1 Mistake Stay at Home Moms Make

5 Reasons Having a Business Partner is a Good Idea

Like anything new, starting your own business can be a little (or a lot) scary.

What if you pour your heart and soul, along with a whole bunch of time and money, into it and you fail?

On the other hand, starting your own business is a very exciting time.

When you finally decide to take the plunge, it’s usually after many, many hours of dreaming, planning, and brainstorming about making something you’re passionate about into your life’s work.

One thing to consider amidst all these emotions is whether having a partner might benefit your business. 

Friends and family can certainly cheer you on and listen to your stories, but a partner actually walks the path with you, experiences the stories with you, and is just as invested in the outcomes as you are.

It’s a big decision, and a big step to take, but here are five reasons it could be a positive thing for your business.

1. Fun and Motivation

As humans we’re naturally wired to want to be around other humans.

Most everything is more fun when you have someone else to do it with.

Having a partner in your business gives you someone you can share the excitement with, someone who can push you to your full potential, and vice versa.

Having a partner also helps on those days when you just don’t feel like doing it.

Maybe you’re having a creative block, have too much going on with your kids, or are coming off a letdown in the business.

Your partner can help you break through all of these things by taking up some of the slack, or simply giving you a little pep talk.

2. Accountability

When it comes to getting anything done, research always shows that people benefit from being accountable to someone else.

So when you don’t feel like writing that new sales page for your business and you’re working alone, there’s a good chance it won’t get done.

But if you’ve set a meeting with your partner to review it at 10:00 a.m. tomorrow, there’s a great chance that it will get done.

Having a partner almost guarantees increased productivity in your business.

3. Increased Capital

When you bring on a partner in your business you now have not only your money to work with, but hers too.

In business, the old saying, “it takes money to make money” is certainly true.

Sure, you can start with little to nothing and build things up over time, but the more money you have to put into your business, the quicker you’re going to be able to do effective marketing, purchase helpful equipment, pay outsourcers to do things beyond your skill set, and take on other expenses that will help grow your business.

4.  One + One = 100

In math, one + one = two, but in business the results are dramatically better.

It’s impossible to define exactly what goes on when two people partner up in business, but you find that instead of just being able to get twice the amount of work done, your output skyrockets as if you were a much larger team of people.

Basically, adding just one more person to your business is a multiplier.

And we’ve all had days when we wish not only could we clone ourselves, but that we really need four, or five, or even six of those clones.

With a partner, this dream comes true, and yet it’s even better.

Getting another you is nice, but what if you could get another you who had different skill sets than you had?

Suddenly not only are your bases covered, but so are others that were previously beyond your talents.

The power of brainstorming and implementing with another person who is just as invested in the business as you are is perhaps the best reason there is to consider bringing on a partner.

5. Larger Network

They say in business it’s who you know, and that’s true on many levels.

When you have a partner, you are increasing the network of people available to help in some way with your business.

Perhaps most importantly, you’ve increased your potential customer base, since people who already know, like, and trust you make great first customers as your business is starting.

And since not everyone you know will be your ideal client, your existing network is also a great place to seek referrals to people who may be a good fit for what you offer.

In addition to increasing your potential customer and referral base, your partner may know someone who’s an expert in an area you need help in, may have a relationship with someone who can give you a discount on a needed business service, or may have a friend who can get you in an otherwise closed door of some kind.

The thing about tapping into your network is you often find advantages in knowing others that you never would have expected or looked for.

The bigger your network is, the more chances you have to reap these often unforeseeable benefits.

One Big Reason You Should Proceed With Caution

Having a business partner can mean rapid growth for your business and can make things a lot more fun from the beginning, but it’s best to think things through and talk things through long and hard before going down this path.

Because chances are, at some point, the business relationship is going to end.

And it’s easy to be excited and see all the great possibilities in the beginning, and to ignore the “what ifs.”

But you have to consider from the beginning, what if the business fails?

What if one partner loses interest or has to change direction for some reason?

And the “what ifs” that you can’t predict are even harder because they’re impossible to plan for.

You don’t want to risk losing a friend, or having some messy legal battle if the business ends and you can’t agree on things.

At the very least, you need to talk about the “what ifs” and plan to the extent that you can how you’ll deal with it if one person wants out.

Are you 50/50 partners? Who makes decisions and what do you do if there’s disagreement?

Brainstorm as many unhappy scenarios as you can think of and make sure you and your potential partner have the same business philosophy so you can face challenges and hurdles together.

It’s easy to share in the good, but sharing in the bad can lead to the demise of your business if you don’t have a plan.

Partner With Kids Party Characters

Kids Party Characters offers an exciting opportunity to partner with us and start your very own Kids Party Characters business.

The great thing about this opportunity is it comes with all the rewards of partnership, but none of the risks.

While your business is all yours from the financial and decision-making side of things, Kids Party Characters owner Cheryl Jacobs will be by your side providing everything you need to get started in your business, as well as training and support along the way.

Membership with Kids Party Characters is the perfect path if you’re a new entrepreneur, as we provide everything you need to get started, including access to our 200+ costumes, as well as our casting director and acting coach.

You’ll also get an exclusive territory in which to book parties, and business training and support from Cheryl Jacobs and the Kids Party Characters team that will show you step by step how to get started.

If you think this could be the right opportunity for you, book a free, no-pressure chat with Cheryl right here and she’ll get all your questions answered.

If you want to learn more about Kids Party Characters and the magic we bring to children’s parties, connect with us on Facebook for daily updates.

Should You Stop Telling Your Child No?

As parents, there are days when it feels like our sole jobs are to tell our kids “no” and be the resident short order cook, responding to constant cries of, “I’m hungry.”

