Can anyone give me a list of things to do when starting a site off. I have a few sites but don't seem to be getting visitors to them. I have submitted sitemaps, and made the odd post with links on but without much success.

Any tips are appreciated.

It's all about links. First, get your site in the directory listings (remember to use relevant keywords in your anchor and description). Think about forum signatures, sites that give backlinks through comments i.e. keywordluv and commentluv on Wordpress based sites. Should be a good starter for you