Can anyone verify whether this is still good SEO?

Have a friend who hired a local SEO a few months back. I asked what they do for him and he said blog posting, articles, link building and social bookmarking

He seems happy so I am thinking of asking for a referral, but it seems to me that those things have been around for a while and I want to make sure this guy is not out of date

Do those things still work today?

Thanks for any info