Links can be a tricky thing however SEOMOZ really has some cool tools to figure this out such as LinkScape and others to determine where your domain is currently compared to your competitors. However that being said, I would not just focus on the links.. There are so many other aspects to getting good traffic and rankings, such as good content and a good product or service. Without those it is hard to get good quality links that will mater. The number of links used to matter and still have their value however if you focus on your core business and develop a quality site that keeps visitors engaged you will succeed much more than just looking for links.
Watch your bounce rates and your content find out what is working and what is not. Finding that perfect number will make you pull your hair out and will waste time when you could be doing better things for your site and company..
Wil Reynolds offered up some really good ideas as well down at the Affiliate Summit and its work taking the time to watch his seminar on YouTube.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=hSQ0DZdSDMI#t=368s
I hope this helps.