In reply to:
Is there a real secret to this?
No, not really. There are certain guidelines you should follow, besides trying to get popular websites to link to you:
1. Don't overstuff your <meta> elements with keywords, and keep your meta description to 25 words or less.
2. Use the correct elements to markup your pages. For example, headings should use <h1> ... </h6>, and not "bold text". <h1> should be reserved for your most important heading (often is the same as the contents of your <title> element). Use the <p> element to contain your paragraphs.
3. Avoid gratuitous use of tables. Search engines do not like deep-nested tables. Use CSS-based, rather than table-based layouts. Tables are for tabulated data.
4. Try to keep your most important content near the top of your HTML, so that search engines don't have to wade through lots of navigation or advertising cruft before getting to the juicy bits.
5. Don't use images in the place of real content, or at least provide meaningful alternatives.
6. Try to have search-engine friendly URLs. For example, http://example.com/products/widget/ is better than http://example.com/products.php?product=14 - you can use mod_rewrite to accomplish this kind of thing.
7. Remember that search engines behave like visually-impaired users, so catering to this group (which is a good thing) will bring search ranking benefits too.
8. Regularly update your content. It keeps folks coming back for more, and it forces search bots to re-crawl your site.