If the Internet marketplace were a city, it would look a lot like New York City at rush hour, and everyone would be blindfolded. Most of the companies and individuals rushing to market themselves online have no specific goals, no specific plan, and no method of measuring their success. Rather than thinking about why they're going online, what they hope to achieve there, and how an online presence can add value to their business from the customer's point of view, most of today's online marketers are clambering onto the Net bandwagon because it seems like the right thing to do.

Guerrillas know better. Going on the Net might be the right thing to do, but your attack must be designed, planned, and executed specifically for the special demands of cyberspace. The online market is crowded and noisy. Your business must have a unique identity that instantly lifts it above the noise level and fixes it in the minds of your customers.

Here are three of the five weapons that you can use before you ever go online to make your business a standout when you do. None of these weapons costs anything but your time and imagination, but all of them are critical to your long-term success.

I. Product/Service Niche-Your niche is your particular position in the marketplace and in the customer's mind. It's what makes your business model stand out from others. One way to stand out is to offer a product or service that's difficult or impossible to get elsewhere, but uniqueness can be hard to come by in a global marketplace like the Net. Another way to stand out is to offer better quality, faster service, more expertise, higher credibility, or more personal touch. All these attributes can become part of your business identity. When thinking about your niche, don't kid yourself into believing that simply taking your business online makes you unique. The online marketplace doesn't change your product; it just changes the way you market it. Even if you happen to be the first company to offer a particular product or service on the Net, you won't be the only one for long.

But don't be discourage to find you have competitors. Competition means you’re not only one who sees an opening--it verifies your hunch that you're on to a profitable opportunity. ....Before you leap into cyberspace, survey the competition in your business area and look for unfilled niches, or for niches that you can fill better.  To develop a niche for your business, ask yourself the following questions. Why is your business successful now? Can you fill the same niche in cyberspace? Can you defend your position in this niche against all competitors?

II. Mission Statement-Your mission statement specifies your reason for being in business, your goal in being online and your method of reaching that goal, all rolled up in a sentence or two. Most of the companies that fail in the online marketplace do so because they haven't identified a specific mission.

Make your business mission as specific as possible. It's not good enough to say that your mission is to improve sales or make money. Your mission statement should specify not only the goal but how you plan to reach it.

III. Business Name-Without the benefit of a physical storefront or your personal physical presence, a business name takes on much more importance in cyberspace. If you use the business name in your e-mail address or as your network domain name, it becomes the first thing people see when you send them e-mail or post a message to a discussion group on the Net. A clever, evocative name in the from box of an e-mail message can start your marketing campaign on the right foot. Your name should describe your business without limiting possible future expansion. It should be easy to spell. It should be unusual enough so it's not easily confused with another name. It shouldn't have any negative connotations.