The Christmas Web – A Family Tradition… is a children’s book that tells the story of how Santa made it possible for four of his elves to help him with his Christmas deliveries, resulting in a family tradition that our family has had for the past 20 years. This Christmas I will be making our family tradition available to the world. Look for the Christmas Web in a store near you this Christmas season. I’ll be making our debut showing of the Christmas Web at the Americas Mart Gift Show in Atlanta July 13 – 17 2012.
Christmas Web – A Family Tradition
Self Publishing The Christmas Web
I retired in 2005 after selling my financial planning firm, I’ve set it up to provide my wife and me with a ten year payout so that we can travel and maintain our lifestyle. After the ten years we’ll live off our investments, social security and anything else that I have put in place over the first ten years of retirement. All was going well until the crash of 2008 which hit our retirement saving hard. This was the second time in less then 10 years that we’d seen a substantial reduction in our savings. I realized that I couldn’t depend on the stock market to provide us the return that we will need to maintain our lifestyle. We are both healthy and we could live another 20 to 30 years, I needed to find another source of continuing income.
I’d built the financial planning business from scratch so I figured I’d take a shot a building an Internet business. My daughter Shannon had lost her left foot to cancer and was continuing to battle cancer so I set out to build a website identifying the best doctors in the US, BestofUS.com.
Although I learned a lot about the medical profession and the Internet it never produced enough income to justify the effort of maintaining the website. Then during our Christmas celebration of 2010 I became aware of my grandchildren’s fascination with The Elf on the Shelf and the Magic Elf and the Christmas tradition that they had adopted.
My daughter, Shannon, reminded me that we had a Christmas family tradition and suggested that I write a children’s book about it and share it with the world.
As our children had grown older we found that their interest in Christmas morning had waned and the sparkle in their eyes was gone. So in 1992 Nita and I introduced them to the Christmas Web. When ou
The Christmas Web continued as each of our children got married and as they had children. We now have seven Magic Wands each with 70 yards of yarn winding through our house every Christmas Morning making getting a cup of coffee an acrobatic achievement before the winding begins. The Christmas Web has become the signature event of the Grinkmeyer’s Christmas.
I took Shannon’s suggestion and sat down and wrote The Christmas Web, A Christmas Family Tradition; the story of how the Christmas Web came to be as Santa’s job of delivering presents around the world became a bigger and bigger task requiring the assistance of a select group of his elves. I modeled three of the elves after my grandchildren and got them involved in both the copy and the illustrations. I wanted them to see how their ideas could turn into a product that someday would set on the large retailer’s shelves.
Manuscript in hand I approached a national toy company with my plan to market The Christmas Web gift set, the book and three magic wands. “It looks like a fun product but we don’t sell books, you need to get an agent and sell The Christmas Web to a publisher.”
I compiled a list of the best children’s books agents, sent them a copy of my manuscript and waited for the phone to ring. I got no reply, no response, no rejections, nothing.
I started to research the path of The Elf on the Shelf and discovered that Carol Aebersold, the founder of Elf on the Shelf, had had the same experience that I had and had turned to self publishing and took her book and elf on the Christmas Bazaar circuit in 2005. Within three years she and her daughters had built a title that the big box retailers could not refuse resulting in $9.8 million in sales in 2011. Such a path would more than meet my retirement income needs and looked like a lot of fun for me and my grandchildren.
I decided that this would be the route that I would take; I would self publish and build my own brand. I had self published a book, Tall Grass, two years earlier through Create Space and I’d do it again. It didn’t take me long to discover that if I did self publish through Create Space or any of the other self publishing firms on the Internet my cost would be to high; after all I had to accompany the book with several of the magic wands if I was going to sell this new Christmas tradition.
My first step was to find an illustrator; I searched the Internet and found thousands of illustrators with 
Next I had to find someone to print the book, make the wands and build my gift set packaging. I went back to the toy company and asked for a favor. “You get your toys manufactured in China, could you give me a name of someone who could help me get my product manufactured in China?” “Email Jackie in Hong Kong, Jackie can help you.”
