A quick guide on blog promotion for local bloggers of the world:
1. Social networking sites: Facebook, Orkut...start groups like....[your locality] news group
2. Social news sites: Digg, Reddit, Mixx, Propeller...participate and submit often
3. Social bookmarking sites: Del.icio.us ...it is important to use tags that include your locality's name e.g. delhicorruption
4. Twitter: Search for your locality on Twitter and make friends with people from your area and update your Twitter account often
5. Classified sites - Craigslist.org
6. Submit to Local blog directories: Matt McGee has a list of 35 useful directories to submit your blog
7. Google Adwords: test a PPC [Pay per Click] ad campaign with $5 limit. It won't hurt your pocket and you will learn about search patterns for your keywords
8. Other local websites: Find email IDs of webmasters and make friends
9. Local reporters: call you paper, introduce yourself
10. Print ad in local newspaper: e.g. "For the latest breakings news and unfettered analysis visit... + add tagline]
11. Interviews with local personalities: Interviews are a great way to put your site on the local map. Idea: "Local doctors who are making a difference: Interview series"
12. Cross-post on Local blog aggregators - topix.com, bighow.com, other citizen journalism sites - a list of these sites is here
13. Reserve name on blogger.com and wordpress with something like ....[your place]news: e.g. springfieldnews.blogspot.com. Crosspost on these sites - at least put a link to yoru blog post.
Offline
14. T-shirt, Business cards and stickers with site URL and tagline
15. Attend local events - be everywhere
These are some of the ideas of promoting a local blog that come to mind. Shall keep you posted with more tips soon.
The list of 35 (now 38) blog directories is lame, especially for those outside America.