Wikipedia defines enlightened self interest as follows:
Enlightened self-interest is a philosophy in ethics which states that persons who act to further the interests of others (or the interests of the group or groups to which they belong), ultimately serve their own self-interest. [1] It has often been simply expressed by the belief that an individual, group, or even a commercial entity will “do well by doing good”. [2][3]
Doing well by doing good sounds like win-win to me. I like win-win because it is practical and sustainable.
What does this mean to bloggers? I believe that it means sharing the link love without expectation of return, or any hesitation. Inbound links from real people are one of our key success criteria, and their importance cannot be overstated. More inbound links means higher visibility, more RSS readers, higher technorati rank, better Google PageRank, peace in the Middle East, winning the lottery, finding your One True Love, and winning the Nobel Prize for Literature (OK, so it can be overstated - inbound links alone are not the answer, but they are certainly an important part of the answer).
You can share the link love by:
- Commenting on an interesting post - I do this a lot, especially when I find posts that I can recommend like Jeri’s, Solomon’s, and this one from Print is Dead.
- Commenting on a product you like - I’m happy to recommend Yaro Starak’s Blog Profits Blueprint ebook.
- Commenting on a blogger you find news-worthy - such as Matt Hodgson blogging for Social Computing Magazine.
- Recommending remarkable posts on Digg, Blogg-Buzz, coRank, del.icio.us and Reddit.
If I’ve missed any different ways to share the link love, please let me know 
Love widely and love often. It is an easy way to build your own inbound links - at least some people will reciprocate. And at a bare minimum, you will generally get the people you link to reading your blog - in the past, my MyBlogLog sidebar widget has been graced by a lot of people that I’ve linked to - among them Wendy Piersall, Yaro Starak and John Chow. I have to admit to getting a buzz out of seeing fresh faces in the sidebar every day
Oh, and lest we forget - if someone gives you an inbound link, thank them by adding a comment. I’ve found it makes them more likely to reference your blog again, and can make them a friend. And friends make good readers!
Sharing link love will get you many blogger friends, but will it help you find a real-life love? Dating services can certainly fit the bill to help you find your one and only blogger love. You use the Internet for all other aspects of your life, why not try looking for love?
I agree with your sentiments completely and appreciate the links. I mentioned and linked to this post (twice) in our new social media marketing forums. I invite you to join in the conversation there.
To add to your point I believe bloggers collectively linking to quality material who in turn link back and respond to specific posts has replaced traditional reciprocal linking has very positive effects on the overall link structure on the net and a nice shift away from traditional SEO and self promotion which doesn’t build value for website visitors. Even if bloggers are consumed with aggressively promoting themselves, they’ll be putting out a lot of link juice and helping visitors find good content (and improving those particular content creators search engine rankings) which is a win win situation for content consumers.
Hi Solomon,
thank you for the comment, and for the invite to the forums. I’ve joined up (and I think that they will be a great place to visit into the future).
Best regards, Andrew