Thus started my relationship with Jackie in Hong Kong, I think Jackie’s a man; I’ve never talked with Jackie over the past five months. We’ve only communicate via email; as my illustrator finished illustrations I started to build a proto-type of The Christmas Web. In early March I FedEx-ed my one pro-type to Hong Kong. It contained the magic wands that my children had been using for the past 20 years. It was up to Jackie to find me a printer/ manufacturer/ packager for my product.
It took two month to find someone who could provide the book, the injection molded magic wands with 70 yards of yarn and the gift set package. Part of the delay was Chinese New Year, everything shut down in China for the New Years celebration and nothing gets done for two weeks. In April I agreed to an initial order of 5000 units FOB China at a price of $7.38 US. It would then be my responsibility to get the product certified not to contain any lead, formaldehyde or any other thing that would keep it out of the US, get the product to the dock, get it on a ship in a 40 ft container, have it insured while on the ship, pay the duty, and have it trucked to my distribution center in Atlanta. I’ll depend on Jackie to see to these matters and anticipate that it will add an additional $4.00 to my product cost.
While I was working with Jackie and Diana (a John Cougar song) I decided to make an attempt to get The Christmas Web into the “big box retailers”. I actually got a response from five of the fourteen that I solicited. I learned that even though they liked my product and thought there was a market for it they wanted me to sell the product through the 2012 Christmas season then they would consider carrying it in the 2013 Christmas season understanding that they would have the right to return all those that did not sell in January of 2014.
I decided to build a website and build my own marketing plan. The website cost me $3500 and I purchase the domain name, ChristmasWeb.com, for $800; 50% less then the asking price. I secured a trademark and filed for a patent on the Christmas Web hide and find process (both over the Internet, no attorneys fees). My retail exposure will come from a booth at the America’s Mart in Atlanta in July; I hoped to pick up some retail distribution through smaller retailers. Booth and presentation cost will be $4000 so if I can sell 350 units I’ll break even.
I feel the key to building my brand is to create some buzz around The Christmas Web; I have to get people talking about it, I have to get bloggers blogging about The Christmas Web, A Christmas Family Tradition.
I’ve identified 11 connectors, people in the public eye who have young children that would enjoy the Christmas Web and could start the buzz. Here’s my list:
- Matt Lauer….The Today Show …3 children 4 to 9 years old
- Erica Hill…. CBS Morning Show… 2 sons 2 and 5 years old
- George Stephanopoulos…. Good Morning America… 2 daughters 6 and 9
- Elisabeth Hasselblath…. The View… 3 children 2 to 7 years old
- Gretchen Carlson…. Fox and Friends… 2 children 6 years old
- Ree Drummond…. Blogger… Pioneer Woman… 4 children 6 to 13 years old
- Amy Gates…. Blogger… BolgHer… 2 children 5 and 7 years old
- Andrew Shue & Amy Robach….CafeMom and Today Show… 6 children 5 to 14
- Samantha Youngman Meiler… ParentsConect…3 children
- Lucy Kaylyn…. O, The Oprah Magazine… 2 children 6 and 9 years old
- Ellen DeGeneres…. The Ellen Show… no children
I’ll send each of my connectors a Christmas Web gift set with a personal letter telling the story behind 
The five thousand gift sets should generate $155,000 in sales for the 2012 Christmas season netting me $75,000 in profit, a nice subsidy to my retirement income. I think it’s within the realm of possibility that I could be selling in the big box retailers by the Christmas of 2013 and have sales in excess of $600,000 and profits of over $250,000.
I was born in 1944, so I’m 18 months ahead of the baby boomers; I understand the stock market, investments, and inflation better then most. I’m concerned about our nations mounting debt and an apparent unwillingness of our leaders to address the problem. I don’t feel that I have the option to sit back and enjoy my retirement like my father did. I need to take responsibility for my future and use the skills that I’ve acquired to create an additional source of retirement income. The Christmas Web looks like my lottery ticket, and I think my odds for a big payoff are better.
