But six years ago, he joined the world of e-business by starting his own seals and gaskets company, EPM Inc.

EPM does not require him to spend long days pounding the pavement because Whitlock's company is based on the Internet. His Web site (http://www.epm.com) generates sales leads without any additional work from him. Anyone from around the world can contact him by using the link to his e-mail or by calling the 24 hour-a-day, seven-day-a-week number posted on his home page. His catalog of parts also can be accessed through his Web site.

"EPM is the essence of what I thought would be an ideal business," Whitlock said. "I worked for a large company and I worked long hours, but EPM would be built around the kind of life I wanted to have."

The Internet has changed the way other small businesses in Atlanta function.

Showing businesses how to use the Internet is what Debra Dixon-Stringer does with her own small business, Array Computer Technologies Inc. She started out eight years ago as a computer solutions company, offering software training and hardware repair and upgrades.

Four years ago, Dixon-Stringer began focusing more of her time on Web site development. She estimates that aspect of Array has grown each year by 25 to 50 percent.

"It has become one of the primary profit streams for our company," Dixon-Stringer said of her Internet focus. Web site designers say business is booming.

Bill Sayles is president of Millennia Systems Inc., a full-service software development and business technology solution company in Norcross. He said that an increasing number of small and midsize businesses are coming to Millennia for Web site design. Revenue for that aspect of his business last year was $40,000. He already has contracts for $24,000 in Internet business this year.

Making the 'Net work for you

Sayles said the decision to put your business on the Internet depends on what you want the Internet to do for you.

"You need to decide if you're trying to get people to come to your location, or if you're trying to sell your product over the Internet," Sayles said. "Some just want to use their site to provide information."

Companies can have a starter page -- or a beginner, no frills page -- on the Internet for a small fee. Array charges about $200 for a page that Dixon-Stringer said should include the address and phone number of the company, the company logo and a link to the company e-mail.

Whitlock has had such success with his Web site that he is devoting his entire marketing budget to developing his Web site further. He plans to have online ordering available within the next three months.

Whitlock even opened an international company, EPM of India, with a partner he had never met. The two communicate through faxes and e-mails. EPM of India provides EPM with custom-made sealing devices through a manufacturing site with 27 employees. Whitlock's partner in India runs the production facility.

Web sites that are intricate, such as the one Whitlock has, can cost as much as $8,000 to develop, according to Sayles. With that kind of money on the line, he suggests looking for a Web site development company that will listen to what the business owner wants.

"Sometimes people are intimidated because they don't know very much about the Internet, so they let Web developers tell them what to put on their site," Sayles said. "Nobody knows their business like the owner, so they should make sure they get what they want."

Like any marketing effort, a Web site needs time to produce results, Dixon-Stringer said. "People are too quick to give up on Web sites if they don't see results right away."

Long-term project

She said that businesses need to give the Web site two or three months before evaluating how successful it is and must spend as much time marketing the Web site as they spend developing it.

"The most important thing is to tell people about your site. Have it printed on your business card and letterhead," she said.

She also recommends registering Web site addresses with various search engines such as Yahoo! and Excite.

Whitlock said he has had to fight off the success that comes from a good Internet site. "I've been the CEO of a large company, and I don't want to do that anymore," Whitlock said.

"If I can just keep doing business this way, that's fine with me."