Spending money on marketing/advertising is really about paying someone to do things that you don't want to put the time or effort into doing yourself.

Almost everything the successful sites do follow a formula, and if you know it you can get similar results.

You have to know who to target, what words to use, when to do it, produce worthwhile content, blast every platform, and be available around the clock.

If you aren't producing interesting content though, you aren't going to hit.