In the words of wise poet Zealand, Loans! If you can. Having a senior affiliate also helps in that regard. You'll only every get free transfers, so just mass-trialling any free transfer who might play for you is a good strategy- don't forget if you click the cog in the player scouting area you can set it to include players who are "unsure". If your team is pure amateur this is good as it won't cost you much either way, and with a promise or two you can sometimes punch above your weight.
Sometimes the best strategy is patience. Ask for junior coaching all the time - it's relatively cheap and can significantly raise the CA of your youth prospects, meaning you can get 1 or two players straight into your first team.
Finally, there tends to be a meta tactic. Knapp has a tactics thread with OP tactics of you lose your patience but generally a standard 4 4 2 or 4 3 3 will work if you're a bit attacking.