Craig’s List is the ultimate in FREE advertising.    Craig’s List has online boards all over the US, in Canada, and world wide!

The challenge?

Post your studio, a link to your website, and an invitation to try a class.   Agree to post on Tuesday, 2/17 and again on Tuesday, 3/8.   Hold yourself accountable to the challenge by posting here that you will and then again when you have posted.   Imagine, if we all agree to post, on the same days, how much influence we will spread online with just that one small action!

Below find sample text and directions for how to use Craig’s List.

Sample Text:

Your studio name and website.   Now accepting enrollment for Spring 2009. Kindermusik is the world’s leader in developmentally appropriate music and movement classes.  We are so much more than music!   Classes available for newborns through age 7.   Call your name at xxx-xxx-xxxx or email to set up a time for a free preview of a class.

Keep it short and sweet so that you get potential leads but are not really “advertising”.   The point is to get our name out in front of people on the boards.

How to use Craig’s List

• Google Craig’s List. This will take you to your local board.   There are several in Georgia.  Mine is http://www.atlanta.craigslist.org.  Once you’re there, you can then sort by areas. It gets pretty specific.

• Select post to classifieds

• Select create posting

• Events (says will expire in 30 days but classes are allowed a two week window)

• Choose category – Classes. There are many options but this is the most basic. No subscription required.

• Choose area nearest you

• Fill in posting title – “Kindermusik Classes!”  Or  “Kindermusik!”

• Description.   Use the sample text above or use your own.

• Type in email twice

• Check off how to reply to event.   I chose middle selection so that email stays anonymous on Craigslist to ward off spammers.   Interested parties can email you easily.

• Your posting sample will appear.

• Hit continue.

• Accept terms.

• Finalize post by typing words that appear in security box and click continue.

• You will receive notice that you will receive an email to publish.

• Open email and click on link to activate and publish your free listing. Save the email to publish, edit, or delete your free post.

There is no need to set up an account, although there is that option for small biz ads. There are some guidelines and rules and regulations for this that I didn’t want to get into at this time. These instructions are for the basic, free, classified listing.

So, are you up for the challenge?

I am.   My name is down there at the bottom on the list!

If you’re planning on ordering anything from KI soon, you need to be aware of the following information. Kindermusik International’s offices are closed the week of December 22nd as well as the warehouse. This information was included in the last eNotes as well as on the Teachers’ Lounge.

Please note the following cutoffs for orders to be received before December 25, 2008:

Regular FedEx Ground – December 15th

FedEx 2nd Day – 16th

FedEx Overnight – 18th

If you need anything for Christmas, better get that order in *FAST*!

Economic Toolkit

Monday, December 15 3:00pm EST
Wednesday, December 17 11:00am EST

This Economic time provides us the opportunity to out perform our competition and over deliver on our brand promises. Learn how this tool kit can help you achieve that. This webinar is led by the Educator Development Team

Knocking Their Socks Off!

Monday, December 15 9:00pm EST
Wednesday, December 17 12:00pm EST

Ever wonder how to keep your families coming back for more semester after semester and with each additional child all the way through Young Child and tell all their friends about it? Discover ways you can become a leader (aka Diva, as in successful female personality) in your classroom where learning flourishes and fun is always at hand. Learn the power of body language and non-verbal cuing. Learn how to make FOLs pop! Investigate rituals, pacing and manipulatives and how they can create value and interaction. Create communities not just classrooms. Be the magic that makes their week sparkle.

Using “Green” to Cure the Enrollment Blues

Tuesday, December 16 11:00am EST

Using “Green” to Cure the Enrollment Blues
(Insights into the Marketing Value of KI’s Sustainability Initiatives)

Join KiDesign’s Molly Dumbleton for a meaningful discussion on how focusing on Kindermusik International’s Sustainability can help you drive enrollments for your next classes!

Getting to YES!

Tuesday, December 16 4:00pm EST

Join Terry Kilgo, Manager of Kindermusik International’s Recruiting team, for an eye-opening discussion about how to reframe and address objections your prospective parents may have and how to turn them into ENROLLMENTS!

