Self Employed and NO WORK

[snackattack]

I spent a lot of our money to qualify as a baby massage instructor a couple of months ago. dh was supportive but worried as money is tight. However, I felt we lived in an area where there was a lot parents, lots of potential clients and lots of money (usually!). I set up a nice website, have good space to do my classes at home, ran a pilot group with a friends of people I knew who had babies (they loved it) and have some nice postcards printed. I've put up posters around the cafe's and I've handed out postcards and joined a local business email site. I've not had ONE enquiry and I am at a loss! I just thought I'd be inundated but not one enquiry!! What am I doing wrong? Should I advertise in the local papers or not??? Any other ideas?? Please - anyone any thoughts??

have you tried the local children's centre?

Try doing a free 'taster' session? Tbh I know in this area you can do courses like that for free with our HVs so have you checked out the competition? Otherwise, it might just be that people are tightening their belts a little

Hi, I run classes for babies and toddlers and have just added baby massage classes to my business. My best advice is to perservere with your advertising - it takes a lot of marketing to get your buisness up and running, but once your name becomes known then you will start to pick up new customers through word of mouth.

I wouldn't bother with the local paper but do try things like your local NCT, contact health visitors, get flyers out to baby and toddler groups and even hand them out to people on the street. Also what online advertising are you doing? Get your classes listed on things like gumtree and vivastreet,set up a group on facebook and ask your friends to invite their friends.

It may also be worth looking at doing a course at a different venue - somewhere that already has groups or activities for babies/toddlers so that those people will see your group advertised when they go to the other groups. I have booked a room in our local soft play centre for just this reason.

Hope that has given you some ideas, and hope you (and I) get lots of customers soon. Good luck.

HV's gave me all the info about baby massage so may be worth contacting them, also your local Surestart centre

This is just an idea ... and you can buy me a virtual pint if it works.

What about going the baby massage as tupperware party route? What do I mean? Get in touch with local NCT co-ordinators and offer to hold massage sessions with existing NCT groups - everyone pays a fiver (or whatever your price is) and you come to the group's venue for an hour and show them the basics. Then at the end of the session you promote your other courses.

I can remember someone I know's NCT group once getting the personal shoppers from TopShop round for one of their meetings.

And the group I'm in meets once a week - maybe two meetings a month are at people's houses and on the other two we're looking for other activities eg walk to the park and lunch in the cafe there.

Thank you all for some wonderful ideas! I'm feeling much more inspired and really need to get on with it (tomorrow!). I love the idea of the tupperware approach too- thanks for that - virtual pint will en route when I get my first booking!
Thanks again everyone - will let you know how it goes.

My NCT group did what MrsBaldwin suggested.

snackattack..... could you get friendly with local doulas and maternity nannies?

If you both have websites, you can link to each other and hopefully recommend each other