So how do we get natural links?

The simple answer is we’re all going to have to think harder and work harder to
get links from real sites. I think it’s fair to say you need to avoid links from websites
designed to give you a link. It’s hard not to think Google will at some point takedown
guest blogs and press release sites, much like the recent action they took on
advertorials.
I’d certainly:
  stay away from just about all ARTICLE SITES
  avoid most DIRECTORIES and
  avoid most BLOG NETWORKS
  IGNORE LOW QUALITY SPAM EMAILS offering you links (or cheap seo
services).
  be wary of ADVERTORIALS
  avoid LOW QUALITY GUEST POSTS and
  avoid LOW QUALITY, OFF TOPIC SITEWIDE LINKS.
Have a think for a minute and work out if the article you are going to have a link on
will end up duplicated across many low quality sites, for a start.
NOTE – In my experience you do not need to remove every instance of a site-wide
link. NOT if they are on topic, and editorially given.