Do you want business from your site?

If so, then you need to be prepared for a serious commitment. Traffic is not easy to come by unless your pockets are very deep.

Besides expensive advertising, the next best thing you can do is to develop unique content and tools that attract links to your site. If you believe you will "build it and they will come", you're mistaken.

The internet is in essence, a giant library. Considering it's a library that carries endless amounts of information. To stand stand out, you have to find some way to set yourself apart from the rest.

If there are 100 other sites that offer the same products or services that you do, why would a consumer choose you over the other 99? Is it because you have a prettier logo or your buttons change colors when you mouse over them? I doubt it.

Flashy sites actually turns most people off. People want to find information or tools for the topics they are actually interested in. Provide this, give it time, and you will succeed.

Don't misunderstand me , I'm not trying to say that your site shouldn't be professional looking. It definitely should. However, if you invest a lot of time and effort on a logo, graphic designs, and other branding exercises, why would you not spend AT LEAST that amount of time developing a resource that is actually worth linking to?