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5 Strategies for Keeping Your Business Strong Through the Holidays There’s no fighting it at this point. The Halloween 70% off items are long gone and the shelv...es are overflowing with holiday candy, gifts, and decorations. The tree lots are being stocked and the stores are fully adorned in red and green, with Santa Claus cutouts to greet you at the door. Even if you’re Nordstrom, which has a long-standing policy of not decorating for Christmas until after Black Friday, you can’t deny that the world is awash in Christmas spirit. What this means for most solo or small businesses is that it’s time to wind down the year, take a break, and start planning for how you’re going to come on bigger and better next year. But slowing down for 6-8 weeks during the holiday season is a mistake for a couple of reasons. First, for most of us, this is the time of year we’re spending more money than usual. So it hardly makes sense to bring in less money when you’re out spending more. Second, chances are you have little to no competition from now until the end of the year, so why not take advantage of that and be one of the few businesses that is reaching out to people? Of course there’s a reason people take time off right now, especially parents. We want to spend more time with friends and family. More time shopping and baking and addressing cards. More time listening to Christmas music, relaxing, and contemplating New Year Resolutions. The nice thing is, with just a little extra effort on your part, you can make December your best business month of the whole year. It won’t require 40 hour work weeks and pulling all nighters to fit everything in. Just a few well-planned strategies will allow you to take the time off you want, as well as grow your business. Here are five simple strategies you can start implementing before you put the Thanksgiving turkey in the oven. 1. Send a Personal Greeting Don’t bother with the stock Christmas cards that come with some generic, impossible-to-offend greeting and your signature conveniently pre-printed on them. They may go on the mantel with the other cards, but they’ll be quickly discarded on January 1, without having made any real impact. Take the time now to send a more personal greeting. Depending on your client and prospect base, it may not be realistic to send a handwritten message to everyone, but concentrate at least on your most valuable clients. This is a great time to thank and re-engage former customers, and to get to the top of mind with your hottest potential clients. Choose a card that looks unique, if possible. Most businesses will send a green card with Seasons Greetings written in gold on the outside, and Wishing you joy throughout the holidays on the inside. These are boring and scream, I’m trying to be spiritually-correct and non-offensive to all. You have to decide here. If you love Santa and celebrate Christmas, does it matter to you if you send a card that represents this and two or three people blacklist you because they’re offended? But if you’ll go with something that represents your personality, doesn’t look like it’s one of 5000 identical cards that was sent to all your customers, and contains a non-generic handwritten line or two, you’ll find the recipients especially responsive to your other holiday marketing efforts we’re about to go through. 2. Offer a Discount on Advance Purchases You don’t want to spend your holidays working, and your customers may not need or have time for your services over the holidays. Come up with a solution that works well for both of you. Offer a discount if they buy now, receive a voucher for future services, and can redeem that voucher any time throughout the coming year. Yes, they can wait until they’re ready for you in 2019. But if they do, they’ll pay 20% more. You get the money coming in now, they get the discount on something they’ll need later. (Just remember to budget and plan for the fact that you’ll be providing the service later without the money coming in!) 3. Put Together a Personal Holiday Video No matter what your religious beliefs are, the holidays are the perfect time to get personal. People crave a feel-good, human story around this time. And there’s no better way to connect personally than through video. It doesn’t have to be professionally done, and thinking that it does is what will keep 99% of your competition from doing it. In fact, it’s better if it’s not perfect, that’s what makes it personal. Consider a behind the scenes video of how you manage your business (which can be quite funny for moms!), a story about your family’s holiday traditions, or even a sneak peek at how you plan to serve your customers in bigger and better ways in 2019. No, you don’t have to be in it, but if you’ll get over yourself for just a minute and at least make a little personal appearance, your audience is bound to love it as much as you hate it. Post the video on social media and send it to your email list. Send it personally to those you really want to reach. 