Its hard to get a normal link, you may have to pay big bucks for good PR links. Reciprocal links will help you gather links quickly without paying anyone.. it would just be an exchange.
reciprocal links (2way) have benefits iff you are Xchanging links to relevent site with same theme!!!!
Yes, you see some directories are free and do not require reciprocal links. reciprocal links just means that you have to link back to the site. Some directories that have good PR, will sell normal links for $3 to $10 per link. They may even offer reciprocal link exchange for free or a lowered price.
For some reason, Yahoo actually demoted my website ranking about 6 spots after putting a LINKS webpage with about 12 other related website links on it. :X
Personally I wouldn't waste my time with link exchanges especially with directories. The ONLY time I would ever consider a link exchange is if it was 100% related to my web site. e.g I have a cooking store and link exchange with a recipe web site.
matt cutts told reciprocal links can damage your dir on GGwebmasters blog. for example: avivadir , he was angry to Jeff for reciprocal link+review fee
Reciprocals are quite the norm for adult site webmasters, they do it quite heavily, in some cases i believe a handful of good recips with very relevant sites would be better than other options. I personally think that recips are fine, its the keeping check on them that is a bit difficult at times. If its regarding directories, then most see them as a pain not worth the hassle, because the site may not place the link where suggested, might remove the link once you approve theirs. Also some maybe dont understand what to do with the option, i used to get some submitters put my directory Url in the reciprocal field, so in that case they either misunderstood or were crafty enough to try it and hope i didn't notice.
I wouldn't trade a reciprocal link with a general directory. Go for one way links from general directories. I would however, trade a reciprocal link with a related niche directory if I though it would get me listed higher or bring some traffic.
I only have ever used one way links in directories I was just seeing whether I should also do recip (answer is no know)
reciprocal links are definitely a lot better . and u may also try internal link building as its useful too hope u know the formula 1-d)+d{ ...............}
just like freelistfool said normal links are great but so are recip if they are related to your niche. but with every link you have to be careful and check every so often if the links are live.