If you haven’t noticed how often you say no to your child, make a project out of it some day. 

Just carry around a pad and a pencil and make a hash mark each time you hear the word no come out of your mouth.

Certainly there are good reasons to say no, tons of them.

No, you can’t stick a fork in the wall outlet, or put your hand on top of the stove burner right after I remove the hot pan. 

The natural inquisitiveness of a toddler makes at least half of what they do a “no” all day long.

As our kids get older, “no” remains a necessary response when they want to do bodily harm to a sibling, eat ice cream for dinner every night, and stay up until 2:00 a.m.

For most parents then, it feels like “no” is just a necessary part of parenting, like we’d be doing our kids a disservice if we weren’t telling them no all day long.

And while of course they’re going to have to hear it way more than they want to, it’s time to stop and think about the effect it’s having on our kids to be shot down repeatedly day after day.

This is something we can relate to as adults. 

How would you feel if your boss constantly shot down every idea you had and every project you completed?

Or if your spouse said, “no, I don’t believe you can do that,” when you tried to lose weight, take up a new hobby, or start your own business.

Being told “no” over and again can be seriously deflating.

And like it or not, as parents we play the number one influencer in the self-esteem and self-identity our children develop.

So when your child is constantly hearing “no,” he starts feeling like everything he does or wants to do is wrong or bad in some way.

This can lead to a lifetime of limiting beliefs about himself that just aren’t true, as well as a reluctance to try new things, dream big, and be confident.

What’s Better Than No?

How do we keep our kids from hurting themselves or making unacceptably bad choices while at the same time instilling in them that they are great human beings capable of being anything they want to be in life?

It basically just requires that we choose different words, and take a little more time with our children. 

Here are some alternatives that will drastically reduce the number of times you hear yourself saying no to your child.

Set Your Home Up for Fewer Nos

This one will cover the younger, inherently curious and busy kids.

Do some rearranging so the areas your little ones frequent are safe zones.

Have one kitchen cabinet that has all non-breakables in it, so you can direct your child to that cabinet when she feels like dismantling the kitchen.

Cover your wall sockets, keep breakable and dangerous items out of reach, pad the sharp corners.

Basically just do a little childproofing and creative arranging so there aren’t so many “nos” staring your toddler right in the face.

Reframe Your Words

This really just involves saying no in more positive words.

Instead of saying, “don’t run in the store,” try “please walk."

“Don’t go in the street” becomes “please stay on the sidewalk.”

“Stop throwing your food” can be “please help mommy by throwing that in the sink.”

Just stop for a minute and think, can I guide my child by telling her the right way to do this, rather than telling her she’s wrong?

Before long, it will become habit and you won’t have to think before framing things positively.

Another big advantage to using “no” and other negative language sparingly is that when you do have to yell, “don’t run across the street!” because a car is coming, your child is more likely to actually listen to you rather than thinking, “oh that’s just mom, she’s always telling me no.”

Offer Alternatives

Clearly, there are going to be things your child does or wants to do every day that are just not okay.

Before just giving her a flat out “no,” consider whether you can offer an acceptable alternative.

It’s not okay to pour water on your plate at the restaurant, but you can play in the bath or sink when we get home.

No, you can’t stay up until midnight because you have school tomorrow, but let’s watch a show together or play a game together before you go to bed.

The alternative may not be your child’s first choice, but try to make it something she’ll enjoy and that will soften the pain of the no.

Give Explanations

Giving explanations for the no can help your child understand that it isn’t a reflection of him being bad or wrong in any way. 

When you say, “No, you can’t come in the kitchen, I’m making dinner,” it may leave your child feeling like you don’t want to be with him.

Explaining, “Mommy would love to spend time with you right now, but I’m making you dinner and the oven is very hot so I’d like you to stay out so you don’t get burned,” sends an entirely different message.

You can even slide an alternative in here too, and say, “I’ll read a book to you as soon as I’m finished.”

Simply Opt for More Yeses

Sometimes what’s best is just to turn a few of those automatic nos into a yes.

Maybe gathering a bunch of random ingredients from the pantry and mixing them all together then stirring in some blue food coloring creates a little bit of a mess and is a complete waste of time in your eyes, but so what?

If it makes your child happy and it doesn’t hurt anyone else, why not just say yes sometimes?

No one ever died from eating ice cream for dinner, why not say yes to that request once in awhile? 

You’ll have to make it clear in this yes that they can’t get away with this one very often. But that’s okay, you can give explanations and offer alternatives rather than just a hard no!

One mom decided to experiment with this concept by saying yes to everything her kids wanted for a week, (with some clearly defined exceptions of course).

The result? She discovered that for the most part, the things her kids asked for “revealed a desire to help, play, be seen, be independent, and responsible.”

She concluded that “saying yes allowed them to grow into themselves, helped me to lighten up and relax as a parent, and also offered up new opportunities for us to connect, play, and bond.”

Her article on the experiment is called I Worried I Was Saying No to My Kids Too Much. So I Did a Secret Experiment. It’s worthy reading  for all parents. 

One automatic “yes” that will bring a smile to your child’s face and joy in her heart is her request to book KidsPartyCharacters.com for her next party.

With over 200 characters to choose from, it’s almost a guarantee that we’ll have your child’s favorite. 

We’ll also bring along face painting, balloon twisting, and cotton candy if she’d like.

Next time your only option is “no,” try finishing that sentence with “but yes, you can invite Kids Party Characters to your next birthday party,” and chances are she’ll forget all about that “no” in an instant.

Find out more about the magic we bring to children’s parties by joining us  on Facebook for daily updates.

