Top Picks

Companies nationwide are becoming familiar with building and hosting Web sites. But many are discovering that marketing their company over the Net doesn't end with the launch of their Web sites: The next logical step is to find new ways to increase traffic and boost sales. To help companies get the word out, Internet marketing companies are stepping up to the plate.

The expansion of the Internet and companies' growing confidence in e-commerce are spurring rapid growth in the Internet marketing industry. According to Internet marketing research firm Forrester Research Inc., Internet advertising will grow from $480 million in sales this year to $1 billion in 1998.

Some Internet marketing companies help businesses build Web site traffic by setting up links to other sites or developing new content or services; others create software programs and services to help companies conduct direct-marketing campaigns via e-mail or specialize in Web advertising. Internet marketers' backgrounds are diverse, ranging from direct-marketing experts to software programmers and Webmasters. With such a wide array of expertise, industry insiders suggest entrepreneurs supplement any areas they may be lacking in with experienced personnel.

To succeed, entrepreneurs must go the extra mile. Says Dale Dougherty, president and CEO of Songline Studios Inc., an online publishing firm and publisher of Web Review Magazine, "Companies need to [find] ways to develop meaningful relationships [with visitors] on the Internet."

This article was originally published in the December 1997 print edition of Entrepreneur with the headline: Top Picks.