Gordys Flytrap Fittings

We’ve got a small business and people tell us we should set up a website and sell off the internet. But we don’t know much about computers. How hard is it?

It’s definitely do-able. Find yourself an expert web designer to help, but choose carefully – some are better than others. Make sure if you’re selling online your payments system is secure. Keep an open mind about the possibilities the internet can offer. Then press the on button.

Gordon and Elaine McCallum are a great Kiwi couple. He’s 70, she’s 61, they live in Blenheim. He’s been a brickie, a welder, a shearer, a farmer, owns property. She brought up their six children then worked in local horticulture businesses.

Then, in 2000, their lives changed. Gordon invented Gordys Flytrap Fitting, a bucket attachment that traps and kills flies. He patented it and the couple took the first samples to the 2000 Mystery Creek agricultural field days, where they sold 450 in four days. Suddenly, Gordon and Elaine were entrepreneurs. People who’d bought flytraps at the field days started ringing to enquire about buying more.

Neither Gordon nor Elaine had ever touched a computer in their life - and never really expected to. But as sales increased, they realized having a website to give people information and take orders would improve business and make their job running the company much easier. Gordon took the plunge, found a company to set up and host his website (www.gordys-flytrap-fitting.com), and he and Elaine started to learn how to use a computer.

Seven years on, the couple use their computer and their site with ease. Elaine handles email enquiries, internet orders and the company’s books. Gordon also does orders and emails, watches the progress of his products on internet auctions and scours the web for information to put on the site and for news about competitors.

Seven years after setting up the website, www.gordys-flytrap-fitting.com is getting more than 2000 unique visitors a month and sales this year will be approximately 5000 units. Up to 75% of business comes through the website, and Gordon is using other internet-based sales tools, like selling his flytraps via Trademe and eBay auctions.

“I was totally against using a computer before this. I didn’t want anything to do with it. Now I can sit down for three hours of a night. The other day I was laughing, saying to someone: ‘It’s like pulling money out of a screen’.”

Here are Gordon’s beginners’ tips for setting up a website

Tip 1: Get someone to design the site for you

Gordon got a local website expert to set up his site, sort out the payments system and then teach him and Elaine how to use it. The web designer, rather than Gordon or Elaine, still makes all adjustments to the site. The McCallums don’t even know the password to get in to make changes. “Two people can’t make porridge,” Gordon says. “That way we can’t go in and mess it up.”

Tip 2: Don’t get ripped off

There are dozens, if not hundreds, of companies, big and small, advertising themselves as web designers, web solutions experts, or website hosters. Some are fantastic, others less so. So do your homework.

The best solution, Gordon says, is to go with someone you know and trust, or someone who gets a personal recommendation from someone you know and trust. However you hear about the website expert, do some checking to make sure they are competent and that their style suits your company. Ask to see some examples of websites they have designed. Get them to give you contact details of previous clients - and follow up on those references. If it’s a big enough contract, or if you are trying to decide between designers on a short list, ask them to do a mock-up of some pages for your intended website and see how you like the result.

Remember your relationship with your web designer will be important - pick someone you think you can work well with, not just someone that knows their stuff. “Find someone who’s friendly and not chasing the dollars so hard,” Gordon says.

He speaks from experience. The first website hosting company he used was high profile, had a great local sales pitch and (he discovered later) was headquartered in the Bahamas. They charged him a fortune but after three months Gordon realized he was stuck with a website that couldn’t deliver what he needed. He cut his losses, abandoned his first site and hired a local web expert, Peter, a man who used to go rowing with Gordon’s children. Peter has become a good friend as well as a key asset to the business.

Tip 3: Brief yourself before you brief your designer

It helps to know some basics before you go into negotiations with your chosen website designer. There are a number of websites out there that explain the basics of building a site, says Peter. Have a look simply to glean some background information so you can understand the concepts your designer will bring up. And do some preliminary thinking yourself about the information you want on your site. “I’m a great believer in story boards. You can create the first outline of what your site might look like on a piece of paper,” Peter says.

Tip 4: Don’t try to do everything at once.

The McCallums haven’t found it hard to learn to use their computer, the website and the internet. But they’ve done it slowly, picking up each part as they’ve needed it. The most important thing is to give it a go, Gordon says. “You won’t learn everything from watching someone or listening to instructions. You have to sit down and play - do it yourself. When you need to know how to do something, that makes you learn it.”

Tip 5: The words matter

How things are phrased on your website is important, says Peter. Often web designers aren’t wordsmiths, he says, so don’t be afraid to get someone different in to help with writing the text for the site.

Tip 6: It isn’t hard to sell off your site

Gordys Flytrap Fittings is a small business without a shop front. Gordon and Elaine travel to farm field days around the country, but otherwise sales are largely off the site. It isn’t hard, he says.

Gordon chose a third party secure payment company, and got Peter, his website designer, to link gordys-flytrap-fitting.com to the payment company. Now, when someone orders off the site and enters their credit card number, the information goes directly to the payment company, which then sends Gordon and Elaine an email. “It’s not difficult to learn the internet credit card system,” Gordon says.

Tip 7: Advertise your website address

Gordon and Elaine have put their website address on all their correspondence – letterhead, invoices, packaging. There’s even a fridge magnet with the website address that goes out to everyone who makes an order. (People are much less likely to throw a fridge magnet away than a bit of paper, Gordon reasons. And if anyone is visiting someone with a flytrap and wants to make an order, there’s the website address on the fridge. The advertising strategy is paying off – a significant amount of traffic to the website comes from people typing in the address, rather than clicking through from a search engine or another site, says Peter.

Tip 8: Put plenty of relevant information on your site.

Gordon’s website is a mine of information about flies and their habits and has a number of interesting website links. It makes your site more interesting and more credible, Peter says. “Sales have increased significantly since Gordon extended the amount of literature available on the site.” But make sure the information is relevant. “Too much information and the message gets lost.”