I am advertising for babysitting these holidays (live in Australia) and I was wondering if you could help me out.

I made a brochure for it that was quite long and had all the information parents needed and paragraphs of me selling myself so someone would hire me.

I went around the neighborhood (much further than I did in other years) but I haven't gotten an email and its been 3 days.
I know it doesn't seem like long, but a mum who needed babysitting wouldn't wait for more than 1/2 days to answer my brochure and I was wondering why no one wanted me to babysit!

Here is a copy of my brochure:

BABYSITTING
I am an experienced 13 year old girl who has worked with children before. I am open these holidays from 9:00am – 6:00pm (after the holidays I will only be open from 4:30pm – 5:30pm on week days and 10:00am – 5:00pm). I care for children as young as 3 months old to children 3 years old. When I was 9 I was put in to babysitting and continued to go there until I was 11. In that time I learned to take care of the toddlers while the babysitter was out of the room. I learned everything you need to know about children. I have been taught how to change nappies by studying, watching and learning from other mums/babysitters and some learning on the Internet. I can care for up to 3 children at once if at least 2 of them are over 11 months.

If you hire me, I will take fantastic care of your children and they will have their required food, rest, hygiene, play and exercise. Everything will be left as it was when you left and you will definitely think of me as a great babysitter.

The pay is just $5 per hour for all children together if they are all over 12 months; each child under 13 months will cost an extra $2 per hour example: You have 3 kids, a 2 year old, a 3 year old and a 4 month old. You need me to babysit for 4 hours, so you will pay $20 that day for the 2 kids that are 1 and 2, but you will have to pay an additional $2 each hour because you have one child less than 12 months. So all together that babysitting for 3 children and 4 hours would come to $28.

I am a responsible, smart and dedicated person and I have babysat before. You can trust me with your child/children and I believe you won't be disappointed. I have spent many hours of many days studying on how to bottle feed, change nappies, bathe and occupy children of ages 3 months – 4 years.

I am open for trial interview before hand. (A trial interview is where I do something like change a nappy or bathe the child/children while you watch to see if I qualify.) If you would like a trial interview or just to get to know me before I begin babysitting, please just let me know by email.

My concentration is not on money, my main aim is to enjoy my time as a babysitter and gain some new experience. All I want is to babysit and have some responsibility in my life, and I also want some more experience so that maybe I can get a job in a child care center or kindergarten in the future.

If you are interested, please email
(my email was here but I don't want to show on the Internet)

Thank you for reading my letter and I hope you give me a chance to show you my skills and quality babysitting.


So that was the brochure, Can someone tell me what I can do to improve it or another way I can advertise to get babysitting.

It's much too wordy and a lot to read. Plus, you repeat yourself unnecessarily. How about making bullet points instead of wall-to-wall text?

I agree with Wondergirl, its much too long. Also - why do you limit your care to children under 3?

Its not under 3 its up to 3

its not under 3 its up to 3

I used to do up to 4 but I don't have any responsibility with 4 year old kids, I just prefere younger kids, they are a lot more fun to be with and not as stubborn

its not under 3 its up to 3
Why limit to that?

I agree with Wondergirl, its much too long. Also - why do you limit your care to children under 3?
Oh and I fixed it, I will show you :)


Babysitting I am an experienced 13 year old girl who has worked with children before. I am open these holidays from 9:00am – 6:00pm (after the holidays I will only be open from 4:30pm – 5:30pm on week days and 10:00am – 5:00pm on weekends). I care for children as young as 3 months old to children 3 years old.
About my Experience when I was 9, I was put in to babysitting and continued to go there until I was 11. In that time I learned to take care of the toddlers while the babysitter was out of the room. I learned everything you need to know about children. I have been taught how to change nappies by studying, watching and learning from other mums/babysitters and some learning on the internet. I have also babysat for a 4 year old for about a month. If you hire me, I will take fantastic care of your children and they will have their required food, rest, hygiene, play and exercise. Everything will be left as it was when you left and you will definitely think of me as a great babysitter. I am a responsible, smart and dedicated person and I have babysat before. You can trust me with your child/children and I believe you won’t be disappointed. I have spent many hours of many days studying on how to bottle feed, change nappies, bathe and occupy children of ages 3 months – 4 years. My concentration is not on money, my main aim is to enjoy my time as a babysitter and gain some new experience. All I want is to babysit and have some responsibility in my life, and I also want some more experience so that maybe I can get a job in a child care centre or kindergarten in the future.

Price The price is $5 per hour, per child.

Play Time
Each day of babysitting will be filled with fun crafts, games, songs and sports. There is an activity for every type of child and every single age! Your children will have clean nappies, full tummies, smiles and plenty of rest when you get home. I have set up different game routines for different genders and age groups so I will know exactly what to do next, and me and the kids will clean up all the mess we make.

Trial interview
I am open for trial interview before hand. (A trial interview is where I do something like change a nappy, bathe, or just interact with your children and you see if you think I am good enough.) If you would like a trial interview or just to get to know me before I begin babysitting, please just let me know by email.

Contact details
If you are interested, please email,
(my emailwas here)
Thank you for reading my letter and I hope you give me a chance to show you my skills and quality babysitting.

No, it's too much and too hard to read. Want me to show you a better version?

I agree it is too long and involved. All you need to provide is your name, your phone and email, and maybe one sentence to the effect that you are available to babysit neighborhood children after school and on weekends. You can discuss your rates and hours of availability and all those details if and when they call you.

I also think you are mistaken expecting calls immediately. Babysitting is the kind of service people call for occasionally. Those parents who need daily or regular child care likely already have it in place, or are considering licensed child care providers - adults - to provide that care. What you are providing is a service people might like if they are going to a function without their children, or have an appointment for which they cannot bring their children or that sort of thing. So expect people with small kids to hang on to your contact information for future reference should the need for a babysitter arise.

Finally, the hours you list as available really are not very practical for parents. The 4:30 to 5:30 hour on weekdays is an inconvenient time for parents to make appointments. One hour is not really long enough to drive to and from an appointment or meeting or dinner or coffee with a friend and to also finish that meeting or whatever. I cannot really imagine a scenario where a parent would need a babysitter for one hour at 4:30 in the afternoon. Working parents are not even home from the office yet, and stay home parents might as well wait a bit for their spouse to get home rather than hire a sitter for an hour long errand.

The weekend time is problematic, too. Most parents spend the daytime on weekends with their children. If they wish to go on a date with their spouse, a dinner party that does not include children, a business function - they go in the evening. The most in-demand hours for babysitters are going to be Friday and Saturday nights.

What might work better would be if you would not list hours and consider each request as it comes. Ask your parents to work with you on figuring out what is reasonable. For example, my parents permitted me to babysit weekend nights at your age but had certain rules - the people I babysat for had to drive me home, for example, if it was after dark. Since you only have an hour on school days, you might want to consider a different way to make money in the week.

I have two sisters who are 12 and 13 who work for me on school days. I work long days and have a long commute to my office, and I need someone to take my dog out every day so she's not alone too long. The girls come at 3 each afternoon, take the dog out and play with her for about 20 minutes, feed her and give her water. Because they are very responsible, I now hire them for other occasional jobs. For example, when they were on break over the summer from school, I hired them to weed my garden and water my outdoor plants. At the holidays, I hired them to help me put up the Christmas decorations in my home and wrap the Christmas gifts I had bought for friends and family. When I go on vacation, I hire them to water my plants, and so on. You can reasonably water plants or walk a dog in an hour, but babysitting will be tough to do on such a tight schedule.

Good luck!