3 Good Reasons to Have Your Birthday Party at Home

Backyard birthday parties with all of your family and friends are becoming a thing of the past for many kids.

The trampoline parks and other action/adventure hangouts are taking over the birthday party business.

And they’re an easy sell at first glance because, presumably, you don’t have to do anything but show up with a cake and they do all the rest of the work.

While kids undoubtedly enjoy these parties, before mindlessly booking one for your child’s next birthday, consider three reasons why it benefits your child, her guests, and you to go the “old-fashioned” route and host your party at home.

It’s Unique

The popularity of the adventure park birthday party means your kids are basically attending the same party over and over again.

Sure, the cake may be different, but everything else is the same.

You start out with some free play time where you jump, climb, fly, play dodge ball, and ride in cars. 

You follow that up with a designated period of time in the party room where you’ll have cake, maybe some cheap pizza if you purchased the “deluxe” party package, and a quick unveiling of presents before everyone is rushed out the door so the next party can get in.

The only way to have any unique touch at the adventure park is to haul everything you want in the party room there and back, at which point you might as well have stayed at home.

And, many of the places that provide a readymade party experience have strict limitations on what you can bring in anyway.

By hosting your party at home, of course there are no limits to what you can do and when you do it. 

You can provide a nice healthy variety of snacks the kids can enjoy throughout the party, you can naturally move from one activity to the next when the kids are ready to do so, not when the schedule dictates, and you can provide decorations and any other special party activities that meet your child’s individual interests and requests.

When you invite your child’s guests into your home, you’re creating an opportunity for unique lasting memories rather than an experience that, although fun, will blend together with the six other similar parties they attended this year.

It’s Cheaper

Having your child’s birthday outside the house quickly becomes very expensive.

The heaviest expense is generally the facility rental, which usually starts at around $250.

And then of course if you’re a good parent, you’ll be swayed into the super deluxe ultimate experience package that can be $500 or even more.

Many places don’t let you bring in your own food, so you’re forced to purchase pizza and drinks that are of lower quality than what you’d provide at home but cost twice the price.

Not only is your home free for you to use, and comes with whatever economical and yummy food options you choose, but it also allows you to invite as many friends and family members as you want to the party.

When you choose to celebrate at the adventure park, your child is forced to either choose his 10 closest friends to invite, or you’re forced to pay an additional $10-$25 per child above the number included in your party package.

Can you spend more on your at-home party? Of course you can.

But the budget is totally in your control and you’ll get more for your money.

In addition, simple is often better, and this is a great way to show your child that what’s really important about his party is the time he gets to spend with friends and family, rather than all the blitz and bling he may initially crave.

It’s More Fun

Yes, your kids love the trampoline and other adventure parks, but really, they can do those any day.

Kids have an initial excitement about adventure park birthday parties because it’s a known. 

When it comes to having the party at your house, they don’t know whether they’ll be entertained.

With just a quick Google search and a little bit of planning, you can provide activities and games at your child’s party that her guests have never experienced before.

And, your guests have a chance to all participate in these activities together, as opposed to the large adventure park where kids can run in separate directions and not see other party attendees the entire time they’re there.

As mentioned before, you’ll also have more options to provide different foods kids love throughout the party.

Most kids love to snack, and being able to graze and refuel throughout the party will make the kids happy.

One of the biggest factors that will make your at-home party more fun is the lack of a fixed schedule. 

As moms we can sense when kids are ready for a change. 

Rather than being pulled away from the ball pit at the height of the fun because it’s your only chance to use the party room, you can go with the flow at your at-home party and spend as much or as little time on each activity as the kids’ interests demand. 

It Can Be Just as Easy With Kids Party Characters

You may be convinced that your at-home party would be unique, cheaper, and more fun, yet still be thinking, “I just don’t have time for all that.”

There’s no getting around the fact that it will take a bit more time and effort on your part to host the party at your house.

Although, if you’ve ever done one of these adventure park parties, you know there somehow ends up being a lot more work involved than you first imagined.

Your child is undoubtedly worth a little extra effort on her birthday, and if you do some pre-planning, her in-home birthday party can run surprisingly smoothly. (For tips on how to plan your party, check out Your Child’s In-Home Birthday Party Checklist.) 

And, when you book your party through KidsPartyCharacters.com, you’ll truly find it’s just as easy as taking the party outside the house.

Why? Because Kids Party Characters does all the heavy lifting for you. 

Your child’s favorite character shows up and puts on a show for her and her guests. We’ll also bring cotton candy, face painting, and balloon twisting if that’s her thing.

Our full service parties allow you to sit back and enjoy the entertainment with your child, rather than being the entertainment yourself.

Check out our packages and book your next party today at KidsPartyCharacters.com.

And if there isn’t a Kids Party Characters near you, consider starting your own!

Owner Cheryl Jacobs is offering a limited number of licenses that allow you to have an exclusive territory to book parties, and access to everything we have in our established Kids Party Characters business.

This is a great opportunity for stay at home moms, and doesn’t require any business experience or training. In fact, personal business training from Cheryl is included in your Kids Party Characters license.

If you’re curious about this opportunity, book a no-pressure chat with Cheryl right here and she’ll give you the full details and answer all your questions.

You can also learn more about Kids Party Characters by connecting with us on Facebook for daily updates.

How 2 Be a Positive Influence in Your Childs Life

For all episodes subscribe to our podcast @ https://bit.ly/KidsPartyCharactersPodcast

Does My Business Need a Blog

Does My Business Need a Blog?

When you think of starting a traditional business, the things you’ll need for your business are pretty obvious. 

Basically, you’ll need a building, equipment and supplies, product, employees, and a marketing plan.

