It probably wouldn't work for a site that is trying to pull in a national or international audience, but local and regional web sites can.

Someone I knew socially operated a very successful web site and did exactly zero SEO. Instead he went the old-fashioned route: Advertising.

He started with ads in regional magazines, then went to billboards, public radio sponsorships (those HD2/HD3/HD4 channels are incredibly cheap to sponsor), and eventually some pretty craptastic local TV ads.

It wouldn't work for every site, but it worked for him. His site is the leading property in its space in its region.

He's proud to boast that not once did he get in the Google hamster wheel.