It's mostly showing off - but Copyblogger's Brian Clark has compiled a list of steps he took in launching a new blog, Rapid E-Learning, that recently got 6,312 subscribers overnight.

It basically boils down to...

1. Provide value
2. Set up some nice cornerstone content (ie. regular series, well organised)
3. Provide an incentive (Rapid E-Learning gave away a free book download)
4. Send out an email to your existing email list with a nice link toward that incentive
5. Ensure the landing page effectively sets out what subscribers are getting themselves into (ie. what this new blog's all about)
6. RSS content can be delivered by email nowadays, too
7. Keep up the blogging consistency.