One of the latest trends in web development is building online communities rather than non-interactive websites to promote a product or service.  I found this article, "How to Kill a Community in 10 Easy Steps," and its a valuable resource for anyone building a community-based site as a stand-alone site or to promote a product/service.  Sometimes its easier to tell people what NOT to do rather than pointing them in the right direction. Here are the best strategies for building an online community based on what has worked for my clients:

1. Find ten people in your target audience to test who will tell you the truth. Find out what areas they're drawn to, and which areas they're ignoring. Are there bugs in your community you might have missed in the development phase? User testing is a great way to avoid problems down the road.

2. Engage with your users. Great personalities can really help a fledgling community get off the ground, even if you're the one encouraging the interaction. Don't hide your employees' identities; let the audience know they're with your company. Encourage employees with great personalities to use your online community, comment, and spark interaction.

3. Reward interaction. Many sites utilize a points system for interaction (like TagCommunity.org) or they have a profile percent complete (LinkedIn). People are competitive by nature, and giving them a way to measure interaction will help them interact more. You get bonus points for giving users a physical reward based on the points system (free stuff).

4. Recruit charter members. Find members in your target audience (they might be the same people from Step 1) who genuinely want to grow your community. Ask them them to spark meaningful conversations in your online community so new users coming in have real content to engage from. Many people don't like to be the first ones to get their feet wet; have real content waiting for new visitors.