A Tale of 100,000 Customers

This is a story of growth and success, of how one man's project became a business powered by a team 63 strong.

This story shows how a start-up business can go from one computer to a large, modern office; from a few contacts to 100,000 customers.

How do you get there, you're wondering?

You start with inspiration. You factor in friends, affiliates and customers who help you grow. (And whom we're very grateful for.) And you work hard.

See for yourself.

Act I: AWeber, 1998

The scene: An apartment in Dover, Pennsylvania. Enter Tom Kulzer, college student-turned-salesman, who trips over his bicycle and crams himself between the wall and the bed, facing his computer in the corner.

1998

1998

Tom checks out the site he's put together and finds a dozen new orders in his email. "I'm going to have to expand this operation," he thinks.

So he starts expanding...

2002

2004

Customers start email marketing and watch their businesses grow. Many start referring AWeber to others. Affiliates and other supporters spread the word, and the company continues to grow...

2006

2007

As new features are added and customers continue to refer others, more team members are needed. To make room for them all, AWeber moves into a large, airy space with plenty of room for growth.

Act II: AWeber, 2011. 100,000 Customers Later

Scene: A small business complex nestled amid trees in Huntingdon Valley, PA. The building with the AWeber sign has over 50 cars in the parking lot, plus a few bicycles. On the loading dock in back, a few team members eat their lunch in the sun and play ring toss.

Through the glass walls, observers can see developers, designers and marketers click-clacking away in a square path of offices. Unseen are the friends of AWeber who write, tweet and talk the company up across the globe.

In the center of it all, a hive of desks and computers buzzes with activity. The customer solutions team is busy addressing the needs of 100,000 customers.

Over the thrum of voices, some snippets stand out that highlight just how much AWeber has to offer in 2011:

Mary "So now when you publish a new blog post, you'll come back here, to this page, and it'll be here in your account as an email."Turn blog posts into broadcasts

Andy "You can go into your account under web forms, and you can actually choose to add new fields. Yes, just type in whatever it is you want to ask for. Now when people sign up with your form, they'll fill out that field." The web form generator

Mark "Okay, sir, you're saying you want your emails to be a different color? Okay, if you go to this link I'm emailing you, you'll see a whole gallery of email templates with different color options you can pick from." The email template gallery

Ryan "You can just go to my list - list settings - and here, you see "Personalize Your List?" Yes, you can upload your logo right there, and it'll show up in your campaign."Logo hosting in AWeber

Crystal "Well, here, you'll just want to put this HTML into your blog. That's how you get the web form to show up so people can just sign up right on your blog."Get the WordPress plugin

Act III: The Future of AWeber

Scene: The curtain is drawn across a dark stage. Much bustling and preparation can be heard behind the scenes. But for now, observers can only wonder what they'll see.

Behind that curtain, you can bet we're making plans. We're creating some of the most show-stopping numbers of all.

To our customers, affiliates and supporters, we are thankful for you. And we hope you'll be with us to watch that curtain to rise. Care to join us for the show?

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Source: Inbox Ideas