While adwords is a good strategy for getting traffic to your website, I wouldn't underestimate the effectiveness of word-of-mouth.
A webmaster has two challenges when managing a website. The first problem attracting users and traffic; this is done by marketing. The second problem is keeping users on your website and getting them to visit often and spread the word.
If the content on your website is appealing to others, e.g. it contains information they need, they will visit often.
This is the strategy I suggest. First, cater your content to issues the public is interested in. Speak to a few friends and relatives about the type of content they would like to read. These people will help give you feedback and help drive your content creation process. If you can't convince your family and friends, it will be different to convince random Internet users.
Once you are generating good content, the next step may be to speak to other bloggers and content creators in similar fields. Perhaps you can help each other out by co-writing an article, advertising for each other, or even ask for their suggestions.
This may be uncomfortable, but I've tried this technique many times and found latching on to an existing website with traffic to be a good way to build my online presence.
Don't be afraid to change the content you write to target public trends. If the website is for you, don't worry about traffic - you can't force people to be interested in the same things as yourself. However, if you intend to monetize this website, don't forget your target audience and the market.
Spread your website by word of mouth, reference relevant articles or postings you've written in conversations.
Hope this helps.