i would advise to create a landing page & drive traffic to it through article marketing. its free traffic & you will also get o know which products convert. then you may promote that product through ppc! hope it helps ;-)
You should try a range of products and use free methods for a while then try some PPC later, I used PPC for a while but made very little money so I started using free methods and putting up niche sites to get organic traffic which actually works very well, But it takes longer for you to start seeing the money for your efforts.
People who are successfull with CB would probably be successful with anything else in life. Everything takes hard work, dedication, and a lot of experimentation.
I am a clickbank vendor and a cb affiliate and make money from both. Yes CB affiliates do make money.
You can make much money as a vendor, especially with a high quality product. And of course, also affiliates are doing money. But often it is a long way to get the website or blog listes in good google positions. But if you are ranked well, traffic comes in, and with traffic you can make money. If you have 1000 Clicks on your Hoplinks and no sale, you're promoting the false product or program. Try out something with gravity of 50-70%, or if you have a niche site also with lower gravity. Google for WordPress, there you can make quite good sites (many as well) and place your Affiliate links with your good articles. Keep on going!