We think alike on this.
Yes, word of mouth is the best advertising.
I agree with what you said before, which is that we have to do something here that isn't available elsewhere. Not to reinvent the wheel, but to have some sought-after attribute that we get known for. One idea is to brand ourselves (even more than before) as a censorship-resistant platform. Censorship is coming into the forefront as a huge societal issue right now. We could benefit hugely from an influx of people as more realize big tech social media is trying to silence and control them. We could strengthen a few policies to add to our already-good position. (BlurtBlog has some censorshippy features, but the blockchain itself, and the other front ends, are very censorship-resistant.)
As we promote Blurt to others, in the hopes they get interested and consider becoming involved...

1. we shouldn't make promises of gains (you mentioned that)
2. we should target our promotion toward people that would make good Blurtians... spamming us in the dirty dark corners of the under-web might do more harm than good... let's not aim to grow at all costs!
   IMO, doing that will bring quality people, many of whom are also quality investors. When they're aware that profits might never happen, they're realistic, and usually ready to hold long term. They're not pump and dumpers.