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This may be a good place to start: http://www.seomoz.org/article/recommended#link-building

Hi Peter, I like jonsantillan's list--Google trends is an especially sharp tool for uncovering blog post ideas in your niche. Find what's "hot" and be the first to write about it. If your content is good, it may become the source that everyone refers back to (i.e. major link bait). Another tool that I've found really helpful for uncovering long-tail keywords is Market Samurai.  It's a piece of software that runs on Adobe Air (any operating system). Beyond generating extra keywords, MS has a lot of filters that help you prioritize your keywords, even beyond what Wordtracker offers. It will also return the daily estimated CTR for owning the #1 organic rank!. You can start with a free version, but even after the trial is over you can use the keyword research functions without restriction.