When you don't have a big BR and can't go out and throw money around like rain, money management is what it is all about! If you are a fairly good player with a tight smart game you should be able to fairly easily continue to push your BR up. The key is patience and knowing where to use your BR.
Some of you may have never heard of the Ferguson strategy but I have read it and believe that it is a good standard by which to increase a small BR or even start from scratch and build one up. It isn't an easy task to start with $0 and work your way up as you will have to find luck in FR's with many players and use the money startegically once you have it to continue to make it grow. Here is a link to the Ferguson strategy http://w.fulltiltpoker.com/chris-ferguson-challenge , it gives you a pretty good explanation of how to go about this.
Basically with tourneys beyond what is said in the Ferguson strategy it is a good idea t look through the sites that you play on for the tourneys with the best chance of a payout. You want to look both at how many spots it pays and how much it is paying compared to the amount you have to pay to play. There are many good tourneys like this on both FT and PS, don't just rush into the first tourney you see that is a low buy in, as some of them don't pay many spots and also don't offer as good a payout.
As for S&G's you should use basically the same startegy as with tourney's. I find that the 9 player tables seem to be a more definite pay day than the ones with 90 or 360 players, not to mention they still pay a fair amount. Remember we aren't in a huge hurry to get our BR up as we didn't have much to start with. Every little bit counts here.
When it comes to any other money tables you must be very careful. Really I do not recommend using them to get a BR started as you may be pulled in by another player with a large BR to play a big pot. Really, it is probably best to stay away from these until you have a large BR. But if you do play here be sure not to go into a big raise, play very tight even if you think your hand is very good. If you see ways your hand can be beat it probably will be. Fold before you waste anymore money. Definitely do not go past the micro tables with your money yet.
Over all knowing you only have a small BR you should play a very tight game. Your goal is to be in the payout everytime. Do not take chances on preflop all-ins as most likely that is an unecessary chance. Try to stick to playing post flop hands and always keep in mind that your opponent may have the best hand. Always try to think not just what you have but what higher hand the opponent could have and what the chances are to that. You should never be in a rush to get your BR up, just be meticulous and get it up slowly but surely.
If you follow this you should have a pretty good chance at getting a decent BR. Just be patient!
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