Be linked or be lost or be on the Web or be out of business would have been an over the top statement in 1995, even for me. Today, it's right on the mark. Think about how well you could compete today without a fax machine or voice mail. Your company would be hurting. The Internet was enjoying the spotlight in 1995 and not participating was to hide one's head in the sand. It would be like having a booth at a major trade show in your industry -- you may not receive millions of leads or made thousands of sales, but not participating would make your company conspicuous by its absence. Yesterday, we began to see changes in the landscape.

You have no Web site, what you mean your information is not available electronically? I've already downloaded product information from your competitor." Today, it's hard to justify doing business with a company that isn't aggressively using the Web to recreate itself. There's no time to decide if the Web site you put up a couple of years ago might be worth serious investment. We're past that. With its multimedia capabilities, the World Wide Web captured the imagination of computer users everywhere, and corporate marketers rose to the challenge.

Today, the marketing department is teaming with the information systems people and together they are leading the company into a whole new era. But realize that with the wholesale reduction in the cost of communication and the speed at which global commerce is creating new ways of doing business, the word revolution isn't hype anymore. Developing a successful internet marketing strategy is an essential part of your online success. In order to succeed, you must develop and implement a strategic plan that includes all of the following:

A great product, a website specifically designed to sell and a killer marketing strategy. Each step plays an important role in your overall strategy and must be developed to its fullest potential. If even one step fails, your chances of success will be minimal. Your first step will be to develop a great product. You're probably thinking that's easier said than done, but it's really not. The absolute best product is one that you can develop you and deliver over the Internet.

With today's technology, there is absolutely no reason why you can't create your own product. The knowledge you have within your own mind is extremely valuable. Everybody is good at something, has a special talent or some specialized knowledge. Use this knowledge to create a product. The key to developing a great product is exclusiveness. Your product should be unique and not be in competition with hundreds of other similar products. You must give your potential customers exactly what they want. Develop a high-quality product that fills a void to increase your chance of success. Another consideration of great importance is your target market. Keep in mind, the Internet is a global marketplace. Develop a product with a large geographic target and a wide appeal. A great product will fulfill a need or desire and provide instant gratification.