Roughly 75% of Dallas-based PR firm, Prokell Publicity comes from marketing on the Net -- and they don't even have a Web site. This year the three-year-old company expects to generate roughly $120,000 -- "$40,000 more than last year," said Suzi Prokell, president, "as I've gotten even better at using the Net as a source to generate new business. Prokell searches the Internet for newsgroups relating to publicity, and spends roughly 2-4 hours a week reading them.

"A portion of our business is medical PR. We frequently visit health and medical forums (such as the one on CompuServe) and answer questions others have posted," said Prokell. "In doing so, we establish some name recognition since people who use these forums use them regularly and now recognize our name." Many of Prokell's clients she hasn't even met. They communicate through e-mail and send documents back and forth for edits rather than faxing and having re-key things in. "It really saves time and allows me to get more work done for the client," she said.

Your company can establish a Web presence without a Web site too. Newsgroups and Lists Usenet newsgroups are Internet applications where individuals post messages for public viewing; newsgroups can be used to do market research or to promote your business. Usenet, which started in the 80s, is organized by topics. To use newsgroups you need special newsreader software (many on-line providers and e-mail packages offer this functionality). Lists are similar information exchanges only they're sent directly to your e-mail.

As a business you must be careful how you use newsgroups and lists -- overt advertising is considered a no-no. Both use distinctive netiquette (an unwritten code of behavior) that abhors spamming (the posting of advertisements or inappropriate information). In fact, you can do your business more harm than good if you don't learn the newsgroups guidelines before posting information. Before using a newsgroup, consult their FAQ (frequently asked questions) for information and monitor how others use the forum.

According to Daniel Janal, a professional speaker, Internet marketing consultant and author of "Online Marketing Handbook" and "101 Successful Businesses You Can Start on the Internet, if you want to use such forums, you should:

1. See what their policy is on allowing advertising. Generally, they don't permit it, so don't do it1x
2. Contribute to the discussion. In this manner, if someone asks about something, you can answer and people will see that you have expertise and will trust you. They will also see your signature file that contains your contact information, like phone, e-mail and web page address. This can be an effective method of gaining new prospects. "When we answer questions, we always include short blurb about who we are and what we do -- along with our contact information," said Prokell. "We don't do "cold call" e-mail advertising as this is annoying to people. Rather, we position ourselves as "helpers" -- with a service to provide."
3. Alert the group to information files available on your web page or via e-mail. This should be useful info, not advertising. Examples would be "10 ways to cut your taxes," or "10 ways to reduce heart disease." Bad examples would be "10 percent discount on fishing supplies to web users now available."

E-mail
Any type of business can benefit from a targeted, e-mail marketing campaign. After all, nearly 50% of the U.S. population or 135 million people will communicate via e-mail by 2001, according to Forrester Research, a Massachusetts-based research service. Fifteen percent of the U.S. population (approximately 30 million adults 16 or over) use e-mail now.

E-mail is cheaper and less time consuming alternative than direct mail, and it allows you to continuously update your lists because it can tell you if addresses are no longer being utilized. One of the most effective ways to do this is to send messages to people who have specifically requested information about your company and its products. You can gather these names and e-mail addresses by posting notices on your home page or collecting responds from direct marketing or your newsletter.

"The best list," said Michael Brizz, president of The Center for Professional Achievement, a Bainsbridge, OH based sales and service organization, "is the list you're going to build yourself." Brizz collects the e-mail addresses of customers and people who inquired in the past and sends them service-oriented mail two or three times a year, such the company's latest newsletter or even useful tidbits from seminars Brizz attended. "I want people to open the letters from me because it's always something of value," he said. Rather than a means of conventional advertising, Brizz uses e-mail as a touchstone to his customers. "I want people to be aware of what I'm doing so when a need comes up, they'll call me."

Besides constructing an e-mail list yourself, you can hire someone to put together an e-mail campaign for you. Such companies will develop the conceptual focus of your e-mail broadcast message and a distribution plan. "When a client wants to implement an E-mail broadcast, I usually ask them what their product/service is and then I ask them who their target audience is. Then, I find out what lists are available and what the client wants to accomplish...sales, research, etc." said Andy Weissberg, Director of Operations, of mediNet Communications, Inc. an Internet marketing / web site development company.

Such companies can also provide you e-mail addresses that are broken down into various categories, such as a particular region of the country, hobbies/interests, gender, etc. This information is gathered by the company or list brokers who gather addresses by actively browsing through newsgroups and chat sites that pinpoint particular on-line interests and purchases e-mail lists from Internet service providers like AOL. Prices for such services vary. mediNet, for instance charges $35-50 per thousand names for e-mail lists and $250 and up for development.

Themed commerce environment