Inc. com reports that the Internet ranks as the most important marketing tool today among entrepreneurs, outpacing traditional marketing tools like radio and print advertising, public relations, and even networking.

Still, the use of different Internet marketing tools is still in its infancy stage since most small business owners use Internet primarily only to check daily their e-mails and find practical business solutions.

Business owners are making efforts to increase their Internet presence. Forty-four percent say they plan on spending more on Internet tools this year compared to 2006, while 27 percent plan to spend the same amount as last year. The amount small businesses will shell out for their Web activities varies, with the largest group (45 percent) spending less than $2,500.

The need to go online is now unavoidable regardless of your products or services. While this marketing tool is relatively cheaper than other tools available, you need devote ample time to make it work. As an alternative, you can also hire professionals to handle this part of your business.

Aside from upsides and downsides of promoting your company online, Small Business UnMarketing underscores the importance of using blogs to promote your business while Internet Marketing 4 Noobs identifies 5 common ways Net marketing newbies got “fooled”.