Turn what was once a chore, into an opportunity. It helps to open your vision. If your goal is to build a presence on the web, for a particular niche, this means being resourceful.
Finding the competition.
When thinking about the competition, you need to know who they are. Beyond finding them through specific keywords/phrases, do a search. Use Hoover's and similar databases for a list of businesses within your industry. Keep an ongoing list. Take notes of what appears to be important on first glance. This allows you to come back later for further information.
From there, go through your keyword list. See how the competition is doing for specific keywords/phrases. Check their backlinks. Visit each one. See what form the linking takes.
Consequences of "standards".
Researching backlinks leads to more competitive industries. Often, they have much higher linking standards/guidelines. Some standards for linking may work well for a small craft, hobby site, but not at all for a site offering financial advice.
Remember to think before you link.
Ongoing research.
Look for competitors in the news. Are there news releases? If so, where are they appearing? Check trade journals, trade newsletters, trade magazines. See if there is news on them through non-industry, generic, and mainstream media. Ask yourself some questions. Who is writing about them? What are they writing about? This includes key people in the organization.
Doing research of the competition eventually leads to companies complementing yours. Therefore, remember to keep a list handy. These complementary sites are potential link partners, at the very least.
Remember to look at the internal linking structure of competitiors. Gems. Often, I find gems.
Goodwill.
Another tip, and something easy to miss in research, is discovering how the public feels about your competitors. Unfortunately for some, links to their site are found surrounded by negative commentary. This won’t necessarily affect the link, unless they use negative text in the link. However, it can affect the company. Often, you find commentary on competitors through newsgroups, on message boards, or in chats.
Conclusion.
Remember to keep these suggestions in mind when doing research to find links.