With the World Wide Web on your desktop, you can research companies as potential customers, identify the decision makers in those companies, and send your marketing message direct to the person you need to contact to pitch your business.

To research the backgrounds of companies you’re interested in pursuing, try one or more of these business sites:

• Hoover’s Online, www.hoovers.com, provides free and premium content

• At Dun & Bradstreet, www.dnb.com, you can purchase business background reports for $20

• The Thomas Register of American Manufacturers is online at www.thomasregister.com

Once you’ve targeted a few top prospects through your research, going online and direct to the source may be the path of least sales resistance, says Ernest Oriente, a business coach.

“Go to the company’s Web site and research the organization,” Oriente advises. “Find the name and e-mail address of the person you need. Send an e-mail telling that person about your product or service. Present an opportunity that’s relevant to them. Someone who wouldn’t usually take your call will answer your e-mail.

“For small businesses, going online is the very best way to reach decision makers. There’s no one screening you out. Your message appears right on their desktops.”

If you decide to deliver your sales message via e-mail, make it as convincing and compelling as your traditional marketing efforts, such as cold calls, sales letters or direct mail pieces. Use the information you gathered in your research to show prospects how you can fill a need or solve a problem, says Bob Hanson, president of Hanson Marketing Group.

“Regardless of what size company you’re marketing to, you’ve got to solve their problem,” he says. “You’ve got to identify their needs, then craft a message that confirms your solution to their need.”