Link popularity has nothing to do with conversion or increased sales or results or whatever.

As I said in an earlier post, link popularity can be from blogs and other sources but not necessarily related or driving the traffic that you want.

Again, Paris Hilton's example. How many are actually linking to her as an example of security risks in the Sidekick or Blackberry? How many are linking to her saying this poor girl. Now, how many are linking to her and related sites in order to see what the buzz is all about. There are plenty of links to Paris Hilton sites - how many of those links will drive paying traffic to see more Paris Hilton pics and videos?

I think Outdoor Maniac and I agree in that traffic generated by just collecting links will mean 97% of the traffic aren't interested, but I dont think related links = targeted traffic.

Related is too relative, and insisting on related links only is restrictive. It depends on how well you sell your site.