and if anyone knows of any 'subtleties' in the design, URL, etc that increase conversion rates for affiliates I'd like to hear about it.
If so, very little. Your target audience (prospect demographics) will make a difference. In general: 1. Write in as concise a language as possible. Don't say 'you could really benefit from . . . if you consider buying' Instead just say 'BUY'. 2. If you're pitch is on a Web page try to keep the 'attention getter' 'above the fold'. That is, don't make your reader click a scroll bar to read it. If you can, get a 'call to action' (explained below) before the fold. 2. Make sure you're pitching 'benefits' to the buyer. Stick to exactly what it's going to do for the person. 3. Recognize that prospect attention is 'won'. First: you've gotta get their attention (like a pic of a sexy girl) That buys you 2 seconds of their time. Second: pitch your #1 benefit to them as attractively as possible. Keep your text concise. Say as much as possible in as few words as possible. That narrows your readers down to actual prospects. That buys you 5 to 10 seconds of your reader's time. Third: list the benefits of your product/service in order of priority (the best at the top of the list). Make sure it's easy to read and understand. Don't make your prospect 'work' at it. Keep it to a 5th grade level or even lower. Fourth: finish with a 'call to action'. Tell them what you want them to do. In your first introduction you almost *never* want to get them to 'buy' unless it's a low dollar item. Your call to action would be to 'click here' or 'fill out this short form' or 'call now'. Try to pull them into as close to a face to face meeting as you reasonably can (depends on how expensive your product/service is).
The general advice seems to be just to "get to the point." I see that the goal is to take as little of the viewer's time up as possible. I think this is some of the simplest and most valuable advice I have ever seen.