ABC, Music, + Me!

Tuesday, December 16 9:00pm EST

Join Kindermusik Educator and Employee-Owner, Cindy Bousman for an informative discussion about why adding ABC, Music & Me is an important decision for your program

Loyalty Survey Help

Wednesday, December 17 3:00pm EST

You’ve raised your hand to say “YES!” to Loyalty. Now take the next steps! Join Carol Penney as we focus on the fundamentals of the Loyalty Survey. Learn how to enter your parent data, and more!

Sharing the Vision

Thursday, December 18 9:00am EST

What can we do today to make our business viable for tomorrow? See research showing the buying trends and consumer expectations of today’s and tomorrow’s mom.

See how Kindermusik is working to better equip you to serve the consumer shift to online shopping and enrollment as well as the developing expectations of today’s mom once in your program.

Demo Days

Thursday, December 18 9:00pm EST

This Demo Days Discussion will focus on how to promote, locate and network to create your most successful demonstration to date!

Please join Kindermusik International’s Cindy Bousman for this webinar.

Due to many conflicts and cyberspace mailing failures, the Atlanta Area PKE meeting scheduled for Friday, September 5th has been cancelled. 

Be sure to watch your inbox for a survey from the Georgia PKE, requesting your  input about a day and time in the week following Christmas that would work for you for educators to get together and preview the following semester. 

Please add kindermerri at yahoo dot com to your email address book to avoid PKE mailings being sent to your spam file in the future.

Atlanta Area Kindermusik Chapter

Let’s Get Together Again!

Friday, September 5, 10:30am

Dunwoody Baptist Church

Jane Hendrix – hostess

 Hello Atlanta Area PKE!

Hope everyone had a wonderful summer – time to relax and rest a bit.  I’m hoping that many of us are available for a last minute get together before we’re all up and running our Fall programs.

 We’ll need at least 10 educators to join us for this meeting for it to take place so RSVP ASAP.  With 10 attendees, this will count towards the 100 points that will be required for licensing beginning in April, 2009. 

Bring your new ideas, bring questions, we’ll look at a new webinar, and just enjoy each others enthusiasm regarding this amazingly incredible music program we’re so blessed to be teaching.

Hope to see everyone Friday!

Amy VanderLugt, Atlanta Area PKE

Merri Williams, GA PKE

Jane Hendrix, Hostess and Webinar Facilitator Extraordinaire
*****************************************************************

From GA 400 South:
Exit #5 Dunwoody/Sandy Springs Make a left onto Abernathy Road go approx. ¼ mile Make a left onto Mount Vernon Road, continue approx. 1.1 miles DBC will be on your right

From GA 400 North:
Exit #5A Dunwoody/Sandy Springs Merge onto Abernathy Road (you can only go in one direction) make your way to the far left hand lane At the 2nd traffic light make a left onto Mount Vernon Road, continue approx. 1.1 miles DBC will be on your right.

Please RSVP Amy, Merri, or Jane so we can adequately plan for attendees.

I just received confirmation from Helen Peterson that Ginger and John Bennett are the very happy parents of a healthy baby boy, Stanton, who arrived last Thursday, June 12th, as scheduled, weighing 7 pounds, 8 ounces and 21 inches long.  It was a tricky pregnancy with Ginger limited to being 5 minutes away from the hospital at times, but I’m sure they will tell you that it’s *all* been worth it.

Congratulations to Ginger and John! 

Welcome to our world, Stanton! 

May all your days be Kindermusik days!

I received this information from Helen Peterson of the PKE Board, asking us to post it for all Kindermusik educators using My Virtuoso.  This was shared by Lisa Cheney of Massachusetts:

Dear Loopers,
Just a heads up about a problem I encountered with YV 2.0. I have  already sent via YV issue log. I also told YV I was posting on the loop so that no one inadvertently send out an email like I almost did. Text sent below:

Need to send out mass email. 

