think a product looks, I never know if it will actually sell on the Web. It may be that for some reason I don’t realize buyers want to see and touch it. Or I may not realize that a version of the product is already available in every corner store.” Hundley uses a dual testing technique. First, he tests sales of the products on eBay. If the product does not even fetch his wholesale cost, he knows he has a loser. On the other hand, products may sell on eBay for more than his anticipated retail price, which is the first encouraging news. Once a product survives the eBay test, he will buy a few items from the wholesaler and test sales on his Web site. If they perform according to his predetermined metrics, he will make a larger commitment to the product. If not, he is likely to drop it.

• At Speed Anywhere, I quickly realized that a key to marketing was product segmentation: I wanted buyers to recognize that a specific site could absolutely meet their needs. So I went from general broadband business lines, such as T1 Anywhere (www.T1Anywhere.com) (a T1 is a basic business broadband connection) to more specialized offerings such as private lines, offered through Private Line Anywhere (www.PrivateLine Anywhere.com). From the beginning, I consciously designed my business systems with enormous flexibility. Because of that, and with experience, I could launch a new service at almost no cost in under 4 hours. I also developed some proprietary targeted advertising techniques, using search engines, that allowed me to see how prospects responded to the site—and estimate its overall potential—for less than $50. In essence, I created a mechanism to continuously expand my product line with a minimal dollar investment and a relatively small investment of my time.

• Joe Strahl, the founder of Mr. Trademark, found himself in the fortunate but not uncommon position of working with

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