Business, Marketing, and Life Advice for Play-Based Business Owners

2 Ways To Increase Cafe Sales At You Indoor Playground AND Reduce Staff Overwhelm!

Apr 04, 2022

One of the biggest reservations I hear from play space owners who are nervous to install a full cafe in their space is,

“well, I can’t afford to hire additional staff a cafe would require..."

If you haven’t listened to episode 55 of my podcast yet, go back and listen to it because I break down this objection in painstaking detail, but today I want to share two ways with you that you use to dispel this fear even further.

And just to recap ONE point from episode 55 in case you missed it, b...

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8 Reasons Why a Cafe is Essential for Maximizing Profits in Your Indoor Playground Business

Mar 30, 2022

Something I have learned from years of coaching indoor playground owners is that this type of business model operates the BEST when the owner feels truly aligned with their company, and when they set their business up in a way that amplifies their strengths and passions.

For example, Art Factory Play Cafe and Party Place is a perfect portrayal of owner Tal’s artistic gifts. At her facility, Tal combines art classes and DIY projects (for both children and adults!) with play and parties that

...
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3 Tips For Raising Your Prices At Your Indoor Playground Business (PLUS An Alternative Strategy!)

Mar 14, 2022

In the past I’ve talked about how to find potential opportunities to decrease some of your costs, especially if your business model has shifted at all since opening. Or if your volume is a little different than expected. 

However, what happens if you can't decrease a specific price? Even  worse, what if you are facing price increases? That's the situation, unfortunately, many small business owners in every industry, not just ours, are faced with as we go through 2022. 

While I was doing a litt...

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4 Marketing Lessons To Learn From Red (Taylor's Version) and Taylor Swift's Re-Records

Nov 11, 2021

 

Two of my most-downloaded episodes to this day are episodes 13: 13 Marketing Lessons To Be Learned From Taylor Swift and episode 39: 4 Marketing Lessons to be Learned from Taylor Swift’s Surprise Album Drop (referring to folklore, her first of TWO surprise releases).

For this reason (and also my sheer excitement) I figured I would give you MY take on business and marketing lessons we can all take away from Taylor swifts album re records, her second of which is coming TONIGHT (if you’re me, a...

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How Blogging Can Help Your Facility Book MORE Birthday Party Clients (With NO Ad Spend!)

Jun 03, 2021

As a local business owner, you’ve probably heard along the way that blogging can help you increase your website traffic.

And you’ve also probably thought… GREAT! I could use some extra traffic to my site for free. I’ll be sure to start blogging right away!

But you might have gotten stuck there. 

OR pushed blogging to the back-burner.

And I get it-- when I opened a brick-and-mortar indoor playground back in 2015 I told myself for YEARS that “as soon as I have time…” or “as soon as I have more...

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Why I Have Been Talking MEMBERSHIP Sites SO Much Lately (I Owe You An Explanation...)

Apr 15, 2021

I've gotten a couple questions lately about WHY I've been talking so much about membership sites lately...

After all, many people have come to my little corner of the internet because they had BIG brick & mortar business dreams.

So... why would I talk about creating an ONLINE membership all of a sudden?

Well, let me explain.

1. Opening a brick & mortar biz is harder than ever for some.

Funding is scarce, banks are more wary of providing loans to brick and mortar businesses given the recent ...

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7 Reasons YOU Should Consider Creating a Membership Site

Apr 09, 2021

Is it REALLY possible to build (or grow) a wildly-successful online membership business when the economy is unstable?

The answer is, ABSOLUTELY.

And THOUSANDS of entrepreneurs have done it, even during the past year, when many other businesses were slowing or even shutting their doors.

Listen, maybe you’re looking for a fresh start…

…you’re a business owner looking for a way to weather the economic ups and downs…

…or you’re an author, speaker, or coach who wants to stop the endless hustle, ...

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Just a Quick Story About Opening My First Indoor Playground Location

Jan 13, 2021

This isn't going to be my typical blog-- but I wanted to get this out there in case anyone needed to read it.

 

Around this time in 2015, I opened my first indoor playground location.

 

I am reminded every year by my memories that pop up on Facebook.

 

And in all those pictures of our first opening months, I am always smiling, playing with my children, greeting new customers.

 

But to be honest-- I get a knot in my stomach every time I look at them.

 

​​​​​​​​​​​​Because even though I ...

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How The Apple iOS 14 Update Will Effect Facebook and Instagram Ads (And Other Paid Traffic Sources!) For Small Business

Dec 28, 2020

Prefer to watch & listen rather than read? Check out my YouTube video or my podcast episode about this topic.

If you are a business owner that runs any sort of Facebook or online ad-- you’ve likely heard of the “Apple V. Facebook” war, brought on by the newest iOS14 Apple device update that Apple will soon be pushing for all users.

 

So, what is this iOS 14 update? And Why does Facebook care?

 

Basically, Apple is making it a lot easier for people to opt out of data tracking. 

 

Data priv...

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4 Important Takeaways from a Google Ads Expert

Sep 09, 2020

Recently on my Podcast and YouTube channel I had the chance of interviewing Google Ads Expert (who I also happen to be married to!) Chris Caruana.

This is one of the most HIGHLY requested topics I get so it was great to get his take on many of the misconceptions out there around Google Ads, like that they are overly-complicated and are more expensive than other forms of advertising-- such as Facebook Ads, print ads, etc.

I decided to give a recap of some key takeaways that I got from my interv...

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Can I Send You My NEW Free 2024 "What's Working In The Indoor Play Industry" Guide?

I asked 11 Play Cafe Academy and Play Maker Society members what is working RIGHT NOW in their businesses to attract customers and grow sales. I want to send you their answers in my FREE newly updated 2024 "What's Working" Guide!