Most major corporations and a dramatically increasing number of small to medium size businesses have, or are in the process of getting, a World Wide Web site.

Non-profit and for-profit organizations use the Web to provide them a forum to explain their products or services, enhance their company's image, more easily and cost-effectively distribute information and, most importantly, build relationships with new and existing customers.

Unlike any other advertisement or promotional medium before, the Web allows for real-time, interactive presentations and demonstrations using text, sound, video and animation.

Visitors to a site can take "virtual reality" tours of products or places or evaluate demonstration software. They can also quickly search through archives of information or place live credit card orders for most anything sold through traditional means (and even some that is not).

Almost everything the visitor experiences can be custom-fitted to their wishes and information can be continually updated. For example, there are many Web sites that offer updated stock quotes, so a visitor could see the market change minute by minute as it happens.

Many businesses also use the Web to offer detailed information that would normally be inaccessible or difficult to find by the average consumer. There is often very little room on packages to cross-promote other products and most other forms of advertisement are usually very limited.

Instead of product details crammed into 30 second radio or television spots or crushed on two-page glossy spreads in magazines, an almost limitless amount of information can be provided via the Web site.

As consumer purchasing research has shown, the more a consumer knows about a particular product or service, the more likely he or she is to purchase it. This is why more and more organizations put their World Wide Web address on their advertisements. They understand that when a potential consumer wants more information that they want it "now" and the Internet provides that kind of instant access.

As an attempt to save money on printing costs, companies are providing online brochures, technical "white papers" and company prospectuses in online formats. Again, the consumer wanting the information doesn't have to wait for it to be mailed to them in "two to four weeks" but can get the information as they need it.

Feedback forms have long been popular on corporate Web sites. Some sites offer special discounts or promotional products for filling out simple surveys and a few actually send you a check for your time.

With all of these benefits, it is easy to see why over 100,000 new domain names (i.e. www.my-company.com) are added each month.

If you are interested on what it takes to get your non-profit or for-profit organization on the Internet, contact your local Internet service provider (ISP) and ask about "Web hosting."

Typical small business Web sites can be created by professional, full-time Web developers (ask an ISP for their recommendations) for as little as $500, but a site complete with interaction will often run from $1000 to $2000. Of course large multimedia sites, like ones with virtual reality or video will cost more.

Finally, expect to pay $50 to $100 a month for Web hosting a site that has its own registered domain name and don't forget to factor in the cost of updating your site to keep visitors coming back.

While some small businesses may feel the cost is a bit high, the savings in other areas like advertising and printing, plus the potential to reach hundreds of millions of new customers can usually be easily justified.