"Linkbait is a technique not a strategy".

Anyone who knows the difference between a technique and a strategy has my attention.

I have a forum that had a terrible problem with spam. I got rid of links and pictures. My traffic dropped to near zero. Had to put them back in. Well, now I have near 30,000 members. OK some forums like warrior forum are dofollow and they have some spam, but they are a success. Other sites went no follow and have very little traffic. SEOs consider it a slap in the face for you to be no follow.

We know that the interrnet has become a great place to do business. These internet marketers and internet business owners won't be spending time visiting your forums and blogs without getting something in return. Getting links from your site is a motivation to keep these people coming back to your site. Spammers will always be around and it's something we want to get rid of and also know that we can't.

Linking to a valuable content is like spreading someone's words. Teh word of mouth goes from one person to another, because they all find it useful. When you write useful content, there are people who spread the work by linking to your content.