When it comes to starting your online business, things aren’t quite so clear. 

Fortunately, you won’t need all the things that make a new brick and mortar business financially impossible for most of us.

One of the questions that comes up a lot from new online business owners is do I need a blog?

In fact, for some people the thought of having a blog can be a barrier to taking the leap into entrepreneurship.

Blog-style writing doesn’t come naturally to most people, and the worry of, “What would I write about?” causes many to resist even attempting to blog.

Happily, the answer is no, your business doesn’t have to have a blog.

The nice thing about business opportunities today is that with an internet connection and an email address, you can start most any business.

Of course it’s not ideal, but sometimes you do what you have to do!

Having told you that you don’t have to have a blog for your business, it is an easy and cheap way to build your business when you are unknown in your market and don’t have a big advertising budget.

If that describes you, or if you’re just looking for another great way to grow your business, consider these five reasons blogging is the ideal solution.

1. Establishes Credibility

Blogging is where you show your prospects that you know what you’re talking about and should be a trusted expert in your field.

When people see you blogging consistently and providing relevant information to your industry, they come to know you as a “real” business and not just a self-proclaimed expert trying to make a buck.

Blogging is really free advertising for your business, but it’s even better than traditional paid advertising because it sells your business in a non-salesy and no-pressure way.

Instead of taking out an ad that says, “my company is the best, buy from me,” you’re simply educating your prospect and letting her move herself towards a desire to work with you.

2. Builds Relationships and Tells Your Story

More and more, business is about relationships. You’ve probably heard that people buy from people, not companies, because it’s true.

When you’re consistently talking with your prospects and customers through the blog, they’ll begin to feel like they know you. 

The ones that like you will grow to trust you and boom, you have a customer for life.

Building relationships with your blog goes beyond just educating people and building credibility.

Your blog is the place where you can share your stories with people, and put a human face on your business. 

You decide how deep you want to go here, but sharing a personal story about your kids, your crazy life, or the backstory of your business allows people to relate to you, and can build trust quicker than anything.

3. Provides Social Media Content

Naturally your business will have some presence on social media. 

We are at the point where it’s nearly literally true that everyone is on social media.

But a common struggle for business owners is not knowing what to post on social media day after day after day . . .

Blogging does you the favor of “killing two birds with one stone” (wish there was a gentler analogy to use there but you get the point).

When you write a blog post, the post itself can be shared on social media in an effort to bring in more blog readers.

Even better, because your blog posts will be longer than your social media posts generally are, you can break down one blog post into a week’s worth of content if you want to.

And your blog content can be modified to fit all your social media channels, whether it’s Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, or even YouTube where you can turn your content into slides.

It’s important to be consistent on social media but keeping up can be time consuming. Blogging solves 90% of that problem for you by allowing you to simply modify and post content you’ve already created.

4. Effective List Builder

Social media is great, but there’s truly nothing better than having your own email list of people who have invited you to appear in their Inbox. 

In terms of actually creating sales, you’ll find your email list more responsive than your social media contacts, in most cases.

Your blog is an easy, hands-off method for list building. 

On the top or sidebar of your blog and even at the end of each post you can invite your readers to sign up for your email list so they never miss a post.

You can also let them know you share content with your email list that’s your best stuff and not available to everyone else, and/or offer a relevant free gift in exchange for them signing up for your list. 

Having a blog puts the offer to sign up to your list in front of your readers every time they come to your blog, which means you’ll be building a list of your biggest fans that you can email at any time.

5. Easy to Monetize

While not everyone chooses to monetize their blog, it’s easy to do and at least something to think about for the future.

There are two easy ways to monetize your blog. 

First, you can recommend products within your blog posts that will pay you a commission when someone clicks the link in your blog and buys the product.

The easiest example of this is Amazon, where you could recommend a good book you’re reading, put the Amazon link in your blog post, and earn a little money for each person that follows your recommendation.

The commission you earn may not seem like a lot a first, but it can certainly add up when you continue to recommend relevant products and services to your readers.

Second, once your blog becomes popular you can start selling advertising. You’ve probably seen ads at the top and on the sidebar of some blogs you’ve visited.

You control the advertising and where it’s placed on your blog so you can make sure you’re only letting in reputable services you’d recommend to your readers. 

This is a completely passive way to earn money from your blog and again, it can really add up.

Need Help Starting Your Business?

Hopefully blogging sounds good to you now, at least in theory. We love our Kids Party Character blogs and the people it’s allowed us to connect with.

If you have questions about blogging, or any other aspect of starting or growing your own business, Kids Party Characters owner Cheryl Jacobs is happy to answer them and to help get you started down the road to successful entrepreneurship.

In an effort to cut down the learning curve for new and busy entrepreneurs, Cheryl’s created a membership opportunity with KidsPartyCharacters.com.

Membership gives you full business training and support from Cheryl and the Kids Party Characters team, as well as the right to use our 200+ unique costumes, an exclusive area in which to book parties, and access to our casting director and acting coach.

If you’re looking for a business that’s essentially ready to launch today, or even if you just have more questions and aren’t ready to commit to anything, schedule a no-pressure chat with Cheryl today right here, and let her walk you through what’s best for your life.

If you want to know more about KidsPartyCharacters.com and the magic we create in children’s lives, join us here on Facebook for daily updates.

Is Teaching Your Child Failure the Key to Success?

Somewhere in the not so distant past, we as a society decided that it wasn’t okay for our kids to fail. 

Everyone has to be a winner, whether that means getting a medal for participating (we’ve previously talked about the flawed logic behind the participation medal), youth sports games where no one keeps score, or elementary schools that require every kid in the class be invited to any birthday parties that take place.

