The reasons for selling your products and services on the Internet are obvious.

But the value of building an interactive Web-based ''community'' for your customers is less understood and appreciated, said Akron business consultant Don Philabaum.

''You develop kinship and bond,'' Philabaum said, and that pays dividends.

Take the case of WKSU, the public FM radio station once content to serve listeners in the Kent State University region.

A Web site has brought the hometown station a global following — and an international paycheck — because in 2003 it began putting archives of weekend folk music programming on the Internet.

In addition to giving folk fans access to music around the clock, the site invited musicians and listeners to talk to each other in bulletin boards. An ''open mic'' feature allows visitors to upload their own music and invite public reviews.

The site — Folk Alley (at http://www.folkalley.com) — quickly became a hangout for folk music devotees on six continents.

Growing success

Al Bartholet, WKSU's executive director, says the evidence is statistical and anecdotal.

Web hits have been registered in 130 countries, and registered membership exceeds 89,000.

''We are the No. 1 content provider of folk music in the world,'' he said.

Equally reassuring are the stories that trickle back to the station, like a news clipping of a New Hampshire folk group who told an interviewer that their members met on Folk Alley.

And when the site held a contest inviting people to send in pictures of themselves wearing Folk Alley T-shirts, the snapshots poured in from Australia, South Africa, Scotland, Japan.

So how do all those nice warm feelings translate into Please see Web site, C10

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profit? WKSU started getting pledges from so many countries, it had to set up an account with an Internet company that can collect and exchange money from all over the world.

''We had to start treating it like an international operation,'' Bartholet said.

Last year, Folk Alley collected $225,000 in donations and became the only music stream in public broadcasting that is operating in the black, he said.

Part of Folk Alley's success was eliminating geographic references — and therefore geographic boundaries.

Visitors would have to look hard and long to find references to WKSU or Kent, Ohio. It is a true cyberspace village.

It's such a different world for a traditional region-based business (like a local radio station) that it was a bit of a challenge explaining the whole concept to WKSU's board, Bartholet said.

''The board early on was afraid the tail would be wagging the dog,'' he said.

But the station still is serving up National Public Radio programming and classical music to its loyal Northeast Ohio listeners.

Thinking innovatively

Philabaum said just about any business can find ways to bring people together online — and market a product in the bargain.

He offered a twist on the old strategy of a restaurant collecting business cards in order to raffle off free dinners.

What if a local pizza shop, for instance, invited customers to submit their business cards online? In addition to selecting one for a free dinner, the restaurant displays a different business card each day as a free advertisement for that business.

All of a sudden, the restaurant is building a database of regular customers who might want to be contacted via e-mail or text messaging with news about daily specials or contests for kids or weekend events.

It's just one way the business can start building its own highly targeted marketing channel, and it costs next to nothing, Philabaum said.

The real challenge is getting businesses to think innovatively.

Take a woman who cleans carpets for a living. Philabaum said even a single service provider can benefit from building a community on the Internet.

She could collect e-mails from customers and other sources, and invite them to an online seminar on how to buy carpets, ask Web site visitors to share their tips on carpet care, and upload a video showing how her carpet cleaning process works.

''The more you educate consumers, the more they feel connected to you,'' Philabaum said.

No Web site

Not every business is ready to embrace all the bells and whistles of the Internet.

Ninni's Bakery, an Akron icon for nearly 60 years, doesn't even have a Web site at the moment.

Owner Tony Ninni said he had one for a few years but ''didn't see any benefits from it at all.'' After relations with the Web site creator were strained, the frustrated baker decided to just let the site go.

Ninni said he hopes to have a new Internet presence in time for the holiday traffic. ''It's the way of the world and you have to go with the changes,'' he said.

But he's planning a site with prices and pictures — the same kind of helpful but basic information that Ninni said he turns to the Internet for.

''For me, it's something fast, like an advertisement,'' he said.

Philabaum said business owners who don't see the full potential of the Internet could turn the project over to a young employee or family member that has grown up with the technology and revels in it.

In Ninni's case, Philabaum can see the benefits of uploading videos showing how some of the pastries are made. Throw in some history of the store, and all of a sudden customers start seeing the business as a part of the community. Collect e-mails and offer to send out coupons on a customer's birthday, and the business could start to build a personal bond.

''If you have more reasons to communicate with your customers,'' Philabaum said, ''the more likely they are to think of you when they need what you have to offer.''