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Last week I addressed my staff to announce that we had been ranked in Inc. Magazine as one of the fastest growing companies in the United States.  I praised all of my employees for their hard work and dedication, and discussed with them the meaning of Blue Vase Marketing.  Blue Vase was founded on the principals in the book The Go Getter.  It teaches us how to overcome adversity, how to rise to the challenge, how to think and ultimately get the job done.  Bill Peck the main character in the book has a saying—“It Shall be done.”  I am humbled and honored to have been recognized by Inc. Magazine and be a part of an elite group of companies such as Living Social, Life Lock and Edible Arrangements and previous honorees such as Microsoft, Jamba Juice and Pandora.

What I didn’t discuss with my staff is the relationships Blue Vase has with vendors and partners that have also played a crucial role in our success.  It all started roughly ten years ago when I met Mark Biglow of Mercury Media.  Mark is a Go Getter himself and we developed a strong friendship.  Based on my relationship with Mark, Mercury Media not only bought profitable media for us, but also funded some of our campaigns.  At the time Mercury did not offer such a service and I guess we were a bit of a beta test, but they took a risk on us and it has paid off for both companies.  Mercury does more than just buy media, their entire staff is constantly looking for ways to improve our MER.  Kristin Sakowski our Account Supervisor is constantly analyzing our results and pushing Mercury’s buyers to improve our MER.

Peter Bieler, President of Media Funding Corp, is also instrumental in our success.  Blue Vase started with credit cards and whatever I had in my 401k and in the world of Direct Response that does not go far.  In a previous business I developed a relationship with Peter and as a result of our past relationship and our friendship, Media Funding Corp has funded many of our campaigns.  Peter and his experience in the industry is an indirect benefit of Media Funding, as he has literally seen it all.  Peter has mentored me, taught me many things about this business and serves as another example of the spirit of Bill Peck.

Jeff Grossman of Caps and Tabs is our premier manufacturer.  Caps and Tabs is not only a top notch manufacturer but an invaluable business resource.  Jeff Grossman and his partner Charles Parisi went above and beyond just manufacturing products for us.  They offered sound business advice, introduced us to financing partners and did whatever it took to help us succeed.  Keith Frankel the owner of VitaQuest and Jon Weisgal, Senior Vice President of Market Development, have also been instrumental in our success.  They provided us with excellent service and helped launch one of our products retail.

Bob Botelle, Executive Vice President of Litle & Co, has provided us with first-rate merchant processing.  Bill Ranta their Senior Sales Director and I literally met at an airport after the ERA conference.  Litle took a chance on us, a small company with little processing history, but they came out, looked us in the eye and saw that we were building something exceptional at Blue Vase Marketing.  Alan Kleinman of Meritus Processing has been an amazing partner and has gone above and beyond that of what a processor does.  Alan, has been accessible, responsive and cares about our business.

Cannella Response Television, is an other example of a company that goes above and beyond for its clients.  Their media platform is second to none, and they have been crucial to our success.  Caitlin Cooper, Business Development Manager also embodies the spirit of Bill Peck and gets things done.  They have continued to perform at a high level and I am honored to be working with them.

At the end of the day, Blue Vase Marketing would not be where it is today without its partners and vendors.  When I was studying for the writing section of the bar exam 11 years ago, we were taught that if we were running out of time to literally list what we would have discussed.  I could write probably a hundred pages about what all of our vendors have done for us, but there is only so much time.  If time would allow I would have told you about our other Go Getter partners: John Abdo, Jim Shriner, Tim Cunningham, GrayPay, West, LiveOps, Occurrence Teleservices, ABH Nutritional, Euro, Media Design Group, Scorecaster Media, MVT Productions, APG, Macromark, ListenUp Espanol, Swipe, Triton, Synergix, GreatFalls, NexxPhase, Level3, Response Magazine, DRMA, ERA, TreeHouse, Ignite, Argo, Blue Water, Harvest Direct, Cambridge Commerce.  I’m sure I forgot someone but you know who you are and I thank all of you.  I look forward to 2014!