I’m NO expert, however, I have managed to make a living in the industry. IMHO, and this is what I did, start with NO overhead. Use a free host first, like tripod, set up your site. Post about your site at key forums (don not spam though,) Sign up to free banner and link exchanges, submit to search engines,do your very best to keep your content fresh, always answer emails and let your site “cook” for awhile. I never paid out a penny for additional advertising until I made a penny. Hope this helps 
Good luck.