The Santa and the Business of being Santa school (Also known as the SatBobS school) has begun its third year of operation. A traveling school I bring the education to your area saving you the cost of transportation, time and in many cases housing. In 2015 the SatBobS school drove through 17 states and held 10 classes.
Now I am working on the schedule for 2016. Had the first class in January in Sun City, California.

The class is presented over 2 days and includes 16 hours of lecture and full students receive all three textbooks totaling over 425 pages of material.
The cost of tuition is $225 per full student and sponsored students that share the books of the sponsoring student are $100. So a Santa with a sponsored Mrs. Claus would receive one full set of books to share and the cost would come to $325.

Returning students or any student that has any of the textbooks will receive a $50 refund/discount on their tuition. Sorry but the discount does not stack.
This Santa school addresses the fundamentals of being an independent contractor entertainer addressing the business end of being a Santa from how to negotiate a contract to taxes to expanding your market and includes examples.

The class goes on to cover the various connections you need to do the job well and easily, has some of the history of the character we call Santa and the formative influences that caused that character to form. How Santa has become a export back to the Old World and gives you some depth into the background of the character to help you portray him. Finally the class addresses performance and types of different performance classifications such as improv, story telling, magic, cooking, ...the list is rather extensive. Mrs Claus and elves are not ignored by any means! Profitable activities using these additional characters are discussed and in the case of Mrs. Claus several ideas on how to set up Mrs. Claus visits and activities that would have her out on her own performing in various ways. Included in the cost of tuition is several handouts, a diploma and for the full paid tuition student a complete set of text books for the class including :

Vol.1 Santa and the Business of being Santa 
The starter book for my class. Covers a little of everything.
173 pages

Vol.2 The Nuts and Bolts of being Santa 
The book that contains connections to the people and businesses that support us in doing this work including those that hire us. 
155 pages

Vol.3 Santa and the Performing Santa 
This book has performance tips, discusses performance Magic with an eye to fitting into a Santa visit. Story telling, Singing, Pay to Play contracts with an example, history of the Santa character and the different influences that caused the formation of the modern Santa.
217 pages

All it takes is 8 students to have me come out to your area and hold a class. That and someone that will help me with finding the venue to hold the class.