UK's cottage industry beats US internet giants
Success of 62-year-old's online greetings cards makes her a millionaire
David Smith, technology correspondent
Sunday February 12, 2006
The Observer
The village of Lurgashall, with its pub, church and cricket pitch, is a long way from Silicon Valley. But it is here in West Sussex that a 62-year-old grandmother - who first designed a Christmas card on her computer 'for fun' - has turned her hobby into a multi-million-pound business.
JacquieLawson.com, which is gearing up for Valentine's Day, is the market leader in online greetings cards. Lawson spends weeks designing each card.
Their gentle humour and musical backing have proved so popular that, according to Nielsen/NetRatings, Jacquie Lawson.com had 22.7 million visitors in December, more than double that of its closest rival, AmericanGreetings.com. The success has turned Lawson into a millionaire several times over.
The website's membership has risen by 45 per cent in the past year to 531,227. Each member pays a £4.50 annual subscription fee, generating nearly £2.4m.
Joel Dreyfuss, of technology business magazine Red Herring, says such a company would usually sell for five or six times its income, implying Lawson could be sitting on nearly £15m. Five years ago the e-cards site Blue Mountain was bought by American Greetings for £20m.
But JacquieLawson.com is not for sale. 'It's a bit of a crusade because there's so much rubbish on the internet,' said Lawson, speaking from her 15th-century cottage. 'It's such a fantastic medium, it ought to be better. I've always been a stickler for detail - I studied illustration and I love putting in bits people might not notice the first time.'
Trained at St Martin's School of Art in London, Lawson worked as a freelance artist for years. Her artistic flair was not in doubt, but computers were another matter. She got her first PC in 1998 and began using the animation program Macromedia Flash in 2000. 'It was a nightmare to learn,' she recalled. 'I thought I couldn't be bothered to read the bloody book so I taught myself.'
After six weeks of trial and error she finished her first electronic Christmas card and sent it to 30 friends, then went to Australia. When she returned, she had 1,600 messages from people all over the world who had distributed the card by email. Many asked that if she produced another card, she let them see it. The following November, a simple website was born, only to crash under huge demand.
Lawson's friend Andrew Dukes, now commercial manager, and nephew Mike Hughes-Chamberlain, now 'technical guru', suggested setting up a business. They invested in hardware and software and launched a sophisticated website. Lawson, who had been designing her cards slowly with a mouse, now uses a touch-sensitive tablet and stylus.
'The internet is not just for people in their twenties,' she added. 'I was pretty ancient when I got my first computer. Dear old ladies like me can take it up.'
Despite her unexpected wealth, Lawson, whose partner Malcolm Caird and niece Sally Lisney also help with the site, continues to shop at her local Tesco, though she has treated herself to a BMW.
She owns two dogs and two cats, including Chudleigh, a labrador-springer spaniel crossbreed who features in many of the cards. 'He's becoming a celebrity: we get Chudleigh visitors. It's embarrassing when I have curlers in my hair.'
www.jacquielawson.com
guardian.co.uk
Success of 62-year-old's online greetings cards makes her a millionaire
David Smith, technology correspondent
Sunday February 12, 2006
The Observer
The village of Lurgashall, with its pub, church and cricket pitch, is a long way from Silicon Valley. But it is here in West Sussex that a 62-year-old grandmother - who first designed a Christmas card on her computer 'for fun' - has turned her hobby into a multi-million-pound business.
JacquieLawson.com, which is gearing up for Valentine's Day, is the market leader in online greetings cards. Lawson spends weeks designing each card.
Their gentle humour and musical backing have proved so popular that, according to Nielsen/NetRatings, Jacquie Lawson.com had 22.7 million visitors in December, more than double that of its closest rival, AmericanGreetings.com. The success has turned Lawson into a millionaire several times over.
The website's membership has risen by 45 per cent in the past year to 531,227. Each member pays a £4.50 annual subscription fee, generating nearly £2.4m.
Joel Dreyfuss, of technology business magazine Red Herring, says such a company would usually sell for five or six times its income, implying Lawson could be sitting on nearly £15m. Five years ago the e-cards site Blue Mountain was bought by American Greetings for £20m.
But JacquieLawson.com is not for sale. 'It's a bit of a crusade because there's so much rubbish on the internet,' said Lawson, speaking from her 15th-century cottage. 'It's such a fantastic medium, it ought to be better. I've always been a stickler for detail - I studied illustration and I love putting in bits people might not notice the first time.'
Trained at St Martin's School of Art in London, Lawson worked as a freelance artist for years. Her artistic flair was not in doubt, but computers were another matter. She got her first PC in 1998 and began using the animation program Macromedia Flash in 2000. 'It was a nightmare to learn,' she recalled. 'I thought I couldn't be bothered to read the bloody book so I taught myself.'
After six weeks of trial and error she finished her first electronic Christmas card and sent it to 30 friends, then went to Australia. When she returned, she had 1,600 messages from people all over the world who had distributed the card by email. Many asked that if she produced another card, she let them see it. The following November, a simple website was born, only to crash under huge demand.
Lawson's friend Andrew Dukes, now commercial manager, and nephew Mike Hughes-Chamberlain, now 'technical guru', suggested setting up a business. They invested in hardware and software and launched a sophisticated website. Lawson, who had been designing her cards slowly with a mouse, now uses a touch-sensitive tablet and stylus.
'The internet is not just for people in their twenties,' she added. 'I was pretty ancient when I got my first computer. Dear old ladies like me can take it up.'
Despite her unexpected wealth, Lawson, whose partner Malcolm Caird and niece Sally Lisney also help with the site, continues to shop at her local Tesco, though she has treated herself to a BMW.
She owns two dogs and two cats, including Chudleigh, a labrador-springer spaniel crossbreed who features in many of the cards. 'He's becoming a celebrity: we get Chudleigh visitors. It's embarrassing when I have curlers in my hair.'
www.jacquielawson.com
guardian.co.uk