A study released today by Borrell Associates contends that the millions of small and medium enterprises that have Internet access but no Web sites are a large, untapped source of revenue if marketers
offer them simple ways to design and run a Web site. According to the study, which surveyed online revenues for 2,177 local Web sites, the top-earning local sites were generating 10-17 percent of
their revenue providing Web sites to small businesses. According to the site operators, hosting and design services were "marginally profitable," but that contact with small business owners opened the
door to selling online advertising to a business that previously didn't have a site. The study noted that according to a March 2005 survey of 21,000 small business owners, conducted by SBTV.com,
nearly one-third of those surveyed intended to devote their largest portion of their ad dollars to the Internet. --Shankar Gupta