The Story behind the Christmas Web – I Need Your Help
As our children grew older we found that their interest in Christmas morning waned and the sparkle in their eyes was gone. So in 1992 Nita and I introd
uced the Christmas Morning Web. When our two teen-aged children came down Christmas morning they found a Magic Wand in their socks that had for years been hung at the fireplace mantel, attached to the spool was a piece of yarn (a 100 meter piece of yarn) that wound through the house into the front and back yard and ended in a closet or cabinet which held their special gift from one of Santa’s elves, an elf who had been looking out for them for the past year and knew of their desire for this special gift.
The Christmas Web continued as each of our children got married and as they had children. We now have seven Magic Wands of 100 mm yarn winding through our house every Christmas Morning making getting a cup of coffee an acrobatic achievement before the winding begins.
The Christmas Web has become the signature event of the Grinkmeyer’s Christmas Day Activities. While at a party at my daughters home (Christmas 2010) Shannon asked me to tell her girlfriends about our family tradition. “You ought to write a book” they said in unison, “like the Elf on the Shelf”, they added. It’s taken me some time but I did it, I’ve written a book, I’ve designed a product, I’ve hired an illustrator, and I’ve found a manufacture in China to produce it for me.
This is where I need your help. I need contacts at the big box retailers (Target, Wall-Mart, Barnes and Noble, Hallmark, The Paper Source, Costco, Toys-R-Us, The Learning Express). I’ll be showing The Christmas Web at the Atlanta Americas Mart July 13 -17, but I’d like to get in front of the big players before the show. So if you know a name that can open a door I’d be grateful.
The Product
- Christmas Web is a 36 page children’s book telling the story of how the Christmas Web came to exist. The illustrations include four elves modeled after
real children. - A set of three Magic Wands in different colors with 100 yards of string attached.
- Access to an interactive website where each child can register their magic wand with Santa then choose and meet their personal elf (a digital presentation by one of the real children) and share with their elf “what they want for Christmas”. Children will be able to come back to the website for regular updates from their elves and Santa.
Marketing:
Our target market for The Christmas Web is every Mom and Dad who wants to keep the sparkle in their children’s eyes that they saw in their childrens first few Christmases. Although the book is for children 4 to 10, the Magic Wands and yarn are for children 4 to 45, and the activity is for the ultimate target market; the moms and dads and grandmas and grandpas who want to keep Christmas Morning a special day…. forever.
Our grandchildren see the Christmas Web as the beginning of their Christmas celebration at our home while their parents, now 37 to 41, compete to see who can find their gift first, while my challenge is to see how difficult I can make the older children’s route to their gift.
The Christmas Web
A Family Tradition
T’was the dawn of Christmas morning,
and all through the land.
Children were waking to celebrate the holiday so grand.
At the North Pole Mrs. Claus and the elves had
gathered in wait.
In hopes that Santa would not be late.
If you can help me with this project in any way please get in touch with me, this is all new ground for me, but that’s not a deterrent, I’ used to blazing new trails. Look for The Christmas Web in stores this Christmas Season
Email me at kjohng@gmail.com
Thanks,
Kerry
Fishing off Grayton Beach
The Grinky Fishing Team met this past weekend in Grayton Beach Florida. Four of the ten team members were able to make the trip (Kobie, Chuck, Steve and Trent). Our accommodations exceeded past fishing camps, staying in a three bedroom home in Watercolors, also different from past trips girls were present for meals and the celebration of the catch.
Our first day on the gulf was attended by myself, Steve and Trent; to say it was exhausting would be an 
understatement. We were met on the beach by Captain Larry of Dead Fish Charters, he pulled his boat up on shore instructed to put on a pair of rubber fishing boots and climb aboard his 20 foot boat. The seas were a bit ruff at our 10:00 AM departure so we started fishing with light tackle rods for flounder. This lasted for about a half and hour yielding 12 to 15 flounder and other small fish. The wind had laid down, a sailing term, so we ventured out for deeper waters. With the aid of his GPS Larry was able to put us over an underwater formation and within minutes our rods were being hit by 7 to 15 pound Jacks and Red Snapper at a depths of 55 feet. It wasn’t easy getting these fighters off the bottom. Adding to the struggle was the strict fishing rules. Red Snapper can only be kept if caught in season (June and July), Jack can only be kept is between 14 and 22 inches long, so many of our fish had to be released because they were out of season (Red Snapper) or t
hey were to big (Jacks). Before our four hour voyage was over we had caught three times the fish that we were able to keep. Our arms were aching, our backs were screaming, and our spirits were souring. The three of us had caught more fish in those four hours then we had caught in our last 8 fishing trips combined.
