I'm looking for way to create or bring in some more traffic and users to a forum, I'm wondering what has worked for other forum admins, in terms of bring in users to a forum.
The best thing to do is just offer something truly unique that people want. This tool was what made this forum popular: http://tools.digitalpoint.com/tracker.php
You can also try contests if you have the budget for it but ultimately, if you want to keep your users active you'll have to have engaging conversations (relevant discussions and possibly controversy - with moderation). In the early stages of one of my forums, heated debates kept activity flowing and helped saved it to some extent as it was struggling quite a bit.
Naturally people want something innovative. Something to catch their attention, worthy of their focus. Assuming you have a good product, the next step is exposure. People can't appreciate your product if they don't know it exists. Then community building. As mentioned above, contests work great for this. Also if you have a sizable enough staff, some kind of customer service, even if it's small and meant only to answer questions, will help members feel more personally attended to.