Heritage Makers on Inc. 500 Fastest Growing Private Companies List

Heritage Makers ranks number 132 on exclusive business list. 

Provo, Utah - August 25, 2009 - Heritage Makers, the leader in personal publishing for customized storybooks, recently was featured on the Inc. 500 list, recognizing the fastest growing private companies in America. Heritage Makers was ranked as number nine in the Consumer Products and Services category, and number 132 overall.  This is the first year that Heritage Makers has been eligible for Inc. 500 recognition.

“We’re proud to be recognized on the Inc. 500 list. This is a true validation of the consistent hard work and commitment of the Heritage Makers team and consultant sales force,” said Heritage Makers’ CEO Christopher Lee. “We’re fortunate to have such devoted partners working with us to deliver these meaningful products to our customers.”

Heritage Makers has grown at a rapid pace since its founding in 2004 and is now the nation’s leading storybooking company, offering a wide range of digitally-created and professionally-designed products including books, cards, scrapbook pages, canvas prints, and much more.

Doug Cloward, Heritage Makers President says, “It’s a special honor to be recognized as an industry leader by Inc. Magazine.  We know that consumers face many challenges in today’s economy, so we feel especially pleased to be ranked so highly among Consumer Products and Services.”

Anyone can easily design high-quality storybooks in a variety of sizes with Heritage Makers’ web-based, personal publishing platform, Heritage Studio.  Heritage Makers products are completely customizable with photos and journaling. Users design their own pages online, or use one of thousands of creative templates available.

To create one of Heritage Makers storybooks and other products, go to www.heritagemakers.com to create a free online account. Heritage Makers’ publishing platform runs on a Mac or PC. Heritage Makers enables anyone to preserve family stories, strengthen relationships, and build self-esteem with unique, creative, and personalized heritage-building products.

About the Company

Heritage Makers is a company and a community that believes in the power of strengthening family relationships through storybooks. Heritage Makers publishing platform is easy-to-use and simple enough to help anyone make a book—families, photographers, creative professionals, artists, writers, or anyone else with a story to tell. With Heritage Makers unique online publishing process, these stories can be preserved forever in custom hardbound books and related projects. In addition, Heritage Makers offers a unique income-building opportunity for its consultant sales force and anyone interested in celebrating life’s stories.

Press Releases

Heritage Makers Featured on Good Morning America as Hot Business Opportunity

Tory Johnson chooses Heritage Makers to be featured as a top direct sales company.

Provo, Utah - July 6, 2009 - Heritage Makers, the leader in direct sales of personalized publishing products, was featured today by career expert Tory Johnson on ABC’s nationally-acclaimed morning show Good Morning America as a hot business opportunity in today’s troubled economy.

Career expert Tory Johnson is the founder and CEO of Women For Hire, a leading producer of recruiting events for women. Johnson is the Workplace Contributor on Good Morning America, where she reaches millions of viewers on a wide range of job-related issues and challenges. She is also the anchor of Home Work on ABC News Now, the digital channel.

Monday’s Good Morning America show highlighted direct-selling companies that are making a difference in the challenging economy.  On the show Johnson said, “When choosing a direct sales company, passion is the key word. You should choose something you would use yourself, something that complements your lifestyle.”  She touted Heritage Makers as, “a really fun company that makes great products.”

“It’s an honor to be recognized by Good Morning America and Tory Johnson,” states Chris Lee, Heritage Makers CEO. “Ms. Johnson is an expert when it comes to mentoring women in their careers. Her acknowledgment of Heritage Makers on Good Morning America is an honor for our young company.  In a time when family budgets are tight, it’s encouraging to be recognized as a solution for women seeking extra income.”

To learn more about how you can become a part of the storybooking movement and earn money with the Heritage Makers’ opportunity plan, go to www.heritagemakers.com. Heritage Makers enables anyone to preserve family stories, strengthen relationships, and build self-esteem with unique, creative, and personalized heritage-building products.

To see the video clip from Good Morning America, go to www.heritagemakers.com and visit the Press Room.

About the Company

Heritage Makers is a company and a community that believes in the power of strengthening family relationships through storybooks. Heritage Makers publishing platform is easy-to-use and simple enough to help anyone make a book-families, photographers, creative professionals, artists, writers, or anyone else with a story to tell. With Heritage Makers unique online publishing process, these stories can be preserved forever in custom hardbound books and related projects. In addition, Heritage Makers offers a unique income-building opportunity for its consultant sales force and anyone interested in binding families together.

Company News, Press Releases

Provo, Utah - April 8, 2009 - Heritage Makers, the leader in personal publishing, is pleased to announce its feature in Direct Selling News Magazine, a publication designed to help direct selling and network marketing executives manage and enhance their businesses.

Heritage Makers started in 2005 with Doug Cloward, President of Heritage Makers, and Sharon Murdoch, Heritage Makers Co-founder and board member. Their goal was to promote life’s stories through helping others discover, preserve, and celebrate their family legacies. And when they started Heritage Makers, they found that many people were looking for ways to celebrate the people in their lives and build family heritage.

