When Carlisle Wide Plank Floors launched its new Web site last spring, the phone stopped ringing. Normally that would be a bad sign. For 40 years, Carlisle had relied primarily on print advertisements to generate calls to its toll-free number. It hadn't been a particularly efficient practice in recent years; the wood-flooring company, based in Stoddard, N.H., kept increasing its ad budget just to maintain the same number of leads.

But starting last March a quiet phone meant that more customers were pouring in via the new Web site (wideplankflooring.com) instead. When the new site was launched, unique visitors rose from 9,000 to 17,000 in one month. Sales leads tripled to 450, and the rate of leads converted to sales held steady at 25 percent. Compared with the same period in 2005, sales this summer were up 40 percent. (While the company won't release exact revenues, it takes in less than $50 million annually and is profitable.)

Before its $60,000 makeover, Carlisle's site was just another placeholder on the Web. Today it represents a fast-growing new revenue stream - and shows how new software and strategies can help entrepreneurs project a big-company image while grabbing more customers. -Julie Sloane