“
You’ve got a big one,” Larry hollers as I set the hook on what feels like a large Jack. I reel for thirty seconds and “Wham” my rod tip bends to the water. “Your fish has just been eaten by a bigger fish,” Larry shouts.” I throw back my shoulders and lean back to pull my rod as high as I can and am immediately pulled back to a bent over position with my rod pointing down into the water. “You’ve got a 180 lb to 280 lb Shark. My thought was “I weigh 180 lbs.” I pull back and my foe peels the line off my reel with a wine. “Closer to 280 lb”
comes from behind me. The fight extends for three minutes, every muscle in my body is screaming, and then the line goes limp. ”He broke your line.”
I’d caught twenty fish before that but this was the story of the day until thirty minutes later we spot three dolphins off our starboard side, I catch another Jack and forty feet from bringing it aboard “Wham and Wine” my line is peeling off the reel. “One of the Dolphins has your fish, he won’t take your hook but he’ll run with your fish, He’ll let go to come up for air then you reel as fast as you can.” I do just that then “Wham”. This dance went on for five minutes until the Dolphin let me have my fish, what was left of it.
The three of us went back to our Watercolors digs flying high but exhausted to find our forth team member,
Chuck my older brother, arriving from Atlanta. After reviewing our day’s activity we all decided to abandon our plans to go out on a Destin Party Boat and call Captain Larry to see if we could book the Dead Fish for the next morning.
Larry’s first question was. “You know how it works what do you want to fish for today?” He got a unanimous response “Grouper”. We went out five miles and Larry put us over a man-made reef and as requested the four of jus started pulling out Grouper with a smattering of Red Snapper, Jack, Trigger Fish and Pink Snapper, but like the day before the rules had to be followed so the Red Snapper went back as did many of the jack and the smaller Trigger Fish. All and all it was another great four hours of fishing. Any time there was a lull in the activity Captain Larry would move us to another spot and the action would resume.
I feel confident we will be back on the Dead Fish with Larry in short order.
See all the Photos..Click Here
My Memoir: A Gift to My Decendants
It took me about six months to write Tall Grass, my memoir, and then another four years to get it published. I’d tell people, when asked “What are you doing?” ”Writing my memoir,” and they’d respond, “Who’s going to want to read your memoir?”
I’d never had given that much consideration because I wasn’t writing it for others to read, I was writing it for myself and if someone else wanted to read it that’s great, but not important. Oh it’s a good story and will someday become a movie, but that’s just a bonus.
I also enjoyed going back to Cincinnati and Champaign and visiting with old friends and relatives and seeking help in jogging my memory and in some cases, filling in the blanks about things that I didn’t remember, didn’t know or haden’t considered. In some cases I was able to resolve issues that had been plaguing me for over forty years. I also had the opportunity to pick my older brothers brain and we were able to talk about things that we’d never talked about even though we experienced them side by side.
Why did it take four years to get it from my computer to paper? Some people had to die and I had to find someone that I wanted to go through the editing process with. I wasn’t the best of students, I don’t spell well and my grammar isn’t the best, so it needed an editor. The editor and I met every Tuesday for four months to go over a chapter, not to explain my spelling and grammar but to clarify issues which usually resulted in additions and subtractions. “Do you really want to say that?” or “This isn’t clear, you’ve left the reader hanging.” It was a process that I enjoyed, it made my book come to life, and it validated what I had done. The whole editing process cost me about $1,600, what I felt was a fair amount. I’ve spend more then that for a four day weekend at a resort and often did’t have as much fun and I did in the editing process.
Writing a memoir is like watching a movie of your early life and you get to choose who plays each part, best of all the story will be here forever. Can you imagine reading the story of your great- great grandfathers life as he and his family made their way to America or his fathers story growing up in where-ever. Why would I want to deny my descendants that pleasure? How about you?
