In this first of two articles, we will explore how to get started marketing on the Internet and examine related background issues. Next month, we will examine two successful case histories of companies that have prospered on the Internet.

You've heard so much about the Internet. For many marketers, just sorting out the claims and hype from reality can be the main challenge. Yet it's important to do the sifting, if you want to be in a position to reap the amazing benefits. That's where this article should help you. In a short space, we will try to outline opportunities for marketing on the Internet, who should become involved and how to go about getting started.

Let me begin with a bold statement and then qualify it: The Internet provides marketers with the world's fastest-growing new medium. To the early arrivals with quality merchandise, information and services will go the spoils.

Consider these facts and their significance for future commerce:

1. Today, 90 million users are active on the Net.

2. Each month, 1 million to 2 million new people become Internet explorers. Soon, millions more "newbies" or  neophytes will be flooding the wires as the major commercial on-line services open the floodgates.

3. Over 50,000 public and private computer networks are now linked to the Net with business and information services.

4. Citizens from 180 nations are using the Net.

5. By 2005, 45 percent of the world will be reachable via the Internet, according to the Internet Society. This will amount to over 200 million of the world's information elite.

6. Internet shoppers tend to be well-educated and either affluent or likely to be affluent- such as students at elite universities. They are more affluent than commercial on-line  service users.

Today, millions of dollars worth of business are being done as a result of Net activity. No one knows exactly the dollar value of this business. The best gauge is the fact that many businesses come on the Net, few leave and the Net continues to experience exponential growth.

Some of today's Net-related business is being done on the Net-that is, with the direct selection of merchandise and payment being made live, as a direct net activity.

Other business is being conducted off the Net, but is directly attributable to it. This includes business that results from Internet users discovering a company and exploring every option up to the buying activity. The actual purchase will then be done off-Net, via a phone call or letter. Offnet commercial activity also encompasses provision of information only, which down the line results in a sale.

Entering the Net Soon: Major On-Line Services

All of the major commercial on-line services will soon have initial or upgraded access to the Internet. This group includes such firms as Prodigy, America On-Line, CompuServe and Delphi. Why are they coming? Because customers demand access and these firms know that if they don't provide it, customers will sideskirt them.

For marketers considering doing business on the Net, this means a host of unparalleled new opportunities for those positioned to get these new customers' attention. Therefore, the time to establish a presence on the net is now- not six months or a year from now. By that time, your competitors may be well entrenched.

The Advent of E-Cash

Businesses are now developing encrypted methods of charging for merchandise through credit cards. More development is in the works to safeguard credit card numbers. Very sophisticated electronic cash flow is known as E-Cash. The concept of E-money is old; only some wrinkles are new.

The electronic funds transfer is a phenomenon long known to the banking world, where billions of dollars move around the globe daily via phone-all in the time it takes a person to sneeze. An increasing portion of this traffic will soon be in the form of payments made by credit card over phone lines by computer users on the Internet.

As E-cash exchange technology and familiarity increase on the part of consumers and businesses, commerce on the I-Way will also grow.

Who shops on the Internet Now?

Approximately 90 million people now use the Internet. These are mainly college students and people in high-tech jobs. Students often have free Net access provided as a benefit of enrollment.

Some upper-echelon executives at high-tech companies access the Net. More often, access is common a notch or two below the ceo level, except for high-tech companies. Middle-level corporate users of the Net often use their access to conduct research and purchases related to their jobs. This provides marketing opportunities to companies selling data services or to any business-to-business products or services. These same business customers often become consumers and shop as individuals on the Net during their lunch break. Note that not all Internet surfers are buyers. However, many
surfers do ride in search of quality products and services.

What about Bell Atlantic, Time-Warner and Cable Companies?

If you're hesitating about setting up on the Net because you're not sure which of various interactive services will succeed, it's time to come off hold. Other systems may grow in time, but the Net is here now.

Other systems make promises on which they may or may not deliver. Many services and alliances have been plagued by start-up flaws relating to technology or pricing. For example, after two years of testing, Time-Warner's much-vaunted electronic venture is expected to reach only 4,000 homes. Of course, wider acceptance will likely follow- but don't look for Net-like growth.

One of the main advantages of using a proprietary, wide-band service is to allow transmission of movies on demand. The economics of this service are not yet proven. Movies tie up phone lines for a long, potentially expensive time. Another storm warning: In tests conducted by TCI and U.S. West, customers bought only three or four movies per month. So video stores may have a good laugh- for awhile longer, at least.  Cable companies won't be competitors to the Net, since they will provide access to it.

Is Interactive TV The Wave Of The Future?

All interactive TV-based systems require a dedicated function box that will have limited use. According to Jason Olim, who runs the successful CD store on the Net, CDnow! The Internet Music Store, "Turning a TV into a computer is harder than turning a PC into a TV."

With a personal computer, much of the expensive hardware needed is already in place. Besides, it's more natural to interact with a box that's a few inches away from you, with a handy keyboard, than with a machine like a TV that sits 10 feet away.

High-speed interactive TV may be available a few years down the road. To use it, when it's available, may require a $1,000-per-home investment.

The question may then be posed: What about 500 channel TV? Isn't that interactivity? Not in my opinion. Pay for view or super-fast channel switching is not true interactivity. Olim sums up the differences this way: "TV is high-presentation. Computers are high interactivity." Meanwhile, the Internet is here, ready and growing