The idea behind this seemingly positive gesture of insulating kids from feeling like failures was obviously a well-intended one.

We want our kids to have positive self-esteem and a confident self-image. 

Because if they don’t, they’ll always be afraid to try new things, they’ll never reach their full potential, and will go through life feeling as if they’re not good enough.

While the goal of raising kids full of self-esteem and armed with a positive self-image is a great one, trying to accomplish it by pounding our kids with how great they are and never letting them taste failure inevitably creates the opposite result.

Fact is, humans aren’t born knowing how to deal with failure. Those connections are only made in the brain as we problem solve and work through challenges and difficult situations.

And when “helicopter mom” swoops in to save us every time she smells a whiff of failure in the air, our brains never become equipped to handle failure, work through it, and come out better because of it.

The problem of course is that avoiding failure for our entire lives is impossible. 

And the ill effects of a generation of participation medal kids who are now reaching college is being recognized by the schools they attend.

Over the past five years or so, college students are exhibiting increased levels of emotional dependency, anxiety, and depression.

Researchers have concluded that one of the biggest contributing factors to the deficits we’re seeing in college students’ emotional readiness to enter into the adult world is overcontrolling parents who are misguidedly hoping to help their children succeed by going to any level to protect them from even the smallest of failures.

Interestingly, if you’ll look into the background of the most successful adults you’ll nearly always see a road behind their success that was filled with bumps and potholes.

And in talking to these same people, they’ll tell you that it was their failures that enabled them to eventually build the successful life they now lead.

The question then is this: As parents, how do we allow our kids to experience the right amount of failure? Just enough to build the brain power they need to handle life, yet not enough that results in them giving up and deciding they can’t do anything well.

  

While there is no one size fits all solution, kids have different temperaments and will inherently handle failure differently, there are four ways we can work to help our children successfully fail.

Stop it With All the Praise

When you constantly tell your child “good job,” and pump her up with compliments you risk her becoming dependent on the praise and requiring positive external feedback to feel valued.

One big key here is that you want to be praising effort and not outcome.

A telling example is seen in a study done by Carol Dweck, a pioneer in the area of mindset.

Dweck gave two groups of fifth grade students puzzles to complete. One group was told “You must be smart at this,” when completing the puzzles.

The other group was told, “You must have worked really hard,” when they completed the puzzles.

When the students were unable to complete more difficult puzzles, they were given easier ones again.

The “smart” group did 20% worse on the easier puzzles than they initially had, while the “hard working” group did 30% better.

Researchers concluded that the “smart” group was discouraged by their failure at the harder puzzles, while the “hard workers” had learned that they were hard workers and therefore kept at the task.

Obviously you want to build up your child’s self-esteem, just be cautious of the words you use and don’t be afraid to acknowledge when things don’t go so great either, and to let your child know that’s okay too.

Always Find the Lesson in Failure

Work with your child to help him appreciate failure.

Another downside of our everyone-and-everything’s-a-success mindset is that it makes kids see failure as a 100% bad event and deprives them of the very positive lessons that come from failure if you only know how to look for them.

Remember, kids weren’t born thinking failure is a bad thing. If they were, none of us would have ever persisted long enough to learn how to walk.

When your child’s experienced a “failure,” whether it be in sports, school, or socially, he often won’t want to hear your “stupid lessons” over his tears of disappointment.

Share them anyway, maybe after he’s calmed down a bit.

You may not think he’s taking them in or getting anything from them, but he will internalize them and use them, maybe even subconsciously, to learn that success is often at the end of a string of failures.

And, that what seems like a failure today might become the best thing that ever happened to him in retrospect.

Encourage Exploration

One thing several classroom teachers have noted is that many of their children display a fear of failing when it comes to class participation and activities.

As parents, we tend to encourage our kids towards things we think they can be successful at.

The activities we choose may not always be the ones our kids are interested in, or may not capture all of their interests.

Your child will naturally gravitate towards certain hobbies, activities, clubs, and subjects in school. Encourage her to get involved in whatever she expresses an interest in.

Make sure she knows she doesn’t have to be the best at anything. 

The test of whether she should do it is whether it makes her happy.

She may enjoy gymnastics but share none of the Olympic aspirations many of her fellow young gymnasts have.

That’s okay, let her explore what she’s interested in and stick with the things she likes.

With some kids, you can’t find enough hours in the day for all they want to be involved in. 

But with many, it will take your encouragement and active participation to get your child to voice what her interests are and actually walk into that first class despite all the unknowns in her head.

Be a Good Role Model

If you haven’t already figured this out, your kids soak up everything you say and do, even though they often try to pretend they’re paying no attention to you and would rather die than be like you.

How you handle failure in front of your children is crucial.

When you pull into the grocery store parking lot having left your purse at home on the kitchen counter, your first reaction may be to mutter something like, “I’m so stupid.”

As an adult, you know this mishap doesn’t actually make you stupid.

But when your child witnesses that, he thinks, “Boy, if that makes mommy stupid, I must really be stupid when I do X, Y, or Z.”

And when your child then forgets something, his natural reaction will be to think, "I'm stupid."

Choose your words carefully, and do vocalize them to your children. 

Say something like, “Silly mommy, I was in a hurry and forgot my purse. It’ll just take 10 minutes to run back and get it.”

Don't put too much pressure on yourself to be the perfect parent, but do own up to how important your role is in helping your child develop his self-esteem, self-confidence, and self-image. 

And when you do want to feel like the perfect parent, come on over the KidsPartyCharacters.com and book your child's next birthday party.

With over 200 characters to choose from, along with all the most-loved party activities like face painting, balloon twisting, and cotton candy, treating your child to a Kids Party Characters party is one thing you can't fail at.

