Dan Heller states on his site what is involved in his web site. He does all the coding and updating himself - so it is time and the cost of the host server - which is very insignificant compared to other forms of advertising.
My portrait business is 100% web based for the last year and a half and supports me very well with 100% of my families income coming from it. Very cheap compared to the 10 years that I struggled with making payments for a studio each month, tying up all my time babysitting it and getting less return than I do now - and now by base of customers has broadened geographically.
The reason I have inquired is because just recently I have started receiving calls from publishing houses, advertising agencies and a web designer for images. If they could just steal them why are they contacting me? Any business that I want to deal with cannot afford the consequences I believe. I could have put out a tremendous amount of cost and energy trying to setup appointments with these companies and never get in the door. And yet here they are calling me because I have worked very hard at promoting my web site and have good search engine placement.
I am really not interested in large amounts of money from it - the 6 to 8 prints Dan sells a month would suppliment me (mind you not at $15 each). I already maintain my website so any advise from other photographers selling prints successfully would be appreciated.