It amazes me, people still believe that all they have to do is build it and they will come. I promise that is the only movie quote that I will use. Having personally developed well over 100 websites since 1997 I am always stunned by people complaining that there website is a failure and blaming the person who built it. Having a website is only half the battle! You must promote, promote, and then promote some more. No matter how great your product is no one can buy it unless they know about it.
First let me say that having someone develop a custom website for you is very important. Go cheap and buy a prefab website is usually a prelude to failure. Yes they are affordable and I know you are on a tight budget but never forget You Get What You Pay For.
Now to the point. There is a simple formula for success. Spend money = make money. Sounds easy right?
First figure out what you can afford to pay a developer for your website, if you have a product to sell you should be thinking in the $1000 range. Also find a developer who believes in web standards, trust me this is important.
Next figure out a monthly advertising budget and spend it wisely....