Consider Greg Siskind, a local immigration attorney. He posted his Web page last summer, offering information about his services. Now clients from the Internet represent one-third of his customers and more than one-half of his income. "It’s a huge portion of my business," he says. In addition to new customers, he gets 10-20 messages from people on-line each day who have questions about immigration law. He doesn’t mind. "It keeps me on my toes," he says.

Siskind came up with the idea to market himself on the Internet after realizing that he could help clients all over the country without leaving Music City. He quit the firm he was in to start his own practice, in part because he knew he would be able to get himself on-line.

It’s been a giant success. He opened a satellite office with Lynn Susser, a Memphis attorney. They conduct their discussions via Internet e-mail. The American Bar Association just tapped the pair to write a book about marketing attorneys on the Internet, due to be finished at the end of the summer. "It’s been a real boon for us, and it’s been fun," Siskind said.

You can get to his page from Nashville.Net, another Web page hosted by Telalink, a local Internet service provider. The main screen for Nashville.Net shows a cartoon drawing of the Nashville skyline and surrounding areas. You can choose to get more information about businesses, government agencies, schools and a variety of other subjects. If you choose business, you get another cartoon city. Each business has a separate building, labeled with its name. Siskind has the red two-story number in the back. If you want more information, you select that building and you’re taken to this Web page.

Nashville.Net is busy establishing itself as a clearinghouse for area businesses on the Internet, who pay Telalink for the privilege of having their pages linked to it. Telalink Partner Tim Moses said they’ve signed up about 40 companies so far and are adding about one a week. Traffic on Nashville.Net has been increasing every week since it went on-line last September. It logged its one-millionth customer – that is, someone who stopped by to take a look – last week. "We have businesses calling every day. Everyone wants to do it, but they’re not sure where to start," he says.

SkillSearch went on line earlier this year. Al Spencer, vice president of the local recruiting company, said they’ve seen a 10% increase in profits so far this year because of the Web page. People from around the country who are looking for jobs or looking for employees have been checking into the page, where they can get more information and even enroll. "We’re adding hundreds of new members. We get three new employers a day. We’re attracting the type of people we want to attract. It’s been very effective," Spencer says. He boosted the popularity of the page by getting links to it put on other high-traffic Web pages on the Internet, he said. SkillSearch has also been advertising their on-line presence in computer magazines.

NetCentral is another local service provider that sells Internet links to businesses. Instead of linking businesses’ own pages to a directory, NetCentral sells space on its own Web page. About 18 companies have signed up so far, most of them involved in the Christian music industry, said NetCentral Creative Director Craig Mason. More are pouring in every day. "It’s getting overwhelming," he said. Rates for NetCentral’s links can run $250 to $400 a month, he says. It costs $350 (plus the price of having a cartoon building drawn) to put yourself on Nashville.Net’s virtual city, then $45 a month maintenance.

Benson Music Group went on-line with NetCentral a month ago. Since then, they’ve had 330 people fill out an on-line questionnaire about their music-buying habits. Of those, 50 have sent the $2-$3 necessary via regular mail to receive a cassette or CD with 16 sample songs from Benson artists. "The information we’re getting from the survey has been invaluable," Record Marketing Director Rodney Hatfield says. "I think it’s going to encourage us to go to our own home (Web) page." The company is planning to start marketing records directly over the Internet, with music clips available on-line for people to listen to. Hatfield says Benson has already enjoyed its ability to communicate personally with customers. "We get direct access to that consumer immediately, in their home. We’ve never had that kind of access," he says. On the other end, customers have been happy because they can get personal notes from Benson about their favorite artists if they have questions, he says.

David Anderson first posted a Web page for his Anderson Photography Co. last fall. He hasn’t gotten much business from it, but he attributes that to the fact that his customers are mostly industrial companies and haven’t gotten on-line. In the meantime, he’s gotten feedback on his photos from people all over the world, and his pages sees a lot of activity. "I wish I had more time to spend on it," he says. "We’ve really enjoyed it," he says. Richard Reesman says he is considering putting the Visual Focus graphic design company on-line. He works there as a prepress manager, overseeing printings. "I’ve cruised around (the Internet) looking at other cities. I’m really impressed with what Nashville’s done overall," he says. "I hope it comes along faster."