Some of methods by which you can increase you backword link counts
1) Directory listing
Get your site listed in the Open Directory Project (Dmoz) which is free - Google uses this site to assist its indexing, it is used by many 100's of other search engines. Get a listing in the Yahoo directory as this the leading directory. There are many regional and lesser-known directories that are also worth considering.

2) Request links
Start by visiting the open directory, and search using your keywords - you will find the sites listed here are normally already well ranked. Select sites you feel will be open to a link request. Put a link on your site first then ask for a reciprocal link. Try also using Alexa - to identify highly ranked sites then use their "show links to" feature to identify their backlinks (sites linking in) then approach these too.

3) Promote inter-site linkability
Internal links as well as external links contribute towards Page Rank - a site with a good link structure is also more likely to appeal to potential link candidates than a site with a poor structure.

4) Publish articles
Consider paying professional authors to write articles on your behalf - then submit them for publishing on the condition that a link to your site is attached. This can be a very successful strategy but time and effort is needed for it to pay off.