If I am setting up a new website, is it better to submit articles and boost SEO before it is live?

The site will be live by the end of January 09, but I want to work on building the SEO, PR etc now. So if I simply put the homepage up for the new site and not anything else, will this be enough to work on it by submitting articles, etc for SEO? Anybody that goes to the site can simply sign up for a free newsletter until the site is live. Good strategy? Thanks in advance!