Does anyone utilise the hopad builder? I get lots of clicks but never any sales. Is it best to search and create urls to individual products, or should i stick to my Hopads?
I only use the hopad builder to put something on my sidebar just to monetize further. I agree that they don't convert well, and honestly why would they? They're not focused enough and provide no pre-selling which is very important. As an affiliate your job is pretty much to do the pre-selling so that the customer cannot resist buying by the time they get to the sales copy. So to answer, your question, I'm not sure what your set up is, but I would recommend diversifying - keep the hopad but add some specific links in product reviews or w/e makes sense on your site(s).
Definitely create products that are similar to your niche. Hand pick the products and see what happens.