Dennis and Beckie Krantz have operated their successful Web-based company Legicrawler.com for 13 years.

They do one thing — collect law and bill information for other companies.

“We write our own programs to tailor our programs to individual company needs,” Beckie Krantz said.

With customers such as McDonalds and Group Health, they make money and provide a unique service.

Though they have future plans for handling searches from individuals, they cannot do so now. They are rare among today’s dot.coms in that they are still growing. They need more people.

So far it’s just them and their young son Russell. They stay overwhelmed during the Legislative sessions of the 50 states. In the summer, they refine their product and catch up.

“We are extremely busy but we enjoy this,” said Dennis Krantz, a former newspaper reporter. “Companies need this type of information, but it can be extremely time consuming.”

In late 2001 the company moved into a “bricks and mortar” presence on the Gig Harbor waterfront. In a rare case of coincidence they replaced another dot.com.

The 1art.com Gallery was there before, but closed last year. Rent and high-quality, high-priced paintings and etchings pushed it back to a Web-only existence.

“We needed the wider audience,” said gallery owner Lita Dawn at the time. “We had a lot of ideas like classes but they cost too much money [to run].”

Profit isn’t always the motivation for being online.

Robert McConnell is the latest name to try and organize the services and businesses on the Peninsulas. It’s in the experimental stage now. Gigharbor.org is a series of links to business categories such as food, grocery, hardware, and hotels. The listings are free.

Lakebay.com does the same thing — a free listing to present the business community.

Both can offer the service for free because they have other careers.

There are also sites out there that mix service and profit.

Gig Harbor Online is the most established local directory on the Web, with an attempt to be a little bit of something for everyone.

The company is expanding. It has recently started as an Internet Service Provider like Harbornet or Narrows Networking, or America Online.

“I waited, I didn’t want to spend the money,” said Gig Harbor Online owner Russ Holster. “But then I finally realized others would like e-mail addresses that ended in keypeninsula.com or gigharbor.com.

“It reflects something about your identity. It shows you’re not corporate fodder with AOL or Earthlink.”

Holster has tried to do the same with more than 200 communities in the country with domains such as 1tacoma.com, 1losangeles.com and 1texas.com.

“The worst thing is to be lost in cyberspace,” he said. “We’re trying to make money, but we also want to encourage people to find out what’s out there online.

Foxisland.net organizers John and Lisa Ohlson, like Holster, design Web sites. But their site corners the online news market for Fox Island’s 3,500 residents.

Olalla.net does the same for the small town of Olalla, though it’s lay dormant recently. Site owner Tom Day believes one of his life’s goals is to promote the potential of the Web. He has bought roughly 50 domain names to help spread the word.

He is a true believer.

“Everything we need can be available on the Web,” he said. “It’s not here yet by a long shot. But its time will come.”.