I once worked with an advertising agency that came up with a fantastic web site for a new drink: Silver Arrow I seem to remember. It was an amazing site and won loads of awards like the Food and Beverage 2000, but do you see the drink on the shelves? No. It was up against world leading brands, but do you ever remember seeing a TV advert or hearing about it on the radio? I can't.

So what was the point? I doubt that the drink manufacturer was too happy about spending a vast amount of money on product development and a web site campaign that didn't go anywhere. And nor would you be.

So how much have you spent on your web site? And if you're just about to start out, how much should you spend?

Because at the end of the day, your site is or will be completely worthless if no-one visits it. Why bother? Why not put your product in your local shop and just take the margin. At least there's a chance that someone will walk in and buy your 100% Silk Hand-Made Ferret Slippers, even if they're only looking for a loaf of bread!

If no-one visits you web site - it ain't working.

So what do you need to do? How can you get people to your site? How can you make it pay?

A World Leading Marketing Guru suggests three top ways:

In Third Place, Joint Ventures with businesses (with web sites) that direct traffic to your site. Likewise you direct traffic to their's. This is isn't as negative as it may sounds. Find a business that is complimentary. They sell jewellery, you sell evening gowns. You sell food supplements, they sell fitness equipment

In Second Place, Adwords; Targeted advertising to give your web site a profile on search engines. You work out a budget and fund a campaign whereby your advert will appear on search engine pages when people look for your product. You just need to know how to link the words people use to search for your product with your site. You don't want to appear every time someone searches for Men's Slippers, but you do when they're searching for Ferret Slippers, Ferret Pyjamas or Ferret gloves!

In First and Top Place, Have Your Own List; A list of people who have expressed an interest in your product/s already and who you can target with specific messages. But how do you build that list? Write articles and get them published. Advertise in related publications. Submit your site to directories and improve you web site ratings. Buy your way in to opt-in lists. Just get you name out their, preferably viral.

So like the man says: That ain't workin' that's the way you do it, Leads for nothin' and clicks for free