4. Plan Your Social Media Rather than just disappearing, or posting some random obligatory pictures of the school play, your fresh-cut tree, and your best attempts holiday baking, keep your business hat on by creating content now to either post manually or, better yet, load into Buffer (or the service of your choice) for automatic posting while you shop, bake, and wrap. Yes, it will take some extra time now, but it will be so worth it. Remember, people are likely spending a little extra time on social media sharing pictures and stories. If they see you out there joining in the fun, they’ll remember you, and their know/like/trust for you will grow. Make sure you set aside a few minutes to respond to comments, and engage, but that’s the easy stuff compared to content creation. Also, pay special attention to Pinterest. Everyone goes there for some type of holiday inspiration. 5. Open Some Time on Your Calendar Yes, we’ve already decided you don’t really want to work over the holidays, but could you do just 5-6 hours a week those last two weeks in December? Sure you could if it meant going into the New Year with no Christmas debt! Open up your calendar for new client calls or consults or whatever is relevant to getting you business. Maybe it’s just a check-in session, or a jumpstart to 2019 where you brainstorm the New Year and how you can help your prospect be more successful. The point is, you’re going to be the only one talking to your client or potential client during this time. And a lot of people have some extra time off around the holidays, a lot are planning for 2019 right now. It’s the perfect time to establish you as the one who’s going to help with whatever product or service you provide. If nothing else, it’s going to make you memorable, which is half the battle in business. Planning is the Key to Profitable, Stress-Free Holidays You wouldn’t sit down on Wednesday night and start meal planning and making your grocery list if you were serving Thanksgiving dinner for 20 the next day. Don’t take a fly by the seat of your pants approach to your marketing either and December can be your best month ever, and can set you up for an easy flood of business after the New Year. It’s easier to connect over the holidays because most people aren’t, and when you’re getting personal, a little bit goes a long way. You don’t need a complicated marketing funnel to make a significant impression. Take an hour to think about your unique business and your unique story. These five ideas will get you started, but what personal, yet simple, ways can you come up with to keep your business strong over the holidays without sacrificing your holiday cheer? As you hopefully know by now, if you want mentoring for your entrepreneurial journey, Kids Party Characters owner Cheryl Jacobs may be able to help. Cheryl started out as a single mom needing to feed two small kids, and has now had a hand in starting 10 different businesses. To help cut out the learning curve and meet the time constraints most moms have, Cheryl has created a unique opportunity that allows you to have your own Kids Party Characters business, complete with all the resources Cheryl used to grow her business to six figures. In addition to an exclusive territory in which to book parties and the right to use our 200-plus costumes, you’ll also get step-by-step training from Cheryl on how to set your business up for quick profits. Book a free, no-pressure chat with Cheryl right here and she’ll answer all your questions and get you on the right path. Learn more about the joy we bring to children’s parties by connecting with Kids Party Characters on Facebook for daily updates, including our best tips for building a successful business while raising happy and healthy kids.

We Are Open For Business Your character visits are back in service. After a 3 month vacation during which we took the time to reinvent our company, sew & clean ...all of our costumes we are back in service. All entertainers will be wearing masks to ensure the safety of everyone through this time. We encourage keeping all parties small to give the attention to the special child & their family & closest friends. We have also added Drive-By packages as our lockdown specials. We look forward to celebrating life with you and your loved ones through this difficult time. Visit our website to see all the exact costumes, Vending machines & bouncy houses we have available to make your party memorable. KidsPartyCharacters.com 917-687-5745 Bringing Children's Imagination to Life

10 Ways to Teach Your Kids About Veterans Day The United States has been observing Veterans Day in some form since Germany signed an armistice with the Allies d...uring the First World War on November 11, 1918. Now that it’s a federal holiday, many schools are out and it’s a welcome break between Halloween and Thanksgiving. But what does it mean to observe a holiday when they’re becoming more synchronous with sales than symbolism? This year, honor our veterans by engaging in one of these ten activities to teach your kids about Veterans Day. 10 Ways to Teach Your Kids About Veterans Day Attend a parade. Find a local parade in your newspaper or online. Make it a point to meet some of the veterans afterward and let your children interact with them. Encourage your kids to be reporters for the day and have them interview veterans if they’d like to share their story. Find