Guess I must be an idjit but...

[thecyclemania]

Jubala---
I can't believe you suggest a newbie to use the mothball trick. If you really need that one to get a good start...

Seawolf---
The idea is to expand your empire as fast as you can. After all this is a 4X. eXplore, eXpand, eXploit and then at some point, eXterminate. So it's quite simple, you must build colony ship in order to expand your empire. You must also increase your production capability. This means building base shipyard around planet and shipyard on planet. You also have to move your population all over your empire. So when you colonize a good planet, and you plan to have a shipyard there, move some population over there. This way, this planet can now produce colonization ship to support your expansion.
Never let your home world to its maximum population. Leave it in the 90% full range. This way, your empire is always growing in population globally. And you want that.
So you start with one world that produces colonization ships, then 2, then 4, then 8...you get the idea. It's exponential. Since the AI is such a wuss, don't build too much defense force initially. Phase 1 of the game is always eXplore and eXpand. Then in order to defend your borders, build some ships and space station. Hope this helps.

thecyclemania