The problem is, no matter how great your product or how gorgeous your website, you need traffic. If people can't find you, they can't buy from you either. Consistent, dedicated marketing will help you to draw interested prospects to your business. Here are a few strategies...

1. Search engines. Optimize your pages and submit your site to major SEs. If you're able to rank within top 10 or 20 sites for a particular key phrase, you'll be treated to a steady stream of targeted traffic. A good place to learn more about SE optimization is http://www.searchenginewatch.com/ .

2. Targeted link exchanges. Find other good sites within your market and offer to trade links. You and your 'link partner' will both benefit from each other's traffic ... plus some of major SEs are now using 'link popularity' to help determine your ranking. 'Zeus' is a neat little robot that can help you with your linking efforts. Find it at http://www.cyber-robotics.com/index.htm .

3. Build your own opt-in newsletter. Your own newsletter gives you opportunity to build your credibility and keep in touch with your customers. You'll be able to market your own products or services to them as well - and even earn some extra income from advertising sales. Find a quick tutorial on starting your own newsletter at http://www.buildyourhomebiz.com/ezine/ .

4. Ezine advertising. Ezines are a very affordable way to reach thousands of targeted prospects for just a few dollars. A great place to pick up deals on advertising is http://www.ezineadauction.com/ .

5. Network through message boards. Join a forum where potential customers or partners may congregate. Become a contributing and respected member by offering help and support. Leave your link at bottom of your posts; people who have come to know you will click on your link for more information about you and your business. Careful, though - it's easy to spend too much time 'chatting'! Search for appropriate forums at ForumOne, http://www.forumone.com/index/index.php .

6. Referral marketing. Encourage your customers to refer others to you. You may want to give them an incentive to do so - for example, provide them with a discount on their next order, or offer a quality free gift.

I had just spent $400 on advertising -- advertising that only yielded $100 in sales.

Desperate to make up my losses, and not knowing which of my three ad campaigns actually produced sales, I made a guess. I figured that most of my profits must have come from ad campaign that reached largest number of people -- in my case, an ezine with over 50000 subscribers. So I naively shelled out another $200 for an ad - a wasted $200, I might add, since I didn't make a single sale.

Thankfully I've learned a lot since those frustrating days as an online business 'newbie' ... but above scenario isn't uncommon for beginners to Internet business world. We're constantly bombarded with claims of fast, easy money - and they're hard to resist.

For example, when I first started online, I was told that all I had to do was purchase a top sponsor ad in an ezine, place a 'tested' and 'proven' ad ... and presto! I'd be several thousands of dollars richer.

It didn't work. I faithfully purchased a number of ads and followed instructions to letter. Hundreds of wasted dollars later, I was completely discouraged and almost ready to give it all up.

I'm glad I didn't. I learned that not every marketing campaign will be successful ... unfortunately, all too often people try an online business and give up when they're unable to make money at it. In some cases, sticking with it a while longer could have turned a 'failure' into a 'success'.

That doesn't mean doggedly doing exactly same thing over and over again, hoping to see better results. If you do same thing you'll get same results.

Testing your marketing efforts is critical to your success. And one of simplest ways to do this is to use an ad tracker.