I agree. The easiest ways to start getting backlinks are through article submission and directory listings (and the the occational forum signatures).
However one even more important thing to keep in mind is to be consistant. If you get 1000 links the first week and then 0 links the following 4 weeks then the search engines will know something is wrong.
The best thing you can do is to be realistic about your time (or money if you outsource it) and then do a little every day or every week. Keep that up for 6 months or more an you will start to see some great results if you have picked you keyword phrases right
