You might want to make use of promotion communities to get members. It's not proper etiquette to go inviting people without even checking with them or noting whether they're interested in a topic your community covers. That put me off initially.

Secondly, I don't have a basement, and even if I did, I would depend on my husband to take care of it. Basements just aren't something I care about. Atop that, because it's a business you're talking about, you may want to review the ToS to make sure you're not violating LJ's rules.