Below are some do's and dont's for Internet advertisers.

DO:

1. Examine the skills and computer equipment belonging to your friends, business associates, neighbors, and people with whom you work.

2. Examine your own proficiency with the software and the on-line service. Do you really know how to use your software and can you find your way around the various areas of your favorite on-line service?

3. Examine Your Product. Are you selling a minicourse on quantum physics to thousands of scientists who navigate the Internet regularly, or, a product that appeals to someone like yourself? Observe methods employed by other advertisers with similar products.

4. Quantify your audience. How many people do you need to reach, what percentage of the market does your favorite on-line service actually address? Tailor your message as closely to your audience's demographics as possible. (When Pizza Hut started advertising on the Internet recently, we decided it's because they want to reach the majority of Internet users who are male university students who are apt to become hungry while doing project research late at night on the Internet).

5. Define your objectives. Are you willing to give less or more time to tests, compared with your other media? Will the exposure combined with the image your product conveys play a role in your upcoming on-line campaign?

DON'T:

1. Place an ad on the Internet if the audience cannot conveniently access your ad at a particular location.

2. Assume that most people have the navigational skills to access your ad.

3. Overestimate the attention span of your typical on-line respondent. Most users will willingly download text if you don't overload their senses.

4. Underestimate the message. Clarity, brevity, realism, and a trustfully restrained sales pitch should be sent to your audience.

5. Be unaware of your audience's idiosyncrasies regarding viewing commercial messages.

Don't assume that all on-line advertising is unobtrusive to users. Using methods such as auto-response e-mail can increase the chance that your audience will read your message by giving respondents the feeling of control to select only that product information that they feel has considerable value.

Eric Silverman is president of Paragon Direct Marketing in Fort Lee, N.J.; e-mail paragon@laran.com.