The key issue here is to note that any form of ethical link building irrelevant of volume will still not acheive overnight success.
I think that as long as the website (from a technical SEO and on page SEO) is sound - like the last comment "if its not woth linking to then no one will", then your link building needs to consist of both quality and quantity.
Don't go and link farm - it may acheive quick results, but you will leave a footprint that big it will be visible from space and if Google dont spot it be sure that one of your competitors will submit a spam report and you will be sunk!!
What I mean by quality vs quantity is the fact that you are not going to get 100's of links from the BBC or the likes, assuming you are not of Barclays/Selfridges etc size, you would be lucky to get 1 - but these links will generally carry the most value, they need to be supported;
Social Bookmarking
Directory Submissions
Premium Directories
Link Scouting
Article Marketing
Press Releases
Link Reclamation
Partnerships
Link Bait
There are other means but that is off the top of my head and would build a substancial campaign targeting, like I said, quality (those at the bottom of the list) vs quantity (those few at the top). And equal focus needs to be placed on all of these to ensure not only the success of a campaign but also the longevity.
There are so many people that write off directories but let me tell you we do it on behalf of 60+ clients and it works - yes it is not going to get you top listings like it would have 5 years ago hammering one term and focusing on just this, but it certainly and significantly supports a rounded campaign focusing on varied keyword based anchor text.