How do you promote your site?

[osrs]

Hello,   I wonder how others promote their sites.    - We tried to summit to search engines first, only got listed in a couple of search engines;  - We tried to buy banner impressions, only got few visitors a day;  - We tried to place ads in computer magazines, almost no response...   There must be a way to let people know your site. How can some sites get thousands of visitors a day? How did they do that? Dose any one have a clue? Can anybody tell us what the best way is to promote a website?   Thanks a lot!   osrs