With a sales force of approximately 6,000, Heritage Makers’ fast-growing business focuses on strengthening home and family through the heritage enriching power of story. Each storybook, created with personal photos and memories, becomes a treasure that is shared as a bedtime story, presented at family reunions, and displayed throughout the home. Sharon Murdoch says, “I just watch the magic of what story can do for family-it unites them, it gives them pride, it gives them a name, it gives them purpose.”

Direct Selling News tells how heritage building started from log/scrapbook-like kits that clients put together and sent in to be typeset and bound, and moved to the online digital design of today where clients can upload their photos and apply styles and effects to their own specifications. Now, Heritage Makers has 30,000 pieces of art for clients to choose from and a Template Gallery consisting of simple and beautiful designs that clients can use to create quick projects.

Using a workshop format, consultants teach others how to preserve their heritage through storybooking. Doug Cloward explains, “Our consultants are teachers. They hold what we call workshops, and they share with people how they use the technology to create a number of print projects that are focused on celebrating the events and heroes of their lives.” The 130 percent sales growth in January of 2008 is evidence of the hard work and dedication of all Heritage Makers consultants.

Termed as the “next generation of family historians” by Doug Cloward, Heritage Makers continues to promote family unity, heritage, and legacy through the unique concept of storybooking. Heritage Makers executives and consultants are confident that their products will continue to enrich lives everywhere, and are dedicated to sharing the excitement of storybooking with everyone they talk to.  Says Chris Lee, CEO of Heritage Makers, “We love our products and we are blessed to have found so many sales consultants who feel the same way.”

To create one of Heritage Makers storybooks and other products, go to http://www.heritagemakers.com/ to create a free online account. Heritage Makers’ publishing platform runs on a Mac or PC. Heritage Makers enables anyone to preserve family stories, strengthen relationships, and build self-esteem with unique, creative, and personalized heritage-building products.

About the Company

Heritage Makers is a company and a community that believes in the power of strengthening family relationships through storybooks. Heritage Makers publishing platform is easy-to-use and simple enough to help anyone make a book-families, photographers, creative professionals, artists, writers, or anyone else with a story to tell. With Heritage Makers unique online publishing process, these stories can be preserved forever in custom hardbound books and related projects. In addition, Heritage Makers offers a unique income-building opportunity for its consultant sales force and anyone interested in binding families together.

Press Releases

 Oprah Selects Heritage Makers Storybooks as one of her All-Time Favorite Gifts

Heritage Makers storybooks appear on December 2008 O List
Provo, Utah - November 5, 2008 - Heritage Makers, the leader in personal publishing, today announced it has been chosen for Oprah’s exclusive O List of great gifts under $100 in the December 2008 edition of O, the Oprah Magazine.  Appearing on the list below the headline “Oprah’s All-Time Favorite Gifts,” Heritage Makers storybooks are noted as a “beautiful” way to “Make History.”

Heritage Makers first received attention from Oprah Winfrey when one of its independent consultants, Brenda Kruse of Waterloo, Iowa, made a storybook celebrating the life of Oprah’s beloved dog, Gracie.  Upon receiving this gift, Oprah was so touched that she personally called Brenda to thank her for the book.  A few months later, magazine editors selected Heritage Makers as a featured gift for December.
“It’s an amazing honor to be featured in O Magazine,” said Chris Lee, CEO of Heritage Makers. “This recognition is a testament to the power of our personal publishing consultants.  With thousands of consultants helping consumers turn their digital memories into story books, Heritage Makers offers a product and business opportunity that is unrivaled.  In difficult economic times for families, a work-from-home opportunity to help others tell their stories is timely.  And as Oprah shows us, Heritage Makers’ affordable products have the power to touch lives.”

Anyone can easily design hardbound, custom-cover, coffee-table-style storybooks in a variety of sizes with Heritage Makers’ web-based, personal publishing platform. Heritage Makers’ products are completely customizable with photos, journaling, and a wide array of background and embellishment art. With the guidance and expertise of a personal consultant, customers can begin with one of the hundreds of creative templates available, or they can design something beautiful from scratch. Individual scrapbook-style pages, calendars, posters and greeting cards are also available.  Once a project is complete, customers can order unlimited copies of their projects and receive them within about a week.

To create one of Heritage Makers storybooks and other products, go to www.heritagemakers.com  and open a free online account. Heritage Makers’ publishing platform runs on a Mac or PC. Heritage Makers enables anyone to preserve family stories, strengthen relationships, and build self-esteem with unique, creative and personalized heritage-building products.

To learn more about the storybook that Oprah received, visit www.heritagemakers.com . The December issue of O Magazine is now available on newsstands.

About the Company
Heritage Makers is a company and a community that believes in the power of strengthening family relationships through storybooks. Heritage Makers publishing platform is easy-to-use and simple enough to help anyone make a book-families, photographers, creative professionals, artists, writers, or anyone else with a story to tell. With Heritage Makers unique online publishing process, these stories can be preserved forever in custom hardbound books and related projects. In addition, Heritage Makers offers a unique income-building opportunity for its consultant sales force and anyone interested in binding families together.

Press Releases

 A personalized storybook to one of the most influential women in the world gets national attention.

