as a quick opinion poll, if the sites you want links from don't have an online "link to us" app, what are the preferred methods of getting them to link on the basis that most emails saying "swap links" or similar get trashed?
My advice is to be less professional and more personal in your e-mails. This has proved well for me - that and using a female alias. Guys and woman both respond better to requests from women. Make your subject something like: 'Your parenting site (the links section)' Then be personal in the body of your e-mail. Don't go overboard with praise for their site just say you come across their site while searching the internet for sites on parenting because you have just launched a similar site and are working hard to promote it. Mention you believe it would benefit their visitors and simply ask to be added to their links page or a specific section on their site. Many of the one-man-band websites will be happy to do it and they won't even request a link back from you. They will be happy to help. You would be suprised how well an unprofessional and personal e-mail from a woman performs when trying to build links. Pete