having to rebuild insomnia pre round 17 into a fighting force from nothing i can very well sympathise with people creating new alliances and the difficulties they face.
end of the day its not what you know its who you know. if you have the right connections and friends among the universe it is easier to recruit players via word of mouth and easier to get other HC's to do you favours. We recruited some old insomnia players and then a few random people and their friends, we avoided open recruitment as much as possible with the view to hand picking our own players. In the end it was a tactic that paid off with inSomnia ending round 17 with a final rank of 3rd (ins ftw).
I guess what im saying is if your new to the game its perhaps better to play some time in established alliances and make connections. Once a couple of rounds have passed it will become easier to attract friends to join you in the building of your new alliance