Also connect with us on Facebook for daily updates on the magic we create at children's parties as well as tips and strategies for raising happy and healthy kids, even if they do fail sometimes!

Easy Ways to Grow Your Business with Video

Starting your own business would be almost easy if new businesses came readymade with customers.

No matter how great your product or service is, and how many people need and want it, if you aren’t able to get the attention of the right people and bring them through the door, you don’t have a business.

Sadly, businesses fail every day not because they have a bad product or service, not because it’s a product or service no one wants, but simply because many business owners aren’t natural marketers and haven’t figured out a plan to market their business.

If you have a passion for a product or service, but are uncertain how you’d sell it, using video in your marketing is a great solution.

Why video?

Because it’s one of the easiest, yet most overlooked ways to connect with your potential customers.

There’s a perception from the “old days” that video is hard.

That it requires some special knowledge and professional skills if you want to use it effectively.

Fortunately, video couldn’t be much easier these days, and if you’ll become one of the few who understands and implements this fact, it will give you an automatic advantage over your competition.

So let’s talk about what makes video so great, and then wipe away the three most common objections people have to using video.

Things You Might Not Know About YouTube

If you need to be convinced of the power of video, look no further than YouTube.

No, it’s not just the place your kids go to watch other kids make unboxing videos, play video games, and become millionaires doing stupid things in front of a camera.

YouTube is to video what Google is to search.

It’s the world’s second biggest search engine, behind Google, and has over 1.8 billion registered users.

And its user base is an active bunch, with 30 million daily viewers watching 5 billion videos a day.

Happily, there’s no signs of YouTube slowing down or drying up.

In fact, every minute more than 400 new hours of video are uploaded to YouTube, adding to the 1.3 billion videos, yes billion, that are already there.

Despite these mind-blowing statistics (which can vary a little depending on the source, but are pretty consistent), only 9% of small businesses use video.

If they knew that the number of channels earning six figures a year on YouTube continues to increase at a rate of 50% each year, more businesses would likely take the plunge into video.

Now that you know how great it is, let’s take care of the objections that are likely running through your head. 

Video’s Too Hard for Me

You may be thinking that’s fine for the younger crowd, but you know nothing about video.

How would you even make a video, you can’t afford studio time.

How would you even get that video uploaded to YouTube, you can’t afford any fancy software and wouldn’t even know the technical aspects of uploading video even if you could.

If you’ll spend just a few minutes searching around on YouTube, you’ll see that you don’t have to be a young hipster who grew up in the technology age, or a big company with lots of resources to conquer video.

Do you have a smartphone? Of course you do. 

Simply press record and start talking.

No special equipment is needed.

Just make sure you’re standing someplace that gives you decent lighting, that there’s no background noise, and that you’re speaking up.

The big thing that will make people click away from your video is if they can’t hear you.

Once your video is finished, head to YouTube.com, select upload video, and choose the video you just made to upload.

Even you can do it. And, you can do it today, not after completing some six week course on how to make a video.

But I’d Rather Die Than Be on Camera

Research consistently shows the biggest fear people have is public speaking.

If you listen to business owners, you’ll conclude that being on camera for anyone to see is certainly a close second when it comes to our fears.

Many people can’t imagine being on camera at all, while others would need a professional makeover and new wardrobe before every 2 minute video they shot.

The best advice here is to get over yourself and just do it. 

One of the most effective things you can do in marketing your business is let your potential customers get to know you. And what better way to do that than through video?

You obviously can’t have an in-person conversation with each person you’d like to reach, and video is the next best thing.

But if you can’t wrap your head around that in the beginning, don’t give up on video.

It’s also become easy to make videos without ever showing your face on the camera.

It’s going to take a little more time, but for some people it’s worth it.

You can use Keynote or PowerPoint, which almost certainly came preloaded on your computer, make slides and talk over the slides. 

There are also several services that continue to crop up for the camera shy that help you turn written materials into video, or to create animated videos that used to require a big budget and outside help.

If you’re interested in this option, check out Lumen5, Content Samurai, Powtoon, and Adobe Spark, which is the best free option available.

What Would I Say on Video?

Even if you’ve bought in to how easy it is to make video, and are either willing to put your face out there or to spend a few extra minutes learning how to make videos without your face, you may still be thinking, “What would I actually talk about on my videos?”

This is a pretty in-depth topic because, believe it or not, there are an endless number of things you can talk about.

But just to get you started, here are some ideas for your video content:

- Explain your product or service, and make new videos when you have changes, updates, and new offerings.

- Ask happy customers to do quick video testimonials. They can either just send you a video, or you can jump on Zoom and briefly interview them.

- Share your story. Customers love knowing who you are as a person, why you started your business, what your life looks like as a work from home business owners.

- Give helpful tips and strategies. One of your biggest jobs as a business owner is to give value to your potential customers so they’ll perceive you not only as an expert in your field, but as someone who wants to help. Jumping on for a quick 2 minute tip is one of the easiest ways to make a video.

Remember, we’re not talking about giving a lecture here. 

None of these videos should be long. Even if people love you, they’re busy and have short attention spans.

Two to Five minutes is a perfect length for your video.

Connect With Us at Kids Party Characters

At Kids Party Characters we love using video to show off our business and to provide value to our audience.

Connect with us on Facebook to see our videos in action or go straight to YouTube and watch there.

That’s another great thing about video, while YouTube is the hottest platform around, sharing videos on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter is also simple these days, which allows you to reach your market wherever they’re hanging out.

And if all of this sounds great but you’re still at the stage of just wishing you had a business to use video in, schedule a call with Kids Party Character’s owner Cheryl Jacobs.

