Link Development for a New Site

Here's a basic five-step strategy to follow for link development on a new site during its first week or so of existance.

1. Submit the site to the appropriate category in DMOZ. Then forget about it for six months as it will probably take them about that long to find your submission.
2. Submit to other major free general directories: Skaffe, Zeal, Yahoo!, etc.
3. Submit to a few smaller directories that exclusively deal with your topic.
4. Exchange links with related sites in your niche.
5. Post regularly in a couple related forums - add a link to your site in your signature or occasionally post a link to it (when it seems fitting to do so). Note that some forums may not allow links to outside pages - make sure you understand the rules of the forum before doing so!