I certainly do not want a partridge in a pear tree.
And I am happy to report that Santa did not bring me a pear tree nor a partridge.
I am even happier to report that my kids are too old for the creepy elf-on-a-shelf crappola.
But boy-oh-boy, what a business that elf has become
In its simplest form, Elf on the Shelf is a book. The story, written by author Carol Aebersold, follows an elf whose job is to keep an eye on children for Santa. In the days leading up to Christmas, the elf reports back to Santa about which children are being naughty or nice, or so the story goes.
In 2005, creator Carol Aebersold (a stay-at-home mom at the time) and her daughter, Chanda Bell, published a children’s book called The Elf on the Shelf: A Christmas Tradition, based on their family’s own Scandinavian holiday tradition that started in the 1970s.
So the women published the book themselves. Instead of having a big publisher’s resources to market the book, the women sold it themselves one by one. “It was a bit of guerrilla marketing at first,” Bell told TODAY.com. The family produced 5,000 copies using credit cards and retirement funds, and sold them straight out of their cars and at state fairs.
It slowly picked up steam, and by 2007, actress Jennifer Garner was photographed by paparazzi holding the book, which helped spread the word.
Thanks to a lot of hard work and determination, the elf was a float at the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in 2012. The elf has since spawned other extensions to its franchise, including
- Elf Pets: A Saint Bernard Tradition,
- Elf Pets: A Reindeer Tradition,
- and a movie: Santa’s Reindeer Rescue.
- You can also now buy elf clothes and costumes, plus other story books and elves.
As of 2018, 13 million books (and elves) have been sold at over 15,000 retailers across the country.
A Christmas business story there for you. Just like pop sockets, and pet rocks!
This Christmas season I have created a special 12 Days Bundle of some of my best Mouster Classes. Which you can see here: 12 Days Bundle at a great investment.
If you always wanted a Mouster Class, but never joined the Inner Circle, now is your chance to get a few of those Mouster Classes.
But don’t dilly dally, this 12 Days DSNi Mouster Class Bundle goes into the DSNi vault at midnight on 1/6/2022.
