etc..pretty much a waste of time I think..have you ever noticed the stand yourself?

I have seen them as the shop in question is round the corner, I have used the cards to hire a decorator. So it is a service , but I think that £10 a week is a bit steep. I was just interested if anyone else had been approached.

Your childminding group or network could use this method of advertising with a central point for co-ordinating vacancies

That would be a better way of doing it actually Katymac.

At least I know that everyone else seems to think it is overpriced so can turn it down with confidence!

The flyers were from vistaprint and they were hugely expensive about 100.00 and i didnt fly out that many. I deceided to do the school run around that i was doing but i didnt receive a single call, i put them up in the clubs, local shops including posters but not a single inquiry. I dont think i will do it again unless i reallyam not getting calls.

The bit that really bothers me is the part about being tied in for two years! and £10 pw, absolutely outrageous.

Twinsetandpearls: were you approached by an agent? not sure if I have read this correctly; or did you see the info on a stand in your local shop?

I was phoned by an agent.