My first thought, though it sounds pretty sneaky, is to take a day or two searching the internet for other shorthand blogs, forums, message boards and communities similar to mine and just start a topic post to let everyone there know another shorthand board is now open. Of course, I don't know if this is a "good person" deed thing to do or not and I might take a chance that my post would be deleted.
That's how I started.
Also, make sure that you play close attention to all the things you have to do to improve your search engine ratings, and where your site will appear on the search list - aim for number 1 - 3. Google has everything you need to begin the search engine slog. It's worth it.
Also, make sure that a heap of relevant sites link to yours. If it's a good site, word of mouth will work fast.
