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1. Make People Read Your Boring Crap with a Persuasive Title
A title with a persuasive call to action can make or break your Digg.  Pretend you're a Digger.  Would you click on your article?  I don't care how interesting or boring the content is — the title is all that matters at first.  Ask a friend or two to comment on it.  I brainstormed with Quadszilla of SEO Black Hat to tweak a title for maximum effect.  He's got more experience than I do, and asking for advice is never a bad idea.  We came up with "Mattcuttsarama: 21 Great SEO Tips From Google’s Matt Cutts."  The words "Matt" and "Cutts" really turn on SEOs — even heterosexual male SEOs.  The same words probably also piqued Matt's interest, as I'm sure he does some reputation monitoring and keeps tabs on his buzz.  He saw the post and dugg it, so to speak.

Side Note: Getting prominent people like Matt Cutts to Digg you and comment on your blog is obviously going to help your cause.  But I lucked out.  I won't count on it for next time.  I also wouldn't suggest using Matt Cutt's name in vain.

2. Use Lists, People Love 'Em:
Without delving into psychology, for whatever reason humans like lists.  I suspect part of the reason is that lists provide easily digestable, accessible information.  You can skip over boring stuff and focus on things that are personally interesting. This helps.

3. People are Lazy. Facilitate the Means to Go Viral:
I can't prove it, but I suspect the Digg button I provided to Digg the post in one click enhanced the viral effect of the post.  In fact, I'm sure of it.  In fact, I'll throw the Digg button for this post right here.  C'mon, you know you want to click it –

4. Get a Few People To Digg for You:
Sending some emails and bugging some friends to Digg you is not gaming the system.  It's just savvy marketing.  Don't necessarily expect the  momentum to build unless you put in some effort to make it so.  It also affords you the ability to control the title and description for the Digg.  You can count on your competition to do the same, making it even more necessary.  If you're really against this, then send the article around anyway, but without explicitly asking them to digg it.

5. Consult Captain Obvious for Advice about Content:
Captain Obvious recommends that the actual content be useful and relevant as well.  A cool title with a bunch of turds in a list won't fly.  Duh.

6. Keep trying.  Don't give up.  Don't expect Instant Gratification:
I tried for awhile and posted lots of interesting stuff. I still didn't get Dugg.  I never expected it with the aforementioned post either; but 100 or so posts later I finally got it.  I didn't look for it; I just posted good stuff with a few of the above tips in mind and eventually got what I wanted.

7. Pay More than $2.95 for Hosting. You'll Never Know When the Digg will Strike:
If your hosting company pulls the plug, the Digg effect will be severely muted.  Pair.com did a great job under the load.  I checked the server load several times during the time that I was on the front page of Digg and it was doing fine.  These comments on another post of mine that got Dugg illustrate the frustration people have with WordPress and Digg.  I never had a problem, because I pay more than $2.95/mo. for hosting.  You get what you pay for.

8. Leave a Hook for Improvement & Editorials:
Leave a hook for others to add value or explain your post.  Sometimes explaining things badly actually helps!  Another blogger will clarify your message and link to you.  I did this with this post and someone took the bait.  If you say everything, they have less of a reason to link to you.

So … thanks, Matt, for your blog.  I deserve no credit for the information in that post — just for the link bait.  I still hate your cat, though.  I hate all cats, though