Cheryl is offering a limited number of licenses to Kids Party Characters that is the perfect opportunity for stay and home moms or busy entrepreneurs looking for a second income stream.

With a Kids Party Characters membership, you’ll get an exclusive territory in which to operate your own Kids Party Characters business, and access to everything we already have developed for the business, including training and support, use of our 200+ costumes, and access to our casting director and acting coach.

Kids Party Characters membership is designed to cut down the learning curve and get you into a profitable business as soon as possible. Jump on a no-pressure chat with Cheryl right here and she’ll answer all your questions and help you figure out if this could be the right opportunity for your life.

Kids Party Characters is Coming Soon to Texas!

There’s something you may not have noticed about Kids Party Characters.

But if you’ll look closely at our website, Facebook page, or Instagram feed, you’ll discover that we’re not just Kids Party Characters, but Kids Party Characters Global.

And the “Global” part of our name is very intentional.

When owner Cheryl Jacobs first founded Kids Party Characters, her vision was not just to bring unique, quality entertainment that kids would remember forever to the New York/New Jersey area, but to make her company truly global.

We live in different parts of the country and the world, have different languages, customs, and skin colors, but one thing all kids share in common is a love for fun and laughter.

Cheryl recognized this from the beginning and saw that when it came to children’s entertainment, there was no one anywhere providing the totally magical experience that would leave kids with lifetime memories of their parties.

Once she had her business up and running close to home, Cheryl began to travel the country and the world, seeking other like-minded entrepreneurs who were passionate about providing quality kids entertainment.

What Happened in Houston

One of Cheryl’s stop was at the Houston, Texas franchise show, where she met Chevonte Marshall.

Chevonte is a single mom with a beautiful five-year-old daughter.

The Kids Party Characters opportunity grabbed Chevonte’s attention because of her experience trying to hire a princess to come to her own daughter’s party. Unfortunately, she couldn’t find anyone available to provide the perfect celebration she envisioned for her daughter.

Chevonte committed to do something about this, and we're happy to announce that she's the newest member of the Kids Party Characters family and will soon have her very own Kids Party Characters business in Houston, Texas.

Having her own Kids Party Characters business is Chevonte’s way of making sure no other family experiences her frustration and disappointment.

Chevonte’s deep in setting up her business and getting training right now, but look for her grand opening soon, as one of the upsides to owning a license to Kids Party Characters is we have everything in place and ready to go for you.

This Could be You Too

Another great thing about Kids Party Characters is that it’s one of those rare opportunities to fill a need that’s clearly out there but that no other company is meeting.

Usually, starting a successful business means entering a crowded market and fighting to win customers from other established businesses.

With Kids Party Characters, Cheryl has created such a unique experience that as a member you’ll be able to offer potential clients features that no one else has as your unique selling points.

What exactly do you get with a Kids Party Characters membership?

An exclusive territory in which to book parties. We won’t be allowing any other memberships in Chevonte’s Houston, Texas area, it’s all hers.

You also get the right to use our 200 plus unique, hand-sewn costumes, meaning you’re almost guaranteed to have the character any child would want.

Another unique benefit is the access you’ll have to our casting director and acting coach, which means you won’t be sending characters who sit in the corner at parties. Your characters will be trained professional entertainers.

Finally, you get ongoing business training and marketing help from Cheryl Jacobs and the Kids Party Characters team.

We won’t just throw you out there and say “good luck.” Cheryl is a long-time, successful serial entrepreneur. She’s gone through the trial and error it takes to learn how to build a successful business so that you won’t have to.

Cheryl’s created a step-by-step training course that shows you exactly how to start your new business and make money from the beginning.

If you’re interested in bringing joy to children in your area of the world, book a no-pressure call with Cheryl right here and she’ll answer all your questions and help you figure out if Kid’s Party Characters is the right opportunity for you.

Whether you’re an experienced entrepreneur looking for a second income stream, a stay at home looking for a business you can run from home, or a single mom like Chevonte looking to make a difference to children, your very own Kids Party Characters business could be just the answer you’re looking for. 

Set up your call today and let Cheryl help you get on the right track.

The Overscheduled Child Myth

If societal pressures have ever made you feel riddled with guilt as you pulled in the drive-thru to feed your child dinner at 8:30 p.m. on thre way home from soccer practice, you’re going to like this.

There was a time, one that many of you probably remember, when kids didn’t spend too much time in scheduled activities outside of school.

Kids would get their fill of sports and music and art at school, then come home and roam the great outdoors with their friends until mom called for dinner.

Everyone would enjoy a meal together at the family dinner table, and maybe watch a family TV show before retiring to bed.

Somewhere along the line we decided we had to keep up with the Chinese kids who were learning to play the violin at age 3, or get a jump on creating a sports star who could combat the rising costs of college with a full-ride scholarship by signing up for football by age 4.

Suddenly we had a generation of kids who were on the go every waking moment.

The result? All that time of free, unstructured, creative, imaginative play was suddenly gone.

As parents we were vilified for handing our child dinner to eat in the car on the way to practice, and for creating children who were as stressed about their after school schedule as a trauma surgeon in the ER following a mass disaster.

Where We Went Wrong in Thinking Schedules Are Bad

If there was a time when all the scheduled activities were robbing our children of their childhood, that time has passed.

Fact is, kids today spend the majority (if not all!) of their unscheduled time staring at a screen of some sort. 

Whether it’s TV, a cell phone, a computer screen, or a game console, some form of screen has replaced the magical memories of free time we likely have from our childhood.

And that type of down time is not better than just about any scheduled activity you could sign your child up for.

There’s no controversy in the research here. 