Issue 1
update of 2.0 doesn’t filter out archived families emails. This is a problem since as archived they should not receive emails. It is a violation of the law to send out emails to families who have been asked to be removed from the email list. 
Issue 2
When selecting prospects only it includes ALL emails on this list.  This is problematic as I send out a very different marketing email to currently enrolled families and to prospects.

Please advise ASAP as my schedule requires that this go out as a follow-up today, exactly one week prior to Adventures start-up.

I deleted the email I was going to send when I noticed archived families were on the list. I hope that this does not send as last time I deleted a mailing it still sent.

I am going to post this request/issue on the loop so that other educators don’t inadvertently send out an illegal email.

Best Regards,
Lisa Cheney

*******************

IMPORTANT – do not send out eblasts on Your Virtuoso 2.0 until this is resolved.

As a Kindermusik educator, I am blessed with the ability to come in contact with educators from literally around the world.  At my very first Kindermusik convention in July, 2005, in Nashville, Tennessee, I made a very good friend from Malaysia.  We have corresponded frequently since then and I hope to see her in person again one day at another convention.

I have also met, via our online group at Yahoogroups, Sarah Peel Li, a Kindermusik educator in Beijing, China.  We have participated together in continuing education webinars hosted and sponsored by Kindermusik International.  I greatly enjoy her expertise as an educator as well as her humor.

This morning, as I skimmed through the group’s posts, I read a new one from Sarah that put the China earthquake into a much more personal perspective.  I am reproducing it here.  If you feel led to participate, please do so.  The need is incredible.  And I can not imagine the anguish of many of the parents there as they face the loss of their one child that the government allows them to have.

From Sarah Peel Li, Beijing, China:

As most of you are probably already aware there was a massive earthquake in the Sichuan region of China on Monday. It is a tragedy and many thousands of people have lost their lives. Those that survived in the hardest hit areas often have nothing, and the conditions are extremely difficult.

Kara Waddell, a Kindermusik parent here in Beijing, leads the NGO Operation Blessing here in China. She is now in Chengdu to coordinate relief efforts, and I hope our community of families and schools will be able to support the work she and her team are doing to assist children in the quake affected areas. Operation Blessing is partners with the China Charity Federation and China Foundation for collecting funds legally in China and for coordinating disaster relief activities. Collection of needed goods is also normal for this type of disaster, and Operation Blessing will be making arrangements for this type of aid to be sent in the coming days from partners here in Beijing.

As Kara put it in an e-mail I received, relief experts are right – give to whoever you trust, but cash in response scenarios really, really helps. If you would like to give, I know that supporting Operation Blessing’s work will make sure your funds reach those who need it most. They are extremely professional and have experience
working with community partners in the hardest hit areas of Sichuan.  They are coordinating their work with the Red Cross and the China Social Work Association.

They are focused on relief for children and families, including an effort to reach and assist orphanages in the area. Their work is currently focused on: Mianyang City – where 3000 are being reported dead, 18,000 buried in rubble which could greatly increase the death toll; and  Dujiangyan City – they have a 2-year old friendship with the Red Cross from a district in this city. We are making local purchases of relief supplies and will help distribute with the Red Cross.

ONLINE DONATIONS:
https://www. cbn.com/giving/ obChina/option. asp

Domestic and international credit cards can be used. 100% of funds dedicated for use in China although funds collected in the U.S. All funds received this week online we’ll dedicate to this earthquake relief, recovery and development efforts.

Thank you for reading this message, and your generous support of an organization that is making a real difference in the face of incredible suffering.

Sarah Peel Li
Beijing, China

The next meeting of the Greater Atlanta Area PKE, scheduled for this Friday, April 25th, at 11AM has been postponed until July.  Due to several circumstances, notably construction and renovation in the music suite at Dunwoody Baptist Church where we meet, as well as many educators having *packed* schedules right now, we felt it better to postpone until this summer, giving more folks time to plan ahead. 

There are some plans now in the works for a local PDS here in July as well as our own local PKE meeting and planning for the Kindermusik convention in November in Raleigh, North Carolina.  We will have further information here as soon as details are nailed down.

For your enjoyment, consider these two posts on the PKE Yahoogroup: