How to summarize without underemphasizing or sounding trite?...

You need to be different and stake out your territory.

Why would anyone come to your site? How would they find it? Why would they come back?

There are a lot of players, and new, novel sites are becoming scarce - "it's been done".

I installed the Alexa.com toolbar so I can see the alexa ranking for all the sites I visit. There are some surprises. If you can get below a ranking of 100,000 or so (the lower the number the better) you are doing ok. Below 10,000 pretty good, Below 1000 and you are somebody. Unfortunately, you can't do a reverse lookup to reveal the site with an arbitrary rating.

In web parlance, a site is really a "property", or its owners are "publishers". After you get the broad introductory scoop from a myriad of free and fee-based sources; your creativity, hard work, and investment will make or break you.

I am in the affiliate advertising field and for every affiliate network that is earnest and putting together a healthy network, there are 4 or 5 that are languishing, dying from inattentiveness. Lot's of tire kickers give up early. Lots of people don't manage to the important questions. Traffic is not guaranteed.

Again - Why would anyone come to your site? How would they find it? Why would they come back?