Use a large number of keyword phrases in your gateway pages. Think in as many ways to look for your information as possible. As your friends how would they ask a Search Engine for that info. Use synonyms, typos, plurals, singulars, foreign language or slang.
Generate several canonical domains (subdomains) to host your gateway pages. i.e.: http://doorways.mydomain.com , http://gateways.mydomain.com , http://entrypages.mydomain.com . Use keywords in the new names.
Look for a few free sites to host your gateway pages. They should have a PageRank larger than 0 in the root domain.
Start a link exchange program early. Target webmasters of reputable websites with good traffic. Locate all the outgoing links in a single page of your website. Use a description after each link.
Submit your website to as many directories and SE as possible. Each one will add some PageRank to your site. Avoid those banned by Google (no PageRank at all). Use a SE to look for the "Add URL" phrase. 
Download the Google bar to your browser. It will help you evaluate other websites. Vote favourably for your own site and not so for competing websites.
Look for your own website in SE once in a while, click and stay there for a few minutes. It will boost your ranking. Use different Ips to navigate if you want to repeat this strategy several times.
Implement a free feature in your website, and add the word "free" to your keywords. It will increase visits. You can give away a software, an image collection, a newsletter or other service. If you want, you can ask for a valid email before sending the gift.
Keep an eye on the SE spam guidelines published by the SE and reputable SE watch websites. Try to keep your gateway pages within the limit of the acceptable.