I Need A Googler
I have put together a business plan for a website that will provide a Facebook like connection for families; it’s all about building a virtual world around young children. It’ll be site where children, parents, grandparents and aunts and uncles can learn and play together.
I am who I am because of the people who influenced me at an early age. Today grandchildren often live hundreds of miles away from their extended family and being involved is a challenge. There are 70 million grandparents in the U.S. who will spend $52 Billion on their grand children this year. This presents a need and an opportunity.
“It Takes the Best of Us to Raise a Child”
I’m looking for a connection with a Googler, a Google employee, who can open the door to Google Ventures (Googles venture capital arm). There’s $10,000 in it for the Googler, if you have a connection sent them my way.
Why I wrote my memoir and life review
At 61, I decided I need a better understand of “Why am I the person that I am?” It was not an effort to better myself or to settle any depression or haunting problems but instead it was an exploration that led me far into my memory.
The Swedish philosopher Soren Kierkegaard noted, “Life can only be understood backwards.” I had just retired and I had realized that in my life and career I had repeated my same victories and had as well repeated my same failings. As hard as I tried I could not change, the pattern of my life seemed to have been predetermined. I wanted to know how that pattern had been set and “Why I was who I was.”
Two other factors entered into my decision to write a Life Review. First I didn’t know how much more time I had and I wanted to make the most of the rest of my life; that is I wanted to live it to the fullest and I wanted to concentrate
on my strengths and avoid my weaknesses. Second, I wanted to leave something behind. I know more about George Washington and Abe Lincoln then I know about either of my grandfathers and I didn’t want to die at my death.
I’ll write more about the process, writing, interviewing relatives, editing and self publishing in future posts. You can sign up to follow my posts through the RSS Feed on the right.
Jane Fonda’s Life Review
This is an excellent video explaining the importance of doing a live review. Although I haven’t achieved perfection I am a better person as a result of writing my life review Tall Grass.
Jane Fonda, Oscar winner on her quest for perfection, battling bulimia and a strained relationship with her father.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=BqPNP60tpZQ
My Life Review and What if?
I wrote Tall Grass for me, to gain a better understanding of who I am and why I am, for my family, most of whom don’t care to read it now but I suspect will read it when I’m gone and that’s OK, and for others in hopes that other people will write about their early life to better understand themselves. I’ve found that most of the visitors to my blog are coming through Search and they are in some form using the keyword “Life Review”, so I feel that I have achieved all of my primary goals for Tall Grass.
The other day at lunch a close friend, who had read Tall Grass, asked me questions about my childhood and some of the things that he had read. Many of the questions I couldn’t answer because they were things that I might have known at one time but apparently weren’t important to me at the time and now I don’t remember. This caused me to realize that who I am is a result of what happened to me in my early years but it’s also as a result of what I deemed to be important at the time, and I think that was controlled by my emotional state at the time. So if my emotional state had been different the results would have been different.
I mention this because I am in the early stages of developing a new website, BestofUs.com, built around the phrase “It Takes the Best of Us to Raise a Child”. It will be a closed circle social networking website built around the young children in our life’s, the children that we want to have an influence on even though they may live hundreds of miles from us, our grandchildren, or our nieces or nephews, or the children of close friends. If as a close knit community, I call it a village, we can add some stability, some emotional strength achieved by knowing that they belong, maybe the children in our life’s can become the best that they can be.
I just wonder how my brothers and my life’s would have turned out different if there had been a tight circle that could have supported us after our mother died.
I’ll keep you posted on my progress with BestofUs.
Website Search Engine Optimization
I’ve been doing Search Engine Optimization for many of the professionals listed on my Bestofus.com website for several years now. I’m able to bring almost any website to the first page of Google Search and Google Places within three months. Then it’s a matter of tweaking the input on a monthly basis to keep it there.
Like you most people don’t go into the following pages to find what their looking for so it’s important to be on that first page. I charge a monthly fee of $295 for my services and work on a month to month basis; in-other words if you’re not happy at anytime you just cancel our arrangement. Give it a try and let’s see what I can do for you and your business.
Order your copy today!