[cipals15]

Holding a contest is one way but search engine marketing is the best. Try to search for alexa rankings and find those top 10,000 sites then make sure you have atleast 1 link in that site. Second, use quantcast if you are targeting US subscriber. In quantcast you will know what people who use google.com like and other websites they visit. Create a link on that site.

You can also use google adwords keywords tool and find keywords with less advertiser competition. Create an article related to your niche that uses that keyword.