Subscribing as a Business

What kinds businesses can subscribe to BPN?

• Services for families in the San Francisco Bay Area, at home and at school. 
• Products that are specifically for parents, parents-to-be, families, or children.

Please contact us if you aren't sure whether you should subscribe as a business. We usually respond within 24 hours.

How do I subscribe?

Click 'subscribe' at the top of the BPN website, or, if you are already a BPN subscriber, go directly to the Subscribe page.

How much does it cost to subscribe?

The Business subscription is $250 per year.  BPN is a nonprofit and these paid subscriptions keep BPN free for parents and keep BPN online as a free public resource for the entire community.  Subscribe here.

BPN offers reduced fees for some types of very small one-person businesses such as doulas, tutors, artists and musicians. See FAQ for Small Businesses. Contact us for more information.

What are the benefits of subscribing?

• Ability to post Announcements and Events on our website for one year. You can have up to 3 active posts at one time, which are published for 30 days. After your post expires, post again. The types of posts accepted include general announcements about your programs and services, workshops and open houses, and kid-friendly events. These posts are available to the public on our website and new posts are included in our weekly email newsletter mailed to subscribers. 
• A profile page on our website that you can edit, that contains information about your business, a link to your own website, and any current posts of yours.  Parents who subscribe to BPN can post reviews of you directly to your profile page.
• You will be included in BPN's listings, in the category for your business's type of activity, such as "Pediatric Dentists." 

For  details, see How to Publicize Your Programs & Services on BPN.  For more information about BPN's demographics and reach, see "Is it worth it for me to purchase a subscription?"

Can I post advice for parents on your website?

No. BPN does not accept professional advice, recommendations, or referrals, in keeping with our mission of supporting parent-to-parent networking in an ad-free setting. All of the advice on our website was submitted by parent subscribers who were replying to a question from another parent.  Business subscribers may post announcements, but they do not have access to post advice or reviews. More info: Why only parents can post reviews and advice

Businesses that rent space to or from other groups

Individuals or groups that use classroom or performance space belonging to another non-profit must subscribe separately  in order to publicize their events and services.

Examples:

1. A college counselor who reserves a meeting room at a public library to give a free lecture must subscribe as a business in order to post an announcement about this event.

2. A piano teacher who rents studio space for one-on-one lessons from a music business should subscribe as a tutor/teacher.  The music business can subscribe separately as a business.

3. A performer who rents a non-profit concert hall can subscribe separately to post an announcement about the event, or the concert hall can itself subscribe and post about all events at its venue.

I am both a parent and a business owner

You may subscribe as a parent for free, and you will have access to the parent sections of the BPN website, including Parent Q&A (but you must post as a parent, not as a business, per BPN policy.)  However, if you would like to publicize your business, you will need to purchase a business subscription so you can post announcements and events -- parent subscribers don't have access to post announcements and the free parent subscription cannot be used to promote one's own business.

How to subscribe as both a business and a parent:

1. Are you already subscribed as a parent? If you want to combine your business and parent subscriptions under one account using the same email address, go to the Subscribe Page when you are logged in to your parent account, and choose the business account. If you'd prefer to create a separate business account under a different email address, log out of the BPN website first, and then go to the Subscribe Page and subscribe as a business.

2. Are you already subscribed as a business? Please contact us and tell us the ages of your children and we'll add parent access to your account. Or, if you'd prefer to have a separate parent account under a different email address, log out of the BPN website and then go to the Subscribe Page and subscribe as a parent.

3. If you've never subscribed to BPN, create your parent account first on the Subscribe Page. Then follow the instructions in #1 above to create your business account.

Businesses that also operate camps, classes, or groups

Our subscription fees for classes and camps are scaled according to the size of the program, so that smaller programs pay less than larger ones. But businesses that provide additional services besides classes are larger overall than comparable programs that only offer classes. Since all of your programs benefit from publicity and name recognition on BPN via your posts and profile page, even the programs that you aren't posting about specifically, all of your activities need to be included in the fee calculation, in fairness to other BPN community subscribers. Therefore you must subscribe as a business, not as a class.