For three decades Arbell Inc. progressed according to plan. The small but potent distributor of production equipment for the electronics industry had sales offices dotting the country. Customers in need of Arbell's technical furniture and work stations responded to the company's direct mail, brochures and other traditional marketing material.

Without a "techie" among them, Arbell employees generated and responded to sales leads the old fashioned way. In fact, only a quarter of Arbell's staff used a computer at all. Company president Rick Weatherill admits that when they finally decided to venture into cybermarketing in 1997, they were a little stunned, as if caught in the shine of the Internet's headlights on the information superhighway.

"It was kind of an adventure for us," says Weatherill, who works from Arbell's Burlington, Ontario head office. "Everybody was getting on the Web site bandwagon. All our product manufacturers were putting up sites and hot links. "We wanted to give customers another channel to see what we sold.

"Originally we just wanted to put our line card up there - that's what we do when we make calls."

Jeff Nolan, technical director of Imagination Plus, a Hamilton, Ontario-based Internet marketing firm that was called in to develop Arbell's Web site, says that impulse to simply catapult existing marketing material into cyberspace is the most common mistake made by Internet neophytes. Some Internet marketing experts call this "shovelware."

"Companies tend to want to take all their marketing materials and shove them online," says Nolan. "Half of them slap up an annual report and a picture of the office. And they've left it that way since 1996 - soon they'll have to do core samples on it. The Web is a sea of unfiltered information. You have to catch and attract people and relate to them."

It wasn't long after posting the site that Weatherill began to recognize the value of the Internet as a mighty marketing tool and not simply a means of replicating paper via technology.

"Most companies come to us with existing marketing information they want recycled, " says Nolan. "That produces a very flat, one-dimensional result. We have to change their mindset. We believe in making technology work for the client."

Having an objective from the beginning helps cut through the underbrush. The company that knows what it wants to give its customers who use the Internet, like product updates and releases, technical know-how, product support and software updates, will have a better response to its site.

"We write a strategy document with clearly defined objectives" says Peter Mosley, creative director at Toronto-based Beakbane Marketing Inc. "It's an in-house document with time frames. We do research about their competitors. We spend a lot of time integrating with existing marketing. We look at what the clients have already done - take the best stuff and make it better. We work closely with marketing, administration, sales and ask them, 'How can you use this?' Anyone can do a Web site. The challenge is doing one that works."

In Arbell's case, that meant converting a plethora of technical information about its products into readable text. To add visual appeal, plenty of photographs were dropped into the copy-heavy site. Simple instructions, including a list of user options, make the site easy to navigate.

"It gives some indication of our progressiveness," Weatherill says of Arbell's Web site. "It shows that we keep up with the latest methods of high tech."

Andrew Keyes, director of digital marketing at Armantus, a Toronto company that specializes in new media development and online advertising, believes creating a Web presence is vital in a global marketplace.

"Putting a brochure online is not a bad thing to do. Is that all you can do? No. It's not using the medium to its full potential. But you can put something up that's not going to be damaging. A lot of customers only use the Internet to find products and services. At least provide information about your products and a bit about you. Otherwise they'll call your competitors. There's not much of an argument for not having a site."

Toronto-based Pattison Outdoor is Canada's largest outdoor advertising company. But Glen McConnell, the company's vicepresident, says they were lagging behind competitors who already had a Web presence.

McConnell says Pattison was less interested in generating sales leads from window shoppers than providing media buyers and planners who were already regular customers with a time-saving, convenient channel to get up-to-date information.

Pattison's multi-media staff person spent four months constructing the company's $100,000 Web site under the direction of Armantus. The results, McConnell says, are impressive. A moving banner running across a map of Canada broadcasts Pattison's "breaking news." Users are invited to click on product information, services and contact information. A digital library gives potential customers a glimpse of Pattison's latest billboard campaigns, and with another click they can tap into industry links.

"It provides customer care and support 24 hours a day, seven days a week," says Nolan of web marketing. "It's an amazing costsaving feature. You can go on a Web site and have problems solved or support staff call you immediately."

