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keting companies have anticipated the from $600 to $30,000 per year, including
days when the Information Superhigh- updates. Average cost for the typical 10-
way comes to Main Street. These Inter- page site with graphics is $2,000. The ex-
net pioneers have been developing sites pense increases with the amount of
for businesses and organizations along graphics, animation and information.
the Internet's World Wide Web, a com- Many retailers have placed their catalogs
plex network that links on-line users to of products on-line.
the universe of Internet information. It's
Yet compared with other types of ad-
the equivalent of constructing a new corn- vertising, marketing on the Internet is
munity, complete with address and a cus-
a good buy, said Joshua Linkner, vice
tom-designed facility.
Ellen Pabu rsky is a president of Global Link of
Cost to create a Web site and graphic de signer for Bloomfield Hills.
pay rent on the Internet ranges
A four-line ad run each day of
Web p ages.

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FRANK PROVENZANO

SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS

the year in a major daily newspaper, ac-

cording to Mr. Linkner, costs about
$10,000. A Web site that reaches 50 mil-
lion, in contrast, could communicate the
same information for $3,000. The key,
however, is determining whether the right
audience is being reached.
"People are using it instead of going to
the Yellow Pages," said Mr. Linkner,
whose clients Avis Ford and Les Stan-
ford Chevrolet have sold vehicles world-

WEB page 58

PHOTOS BY DANIEL LI PPITT

ochelle Imber has gone glob-
`*k al with her West Bloomfield
knitting business.
People from all over the
world leave e-mail messages
on her Internet Web site.
Some ask about the yarn she
carries at her business, Knit,
Knit, Knit. Some are inter-
ested in more in-depth cor-
*44 respondence about the craft
AzZn `1 of knitting, like a prospec-
,
tive customer from India.
"Dollar wise, I don't think it's made an
impact yet," said Ms. Imber, who offers a
range of yarns and hand-crafted sweaters.
"But an awful lot of the population wears
sweaters, so who knows what could hap-
pen when you reach a larger audience."
The exact size of the audience is diffi-
cult to discern. According to most recent
estimates, 50 million people access the
Internet. Of that total, about 14 percent
shop on-line.
But those figures are about to explode.
If 1996 was the year when companies
opened their doors on-line, then 1997
could be when consumers arrive in mass.
With the introduction of Magnavox's
Web enabler and cable companies pro-
viding direct access to the World Wide
Web, cyberspace might be transformed
into a global shopping mall; or, as the
more optimistic claim, a town square lo-
cated along the Information Superhigh-
way. Regardless, finding an on-line
parking place won't be a concern. Afford-
ing the hardware to access the Web, how-
ever, will be.
The rush to the Internet requires a
computer, modem and patience. Until
now, the biggest obstacle has been long
waits downloading. By the second quar-
ter of 1997, many PC companies will be-
gin selling computers with up to 300
megahertz processors, exponentially
faster than the current 133 and 166 mod-
els. The effect will be that the speed of
traveling on the Internet could happen in
real time. A click and you're there.
For the past year, many on-line mar-

Businesses are
joining the
bandwagon
to get on the
Internet.

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