We’re living in strange, unprecedented times. Like you, we’ve been constantly reviewing the latest government guidelines and assessing how they will impact the Toddle About magazine. In light of last night’s announcement from the government, it’s quite clear that a lot of the events and activities that we are promoting in the magazine will have been cancelled or postponed by the time it is released in a couple of weeks’ time. With that in mind, we have decided that it will be in everyone’s best interests if we postpone the release of our upcoming print magazine until things have settled down a bit and some sense of normality has returned. But it’s not all doom and gloom! We know you are making changes to how you operate and serve your customers, and we are still here to help you reach and attract new customers. And it won't cost you a penny! What this means for you Your advert booking remains unchanged - we are just delaying the release of the magazine in which you are advertising. As soon as it becomes viable to release a printed magazine again, then we will do so. It’s important for us to manage the situation in this way to ensure we can continue to pay bills and for Toddle About to stay in operation. We are unsure right now how long the delay will be - it will depend largely on how long the ban on non-essential gatherings stays in place. We will keep you informed. In the meantime, we will still be working hard to help you to promote your business - in a digital way. Our Online Reach is Excellent As you know, here at Toddle About we can reach a lot of parents online - which is where they will all be (even more) now! We have a website that attracts 10,000 visitors every month, an email list of over 8,000 parents, a social media following of over 15,000 and a messenger subscription list of over 5,000 parents. That gives us a reach of over 40,000 parents each month - and, while we wait for the print magazine to be released, we will be leveraging all of these resources to help you. Here’s what we will be giving you - all at no extra cost to you: 1) A Digital Magazine We will publish a digital magazine that will be released in a couple of weeks' time (this is in addition to the print magazine that has been postponed). Your advert will still appear in it, and we will distribute it via our online resources. On our own, we can reach over 40,000 parents. But we’re all in this together - so I would like to ask for your help: It would be great if you can share the magazine with your own customers too. If all our advertisers do this, we estimate the magazine will reach another 40,000+ parents. A total reach of 80,000+ will allow us to communicate your news effectively. 2) Social Media Announcements Keep us up to date with your news! We will post your updates on our social media channels, connecting you with the 15,000+ parents who follow us on social media. 3) Blog Posts Do you have more to say than a post will allow? That’s fine! Our website is set up for us to share local news - simply send us content for an article online, and we will publish it on our website and share that via social media too. 4) The Virtual Activities Directory From the conversations we are having with you, we know a lot of you are moving to offer your own digital services, such as live streaming of classes. And the silver lining of running virtually, is that you are no longer restricted by pesky things such as location and capacity limits! To help you make the most of this opportunity, we are in the process of updating our website to allow parents to search for virtual activities, sorting by the age of their child and the type of activity they want. So if they’re looking for a virtual activity for their child that is streaming this afternoon, they can find it! Very soon, they will even be able to book and pay for your activities through the site too. 5) More to follow! I know there’s a lot to take in here, so we will be in touch about how you can make the most of all these things separately. I know it’s a very unsettling time right now - but we’re all in the same boat. I feel very strongly that if we all pull together, then we’ll get through it together. If you want to discuss anything with me, the door is open (metaphorically speaking) - please just call on 01327 830171 or reply to this email and let’s chat. All the best, Tim