I have quite some experience. Yes it takes a long time to rank organically on Search but you can start with paid search that can be tailored to your target online buyers (keywords, GeoIP,...). To do really a good job on SEO you need to work on 3 fronts: content (relevant keyword rich content), crowability (spiders access) and link equity (how many and relevant sites point to your site).
Vince

www.modavivaitaly.com

You can easily find a lot of informations and ideas just by talking to some successful online entrepreneurs and maybe you can buy some guide e-books on this subject.