I will take the web traffic business seeing as theory has covered the design one and the fact i don't know as much about hosting as i would like to!

Some of you might be aware i ran a fairly succesful targeted traffic business for about 4 months called visitors2go (www.visitors2go.com) we had profits of $1,000/month at our best, so i should be able to cover the essentials of what is needed to run a succesful traffic business.

> Decent domain name (visitors2go was unique and catchy and also went well with an existing brand i had established, banners2go.com) Especially in the traffic business a domain is everything.

> Killer design, so many traffic businesses have bad designs (it's almost like common nature in this industry) because of the vast amount of resellers etc. They all provide standard "templates" and the like. Stand out from the crowd and provide a professional look, i think visitors2go was fairly succesful due to it's great branding and design...even if our product wasn't the greatest.

> Traffic reseller. You will need a decent wholesaler/reseller account with a leading traffic provider (www.traffictaxi.net are quite good). Do your research and make sure you avoid the scams...there are quite alot! Banner exchanges, autosurf sites, proxy hit systems etc.

> Payment processor/method. You will need a way to accept payments, a custom order form or paypal integration doesn't go a miss, make it as easy as possible for the customer to order. You don't need an elaborate setup by any means but don't make it hard on them.

> Tos. One of the most crucial things to include, in this game you need to make sure your terms of service are upto date and cover you on every angle. Remember, you're providing a service of delivering visitors and thats where you draw the line! I have had many complaints from customers who want there money back...always cover your back! Traffic industry is cut throat!

> Google. The best way to advertise a traffic business is through google adwords, hands down. It's how some of the biggest players in the industry have been established and it's probably the most cost effective. Forget throwing your money at banner impressions.

I think that is about it....hope i have helped somewhat!