HL - you can also target other sites keywords so that your site appears in their search listings - ie if you think that your site might appeal to Oilers fans, add relevant keywords. Try to target high usage sites, you might get a better return. It's a cheap trick but can pay off.

I found the best way to drum up members is to go join a load of other related sites and simply be active in their forums - this is when allowing urls in sigs actually works for you. Obviously you need to need to gain see more other members trust and respect, but generally if you're clever you can advertise under the radar. It's a lot of work, involving many hours in front of the computer, but I've found that members that join in this manner are also more likely to stay and post rather than join and never come back, and this is really the key - get a few decent active members and more will follow.

Also Facebook advertising is a good investment - you can target different demographics, and there is a MASSIVE exposure - plus this exposure targets exactly the type of people you want - active social network users. I've seen one site go from a few hundred to a few thousand members over the course of a few months. I tried this for a short time and it worked pretty well.

Another idea is to start a member exchange program - we all join each others sites and make a vow to post at least one new (relevant) item and respond to one other item, every day - This keeps the site fresh with new content and appearing active, again encouraging others to post.

HTH

/DM