Berkeley Parents Network: Advertising and Commercial Use

Berkeley Parents Network

Advertising and Commercial Use

Berkeley Parents Network > Help & Frequently Asked Questions > Advertising and Commercial Use

Policy about Advertising & Commercial Use
Postings that promote a business
How can I let local parents know about my business?
A list of newsletters that allow promotional postings
See also: Self-promotion on the BPN

Policy about Advertising & Commercial Use

Our policy is that we do not allow advertising in the newsletter or on the website. The Berkeley Parents Network runs at the University of California, Berkeley, and UC Berkeley, being a state-funded institution, cannot permit people to use their networks, email and websites for commercial purposes. Therefore, we cannot allow posts that give the impression that BPN is being used to promote or run a business. We do allow some types of promotional announcements as a service to local parents but they must follow the rules in the following section.

Postings that promote a business

In general, BPN does not accept postings that promote businesses, because of the requirement that we not use our newsletters and website for commercial purposes. However, there are some types of commercial postings that we do accept, in an effort to help parents find resources that can be hard to find any other way.

Babysitters, Nannies, and Daycares may announce their availability in the Childcare newsletter. These announcements are not archived to the website.
Classes for Kids, Parenting Classes, and Family-Friendly Events may be announced in the Announcements newsletter and the Parents of Teens newsletter. This includes performances, fairs, dances, choirs, sports teams, workshops, support groups and the like. These announcements are not archived to the website.
Housekeepers, Pet Sitters, and Other Household Helpers may announce their availability in the House & Garden newsletter. This includes household organizers, cooks, personal assistants, etc. It does not include businesses such as gardening services, plumbers, or electricians. We do not archive announcements, but reviews submitted by parents may be archived. Reviews of individual housekeepers are not archived to the website for privacy reasons. Reviews of other household helpers such as pet sitters are archived if BPN considers them to be a business (definition here).
Schools, Preschools and Camps may post to the Schools newsletter and the Parents of Teens newsletter to announce openings, information sessions, and the like. Announcements about community events at schools, such as carnivals and festivals, may be posted to the Announcements newsletter. Announcements from schools are not archived to the website.
Tutors may post announcements about their services using the Tutor Posting form. These go to the website, but they do not appear in a newsletter.
Reviews of businesses including schools, daycares, etc. are accepted from BPN subscribers who have first-hand experience with the business. Business owners who are BPN subscribers may also recommend themselves in response to a query from another subscriber, and subscribers may recommend the businesses of friends and relatives. Reviews are accepted for a number of newsletters - see Where to Post a Message. However, we only archive reviews written by people who have first-hand experience with the business, and who are not the owner or the owner's friends or family. Please see Self-promotion on the BPN for more information about this.

Promotional announcements may not be posted repeatedly. Please see the the policy about Repeated Postings for more information.

It is up to the BPN moderators to decide whether a post can be allowed under the policies above.

How can I let local parents know about my business?

The primary goal of the Berkeley Parents Network is to provide a forum for parent-to-parent networking. Many parents who subscribe to BPN are interested in reading about local businesses, classes, and services in the BPN newsletters. Our large subscriber base makes BPN an attractive way for businesses to reach local parents. However the BPN website and newsletters cannot be used for commercial purposes, per our Policy about Advertising & Commercial Use above. Therefore, we must place limits on the types of postings we can accept from businesses. For information about the types of postings we accept, see Postings that promote a business.

A list of newsletters that allow promotional postings

Announcements newsletter
BPN members can post a short announcement about their class, group or workshop that is geared specifically towards 1) children or 2) parents. Family-friendly events may also be announced. These announcements can go into the Announcements newsletter. For details about this policy, see the About the Announcements newsletter.

Childcare newsletter
BPN subscribers who are childcare providers can post a message about openings in their daycare program or availability for babysitting. Teenage babysitters whose parents are subscribers can post to the Childcare Newsletter under "Teen subscriber offering to babysit". See also: I am a babysitter - how can I let parents know about my service?. See About the Childcare Newsletter for more information.

House & Garden newsletter
BPN members who are housecleaners can post to this newsletter in the section called "Housekeepers, Pets, Garden Maintenance". These are limited to three postings in 3 months. This section may also be used to post about other services that are not usually considered a "business" that take place in a family's home, such as household organizers, shoppers, dog walkers, and pet sitters. All other services that BPN considers to be a business (as defined here) may not post promotional announcements to the newsletter. Subscribers can recommend house-related products and services in response to a query from another member, including recommending themselves. See About the House & Garden Newsletter for more information.

Marketplace newsletter
The Marketplace newsletter is limited to household items that individual members are looking for or have for sale. BPN members who run a business cannot post "for sale" items that they sell in their business in the Marketplace newsletter. Nor can business owners use the Marketplace for buying items that they plan to sell on behalf of their business. Non-profit organizations can post a request for non-cash items to the "Donations" section and can also post items being sold in fundraising drives. See Donations requests and Fundraising Events & Sales for more info about this. See About the Marketplace Newsletter for more information.

Recommendations newsletter
BPN members can ask for recommendations about a specific local business regardless of whether it is child- or parenting-related, as long as it follows the Policy for Recommendations. In response to a query, other BPN members can then provide an account of their own personal experience with the business. These reviews are eventually archived to the website. BPN members are allowed to recommend themselves or their friends or family members in response to a request about the type of business they run, but these are not archived to the website. See About the Recommendations Newsletter for more information.

Schools newsletter
BPN members can post a notice about openings at their school, preschool, or summer camp, as well as general notices about enrollment and information sessions. See About the Schools, Preschools & Camps Newsletter for more information.

Parents of Teens newsletter
Private tutors can post a notice about their availability using the Tutor Posting Form and it will be archived to the BPN website. This is limited to individuals who live locally, and should not be used for tutor centers and other businesses that employ more than one person. For more info, see About Tutor Postings. Subscribers who have other kinds of businesses may post per the above policies for the Announcements and Recommendations newsletters. See About Parents of Teens for more information.

The opinions and statements expressed on this website are those of parents who subscribe to the Berkeley Parents Network. Please see Disclaimer & Usage for information about using content on this website.