SparkLIST.com earns PC Magazine award
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By Steve Laux
Green Bay News-Chronicle Online
Imagine starting an Internet company in 1995 only to see it being on the verge of going public five years later.
Imagine having PC Magazine naming you as the editor's choice for best e-mail list hosting and publishing service.
If you are Christopher Knight then what you imagine is a reality.
The former owner of PC Specialists in Green Bay caught the "web bug" in 1995, sold his store and decided
to pursue a new Internet venture by forming SparkNET Interactive. Originally, the company's focus was on web design,
hosting and providing Internet access. In 1996, Chris added e-mail list hosting to his repertoire. This would prove
to be the turn in the road that led him to his company's current success. After selling the ISP portion of his
business, Chris decided to focus all of his company efforts on their SparkLIST.com division.
SparkLIST's main function is to provide companies the service of sending e-mails and managing their e-mail newsletter
and e-mail discussion lists. For example, Comedy Central uses SparkLIST's services to send out e-mail messages
to those who sign up to receive daily messages relating to South Park and the Daily Show, two popular television
shows on its network. Other clients include Internet.com, IBM and NBC who use the e-mail service to disperse daily
company and industry news. By forming a partnership with Lyris Technologies, Inc., which provides the high end
e-mail list software, and investing a half million into their e-mail list server farm in Milwaukee, SparkLIST is
able to send out over two hundred million opt-in e-mails on a monthly basis.
"The best part of working for this company is the speed of change and that every day is different" says
VP of Marketing and Sales, Suzi Sevcik. "The atmosphere here is fun and loose but success and customer service
is the overall goal." The company employs 18 people with an average age of 28. The CEO Chris Knight is 30.
SparkLIST is located in Green Bay while its customer base is mostly located in New York and California, the current
Internet hot spots. Says Sevcik, "We never meet ninety percent of our customers. We handle most of it over
the phone."
Welcome to the Internet economy. When asked if local businesses could benefit from implementing e-mail list in
their web sites Sevcik responds, "Any business with a web site can benefit from increasing interactivity with
its customers." Up to fifty thousand e-mails can be sent for as little as fifty dollars a month, making this
an inexpensive informational and promotional tool.
So what does the future hold for SparkLIST? Other than planning to go public and to adapt to the ever-changing
Internet Economy, only the future knows. After all, if SparkLIST could predict the future of the Internet, the
Psychic Friends Hotlines would be out of business. |
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