WEBSITE GOES BALLISTIC

Nathan Foster: “We didn’t realise how popular the website

Two years ago Nathan Foster didn’t own a computer or have Internet access – so what he might do with an online presence for his guided hunting and gunsmithing business, Terminal Ballistics Research, was just an idea.

"I was trying to make the idea happen but didn’t have the tools. A friend went onto Trade Me and bought me a $20 computer and we went from there. Now, I can’t believe we even tried to do what we had to do in the business without [being online]. We didn’t realise how popular the website would be," says Foster.

Foster’s site www.ballisticstudies.com isn’t the best-looking site on the Net, but that doesn’t stop it receiving an average of 2000 site visitors each month. Of these, 1200 have sought the site out specifically via its address and 800 arrive there through topic-based searches and web browsing. Seventy-five percent save the site to their Internet favourites list after reaching it, says Foster.

"[The business] would be nowhere without the website. Even though we are based rurally, we need to reach out to people in the cities because that’s where the business is, and the most cost-effective way to do that is through the website" says Foster.

He says the success of the site is due to the value of the content and the potential for community contact.

"Content was one of the most important things – having articles where people can learn for themselves. You have to be able to give and not expect anything in return, and to show people that you care about what they need to know. I get people email me for advice on a daily basis. The queries come from South Africa, Germany, France, Canada, and a major portion of interest is generated from the US," says Foster.

He says he initially joined as many industry online forums as possible, spending several hours a day commenting and contributing to forums. As a result, knowledge of his own site travelled fast, and was well received.

"I needed to push myself as an expert on the subject but had to do that without coming across as arrogant or a know-it-all – there’s a need to be careful and polite when you are online. You can’t advertise your services on forums; you just have to give to people."