But although Statistics Canada reports that Internet advertising revenues rose from $1.6 million in 1996 to $9.8 million in 1997 and are expected to reach $23 million this year, smart marketers know its limits. Less than half the country has access to the Web. Only 27 per cent of computer owners used the Internet for advertising and marketing products and services last year. And with a billion sites begging for users' limited attention, it only makes sense that Web advertising become just a single part of a wide-ranging marketing scheme.

Promotion of a site itself is essential. Kristen Lindsay, creative director at Imagination Plus, says companies can't assume that if they build it, they will come.

"You have to have realistic expectations. If you build it and promote it, they may possibly come."

Experts recommend that companies submit their Internet address - or URL - to a multiple submission service which will list a company site with several search engines and directories so that users can find a specific company or the products and services they offer. The URL and e-mail address should be put on all letterhead, business cards and marketing material such as brochures and direct mail to drive customers to a company site.

But even for the most technically progressive company, measuring the value of a Web site in the Internet dark ages is nearly impossible. The textbook on building a solid business case for the Internet is still being written. As of yet there is no yardstick to measure Internet effectiveness and CEOs want to know more than how many "hits" or visits a site is receiving.

"You can't measure the return on investment," says Mosley. "This is still a new frontier. No one asked Columbus for a return on investment. There is a bit of a leap of faith. As more people become more comfortable with the technology, more CEOs will release the purse strings."

But Armantus' Keyes says statistics logged by the server can be useful in revising a marketing plan. Demographics of the number of visits, traffic patterns - including the path taken through the site, general points of interest and those parts ignored - can be used to create new marketing material. For example, if many users spent a lot of time exploring a car's interior on an auto manufacturers' Web site, that company may want to consider adding some extra information on the car's leather upholstery in future marketing material.

More important and less easy to gauge, however, is the correlation between a Web site, sales leads and ultimately increased business. While many say it is too soon to make that connection, Keyes believes the Web is a very powerful media for lead generation that, to some extent, is already taking the place of the conventional sales rep.

"These are pre-qualified leads; clients learn about products and services by themselves. If they're still interested, they will contact the company. They can go to the Web site and get all the information without talking to a sales rep.

You can even close a sale on the Net. That's a good and bad thing but it's a trend that can't be stopped.

"We have to rethink the distribution channel. We are no longer just supporting the sales force with information. Now the Web is doing a lot of what sales people used to do. We have to build mechanisms that support the sales force."

Although Weatherill says Arbell doesn't specifically track its Web site for increased sales, they know a lead occasionally comes from the Web site and translates into business. More significantly, he says, the site has "sped up the process of getting information about our products into the hands of customers." Prospective business is picked up immediately by sales staff who filter out the leads from the Web site and other media.

"The site paid for itself by making sure the company was equipped internally to respond to any leads," says Nolan.

As a means of tracking inquiries, Keyes suggests adding response forms and questionnaires to sites for users to download. Location maps, and personalized discount coupons can be used to entice business. Keyes also recommends setting Web marketing objectives - to receive 10 e-mailed leads a day, for example. This personal contact between business and potential client is where Keyes says the Internet has the edge: "With direct mail you don't even know how many people even opened the envelope."

The cost of an interactive startup, launching an Internet marketing campaign complete with an online product catalogue can run up to $200,000. The cost of a Web site can range from less than $ 1,000 up to several hundred thousand dollars depending on the intricacies.

Although it is recommended that site concept, design and initial development of the site be done professionally, maintenance - including regular updates - can be done in-house. Information about new products and services, updated newsletters and employment opportunities should be plugged into the site on a regular basis to keep people coming back. Many companies also recognize the advantages, although costly, of a complete re-design every couple of years. "The Internet is so fast paced - it's driven at its core by computers," said Nolan. "It quickly gets old. There are different designing trends with the ever-changing technology of computers. A proper management plan is essential."

"People tend not to keep up with the new technology," agrees Mosley. "You have to stay close to the 'bleeding edge;' stay ahead of the main eye of the hurricane. You don't want to be roadkill on the Information Highway."