an interested veteran and set up a time for your children to participate in the Veterans History Project. Led by the Library of Congress in conjunction with the AARP, this incredible initiative is capturing countless veterans’ personal accounts through crowdsourcing the interviews. Give thanks. Have your children draw a picture or write a thank you note to give to a veteran. This simple gesture lets our veterans know that their service is not forgotten and still appreciated. If you don’t know a veteran, use Operation Gratitude to deliver the message. Donate. Rather than just writing a check (which is also a great option), have your children research a veterans organization to donate to, and then have them raise the money to do so. Help your little ones with a coffee or hot cocoa stand or help them bake goods for a bake sale. Or, in lieu of money, donate time. Have kids rake leaves of a neighboring veteran, shovel a walk way or do a random act of kindness. Raise the flag. Our favorite tradition is to line the park near our house with flags and talk about the history of the day. Whether you decorate your neighborhood, walkway or just fly one in your yard, talk to your kids about what the colors mean and why it’s so important to respect those who have fought and continue to fight to defend them. Clean your house. Have your children go through their toys and clothes, and donate gently used items to your local Disabled American Veteran’s (DAV) chapter. Invite a Veteran. Have a veteran over for coffee, invite him or her to an outing with your family, or volunteer to bring him or her dinner one night. Have the kids design and deliver the invitation. If you’re serving a meal, let your children help you prepare it, and have them play waitstaff. Make poppies. While these signature flowers, made famous by the poem In Flanders Field, are often associated with Memorial Day, a bouquet of these beauties of remembrance would brighten any hospital room. Call your local VA medical facility to see what your family can do to cheer up patients. Sing a song. Teach your kids the words to the national anthem or God Bless America. If they’re feeling really ambitious, take them to a local VA facility to perform. Color. Print off Veterans Day coloring pages. Have your budding artists color a picture and give it to a Veteran as a thank you. Rally your community. For your community organizer, help him or her establish a Kids Thank a Vet (KTAV) Chapter in your area. Participating children think of ways to say thank you, from volunteering to writing poems. Whether your children commit to transcribing a veteran’s history or taking toys to the DAV, this year help them do more than just observe the holiday; help them honor it. Happy Veterans Day Despite is sad underpinnings, Veterans Day is a time for celebration and appreciation of life and country, not for mourning death. At KidsPartyCharacters.com, owner Cheryl Jacobs and all the team wish you and your family a safe and happy Veterans Day, and we can’t wait to see you at your child’s next party! Make sure you join us on Facebook to keep up with all that’s going on at KidsPartyCharacters.com.

7 Kid-Friendly Meals to Keep Your Family Warm We all like to stay warm in the winter, but did you know there’s more to it than just feeling comfortable? Keeping... our kids warm in the winter is important for their development, and as adults, you may be surprised to know we’re nicer people when we’re warm. Let’s start with our kids. When your child is cold, the energy that she should be using to develop her brain, heart, lungs, liver, and other essential systems is being used to heat her body. The most obvious effect of this energy reallocation can be seen on the immune system. While it’s true that being cold doesn’t cause colds, if the energy needed to protect and strengthen the immune system is instead given the task of keeping the body warm, the immune system becomes more susceptible to illness. When children are warm, they’re also observed to be more restful, less distracted, and better able to settle into themselves and be comfortable in their environment. Be careful not to judge your child’s warmth by how he feels to the touch. Because of kids’ accelerated metabolic rate, your child’s skin may feel warm when he’s actually cold. And while you certainly have to pick your battles, try to instill in your child a habit of wearing a coat. As parents, most of us have experienced the frustration of our kids wanting to be coat-free, and denying that they’re cold when that doesn’t seem humanly possible. Keep in mind that especially at a younger age, kids aren’t in touch with their bodies and really don’t have a good sense of how cold their body is. While keeping your child warm so her energies can be directed towards proper development is especially important for kids age seven and under, the positive effects of warmth continue into adulthood. For example, in a 2008 study published in Science, participants were asked to hold either a warm or cold object, and were observed after holding the object. Researchers concluded that physical temperature affected not just how we perceive others, but also our own behavior. According to the study, Physical warmth can make us see others as warmer people, but also cause us to be warmer more generous and trusting as well. So how do we accomplish warmth when the entire world around us is anything but? Dressing warm in layers, and providing physical warmth through hugs and positive nurturing should be part of the daily fall/winter routine, as well as providing warm comfort food for family meals, especially dinner. We at Kids Party Characters know how challenging it can be to provide any meal that all the kids will eat. So today we want to share with you seven kid-friendly warm recipes that are easy to make, easy to modify for your taste, and will make for warm tummies on those cold winter nights. 