[obannon]

I wouldn't worry about how "legitimate" your affiliate link is. You are looking at it differently than the average visitor will because you've seen "behind the curtain" so to speak.

The average visitor wants--and is usually happy to receive--links that are related to the topic they're reading or researching. If your content did a good job of pre-selling then the visitor not only wanted that link, but expected it and would have been disappointed if you hadn't provided it.

As for article writing, I use a very basic formula that tries for a quick personal connection with readers. I'll outline it here and if it helps you great.

Title: Use tabloid formats. They're cheesy but they work which is all that matters.
"Shocking BLANKS You'll Be Surprised To Learn"
"Guess What BLANK Just Did"
"Have BLANK? Read This Before You BLANK"

Article:
1. Pin-point the challenge or problem your product addresses and your readers will be seeking help with, and define it briefly in a conversational mode--i.e. use "you" instead of "people" in your text so the reader feels like you're talking just to them. (about 100 words)

2. Remind the reader how much life stinks with this problem or challenge facing them. Take them on an emotional low here. (about 150 words)

3. But wait, there's hope! Show the reader how solving their problem or challenge will benefit them and make life so much better. Emotional upswing happens here that leads into the final part and will hopefully have the reader craving this better life without the problem like you're describing it. (about 200 words)

4. Offer your solution to the problem or challenge. You've connected with the reader and hopefully have them ready to take action on their problem, now close the deal with your affiliate link. (about 100 words)

That's my basic formula for article writing when I'm writing to promote a product. The word counts for each section are approximate and should be changed to fit your needs with each article.

The only thing I'd point out is that you don't want to go too much over 100 words in the last section. If your article works all you really need to do is tell readers what to do next, adding unnecessary words here will risk losing some of them.

I hope this helps.