Use Brochures to Advertise Your Services

If you are computer savvy, another very professional-looking tool to help find babysitting jobs would be brochures. It can be as easy as using Microsoft Word. Once you have opened the program, change the page setting from portrait to landscape. From the Insert menu at the top of the page, insert three equally-sized columns. When you finish, you will fold along these three columns to form your 'three-fold' brochure. Similar to the flyer, you would paste in a small picture of yourself onto the front page. Creatively design your name and title: Babysitter for hire! On the inside you would create an eye-pleasing list of your skills and most moving experiences in the field. If you have drawings or letters from the children or parents you can even scan them and paste them into the file for extra effect.

You do not have to create a book about yourself to get your point across. List your skills and amount of experience. Make it personal, friendly and eye-catching. Fold it three times to create a thin, sleek brochure. Leave your name, phone number and e-mail address and you will find yourself needed and wanted.

Get Letters of Recommendation from Parents and their Children

In finding babysitting jobs, let your past experience work for you. When you leave one job, or even finish a one-day babysitting gig, get some feedback from the parents and children about your performance. If you received a thank-you note for a job well-done, save it. If the child you care for is of a reading and writing age, ask them to write what they did with you that they enjoyed. If they are too young to write an anecdote about their time with you, they can draw how they feel about you. Bring the best ones to your next interview.

These real world examples of your effect on children can give you the extra points you need in competing for a babysitting job. If you do not have much experience, ask friends or family members to list reasons why you would make a good babysitter. In your interview, you do not need to mention who the quotes came from; simply use them to emphasize your potential as a great sitter. After all, anyone can speak for themselves, but when it comes from other mothers and fathers, it can mean much more.

Prepare a Resume

The days of babysitters getting a job by simply looking like a nice, responsible person are gone. You, like any professional with good intentions should meet parents prepared with a resume. Your resume will give a positive first impression of you. Parents greeted with a resume will know that you have experience, are professional, and will take the well-being of their child seriously. This resume can also be included in your portfolio if you so choose to create one.

Your resume should feature your babysitting experience in chronological order with the contact information of the parents involved. If you have a great deal of experience, use the information for the most long-term jobs as these will be the families that will give you the best recommendations as they know you well. Highlight any related educational experience you have, especially degrees or childcare courses from college, or seminars. If you are CPR certified, mention it. Finally, list any extra special memories you have that truly touched you and describe how they have made you a better babysitter. It sounds impossible, but try to keep your resume to one page, with a two-page maximum. More than this will not get read.

Make Business Cards

You have many priorities in your life that are sometimes hard to balance. You try to remember the names of coworkers, contacts, due dates for projects and assignments. The list goes on and on. You may have already come across the perfect family to babysit for ... but you lost their contact information. You may have heard of someone whose child you would love to watch a while back, but can no longer find their number.

But what if you had given them your business card? Contrary to popular belief, basic business cards are very inexpensive to make. You are not in the babysitting business to spend all your earnings on promoting yourself, but you may be able to promote yourself just as well without spending hardly any money at all. Vista Print is one company who regularly offers a special for 250 business cards for free. You must choose from their templates and designs and pay for shipping, however, you cannot beat free when it comes to color business cards. Visit their website for more information. Office Max also offers basic black and white cards for very cheap prices.

Follow the Rules

If you are not a first-time babysitter, and wish to find your next babysitting job, be sure that you have left your previous job on good terms. Word of mouth tends to be the most powerful form of advertising, and many conscientious parents will check up on your references and past families you have worked with. You will want to feel confident that their input will be positive. How can you be sure? The easiest way is by following the parents' instructions to the last detail. If they wish their children to be in bed by 8:00, whether or not the children agree, you should have them in bed. They may not fall asleep until 9:30, but you still followed their orders.

Also, ensure that you leave the house as clean or cleaner than you found it. Do not go around putting things away without being asked as later those "lost" items may come back to haunt you. However, if you see something was spilled whether or not it was on your watch, it does not hurt to give an extra helping hand. Also, do not forget to ask the parent how their day went upon their return and compliment every negative thing you have to say about the babysitting experience with one or more positive ones so that the parent feels assured that it went well for you and their children.

Create a Portfolio

A babysitter arriving at an interview with a family prepared with a portfolio of his or her experience might seem a bit out of the ordinary, but that would be exactly the point! You stand out far beyond other candidates when you bring a portfolio including a resume that lists your accomplishments, references and contact numbers. The rest of the portfolio would be best illustrated by photos of the you with families you have served in the past.

Keep in mind that due to privacy issues, you should ask permission to take and keep photographs of other people's children, especially if you plan on showing them in your portfolio. Most parents will not mind as long as you are on good terms with them; however, it can be a sensitive subject for others. Keep a signature or a disclosure statement of the parent's permission just in case. The photographs you use in the portfolio should clearly show you interacting with the children in a positive way. Do not illustrate your discipline tactics. Your photos should show that you can keep the kids entertained in a positive way so that discipline is hardly an issue. Do crafts or play at the park with the kids. Show an organized mealtime or children doing their chores. Basically include anything that you would want to see a babysitter do if you were the parents.

Word of Mouth

Word of mouth is an incredibly powerful form of advertising. People talk. They talk a lot, when it is parents especially chatting about their children. If they have used a good babysitter, it will be mentioned, and if they have used a babysitter they were not so satisfied with, it will also be brought up. Make an extra effort to stay on the best of terms with the parents of the children you babysit during and after the job is done.

You should also make it known that you are interested in pursuing additional jobs or if your time with the current family is over, that you would like to ask the favor of keeping their ears open for other families in need. If you met the family's needs and they know you are looking for additional work, they will gladly recommend you to others at every opportunity. However, do not expect the parent to constantly think of others they can refer you to. You should ask them periodically if they have heard word of anyone else that can use your services. Do not push, just give friendly sporadic reminders.

Flyers Galore

One of the easiest forms of advertising one's business is through the usage of flyers. If you do not have a lot of computer skills, it is still simple to make flyers. First, get a small picture of yourself and choose where it should go in the design layout of your flyer. Make a short bullet list of what you offer as a babysitter. For example, if you will tutor the kids while babysitting and help them with their homework, this would be a great help to parents and should be included toward the top of your list.

Also, mention in your list if you cook or have experience caring for kids with special needs. Do not omit your educational background. It would not be the best idea to list the names of references on a flyer because you have no way of knowing where this information will end up. You may ruin your chances for a good recommendation by giving out families' personal information without permission. Consider leaving only your email address and phone number, not your address or other personal information. Anything else anyone needs to know you can provide upon request. Leave your flyers at community locations such as church, bookstores and your school.

How to Find Babysitting Jobs by Volunteering

Are you having a hard time finding babysitting jobs? If so, provide volunteer babysitting services for church events, charity fundraisers, or community meetings. As parents pick up their children, give them your business card.

If you are confident and friendly when you hand them your card, you will get a better response. Before you go to the event, be prepared to answer questions such as your rates, what times you are available to work and what age range you work with.

Have a sign-in sheet for parents' names, cell phone numbers, and their child/children's names. During the event this will help you keep track of parents and children, and give you a phone number in case of emergency. After the event, you can use it as a business tool.

Within 24-48 hours after the event, call each family on the list. Introduce yourself as the babysitter from the event, and ask if they need child care. Make sure to use their child/children's names to seem more personal. If they say no, be very polite, and mention if they are ever in a tight spot to give you a call.