1. Quick Chicken Casserole: This one gets lots of points for being quick in terms of preparation. You can cook the chicken in advance if needed. It’s also flexible in that it allows you to use whatever vegetables you can get your kids to eat, and it’s easy to cut the vegetables up if necessary and hide them a little in the yummy sauce. It does cook for 45 minutes, but of course that’s free time for you to be cleaning up the kitchen, hanging out with your child, or whatever else the evening calls for. 2. Pumpkin Bean Soup: We’ve talked about the nutrition benefits of pumpkin before, and you can use fresh or canned pumpkin in this recipe with the same tasty results. You can also modify the vegetables to your liking, and make this a great vegetarian recipe simply by using vegetable stock rather than chicken broth. 3. Slow Cooker Mexican Quinoa Bake: Quinoa is a grain that’s packed with nutrition and is usually a kid favorite (or at least they don’t hate it!). This is a vegetarian recipe, but is hearty enough that the meat eaters won’t notice. It’s also easy to adjust the flavor to make it spicy, or not. And, as the name states, it gets major points for being a crockpot recipe that doesn’t require any additional ingredient prep outside the crockpot. Simply pour everything in and top it off with the cheese in the end. 4. Turkey Chili: Another easy one that’s packed with flavor, and easy to do your own thing with to fit your family’s tastes. It’s also nice when you get a late start because it only has to simmer for 20 minutes after you combine the ingredients. (Although you’ll love the enhanced flavor if you have a little more time). While its name doesn’t seem to be vegetarian-friendly at all, it’s easy to use a meat substitute and vegetable broth instead of chicken broth if you have a divided crowd. Don’t even tell the die-hard meat eaters, they’ll never notice. 5. Slow Cooker Cheesy Tortellini: Score for another crockpot recipe, and this one’s not a soup. It does call for ground beef, which you have to cook before combining all the ingredients in the crockpot, but you can always do that over the weekend, or whenever your easiest moments are. You can also substitute ground turkey if you’re health-conscious, or leave the meat out all together to create a vegetarian dish that won’t taste like it’s missing anything. 6. Slow Cooker Chicken Corn Chowder: While you have the slow cooker out, here’s another one that pretty much defines comfort food. The time-saving thing about this one is that you cook the chicken breasts whole in the crockpot and shred them with a fork after they’ve cooked. The flavor combinations in the one are wonderful, enough so that if you’re vegetarian, stick with the recipe and simply use more potatoes, substitute vegetable broth for chicken, and leave out the bacon. 7. Potato, Broccoli and Cheese Soup: You’ll need a little more time for this one, but it will be worth the work and you can make enough for leftovers. There’s nothing hard about it, but you do have to chop onions, lots of potatoes, and broccoli, as well as shred a good amount of cheese. If you have older kids, it’s a nice activity to sit around the table and have everyone pitch in on dinner to make things go faster and get in some good family chat time. Here are a couple of other time-saving tips for you. Don’t precook the broccoli, throw it in with the potatoes about five minutes before they’re tender. Also, don’t puree half the soup in the food processor, just take a potato masher to the pot before adding the cheese and mash the potatoes to your liking. It’s simple to make this one vegetarian by swapping out vegetable bouillon cubes for chicken. Connect With Kids Party Characters Get your winter off to a good start by focusing on warmth and introducing some (or all!) of these kid-friendly recipes into your dinner plans. And please join Kids Party Characters on Facebook for more tips on raising healthy and happy kids, as well as updates on the magic we bring to children’s parties. Book your next party at KidsPartyCharacters.com, where we have over 200 of the most popular characters waiting to become your child’s specially-invited party guest. And if there isn’t a Kids Party Characters in your area, consider starting your own. It’s easier than you think, and includes step-by-step training from Kids Party Characters owner Cheryl Jacobs. Check out the opportunity she has for busy moms who stay home with their kids or wish they did and schedule a free call with Cheryl right here to get all your questions answered.