I have heard that reciprocal links can be good for your
SEO if the site linking to yours is reputable, or when you are linking to a reputable site. Google frowns on spammy sites and frowns on links associated with those sites. In other words, don't let other sites bring yours down. If you are linking to a spammy site (for example to point out a bad example) use the attribute rel="nofollow" in your anchor. This lets search engines know not to pass on your rep to sites you link to.
Now, how do I start to gain good links to my page? (I am not handing out flyers...)