A survey of small businesses in New York has revealed a pretty poor usage of Internet marketing techniques. The research involved 600 businesses and found that two thirds of them use the Internet to increase sales. But the data also reveals that most of the respondents have a strategy of “hope” rather than any practical use of good Internet marketing. For instance, 65% of the companies don’t optimise their web sites. Only two in ten use an pay per click advertising. This is in spite of the companies in the survey claiming that the Internet was a key marketing channel for them. The data implies that most firms are setting up a web site and then hoping it will produce increased sales. That’s the same technique as producing a pile of printed brochures and leaving them on a street corner. What’s more worrying is the fact that the survey showed that even in the next six months most companies don’t plan any changes. There is obviously a significant misunderstanding in business as to the role of the Internet in helping to increase sales.