Best thing to do is start the order, then pm every orderless xian from top level.to whatever level you would want to be lowest, lvl 30 is a good stopping point.
While you are unlikely to persuade the top tier players, if you can get together a solid base of lvl 30+ players some are more likely to join since you would be established.
This is how i started back when W1en was young, then W3en and W7en. Once you have that solid base more players may be inclined to join. I had established 2 of the strongest orders in W3 and W7 by this method some time ago. While my Seven Samurai is a nice strong smaller order, i am unsure if i really want to grow larger.