[ars]

Or have friends. The first few votes matter a LOT. So as soon as you submit you ask 3 friends to vote it up (make sure they vote within a few minutes of each other).

That gives a chance. If the community doesn't like it it won't stay up, but it gives you at least a chance.

[sillysaurus2]

Actually, you're describing a voting ring, which is against the rules and is bannable. Luckily the software is intelligent enough that it detects people who do such things and automatically nullifies the effect of those votes.

[ars]

I guess so. I should clarify I've never actually done this, just seen other people [say they] did it. And watching the vote patterns correlated with homepage position on my few submissions tells me it would work.

BTW I don't see any mention of this in the rules.