Twenty-three-year-old John Kaplan spent the last year tapping into contacts to strike the deals that helped his start-up company, EarthISP Net, blast into cyberspace.

If there's a moral to John Kaplan's story, it is never underestimate the power of your business contacts.

What Kaplan started as a side interest 12 months ago has blossomed into a viable Web hosting company fueled by the young entrepreneur's ability to strike the right deals with the right people.

"It was pure hobby," explains Kaplan, who founded Cleveland-based EarthISP Net with his 26-year-old business partner, Aaron Hawk, in 1999. "We didn't plan to be where we are right now."

The entrepreneurs have set up shop on the 12th floor of 1621 Euclid Ave. in the Keith Building, one of the most wired buildings in the city and home to MCI WorldCom, ICG Communications and a host of local Internet Service Providers.

Here's how Kaplan, who spent his teen years hanging out at his local ISP in Ashtabula instead of flipping burgers or bagging groceries like others his age, became familiar with cyberspace and used his connections to go into business.

Be in the right place

Kaplan became familiar with the Keith Building while working at Cleveland's APK Net. Eventually, he left the job, only to return a short time later with a host of questions about buying his own server. The part-time gig, it appears, left an indelible impression on his young mind.

A few thousand dollars later, he was hosting the Web site for Cleveland's Graphik Factory design firm and fielding calls from would-be customers who visited the site and needed similar services.

Make the right connections

One of those inquires was from Media Design Imaging, a Cleveland company that needed a Web hosting service that could handle the load of information it wanted to put on the Web, including video clips of films and documentaries on which it was working.

A deal was arranged, and it wasn't long before Kaplan and Hawk became friends with MDI owner Johnny Wu and hit the trade show circuit with him to get the name of their new Web hosting company, EarthISP Net, in front of the public.

"The response from going to a little tiny show with Johnny and MDI was just amazing," recalls Kaplan. "We had three people who wanted dedicated servers from one small, tiny little trade show."

The relationship with MDI also caught the attention of the independent film community in which MDI works and helped Kaplan find investors to foot EarthISP Net's recent $150,000 hardware expansion.

Find the right location

As far as landing the prime piece of real estate, Kaplan struck a partnership deal with his former employer in an agreement that will allow the young company to rent space for its equipment in exchange for selling some APK Net products with its Web hosting packages.

EarthISP Net has landed clients in Atlanta, Miami and Los Angeles and plans to continue targeting its services toward radio stations looking for full-service hosting for everything from Web pages to streaming audio.

"We already have tiny little branches out there," says Kaplan. "But, they're growing."

And as for making new connections, Kaplan's on the prowl to build more relationships to help him further his company's success. How to reach: EarthISP Net, www.earthisp.net

Jim Vickers is an associate editor at SBN.