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When Greg and Becky Willhite decided to open their own business in 1992, they really didn't consider the possibility of selling over the Internet.

The couple was young and just starting out, and they funneled all of their resources and energies into their offline business, Cookies by Design, located in Melbourne, Florida.

Cookies by Design is a franchise of the MGW Group, Inc., based in Dallas, Texas. Greg's Melbourne, Florida, location was the first franchise in the state of Florida.

So what exactly is a cookie bouquet? "At Cookies by Design, we make fresh baked and hand decorated cookie bouquet gift baskets for all occasions. Cookies by Design also makes fresh baked gourmet cookies and pan cookies (for locals)," explains Greg.

"All of our cookie dough is mixed from scratch, and all the cookies are baked on-site in our store. Each cookie in our Cookie Bouquets is individually hand decorated by our cookie artists. The cookies are then arranged on sticks and made into bouquets by adding colored tissue paper and a matching bow," he continues.

Like many traditional businesses, Greg and Becky began their offline business before the Web craze hit. Then in 1996, the Willhites decided to give the Internet a try by putting up a single page website for informational purposes only. Their website contained the basic information about their business, what they did, and when they were open.

But they rapidly saw that their product was something that could be successfully sold online. "As the Internet grew, I knew that we had a product that could be easily adapted to selling online. In 1997, I was ready to make the move to a larger site that would be interactive enough to take customer orders online," he says.

The official Cookies by Design website debuted on May 1, 1997. Greg designed the basic style of the site, then a local company, InternetU, brought the site to life. "We spent about $2,500 for designing, scripting, and setting up the secure online ordering form, Greg describes.

"InternetU was extremely helpful, but they also gave me the freedom to create the site in a way that I felt comfortable with. I was tired of going to websites that take forever to download. Some sites bury the information where it can not be easily found. We worked hard to make sure that didn't happen on our site," Greg says.

And when you visit his site, you'll see how truly successful he was in developing it.

Now, InternetU and Cookies by Design manage the site together. As Greg points out, they have a great working relationship.

How has Greg promoted his site? "We have not been doing any online ads yet. Most people find our site by using one of the search engines. When the visitors request a free catalog, we keep their e-mail addresses to send out holiday reminders. So far, this has worked exceptionally well. People appreciate the holiday reminders and don't see them as spam."

However, their "big break" as far as free advertising goes came in early 1998. "We were featured in the February 1998 edition of WEB Magazine (both the printed and the online version). That brought a significant increase in traffic to our site."

Greg does plan on looking into affordable options for online advertising this fall. "We will look at Yahoo and other sites as places to potentially boost fourth quarter sales. As a small business, we have to stay within our budget, so I will be very careful where we spend our ad dollars," Greg explains.

Since their website opened in May of 1997, they've experienced steady growth in online sales each month. So far, they've encountered few problems with selling online. "We use a secure server to take credit card numbers and that works really well. We also give the customer the option to telephone us with their credit card number if they are concerned with security. That is where we have the most problems. Some people never call or don't leave the correct phone number."

In the future, Greg sees nothing but good things happening with his online business. "If our site continues to grow, we see no limit in what we can do. We will keep an open mind. As technology advances, we too will be ready to advance."

Smart philosophy.

What does Greg like best about selling online? "It is so easy. The customers get to view our site at a time that is convenient for them. They take all the time they would like to place the order. It is e- mailed to us. We bake the cookies and they are shipped out as the customer requests. It is convenient for them and us," he explains.

For anyone considering an online business, Greg offers this valuable advice. "Stick with it! It takes time to build online sales. Unless you have a mega ad budget, you have to cultivate each customer relationship into a referral system. They tell their friends about your site. Their friends tell their friends, and so on. I ask each of my customers to tell everyone they know about us and our site. And believe me, most of my customers tell others about our site!"

So be sure to visit the Cookie by Design website to see the wide selection of adorable cookie bouquets. You'll find cookie bouquets that are appropriate for birthdays, anniversaries, illnesses, holidays, and much more.

And the next time you want to send something unusual to a friend, something totally different from the usual flowers or boxes of candy, consider sending a cookie bouquet. Or send one to yourself! That's what I'm going to do.