Children involved in outside activities reap positive social, behavioral, and psychological benefits from those activities.

Just a few of the benefits include supportive peer and adult relationships, increased self-esteem, a sense of purpose, development of future educational and occupational aspirations, and improvement in math and verbal skills.

On the other hand, screen time is anything but “down time.”

Studies show that screen time is stressful, anxiety-producing, addictive, and causes various development concerns due to the effect it has on your child’s brain.

Given the alternatives then, dinner on the go so you’re not late to piano lessons or lacrosse practice wins hands down over seeking a less scheduled life.

How to Determine Whether Your Child is Overscheduled

That’s not to say your child can’t be overscheduled.

Here’s some things to look at when determining whether you’re providing your child with the right balance. 

1. What’s your child doing when she’s not in a scheduled activity?

Maybe you are super mom and you and your super mom group of friends have managed to create an environment when your children are actually getting outdoors, engaging in free and creative play, and enjoying all the benefits of scheduled activities in an unscheduled environment.

If so, keep going and don’t feel any pressure to keep up with anyone else by finding more activities to fill the spaces.

Or maybe your child’s naturally the creative type and is a little introverted. She may find her own activities (with your encouragement) and not need a lot of outside scheduling.

But if the answer to this question is either she’s on a screen or wants to be on a screen, you don’t have over-scheduling problems for the reasons we’ve already talked about.

If your answer is the only time she’s not in a scheduled activity is when she’s sleeping, you may want to rethink at least one of those outside activities.

2. What’s your child’s attitude about her scheduled activities?

This is one of the biggest indicators of whether you’ve got too much going on.

If you’re always having to drag her to practice or nag her to practice her instrument at home, if she’s consistently complaining she’s too tired for her activities, then you’ve either got too much going on or she’s involved in the wrong things.

On the other hand, if she’s generally happy and excited to go, and you see her having a positive experience with her activities, then why mess with a good thing?

3. How many hours a week is your child spending on scheduled activities?

A 2008 report titled The Over-Scheduling Myth concluded that adverse effects from outside activities were seen when kids spent more than 20 hours a week on such activities, or participated in five or more activities simultaneously.

You can use this as a baseline for looking at your child’s schedule, but again, the most important indicator is whether she’s experiencing positive outcomes from her activities.

The study found that those who participated 10 hours a week or less almost always experienced positive benefits, and 15 to 20 hours of participation was “generally associated” with positive development. 

The Real Problem is Not the Scheduled Activities

Most likely, it’s not the activities themselves that are having a negative impact on our kids, but our attitudes towards these activities as parents that are leaving them as stressed out as if they’d just lost their last life in a Mario game.

When thinking about whether your child is overscheduled, take a close look at whether you’re putting too much emphasis on his success in the activity.

Maybe he just wants to play baseball for fun, not in hopes of being the next Babe Ruth.

Maybe it’s about the friendships and team building for him, and not whether his team wins the championship.

Maybe he’d like to pull out his trumpet at a party one day for fun, but has no aspirations of being part of the New York Symphony.

Let him decide his level of involvement and support him at that level.

Of course, you don’t want to waste your money if he’s never practicing that trumpet, and you can’t let him drag his feet through baseball practice to the extent that his laziness hurts his team, but that shouldn’t be a problem if he’s in activities he’s truly interested in.

How to Get the Most Out of “Down Time”

Hopefully after looking at your child’s schedule you can see she has more down time than you maybe thought when you were trying to figure out how to get her in bed before midnight.

Because most kids do keep pretty busy, down time remains a very important part of our kids' lives.

We’ve already talked about how screen time is the opposite of down time, yet it’s the preferred down time activity of the vast majority of kids today.

So how do we fight the losing battle of prying our children away from the screens?

Here’s a few tips:

1. Limit where your screens are

Don’t have a screen within arm’s reach at all times.

Follow the "out of site, out of mind" philosophy and either reduce the number of screens you have or put them up when you aren’t using them.

You don’t need a screen in the car. 

Make it a rule that the car is a screen-free zone. It’s one of the few times you have your child trapped and can almost force him to talk to you! 

Save those built-in DVD players for road trips if you absolutely must use them.

2. Have scheduled blocks for screen time

This avoids the constant battle of whether your child’s been on a screen too long.

Just like he has practice from 6-8, he can have screen time from 3-4.

Setting the expectations may be hard in the beginning, but once he’s used to it, treating screen time like any other scheduled activity won’t be a big deal and will cut down on most of the stress around this issue.

3. Provide Easy Alternatives

Keep other things to do readily available around the house.

Puzzle books, books to read, art supplies, whatever you can get your child interested in.

Have your child help you develop a stash of non-screen activities so he can’t discount the ones you come up with as boring.

The goal here is to never have your child say, “I’m bored and there’s nothing to do but play X-Box.” 

Always have another trick you can pull out of your closet or drawer to counter this argument.

Is Your Next Party on the Schedule?

One of the most important dates on the calendar for kids of all ages is their birthday.

At Kids Party Characters, we specialize in filling that day with fun and unique memories that will last a lifetime.

Although we do have over 200 characters for your child to choose from, the best way to guarantee that she gets the characters of her choice, and that we can provide one of our A-list actors to portray that character, is to get your party on your schedule and ours a good eight weeks before it happens.

Booking your party is simple. 

Head to KidsPartyCharacters.com, let your child choose her character(s) and any extras she wants, such as face painting, cotton candy, and balloon twisting.

Then give us a call and we’ll take care of the rest.

Also be sure to join us on Facebook for daily updates on all the magic happening at Kids Party Characters, as well as tips and strategies for raising happy and healthy kids.