Don’t Team with John Chow, Shoemoney, or Problogger, it won’t grow your blog.
Should you kiss other Top Blogger’s butt? Why? You hope to get a link? Forget about it. It won’t happen. There are hundreds of people just like you kissing their butt everyday. All you want is a link and you think that if you just say 1 more nice thing or link to their site one more time it will get it.
WAKE UP! You might as well go buy a lottery ticket if you think this will happen. You stand a better chance getting a link if you write out against them than you do if you kiss their butt. HEAR me right, 
don’t go be negative and all. If you want a link from me, an attack doesn’t stand a chance. In fact I am opposite of them since I am not all that large and this leads me to my point.
If you kiss a mid-level bloggers butt you stand a good chance of getting a link. You link me, I may link you back when I have a reason to link you.
So what is the lesson here? You see Darren Rowse, John Chow, and Jeremy Schoemaker talking and linking each other up? They promote each other. They have deals, contests, and links between each other. You want some of that? Then work a deal with someone more your size. Grow with each other.
Get a team of like-sized bloggers and grow together. Reach out to them, and they are many times more like to help you as you help each other. Do you get what I am saying?
The big guys won’t help you grow (Darren is an exception, but he can’t help everyone). Most big guys just like in business (blogging is a business) will try to keep you down because you are competition. Little guys help each other to get where they are going.
Reach out today and do some teaming. It would be great to team with John Chow, but it ain’t happenin’. Be real and grow your blog with others. It is simple, but it takes time. Do what I am saying and in time, Jeremy Schoemaker and the others will be coming to you.