Heritage Makers personal publishing consultant creates book for Oprah Winfrey and gets personal thank-you phone call.

Provo, Utah - September 25, 2008 - Heritage Makers, the leader in personal publishing for hardbound storybooks, recently received some unprecedented attention. Brenda Kruse, an independent consultant from Waterloo, Iowa, created a 5×5 storybook for Oprah Winfrey that resulted in a personal thank-you call from the celebrity.

The storybook celebrated the life of Oprah’s beloved dog, Gracie, who passed away in May 2007. After being personally moved by Winfrey’s August 2007 editorial in O, The Oprah Magazine, Kruse wanted to celebrate the emotional story of “Gracie’s Gift” and created a treasured keepsake about Oprah’s experience with her 2-year-old dog.

“I just felt compelled to put this heartfelt story into print for Oprah to keep handy so she could keep what she called ‘Gracie’s Gift’ in mind. I knew our little 5×5 brag book was just the vehicle to deliver that message. She could keep it on her desk, in her purse, or by her bedside…wherever she wanted to be reminded to slow down in life by seeing Gracie’s smile,” recalls Kruse.

In honor of the one-year anniversary of Gracie’s death,. Kruse sent the storybook to Oprah Winfrey’s offices at Harpo Studios. The storybook arrived and was personally received by Oprah. “Shortly after I mailed the storybook, I received a ‘private call’ on my cell phone that went right to voicemail,” shares Kruse. “When I checked the message, I was stunned to hear a familiar voice say, ‘Brenda Kruse…Oprah Winfrey…’ I had received a personal thank-you call from one of the most influential people in the world! And it all happened because I wanted to give the gift of story to someone who has touched so many lives herself.”

Heritage Makers believes in the power of the individual and in the opportunity to make a difference in the lives of others. Kruse states, “Many people can say Oprah made a difference in their lives. But not many people can say they’ve made a difference in Oprah’s life! With this small storybook, I had a huge impact on a very influential person. Now, that’s the power of storybooking. And that’s why I am a Heritage Makers consultant.”

Brytt Cloward, Heritage Makers Vice President of Sales and Marketing says, “Our independent consultants really believe in the power of story to strengthen homes and families. A simple thing like a storybook can have lasting effects on many generations. Whether you’re a celebrity or a stay-at-home mom, Heritage Makers storybooks have the power to change lives. Kruse demonstrates the spirit of heritage that so many of our consultants deliver one storybook at a time in homes across the U.S. and Canada. With this effort, we truly are ‘binding families together.’”

To learn more about Kruse’s story or to see the storybook that Oprah received, go to http://www.heritagemakers.com.

About the Company

Heritage Makers is a company and a community that believes in the power of strengthening family relationships through storybooks. Heritage Makers publishing platform is easy-to-use and simple enough to help anyone make a book-families, photographers, creative professionals, artists, writers, or anyone else with a story to tell. With Heritage Makers unique online publishing process, these stories can be preserved forever in custom hardbound books and related projects. In addition, Heritage Makers offers a unique income-building opportunity for its consultant sales force and anyone interested in binding families together.

Press Releases

Heritage Makers Introduces New Individual Scrap Pages and Playing Cards 
12 x 12 digitally-printed pages and playing card games now available. 

Provo, Utah – July 7, 2008 – Heritage Makers, the leader in personal publishing for hardbound storybooks, announced two new products today: individual 12 x 12 scrap pages and playing card games. Scrap pages and playing card games allow families to share memories and stories in a unique and personal way and add to the wide product selection already available with Heritage Makers.

 
Both of these new products can be created with Heritage Studio, Heritage Makers’ web-based, personal publishing platform. Both products are completely customizable with photos, art content, and text journaling. Users design their own scrapbook pages in Studio, or use one of the many creative templates available and print the pages as they go.  Playing cards can be created for classic games such as “Go Fish,” “Memory” and many more, fully-personalized games with customers’ own photos and text. 

“Our incredible sales consultants have been asking for more ways to help clients tell their family stories and build their heritage, and we have responded,” explained Justin Biggs, Vice President of Product and Operations for Heritage Makers. “These two products are just the latest fun and affordable tools for our customers to build lasting legacies and easily share them with friends and family.”

Scrap pages start at $3.95/page and playing card games are $24.95.  

To create scrap pages, playing card games, or one of Heritage Makers storybooks and other products, go to www.heritagemakers.com to create a free online account. Heritage Makers’ publishing platform runs on a Mac or PC. Heritage Makers enables anyone to preserve family stories, strengthen relationships, and build self-esteem with unique, creative, and personalized heritage-building products.

About Heritage Makers

Heritage Makers is a company and a community that believes in the power of strengthening family relationships through storybooks. Heritage Makers publishing platform is easy-to-use and simple enough to help anyone make a book – families, photographers, creative professionals, artists, writers, or anyone else with a story to tell. With Heritage Makers unique online publishing process these stories can be preserved forever in custom hardbound books and projects. In addition, Heritage Makers offers a unique income-building opportunity for our consultant sales force and anyone interested in sharing the message of storybooking.

Press Releases